Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
The Phillies do it again. This time, the bullpen came through. That’s five in a row. Can they keep it up as the calendar flips to September?
September 1 has seen the Pirates make history against the Phillies, a devastating injury for the Eagles, Curt Schilling on fire, and a no-hitter.
Pirates Historical Lineup
On this day in 1971, the Phillies lost to the Pirates 10-7 in Pittsburgh.
But the game made baseball history.
Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh, a Chester native, sent an all-Black and Latino lineup onto the field, making the Pirates the first team in Major League Baseball history to field an entirely non-white starting lineup.
Murtaugh said he wasn’t trying to make history. He was simply putting the nine best players on the field.
Even the players didn’t realize they were making history until a couple of innings into the game.
At the time, the significance of the moment received little media attention, largely because both of Pittsburgh’s major newspapers were on strike.
Eventually, however, the historic moment received the recognition it deserved, including a Pennsylvania historical marker in Pittsburgh.
Over Before it Started
On this day in 1991, the Eagles opened the season in Green Bay with a 20-3 win over the Packers.
The win came at a devastating cost.
On the first play of the second quarter, Packers linebacker Bryce Paup broke through the line and hit Randall Cunningham, tearing his MCL and PCL and ending his season.
Backup quarterback Jim McMahon stepped in and threw two touchdown passes, to Keith Byars and Fred Barnett, as the Eagles cruised to the victory.
But Cunningham’s injury remains one of the biggest what-ifs in Philadelphia sports history.
The 1991 Eagles had one of the greatest defenses in NFL history. They finished 10-6 and made the playoffs despite getting very little from the quarterback position.
I still believe that if the Eagles had even mediocre quarterback play that season, they could have won the Super Bowl.
And everyone talks about how good that defense was because it had to keep the Eagles in game after game.
But imagine how well they could have played without the added pressure of having to be perfect?
Schilling Stifles the Defending Champs
On this day in 1997, the Phillies beat the Yankees 5-1 in Game 1 of a three-game series.
Tony Barron homered for the Phillies, but Curt Schilling was the story.
Schilling pitched eight innings, striking out 16 while walking no one. It was a Phillies record for the most strikeouts in a game without issuing a walk.
And the Phillies weren’t finished.
They went on to sweep the defending World Series champions.
Trivia – Who holds the Phillies single season record for strikeouts? (Answer below)
A Real Team Effort
On this day in 2014, the Phillies beat the Braves 7-0.
Ben Revere provided plenty of offense, going 2-for-3 with five RBI.
But the pitching was the real story.
Four Phillies pitchers combined to no-hit the Braves.
Cole Hamels got things started, pitching six innings while walking five and striking out seven. Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon each followed with a hitless inning to complete the no-hitter.
It was the 12th no-hitter in Phillies history—and the first and only one to be combined by multiple pitchers.
Trivia Answer – Curt Schilling struck out 319 batters for the Phillies in 1997.
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