/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44187302/109475837.0.jpg)
(there usually won't be enough for a separate article, but this was turning into a very long comment)
--
Today in Phillies history (besides Ryan Howard's 35th birthday):
1986: Mike Schmidt wins his third NL MVP award, joining Stan Musial and Roy Campanella as the only other 3-time winners.
[Barry Bonds (7) and Albert Pujols (3) have now also joined the list of NL 3-time winners]
1956: Traded Del Ennis to St. Louis for Bobby Morgan and Rip Repulski
1980: Sent Kevin Saucier to Texas to complete the 9/13/1980 trade for Sparky Lyle
1998: Traded Ricky Bottalico and Garrett Stephenson to St. Louis for Jeff Brantley, Ron Gant and Cliff Politte
At the time of the trade in 1956, Ennis was...
- 2nd all-time on the Phillies in Plate Appearances (6939 to Delahanty's 7141)
- 1st all-time in games played
- 6th in runs
- 2nd in hits (1812 to Delahanty's 2214)
- 4th in doubles
- 2nd in RBI (1124 to Delahanty's 1288)
And was the Phillies' all-time leader in home runs with 259 (#2 was Chuck Klein with 243)
Happy Birthday:
Joe Morgan the Lesser (84)
Bobby Tolan (69)
Bob Boone (67)
Dickie Noles (58), recovering alcoholic and long-time Phillies' "Employee Assistance Professional" doing crisis counseling for players
Clay Condrey (39)
Ryan Howard (35)
Also born on this date:
1862: Billy Sunday, who finished his major league career with the Phillies in 1890 before going on to become the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.
From Tolan's wikipedia page:
Tolan is married to Marian Trahan and they have a son Robert (Robbie) Tolan who plays professional baseball in the Washington Nationals organization. On December 31, 2008, Robbie was shot by a Bellaire, Texas policeman allegedly investigating reports of a stolen car after a confrontation in the Tolan driveway. The younger Tolan was unarmed and driving his own vehicle. The bullet lodged in Tolan's liver; the injury may have ended his professional baseball career. An investigation into the shooting is on-going.
And some Dickie Noles trivia:
In 1987, Noles became one of only four players in history to be "traded for themselves", joining Harry Chiti, Brad Gulden, and John McDonald. Noles was traded from the Cubs to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later. 33 days later, the teams were unable to agree on what player Chicago would receive, and so Noles was shipped back to the Cubs, completing a deal in which he was traded for himself.
Finally, three months from today will be the Phillies' first workout for pitchers and catchers in Clearwater.