World Series Flashback: 1915 – Game Three

The Philadelphia Phillies made their first appearance in the World Series in 1915, when they challenged a talented Boston Red Sox squad. The Phillies came in to their first Fall Classic as the clear underdogs as Boston was familiar with post-season play.

Featuring pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and power hitter Gavy Craveth, the Phillies would face a stiff test in the Red Sox, who were loaded with so much talent that young pitcher Babe Ruth only made one appearance in the Series, as a pinch hitter.

We continue our phlashback with a look at game three of the 1915 World Series, played in Boston.

When you think of the Boston Red Sox and the World Series you probably try to picture the scene. That image probably consists of Fenway Park and the green monster, right? In the 1915 World Series though that image would be incorrect.

Fenway Park had been open for four seasons but the Red Sox opted to leave their own stadium and play their home games in Braves Field, home of the Boston Braves.

The Braves had a larger stadium capacity, so the Red Sox could make more money away from Fenway Park. The field dimensions were different in Braves Field, though, and those differences may have come in to play.

The Phillies sent Grover Cleveland Alexander back to the mound for his second start of the World Series. Alexander had won game one just three days earlier and seemed poised to earn his second victory to regain the lead in the Series.

Catcher Ed Burns put the Phillies on the scoreboard first in the third inning against Red Sox pitcher Dutch Leonard. Burns led off with a single to right field and reached second base on a fielding error on a bunt attempt by Alexander.

Alexander was safe at first base. After a bunt ground out by third baseman Milt Stock moved the base runners into scoring position, shortstop Dave Bancroft hit a single to center field, scoring Burns.

Alexander held at third and Bancroft moved to second on the throw home. The Phillies though failed to capitalize with two men in scoring position and only one out.

Center fielder Dode Paskert and right fielder Gavvy Craveth both hit pop fly outs to end the inning and leave the base runners stranded.

Craveth’s pop fly to end the inning though was made at the deep part of left field. With the game being played in Braves Field, nobody gave it too much thought, but if the game had been played in Fenway Park the ball likely would have been an extra base hit, if not a home run.

The Phillies would have scored one run for sure, possibly two, and may have been able to take control of the game. Who knows?

Those stranded runners would come back to haunt the Phillies.

Boston tied the game at one in the bottom of the fourth inning. Boston center fielder Tris Speaker hit a one out triple and scored on a Dick Hoblitzel sacrifice fly.

Philadelphia failed to get anything going offensively the rest of the way, failing to reach base for the rest of the game. The game was tied entering the ninth inning.

Red Sox right fielder Harry Hooper lead off the ninth inning with a single to right field off of Alexander. Hooper moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Alexander intentionally walked Speaker to set up a double play possibility.

Hoblitzel grounded out, but the only play available was at first. Boston put two runners in scoring position, but the only one that mattered in the 1-1 game, with two outs, was Hooper’s potential game-winner sitting at third base.

Left fielder Duffy Lewis stepped to the plate for the Red Sox, and quickly became the hero. Lewis slapped a single to right field, scoring Hooper and giving the Red Sox a tight 2-1 victory. The win also gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the series.

Phillies-Red Sox Game One: Women Umpires in Baseball?

Umpires always have the option of confirming a call with their crew, they also have the option of reviewing a home run call with instant replay, but they sometimes don’t.

 

That’s why I should be an umpire.

 

First of all, I’d wear a little pink. Maybe I’d swipe a streak across my lips or just pin a breast cancer awareness ribbon on my chest.

 

No, not on my chest. There’s no reason to call attention to there. Maybe on my sleeve, like where the Phillies 2008 World Champion patch is.

 

Then before each batter, I’d remind myself that you can’t actually touch the players.

 

Then I’d remember that this is major league baseball, it doesn’t get any bigger than this.

What’s the harm in asking for some help?

 

The problem boils down to one thing: men asking for directions.

 

Yup. That’s why I propose woman umpires in baseball. We like to keep everyone happy, we bake, and we don’t mind asking for help. Sometimes we even look pretty good doing it.

 

And if the league’s not considering my proposal for cheerleaders, I think woman umpires would dress the game up a bit.

 

I’m applying. Then I’d fill both voids. I’d stand behind the plate and make great calls, and emphasize my decision with pom-poms, so even if I made a bad one, my cheer would be so entertaining, no one would argue.

 

Maybe it’d even bring a smile to Chase Utley’s face.

 

Maybe it’d even bring a smile to yours.

 

How about those Phils?

 

They can go neck-to-neck with the best, but they forgot where the finish line was. Last night’s game was like Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra running a horse race until one of them just gave up.

 

The BoSox started the marathon with Jon Lester. His performance was a lot like his season—it took him awhile to settle in. But after allowing an RBI in the second, he retired 17 of the last 18 batters he faced. Then the Phils went head-to-head with the best bullpen in baseball.

 

At times it seemed more like target practice with three HBP putting runners on base for the home team, but even with Ryan Howard’s 19th home run of the season and Greg Dobb’s debatable foul dinger in the 11th with two on, the Phillies failed to come back to win.

 

It was a game laden with double digits: 34 strikeouts and 16 hits shared by 12 pitchers, and I counted 19 runners stranded over 13 innings in front of the 21st sellout crowd of the season.

 

Kyle Kendrick made his first major league pitching appearance since his spring training demotion to the minors. He retired three straight in the 12th, but was the 13th his last?

 

He allowed two consecutive hits and then walked a batter to load the bases before the RBI started rolling in. Three runs later, he crawled back to the bench. I know the bullpen was running out of options, but Kendrick’s not a strikeout pitcher. It’s no wonder the game got away from him.

 

I bet Charlie Manuel is wondering if giving Clay Condrey or Ryan Madson a second inning would have been wiser than letting the new kid take two, especially since Madson is scoreless in 24 of his last 25 appearances.

 

The Phils might have lost, but three consecutive extra inning games is a bunch of play. That much baseball is like a love enhancing drug. I feel like I overdosed.

 

But I’m hooked and I can’t wait to do it again tonight; even though I’m hung-over.

 

But like I always say, phight phire with phire.

 

See you at the ballpark.

 

Boston Red Sox Get It on Against the Phils In 13, Slaughter Them 5-2

It wasn’t really a pretty game for the Philadelphia Phillies.

They looked to hand down the Red Sox at home in Citizen’s Bank Park. After a successful road trip and being the No. 1 team in the MLB on the road, the Phillies weren’t the team for home. They fell to 12-15 at home while Boston improved to 16-16 on the road as the BoSox slaughtered the Phillies, 5-2, in a 13-inning matchup.

I wouldn’t particularly call it a “slaughter” but I just like to put things in my own “fancy” way. But as you can see right here, it’s a slaughter:

Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Jayson Werth combined to go 0-for-15 with six strikeouts in the loss.

But I am not done yet. Take a look at this as well:

The Red Sox are now 12-2 against the Phillies in their last 14 meetings.

See? If you look at it that way, you would technically call it a slaughter. But there was much more to this “slaughtering loss”, and this recap will explain it all:

Boston Red Sox’s Jon Lester was magnificent on Friday as he did something that only two other pitchers have done. From ESPN Stats:

Jon Lester became the first pitcher since Johan Santana and John Lackey to go three straight starts with six innings pitched, 10-plus strikeouts and one run or less allowed.

Pretty good, huh? I think so. Reporters, journalists, and even bloggers were making such a fuss over this. Then came Jason Varitek, who joked this to the Associated Press, “Did he pitch tonight?”

So, you can see what happened.

This was a matchup between division leaders, and Boston showed they were the bigger leader of the pack.

“Lester was so good,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Well, duh. He allowed only one run and two hits, but screw that—he struck out 11 guys in seven innings. Now, that is what I am talking about. He also retired 18 out of the 19 batters he faced. Okay, I have to stop acting like a BoSox fan, because I hate them so much. However, they did so good that day.

The Phillies could have won this easily. It all started out in the second inning with Pedro Feliz’s hit to make Raul Ibanez score. The Phils were up, 1-0, but then the Sox tied the game in the fourth and took the lead in the fifth inning when J.D. Drew homered to the left. The Sox were up, 2-1.

The Phillies were down, but then Ryan Howard saved the day when he homered to right to tie the game at two. After that, it was all Red Sox, and they saved the day for themselves after ending everything in the 13th inning, scoring three runs.

It was all over, 5-2.

The Phillies look to face the Red Sox today and bring revenge. Watch out, BoSox, the Phils will strike. They came close, but screwed it up.

So, here we are today, as the Phils look to strike against the Red Sox.

Josh Dhani is a writer for the Phanatic Phollow Up.

How Sweet It Is: How K-Rod Made Phils’ Loss Bearable

I think the picture above says enough about Mets closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez.  To call him over dramatic is an understatement.  To treat every completed save like it’s game 7 of the World Series, that’s just ludicrous.

While the Kyle Kendrick experiment version 2.0 blew up in the 13th inning last night against the Boston Red Sox, a cheer rose from the crowd at Citizens Bank Park.  The outfield scoreboard showed a familiar sight; a blown Met lead in the ninth inning.  Sweet, but as the details came in, it became even sweeter.

Watching K-Rod point to the sky after closing out the first game of the recent Phillies-Mets series, the despise I had for his antics grew exponentially. 

It was a welcome sight to see how the latest in the long line of New York Mets collapses unfolded.  With two outs, two men on base, and a 7-6 lead, the Mets stole defeat from the jaws of victory with Luis Castillo’s dropped pop fly, allowing the Yankees to score two runs in a walk-off victory.

However, the icing on this cake was the aforementioned K-Rod pointing to the sky and yelling “Yeah!” as Alex Rodriguez popped up to Castillo.  Oh, how sweet it is.

Being presumptive and bold can get you a beat down from the sports gods.  Consider this K-Rod’s. 

I know its only June, but the Mets are providing September-quality entertainment.

World Series Flashback: 1915, Game Two

The Philadelphia Phillies made their first appearance in the World Series in 1915, when they challenged a talented Boston Red Sox squad. The Phillies came in to their first Fall Classic as the clear underdogs as Boston was familiar with post season play.

Featuring pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and power hitter Gavy Craveth the Phillies would face a stiff test in the Red Sox, who were loaded with so much talent that young pitcher Babe Ruth who only made one appearance in the Series, as a pinch hitter.

We continue our phlashback with a look at game two of the 1915 World Series, played in Philadelphia.

After the Phillies took game one of the 1915 World Series the Red Sox were looking to respond and respond they did. They did so in front of President Woodrow Wilson (pictured above), who was the first President to attend a World Series game.

Boston sent Rube Foster to the mound. Foster was 19-8 in the regular season and continued his brilliance in the World Series. Philadelphia countered with Erskine Mayer, who was 21-15 in the regular season in 1915.

The Red Sox continued to hit the Phillies. After sprinkling eight hits in game one the Red Sox put together 10 hits in game two. Boston wasted no time getting on the scoreboard early, taking the lead on a crazy sequence in the first inning.

Harry Hooper lead the game off with a walk from Mayer. Boston shortstop Evertt Scott popped up on a sacrifice bunt attempt, and failed to move Hooper to second base. Hooper did advance, reaching third base, on a single by Tris Speaker.

Speaker attempted to steal second base but was thrown out. As Speaker was attempting to steal second Hooper attempted to steal home. The play at the plate should have been made but Phillies catcher Ed Burns committed an error and Hooper was safe.

The Phillies tied the game at one in the bottom of the fifth inning when Gavy Craveth scored on a Fred Luderus single, but the Phillies were unable to continue the momentum swing and never took the lead in game two. The Red Sox took the 2-1 lead when pitcher Foster knocked an RBI single to center field, bringing home Larry Gardner, who lead the inning off with a single.

Foster finished off the Phillies in the eighth and ninth innings for the complete game victory. The World Series was now tied at one game a piece and heading back to Boston.

Ain’t That What Replay’s For?: Phillies Fall To Sox In Extras

In the bottom of the eleventh inning at a sold out Citizens Bank Park, with two strikes and two outs to Greg Dobbs, Dobbs hit a ball that came just about as close to being a home run as you possibly can.

The ball went directly over the foul pole, or so it seemed on the replay Comcast SportsNet showed during their broadcast. But, after a long pause on the field, first base umpire Jim Joyce signalled foul, much to the dismay of all 45,321 fans and the Phillies’ dugout.

 

The call lured Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel out of the dugout. When Manuel discussed the call with Joyce, you could see Joyce shake his head and say something like, “We’re not reviewing this one.”

In September of 2008, Major League Baseball implemented an instant replay system which can be used for only three purposes, all of which involve home runs:

• fair (home run) or foul
• whether the ball actually left the playing field
• whether the ball was subject to spectator interference

Tonight’s scenario fits into bullet point one. So why wasn’t the call reviewed?

Could it have been the umpire’s ego getting in the way? Possibly. But, Manuel addressed the situation in his post-game news conference.

“He said they weren’t going to review it. They didn’t ‘want to review it’ is basically what [Joyce] said. I asked him why. I said I wanted it reviewed. He said ‘it’s my call.'”

“He said he saw it. I asked him a lot of questions about it. He said, ‘I stayed on it Charlie.’ I said to him it’s not where it lands, it’s where it goes out.  And he said, ‘I stayed on it.  I’ve been doing this a little while too.'”

“…he said it’s not reviewable, it’s my call, or something similar to that.”

And with that non-review, the Phillies proceeded to fall to the Boston Red Sox 5-2, after the Sox scored three runs off Kyle Kendrick in the thirteenth.

The Top 10 Hitting Seasons in Phillies History

Though the Phillies organization goes back to 1883, when they were known as the Quakers, we will only go back to 1929 to identify the top hitting seasons in Phillies history.

Please note that a player will only appear on this list once.

During this span the franchise has not been short in outstanding hitters, especially compared to their rotations.

The contrast would not be more apparent than 1929 and 1930. The Phillies scored 897 and 944 , respectively, but lost 82 and 102 games during those two years.

It should be mentioned that the team scored more than 800 runs from 2004 through 2007 and was one run shy of reaching that mark this year.

Now to the list…

Phillies-Red Sox: World Series Preview?

Tonight kicks off a three-game series between the 2008 World Champion and National League East leading Philadelphia Phillies and the 2007 World Champion and American League East leading Boston Red Sox…I know, it is a lot to take in.

These two teams have been amidst the discussion of teams that may play each other in the World Series. As it looks right now, this is very possible.

The Phillies are 35-23 and are coming off back to back wins in extra innings against the rival NY Mets.

The Red Sox are 36-24 and are headed to Philadelphia having come from behind to beat the Yankees the night before. Can you say 8-0? The Red Sox can, as they are 8-0 this season against the rival Yankees, a Red Sox record.

So what a better time to see these two powerhouse teams face off? I can not think of a better time, except in October.

The favorites going in have got to be the Sox; they are 12-3 when facing off against the Phils since 2004, and we all know how Philadelphia has been struggling at home with a 12-12 record in their own ballpark.

The Phils will have to deal with Jon Lester tonight, while getting Matsusaka and Beckett on Saturday and Sunday.

Lester is 4-0 against the National League and has pitched against the Phils only once, giving up zero runs and only 6 hits.

The Phils will be starting Blanton tonight, then Bastardo for Saturday while Happ will be geared up for Sunday. Blanton is 2-0 and has an ERA of 1.80 after his last three starts.

The Red Sox will be looking, or trying that is, to contain the Phils explosive offense that is Ibanez and Utley, who have been leading the Phils hitting as of late.

The Phils will need to keep a keen eye on Jason Bay and Kevin Youkillis, who have been leading the Sox.

This series is shaping up to be a close one, and a fan favorite, as all three games have been sold out for months.

My prediction, the Phils finally end their Red Sox slump and take the series, 2-1.

Tigers Like Ryan Spilborghs

According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Tigers are among a few teams interested in Colorado outfielder, Ryan Spilborghs:

“While the Phillies tread water waiting for the starting-pitching market to loosen up, they’re still hunting quietly for right-handed hitting outfield depth. The latest name on their radar screen, according to clubs that have spoken with them, is Rockies’ energizer Ryan Spilborghs. But Spilborghs, who won’t even be arbitration-eligible until next year, appears to have several other teams interested. Among the clubs known to like him: Detroit and Boston.”

Spilborghs, who will turn 30 in September, is a right-handed hitter who has never played 100 games in a big league season. However, he has a career on-base percentage of .365, which is better than the marks of Placido Polanco, Curtis Granderson and most other Tigers outfielders.

It seems to me that if the Tigers were to go after Spilborghs, it would likely mean the end for Magglio Ordonez. Why else would they need this guy? He’s much better defensively that Magglio and he’s obviously out-slugging the former slugger right now. Spilborghs has spent at least 89 innings at every outfield position this season, so he is versatile.

The Tigers outfield is a bit crowded right now and that’s not including Carlos Guillen. As it stands, the Tigers have the following options in the outfield:

• Clete Thomas
• Josh Anderson
• Curtis Granderson
• Magglio Ordonez
• Marcus Thames
• Ryan Raburn

Is there really room for Spilborghs there? I think it’s pretty obvious that someone would have to go for good to make room for another outfielder.

Red Sox Head to Philly On Heels of Thrilling Sweep of Yankees

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