The Main Event

  • July 13, 1993 – Terry Mulholland starts the All-Star game in Baltimore’s Camden Yards–the first time a Phillie was chosen to start since Steve Carlton in 1979. John Kruk and Darren Daulton also started, and Dave Hollins was selected as a reserve player.

Tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park, Cristopher Sánchez becomes just the seventh pitcher in Phillies history to start an All-Star Game, and the first to do it in his own ballpark. It’s a distinction the franchise hasn’t handed out often — the honor has gone to a Phillie only a handful of times across nearly a century of All-Star Games, and it tends to land on some of the best arms the organization has ever produced. Sánchez joins Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Steve Carlton, Terry Mulholland, Curt Schilling, and Roy Halladay on that short list, a group that spans the Whiz Kids era all the way to the 2010s dynasty rotations.

Robin Roberts Set the Standard

No one has started more All-Star Games than Robin Roberts, who took the ball for the National League in 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, and 1955 — five times, a mark that still ties for the all-time record. His best of the bunch came in 1953 at Crosley Field, where he tossed three shutout innings and struck out two while working around a pair of baserunners, helping the NL to a 5-1 win. Roberts was the definition of a workhorse in that stretch, reeling off six straight 20-win seasons from 1950 through 1955 and once throwing 28 consecutive complete games, a streak that still stands as the longest since 1920. He was the anchor of the “Whiz Kids” pennant-winning club and remains a Hall of Famer whose name still sits atop nearly every meaningful Phillies pitching leaderboard.

Curt Simmons Filled In During a Rainout

Sandwiched into Roberts’ run was 1952, when his Whiz Kids rotation partner Curt Simmons got the starting nod in the rain-shortened game at Shibe Park. The Ambler, Pennsylvania native and Whitehall High School product tossed three scoreless innings, walking one and striking out three while allowing only a double to Dom DiMaggio, as the NL held on for a 3-2 win. Simmons was outstanding that season, posting a 1.74 ERA and a 7-2 record in the first half and leading all of baseball with six shutouts. He’d get a second All-Star start in 1957 and finished his career fifth in franchise history in innings pitched.

Steve Carlton Battled the AL’s Best

Lefty made his lone All-Star start in 1979 at the Kingdome in Seattle, and it didn’t go smoothly at first. Carlton surrendered a two-out, two-run homer to Fred Lynn in the bottom of the first that put the American League up 3-2, part of an early back-and-forth that saw the lead change hands several times. The National League eventually pulled away in a wild finish, winning 7-6 on a bases-loaded walk drawn off Ron Guidry in the ninth. Carlton didn’t factor into the decision, but the outing came in the middle of a season that saw him make his seventh All-Star team on the way to one of the most decorated careers in franchise history.

Terry Mulholland Held His Own at Camden Yards

Mulholland got the ball for the 1993 game at the newly opened Camden Yards, going two innings and allowing one run — a solo homer to Kirby Puckett in the second, part of the performance that later earned Puckett game MVP honors. It was Mulholland’s only All-Star selection, but it came during arguably his best Phillies season: he went on to post a 12-6 record with a career-low 3.25 ERA and helped lead the club to the 1993 World Series, where he won Game 2 against Toronto. The AL rolled to a 9-3 win in that All-Star Game, though Mulholland’s own two innings were relatively tidy given the way the game unraveled for the NL bullpen later on.

Curt Schilling Dueled Pedro Martinez

Six years later, Schilling opened the 1999 game at Fenway Park opposite a red-hot Pedro Martinez, who struck out the side to begin the contest. Schilling matched him with a scoreless top of the first, but the AL got to him in the bottom half — Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome both walked, and Cal Ripken followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Schilling worked a clean second inning before handing off, and ended up with the loss in the AL’s eventual 4-1 win. It was Schilling’s third straight All-Star season, a stretch in which he set a single-season franchise strikeout record with 319 punchouts that year.

Roy Halladay Was Perfect, Briefly

Halladay’s turn came in 2011 at Chase Field in Phoenix, and it was about as clean as a two-inning outing gets: he retired all six batters he faced, striking out one, in a scoreless first and second. His Phillies rotation-mate Cliff Lee kept the perfect string going into the third before the American League finally broke through. The NL went on to win 5-1, with Prince Fielder’s three-run homer providing the difference. Halladay’s start made him the fourth pitcher ever to start an All-Star Game for both leagues, having done so previously with Toronto, and it came in a Cy Young-caliber season that saw him go 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA.

Cristopher Sánchez Writes the Next Chapter

Which brings us back to tomorrow night. Sánchez enters the Midsummer Classic at 11-4 with a 2.62 ERA and 144 strikeouts across an MLB-leading 20 starts, and his season has been defined by a 50 2/3-inning scoreless streak that broke a Phillies record held since the days of Grover Cleveland Alexander. There’s no denying that Sanchez has the résumé of an ace, ranking among the league leaders in innings, quality starts, and WAR. Facing Dylan Cease and a loaded AL lineup in front of a hometown Citizens Bank Park crowd, Sánchez has a chance to author the best pitching line of any Phillie on this list — and to do it in the city that’s waited since Halladay for a chance to see one of its own take the ball first.

Philadelphia Baseball Events for July 13

  • July 13, 1896 – Outfielder Ed Delahanty went 5-for-5, including four homers (two of them inside-the-parkers) and seven RBI in a game vs. Chicago. The Phils still lost, 9-8. Delahanty reportedly earned four boxes of chewing gum for his feat.
  • July 13, 1897 – One year later, Delahanty went 9-for-9 in a doubleheader against Louisville. He went 4-for-5 in the next day’s game, tying a league record with three consecutive games with at least four hits.
  • July 13, 1900 – Harry Wolverton ties a major-league record with three triples in a game, as the Phils beat Pittsburgh 23-8.
  • July 13, 1905 – The Philadelphia A’s “sell” catcher Mike “Doc” Powers to the New York Highlanders. Powers will be sold back to the A’s on August 7th. Powers is needed to replace back-up C Red Kleinow, injured yesterday in a game with Detroit. Powers will play mainly at first base, replacing Hal Chase whose nose was broken in the Detroit game.
  • July 13, 1923 – Red Miller, a former Phillies batboy, clubhouse attendant, and batting practice pitcher, was called out of the stands to suit up when Cincinnati was routing Philadelphia. Miller, who pitched semi-pro ball at the time, came into the game to pitch one scoreless inning, then was back on the mound the next inning and surrendered six hits, a walk, and a total of six earned runs in 2/3 of an inning. Cincinnati won 21-7.
  • July 13, 1930 – The defending champs, the Philadelphia A’s, move into first place by beating the Browns, 12-1, and will remain in the lead the rest of the season.
  • July 13, 1941 – Starter Cy Blanton gives up 13 hits to St. Louis over 5-plus innings — all of them singles. He took the loss in the 8-5 contest.
  • July 13, 1976 – The National League wins 7-1 at the first All-star game at the Vet. Greg Luzinski started in left field, and Dave Cash, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Bob Boone represented the host team. Meanwhile at 21st and Lehigh, the last remnants of Connie Mack Stadium were being demolished. The North Philly ballpark hosted All-star games in 1943 and 1952.
  • July 13, 1985 – The Phillies lose a 13-5 decision to Atlanta. The teams combine for 32 hits but no walks.
  • July 13, 1995 – Signed left-hander Sid Fernandez, who had been released by Baltimore. Fernandez would make 11 starts for the Phillies in ’95 and 11 more in 1996 with a combined mark of 9-7, 3.38.
  • July 13, 2021 – J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run to account for half of the NL’s runs in a 5-2 All-Star loss. It was the first All-Star home run by a Phillie since Mike Schmidt in 1981.

ICYMI

Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for July 13

  • George Bradley (born 1852) – Born in Reading, PA, Bradley pitched in 26 games (23 starts), played third base in 44 games, and outfield in 11 games for the 1883 Athletics. He went 16-7, 3.15 on the mound and hit .234/.253/.301. He returned to the A’s in 1886 and played 13 games at short with an .083/.102/.105 slash line.
  • Wiley Piatt (born 1874) – Made his major league debut with the Phillies in 1898 and pitched for them through the 1900 season when he jumped to the Athletics. He was released by the A’s in July of 1901 and signed with the White Sox. He posted a 3.59 ERA with the Phillies and a 4.53 ERA with the Athletics.
  • Gene Packard (born 1887) – Finished his eight-year MLB career with the 1919 Phillies, going 6-8, 4.19 in 21 games – 16 starts.
  • Lee Handley (born 1913) – After pitching eight seasons with the Pirates, Handley signed with the Phillies just before the start of the 1947 season. He played in 101 games with the Phillies that season primarily as a third baseman and hit .253/.312/.310 in what would be his final MLB season.
  • Ruben Gomez (born 1927) – Acquired from the San Francisco Giants in December of 1958, Gomez pitched for the Phillies in 1959 and 1960. Gomez was up-and-down between the majors and minors, but pitched for Cleveland and Minnesota in 1962 before returning to the minors. He then re-signed with the Phillies and pitched in seven games in relief in 1967.

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