Thursday, May 06, 2010

One Phillies Ace is Gone... Another Lives On














Today baseball lost another great… Robin Roberts.

He was the ace of the Whiz Kids Phillies and the man who won the 10 inning pennant clinching classic to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 giving the Phillies their first pennant since 1915.

Twice he was selected as “Pitcher of the Year” by the Sporting News. He won 20 games six years in a row, including a 28 win season in 1952. He won 286 games (one fewer than Bert Blyleven) and got elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

And he was a tremendous basketball player as well. He played for Michigan State and coached a barnstorming team during the off season as a player.

One great Phillies ace is gone.

Another one took the mound and Roy Halladay gave Roberts as fitting a tribute as I can think of:

A dominating start… 7 innings, 1 earned run, 9 strikeouts to only 3 walks, to raise his record to 6-1 and lowering his ERA to 1.45.

And he did it while wearing the blue caps, reminiscent of the Whiz Kids.

Someday Halladay might join Roberts in Cooperstown.
But today, he is carrying on a tradition.

Rest in Peace.

I hope the field named after you in Springfield Illinois does a tribute soon.


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