Hittin’ Season’s Greetings from the Phillies

While Aaron Altherr, Tommy Joseph and Cesar Hernandez were hitting, Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco slumbered during May and Howie Kendrick was on the disabled list. But June provided CPR for the offense. Like April, the first lineup spots put men on base, but the middle of the order supplied some punch this time. Franco went three-for-eight in the first two wins, Joseph had four knocks in nine at-bats in the next two victories, and Altherr joined Joseph in those two triumphs with four hits in eight ABs.

June stats:

• Hernandez: .333 with 2 RBIs.
• Herrera: .550 with 2 home runs and 9 RBIs.
• Kendrick: .333 with 1 homer and 2 RBIs.

"NICE CATCH:     “The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new ballplayer cares about the name on the back.” – Steve P. Garvey"

During a weekday in an opponent’s stadium, you can occasionally hear the field-level calls of the home plate umpire. Ball! Outside! And the count went to 3-2 before two fouls and ball four.

After the next batter took two balls in the dirt, the organist began playing a song for the home crowd, and you knew what it was without looking. A powwow on the mound. Fans nervously murmured because the red pinstripes had two on with no outs. Base hit!

Despite the fact that San Francisco has offensive woes, they fought to the final out in their last two defeats at the Bank. And although it requires a little imagination, you can picture how the meetings of players and coaches with the skipper included how unacceptable losing to the Philadelphia Phillies was. He expected a series win or even a sweep.