2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP160 Jonathan Villar

Brewers 4, Phillies 1
Game 54 - Thursday Night, June 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 26-28, 4th place, 7 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The offensive drought continued as the Phillies dropped their seventh straight in this lifeless 4-1 loss to the Brewers.

What It Means:  I'd like to think that this two month dry spell for the Phillies' bats will end with an absolute explosion of hits and runs over the course of a few games.  I'd like to think that . . .

What Happened:  Jared Eickhoff kept his team in the game, giving up just two runs in 6 2/3 innings. Jeanmar Gomez tried to keep the score at 2-1 in the ninth, but allowed a two-run home run to former Phillies prospect Jonathan Villar.  Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph both had two hit nights, accounting for four of the team's total of five hits.

2016 Phillies Team
Issue 2 #3

Featured Cards:  Now in his fourth big league season, Villar was the greenest of the three young players traded away (along with Anthony Gose and J.A. Happ) to the Astros in July 2010 for Roy Oswalt.  He appeared with the Phillies way back in the 2010 Bowman Chrome set.

Transaction:  Outfielder Cody Asche was activated from the disabled list prior to this game, and he made his season debut as the starting left fielder.  Asche had missed the start of the season with an oblique injury.  To make room on the roster for Asche, Phillies Room favorite David Lough was designated for assignment.

Lough provided steady and occasionally stellar defense, but he was hitting just .239 (16 for 67) in 30 games this season.  He appears in both team issued photo card sets, and my hope is that he clears waivers and ends up back with the IronPigs.

Recently added to The Phillies Room - 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2016 Chachi #36 David Lough

#3
David Dennis Lough
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  175
Born:  January 20, 1986, Akron, OH
Home:  Clinton, OH
Drafted:  Selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 11th round of the June 2011 draft
Teams:  Kansas City Royals 2012-2013; Baltimore Orioles 2014-2015; Phillies 2016
Acquired:  Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the Baltimore Orioles, January 25, 2016

2013 Topps #268

2016 Phillies Team Issue #3

2 Lough Baseball Card in My Collection per Zistle
First Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #3
First Phillies Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #3
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #3
Latest Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 #3

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2013 Topps #268

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #36

Card statistics through 5/29/16.

Ben & Doug's Amazing Autograph Adventure at the @Phillies Game

Pre-game preparations

Eickhoff signing for Doug & Ben

Braves 7, Phillies 1
Game 42 - Friday Night, May 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 24-18, 2nd place, 2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Bad defense and a quiet offense led to an easy 7-1 win for the Braves over the Phillies.

What It Means:  The Phils were so close to first place and now, thanks in part to the red hot Nationals, they're still in second place, two games back.

What Happened:  The Braves hit three two-run home runs (two from Freddie Freeman) and Maikel Franco committed two big errors.  The offense managed six hits and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Aaron Nola pitched seven innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on seven hits.


Featured Cards/Field Report:  We decided to splurge last night and get four tickets in Section 115, five rows from the field, right behind first base and just off the corner of the Phillies dugout.  It was Bark in the Park night, so while 360 dogs paraded around the warning track, our boys Doug and Ben positioned themselves at the edge of the Phillies dugout with their new (more on that later) photo card sets and two Sharpies.

After about 25 minutes of waiting, the Phillies young players did not disappoint these two eager autograph seekers.  Jared Eickhoff was the first to acknowledge them, followed by Adam Morgan, Odubel Herrera, David Lough and Tommy Joseph.  Joseph was omitted from the second team-issued photo card set, so the boys had to get creative.  Doug had Joseph sign his hat (after receiving a "What's up, bro" from Joseph) and Ben had him sign his Phillie Phanatic card.


The boys capped their autograph seeking with a final autograph from Phillies broadcaster Gregg Murphy.  The game itself was lousy, but Jenna and both boys found themselves on Phanavision during one of the between innings breaks, which absolutely thrilled our youngest son Ben.  We got to see the Phanatic dance on the dugout and we wisely left the game right before Brett Oberholtzer served up Freeman's second home run.

It was a great night, and one I won't soon forget.  The players who signed for our boys gained lifelong fans, and what's best is that both our boys have already asked when we can all go back again.

Joseph signing Doug's hat

Recently added to The Phillies Room - 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

Howard Homer Wins It in 11! #ChachiNow

2016 Chachi #40

Phillies 4, Indians 3 (11)
Game 23 - Friday Night, April 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 13-10, 3rd place, 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Ryan Howard won the game with an 11th inning walk-off home run against the Indians.

What It Means:  These Phillies are exciting!  Who saw this coming?  The pitching staff's 240 strikeouts currently leads the Majors.

What Happened:  Howard had quite a night, going 3 for 5 with a single, double and his dramatic home run.

Adam Morgan was recalled to take Charlie Morton's place in the rotation, as Morton is now lost for the season with a bad hamstring injury.  Morgan struck out seven in his five innings of work, allowing all three Indians runs.  The bullpen was phenomenal, pitching six scoreless innings and striking out 11.  Andrew Bailey and David Hernandez each pitched a pair of scoreless frames.

Featured Card:  A walk-off home run by the veteran qualifies in my book for a Chachi Highlight card.  (I'm happy to see Howard has received a Topps Now card.)

Field Report:  Now in the interest of full disclosure, we were not around for Howard's game winning heroics.  A very cold night, coupled with a very early Saturday morning wake-up call for Doug's soccer tournament, meant we needed to leave relatively early.  We left after the fifth inning with the score tied at three.

Before the game, we admired the new giant Topps line-up cards for David Lough, Morgan and Peter Bourjos.  Walking through the concourse, we stopped by the radio booth and listened to the end of Jim Jackson's interview of Aaron Nola.  When Nola exited the booth, he was kind enough to pose for a picture with Doug.  Doug and I agreed that we needed to be better prepared next time with a Sharpie and an extra team photo card set for autograph purposes.

Transaction:  Morgan was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Friday afternoon and reliever Luis Garcia was optioned down to the IronPigs.

Recently added to The Phillies Room - 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

Phillies Get Lough

2014 Topps Heritage #278

It's probably no less active than any other January for the Phillies, but this January has seemed to be particularly quiet.  I didn't even receive a notification on my phone announcing the latest non-roster invitee signing yesterday afternoon, but I caught news of the signing on Twitter.

Outfielder David Lough joins the stable of non-roster invitees who will join the Phillies in Clearwater in a few weeks.  Lough appeared in 84 games for the Orioles last season, hitting .201 with 4 home runs.  Unless there's a rash of spring injuries, I imagine Lough open the season in the outfield for the IronPigs.  He's appeared on his share of recent baseball cards, with appearances in the 2014 Topps Heritage, 2014 Topps Update and 2015 Topps sets.

Player (position) - 2015 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  James Russell (lhp) - Cubs - 2015 Topps #255 (Braves)
2.  Emmanuel Buriss (inf) - Nationals - 2010 Topps Update #US-82 (Giants)
3.  Ryan Jackson (inf) - Royals/Angels - 2013 Panini Prizm #238 (Cardinals)
4.  Frank Herrmann (rhp) - Angels/Pirates - 2010 Topps Update #US-89 (Indians)
5.  Chris Leroux (rhp) - Brewers/Phillies - 2013 Panini Select #205 (Pirates)
6.  Reinier Roibal (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
7.  J.P. Arencibia (c) - Orioles/Rays - 2014 Topps #627 (Rangers)
8.  Greg Burke (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2009 Bowman Chrome #103 (Padres)
9.  Ernesto Frieri (rhp) - Rays - 2014 Topps #240 (Angels)
10.  Gregory Infante (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter #84 (White Sox)
11.  Angelys Nina (inf) - Rockies - 2012 Bowman Prospects #BP45 (Rockies)
12.  Andrew Bailey (rhp) - Yankees - 2013 Topps Heritage #344 (Red Sox)
13.  Edward Mujica (rhp) - Red Sox/Athletics - 2015 Topps #131 (Red Sox)
14.  Cedric Hunter (of) - Braves - 2011 Topps #554 (Padres)
15.  Mark Appel (rhp) - Astros - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #219 (Astros)
16.  J.P. Crawford (ss) - Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #208 (Phillies)
17.  Zach Eflin (rhp) - Phillies - 2014 Topps Pro Debut #184 (Padres)
18.  Andrew Knapp (c) - Phillies - 2014 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #146 (Phillies)
19.  Gabriel Lino (c) - Phillies - 2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP199 (Phillies)
20.  Logan Moore (c) - Phillies - 2011 Bowman Draft Chrome Prospects #BDPP44 (Phillies)
21.  Brock Stassi (1b) - Phillies - N/A
22.  Jake Thompson (rhp) - Rangers/Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #129 (Rangers)
23.  Nick Williams (of) - Rangers/Phillies - 2015 Topps Heritage Minor Leagues #175 (Rangers)
24.  David Lough (of) - Orioles - 2015 Topps #290 (Orioles)