Top Ten Philly Sports Moments of 2010: #9 A Tie! Roy Oswalt Plays Left Field, Domonic Brown’s Debut

Roy_oswalt_smile

Source: Aaron Gleeman

This is our second annual "Top Ten Philly Sports Moments of the year."  You can find last year's list here.  We will roll out a new moment each day (one over the weekend) from now until New Year's Eve.

Often times (Tim McCarver preamble), the most memorable moments in sports are those that don't necessarily decide the outcome of a game, series, or season.  They are the ones that leave a lasting image in our minds, and have us talking amongst friends for days on end.  And if there's anything that the resurgence of baseball in Philadephia has taught us, it's that a 162 game schedule affords ample opportunities for those moments.

You can tick off a number of memorable ones from this season, that had little to no impact on the long-term success of the team: Tasers, Red Man, Brett Myers sticking his tongue out at Jayson Werth, etc.  But the two most memorable moments featured two players who will play a pivotal role in the future success of the Phillies: Roy Oswalt and Domonic Brown.

Oswalt came to Philly as sort of a consolation prize.  We never wanted to trade Cliff Lee, and after we realized we needed pitching help, we desperately wanted him back.  Instead, Ruben Amaro traded the likable J.A. Happ for Roy Oswalt.  For a couple of weeks, we weren't quite sure what to make of the guy who seemed to prefer the shadows to the bright lights of Philly.  That is, until August 24th.  

Ryan Howard was ejected by Scott Barry in extra innings (epic rant by Larry Anderson), forcing Raul Ibanez to play first base.  With no bench players remaining, Charlie Manuel turned to Roy Oswalt to play left field.  And, sure enough, the first pitch of the inning was hit right to him.  He fielded it effortlessly, then, as he received a standing ovation, cracked a wry smile.  Yep, he was one of us.

Speaking of one of us… Despite the fact that Dom Brown struggled mightily down the stretch and in Winter Ball, he will be uber-important in filling Jayson Werth's shoes in right field.  On July 21st, with much fan fare, Brown made his Major League debut.  He doubled in his first at-bat.

In the grand scheme of the season, neither moment made much of an impact.  But they were the two formal introductions of new members of the Fightins.

Rest of the Top Ten here.  As always, leave your memories of those moments in the comments.

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30 Responses

  1. I have to say, I loved this moment. I love circus moments. It was a shame they lost this game if my memory serves me correctly. Another one was the game when I think Mark Simoneau kicked a PAT.

  2. how in the world do these beat the flyers shootout win over the penguins??? brown’s debut shouldn’t even be on the list, but oswalt’s LF appearance shoult be #10.

  3. Hey Kyle, are you going to give me a post on my Phillies “Cliff Lee and Jayson Werth” video? I have almost 11,000 views for it already anyway, PLUS, there’s a Crossing Broad shout-out in it. Win-win for us all.

  4. I was soooo tired by the 14th inning, and I was ready to turn in and give up, but when I heard they were putting Oswalt in the outfield I knew I had to keep the radio on. I got my PJs on and was lying in bed listening. Sometimes, the radio is even better than the TV (especially when you get to hear Larry Andersen’s rants) and imagine for yourself the sight of Oswalt in left field.

  5. Best game of 2010! I watched and loved every minute of it. Too bad we lost, but the Roy chant at the final out was so awesome. No other city would have fans stay that late for a meaningless game and cheer on their pitcher at bat like we did.

  6. To the people who think this game is too high…
    This game was important to me because it showed some fight in the Phils, which seemed to have been lacking. All-in-all, a great game despite the loss.

  7. Mike. Yeah, I actually had it written down as something to post and got caught up in some other stuff. I’ll get it up there.
    And I think Nick hit the nail on the end. That Oswalt moment was something people are still talking about… the Flyers had so many moments that overshadowed it. Like tomorrow… OOO TEASE

  8. Oh, I was HOPING Left Fielder Roy Oswalt would make the list. That was a crazy great night down at CBP.

  9. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the list. I think the majority of them should be Phillies and Flyers lol

  10. This was one of my favorite games all year. I was so exhausted but could not go to bed until the end of the game w/all of the craziness. It was great to see Oswalt smile. Brown’s debut was fun, too. I was excited to be at the game where he hit his first homerun w/the Phillies. Even though that game was also a loss, it will be a forever memory. Nice job, Kyle.

  11. Left fielder Oswalt was easily one of the most memorable games I’ve ever been to. Hunter Pence tweeted after the game that “Let’s go Oswalt” was the loudest chant he’d ever heard, and it came at the top of the 15th!

  12. Oswalt in left field was definitely a great moment in the season! I think the whole City fell in love with him when he caught that ball with a grin from ear to ear! Loved the story about how quick he was to get out there, even hoping to cover first. Brown’s debut was electrifying, too! Let’s only hope he ends up living up to the promise of that moment. Great choices!
    @PhillyMike – I can only speak for myself, but that video was GENIUS!!! I laughed my ass off! Thanks, that was seriously the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages!

  13. Was at both of these games, too. 3/3!
    The Oswalt game was so epic. Really sucked to lose after all that, but it was fun anyway.

  14. Some neighborhood bitch sucked me off after Roy Oswalt played the field. I remember I was talking to her about that shit, bummed her a smoke.
    Later on I caught some brain outside the bar we was chillin at

  15. Kyle, You have to check out this link. It’s kind of lame but what they talk about at the very end will make you love this Phillies Team even more!
    apparently after Howard got tossed, Oswalt AND Halladay raced to the locker room and get their cleats and Oswalt beat Doc back to Charlie so that’s how he got put in the game. Otherwise it would have been Halladay out there! How awesome is that!

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