The Main Event

  • July 11, 1947 – Phillies manager Ben Chapman mistakenly hands the umpires a completed but unused lineup card from the day before. As a result, announced pitcher Charley Shanz has to yield to Schoolboy Rowe. Rowe throws two pitches without warming up, the second one hit for a double. He then yields the mound back to Shanz, who strands the runner but yields seven runs later in the game to take the loss.

Philadelphia baseball has given fans championships, heartbreak, and no shortage of pure chaos. Amid the wins and losses, both the Phillies and the old Philadelphia Athletics have produced some legendary in-game mistakes by the men running the show. Some cost games. Some just cost dignity. All of them make for great stories.

The 1947 Lineup Card Mix-Up

One of the strangest moments in Phillies history came in 1947, when manager Ben Chapman accidentally handed umpires the wrong lineup card. The mistake wasn’t caught until the game was already underway, and it threw the pitching staff into chaos. Charley Schanz, the pitcher who was supposed to start, had to yield the mound to Schoolboy Rowe because Rowe’s name was the one on the outdated card. Rowe, who hadn’t warmed up and had no expectation of pitching that day, was forced out to the mound cold. He threw exactly two pitches. The second one was crushed for a double. With the situation sorted out, Rowe then handed the ball back to Schanz, who managed to strand the inherited runner but went on to have a rough afternoon of his own, surrendering seven runs before the game was over in a Phillies loss.

It’s a strange footnote in a season otherwise remembered for far weightier reasons. Chapman’s 1947 campaign is more infamous for his vicious verbal abuse of Jackie Robinson during Robinson’s rookie season, behavior that drew a warning from Commissioner Happy Chandler and lasting condemnation from baseball historians. Chapman was fired partway through the 1948 season, but that decision appears tied to the team’s on-field struggles and the fallout from the Robinson controversy rather than to any single in-game blunder like the lineup card mishap. Either way, he never managed in the majors again.

Gabe Kapler and the Reliever Who Wasn’t Ready

Fast forward seven decades, and the Phillies produced a screw-up eerily similar in spirit. In just the third game of his managerial career in 2018, Gabe Kapler called on left-hander Hoby Milner to relieve a struggling Vince Velasquez. There was one problem: nobody had told Milner to warm up. He hadn’t thrown a single bullpen pitch when Kapler waved him in from the dugout.

Umpire Jerry Layne allowed Milner five extra warm-up tosses on the mound instead of the standard eight, a decision that infuriated Braves manager Brian Snitker so much he was ejected arguing about it. Layne later said he felt responsible for protecting Milner physically, but added that someone in the Phillies organization should answer for the mistake. Kapler took full responsibility afterward, calling it a “miscommunication between the dugout and the bullpen,” and admitted his own reputation for valuing communication made the gaffe sting even more.

The game itself spiraled into a 15-2 loss, one so lopsided that the Phillies eventually had to use utility infielder Pedro Florimon to pitch the eighth inning after burning through the rest of the bullpen. It capped a rocky opening series for Kapler, who had also pulled ace Aaron Nola early in the season opener only to watch the bullpen collapse behind him.

Notably, the warmup mix-up wasn’t a one-time issue for Kapler. Years later, while managing the San Francisco Giants, he made a different kind of mental error, going to the mound for a pitching change without realizing his pitching coach had already made a visit to the same batter that inning. Under MLB rules, a second visit meant the pitcher had to stay in and finish the at-bat. Kapler called it flatly a “mental screw-up” on his part, and the Giants went on to lose that game as well.

Danny Ozark‘s Forgotten Substitution

Not every managerial mistake in Philadelphia baseball history involves a pitcher. In Game 3 of the 1977 National League Championship Series, the Phillies were three outs from taking a commanding series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Manager Danny Ozark had a defensive substitution ready to go: sending speedy Jerry Martin out to left field in place of the lumbering Greg Luzinski, a move Ozark had made in similar situations throughout the year. This time, he never pulled the trigger.

Luzinski remained in left, and when Vic Davalillo dropped a bunt single to open the ninth inning, followed by a bloop hit from Manny Mota that Luzinski nearly caught but instead played into a game-tying error, the missed substitution became the moment Phillies fans still talk about decades later. The relay throw home skipped away, more runs scored, and a controversial safe call at first base on a play involving Larry Bowa compounded the disaster. The Phillies lost the game and eventually the series, a crushing defeat for a team that had won 101 games that season. Ozark later admitted he simply wanted Luzinski’s bat available in case the game stayed close, a decision that backfired spectacularly. Ozark was fired two years later, in August 1979, though that move reflected years of frustration with the team’s inability to get past the NLCS rather than the “Black Friday” mistake alone.

Connie Mack‘s Later Years in the Dugout

The Philadelphia Athletics’ Connie Mack managed for an almost unthinkable fifty seasons, but by his final years in the dugout during the late 1940s, his grip on in-game management had loosened considerably. According to accounts from that era, an aging Mack would sometimes doze off during innings, wave outdated hand signals his own coaches had learned to ignore, or attempt to send a pinch-hitter to the plate who hadn’t played for the team in years. His coaching staff quietly handled most real in-game decisions by that point, while Mack, ever the beloved figurehead in his trademark suit and tie, remained the face of the franchise until his sons eased him into retirement following a disastrous 1950 season.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for July 11

  • July 11, 1923 – The last recorded instance of a major-league game being played with a single umpire occurred during a doubleheader between the Phillies and visiting Chicago. Ernie Quigley and Cy Pfirman were the assigned umpires, but Pfirman left the first game after being hit in the head by a foul ball. Quigley moved behind the plate for the rest of game one, and called the entirety of game two by himself.
  • July 11, 1944 – Ken Raffensberger allows one hit in two innings of relief in the 1944 All-star game. He picked up the win, a first by a Phillie.
  • July 11, 1954 – Jim Command connects for a grand slam for his first major-league hit, but the Phils lose to Brooklyn 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader.
  • July 11, 1967 – Dick Allen‘s homer helps the National League to a 2-1 All-Star victory in Anaheim.
  • July 11, 1967 – Traded Phil Linz to the Mets for Chuck Hiller. The Phillies had acquired Linz after the 1965 season from the Yankees for Ruben Amaro Sr. Hiller played in 31 games with the Phillies before being lost to Pittsburgh in the November 1967 Rule 5 Draft.
  • July 11, 1987 – Kent Tekulve pitched the final inning of a game against Atlanta. It was the 900th appearance of his career, setting a major-league record for most appearance by a pitcher who never started a game.
  • July 11, 1995 – Phillies reliever Heathcliff Slocumb earns the win as the National League pulls out a 3-2 victory in the All-Star game held in Arlington, TX. Teammate Tyler Green also pitched an inning.
  • July 11, 2005 – Bobby Abreu hits a record 41 home runs — 24 in the first round — in the All-star home run derby in Detroit.
  • July 11, 2010 – The Phillies beat the Reds 1-0 for the second straight day on their way to sweeping a four-game series. It is the first time since 1913 that the Phils have recorded consecutive 1-0 victories. Cole Hamels pitches scoreless ball into the eighth inning and relievers J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge record the last four outs of the game. Jimmy Rollins becomes the first National Leaguer since Roger Maris in 1968 to drive in the only run in consecutive 1-0 wins.
  • July 11, 2015 – Cody Asche hit a home run into McCovey Cove during an 8-5 loss to San Francisco. He became the first Phillie to reach the water on the fly since the Giants moved to the downtown park.

ICYMI

Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for July 11

  • Pop Schriver (born 1865) – A catcher and first baseman, Schriver played for the Phillies from 1888-1890. After hitting just .194 in 1888, he rebounded to hit .265 in 1889 and .274 in 1890.
  • Jimmy Slagle (born 1873) – A left-hand hitting outfielder, Slagle played parts of the 1890 and 1891 seasons with the Phillies before being released in June of 1901 and signed by the Boston Nationals.
  • Milt Stock (born 1893) – Acquired from the New York Giants in January of 1915, Stock went on to play four seasons with the Phillies, hitting .271 in 474 games with the team. In January of 1919 he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Dixie Davis and Pickles Dillhoefer.
  • Andy Ashby (born 1967) – Began his MLB career with the Phillies in 1991 and 1992, pitching in 18 games – 16 starts – over the two seasons. He was then selected by Colorado in the 1992 expansion draft and was reacquired by the Phillies in the November 1999 trade that sent Adam Eaton to the Padres, but was dealt to Atlanta for Bruce Chen in July of 2000. Overall, Ashby had a 14-year career with a 4.12 ERA.
  • Aneury Montilla (born 2006) – Signed as an international free agent, Montilla pitched in the DSL in 2025 and is in the FCL this season. In 16 relief appearances this season he has a 6.93 ERA.

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