World Series Preview: Philadelphia Has an Edge on Houston

For Openers

The Phillies were the visitors for the first official games at both the Astrodome and Minute Maid Park, following exhibitions between Houston and the Yankees.

On April 12, 1965, they spoiled the opening of baseball’s first indoor stadium with a 2-0 victory behind Chris Short’s four-hitter and a two-run homer by Dick Allen, with Ruben Amaro Sr. scoring the first run. On April 7, 2000, at Minute Maid Park, the retractable-roof stadium originally named Enron Field (oops), another Phillies lefty, Randy Wolf, came away with a 4-1 win. Doug Glanville, who will work this year’s World Series pregame show for ESPN Radio, led off with a single and Scott Rolen hit the first home run.

Héctor the Strikeout Collector

The Phillies’ 10-season playoff absence can roughly be described as the Héctor Neris Era. They missed the postseason every year from 2012 through 2021, and Neris, a right-handed reliever from the Dominican Republic, pitched in the last eight of those seasons.

He left his mark in the Phillies’ record books with his final pitch for the team: a splitter to fan the Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. for his 520th strikeout, breaking Ron Reed’s club record for strikeouts by a reliever. Neris signed with Houston last December and has worked in 75 games, including five in the postseason, for the Astros.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/26/sports/baseball/world-series-preview-philadelphia-houston.html