Phillies Lose A Legend But Win The Game In His Honor

The Phillies pulled out a win today, although it was with heavy hearts.  One of the best Phillies pitchers of all time, Robin Roberts, passed away today at age 83 of natural causes.   Roberts played for the Phillies from 1948 – 1961 and in his entire career he had a 3.41 ERA over 676 games which included 305 complete games. 
P7154817a.jpgRoberts was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976 and has been a regular around the Phillies for all these years.  Roberts returned to Philly every year for annual induction ceremonies, special events and attended Spring Training each year as well.

Actually, Roberts was scheduled to attend a golf and dinner outing in honor of Harry Kalas in just a few weeks, along with many other Hall of Famers.  I have been invited to the event and was very much looking forward to seeing him and having the opportunity to chat with him.  But more than being very saddened by this news for that reason, I am terribly sorry for his family and the entire Phillies organization.  My heart goes out to everyone who knew him.  He was a very special individual.

But the game went on today despite the sad news and the Phillies won it for him.  With the 1950 pennant hung at half mast and a black drape around Robert’s Wall of Fame plaque, Roy Halladay took the mound and was a true professional, as usual.  Against the Cardinals, he pitched 7 innings and allowing only 1 earned run, Halladay was not super sharp, but still extremely effective. 

Halladay walked 3 batters and had a lot of base runners; in the 7th inning with two outs and 2 men on, it even looked like manager Charlie Manuel may pull him from the game.  Manuel went out to the mound but with a stern look on his face, Halladay convinced him that he could finish the inning.  And with that, it only took one pitch to Matt Holliday to end it.  This guy is amazing.

Jayson Werth had a special connection to Roberts as they grew up in the same town and spoke about that often; Werth channeled his grief into a huge game at the plate.  He hit 2 doubles and a 3-run homer in the game.  Werth did commit an error in right field when the wind and sun helped him drop a fly ball, but no one was complaining after his offensive output.

Carlos Ruiz had a 3-hit day as well with Raul Ibanez and Ryan Howard collecting 2 hits each.  Ibanez hit a solo homer in the 5th for the 900th RBI of his career.  The opposing pitcher, Kyle Loshe, lasted only 4 innings and allowed 5 of the Phillies 7 runs, although 2 were unearned due to errors.  Actually, it was a sloppy game all around defensively with each team committing 2 errors a piece.

The umpires did not have a clean game either.  Andy Fletcher, who played the villain in Game 1 of this series, had another blooper today.  While trying to turn a double play, the Cards Albert Pujols had to jump off first base to catch the ball for the 3rd out of the inning.  Replay showed that as Wilson Valdez crossed the bag, Pujols was in mid-air and not on the bag.  Valdez was called out by Fletcher who refused to argue with Manuel after the play and walked away.  The home plate umpire had some questionable calls as well, but Halladay handled him with a quick chat after the 5th inning.

So the Phillies walk away with a 3 games to 1 series victory over the Cardinals, the best team in the National League.  Although now, the Phillies have just 1 less win than the Cards and hold a 2 game lead for first place in the NL East.  Tomorrow at 7:05pm, they will begin a 3-game series with the Braves and Jamie Moyer will pitch.  The Phillies will begin wearing #36 patches on their jersey’s tomorrow as well in honor of Robin Roberts.

 

Photo by Jenn Zambri Photography

 

*Read more about the Phillies at my other home page, Phightin’ Phils Phorum in the My Team Rivals network*

 

2 comments

  1. raysrenegade

    Jen,
    Was telling someone today Harry Kalas met him at the Pearly Gates with a cold Budweiser and asked if he wanted to hit the Old Timer’s baseball game today up there.
    I remember just February at the Rays Fan Fest I chatted with Robin Roberts for a ferw moments and he seemed to be loving life that day.
    Suck as I get older I see friends and athletes you admire or meet go down right before your eyes.
    He was a fixture at Rays MLBPA Alumni functions….Always loved seeing him and Don Zimmer laugh about old times.
    Prayers to his family in Temple Terrace, Florida.

    Rays Renegade

    http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com

    Reply

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