Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
A rare bad outing from Johan Duran last night. The Phillies look to bounce back tonight and take the series in Toronto. June 10 has seen some blasts – both good and bad – for the Phillies, a record tying night for Pete Rose and more homeruns.
Aaron Passes the Say Hey Kid
The Phillies were pounded by the Braves in 1972 15-3 at the Vet. Hank Aaron hit his 14th career grand slam in the sixth, tying Gil Hodges for the National League record. More importantly it was Aaron’s 649th career homerun, moving him past Willie Mays for second place on the all-time homerun list, sixty-five behind Babe Ruth. Aaron dominated the Phillies in his career, hitting seventy-six of his 755 homers and batting .318. Along with passing Mays, Aaron hit his 400th and 700th career homers against the Phils.
Trivia – Among players on their active roster, which Phillie has the most grand slams for the team? (Answer Below)
Schmidt Blasts a Speaker
In 1974 the Phillies were playing at the Astrodome in Houston. They walked out with a 12-0 win thanks to a 3-4 day from Mike Schmidt which included a double and three RBI. Schmidt’s three hits also included a blast that would’ve been a homer had it not been for a speaker hanging over 115 feet above the field and over 300 feet from home plate. Schmidt’s blast hit the speaker and returned to play. Due to the ground rules, it was scored a long, hard hit single. After the game Schmidt lamented that the damn speaker cost him a homerun. He would go on to lead the majors with thirty-six that year.
The Record Will Have to Wait
With an MLB players strike looming, the Phillies took on the Astros at the Vet on this day in 1981. In the bottom of the first, Pete Rose singled off Nolan Ryan. For Rose it was career hit number 3,630 and it tied Stan Musial for the National League record. Pete would strike out his next three at-bats. The Phillies would score five runs in the bottom of the eighth, highlighted by a 3-run homer by Garry Maddox. They’d hold on for the 5-4 win. Unfortunately for Rose and the fans breaking Musial’s record would have to wait as two days later MLB players went on strike for fifty days cancelling a third of the season. Prior to the strike the Phillies were hot, winning five in a row.
Homer Fest
The Phillies and Diamondbacks put on an offensive show at Citizens Bank Park on this day in 2019. The Diamondbacks hit the first three pitches of the game from Jared Eickoff out. When the dust settled the two teams combined for an MLB record thirteen combined homeruns. The Phillies hit five – Jean Segura, Rhys Hoskins, Jay Bruce and two by Scott Kingery. The Diamondbacks used their eight homers to cruise to a 13-8 win.
Trivia Answer – Bryce Harper has six grand slams while playing for the Phillies.
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