Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
The Phillies are hot, but can they sustain it? Cristopher Sánchez became the first pitcher in the Majors to reach 16 wins. The Eagles are heading to New England for a couple of joint practices ahead of their preseason game this weekend.
August 18 has been good for a former Phillies player and manager, a catcher, and a former goalie.
First Time for Everything
On this day in 1972, the Phillies lost to the Astros 4-3 at the Vet in front of just under 12,000 fans. That was a far cry from the more than 42,000 who came out the day before to see Steve Carlton.
John Bateman, Deron Johnson and Larry Bowa homered for the Phillies. For Bowa, it was the first home run of his career, coming after more than 1,700 at-bats.
And he didn’t exactly take the traditional route to his first homer. Bowa hit an inside-the-park home run.
Mike Lieberthal Day Part 1
On this day in 1997, the Phillies pounded the Giants 12-3. Mike Lieberthal and newly acquired Billy McMillon both hit grand slams.
For McMillon, it was his first career home run—not a bad way to get your first. The two grand slams made it just the second time in franchise history that the Phillies had hit two in the same game. It has happened four more times since.
Mike Lieberthal Day Part 2
On this day in 2006, the Phillies lost to the Nationals 6-4 at Citizens Bank Park, but the story was all about Mike Lieberthal.
Lieberthal was playing in his 1,125th game as a Phillies catcher, breaking Red Dooin’s franchise record for games played behind the plate.
Lieberthal had himself quite a day to celebrate the milestone, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBI. He also threw out two Nationals attempting to steal.
Trivia – Who holds the Phillies record for most games played? (Answer below)
Hart Does it Again
On this day in 2020, the Flyers beat the Canadiens 2-0 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Michael Raffl and Phil Myers scored for the Flyers, but Carter Hart once again stole the show in the bubble, stopping all 29 shots he faced.
It was Hart’s second consecutive shutout, making him the second-youngest goalie in NHL history to record back-to-back shutouts in the playoffs.
Trivia Answer – Mike Schmidt has played in 2,404 games for the Phillies, most in franchise history.
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