Rick Wise – Phillies/P (1966-71) Rick Wise won his first MLB game 8-2 on June 21^st, 1964 in the second game of a double header vs. New York Mets. In the 1^st game of the twinbill, Jim Bunning pitched his historic perfect game. Wise almost had a perfect game of his own when he pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies on June 23^rd, 1971 vs. Cincinnati Reds giving up just one walk.  Wise hit two HRs in the game.  On August 28^th that same year vs. San Francisco Giants, Wise once again had a two-homer game.  Wise was a 1971 NL All Star and retired 28 batters in a row later that season.  The following season Wise was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Carlton in one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history.  Wise finished his career tied for 21^st all-time in HRs by a pitcher with 15.

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Darren Sproles – Eagles/RB-PR (2014-present) Darren Sproles was a member of the Eagles Super Bowl LII Champs. The three-time Eagles Pro Bowler was 2^nd team All-Pro in 2014. Sproles had a 49-yard TD run in his Eagles debut, the longest rush from scrimmage in his career. Sproles led the NFL with 506 punt return yards in 2014.  It was the 2^nd highest single-season punt return yardage in Eagles team history.  Sproles was a three-time NFC Special Teams Player of the Week and once an NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Sproles had an NFL-record 2,696 all-purpose yards for the New Orleans Saints in 2011. Sproles sits 8^th on the NFL’s career all-purpose yards list with 19,164.  At the close of the 2017 NFL season, Sproles had the most career all-purpose yards than any other active NFL player.   Sproles is tied with DeSean Jackson for most career punt return TDs in Eagles history with 4.  On September 25^th, 2017, Sproles broke his arm and tore his ACL on the same play, ending his season during the Eagles run to their first-ever Super Bowl Championship.  

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Lenny Dykstra/CF – Phillies (1989-1996) Three-time NL All Star, Dykstra was the spark plug that ignited Macho Row and the 1993 pennant-winning Phillies. “Nails” was NL MVP runner-up (Barry Bonds) in 1993. Dykstra batted .348 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series hitting four homers in the series loss. Dykstra’s post-baseball life has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows as detailed in his 2016 memoir, House of Nails: A Memoir of Life on the Edge.   

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Merrill Reese – Eagles play by play announcer (1977- present) Merrill Reese has been the voice of the Philadelphia Eagles for over 40 years. He is the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in the NFL. Reese, a native-Philadelphian, was born on September 2^nd, 1942. He made his play-be-play debut on December 11^th, 1977 in an Eagles 17-14 home win over the New York Giants in game 13 of the 1977 season. Reese’s 1^st full season doing play-by-play was the NFL’s 1^st 16-game season. In his 40+seasons in the booth, Merrill Reese has never missed a single game. In honor of Reese finally getting a Super Bowl Ring on Thursday, here’s a look at the career of Merrill Reese by the numbers. Let the celebration begin!

5 – color commentators during his Eagles tenure (Herb Adderley, Jim Barniak, Bill Bergey, Stan Walters, and Mike Quick).

10 – Head Coaches

8 – Hall of Famers

39 – Quarterbacks

3 – Team owners

672 – Consecutive Eagles games called (634 reg season, 38 playoffs)

368 – Called Eagles wins (350 reg season, 18 playoffs)

300 – Called Eagles losses (280 reg season, 20 playoffs)

4 – Called Eagles ties

1,641 – Career Eagles Touchdown calls (1,552 reg season, 89 playoffs)

986 – Career “It’s Goooood!” Eagles Field Goals called (927 reg season, 59 playoffs)

64 – Career pick-6’s called (57 reg season, 7 playoffs)

Congrats to Merrill Reese and the entire Eagles family on their Super Bowl Rings!

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Eric Desjardins – Flyers/D (1995-06) Eric “Rico” Desjardins joined the Flyers on February 9^th, 1995 as part of the trade with the Montreal Canadiens that brought John LeClair and Gilbert Dionne in exchange for Mark Recchi and a 1995 3^rd round draft pick. He became a mainstay on the Flyers blueline winning the Barry Ashbee Award for the Flyers best defenseman a team-record seven times. Rico was a two-time All Star and a two-time 2^nd team All Star. Rico became the 12^th captain in team history during the 1999-2000 season replacing Eric Lindros. Desjardins won the Yanick Dupre Award in 1999. Rico is the 2^nd leading scoring defenseman in team history behind Mark Howe.  Desjardins entered the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2015.

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Ken Giles – Phillies/P (2014-15) Flamethrower Ken Giles and his 100 mph fastball rose quickly up the minor league ranks, making his Phillies debut on June 12th, 2014. Giles gave up a homer to Yasmani Grandal, the first batter he faced in his MLB debut.  But there were bright spots during Giles’ time with the Phils. On September 1st, 2014, Giles was part of the Phillies combined no-hitter, when he, Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, and Jonathan Papelbon combined to no-hit the Atlanta braves in a 7-0 Phillies win.  Giles was 4th in NL Rookie of the Year voting for 2014.   

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Von Hayes – Phillies/OF-1B (1983-91) Von Hayes was a smooth hitting OF/1B known more for how he got to Phillies, than what he did for the Phillies. On December 9^th, 1982, Hayes was traded to the Phillies from the Cleveland Indians for Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, Jay Baller, George Vukovich, and Jerry Willard.  He quickly became known as “5 for 1”.  While it was nearly impossible to live up to the hype of being traded for five players, Hayes did enjoy some success with the Phillies. Hayes was the first player in MLB history to hit 2 HRs in the 1^st inning of a game, doing so on 6/11/1985. He smacked a lead-off dinger off Mets starter Tom Gorman, and later that inning he knocked a grand slam off reliever Calvin Schiraldi. The Phils won the game 26-7.  Hayes led the NL in Runs and Doubles in 1986 and finished 8th in MVP voting.  And Mr. 5-for-1 was a 1989 NL All-Star. Hayes was nicknamed “purple” by ESPN’s Chris Berman, calling him Von “Purple” Hayes.

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Jonathan Papelbon – Phillies/P (2012-15) Jonathon Papelbon was a polarizing figure in Philly sports. From obscene gestures to confrontational comments, love/hate has always been part of the Papelbon story.  His etiquette may have been questionable, but his talent was not. Papelbon was a two-time All Star as a Phillie, and was part of their 2014 combined no hitter on September 1^st (Hamels, Giles, Diekman, Papelbon).  Papelbon became MLB’s 26^th member of the 300-save club on June 10, 2014 vs. San Diego Padres.  Though he only spent three and a half seasons in Philly, Papelbon is the team’s all-time save leader. 

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Troy Vincent – Eagles/CB (1996-03) Troy Vincent spent eight seasons with the Eagles. The five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro was the NFL INT leader (tied) in 1999.  Off the field, Troy Vincent is well-known for his humanitarian and charity work. Vincent won the Walter Payton Man-of-the-Year Award and the “Whizzer” White NFL Man-of-the-Year Award in 2002, and the Bart Starr Man-of-the-Year Award in 2004. Vincent was selected to the Eagles 75^th Anniversary Team in 2007 and entered the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2012. Vincent is currently the NFL Executive VP of Football Operations.

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Allen Iverson – Sixers/G (1996-2006, 2009-10) One of the most exciting players in a generation, Iverson, the 1997 Rookie of the Year, led the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 2001 as the league’s MVP.  The four-time NBA Scoring Champ was an eleven-time NBA All Star, winning the All Star Game MVP in 2001 and 2005.  A.I. is the Sixers all-time leader in three-pointers with 885.  The Sixers retired Iverson’s #3 in 2016. Iverson was nicknamed “The Answer” by a family friend as he was about to attend Georgetown University.  In May, 2002 The Answer “answered” his critics with a twenty-two expletive rant with the famous line “We’re talkin’ ‘bout practice.”

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