Grapefruit Game 20 - Baseball Hits Pause

2019 Choice Reading
Fightin Phils #24

Phillies 8, Rays 4
Spring Training Game 20 - Thursday Afternoon, March 12th in Port Charlotte
Record - 14-5-1

One Sentence Summary:  The offense supplied four home runs and Jake Arrieta had a decent outing before leaving with an injury in this 8-4 win over the Rays.

What It Means:  In the grand scheme of things, and with everything going on in the world right now due to the coronavirus pandemic, this game didn't mean much.  After the Phillies and Rays had started play on Thursday afternoon, Major League Baseball put out a press release cancelling the remainder of spring training and pushing back the start of the regular season by at least two weeks.  It was a little odd to listen to a portion of this game, knowing it would be the last baseball played for a while. 

As disappointed as I am to be without baseball for the foreseeable future, the decision by MLB makes complete sense and it was a necessary move in order to slow and attempt to contain the spread of the virus.  These are unusual times and the absence of baseball (and all other sporting events) is going to be tough.  But I'm confident and optimistic we'll be back to normal soon.  Be kind, be patient and be supportive.  Listen to the scientists and reputable news sources.  Stay safe everyone.

What Happened:  Josh Harrison, Roman Quinn, Neil Walker and Phil Gosselin all homered for the Phillies.  All but Quinn are presumably battling for a roster spot when baseball returns.  Arrieta pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits.  He left the game in the fourth inning with stiffness in his right shoulder.

It was also announced that Seranthony Dominguez had suffered a setback in his road to recovery and Tommy John surgery may be the next step for the young pitcher.

Featured Card:  At 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, I took a screenshot of my phone to capture the last baseball action for a little while.  All other games other than the Phillies-Rays game were either over with by then or already cancelled.  Pitching prospect Jonathan Hennigan was on the mound for the final outs of the game and after he retired Ruben Cardenas on a strikeout looking, baseball went on hiatus.

Camp Head Count:  58 - And that's where it will stand for at least the next few weeks.

Game 93 - Jake Arrieta & We Head Back to the @BlueClaws!

Phillies 2, Marlins 0
Game 93 - Friday Night, July 13th in Miami
Record - 53-40, 1st place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Jake Arrieta dominated the Marlins in this 2-0 win in Miami.

What It Means:  With the Braves losing, the Phillies hold a game and a half lead in the division.

What Happened:  Arrieta pitched seven strong innings, allowing just three hits.  Victor Arano and Pat Neshek pitched the final two frames, with Neshek securing his first save of the season.  Neshek became the 9th pitcher with a save this season tying a franchise record.  (Per this Matt Gelb Tweet.)

Aaron Altherr doubled home the first run in the 2nd and Maikel Franco added an insurance run with a solo home run (13) in the 9th.  In the 6th, a fine throw from Scott Kingery, following a good play and throw from Aaron Altherr in the outfield, nailed Cameron Maybin at the plate to keep the Marlins off the board.

Featured Card:  Apologies to Arrieta, but I need to go with a few BlueClaws-themed cards for this post as our July ballpark tour continued.

Field Report:  We're still trying to recover from our recent road trip, but we couldn't miss the opportunity to celebrate Harry Potter night with the BlueClaws on Friday night.  We've become big fans of the Harry Potter universe over the past few years, and the boys were excited for a night of baseball and magic.

Upon entering the ballpark, both boys were sorted into their houses with Ben landing in Gryffindor and Doug declared to be a Ravenclaw.  (For the record, they considered themselves to be a Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, respectively.)  Pitching prospects Spencer Howard and Damon Jones were signing autographs at a table outside the team store so we immediately added their signatures to a few hastily purchased team sets.

While Ben was busy selecting his wand from a make-shift Ollivander's Wand Shop, Doug was on the prowl for player autographs.  By his final tally, he secured 16 total signatures with Jhailyn Ortiz, Howard and Kyle Young signing everything he handed to them.  Prior to the start of the 9th inning, Doug caught the attention of first baseman Quincy Nieporte and Nieporte tossed him a baseball.  The game was great and the post-game Harry Potter-themed fireworks were fantastic.  For an encore, Doug ran the bases following the fireworks.

The BlueClaws secured a 7-0 win over the Asheville Tourists, thanks to a strong outing from Andrew Brown.  Brown pitched seven shutout innings, striking out seven.  Matt Vierling, a 2018 fifth round draft pick, hit his first home run for the BlueClaws and went 3 for 4.  Remember the name Matt Vierling . . . he was impressive and I predict we'll see him in red pinstripes sooner rather than later.

Memory Lane 
2013 BlueClaws Game
2014 BlueClaws Game
2015 BlueClaws Game
2016 BlueClaws Game
2017 BlueClaws Game
2018 BlueClaws Game 1 and Game 2

6th Annual Lakewood @BlueClaws Outing #BluePaws

At some point during the offseason, I received an e-mail from the Lakewood BlueClaws asking fans to submit pictures of their dogs in connection with the team's 2018 Bark in the Park promotion.  The pictures would be featured on a special jersey to be worn by the players and coaches for the game, and I immediately e-mailed the team a picture of our dog Chewbacca.

Fast forward to last night, and we made the 90 minute trek to Lakewood to watch the BlueClaws play with a collage of dogs, including our very own Chewbacca, on their uniforms.  Chewbacca officially becomes the first member of our family to appear on a jersey in a professional baseball game.  He has promised not to let this go to his head.


The BlueClaws lost the game, 4-2 to the West Virginia Power, but we once again had a blast.  Doug went to work before the game scoring autographs while Ben was happy to just get his picture taken with some of the players.  Both boys came away with baseballs with Doug getting tossed a ball from catcher Rodolfo Duran and Ben getting a ball of his own from coach Milver Reyes.

The BlueClaws auctioned off the special dog jerseys during an in-game silent auction, and we bid on and won three of the jerseys.  (As an aside, I probably got a little over ambitious and paranoid with my bidding as we wanted to make sure we brought home at least one of the jerseys and of course we ended up with three.  My initial paranoia aside, I was happy that proceeds from the auctions went towards BlueClaws Charities.)  We won the jerseys of outfielder Josh Stephen (#8), infielder Daniel Brito (#21) and coach Tyler Henson (#9).


Following the game, we were invited to the indoor batting cage area to pick up the jerseys, meet the players and get even more autographs.  The entire team was seated at tables circling the room, ready and willing to sign anything handed to them.  When all was said and done, both boys came away with baseballs autographed by the entire BlueClaws team and Doug also managed to get the players to sign a BlueClaws mini bat.  What an amazing experience and the ride home in a torrential thunderstorm gave all of us plenty of time to reflect on the cool night we had just shared.

For posterity's sake, I've created several limited edition Chachi insert cards and I also wanted to list the full roster below to help the boys identify the autographs they gathered on their team balls (and bat).  Thanks again to the BlueClaws and Bark in the Park!

2 - Marty Malloy MG 3 - Randy Alcantara 4 - Luis Ramirez 5 - Dalton Guthrie 7 - Danny Mayer 8 - Josh Stephen 9 - Tyler Henson CO 10 - Quincy Nieporte 11 - Brad Bergesen CO 13 - Yahir Gurrola 14 - Jake Scheiner 15 - Addison Russ 16 - Luis Carrasco 17 - Rodolfo Duran 18 - Jonathan Hennigan

20 - David Parkinson 21 - Daniel Brito 22 - Spencer Howard 23 - Gregori Rivero 24 - Julian Garcia 25 - Colby Fitch 26 - Kevin Markham 27 - Will Stewart 28 - Milver Reyes CO 31 - Kyle Dohy 33 - Zach Warren 44 - Connor Brogdon 54 - Ramos Rosso 55 - Damon Jones

Memory Lane 
2013 BlueClaws Game
2014 BlueClaws Game
2015 BlueClaws Game
2016 BlueClaws Game
2017 BlueClaws Game

5th Annual Lakewood BlueClaws Outing

Our summer has been slightly more jam packed that our typical summers due to sports, camps, vacations and other fun activities, but we were determined to make it to Lakewood for the fifth year in a row to enjoy a BlueClaws game.  As accommodating as the BlueClaws players have been in the past when it comes to signing autographs, they were even more so last night.  Doug came away with nine player autographs, including two from the Phillies last two top draft picks - Mickey Moniak and Adam Haseley.  Haseley signed Doug's mini BlueClaws bat, which is now being proudly displayed in his bedroom.


At one point, a gaggle of BlueClaws players congregated around a bunch of autograph-seeking kids, helping the kids to find their cards within the BlueClaws team set.  Some of the players were quick to point out that they hadn't made it into the team set.  When the flurry of signing was over, Doug had added autographs from Colby Fitch, Bailey Falter, Darick Hall, Casey Brown, Jonathan Hennigan, Haseley, Moniak, Gustavo Armas and Daniel Brito.


Our youngest son Ben added a few autographs to his collection (including Moniak's) but he was more interested in the playground in left field than autograph seeking.  He was also happy to pose for a picture with Sparky from the Brick, NJ Fire Department.  As usual, we had a blast and we can't wait to return next season!

The BlueClaws prevailed in this game over the Delmarva Shorebirds, 4-3 in 11 innings, thanks to an Austin Listi walk-off single.  Haseley had hit a three-run home run, his first with the BlueClaws, to give the team a 3-1 lead in the eighth.

2017 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #6

2017 Topps Pro Debut #1

2017 Choice Phillies Top 30 Prospects #5

2017 Choice Lakewood BlueClaws #15

Memory Lane
2013 BlueClaws Game
2014 BlueClaws Game
2015 BlueClaws Game
2016 BlueClaws Game

Meanwhile, in San Francisco . . .

Phillies 12, Giants 9
Game 121 - Saturday Night, August 19th in San Francisco
Record - 44-77, 5th place, 29 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The offense, capped by a pinch-hit grand slam from Ty Kelly and a three-run home run from Rhys Hoskins, unexpectedly exploded and the Phillies held on to win this game, 12-9.

What It Means:  The six game losing streak is over and the Phillies are now 1-11 in games played in California this season.

What Happened:  Also adding unexpected RBIs were Cameron Perkins and Pedro Florimon. Perkins had an adventure in this game in the outfield that included kicking a Denard Span hit that led to the official scorer giving Span an inside the park home run on the first pitch of the game.  Kelly's pinch-hit grand slam was the first by a Phillies pinch-hitter since Hector Luna did it on May 16, 2012.