Series Preview - Phillies at Nationals: August 30th to September 1st

1986 Topps #466

2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #12

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05
Nationals Park - Washington, DC

At the Ballpark:  On Tuesday night, the Nationals are hosting a Pups in the Park event.

Phillies 66-64
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Zack Wheeler (10-9, 2.90)
Matt Moore (2-4, 6.12)
Aaron Nola (7-7, 4.30)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .301
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 76
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 27
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 71
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper - 12

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 10
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.90
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 204
Saves:  Hector Neris - 12

Nationals 55-74
4th Place in the N.L. East, 15 games behind the Braves

Nationals Probables
Josiah Gray (0-1, 2.89)
Patrick Corbin (7-13, 6.09)
Paolo Espino (4-4, 4.13)

Nationals Leaders
Average:  Trea Turner - .322
Runs:  Juan Soto - 86
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 25
RBIs:  Josh Bell - 73
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 21

Wins:  Max Scherzer - 8
ERA:  Patrick Corbin - 6.09

Strikeouts:  Max Scherzer - 147
Saves:  Brad Hand - 21

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1985 Game 79 - 1985 Fleer #535 Tom Foley

Reds 3, Phillies 2 (10 Innings)
Game 79 - Sunday Afternoon, July 7th in Philadelphia
Record - 35-44, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The bullpen duo of Don Carman and Kent Tekulve faltered as the Reds came from behind to win this game in extra innings, 3-2.

What It Means:  It was free family cooler day at The Vet, and over 32,000 fans went home with a new Phillies cooler after this loss.

What Happened:  Shane Rawley left the game after seven innings with the Phillies holding a slim 2-1 lead.  He had allowed a run on seven hits while striking out six, and unfortunately he was on his way to a no decision.  The Phillies had pushed across their two runs on an RBI-single from Greg Gross in the fifth, and in the seventh on an RBI-single from Juan Samuel.

Don Carman allowed the Reds to tie the game in the eighth after Dave Parker tripled and came home on a Tony Perez single.  Kent Tekulve surrendered a solo home run to Cesar Cedeno in the 10th sending the Reds to the victory.

Featured Card:  Researching the Phillies' 1985 season, I was very surprised to see the team made zero roster moves that July.  That's unheard of in today's game, where roster moves happen seemingly every week.  The Phillies placed Steve Carlton on the disabled list on June 21st and recalled reliever Rocky Childress.  For the next 40 games, the roster was set with the players shown below, and the transaction-less streak was broken when the club traded Bo Diaz to the Reds on August 7th for Tom Foley, Alan Knicely and (eventually) Fred Toliver.

Also unheard of today, the Phillies carried only 10 pitchers, but three catchers, throughout the month of July.  And the most surprising factoid of all?  14 of the team's opening day roster of 25 made it through the entire season, on the active roster for all 162 games.  I've shown those 14 players below in red.

Starting pitchers (5) - John Denny, Kevin Gross, Charles Hudson, Jerry Koosman, Shane Rawley
Relief pitchers (5) - Larry Andersen, Don Carman, Rocky Childress, Dave Rucker, Kent Tekulve
Catchers (3) - Bo Diaz, Ozzie Virgil, John Wockenfuss
Infielders (7) - Luis Aguayo, Tim Corcoran, Steve Jeltz, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Rick Schu, Derrel Thomas
Outfielders (5) - Greg Gross, Von Hayes, Garry Maddox, John Russell, Glenn Wilson
Disabled List (3) - Steve Carlton, Darren Daulton, Joe Lefebvre

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

Nationals at Phillies: August 25th to August 27th

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Nationals 75-54, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 8 games ahead of the Braves
Phillies 58-72, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Nationals Probables:  Tanner Roark (12-7, 2.80), Gio Gonzalez (6-9, 3.83), Doug Fister (12-4, 2.38)
Phillies Probables:  A.J. Burnett (6-14, 4.42), Cole Hamels (7-6, 2.53), Kyle Kendrick (6-11, 4.93)

At the Ballpark:  There are theme nights during this series requiring special tickets, but no actual give-aways.  The Philadelphia based Taney Dragons Little League team will be honored in a pre-game ceremony prior to Wednesday night's game.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .314

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 70

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 23

1988 Topps #251

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 80

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 38

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 7

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.53

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 153

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 31

1988 Topps Appreciation:  No offense to current Rays third base coach Tom Foley, but this isn't really a very exciting entrant into the 1988 Topps Appreciation series.  Foley played the bulk of his 13-year career with the Expos, appearing in 661 games with the club between 1986 and 1992.  He arrived in Montreal via a trade with the Phillies, with the Phils sending Foley and Lary Sorensen to the Expos for Skeeter Barnes and Dan Schatzeder on July 24, 1986.

1985 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

My post on the 1985 Topps Phillies cards is not quite ready yet, but I wanted to share these "cards that never were" for players who should have had Phillies cards in the 1985 Topps set.  There are only ten players who appeared with the Phils in 1985 who didn't have Topps Phillies cards in either Topps' regular or traded sets.  Here are those missing ten cards:

PR1

PR2

PR3

PR4

PR5

PR6

PR7

PR8

PR9

PR10