Series Preview - Reds at Phillies: May 26th to May 28th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Reds 22-24, 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 3 games behind the Cubs
Phillies 16-29, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 11 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Reds Probables:  Tim Adleman (2-2, 6.19), Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 6.75), Scott Feldman (3-4, 3.99)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (2-1, 3.52), Jerad Eickhoff (0-5, 4.70), Zach Eflin (0-2, 5.36)

At the Ballpark:  After the game on Saturday, kids will be able to run the bases.  Sunday is Melanoma Awareness Day, with Mike Schmidt, who had melanoma, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

Reds Leaders
Average:  Zack Cozart - .340
Runs:  Joey Votto - 35
Home Runs:  Scott Schebler - 13
RBIs:  Joey Votto - 38
Stolen Bases:  Billy Hamilton - 23

Wins:  Four tied with - 3
ERA:  Scott Feldman - 3.99
Strikeouts:  Scott Feldman - 47
Saves:  Raisel Iglesias - 8

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Aaron Altherr - .295
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 34
Home Runs:  Aaron Altherr - 8
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 28
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 6

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 5
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 4.28
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 52
Saves:  Hector Neris - 4

1982 Topps Traded #41T

1982 Topps #53

1982 Topps Appreciation:  Greg Harris and Greg Gross were teammates on the 1988 Phillies team that lost 96 games and finished in the basement of the N.L. East.

Back in 1982, Harris was just getting started on his 15-year major league career.  In February, he was traded from the Mets with Jim Kern and Alex Trevino for slugger George Foster.  He'd appear in 34 games with the Reds (10 starts), compiling a 4.83 ERA and a 2-6 record.  Harris bounced around quite a bit during his career, appearing in 110 games with the Phillies during the 1988 and 1989 seasons.

Gross had another productive season in 1982 for the Phillies, hitting .299 and appearing in 119 games at all three outfield positions.

Padres at Phillies: August 28th to August 30th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Friday and Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:35

Padres 62-65, Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. West, 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers
Phillies 50-78, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 21 1/2 games behind the Mets

Padres Probables:  Ian Kennedy (8-11, 4.01), Colin Rea (2-1, 5.52), James Shields (9-6, 3.89)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (4-1, 3.59), Adam Morgan (4-4, 4.43), Alec Asher (0-0, 0.00)

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday night, all fans will receive a Maikel Franco Phillies Fathead.  On Sunday afternoon, all kids receive a ShopRite back-to-school Phillies lunch bag.  The back-to-school Phillies giveaways always slightly depress me.

Padres Leaders
Average:  Yonder Alonso - .273
Runs:  Justin Upton - 68
Home Runs:  Justin Upton - 22
RBIs:  Matt Kemp - 78
Stolen Bases:  Justin Upton - 18

Wins:  Tyson Ross and James Shields - 9
ERA:  Tyson Ross - 3.42
Strikeouts:  James Shields - 176
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 36

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .291+
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 53
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 21
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 72
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 19+

Wins:  Ken Giles and Aaron Harang - 5*
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 4.79*
Strikeouts:  Aaron Harang - 86*
Saves:  Ken Giles - 10^

1985 Topps #242

+Ben Revere, now with the Blue Jays, is the overall team leader with a .298 batting average and 24 stolen bases.
*Cole Hamels, now with the Rangers, is the overall team leader with 6 wins, 3.64 ERA and 137 strikeouts
^Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Nationals, is the overall team leader with 17 saves.

1985 Topps Appreciation:  Other than the Carmelo Martinez card I featured a few weeks ago, there's only one other 1985 Topps Padres card with a Phillies connection.  Reliever Greg Harris spent parts of two seasons with the Phillies in 1988 and 1989.  Pitching for the Padres in 1984, Harris would appear in the lone World Series game of his 15-year career, pitching 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against the Tigers in Game 3.

Phillies at Rangers: March 31st to April 2nd

Monday 2:05, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:05
Globe Life Park in Arlington - Arlington, TX

2013 Season
Phillies 73-89, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Braves
Rangers 91-72, 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 5 1/2 games behind the Athletics

2013 Statistics
Phillies Probables:  Cliff Lee (14-8, 2.87), A.J. Burnett (10-11, 3.30), Kyle Kendrick (10-13, 4.70)
Rangers Probables:  Tanner Scheppers (6-2, 1.88), Martin Perez (10-6, 3.62), Robbie Ross, Jr. (4-2, 3.03)

At the Ballpark:  All fans 21 and older will receive a Budweiser Opening Day magnetic schedule this afternoon.  Wednesday night features Nolan Ryan beef dollar hot dogs.  I'm not sure why Nolan Ryan's name is attached to this particular promotion, I'm only reporting the happenings.

Phillies Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Marlon Byrd - .298
Runs:  Ryan Howard and Ben Revere - 9
Home Runs:  Cody Asche, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins - 3
RBIs:  Cody Asche, Marlon Byrd and Carlos Ruiz - 8
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 6

Wins:  Jeff Manship - 2
ERA:  Jeff Manship - 1.80
Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 26
Saves:  Shawn Camp, Cesar Jimenez and Hector Neris - 1

1988 Topps #756, #26, #280 and #369

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Get ready for a whole season of glorious 1988 Topps cards in these series preview posts, as I look at cards featuring the Phillies and their opponents that have some sort of Phillies connection.

Mike Maddux is entering his sixth season as the Rangers pitching coach, and if the team is smart they won't let him leave anytime soon.  Maddux has has constant success in Texas as he's mentored a whole host of young arms including the trio that will face the Phillies in this series.

Mitch Williams and Pete Incaviglia were teammates with the Rangers prior to reuniting on the glorious 1993 Phillies team.  Pitcher Greg Harris signed as a free agent with the Phillies in 1988, after spending  the prior three seasons as part of the Rangers pitching staff.

1988 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

Today's post features the first half of the massive 1988 Topps Missing Link set.  There were 20 players who suited up for the Phillies during the 1988 season who did not appear as Phillies in either the Topps regular or traded sets.  Some of the omissions were justified and deserved (Salome Barojas), while other omissions angered me at the time (Bob Dernier).

When reflecting back on the 1988 season, The Phillies Encyclopedia puts it best:

The club performed atrociously throughout, mixing one unethusiastic performance after another with injuries, season-long slumps, and a rash of player moves that did little else but give a lot of people a chance to tell their grandchildren that they once wore a big league uniform.

A few other notes:
- I almost didn't share the Barojas card here but I figured I was among friends so the snickering at my graphic design skills would be held to a minimum.  (The Al Pardo and Bill Scherrer cards, which will follow shortly, almost didn't get published either.)
- Most of the photos used are from the 1988 Phillies Yearbook or the 1989 Tastykake Phillies set.

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Look for the 1989 Topps Phillies post in 2012! (Or at some point in 2011, time permitting.)