Mad Max vs. Vinny Velo

Friday, April 7,  2017

Washington Nationals @ Philadelphia Phillies

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Pitching: Max Scherzer vs. Vince Velasquez

Results:  Nationals defeated Phillies, 7-6

It was a pretty cold home opener this year.  Thankfully, the free giveaway at the ballpark today was a knit hat, so that immediately came in handy for myself and the other 45,000+ in attendance.

Before the game, there was live music, a ferris wheel and a lot of other cool stuff outside the park.  It wasn't quite as festive of an atmosphere as Opening Day 2009, but you'll have this when you're not coming off of the second championship season in franchise history.

Once we were inside the ballpark, I accidentally stumbled into a parade of the entire team down Ashburn Alley, led by the Philly Phanatic, as they were on their way to take the field for opening introductions before the game.  I was on my way to Chickie's & Pete's for something to eat and had no idea that this was about to go down, so it was just a case of being at the right place at the right time.

There was also a little Coca-Cola kiosk set up where you could turn yourself into an animated gif bobblehead.

 

They also printed out copies of the photo for everyone to have, and it didn't cost a dime.  Pretty awesome of you, Coke.  Thanks!

Usually, I try to shoot for tickets on the first base side behind home plate, but demand and prices are pretty high for the home opener, so it was out in left field for me.  It's not bad to watch a game from the outfield - just not my preferred location.  The chicken fingers and crab fries definitely helped me to warm up.

One of the benefits of sitting in left field was that we got to see our old friend, Jayson Werth, up close in the final year of his current contract.  I'll never understand why other Phillies fans boo this guy.  He was a critical piece in our 2008 World Championship and 2009 National League Championship seasons, and he always hustled his ass off.  Yes, he took the money and signed with the Nationals before the 2011 season for 7 years / $126 million dollars, but lets put that in perspective.  It was the 14th richest contract in the history of the sport at the time.  That's pretty damn life changing for a guy who missed the entire season due to injury just four years earlier and had to settle for a bargain basement deal in 2007 as a platoon player.  Any player would have jumped at the chance for that kind of money and security.  I appreciate everything that Jayson Werth did for my team, and I don't blame him one bit for signing with Washington.

 

The Nationals didn't waste time in this game.  Vinny Velo walked the second batter he faced, and then gave up a two run homer to Bryce Harper - not a good start.  Daniel Murphy hit another homer off of him in the top of the third to put the Nationals up 4-0.

Joely Rodriguez came on to pitch for the Phillies in the top of the 5th and wasn't much of an improvement.  He walked Bryce Harper and gave up a double to Daniel Murphy to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.  He did manage to strike out Ryan Zimmerman, but Jayson Werth jacked a home run to deep left field to put the Phillies down 7-0.  

Meanwhile, Max Scherzer was shutting down the Phillies offense pretty efficiently.  He didn't allow a baserunner until Howie Kendrick doubled in the bottom of the 4th with one out.  Odubel Herrera followed it up with a single, but Scherzer retired Maikel Franco and Michael Saunders to end the inning with no damage.  Cesar Hernandez doubled off of him in the bottom of the 6th, and Odubel got an RBI single, but those were the only runs given up by the Nationals ace.

Thankfully, the Nationals pulled Scherzer in the bottom of the 7th and the Phillies immediately responded by putting some runs on the board.  Sammy Solis was brought in to pitch and gave up an RBI double to Freddy Galvis and a home run to Aaron Altherr to narrow the Nats lead to 7-4.

The Phillies looked like they were going to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th.  Cameron Rupp led off with a single and Freddy Galvis homered to narrow the Nationals lead to a single run, however the rally didn't continue and the Phillies lost 7-6.

Portrait of a cold and grouchy Phillies fan.

So, the Phillies are now 1-3.  They haven't won since Opening Day, they lost their opening series on the road against the Reds, and now they've lost their home opener to a division rival.  It's not exactly the start that we were hoping for, but it's much too early to count out the Fightin's yet.

Happy Danny Tartabull Day

Danny Tartabull - OF
MLB Career: 1984 to 1997
Phillies Career: April 1 to April 7, 1997
The late 90's were not kind to the Philadelphia Phillies or the fans, but no year was more depressing than 1997.  In the first 100 games of the season, the Phillies were 30 - 70.  At their lowest point in the season (July 27th), the team was 42 games below .500.  To make matters worse, they drafted J.D. Drew, who refused to sign because the team wouldn't meet his signing bonus demands.  However, the worst part of 1997 wasn't their draft pick.  It was their big free agent acquisition - Danny Tartabull.

Tartabull played for the White Sox in 1996 and made $5.2 million.  At 34 years old, he finished the season with 27 home runs and 101 RBI.  He was past his prime, but there was reason to believe that he still had a couple productive seasons left in the tank.  Unfortunately for Tartabull, the general managers of the day were less optimistic about his future.  In fact, the only offer on the table was a $500k one year deal with the Reds... until the Phillies got involved.

The Phillies decided that Tartabull was going to be their target free agent.  They saw him as their cleanup hitter behind Gregg Jefferies.  They also didn't mind the indignity of begging a man that no other team wanted to sign for $2.3 million dollars.  After signing, Tartabull wasted no time endearing himself to Phillies fans.  When asked about his trip through free agency that ultimately ended in Philadelphia, he told the media "My number one goal was to sign on with a team that had a chance to go to post-season play.  That didn't happen."  Ouch.

He wasn't wrong.  The Phillies finished the season in dead last, 33 games behind the division champion Atlanta Braves.  However, Danny Tartabull didn't suffer through the season along with the fans.  On Opening Day in Los Angeles, in his first at-bat as a Phillie, Tartabull fouled a ball off of his foot.  He walked twice, but didn't get a hit.  His foot was still sore after the game, so the Phillies kept him on the bench for the rest of the series with the Dodgers,  He didn't return to the lineup until the fifth game of the season, which was April 5th against the Padres.  Again, Tartabull was hitless, going 0-2 with two strikeouts and a walk.  He sat again the next day and returned to the lineup for the last game of his professional career the following day.  The Phillies began a three game series with the Giants in San Francisco twenty years ago today - April 7th, 1997.  Our big free agent prize again failed to get a hit and struck out twice, but he did manage to draw a walk and score a run.

Not long after the game, we learned that Tartabull may have done more damage than expected when he fouled the ball off of his foot on Opening Day.  Reports at the time said that he had a small fracture, and there was a possibility of ligament damage, but there were more than a few grumblings that he wasn't as hurt as he claimed to be, and he used the incident as an excuse to cash in his chips (and his $2.3 million dollar check from the Phillies) and call it a career.  He never played in another game and retired at the end of the season.

The lesson we learned 20 years ago today is that sometimes the big free agent acquisition turns out to be a dud.  In fact, we should make it a holiday and give each other greeting cards at Citizens Bank Park to remind each other that we're all in this together.  We're Phillies fans, and when you wear the red and white, you have to keep in mind that sometimes life sucks.

Chugging Milk With Michael Jack

Mike Schmidt promotional material

Middle Atlantic Milk Marketing Association - Philadelphia, PA

This milk advertisement featuring Phillies legend Mike Schmidt was shared on Twitter by Super 70s Sports.  It turns out that quite a few of these were published in the early 80's.

Relax, It's Just A Cake

Spotted Dick Sponge
Simpson's
This may be the most delicious desert ever made, but I can't get over the fact that it sounds like something a hospital might use to clean up after an STD.

The Faded Bride

 

Bridal Boutique sign
443 Winters Ave - West Hazleton, PA
This wooden sign of a bride has been on the side of this building since January 1972.  I remember passing it when I was in the car with my grandfather or taking the dog for a walk.  It's now an apartment building (the dress shop closed down years ago), but the sign is still on the side, fading away in the sun a little more every year.

Happy Birthday, Pop

Happy 58th birthday to the coolest son of a bitch I know.

Hot Rooster Action

Sriracha Hot Stout Beer
Rogue Ales & Spirits (2017)

I promise that this isn't an April Fools joke.  You can walk into Wegman's and buy this right now.

Pac Maps

Pac Maps
Google Maps (2017)

From now until April 4th, you can use Google Maps to create Pac-Man boards out of your community, or any other community in the world for that matter.  There goes my weekend!

Three Mics

3 Mics
Neal Brennan (2017)
Couldn't sleep, so I discovered Neal Brennan on Netflix.  Insomnia sometimes works out for the best.

Beard B. Gone

So, I went ahead and shaved the beard.  I'm sure that I'll grow it back soon enough, but I'll let you decide - beard or no beard?  Vote now by shouting your preference at the screen.

Nuts and Berries

Strawberry Nut M&M's
Mars Inc (2017)
These were pretty good, with a mellow strawberry flavor that blends in well with the chocolate.  If they made a Banana Nut version, you could mix them with these to create Banana Split Sundae M&M's.

Property Management For Cash And Prizes

The $40,000,000 Monopoly Game
McDonald's (1987)
The first McDonald's Monopoly promotion began thirty years ago today and was a phenomenon from day one.  I was six years old at the time and I remember seeing the peel off property game pieces everywhere.  The kids at my elementary school traded them with each other as enthusiastically as we traded baseball cards and Garbage Pail Kids.  Even after the promotion was over, it was typical to find these alongside the spare change in cars or in the kitchen junk drawer next to the pens and scotch tape.

My grandparents kept the Monopoly board where all important documents were kept - on top of the microwave in the butterfly clip.  While the contest was running, I would anxiously peel off the game pieces from the food or soda cup and stick them to the board in the hopes of collecting the entire color group and winning a prize.  The game piece that everyone was hoping to find was #22 - Boardwalk.  I think I speak for everyone who participated in this promotion when I say that we all had at least a half dozen Park Place stamps, but there was only one Boardwalk stamp in the entire world, and you needed both Park Place and Boardwalk to win the grand prize of $1,000 per week for life.

In addition to the property game pieces, there were a number of Instant Win stamps that could be found.  The top prizes that could be won in this way were on stamps that looked like Chance and Community Chest cards, including an "Advance Token To Boardwalk" stamp which was the same as having the Park Place and Boardwalk stamps - it awarded the grand prize of $1,000 per week for life.  I never found any of those, but I did find plenty of the Instant Food Winners stamps.  Once I wised up to the fact that each color group had one property that was almost impossible to find, these were the stamps I was the most hopeful of finding.  I found lots of stamps that could be redeemed for a free order of french fries and Coca Cola, and a few for the Chicken McNuggets and sandwiches.

Click here to enlarge

This promotion was such a massive success for McDonald's that they brought it back the very next year.  The second time around, the grand prize was $2,000 per week for life.  Naturally, we all played along and collected Monopoly stamps for another year.  Since then, they've brought the promotion back intermittently throughout the 90's and 2000's.  At this point, if you are reading this in the United States, the chances are pretty good that a McDonald's Monopoly game piece from one of these years is hiding somewhere in your house.  It might be stuck behind the heater.  It may have gotten packed into a box in the basement or attic.  It could be at the bottom of your junk drawer, or in the garage, or behind the sofa.  The point is that it's probably there, and you'll probably find it one of these days and chuckle - unless it's the Boardwalk stamp.

True Story

The Oatmeal
Artwork by Matthew Inman

The Crustaceans Have Conquered London

Tummy Rub

Believe it or not, he's even more sweet and friendly than he looks.

Switch Pitcher

Pat Venditte
RHP and LHP - Philadelphia Phillies
Last week, the Phillies flipped prospect Joey Curletta (acquired from the Dodgers in the Carlos Ruiz trade) for a truly unique pitcher.  Pat Venditte is a switch pitcher - he throws right handed and left handed depending on what batter he's facing.  This could be an interesting addition to the Phillies bullpen.

Please, Dear God, No More Shoveling

Two days away from Spring in West Hazleton.

Happy World Monopoly Day

Life Size McDonalds Monopoly Board
Promo for McDonald's 20th Anniversary of Monopoly
Tampa, Florida - completed by Chalk Twins with Julie Graden and Bridget Lyons.

Mr. Mackelroy and The Sea Creature

This is my new favorite professional wrestling gimmick, and I don't care if it didn't happen.

Southpaw Regional Wrestling - February 1987

This may be the most brilliant pro wrestling material that I have ever witnessed.  I need a Lethal Leap Year t-shirt!

Here is the roster:

• Lance Catamaran: John Cena
• Chett Chetterfield: Fandango
• Clint Bobski: Chris Jericho
• Champion Chip Henderson: TJ Perkins
• Tex Ferguson: Luke Gallows
• Chad 2 Badd: Karl Anderson
• Big Bartholomew: Rusev
• Christian Joy: Lana
• Mr. Mackelroy (Banker): Tyler Breeze
• The Sea Creature: ???
• Impressive Pelvis Wesley: Heath Slater
• La Barba Grande: Luke Harper
• Surf Dudes With Attitudes: The Ascension
• Referee Chip Henderson: Referee John Cone
• Ric Flair Paid Impersonator: Ric Flair

The Murray Over My Shoulder

Franklin's

Public Square - Wilkes-Barre, PA

"Life is so damn short.  For fucks sake, just do what makes you happy."
-- Bill Murray

What A Difference A Day Makes

The first day of spring is about a week away, and the snow was finally starting to melt.  It seems that winter isn't finished with us yet.  At least the blizzard held off until after the Garrison Keillor show.

It looks like the drive to work is going to be pretty interesting.

See that black rectangle?  That's the side rear view mirror of a car.

I feel bad for little Harvey.  The poor little guy has to go outside and pee in this.

Prairie Road Companion

I haven't met too many folks out there who are taller than my pop, but Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion edges him out.

Harvey and the Butterfinger Bunny

Trying to take some product photos for training, but Harvey keeps blocking the shot.  Whoever ends up eating this, please know that the box had been gently sniffed by a fuzzy Schnoodle.

Is It Spring Yet?

Happy snowy Friday!

Hopefully Not My Last Supper

Jesus Christ Superstar
Dutch Apple Dinner Theater - Lancaster, PA

Dad, Trish, Angie and I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater last night.  We've been to many shows here over the years and have always had a good time.

I'm trying to eat a little healthier, which is an easy thing to do here.  They have an excellent selection of fresh steamed veggies and fish.  Everything was absolutely delicious, as it always was.  The only hard part was walking past the desert tables, which must have had at least 40 different cakes and pies.

Multi-Tasking

Adding product photos to InfoNest, reading up on the Phillies in Spring Training and watching Game 6 of the 1980 World Series on an old CRT. Just another Saturday morning for a guy with ADHD.