The Dirty Inning

In the spring of 1970, the Phillies were a largely unknown entity. Their players were young, their manager was new, and after three wins to start the season, they lost the next seven. Justin and Trevor bring you the story of that seventh loss, a brutal one to the Mets while the nation's attention was thankfully elsewhere, on a crippled space craft, hovering above the planet.

On June 1, 1923, the Phillies made a little history, which is to say, they were made a part of a little history: For the first time in the 20th century, a team (the Giants) scored in every inning of a baseball game, bashing the Phillies 22-8, thanks in part to both the offensive contributions of Jimmy O'Connell, a hot young prospect with a worm in his gut, and Jesse Winters, a Phillies hurler who just stopped caring. Also: Just how in the heck hard was it to get a bowl of warm soup in Philadelphia in 1923? Apparently, harder than you'd think.

On May 14, 2005, the Phillies sent Ryan Madson to the mound against the Reds to hold a late lead. He blew it. Join Just and Trev as they travel back to early 2000s Philadelphia--a city on the rise--for an episode that has it all: Mysteries about Jimmy Rollins all-star appearances! Injections of crappy 2000s pop-rock! Justin accidentally saying Del Ennis as "Del Anus!" Get in here.

It was 1995, baseball was recovering from a strike, the Phillies were realizing they might be good, and humanity was grappling with the dawn of the internet. The Phillies were hosting the Padres as part of a lengthy home stand and, on a Sunday afternoon, offered free baseball to their fans thanks to a 4-4 tie.

Justin and Trevor dive into the story of Heathcliff Slocumb, the 1995 Phillies, and all the fear of “getting too online” permeating mid-nineties Philadelphia.

Old timey ball players... ineffective pitchers... passing sea birds... eventually, death's icy touch is felt on each of our shoulders. On this episode of The Dirty Inning, Justin and Trev go back to 1915--the LAST time the Phillies started 4-0--and discuss the loss that ended the team's early eight-game win streak. Along the way, they'll learn just how many players in that game felt the unwavering fear of what one baseball writer referred to as being called out "by the great umpire in the sky."*

*In reference to death.

On August 7, 1996, the Phillies played a game on Mike Trout’s birthday and lost, 14-1. It was on that day, Justin and Trev theorize, on which the six-year-old Trout declared that yes, they were his hometown team and he loved them, but he would NEVER play for the Phillies.

On September 6, 1930, the Phillies handed the ball to Hal Elliott, a former WWI balloon pilot, who proceeded to let the Brooklyn Robins pad their already 12-0 lead. Justin and Trev take you back to the day in Depression-era New York that the Phillies let a baseball game go so poorly, it barely even feel like baseball anymore.

The 1946 Boston Braves were ready to impress people. They tried to gut the Cardinals roster for talent and upgraded Braves Field in Beantown, including a flashy new coat of paint for the reserved seats. Days later, they had screwed up their home opener so publicly that they had to play the Phillies at Fenway Park.

Justin and Trev visit 1883 Philadelphia, where the Phillies--then the "Quakers"--are losing the first ever game in team history. And the fans, as you might have guessed, are NOT into it.

The first time the Phillies met Houston Colt .45s starter Don Nottebart in 1963, he no-hit them. The second time... Don Hoak and the rest of the Phillies offense didn't let that happen.