Yesterday column: Phils forgotten All-Stars
Do you remember Wayne Twitchell?
He was the Phillies’ representative in the 1973 All-Star Game, and probably one of the Phillies’ forgotten All-Stars.
Sure, we can all rapidly reel off Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Bob Boone as All-Stars from the 1970s and 80s, but how quickly would we add Twitchell to the conversation.
In this version of my Yesterday column — reminiscing about sports and pop culture from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s and sometimes before and beyond — I’ll look back at some likely forgotten Phillies’ All-Stars and a handful who might trigger a memory.
In addition, do you have the answers to the following questions?
What former Phillies’ No. 1 pick was an All-Star? Did McDonald’s ever have a board game? Who was Tarzan Tyler? Was “Aunt Sally” in your math class? And did your record player ever spin any “Seasons in the Sun?”
Wayne’s World ... In 1973, Twitchell started the season in the bullpen, but he was suddenly elevated into a starting role and made the most of his promotion.
Leading up to the All-Star Game, Twitchell was 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA and six complete games. That would be the zenith for his career.
Twitchell faded down the stretch, as did the Phillies. He finished with a 13-9 record, a 2.50 ERA and 10 complete games. The Phils went from 46-51 at the break to 71-91 at the finish.
In 2010, Twitchell passed away at age 62.
Brown and Green ... Besides Twitchell, there are two other former Phillies’ All-Stars who may not quickly come to mind.
Dominic Brown was viewed as the franchise’s next five-tool superstar in the 2010s, and he proved it during the first half of the 2013 season.
Brown was on his way to an MVP-type season when he had 21 homers with 57 RBIs at the All-Star break. Does anyone remember that?
Well, like many of his forgotten counterparts, that was the best of Brown.
He finished the year with 27 homers and 83 RBIs with a .272 average. From there, Brown’s production sank down to 10 homers and 63 RBIs with a .235 average in 2014, and the following season would be his last in the majors.
Brown became a free agent in October 2015 and spent single years in Toronto’s and Colorado’s minor league system.
In 1991, Tyler Green was the team’s top draft pick out of Wichita State and he made it to the parent club in 1993. Green missed the 1994 season due to injuries, but he bounced back with a big first half of the 1995 season.
At the end of July in 1995, Green was 8-4, and he came off a 4-1, 1.66 slate in June. He was the Phillies selection with an 8-4 record with a pair of shutouts.
Unfortunately, there weren’t any greener pastures ahead for him. He didn’t win a decision in the second half and finished with a final line of 8-9, 5.31. Green missed the 1996 season with injuries, and he managed just an overall 10-16 record in his final two Phillies’ seasons as well as his career.
Does Ray Culp sound familiar? In 1963, Culp posted a 14-11 record with a 2.97 ERA with 10 complete games in his rookie season in which he finished third in the balloting. He was an All-Star in his finest of four Phillies’ seasons.
Culp later was an All-Star with Boston in 1969 when he was 17-8 with a 3.81 ERA.
Phil It to the Top ... Other Phillies selected who may have slipped your mind are Dick Ruthven (1981), Ozzie Virgil and Glenn Wilson (1985), Shane Rawley (1986), Kevin Gross (1988), Mariano Duncan (1994), Heathcliff Slocumb (1995), Paul Byrd (1999), Vincente Padilla (2002) and Randy Wolf (2023).
Don’t Say You Don’t Remember ... Aside from the Phillies, here are some former All-Stars who are often mentioned on a first reference to the game. Most of their careers never reached another height.
Go through your baseball cards to try and find Senators pitcher Dave Stenhouse (1962), Red Sox catcher Jerry Moses (1970), Giants shortstop Cris Speier (1973), White Sox catcher Ed Herrmann (1974), Royals outfielder Richie Scheinblum (1972), Cubs catcher Steve Swisher (1976), Indians pitcher Jim Kern (1977), Brewers pitcher Larry Sorenson (1978), and Astros pitcher Joe Sambito (1979).
Also there was the Expos Charlie Lea (1984), Expos Ivan Calderon (1991), Dodgers Mike Sharperson (1992), Mets Bobby Jones (1997), Yankees Mike Stanton (2001), and the Orioles Ty Wigginton (2010).
Scheinblum was an interesting case, as he led the American League in hitting most of the season before he ended at .300. He was traded to Cincinnati at the end of the season for Hal McRae – a Royals’ legend — and was out of baseball two seasons later.
Stenhouse made a big splash as a rookie to start the game, logging a 10-4, 2.73 ERA at the time. But his final mark was 11-12 with a 3.65 game, and his career fizzled in two years.
By the way, “Don’t Say You Don’t Remember” was a song sung by Beverly Bremers in 1971, and it reached No. 15 on the Billboard Top 100.
Do you remember the tune?
Another Classic Game ... Does anyone have the McDonald’s game? In the world of forgotten games, this certainly is one of them.
Released in 1975 by Milton Bradley, The McDonald’s Game had players scramble to correctly fill food orders, battle the competition, and be the first person to score 25 points.
Players worked to attain a 25-point score by progressing through a series of food-order challenges that call for players to be the first to correctly deliver a customer’s order.
Each player picked a McDonaldland character — Ronald, Mayor McCheese, Grimace or Hamburgler — to represent themselves. Players then chose a marble in the color that corresponds to the base of their chosen characters.
The marble was the important element of the game because it is used to determine the player who is first to complete an order.
From there, players were dealt food cards to place in a rack, having just three items at any time. Rolling of the dice determined the order.
It was a quaint game that highlighted the growth of the fast-food giant. If you have the game, hold on to it for its rarity.
WWWF/WWE Wrap ... Each week, I’ll rewind the careers of wrestlers we watched in our youth.
Do you remember Tarzan Tyler? Born in Montreal as Camille Laurent Tourville, Tyler began his career in Canada in 1959, and he won the NWA Tag-Team championship in 1963. Two years later, Tyler entered the WWWF and challenged Bruno Sammartino for the heavyweight championship.
In 1971, Tyler and “Crazy” Luke Graham became inaugural WWWF Tag-Team champions, and they later captured the WWWF International Tag-Team champions.
During a 1973 match with Andre the Giant, Tyler was injured and paralyzed for months. Upon his return, Tyler began using a loaded boot in which he would slip in a foreign object and gained the nickname, “The Boot” or “La Botine.”
Tyler also gained the title of NWA Florida Heavyweight Champion and Tag Team Champion. In a 26-year career that ended in 1985, Tyler compiled an overall 336-488-128 record.
He was tragically killed in a car accident at age 58 in 1985.
Aunt Sally ... Think back to middle school math and the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” Ring a bell, as they say?
It was a device to help us incorporate the mathematical order of operations in the order of Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication and Division (from left to right), and Addition and Subtraction (from left to right).
Math was my worst subject, and I always forgot it. How did you do with it?
Forgotten 45 ... Shifting gears toward the music world, who can recall “Seasons in the Sun” by Terry Jacks in 1974? I’ll always remember it from eighth grade.
Jacks’ song about a man supposedly dying from cancer and reviewing his life hit No. 1 in March on the Billboard Top 100 and stayed near the top through Memorial Day. It finished 1974 as Billboard’s No. 2 song for the year.
It has managed to have a long shelf life, and most people still recognize it. However, CNN ranked it as the sixth worst song of all time due to its nature in a 2006 poll.
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