I have a vice that I'll admit to. As weird as it may seem to others, I just love to hear the sound of a baseball making solid contact with a wooden bat. In a previous job, I covered baseball at various levels, and the "ping" sound that an aluminum bat makes just doesn't cut it.
One of the perks of this job is the opportunity to go on the field at Veterans Stadium to "listen" to batting practice, sometimes when somebody like Sammy Sosa is sending baseballs into orbit. They sound nice, but batting-practice homers are meaningless.
Since I've been covering the Phillies, three of the most monstrous homers that I've witnessed produced that distinctive crack of the bat and elicited loud gasps from the crowd. All three were in 1995, and all were hit by players who were relatively insignificant in Phillies history.
First baseman J.R. Phillips had two brief stints with the club that year. He was typical of career minor leaguers in that he hit a ton in Triple-A but little in the big leagues. When Phillips got a fastball, he could hit it a mile. Unfortunately, pitchers knew that and usually fed him a steady diet of breaking balls.
I don't recall the date, opponent or even if the Phillies won that night, but Phillips turned a few heads in the press box when he deposited a mammoth shot into the 500 level in right-center field one night. It was one of just a few hits that he ever had with Philadelphia.
Outfielder Tony Longmire played parts of three seasons in this town and never quite lived up to his potential, but he got a lot of attention one night. The Phillies were trailing by two runs and had a pair of runners on base when Longmire blasted a line drive that landed in the first row of the upper deck just inside the right-field foul pole to give the Phils a one-run lead that held up.
Hurricane Dennis probably spoiled everybody's weekend, but it was a similar storm that inspired this column because it helped set up the third momentous homer — by outfielder Mark Whiten. His was one of nine hit on Aug. 18, 1995, when the Phils clobbered the San Francisco Giants, 16-8.
Terry Mulholland has pitched in the Vet many times, both as a Phillie and as an opposing player, so he is familiar with the nuances of the park. He played for the Giants in 1995 and faced the Phillies on that date.
"There was a hurricane sitting off the coast of New Jersey that night, and the wind was whipping up pretty well," said Mulholland, who now hurls for the Atlanta Braves.
"Whenever there's a storm heading up from the south along the East Coast shore line, you get these high winds above the stadium. Because of the circular shape and depending on which direction it's entering the stadium, the wind will swirl, and there will be areas of the park where it's a jet stream. The ball will carry more than normal if the wind is strong enough."On that particular night, Mark Whiten hit one into the upper deck in left-center that was more toward center. On a night like that, it's a scary thing for a pitcher because you could see a routine fly ball end up in the seats."
Kevin Flora and Kevin Elster also homered for the Phils. For San Francisco, Barry Bonds and Robby Thompson had two dingers each. Charlie Hayes and Mulholland also connected for the Giants.
"Tyler Green was pitching for the Phillies, and he threw me a high fastball on the first pitch," recalled Mulholland. "I just swung hard and connected pretty well."
The pitcher's homer went through the exit above the 408-feet sign in center field, but Mulholland never saw it.
"I knew I hit it well, and I knew that I hit it to center (field), but I'm not the type of player who can stand there and admire a hit," he said. "I was still running at full speed heading into second base when I caught the umpire out of the corner of my eye signaling a home run."
The combined nine homers in that game was a Vet Stadium record until Saturday night when the Cincinnati Reds and Rico Brogna combined for 10 during the Phillies' 22-3 loss.
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