Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
What a great weekend at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies, in my opinion, do the best job of all the teams when it comes to honoring the past and the legends of the organization. Chase’s Wall of Fame induction was awesome to be in attendance for. For the play on the field? That’s another story. On the Eagles side, another legend announced that this could be his last season. Lane is one of the all-time greats.
August 10 has seen its own share of legendary performances—from all-time records to team records, as well as a couple of dubious performances.
Move Over Stan
On this day in 1981, after a two-month player strike, the Phillies returned to action at the Vet to take on the Cardinals. The Cardinals won 7–5, but the real story was Pete Rose.
Rose went 1-for-5 for the Phillies, collecting his 3,631st career hit and passing Stan Musial as the National League’s all-time hit king. Musial was on hand and congratulated Pete on the field after the accomplishment.
Smooth as Sandpaper
On this day in 1987, the Phillies beat the Cubs 4–2 at the Vet. Von Hayes and Lance Parrish homered off future Phillie Jamie Moyer.
In the top of the fifth inning, Cubs manager Gene Michael thought something was fishy. He asked the umpire to check Phillies pitcher Kevin Gross’s glove, and the umpire found sandpaper, which was used to scuff the ball and alter its movement.
Gross was ejected and subsequently suspended for 10 games. He was the second major league pitcher in less than a week to be suspended for using sandpaper to scuff the ball.
Pinch Hit King
On this day in 2008, the Phillies beat the Pirates 6–3 at Citizens Bank Park. Chase Utley homered to give the Phillies the lead, scoring Greg Dobbs – breaking an 0-11 slump.
Dobbs had previously tied the game with an RBI double as a pinch hitter. It was his 21st pinch hit of the season, setting a Phillies team record for pinch hits in a season.
Trivia – Who previously held the Phillies single season pinch-hit record? (answer below)
Red Hot
On this day in 2011, the Phillies fell behind the Dodgers 6–0 after three innings in L.A. Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence each hit two-run homers as the Phillies erased the deficit to win 9–8.
The victory completed a West Coast trip in which the Phillies won nine of 10 games. It was also their 12th win in their previous 13 games.
The Process is Born
On this day in 2012, the Sixers officially completed a blockbuster four-team trade involving the Magic, Lakers, Nuggets and Sixers. Philadelphia gave up Andre Iguodala, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless and a future protected first-round pick. In return, they received Jason Richardson and Andrew Bynum.
Bynum never played a game for the Sixers.
He was introduced at a huge press conference at the National Constitution Center, traveled to Germany for treatment on his knees, and then worsened the injury by bowling.
At the end of the season, Doug Collins resigned, and shortly thereafter Sam Hinkie was hired.
The Bynum trade is often viewed as the unofficial beginning of the Process.
Trivia Answer – Dobbs broke Doc Miller’s team record of 20 pinch hits set in 1913. Greg Gross had 19 in 1982.
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