The biggest baseball weekend of the season has arrived. The New York Mets are in town for a three-game showdown with the Phillies. First place in the National League East is at stake and the Phils are just a half-game back. The Phillies have not been to the postseason since 2011. We’re into August now. Needless to say, the Phils have a lot riding on this series.
The Mets’ visit coincides with the Phillies’ annual alumni weekend -- the event was not held last summer because of the pandemic -- and this will be a special one as three of the most impactful people in franchise history are honored.
Longtime front office executive and club president David Montgomery will be honored before Friday night’s 7:05 p.m. game.
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Montgomery, who died in May 2019, was recently saluted with the Baseball Hall of Fame’s prestigious Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. It’s quite the honor and Montgomery is quite deserving. You can read more about it here.
Before Saturday’s 4:05 p.m. game, former second baseman Manny Trillo will become the 42nd member of the team’s Wall of Fame.
Trillo was MVP of the 1980 National League Championship Series and a key member of the first World Series championship team in franchise history. A host of former players, Wall of Famers and club legends will be on hand for the ceremony.
Before Sunday afternoon's 1:05 p.m. game, the team will officially retire Roy Halladay’s No. 34. Halladay died in a 2017 plane crash. He spent four seasons with the Phillies and left an indelible mark. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2010 and finished second in 2011.
MLB
In 2010, his first season in Philadelphia, Halladay pitched a perfect game in his 11th start with the club. He also pitched a playoff no-hitter.
Halladay was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Relive his Phillies greatest hits here.
In addition to hoisting Halladay’s number on the brick wall above Ashburn Alley, the Phillies will dedicate a six-foot, No. 34 statue in the left field plaza, near the No. 15 statue honoring Wall of Famer Dick Allen.
Allen died in December, just a few months after his number was retired by the club.
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