Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

The last time the Phillies and Rangers met on Opening Day, it was wild

31 March 2014: Philadelphia Phillies Shortstop Jimmy Rollins (11) rounds the bases after hitting a grand slam during the MLB Opening Day game between the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies at the Globe Life Ballpark in Arlington, TX. (Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire)

For some, it may always be a bit strange for the Philadelphia Phillies to begin interleague play on Opening Day. However, 2023 won’t be the first time that the Phillies have played the Texas Rangers on Opening Day.

Nine years ago, Ryne Sandberg and the Phillies opened what would go on to be an entirely unremarkable 73-89 season by paying a visit to Globe Life Park in Arlington and playing a game that was anything but forgettable.

The 2014 Phillies were a team short on players who had impact seasons, but Sandberg’s first Opening Day lineup was full of household names:

Ben Revere (CF)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Marlon Byrd (RF)
Domonic Brown (DH)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Cody Asche (3B)
Tony Gwynn Jr. (LF)

Brown, a year removed from being an NL All-Star, was the first player to DH on Opening Day in franchise history for the Phillies. In some ways it was a shame, because as far as pitchers go, that year’s Opening Day starter, Cliff Lee, was a heck of a hitter.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, Lee wasn’t a great pitcher on March 31, 2014. Against the team he helped pitch to their first World Series appearance in 2010, Lee was shelled for 11 hits and eight runs over just five innings. The four-time All-Star would make just 12 more starts in his excellent, albeit relatively short MLB career.

If not for offseason shoulder tendinitis pushing back his schedule, Cole Hamels likely would have gotten the ball on Opening Day. Instead, he opened the season on the injured list, before getting the opportunity to take the mound to open the season in 2015. That’s the same year that he would be traded to the Rangers, of all teams.

In any event, while Lee and Jake Diekman — another player that would eventually pitch for the Rangers — struggled on Opening Day 2014, the trio of B.J. Rosenberg, Antonio Bastardo and Jonathan Papelbon would combine for three scoreless innings of relief.

In a lineup that included Adrian Beltre, Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo, Alex Rios, Josh Wilson, Leonys Martin and Jim Adduci combined to drive in all 10 runs for the Rangers to open their 2014 campaign.

And that wasn’t enough for Texas to get a win.

That’s because even though Lee coughed up an early 6-0 lead, the Phillies offense tore the cover off the ball in their first showing of the 2014 season. Ben Revere drove in three runs. John Mayberry and Cody Asche each posted two RBIs. In his return to the Phillies, Marlon Byrd drove in a run for the Phillies, as did Chase Utley.

The biggest blow of the game for the Phillies came early on, as Jimmy Rollins hit an Opening Day grand slam — which also happened to be the 200th home run of his career — off of Texas starter Tanner Scheppers:

In total, the Phillies would pound out 17 hits and put up 14 runs. Opening Day box scores for the Phillies only exist going back to 1901. Over that period, the 14 runs that the Phillies scored in 2014 are the largest offensive output on any Opening Day for the franchise.

The aforementioned Beltre would deliver a walk-off single to help the Rangers defeat the Phillies in the second game of the series, before Papelbon walked in the game-winning run in the form of Choo in the series finale.

2014 was not a fun season for the Phillies. Brown had a disastrous follow up to his brief success in 2013. In his age-34 season, Ryan Howard struck out 190 times and posted just a .690 OPS. Offseason signee A.J. Burnett posted a 4.59 ERA and league-leading 18 losses after landing a $16 million deal. Three years after posting a franchise-record 102 wins, the Phillies finished 23 games back of the Washington Nationals in the NL East.

But at least for a day, the 2014 Phillies were fun.