Philadelphia Phillies Retro Scorecard Recap: June 4, 2003

As I dig once more into my stack of old Philadelphia Phillies scorecards from games I’ve attended, I’ve pulled out this specimen from 18 years ago today, as the Phils took on an extremely unfamiliar opponent, the Seattle Mariners.

In fact, even though interleague play had been around since 1997, MLB had largely kept it geographical, meaning that teams from opposite coasts like the Phillies and Mariners never saw each other. Finally, in 2003, they met for the very first time, with the first game taking place on June 3 (a 4-0 Mariners win) before I made the trip to Veterans Stadium to see game 2 of the series 18 years ago tonight on June 4, 2003.

Ichiro begins the game against Phils starter Vicente Padilla with a single, and he comes around to score later in the inning on a John Olerud sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the first, the Phillies are able to get the run back courtesy of an RBI single by Bobby Abreu off of M’s hurler Gil Meche. But Seattle goes back up again in the top of the second when Mark McLemore scores on a passed ball.

18 years ago today, the Philadelphia Phillies took on the Seattle Mariners at Veterans Stadium.

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Things settle a bit from there until the top of the fourth, when Ben Davis (yes, the suave NBC Sports Philadelphia commentator) drives home McLemore with a sac fly to make it a 3-1 game. A solo blast by Jim Thome in the home half of the fifth draws the Phillies back to within a run, but things go completely south from there.

Randy Winn collects a sac fly the following inning (that’s 3 sac flies in the game for Seattle) to make it 4-2, then the Mariners tack on another run in the seventh. The Phillies’ bats prove punchless against the Seattle bullpen, as they’re retired in order in both the seventh and eighth innings. A fun moment does occur in the top half of the eighth, however, as future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez strides to the plate for Seattle as a pinch hitter.

Given that he was a full time DH and this game was being played under NL rules, Martinez didn’t start the game. This at bat would be his first ever appearance in Philadelphia, and the Vet crowd gives him a nice ovation. He grounds out, incidentally. (Martinez would also pinch hit the following night, striking out to finish his career vs. the Phillies at 0 for 2.)

The Mariners push two more runs across in the top of the ninth, and the Phillies put up zero fight once again in their final opportunity. Among the highlights on the night for Seattle: Ichiro finishes 4 for 5 (with his only “out” being when he reaches base on a Placido Polanco error) and Olerud knocks in four runs in the game. This one ends in a 7-2 victory for the Mariners, who would end up sweeping the series the following day. The Phillies would have to wait until 2014 to play the Mariners in Philadelphia again (and finally beat them).

2003 ended up being a good year for both of these clubs, with the Phillies winning 86 games and the Mariners bagging 93 victories. But neither team would taste the postseason that year. Their clash 18 years ago today might just be a footnote in that season, but it’ll always be in my personal memory bank.