Sep 2, 2013

The Phillies at the Hall Of Fame


As usual, I took a ton of photos at the Hall of Fame.  Some of them came out a little dark or blurry, but they're not too bad overall.  These are the displays and artifacts from the Phillies and for players that spent part of their career in Philadelphia.

Pins and championship rings from each of the World Series that the Phillies appeared in from 1950 to today.
The 1932 NL MVP trophy awarded to Chuck Klein.  At some point, the bat must have broken off of the statue.  This display also has the ball that Klein hit for his 300th career home run in 1941.
These were worn in 1950 by the NL Champion Phillies (aka: The Whiz Kids).  The jersey and jacket belonged to Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts.  The cap was worn by 1950 NL MVP Jim Konstanty.  He was the first relief pitcher to win an MVP.
This display is centered around the Phillies of the late 70's and early 80's, including the 1980 team that won the first World Series Championship in franchise history.  I watched it as a baby sitting on my father's lap in State College, PA.
This is the uniform that Pete Rose wore on August 10th, 1981 when he passed Stan Musial for the most career hits in the National League.
Mike Schmidt's uniform - the greatest 3rd baseman to ever play the game, and the greatest Phillies player of all time.
Steve Carlton's uniform - one of the greatest left handed pitchers the game has ever seen, and my favorite pitcher of all time.
This is the glove that Steve Carlton used on July 6th, 1980 when he passed Mickey Lolich for the most career strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher.
Steve Carlton's 1980 Cy Young Award.  He went 24-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 286 strikeout.  He also pitched 13 complete games in 1980, which is practically unheard of today.
Steve Carlton's 3000th strikeout ball. He struck out Expos rookie third baseman Tim Wallach on April 29, 1981 to reach the milestone.  Wallach went on to be a five time All-Star.  Carlton won the game that night to begin the 1981 season with a 4-0 record.
Pete Rose left the Phillies to sign with the Montreal Expos in 1984.  This is the cap he wore on June 29th, 1984 when he passed Carl Yastrzemski for most games played in a career.  It was Pete's 3,562nd career game, and he played 1st base for the Expos against his old team, the Cincinnati Reds.
This is the bat that broke my 13 year old heart when Joe Carter hit his walk-off home run against Mitch Williams in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series to give the Toronto Blue Jays the championship over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Three of the six Houston Astros who pitched a combined no-hitter against the Yankees on June 11, 2003 would go on to play for the PhilliesRoy Oswalt started the game for the Astros.  Brad Lidge came in to pitch the 6th and 7th innings, and Billy Wagner came in to finish the game in the 9th.
Jose Mesa is the Phillies all-time saves leader.  In his 20 year career, he pitched for the Orioles, Indians, Giants, Mariners, Phillies, Pirates, Rockies and Tigers.  His 300th career save came with the Pirates on April 27th, 2005, but his final career save (#321) came in his second run with the Phillies on August 5th, 2007.
This is the helmet Carlos Ruiz was wearing when he won Game 3 of the 2008 World Series.  His hit in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded was the first walk-off infield single in World Series history.
West Hazleton's own Joe Maddon was the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series.  Normally, I would have been rooting for a dude from my hometown in the World Series, but he ran into the buzzsaw that was the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies
This is the jersey that Cole Hamels wore when he started Game 5 of the 2008 World Series on October 27th.  For the first time in the history of the World Series, the game was suspended in the 6th inning due to severe rain.  The game resumed on October 29th with JC Romero taking the mound in relief.
Brad Lidge wore this cap when he earned the save on October 29th, 2008 to give the Phillies their second World Series Championship in franchise history.  Lidge was perfect in 2008, going 48 for 48 in save opportunities throughout the season and the playoffs.
Eric Bruntlett had the 15th unassisted triple play in the history of the game on August 23rd, 2009.  If that isn't cool enough on it's own, it happened in the bottom of the 9th against the Mets to shut the door on a bases loaded rally, and Pedro Martinez was the winning pitcher for the Phillies against his former team.
Cliff Lee won the first game at the new Yankee Stadium on April 16, 2009.  Three and a half months later, the Indians traded him to the Phillies, for whom he would pitch Game 1 of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium and one again mow down the Yankees.
On the left is Cliff Lee's cap from Game One and Game Five of the 2009 World Series.  Lee won both games against the Yankees.  On the right is a baseball thrown by Roy Halladay during his perfect game against the Marlins on May 29, 2010.
This is the jersey that Phillies ace Roy Halladay wore when he pitched the second no-hitter in post season history.  It happened on  October 6th, 2010 in the NLDS against the Reds.  He came within one walk of pitching two perfect games in a single season.
This is the bat Jim Thome used to hit his 587th home run to pass Frank Robinson for 8th place on the all-time career home run list on September 11th, 2010.
Wilson Valdez became a cult hero in Philadelphia on May 26th, 2011 in a game against the Reds.  He started the game at second base just after 7 pm on May 25th and went 3-6 with a walk in 18 innings.  With the score tied 4-4, Valdez was brought in to pitch the top of the 19th when he retired Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Carlos Fisher (and hit Scott Rolen with a pitch for good measure).  Raul Ibanez hit a sac fly to score Jimmy Rollins in the bottom of the 19th to give Wilson Valdez the win with one scoreless inning pitched.  He was the first position player to start a game in the field and end the game as the winning pitcher since Babe Ruth started a game in left field for the Yankees against the Philadelphia Athletics on October 1st, 1921.  He was brought in to pitch in the 8th inning.  Unlike Valdez, Ruth gave up 6 runs on 9 hits and allowed the A's to tie the game.  Ruth was the winning pitcher thanks to a Johnny Mitchell RBI single in the bottom of the 11th.
Last, but not least, I found this Phillie Phanatic plastic mask in the Hall of Fame.  I'm not sure what year it's from, and this particular mask has no special significance, but no look at the Phillies is complete without the greatest mascot in the history of professional sports.