Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
I want to start by sending my condolences to the family of Bill Giles, as well as the entire Phillies family. Bill passed away on Friday.
He was an influential member of the Phillies organization and was largely responsible for bringing the Phillie Phanatic to Philadelphia, bringing Pete Rose to Philly, and helping make Citizens Bank Park a reality.
Rest in peace, Bill.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Phillies managed to avoid a collapse that mathematically would’ve been worse than 1964.
What can they do against the Braves? Who knows?
The Eagles have a huge Monday Night Football game in Chicago, and LeBron will speak to the Philly media today.
September 28 has seen division championships, batting titles, and a farewell to an iconic stadium.
.39955 Isn’t .400
Heading into the final doubleheader of the season at Shibe Park against the A’s, Ted Williams was hitting .39955 which would have rounded up to give him the first .400 season since 1930. Given the chance to sit out the final day, Williams famously said “If I’m going to hit .400 I want more than my toenails on the line.” Ted went 6-8 in both games finishing with a .406 average.
It was last time that a player hit .400 until 2020 when MLB integrated Negro League stats into their official statistics. In 1943 Josh Gibson hit .466.
Trivia – Since 1943, who has been the closest to hitting .400 in a season? (Answer below)
Whitey Beats Mays
On this day in 1958, the National League batting championship came down to the Phillies’ Richie Ashburn and the Giants’ Willie Mays.
The Phillies beat the Pirates 6-4 in 10 innings, with Ashburn going 3-for-4. His 10th-inning single helped set up the winning run.
Meanwhile, Mays went 3-for-5 as the Giants beat the Cardinals 7-2.
When the dust settled, Ashburn edged out Mays for the batting title, .350 to .347.
It was Ashburn’s second career batting title.
N.L. East Champs
This has been a good day for division championships in Phillies history.
First, in 1983, the Phillies beat the Cubs 13-6 at Wrigley Field. Bo Díaz hit two home runs, and Mike Schmidt added one of his own, giving him 40 for the second time in his career.
Ten years later, the Phillies beat the Pirates 10-7 in Pittsburgh to clinch the National League East.
Lenny Dykstra had three RBI, and Mariano Duncan hit a home run and drove in five.
The win led to one of my favorite Harry Kalas calls:
“Ground ball, it’s a fair ball! Kruk to Pall…the Phillies are the ’93 National League Eastern Division Champions. This wonderful band of throwback players have won the National League East, mobbing each other on the field.”
Goodbye Old Friend
On this day in 2003, the final baseball game at Veterans Stadium took place.
The Phillies lost to the Braves 5-2, but that was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
Harry Kalas pulled the final countdown number off the outfield wall, blew a kiss to his old friend Richie Ashburn, and gave a fitting eulogy to the stadium.
Mike Schmidt ran the bases one more time, as many former Phillies showed up to say goodbye to the Vet.
Tug McGraw, in one of his final public appearances, reenacted his final pitch and leap from the 1980 World Series.
Pat Burrell recorded the final hit at the Vet.
It was a dump.
But it was our dump.
Record Setting Win
On this day in 2011, the Phillies beat the Braves 4-3 in 13 innings at Turner Field when Hunter Pence knocked in the winning run with a bloop single.
It was the Phillies’ club-record 102nd win of the season.
The victory also knocked the Braves out of the playoffs.
And in the process, Charlie Manuel became the winningest manager in Phillies history, passing Gene Mauch.
Trivia Answer – In 1994, Tony Gwynn hit .394.
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