Jim Thome, Todd Pratt, and the last great Phillies game at the Vet
Scott Graham lost his might hardly criticize him. For 4 hours and 45 mins, Graham, his fellow broadcasters, and 35, 512 followers inside the soon-to-be-demolished Veterans Stadium had actually watched the Phillies and Red Sox participate in a back-and-forth duel that pinned the win expectations meter to both sides of the extremes throughout the latter innings of an extremely stressful baseball felt like a playoff video game so, yeah, it's reasonable the usually reserved Graham went berzerk when back-up catcher Todd Pratt hit a bomb to dead center area to offer the Phils a thrilling 6-5 success. For those that were around and complying with the team of that age carefully, this is a reasonable concern. The last fantastic video game at the Vet? Franzke LA whose destiny would be to inevitably lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Yankees in the American Organization Championship Series a few months was the favored entering the quick two-game series at 41-30, with the Phils at 37-33. In today's wild card era, those03 Phils would have remained in a great placement for a wild card place for mid-June but, two decades ago, there was irritation and panic that the group would not be great in mind, the build-up to this collection in Philadelphia was enormous. Boston followers made certain to take a trip south and take up some of the lots of empty seats at the Veterinarian, and the ambience was electric. The games snapped with stress and, for the Phillies, it was a real measuring stick they reputable playoff challengers? They intended to show they protested a Boston schedule loaded with the heroes that would certainly break the 100+ year World Series curse the complying with season: Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, and Nomar Garciaparra. On paper, the Phils' lineup of Thome, Bobby Abreu, Mike Lieberthal, Placido Polanco and a very young Rub Burrell and Jimmy Rollins, merely weren't on the same level keeping that Boston yet, the Phils swept that two-game collection in brilliant Saturday, the beginning pitching match-up featured an in-his-prime Pedro Martinez who, in 29 begins, set up a league-low 2.22 age over 186.2 innings. He also led the organization in ERA+, FIP, WHIP, H9, HR9 and K9, and completed 3rd in the AL Cy Young ballot. For the Phils, left-hander Randy Wolf took the mound. It was a mismatch on paper, with Wolf finishing 2003 with a 4.23 period over 33 beginnings and 200 innings, although he did grab a group best 16 victories on the period, and was pitching terrific at that time of the today, Wolf was practically just as good as Pedro. He went 623 innings against a stacked Boston schedule, permitting two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks. Those 2 runs were solo dingers to Todd Walker, in the third inning and once again later on in the 6th. Martinez went seven innings and provided up simply one made work on four hits with seven strikeouts and 2 strolls, the only run he permitted was a solo blast by Bobby Abreu in the bottom of the 2nd. From the 7th inning on, it came to be a fight of the bullpens. In those days, that was a losing fight for the Fightins, nevertheless Red Sox Store, Turk Wendell, Rheal Cormier, Terry Adams and Dan Plesac combined to toss 413 scoreless innings, keeping the Phils in the video game through the later really began to obtain insane in the base of the 8th. Routing 2-1, Boston right-handed reducer Mike Timlin encountered Jim Thome with 2 out. As he did so usually throughout his Hall of Fame occupation, the hulking very first baseman delivered in the clutch and introduced a monster crowning achievement deep right into the right-center field seats to energize the group and link the video game 2-2. The groups traded scoreless innings in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings, however in the 12th, an RBI triple by Kevin Millar off Phils' closer Jose Mesa drove Boston in front 3-2. To their last out, Red Sox reducer Jason Shiell did something he absolutely shot not have actually done. provide Jim Thome something to hit. And hit it he did. Thome's opposite area homer connected the game 3-3, sending out a delirious fanbase into the 13th. Below are both the Thome crowning achievement, in all their Thome's heroics, it appeared Boston would not be refuted. In his second inning of job, Mesa struck out Trot Nixon and Freddy Sanchez, yet allowed a two-out single to Damon, an RBI dual to Pedestrian and an RBI solitary to Garciaparra before getting Ramirez on a groundout. Depressingly, the Phils currently routed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the 13th. However there was a little bit more magic left. Facing Shiell momentarily inning, Abreu led off the 13th with a walk. Liberthal was retired on a fly sphere to right, yet after protective indifference permitted Abreu to take second, David Bell tied an RBI dual to center, making it 5-4. Manager Grady Little changed Shiell with Rudy Seanez to deal with Pratt, in his second go-around as the Phils' back-up catcher. What adhered to following is etched for life in Phillies memorable as Pratt's crowning achievement was the phone call by Graham, that virtually never went this insane. However hey, all of us got it. It was an insane video game that no person believed the Phillies were going to win when Boston scored twice in the top of the 13th. It is such a legendary phone call that a bottle screw was made to honor the high off that win, the Phils brushed up the series by winning on Sunday 5-0 behind Brett Myers and afterwards after a loss to the Braves, proceeded to win seven in a , a late-season collapse in the last 2 weeks in which they lost 6 straight and 7 of their last 8 dropped their document to 86-76, 5 games behind the Marlins in the wild card race. Naturally, in today's playoff structure, the 2003 Phillies would have made the postseason as the 3rd wild card, but I think the03 Phils were a little in advance of their a few months later on, Veterans Stadium would certainly be ripped to shreds, changed by Citizens Bank Park, and I assume it's fair to see this game, twenty years ago today, was the last, terrific Phillies video game ever played at that old, shabby stadium.
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