This Day in Philly Sports History – April 21
Presented by the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
April 21 is the birthday of a Philly Spring staple. It has also featured hat tricks, career highs, power streaks, and triple-doubles. Today we look at key Flyers and Sixers playoff moments, the emergence of Cole Hamels and the Penn Relays.
Happy Birthday to You
First, we hop in The Way Back Machine and start in 1895. Wanting to add some buzz around Penn’s track program, Frank B. Ellis created the Pennsylvania Relay Carnival. The initial event featured nine relay races and drew about 5,000 fans to Franklin Field. Today it is the oldest and largest relay competition in the U.S. It has been run every year since 1895 except for 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic. Over the past 131 years, The Penn Relays has turned into a global phenomenon featuring the best high school, collegiate and professional athletes. Some notable stars to run in the Penn Relays include Jim Thorpe, Jesse Owens, Roger Bannister, Edwin Moses, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Brown, Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, and Usain Bolt. This year’s relays take place April 23-25. If you’ve never attended the Relays, I highly recommend making the trip to West Philly.
A Propper Hat Trick
The Flyers were looking to take a 2-0 lead over the Islanders in the Patrick Division Finals on this day in 1985 at the Spectrum. Brian Propp recorded a hat trick, Tim Kerr added a goal and an assist while Pelle Lindburgh made 26 saves as the Flyers won their 5th straight postseason game to take a 2-0 lead. They would win the next game before eliminating the Islanders in 5 games. After taking care of the Nordiques in 5 they ran into a buzzsaw named the Edmonton Oilers.
The Phillies Ace Arrives
Cole Hamels staked his claim to Ace status on this day in 2007. The Phillies beat the Reds 4-1 at Great American Ballpark. Hamels pitched a complete game 5-hitter, striking out a career high 15 while only walking 2. He was aided by an Abraham Nunez, Chase Utley, Wes Helms around the horn triple play in the fifth inning. Chase Utley homered and doubled knocking in 3 of the Phillies runs. Aaron Rowand also homered but the story was Hamels who gave us all a glimpse of what was to come.
Utley on Fire
One year later the Phillies were in Colorado. They overcame a 5-2 deficit by scoring 2 runs in the 6th, 2 runs in the 8th, and 3 runs in the 9th. The rally including back-to-back homers by Jayson Werth and Chase Utley, Werth’s being an inside-the-parker. For Utley it was his fifth straight game with a homerun tying the club record. During the streak he hit 6 homers in 5 days. He later had another five-game homer streak that season – making him one of four players to have two separate streaks in the same season (Harmon Killebrew, Frank Thomas, Barry Bonds). Pat Burrell also went deep as the Phillies won it 9-5.
Trivia – Seven Phillies have homers in 5 straight games. Who are they? (Answer Below)
Ben Simmons was Magic
On this day in 2018 the Sixers took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead over the Heat in their 1st Round series, beating them 106-102 in Miami. Joel Embiid was not his typical self, scoring 14 and grabbing 12 boards but turned the ball over 8 times. Ben Simmons though stepped on the court and was trouble for the Heat. Ben messed around and had a 17-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist, triple-double. He became the first rookie since Magic Johnson to have a playoff triple-double. Magic had 5 during the 1980 playoffs, the last coming against the Sixers in Game 5 of NBA Finals against the Sixers.
Trivia Answer – Dick Allen (1969), Mike Schmidt (1979), Bobby Abreu (2005), Chase Utley 2x (2008), Rhys Hoskins (2017), Odubel Herrera (2018) and Trea Turner (2023)
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