The date was July 13th, 2013. The Phillies were playing a day night double header against the rarely seen Chicago White Sox. A paid attendance of 41,562 packed Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies were only 1 game under .500 and 7 games out in the National League East. They were only 1 game back of the Nationals for second place.
Jonathan Pettibone (remember him?) had the ball for the Phillies in the first game. To his credit, he had a quality start going 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs.
That was not the story of the afternoon. The two teams found themselves tied going into extra innings, but only because of the Phillies inefficiency to score with runners on 3rd with less then 2 outs. Carlos Ruiz and Laynce Nix failed to bring in Kevin Frandsen at 3rd with less than 2 out in the bottom of the 9th. Delmon Young failed to bring in Michael Young with less than 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th.
Theses failures led to the White Sox taking the lead in the top of the 11th and ultimately the win. More importantly, in the bottom of the 11th Ben Revere (who was hitting .305 at the time) fouled a ball off his foot, fracturing his foot and sending him to the disabled list. He would miss the rest of the season.
After winning their next three games putting them at a 49-48 record, The Phillies went on an 8 game losing streak without their leading hitter. This was the last time Phillies played meaningful baseball.
Until tonight, that is.
Tonight the Phillies start a 3 game series against the division leading Atlanta Braves. The Phillies start the series only 1.5 games behind and can capture 1st place this late in a season for the first time since 2011 with a sweep.
The Phillies are coming off a 4 game series split with the St. Louis Cardinals and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.
The rebuilding is over and it’s time the fans take notice. While it is supposed to rain Tuesday, Monday and Wednesday are slated to be beautiful weather wise. There is no reason that 41,562 Philly Phaithfuls can’t pack the stadium for this important series.
In fact, it is imperative that we, the fans, show the Phillies our support. The team has been averaging 25,657 fans per game, which is the highest average since 2014 when the average was 29,924 fans per game.
It’s time to paint the town Philllies Red once again. The days of sellout streaks aren’t as far away as we once thought, but to get to that point the fans must show their support. The Phillies have the 8th best ERA in all of the majors. They’re also 8th in the majors in on base percentage, 4th in the National League.
Bring out that old Chase Utley jersey or go buy a brand spankin’ new Jake Arrieta, Odubel Herrera, or Rhys Hoskins jersey. Head out to a game or 2 during this Braves series and show some of that iconic Philadelphian brotherly love to our boys in red and white.
Show the country that baseball is back in swing in South Philly!
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
