Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame

The Phillies would be best served to completely forget everything about yesterday’s game.  RIP to former Phillie reliever Al Holland.  July 7 saw some MLB All-Star dramatics, Mike Schmidt doing Mike Schmidt things, another marathon for the 93 Phillies and the start of a sellout streak.

Callison Walks it Off

The 1964 MLB All-Star Game was played at Shea Stadium in New York, with the Phillies represented by Jim Bunning, Chris Short, and Johnny Callison. Bunning turned in a dominant performance, tossing two scoreless innings while striking out four batters. Short’s outing was a little rougher. He allowed two earned runs, giving up the lead and allowing the American League to tie the game. The AL then went ahead in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by future Phillies manager Jim Fregosi. The National League wasn’t done. They rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, setting the stage for Johnny Callison. With two runners on and two outs, Callison launched a dramatic walk-off three-run home run to give the National League a 7-4 victory. The blast earned him All-Star Game MVP honors.

Trivia – Johnny Callison’s walk-off homer was one of only two walk-off home runs in All-Star Game history. Who hit the other? (Answer below.)

Schmidt is Hot

Mike Schmidt’s power was on full display during the Phillies’ 1979 matchup against the Giants. After homering in his final at-bat the previous game, Schmidt launched home runs in each of his first three at-bats against San Francisco, giving him four consecutive home runs across two games.  He nearly made it five in a row, but his fourth at-bat resulted in a deep fly ball that died on the warning track. Despite Schmidt’s offensive explosion, the Phillies came up short, falling 8-6.  Schmidt’s hot streak didn’t end there. He homered in each of the next three games, giving him seven home runs over a five-game span, tying a National League record.

Another Marathon for the Phillies

If you remember the 1993 Phillies, you probably remember their struggles at shortstop – Juan Bell anyone?  On this night at Veterans Stadium, rookie Kevin Stocker made his major league debut.  The Phillies appeared to have things under control, taking a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning. But Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams lived up to his nickname, blowing the save before getting himself ejected.  The teams traded scoreless innings until the 20th, when the Dodgers finally pushed across a run to take the lead. It looked like the Phillies’ marathon night was about to end in disappointment.  Then Lenny Dykstra came through in dramatic fashion. With Jim Eisenreich and Mickey Morandini aboard, Dykstra ripped a walk-off ground-rule double, scoring both and giving the Phillies the 7-6 victory.  The game finally ended at 1:47 a.m.—the second time in less than a week that the Phillies had played into the early morning hours.  John Kruk summed it up best when he said, “I wanted to kill Mitch but they told me it was against the law.”

The Birth of a Streak

A crowd of 43,623 packed Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies take on the Reds in 2009, just one night after the Phillies had recorded the most lopsided victory in modern franchise history.  Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth both went deep, but it wasn’t enough as the Reds handed the Phillies a 4-3 loss.  The big story, though, was in the stands. That sellout crowd marked the first of what would become a National League-record 257 consecutive sellouts at Citizens Bank Park.  For those keeping score at home, that National League record has since been broken by the Giants, who reached 530 straight sellouts. The overall MLB record still belongs to the Red Sox, who sold out 820 consecutive games.

Trivia Answer – Ted Williams hit a walk-off homer in the 1941 All-Star Game to win it for the AL

Check back tomorrow for another edition of This Day in Philly Sports History

For more Philly Sports History tune in every weekday to This Day in Philly Sports History  

Stop by the improved Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame YouTube page for more Philly Sports content. Be sure to subscribe.