As I have said before, my fiance is an avid baseball fan and being such I thought that the perfect birthday gift for him would be to take him to a baseball game. However, seeing how we are paying for a wedding in less than a month it seemed that the major league Phillies were out of the question. But what fun an afternoon at the minor league ballpark would be.
So, his birthday being yesterday I got him tickets for us to go see the Reading Phillies. They are the AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. (The major league Phillies, if they had a letter would be AAAA.) It was a good game that we won 7-5. We met a couple of very nice people while we were there and had a lovely dinner out at a local Chinese restaurant. I think overall it went very well and he said he had a very nice birthday.
This got me to thinking to look up the
1952 Phillies. On July 1, 1952, playing in New York, they played the Brooklyn Dodgers losing 3-4 and on the 4th of July, one of the most famous days for going to baseball games they played a double header against the Boston Braves, unfortunately losing both games, 1-2 and
2-3. On the left is the 1952 Topps baseball card for someone that had a career of 16 years with the Phillies. He started with the team in 1944 until he gets traded in a few years. Right now he is playing short stop but is a pretty versatile player that tried a hand at 2nd base, 3rd base and was even brought in to pitch a few times. However he was unable to find success as a pitcher with an
ERA of 5.40 in seven career appearances over three seasons. As a position player he had several successful seasons in Philadelphia and was named to the All Star Team this year. For this season his offensive statistics are comparable to Raul Ibanez in 2010.
On the right is Phillies Legend Richie Ashburn. He is such a prominent figure in the history of the team that they have named an entire section of the stadium after him called 'Ashburn Alley' where you can shop, eat and learn all about the history of the team while being watched over by a larger than life size bronze statue of Ashburn himself. He plays center field and is a future 6 time all-star and hall of famer. With a very impressive
fielding percentage of .980 his future hero status is understandable.
Tonight is going to be a night in but tomorrow we are heading to a family picnic. If I don't write before that, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July.
Till Later!
On the right is Phillies Legend Richie Ashburn. He is such a prominent figure in the history of the team that they have named an entire section of the stadium after him called 'Ashburn Alley' where you can shop, eat and learn all about the history of the team while being watched over by a larger than life size bronze statue of Ashburn himself. He plays center field and is a future 6 time all-star and hall of famer. With a very impressive fielding percentage of .980 his future hero status is understandable. 