Jimmy Rollins, the long-time shortstop of the Philadelphia Phillies and a member of the 2008 World Series team, is set to be inducted into the Phillies' Wall of Fame this Friday, Aug. 1. Rollins, the club's all-time leader in hits and the 2007 National League MVP, was a locked-in leadoff hitter who played stellar defense in a lineup that featured fellow legends Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
The Wall of Fame induction ceremony, which will also feature former Phillies vice president and general manager Ed Wade, will take place at 6 p.m. ET on Friday evening ahead of the series opener against the visiting Detroit Tigers. The festivities are part of the annual Phillies Alumni Weekend.
3 incredible Jimmy Rollins moments Phillies fans probably forgot
Before Rollins gets his due on Friday evening, here are three of his most underappreciated moments in a Phillies uniform.
No. 3: Breaking in the Bank
Citizens Bank Park first opened its doors in 2004, officially ending the Phillies' tenure at Veterans Stadium, a Philadelphia sporting icon with a storied history. The Vet bore witness to a lot of iconic moments for the franchise, including three NL pennants and a World Series victory in 1980. Franchise greats like Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa, Bobby Abreu, and even Rollins saw a lot of action at the Vet.
Suffice to say, Citizens Bank Park had quite the legacy to live up to.
With a new stadium, there come a lot of firsts. The first hit and homer by a member of the Phillies: Bobby Abreu. The first win: a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. And, for the lucky ones, that first championship which came a few years later in 2008.
Rollins' idea of christening the Bank was perfectly in line with his play style. In a June 20 game against the Kansas City Royals, the switch-hitter, batting from the right side of the plate against lefty Dennys Reyes, smashed a 2-1 pitch to left-center field. Careening off the cut-out corner between the left- and center-field walls, the ball skipped over center fielder Carlos Beltrán, who crashed while attempting a leaping catch.
Jimmy was off to the races.
By the time left fielder Ken Harvey picked up the ball, Rollins was already rounding third. A strong but errant throw drew catcher Mike Tonis well up the third base line, allowing Rollins to score on a stand-up, inside-the-park homer, the first for Citizens Bank Park.
It was Rollins' first such homer, but it certainly wouldn't be the last, not even for that season. Less than two months later, he'd hit another at Petco Park, which had just opened that season to house the San Diego Padres. Rollins became the only player to be the first to hit an inside-the-park home run at two new stadiums in the same season.
Quite a way to place yourself in a new stadium's history books. It was perfectly Jimmy Rollins.
No. 2: Opening Day streak slam
As a franchise cornerstone, Rollins made it known that he was going to play every day. In 10 of his 15 seasons with Philadelphia, Rollins played in at least 154 games. After his first full season in 2001, only one campaign, the 2010 season, saw him play in less than 137 games.
There was one day in particular that Rollins always managed to show up for: Opening Day. From 2001 to 2014, Rollins started every single Opening Day for the Phillies, an NL record of 14 consecutive seasons with one team, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. That's tied with the major league record as well, held by the "Iron Man" Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles.
On that 14th opener, in late March 2014 against the Texas Rangers, Rollins decided to make his day a little more magical.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the second, Rollins, batting from the left side, turned on a fastball from Tanner Scheppers and drove it well out into the right-field seats. Part of a six-run inning for the Phillies, it would be the spark that would help them secure a 14-10 victory to start the season.
More importantly for Rollins, that slam was the 200th of his career. He's only one of 10 shortstops in MLB history to reach that mark, extraordinary for a player whose defense and speed were often considered his best tools.
After the game, Rollins was asked whether he knew about the milestone. He did, per Zolecki, adding:
"I remember growing up, going to Oakland A's games and looking at the size of Mark McGwire, and I was like, 'I'm not going to hit too many home runs. I'll hit a few, but I could play [in the big leagues].' Going back to that, I guess I proved myself wrong."
He didn't just prove himself wrong. He proved a lot of people wrong, showing more versatility offensively than most would've pegged him for 15 years prior.
No. 1: Diving for the division
Rollins first came up to the Phillies in 2000, before settling into his starting role in 2001. For those first six full seasons of his career, the Phillies annually missed the playoffs, finishing second in the NL East four times. By the time 2007 rolled around, they had missed every postseason since their World Series loss in 1993 to the Toronto Blue Jays, when Joe Carter hit a heart-wrenching walk-off blast to clinch the series for the Jays.
So, when they made the postseason in 2007, their first trip in 14 years, fans hoped it would reignite some October success in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, their run that season ended quickly, with a 3-0 sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies.
It was crushing, to say the least. But the following season, in late September 2008, with the NL East division title within reach, Rollins made a play that would ignite one of the greatest postseason runs in franchise history.
Playing the Washington Nationals in their penultimate game of the season, the Phillies found themselves with the bases loaded and only one out in the top of the ninth. The Nationals, with "Mr. National" Ryan Zimmerman at the plate, could have made the division race a lot hairier between the Mets and the Phillies with just a single.
On a 1-1 breaking ball from closer Brad Lidge, Zimmerman hit a grounder up the middle. It was weak enough to make a play on, but hit too hard for it to be a walk in the park.
Rollins, of course, made it look easy.
Ranging well to his left, Rollins dove, sliding on his knees to stop the ball. He shoveled it to double-play partner Chase Utley, already waiting atop second base, who promptly turned and fired to first baseman Ryan Howard.
A 6-4-3 double play is one of the most well-known plays in the sport. There have been some great combinations of players to slot in for those numbers, but few come close to the stalwarts that were Rollins, Utley, and Howard. There are few things more fitting in baseball than the October magic that followed this play to have been initiated by those three players.
The Phillies clinched the division that night, then went on to win their second World Series title in franchise history a month later, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. But it all starts with Jimmy Rollins getting dirty for a ball, and making a tough defensive play look routine.