Chase Utley's Triumphant Return to Philly

Dodgers 15, Phillies 5
Game 120 - Tuesday Night, August 16th in Philadelphia
Record - 56-64, 4th place, 15 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Chase Utley returned to Philadelphia, hitting a solo home run and a grand slam as the Dodgers annihilated the Phillies, 15-5.

What It Means:  It's amazing to me that the largest ovation witnessed this season at Citizens Bank Park was after a visiting player had hit a home run.  But then again it wasn't any normal visiting player.  Utley's return resulted in an electric atmosphere at the ballpark and it was an emotional night for him and this long-time Phillies fan.

What Happened:  Does it really matter, other than one of the most beloved players in franchise history returned after nearly a year in Los Angeles?  Vince Velasquez couldn't make it through six full innings again, allowing five runs on seven hits.  Elvis Araujo had an awful night, allowing six runs on just two hits in the seventh inning.  He walked three (two with the the bases loaded) and hit a batter (again with the bases loaded.)  Michael Mariot allowed the Utley slam after Araujo had departed.

Ryan Howard (18), Cesar Hernandez (3) and Cameron Rupp (14) homered for the Phils.

Field Report:  Adding to the surreal atmosphere was the fact that it was Beatles Night at the ballpark, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four's final Philadelphia concert on August 16, 1966.  I don't mention it often on this blog, but I am an unbelievably huge Beatles fan and the combination of the Beatles and the Phillies was a bit of sensory overload for me.  (Click the photos below to enlarge.)

The four of us (Jenna and our two boys) joined the crowd at the ballpark greeting Utley with a standing ovation as he led off the top of the first and his familiar walk-up music (Kashmir) played. Jenna took the night off from rooting for the Phillies and openly rooted for Utley and his Dodgers. The heat got the best of us though, and we had departed the ballpark sauna prior to Utley's seventh inning grand slam.

Featured Card:  I felt the need to commemorate Utley's triumphant return with a special edition Chachi card.  I'm happy to see that Topps felt the same way, and they've issued a special Topps Now for Utley's return.


Memory Lane
6/19/10 - Jim Thome Returns
8/17/10 - Pat Burrell Returns
4/6/15 - Shane Victorino Returns

8/14/15 - Jimmy Rollins Returns

8/16/16 - Chase Utley Returns

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2013 Topps Heritage Minor League #71 Adam Morgan (& Paul McCartney!)

Phillies 9, Cardinals 2
Game 71 - Sunday Afternoon, June 21st in Philadelphia
Record - 24-47, 5th Place, 13 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Adam Morgan was stellar in his Major League debut and the offense came to life in a 9-2 Phillies win over the Cardinals.

What It Means:  The Phillies will try to win two in a row when they open a series against the Yankees in the Bronx tonight.

What Happened:  Morgan allowed a run and struck out six in his 5 2/3 innings of work.  Maikel Franco and Ben Revere each had three hits and Andres Blanco added a three-run pinch-hit home run in the seventh.  Cesar Hernandez had perhaps the biggest hit in this game, lacing a line drive single to right with two outs in the second that gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead.

Featured Cards:  Four of the nine Morgan baseball cards in my collection (to date) feature him with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, including this card from the 2013 Topps Heritage Minor League set.

2014 Topps Heritage
News Flashbacks #NF-TB

Bonus Beatles-Related Content:  Since my Mom first gave me her copy of the White Album when I was a wee lad, I've been a huge Beatles fan.  Some of my family and friends would argue that "huge" is a bit of an understatement as I've voraciously listened to all the music, read all the books and followed each of the Beatles' solo careers faithfully.  If you're interested, I recently put together a playlist in iTunes with Ringo Starr's 50 greatest solo songs (1970-2015).  But I digress.

On Sunday night, my wife and my two sons enjoyed Paul McCartney's concert at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.  It was my fourth time seeing Paul live (1989, 2005, 2010 and now 2015) and it was an amazing show.  Our youngest son Ben tired quickly and napped throughout most of the show while our oldest son Doug clapped and sang and shouted every few songs, "This is AWESOME!"  A splendid time was indeed had by all.

1964 Topps #104 Art Mahaffey

Phillies 5, Pirates 0
Spring Training Game 11 - Monday Afternoon, March 4th in Bradenton
Record - 5-5-1

One Sentence Summary:  John Lannan and a trio of relievers combined for the shutout and Michael Young drove in a pair of runs as the Phillies defeated the Pirates, 5-0.

What It Means:  It was another good showing for the Phillies and their pitchers.  Lannan, the presumed fifth starter, improved his spring record to 2-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.13.

What Went Right:  Lannan pitched well, but the Phillies radio team was very impressed with Mike Adams' perfect inning in the fourth.  Adam Morgan and Raul Valdes pitched the final five scoreless innings.

Featured Card:  Art Mahaffey and his 1964 Topps card have nothing to do with yesterday's game but I've got Heritage fever!  I've been browsing eBay and the Topps Facebook page, enjoying pictures of the new cards that have hopefully made their way to a Target near me.  It's safe to say that Heritage is now the set I look forward to the most on an annual basis.  We won't be collecting the set this year, but a blaster or two is definitely in my future plans.

I'll look to track down all the Philllies cards in the set, and the Beatles card in the News Flashback set will be added to my collection as well.  One small quibble about the Beatles card - Couldn't Topps have found a picture of the Beatles from 1964 with George Harrison included?