http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/phi/community/phillies_phestival.jsp
"The Phillies went to bat tonight all for a good cause.
Over 6,800 fans -- the most in Phillies Phestival history -- turned out at the ballpark to help raise a grand total of $801,615 to help strike out ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Since the Phillies adopted ALS as their primary charity in 1984, they have raised over $11.8 million for the fight against the disease, an always-fatal progressive neuromuscular disorder. This year marks the 21st Phillies Phestival and the 26th anniversary of the partnership between the ALS Association and the Phillies.
A set of six World Series baseballs signed by the 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008 and 2009 teams received the top bid of $4,100 in the live auction, followed by a bid of $3,900 for a Phillies suite for 30 with a World Series trophy visit.
Contributing to the cause was Grand Slam Sponsor Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check LLP. Once again, All-Star Sponsor Comcast SportsNet was at the ballpark for live shots during Daily News Live, and the following Ballpark Partners contributed a portion of their proceeds to the night's grand total: ARAMARK, Turkey Hill Ice Cream, Tony Luke's, Planet Hoagie, Campo's Deli, Seasons Pizza and McNally's Schmitter.
The 2010 Phillies squad and coaching staff, as well as the broadcast crew, the players' and coaches' wives, and the Phillies front office were on hand to lend their support. Over 30 ALS patients and their families were also at the ballpark to enjoy the festivities.
In addition to autograph stations, there were three photo booths featuring Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and manager Charlie Manuel. Fans could also participate in games like Every Roll's a Winner and the Wheel of Phun, or purchase Grab Bags filled with a variety of memorabilia.
The live auction raised $66,950, and the silent auction raised $37,690. Thirty-five items were up for bid in the live auction, while 140 items were available in the silent auction. The Honorary Bat Boy/Girl Experience, including a game ticket, received the top silent auction bid of $2,000, followed by a bid of $1,200 for a Chase Utley autographed 2009 St. Patrick's Day jersey.
The money raised is used by the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association for research and patient services.
Top Live Auction Items
1. Set of World Series balls autographed by the '50, '80, '83, '93, '08 and '09 teams: $4,100
2. Suite for 30 with World Series trophy visit: $3,900
3. Autographed, game-used alternate Halladay home jersey, from May 1, 2010, game: $3,800
4. 2009 World Series game-used autographed base: $3,600
5. 2009 Phillies framed National League champions celebration autographed photo: $3,500"
From Phillies.com
This was the first Phillies Phestival that I went to since 96',97',98'. I have not gone since because it's really only for season tix holders, plus it's very hard to get tickets in the first place. I had to wake up at six in the morning and call super early to get my tickets, but I did! I manage to get these Phillie autos!
- Joe Blanton
- J.C. Romero
- Brad Lidge
- Kyle Kendrick
- Ben Francisco
- Brian Schneider
- Juan Castro
- Chad Durbin
- Ross Gload
- Mick Billmeyer
- Milt Thompson
Plus I also did the dice roll and got the rare wins of Shane Victorino bobble-head (which was Phestival Edition), Legends of the Fall DVD, and 2 Phillies T-Shirts. The rolls were $5 a piece and I basically got $45 bucks in merch. Very cool!
Overall even though I didn't get any big names, (I miss Chase by one stinking booth!) I had a lot of fun, and Brad Lidge was super nice. Hopefully I can get tixs next year before it sells out, and now that I know how the system works, I should be able to get the big names next year.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Almost Saw the No-Hitter
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100522&content_id=10323496&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi
I went to the Phillies vs. Red Sox game on Saturday, and I almost saw baseball history. Dice-K almost threw the first no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park but Juan Castro broke up the bid in the 8th inning. The career 230 hitting Castro! Who would have thought!?
To be honest at first I was somewhat pulling for the no-no because I've never personally seen one in person, but we had several Red Sox fans in our section and they were beyond obnoxious, and during every single Phillie out they would stand up, cheer very loudly, and proceeded to talk a bunch of junk to the people around them; stuff like "Your team f*cking sucks", "Your city sucks" etc, etc. This is the second time I've watched the Red Sox play, and all three times the fans that have come into the seats have been terrible. Twice with the Phillies and once with the Orioles. They are generally worst down Camden Yards to boot, last year when I when to the Orioles and Red Sox game at Camden Yards, some random Sox fan tried stealing my program/score-card sheet because I went to get some soda and peanuts, I come back to my seats and his giving out my stuff to his family. Crazy! So with these fans in my section, I was pulling hard for the Phils to get that hit, and Juan Castro came through! THANK GOD!
Overall I'm probably not going to go to any more Sox games, I just get really pissed, and it stunk because the Phils almost got no-hit, luckly they didn't and spare us fans in the seats of seeing the home team get the ultimate embarrassment.
I went to the Phillies vs. Red Sox game on Saturday, and I almost saw baseball history. Dice-K almost threw the first no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park but Juan Castro broke up the bid in the 8th inning. The career 230 hitting Castro! Who would have thought!?
To be honest at first I was somewhat pulling for the no-no because I've never personally seen one in person, but we had several Red Sox fans in our section and they were beyond obnoxious, and during every single Phillie out they would stand up, cheer very loudly, and proceeded to talk a bunch of junk to the people around them; stuff like "Your team f*cking sucks", "Your city sucks" etc, etc. This is the second time I've watched the Red Sox play, and all three times the fans that have come into the seats have been terrible. Twice with the Phillies and once with the Orioles. They are generally worst down Camden Yards to boot, last year when I when to the Orioles and Red Sox game at Camden Yards, some random Sox fan tried stealing my program/score-card sheet because I went to get some soda and peanuts, I come back to my seats and his giving out my stuff to his family. Crazy! So with these fans in my section, I was pulling hard for the Phils to get that hit, and Juan Castro came through! THANK GOD!
Overall I'm probably not going to go to any more Sox games, I just get really pissed, and it stunk because the Phils almost got no-hit, luckly they didn't and spare us fans in the seats of seeing the home team get the ultimate embarrassment.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Second Phils Game...
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100518&content_id=10167962&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi
My second Phillies game of the season was one in which it was freezing out. It was about 38-45 degrees out and the wind chill was insane, unluckily for me I was way under dressed because I believed the hype that Six ABC was talking about how it would be "hoodie-type" weather. Boy they were way wrong. Either way though, despite the freezing weather, the game was a lot of fun! This was my first time seeing Roy Halladay pitch, and I must say, I was greatly impressed with everything he did. The man just knows how to pitch and he's completely old school in how he pitches, he refuses to come out, and he works the whole nine innings. Truly one of the best pitchers in the game right now, if not the best pitcher in the National League. I just love watching him, even better it was his bobble-head night. And I was able to get mine!
My second Phillies game of the season was one in which it was freezing out. It was about 38-45 degrees out and the wind chill was insane, unluckily for me I was way under dressed because I believed the hype that Six ABC was talking about how it would be "hoodie-type" weather. Boy they were way wrong. Either way though, despite the freezing weather, the game was a lot of fun! This was my first time seeing Roy Halladay pitch, and I must say, I was greatly impressed with everything he did. The man just knows how to pitch and he's completely old school in how he pitches, he refuses to come out, and he works the whole nine innings. Truly one of the best pitchers in the game right now, if not the best pitcher in the National League. I just love watching him, even better it was his bobble-head night. And I was able to get mine!
I got this picture from another website, but I'm keeping mine in the box as I usually do. I have every Phillies bobble-head from 2005 and up. So now I have another great one to my collection, plus I got SRO to the Carlos Ruiz bobble head in August!
Looking forward to more baseball!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Second Orioles Game...
http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100515&content_id=10071126&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal
I went to the Orioles game yesterday, and despite the terrible blown save lost in the 9th inning, I had a lot of fun. Brian Matusz pitched great and my seats that I bought from the window were great as usual. This time I had section 69, row 4. Luke Scott, Hughes, Miggy, and Atkins were all signings autos before the game, but since I was so far on the opposite side of the first base line, I didn't bother to try to get any autos. Touching up on the game quickly, while the game itself was fun, watching Simon blow the game was absolutely terrible. DT made so many pitching changes prior to taking out Matusz and in my opinion, he really lost the game for the O's last night. Last year and years before that I always had this feeling when I went to the game, the Orioles would FIND a way to win the game, 2010 has been a different story altogether. Now I always feel that the O's FIND ways to lose the games, and I can't help shake the feeling that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. I was going to go on Monday to see Bergy pitch, but with the money situation there's no way I can go now. $17 in tolls, $25 in gas, $15 for parking, then $30 for tixs, that's not even counting food. I'm going to go to more games, but I think I'm going to stick to the bobble head nights or the bargain nights. Hopefully the O's can get better and start winning more games.
Speaking of bobble heads...this Tuesday is Roy Halladay bobble head night at CBP. With the Flyers playing it should be crazy, but I'm looking forward to it!
I went to the Orioles game yesterday, and despite the terrible blown save lost in the 9th inning, I had a lot of fun. Brian Matusz pitched great and my seats that I bought from the window were great as usual. This time I had section 69, row 4. Luke Scott, Hughes, Miggy, and Atkins were all signings autos before the game, but since I was so far on the opposite side of the first base line, I didn't bother to try to get any autos. Touching up on the game quickly, while the game itself was fun, watching Simon blow the game was absolutely terrible. DT made so many pitching changes prior to taking out Matusz and in my opinion, he really lost the game for the O's last night. Last year and years before that I always had this feeling when I went to the game, the Orioles would FIND a way to win the game, 2010 has been a different story altogether. Now I always feel that the O's FIND ways to lose the games, and I can't help shake the feeling that whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. I was going to go on Monday to see Bergy pitch, but with the money situation there's no way I can go now. $17 in tolls, $25 in gas, $15 for parking, then $30 for tixs, that's not even counting food. I'm going to go to more games, but I think I'm going to stick to the bobble head nights or the bargain nights. Hopefully the O's can get better and start winning more games.
Speaking of bobble heads...this Tuesday is Roy Halladay bobble head night at CBP. With the Flyers playing it should be crazy, but I'm looking forward to it!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Robin Roberts...
PHILADELPHIA -- Robin Roberts, the Hall of Fame pitcher who led the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1950 National League pennant as part of the famed "Whiz Kids," has died. He was 83.
Roberts died Thursday morning at his Temple Terrace, Fla., home of natural causes, the Phillies announced, citing Roberts' son Jim.
The right-hander was the most productive pitcher in the National League in the first half of the 1950s, topping the league in wins from 1952 to 1955, innings pitched from '51 to '55 and complete games from '52 to '56.
He won 286 games and put together six consecutive 20-win seasons. Roberts had 45 career shutouts, 2,357 strikeouts and a lifetime ERA of 3.41. He pitched 305 complete games, but also holds the dubious distinction of giving up more home runs than any other Major League pitcher.
"Workhorse is a weak description," Philadelphia Daily News writer Stan Hochman wrote about Roberts in 2003. "He was a mule, stubborn, cantankerous and willing to toil from sunup to sundown."
Phillies fans will remember Roberts as the leading pitcher on the 1950 squad that won the franchise's first pennant in 35 years. Roberts put together a 20-11 season with a 3.02 ERA and five shutouts.
The team, with several 25-and-younger stars such as Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis, was dubbed the "Whiz Kids." It marked the end a three-decade span in which the Phillies were mostly awful.
The Phillies held a 7½-game lead with 11 games to go, but struggled to hang on as injuries -- especially to the pitching staff -- took their toll. On the final day of the season and just after his 24th birthday, Roberts made his third start in five days and pitched the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers to clinch the pennant.
Roberts started Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees and held New York to one run on nine hits through nine innings. With the game tied 1-1 in the top the 10th, Joe DiMaggio led off with a solo home run to left field, giving New York a 2-1 win.
The Yankees would go on to sweep Philadelphia. Roberts, who pitched in relief in Game 4, finished the series with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings.
Roberts spent 14 of his 19 seasons in Philadelphia and was the stalwart of their rotation from 1948 to 1961. His 234 wins as a Phillie are even more impressive considering the team lost more games than it won in that stretch. His best statistical season came in 1952, when he went 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA.
He signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles and spent 1962-64 there before winding down his career with the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.
Roberts had a reputation as a control pitcher who relied heavily on his fastball and who threw strikes, sometimes to his detriment. He gave up only 1.3 walks per game over his career, but also gave up at least 40 home runs in three straight seasons.
"I had a high fastball and I either overpowered them or they overpowered me," he once said.
Roberts started five All-Star games and was named to the team seven times. His best years came before the Cy Young Award, but Roberts twice was chosen pitcher of the year by The Sporting News. He also was the publication's player of the year in 1952.
The Phillies retired his jersey, No. 36, in 1962. He remains the franchise's career leader in games pitched, complete games and innings pitched. He was the leader in wins and strikeouts until Steve Carlton eclipsed those marks.
Long after his career ended, Roberts followed the Phillies closely and was still popular in Philadelphia, drawing boisterous applause from fans each time he came back. A statue of him sits outside the first base gate at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
Robin Evan Roberts was born Sept. 30, 1926, in Springfield, Ill. His parents, Tom and Sarah, had moved to central Illinois from Wales in 1921. His father was a coal miner and Roberts grew up listening to the Chicago Cubs games on the radio.
Roberts played baseball, basketball and football at Lanphier High School in Springfield and later went to Michigan State, where he was a star on both the basketball and baseball teams.
During the summers of 1946 and 1947, Roberts pitched in the semi-professional Northern League for Montpelier, Vt. He signed with the Phillies for $25,000 following graduation from Michigan State in 1947. He spent little time in the Phillies' farm system before being called up.
After retiring from baseball, Roberts was a stockbroker and served as baseball coach at the University of South Florida.
Best-selling author James A. Michener, who lived outside Philadelphia, once summed up Roberts' career in The New York Times.
"For two generations of fans, he symbolized the best in athletic competition," Michener wrote. "Day after day he went out there and threw that high, hard one down the middle, a marvelously coordinated man doing his job. If he had pitched for the Yankees he might have won 350 games."
Roberts is survived by four sons, one brother, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson, the Phillies said. His wife, Mary, died five years ago, the team said.
------
Very sad news just coming out in Philly. Roberts is a Philly legend and I hope he finds peace. Rest in Peace!
Roberts died Thursday morning at his Temple Terrace, Fla., home of natural causes, the Phillies announced, citing Roberts' son Jim.
The right-hander was the most productive pitcher in the National League in the first half of the 1950s, topping the league in wins from 1952 to 1955, innings pitched from '51 to '55 and complete games from '52 to '56.
He won 286 games and put together six consecutive 20-win seasons. Roberts had 45 career shutouts, 2,357 strikeouts and a lifetime ERA of 3.41. He pitched 305 complete games, but also holds the dubious distinction of giving up more home runs than any other Major League pitcher.
"Workhorse is a weak description," Philadelphia Daily News writer Stan Hochman wrote about Roberts in 2003. "He was a mule, stubborn, cantankerous and willing to toil from sunup to sundown."
Phillies fans will remember Roberts as the leading pitcher on the 1950 squad that won the franchise's first pennant in 35 years. Roberts put together a 20-11 season with a 3.02 ERA and five shutouts.
The team, with several 25-and-younger stars such as Roberts, Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis, was dubbed the "Whiz Kids." It marked the end a three-decade span in which the Phillies were mostly awful.
The Phillies held a 7½-game lead with 11 games to go, but struggled to hang on as injuries -- especially to the pitching staff -- took their toll. On the final day of the season and just after his 24th birthday, Roberts made his third start in five days and pitched the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers to clinch the pennant.
Roberts started Game 2 of the World Series against the Yankees and held New York to one run on nine hits through nine innings. With the game tied 1-1 in the top the 10th, Joe DiMaggio led off with a solo home run to left field, giving New York a 2-1 win.
The Yankees would go on to sweep Philadelphia. Roberts, who pitched in relief in Game 4, finished the series with a 1.64 ERA in 11 innings.
Roberts spent 14 of his 19 seasons in Philadelphia and was the stalwart of their rotation from 1948 to 1961. His 234 wins as a Phillie are even more impressive considering the team lost more games than it won in that stretch. His best statistical season came in 1952, when he went 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA.
He signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles and spent 1962-64 there before winding down his career with the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs.
Roberts had a reputation as a control pitcher who relied heavily on his fastball and who threw strikes, sometimes to his detriment. He gave up only 1.3 walks per game over his career, but also gave up at least 40 home runs in three straight seasons.
"I had a high fastball and I either overpowered them or they overpowered me," he once said.
Roberts started five All-Star games and was named to the team seven times. His best years came before the Cy Young Award, but Roberts twice was chosen pitcher of the year by The Sporting News. He also was the publication's player of the year in 1952.
The Phillies retired his jersey, No. 36, in 1962. He remains the franchise's career leader in games pitched, complete games and innings pitched. He was the leader in wins and strikeouts until Steve Carlton eclipsed those marks.
Long after his career ended, Roberts followed the Phillies closely and was still popular in Philadelphia, drawing boisterous applause from fans each time he came back. A statue of him sits outside the first base gate at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.
Robin Evan Roberts was born Sept. 30, 1926, in Springfield, Ill. His parents, Tom and Sarah, had moved to central Illinois from Wales in 1921. His father was a coal miner and Roberts grew up listening to the Chicago Cubs games on the radio.
Roberts played baseball, basketball and football at Lanphier High School in Springfield and later went to Michigan State, where he was a star on both the basketball and baseball teams.
During the summers of 1946 and 1947, Roberts pitched in the semi-professional Northern League for Montpelier, Vt. He signed with the Phillies for $25,000 following graduation from Michigan State in 1947. He spent little time in the Phillies' farm system before being called up.
After retiring from baseball, Roberts was a stockbroker and served as baseball coach at the University of South Florida.
Best-selling author James A. Michener, who lived outside Philadelphia, once summed up Roberts' career in The New York Times.
"For two generations of fans, he symbolized the best in athletic competition," Michener wrote. "Day after day he went out there and threw that high, hard one down the middle, a marvelously coordinated man doing his job. If he had pitched for the Yankees he might have won 350 games."
Roberts is survived by four sons, one brother, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson, the Phillies said. His wife, Mary, died five years ago, the team said.
------
Very sad news just coming out in Philly. Roberts is a Philly legend and I hope he finds peace. Rest in Peace!
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