Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
It’s going to be an interesting week in Philly Sports. Rob Thomson is out as manager, the Flyers have dropped two straight, and the Sixers look to avoid being eliminated tonight. April 28has been a mixed bag for our teams with the Flyers moving on, the Sixers getting a break, and the birth of Howie Season. We look at key moments from the Sixers, Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles today.
Moving On
In 1985 the Flyers made a run to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers. On this day though they eliminated the Islanders in Game 5 of the Patrick Division Finals. Illka Sinisalo scored the only goal with assists from Doug Crossman and Peter Zezel as the Flyers won it 1-0 and took the series 4 games to 1. Pelle Lindburgh in the midst of a Vezina Trophy season saved all 25 shots he faced as the Flyers moved to the Wales Conference Finals to take on the Nordiques.
History Made at the Vet
The Phillies took on the Padres in 1991 at the Vet. They exploded for 5 runs in the first inning thanks in part to a 3-Run Homer by Charle Hayes. Dickie Thon also homered in the game and Jason Grimsley allowed 3 hits over 7 innings while striking out 7 as the Phillies won 9-2. History was made when Tony Gwynn stepped up to the plate in the first inning. With runners on 1st and 2nd Gwynn hit a liner to Randy Ready who caught it, stepped on 2nd then thew to Ricky Jordan to complete the inning ending triple play. It was the first triple play in the history of the Vet and the Phillies first as a team since 1968.
Trivia – How many total triple plays (by either team) happened in the history of the Vet? (Answer Below)
Win by Losing?
The 8-seed Sixers took on the 1-seed Bulls in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs on this day in 2012 The Sixers lost 103-91 led by Elton Brand’s 19 points. The big story coming out of this game was reigning MVP Derrick Rose. Rose tore his ACL late in the game and was out for the rest of the series. Rose’s injury coupled with a bang Joakim Noah opened the door for the Sixers to an improbable upset of the Bulls.
Birth of Howie SZN
The 2016 NFL Draft marked the coming out party of Howie Roseman. Prior to the draft Howie was able to trade Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonzo (both Chip Kelly acquisitions) and the 13th overall pick to the Dolphins for the #8 pick. This freed up some salary cap space but also put the Eagles into a position to make some noise on draft day. Then just over a week before the draft he was able to trade the #8 pick, a 2016 3rd and 4th round pick, a 2017 1st round pick and a 2018 2nd round pick to the Browns in exchange for #2 overall in 2016. A pick that was used on North Dakota St. quarterback Carson Wentz. The legend of Howie was born, and the Eagles ultimately won a Super Bowl in part to Carson’s play in 2017.
Like Father Like Son
The Phillies lost to the Dodgers on April 28, 2017, 5-3 in L.A. Freddy Galvis had 2 RBI for the Phils. Mark Leiter Jr. pitched a scoreless inning in relief joining his dad, Mark Sr. on the Phillies all-time roster. It marked the first time a father and son both pitched for the Phillies. The Leiters also joined the Amaros as father son duos to play for the Phillies. They were later joined by the Bedrosians (Steve and Cam) as father-son duos to pitch for the team.
Trivia Answer – 2. There were only two triple plays in the history of the Vet. The one in 1991 and another by the Phillies in 1999.
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