Phillies Alumni: Phun Nuggets

January 19th, 2022

Nuggets are valuable ideas or facts. In the Phillies kingdom, they are classified as Phun Nuggets. Here’s a nine-inning game of Phillies Phun Nuggets.

First inning
Richie Ashburn was a premier center fielder during his 15-year career in the Majors. His Major League debut came on April 20, 1948, against the Boston Braves at Shibe Park. He was the leadoff hitter and the left fielder. Fast forward to Sept. 30, 1962, his last big league game. Playing for the Mets, he was again batting first, but this time as the second baseman.

Second inning
There have been 13 no-hitters thrown by Phillies pitchers. Five different Phillies hit homers in those historic games. Only one player hit two home runs in the same Phillies no-hitter, and that was Rick Wise in his 1971 no-no in Cincinnati. The other homers came from Johnny Callison (1964, Jim Bunning perfect game), Darren Daulton (1990, Terry Mulholland), Ricky Ledee (2003, Kevin Millwood) and Ryan Howard (2015, Cole Hamels).

Third inning
Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley started 1,187 games together with the Phillies, the most for any shortstop-second base combination in National League history.

Fourth inning
On Sept. 17, 1900, the Reds uncovered a wire in the third-base coach's box at Baker Bowl that led across the outfield to the Phillies’ center-field clubhouse, where a reserve catcher read opposing catcher’s signs and relayed them to a coach using a buzzer. No protest, no penalty and no Twitter.

Fifth inning
Ryan Howard was the first designated hitter in an NL ballpark during a regular-season Interleague game on June 25, 2010, when the Phillies played the Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park. Major League Baseball had moved the Interleague series to Philadelphia due to concern about civil unrest during the June 25-27, 2010, G20 Summit in Toronto. As the home team, the Blue Jays batted second and the designated hitter was used. This happened in the first game, a 9-0 Phillies win behind Roy Halladay, who was making his first appearance against his former team. Does this qualify as double a double nugget?

Sixth inning
Making his first big league start, Chuck Klein got his first Major League hit off 41-year-old Grover Cleveland Alexander, then of the Cardinals, at Baker Bowl on July 31, 1928. Alexander won one more game in his career at Baker Bowl, where he had previously led the Phils to the 1915 NL pennant.

Seventh inning
Relief pitcher John Boozer was ejected without throwing a pitch in a game against the Mets. He was warming up to face the Mets in the bottom of the seventh when he put his fingers to his mouth, a violation of the anti-spitball rule that had been introduced that year. Home-plate umpire Ed Vargo gave Boozer two warnings, calling a ball to batter Bud Harrelson three times -- the last resulting in the pitcher’s ejection, along with manager Gene Mauch. Few people likely remember the incident, since the Shea Stadium crowd on May 2, 1968, was only 9,795.

Eighth inning
Slugger Greg Luzinski, nicknamed "the Bull," had one sacrifice bunt in his 5,321 Phillies plate appearances. Playing first base on Sept. 18, 1971, against the Cubs, the Bull laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 12th inning that moved Willie Montanez to third base. Three batters later, Rick Wise won his own game, 4-3, with a walk-off single. Wise set a club record that night by retiring 32 consecutive batters.

Ninth inning
Curt Simmons was the last Phillies pitcher to hit an inside-the-park home run. It happened at Shibe Park on May 22, 1952, against the Pirates’ Red Munger in the sixth inning with two runners on base. Simmons pitched a three-hit shutout and won, 6-0, improving his record to 3-1 on a Thursday afternoon before 3,065 fans. The time of the game was two hours and 16 minutes.