Dan Baker was emcee as Phillies honored Bobby Abreu
The Philadelphia Phillies made 1997-2006 outfielder Bobby Abreu the 41st honoree on the franchise Wall of Fame in a ceremony prior to Saturday night’s game with the Chicago White Sox at Citizens Bank Park.
An introductory speech from his 2001-04 manager, fellow Wall of Famer Larry Bowa, was followed by the plaque honoring Abreu being unveiled by his 2000-06 teammate and another fellow Phillies Wall of Famer, Jimmy Rollins.
Abreu then stepped to the microphone himself: “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.”
He then paused, clearly overcome by the emotion of the moment.
As the crowd roared their support, he went on: “I want to thank all of you for being here. Thank you, God, for this great moment. I want to thank my family, the front office, the media, my teammates, my coaching staff, my people in Venezuela, and you, the fans.”
For the full ceremony, and the full speech delivered by Abreu, enjoy the below video:
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No Phillies player has won a Gold Glove since 2012
The Philadelphia Phillies are currently one of the most inconsistent contending teams in Major League Baseball.
The biggest problem for the team in getting on a long winning run has been consistently poor pitching from both the starters and the bullpen group.
Offensively, they are a middle of the pack team, with the Phillies run production having fluctuated wildly all year long. The club’s hitters are collectively tied for 15th among the 30 MLB teams with 4.81 runs scored per game.
The one area of the game at which the Phillies have been solid this year is on defense. The gloves are currently tied for sixth in the NL in fielding percentage, having committed 55 errors, tied for fifth-lowest in the league.
The SABR Defensive Index of individual player performances was released through games of July 7, just about 10 days ago. For the seventh consecutive season in 2019, the SDI will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The SDI accounts for approximately 25% of the Gold Glove selection process, added to votes from the managers and coaches.
Based on the SDI as of July 7, the Phillies have three players who are legitimate National League Gold Glove Award contenders. Those three are right fielder Bryce Harper, catcher J.T. Realmuto, and perhaps surprisingly to some, left fielder Jay Bruce.
All three of those Phillies players are ranked second by the SDI at their positions. Harper’s 3.7 mark trails well behind the 7.6 of Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger and his 7.6 SDI rating. In left field, Bruce’s 4.4 is right behind the 4.7 of positional leader David Peralta of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
J.T. Realmuto might be the best chance for a Phillies player to actually win a Gold Glove Award in 2019. (Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire)
Realmuto, the one Phillies representative on this year’s NL All-Star team, has an 8.5 SDI. That is the third-highest mark in the entire National League among all players. Unfortunately, one of the two ahead of him is San Diego Padres catcher Austin Hedges and his 9.1 mark.
Aside from those three, the rest of the Phillies defenders do not fare as well. Shortstop Jean Segura has a positive mark of 0.8, which places him at 8th among the 17 players rated. Maikel Franco has a -1.3 rating, putting him at 13th of the 19 third basemen rated.
At second base, Cesar Hernandez has a -1.2 rating, putting him 14th of 16 ranked players at the keystone position in the National League. Out in center field where Scott Kingery is played out of position on most days, the club’s future second baseman carries a -1.3 rating, putting him at 13 of 18 ranked players.
On the mound, Aaron Nola‘s 1.2 and Jake Arrieta‘s 0.6 make them the only Phillies pitchers in positive territory. They rank as tied for 11th (Nola) and 19th (Arrieta) respectively. Nick Pivetta has a -0.3 rating and Zach Eflin a -0.5 as the only other two Phillies pitchers on the NL list.
With these pure stats only accounting for one-quarter of the vote, reputation among players and coaches continues to provide the largest influence in the actual final selection of the Gold Glove Award winners.
Considering that key factor, Realmuto, widely considered the top all-around defensive catcher in the game by many, has the best chance to actually take home hardware after the season ends. None of the three leading Phillies contenders has ever captured a Gold Glove Award.
The last Phillies player to be awarded a Gold Glove was Jimmy Rollins, who took home the honors at shortstop back in 2012. It was a fourth career NL Gold Glove for JRoll, who previously was honored for three straight years from 2007-09. Mike Schmidt (10) and Garry Maddox (8) have won the most Gold Glove Awards in club history.
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Jay Bruce about to get doused after his Wednesday walkoff
The Philadelphia Phillies (42-38) completed their first walkoff victory of the season, downing the New York Mets (37-44) by a 5-4 final score on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. With the win, the Phillies remain tied for an NL Wildcard playoff spot.
For a third consecutive night the Phillies fell behind early. And for a third straight game the offense rallied to bring home a victory. For a club that had languished in a disheartening three-week slump, you can almost feel the energy turning around them, building with each bamboo-inspired victory.
After Phillies starter Nick Pivetta and Mets starting pitcher Jason Vargas battled through the first three innings scoreless, the visitors jumped on the board first courtesy of the longball. Dominic Smith drove his 7th homer of the season out on a line to left to put New York on top 1-0 with one out in the top of the 4th inning.
In the top of the 5th it was new Phillies-killer Jeff McNeil blasting his 6th home run of the year over the center field wall to make it 2-0.
The Mets scored twice more in the very next inning to double their lead. Smith led off by drawing a walk. He then stole second base, and when J.T. Realmuto threw the ball away, Smith went to third. Amed Rosario then walked, and then Tomas Nido singled to bring Smith home, making it 3-0. With two outs, McNeil did it again, ripping a double to right field that scored Rosario to make it 4-0 for the visitors.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jean Segura finally got the Phillies on the board with his 9th homer to left-center field. Then the Phillies got even by putting up a crooked number, scoring three times in the home 7th to tie it up.
Realmuto started it off with a double. One out later, J.T. sprinted home on a ground-rule double to right off the bat of Cesar Hernandez. With two outs, Brad Miller drew a walk as a pinch-hitter to put the tying run on base. The Phillies then got a huge break when Scott Kingery struck out, but reached base anyway when the ball got past Nido on a wild pitch by Lugo.
Thanks to that break, the Phillies had the bases loaded, with the tying run in scoring position. It was up to them to take advantage, and Segura did just that. His base hit to center scored both Hernandez and Miller to tie the ball game.
That would be all the scoring in regulation, and the two teams moved to the bottom of the 10th still knotted at four apiece. Rhys Hoskins led off the frame by drawing a walk. Realmuto then worked the count to 2-2 before drilling a base hit to center field. Hoskins had to freeze to ensure that the ball went through cleanly, and so the Phillies had runners at first and second with nobody out.
With the potential winning run in scoring position, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler took a calculated gamble. He brought in one of the fastest men in the game, Roman Quinn, to pinch-run for his cleanup hitter Hoskins at second base.
The next batter was Jay Bruce, who has come through for the Phillies so many times already since being acquired in a June 2 trade with Seattle. He would come through once again here.
After taking a first-pitch ball, Bruce crushed the second pitch he saw from Mets reliever Stephen Nogosek over the head of center fielder Juan Lagares. Quinn rushed around to score easily, and the Phillies enjoyed celebrating their first walkoff victory of the 2019 season.
“Before the game today, I had a conversation with Jimmy Rollins in the kitchen, and he mentioned how impressed he was with the fight of our club the last couple days,” said Kapler in his postgame presser. “He mentioned that he saw guys playing hard and really getting after it, and never feeling like they were out of any inning or any game…I think tonight was an indication of how resilient we are. How we never feel like we’re out of a game, particularly when we’re swinging the bats like we’re capable. Always feels like we can take a late lead, and really proud of the guys tonight. They worked hard.”
Appearing on their death beds coming into this series with the Mets, the three straight come from behind victories were just what the doctor ordered for the suddenly Fightin’ Phils. Tomorrow afternoon they will try for a four-game sweep of the reeling boys from the Big Apple.
The Phillies left fielder went 2-5, and provided the margin of victory with his 10th inning double. However, we have to give a nod to the Phillies bullpen. Relievers Jose Alvarez, J.D. Hammer, Adam Morgan, Hector Neris, and Edgar Garcia combined to shut the Mets out over the final 4.1 innings, allowing just two base runners. Garcia was credited with the ‘W’ in the end.
Thursday June 26 at 1:05 pm EDT vs. the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. This will be a “Nemours kids run the bases game”, with children 14 and under invited to go onto the field and run the bases immediately after the game.
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Victor Robles late homer helped the Nats rally to victory
The Washington Nationals (14 – 18) came from behind with a big 8th inning rally to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies (18 – 14) by 10-8 on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Prior to the game, the Phillies honored the franchise all-time Hit King, Jimmy Rollins, on the occasion of his formal retirement from Major League Baseball.
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As the game got underway, the Nationals broke on top first, getting to Phillies starter Jake Arrieta for three hits and a run in the top of the 1st inning. Arrieta avoided some trouble with the help of a nice 6-4-3 doubleplay.
In the bottom of the 1st, the Phillies got even. Jean Segura lined a one-out base hit to left field. That was followed by a Bryce Harper double ripped to the wall in left-center. Then J.T. Realmuto lifted a short fly to right field. Segura tug and raced home, sliding in safely as the throw home got away from Nationals catcher Yan Gomes.
The Phillies grabbed a lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Segura drilled a double to center field, scoring Sean Rodriguez to make it a 2-1 game. Arrieta struck out the first two in the top of the 3rd inning, but then Brian Dozier crushed a no-doubt solo home run to left field, tying the game up at 2-2.
Washington first baseman Matt Adams had to leave the game due to a jammed shoulder suffered when he made a nice diving play and raced back to the bag to rob Phil Gosselin of a hit. Adams was replaced defensively by former Phillies player Howie Kendrick moving from third to first base, and Wilmer Difo entering the game at third.
The Phillies regained the lead when Gosselin singled, move to second on a sac bunt by Arrieta, and scored on a double by Andrew McCutchen. But once again the lead didn’t last long. In the top of the 5th, Victor Robles singled, went to second when Arrieta threw away a pickoff attempt, moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a sac fly by Adam Eaton.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Phillies put two men in scoring position with one out. Corbin powered his way out of trouble, striking out Cesar Hernandez as a pinch-hitter for Arrieta and then McCutchen on a nice 2-2 slider. That would be it for Corbin, but he had managed to keep his team in it on an unusually rough night, leaving with the game still knotted at 3-3.
The Nats jumped on top in the 7th against Phillies reliever Juan Nicasio, who imploded to surrender two hits and made a key throwing error, resulting in a pair of Washington runs.
With the Nationals up by 5-3, manager Dave Martinez went to his bullpen for Joe Ross. The Phillies would make him regret that decision. Segura started the inning with an infield hit, which was followed by a walk to Harper. Rhys Hoskins then doubled to left, scoring Segura, with Harper moving to third.
Realmuto then crushed a double to right-center, and as the ball one-hopped off the wall both Harper and Hoskins scored to put the Phillies back on top. One out later, Rodriguez ripped a double to almost the exact same spot, scoring Realmuto. That was followed by Gosselin ripping a double down the third base line, and suddenly the Phillies had scored five runs and had built an 8-5 lead.
Pat Neshek came on for the 8th inning and yielded a pair of hits. With runners on the corners and two outs, Phillies skipper Gabe Kapler decided to turn to lefty reliever Adam Morgan, who had a franchise-record 16 consecutive scoreless appearances entering this game.
It seemed like a great idea, but it just didn’t work out. Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki stepped in against Morgan and blasted a three-run homer to tie the game. Robles then came up and took Morgan out to right field on the very next pitch. Just like that, the Nationals had a taken 9-8 lead.
The Nationals then built on to their lead in the top of the 9th, moving out to a 10-8 lead, and the Phillies were lucky it wasn’t any worse. In the bottom of the 9th, closer Sean Doolittle came on to nail it down for the visitors. He allowed a one-out base hit to Franco followed by a walk to Rodriguez. But Doolittle responded by getting a pair of pinch-hitters to pop out, Andrew Knapp to center and Odubel Herrera to third base foul territory.
Robles didn’t even start this game, coming on only due to an injury to Michael Taylor. But Robles would go 2-2, and it was his solo home run just over the wall in right-center field that gave the Nationals their 9-8 lead in the top of the 8th inning. Honorable mention to Suzuki for his game-tying three-run blast.
NEXT GAME
Sunday May 5 at 2:05 pm vs the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park
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JRoll officially retires as a member of the Phillies
Prior to Saturday night’s big division rivalry game with the Washington Nationals, the host Philadelphia Phillies will hold a ceremony to honor long time shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the occasion of his official retirement from Major League Baseball.
Rollins, who turned 40 years of age back in November, played with the Phillies for the first 15 of his 17-year career in the big-leagues.
Born in Oakland, California, Rollins was the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 1996 MLB Draft out of Encinal High School in Alameda, California.
After getting his feet wet with the Rookie-level Martinsville club in the Appalachian League during that first pro summer of 1996, Rollins developed into an all-around offensive threat who could field the shortstop position brilliantly.
Over the 1997-99 seasons, he collected 110 extra-base hits and stole 94 bases. Spending most of the 2000 season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rollins hit .274 with 51 extra-base hits and 24 steals, earning his first big-league promotion for a 14-game cup of coffee with the Phillies that September.
His first appearance in a Phillies uniform in an official MLB game came on Sunday afternoon September 17, 2000 at Veteran’s Stadium. That day he hit second in manager Terry Francona‘s lineup and provided an immediate spark. Rollins delivered two hits including a triple, drew a walk, stole his first base, and scored twice to contribute towards a 6-5 win.
Rollins started in the leadoff spot for the first time the very next day at The Vet against the Pittsburgh Pirates. he again delivered two hits and also recorded the first RBI of his career with a base hit in the bottom of the 6th inning to score Tom Prince.
He would play in 14 games that first month, 11 of those as the starter at shortstop. Seven times he produced a multi-hit game, setting himself up as the starter at the position to open the 2001 season.
Under new manager Larry Bowa, the Phillies began emerging for the first time in years as a contender, and Rollins was a primary reason. On May 2, 2001 at Veteran’s Stadium, Rollins led off the bottom of the 4th inning against Colorado Rockies starter Brian Bohanon and blasted the first home run of his career.
These were just the first milestone moments of what would become one of the most storied careers in the history of the franchise. By the time it was all over, Rollins had become the franchise all-time Hit King with 2,306 hits for the Phillies.
Rollins current place on the Phillies all-time leaderboards:
Hits: 2,306 (1st)
Runs: 1,325 (3rd)
Games: 2,090 (2nd)
At-bats: 8,628 (1st)
Doubles: 479 (1st)
Triples: 111 (3rd)
Home runs: 216 (9th)
RBIs: 887 (8th)
Stolen bases: 453 (2nd)
Walks: 753 (6th)
Total bases: 3,655 (2nd)
Extra-base hits: 806 (2nd)
“JRoll” also produced 46.4 WAR with the Phillies. He finished 3rd in the 2001 NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Albert Pujols and Roy Oswalt. Rollins was the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player and received NL MVP votes in four other seasons.
He was a three-time NL All-Star, a four-time NL Gold Glover at shortstop, and was the 2007 NL Silver Slugger Award winner at shortstop for a season in which he became one of just four MLB players in history to record a 20-20-20-20 season: at least 20 homers, doubles, triples, and stolen bases.
Rollins had numerous tremendous, memorable plays during his career, and fans can argue for days about which was the best or most important. For me, two stand out.
Defensively, Rollins diving stop and perfect shuffle to Chase Utley began a double-play that clinched the 2008 National League East Division crown on the final day of the regular season. The Phillies would go on to win the World Series that year.
With the bat, it has to be his clutch two-out, two-strike, walkoff double into the right-center field gap at Citizens Bank Park off Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton to give the Phillies a 6-5 come-from-behind victory and a 3-1 lead in the 2009 NLCS.
There is no doubt that Rollins will be enshrined on the Phillies Wall of Fame sometime early in the 2020’s. He will make for an interesting argument in a few years as a nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But for tonight the Phillies legend will settle for a joyous celebration in front of more than 40,000 adoring fans.
