Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
Good bounce back from the Phillies last night. Cristopher Sanchez was back to his Cy Young form, Trea Turner seems to be heating up, and Justin Crawford had a game. The Sixers signed Dean Wade, which was expected. The key to the season is and always will be the health of Jo and PG. July 1 saw a Phillies first, the birth of TV commercials, and an offensive explosion.
July is Hot
The Phillies and Cubs played a game at the Baker Bowl in sweltering conditions; temperatures were over 100 degrees on this day in 1931. With the score tied at 3 in the top of the 4th, the Cubs had 2 on and no outs. On a liner towards second, both runners broke. The ball was caught and the Phillies turned a 4-3-6 double play. It stopped the Cubs’ momentum and sparked the Phillies to an 11-6 win. Chuck Klein hit for the cycle, knocked in 5 runs and scored 3. It was the first time he hit for the cycle in his career. It also was the first and only time in MLB history a team had a triple play and a player hit for the cycle in the same game. A 1996 game between the Red Sox and White Sox featured both but the Red Sox had the cycle, the White Sox the triple play.
A Word from Our Sponsors
The Phillies beat the Dodgers at Ebbets Field 6-4. Stan Benjamin and Bobby Bragan each had 3 RBI. This game was monumental not for what happened on the field, but what happened before the game. Prior to July 1, 1941, the FCC didn’t allow paid television commercials. TV was still in its experimental stages but on July 1 the FCC allowed commercials and TV as we know it today was born. WNBT (now NBC) and Bulova capitalized. Bulova paid $9 for a 10-second ad that aired before the game. It was a simple ad with the Bulova logo over an U.S. map. Ray Forrest, an NBC broadcaster, said “America Runs on Bulova Time”. Only about 4,000 people saw the ad, as TV’s were still expensive but the stage was set. For Super Bowl LX a 30-second commercial cost $8-$10 million.
Tough Break
In 1951 Phillies pitchers Russ Meyer and Jim Konstanty combined to 1-hit the Dodgers in Brooklyn. The problem was that one hit followed two walks and was a 2-run triple by Pee Wee Reese in the third inning. It also didn’t help that Don Newcombe pitched a complete game shutout and the Phillies lost 2-0 despite the one-hitter.
Offensive Explosion
Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam, Nick Castellanos homered and had 3 RBI, but the story was Alec Bohm. Bohmer went 4-5, hit 2 home runs and knocked in 6 runs. Zack Wheeler only lasted 5 innings and gave up 4 earned runs. It didn’t matter as the Phillies scored 19 runs on 18 hits to beat the Nationals 19-4 on this day in 2023.
Trivia – How many times have the Phillies scored 20 or more runs in a game since 1901? (answer below)
Trivia Answer – The Phillies have scored 20 or more runs 11 times in team history since 1901, most recently in 2018 against the Marlins. The Phillies are 10-1 in games in which they score 20 or more.
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