"Honoring True Heroes"
Phils-Braves makes CRG matchup extra special
Once again, Major League Baseball will celebrate those who transcended the National Pastime with the Civil Rights Game this Sunday.
And for this fifth installment, the league really couldn't ask for a better setting.
The venue is Atlanta, a city essentially proclaimed as the cradle for the Civil Rights Movement.
The matchup pins the Phillies and Braves, two bitter division rivals that are destined to go toe-to-toe all year.
And the pitching matchup consists of a pair of aces -- Roy Halladay of the Phillies and Tim Hudson of the Braves.
"It's a big game," Hudson said. "Any game against these guys is huge."
But the series finale will be about a little more than the game.
It'll be about honoring the social contributions made on and off the field by key figures in America's history, and about showing respect for those who paved the way for current African-American stars like Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Jason Heyward -- players like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and so many others.
Rollins knows all about them.
"They had to constantly produce," the Phillies' All-Star shortstop said. "Every single day, it was on the line. Fortunately today, we don't have that added part of every day everything being on the line. America has changed somewhat. So the extra pressures, we don't face that. Every day, they had to show up. We have to show up, too. But they had to show up more. They had to show up in different ways. It wasn't just playing baseball."
On Sunday, MLB will celebrate the contributions of those players by doing what it does best -- playing baseball.
Before that, though, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman (Beacon of Hope), Grammy Award-winning artist Carlos Santana (Beacon of Change) and Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks (Beacon of Life) will be honored on the field prior to the afternoon game, which can be seen free on MLB.TV and will be broadcast on television by TBS.
Then, the two teams will take the field sporting retro jerseys from 1974, when Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record with No. 715 on April 8.
And that will culminate a weekend full of events for the Delta Civil Rights Game.
"It's cool," Howard said, "because this is kind of how we get to pay homage to them."
Said MLB Players Association executive director Michael Weiner in a recent statement: "This weekend, perhaps the best way to honor the sacrifices so many have made to create a more free and just society is not only to pay tribute to what these heroes have accomplished, but to also acknowledge the work that remains to be done."
After the Braves took Saturday's game against the Phillies, 5-3, the two clubs stood 4-4 against each other this season, with Philadelphia still holding onto first place in the National League East -- two games ahead of the Marlins, and 4 1/2 games ahead of the third-place Braves.
On Sunday, the Braves will continue to be without Heyward, who's resting a sore right shoulder. The Phillies will go with their horse on the mound.
Halladay is good against practically everybody, but he has been scary good against the Braves.
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Atlanta, and 18-2 with a 1.54 ERA in 20 starts against the NL East since joining the Phillies.
Eric Hinske has faced Halladay 37 times, and he still doesn't have an exact science to getting to him.
"Pick a spot and hope he throws it there," Hinske said. "That's about it."
Hudson, meanwhile, carried a 2.86 ERA through his first seven starts of the season, then was limited to a season-low five innings while giving up seven runs (three earned) in a loss to the Nationals on Tuesday.
For his career against his Sunday opponent, the 35-year-old right-hander is 7-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 19 starts.
"I think it's a little different than most starts," Hudson said about this next one. "Obviously, there's more importance when you play within your division, especially when you're facing these guys. They're going to be at or near the top of the division most of the year. We're going to be competing for the division, so head-to-head matchups are important."
Worth noting
• Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino is expected to miss Sunday's game with right hamstring soreness that has him listed as day to day.
• Phillies prospect Domonic Brown suffered a first degree sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament of his right thumb in a Triple-A game on Wednesday and is expected to miss five to seven days.
• Catcher Carlos Ruiz (lower back inflammation) took a scheduled day off Saturday and is expected back in the lineup Sunday.
• The Braves will purchase veteran right-hander Scott Proctor's contract from Triple-A Gwinnett on Sunday. Proctor's arrival fills up the 25-man roster, but the Braves have yet to announce who will fill the rotation spot of Brandon Beachy (strained left oblique). Julio Teheran, Mike Minor and Rodrigo Lopez are the candidates.
• The Braves are 11-10 at home this season.
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
Civil Rights Weekend Website:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/civil_rights... Game Details:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broad...
Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Sunday, May 15th 2011 at 1:45PM
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