Defending Nasty

Cincinnati Reds v Philadelphia Phillies 6/16/91

Veterans Stadium Section 266 Row 21: The first of the Phillies popular Turn Back the Clock Day promotions.

I had out of town guests in from Boston that weekend. So we brought the ladies along. And they complained about the heat the whole game. Which made the ice cold beers go down even easier.
Because The Vet was a multipurpose stadium, seats rolled out from the outfield walls to field level for Eagles games. Our seats in Row 21 were the 1st row, overlooking the outfield wall.
You could feel the heat baking off the turf.
In this Sunday afternoon game, the Phils wore 1950 wool flannel uniforms.
This became a popular promotion which eventually led to the team going to their current uniform change in 1993.
It didn't help the Phils in their flannels that it was a scorching 97 degree afternoon game played on the heat absorbing Vet Astroturf.
Starting pitchers were Pat Combs for the Phils and Norm Charlton for defending World Series champion Cincinnati Reds.
Charlton lasted 6 innings giving up 8 hits and 5 runs. This included a 3rd inning home run from Phils Wes Chamberlain. Fellow Nasty Boy Randy Myers picked up the win for Cinncy.
Combs lasted only 4 1/3rd innings with 4 hits surrendered and 4 runs.
The Reds Glenn Bragg had 3 RBIs for the winners. Ricky Jordan contributed 2 RBIs to the losing cause.
Other notables in the game were Billy Hatcher, Mariano Duncan, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, Jay Oliver, Paul O'Neil for the Reds.
Other Phils who saw action this day were Wally Backman, Charlie Hayes, John Kruk and Dale Murphy.
It was a slow paced affair at 3:34.
The Turn Back the Clock promotion proved successful drawing over 41,000 to see the 6th place Phils struggle at 12 1/2 games back in mid-June.