2013 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Philadelphia Phillies 2013 season was the 131st season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies played their first game of the season against the Atlanta Braves on April 1. Season notes. On April 5, the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 13–4, spoiling their home opener with a sellout crowd of 45,307 at Citizens Bank Park. The interleague matchup was a rare one between teams who first met in the 1980 World Series, as the Royals previously only visited Philadelphia in 2004. Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and George Brett, rivals when the  Phillies beat the Royals to win their first championship 33 years earlier, threw out the first pitches (along with "SNL"'s Joe Piscopo). On August 16, 2013, the Phillies fired manager Charlie Manuel replacing him with third base coach Ryne Sandberg on an interim basis. At the time, the Phillies were 53–67, and Manuel had exactly 1,000 wins with the Phillies, a milestone he achieved on August 12. The league and fan base mostly expressed sadness and gratitude to Manuel for his tenure. Several Phillies veterans, including Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, expressed regret and guilt feeling their lack of  production led to Manuel's firing; they viewed Manuel as a fatherly figure. Sandberg commented the next day, "It was a roller coaster of a day emotionally. It affected me and I think it affects the players." Manuel received significant accolades within the media for his class in handling the situation, while the Phillies organization, namely general manager Rubén Amaro, Jr., were criticized within the media for firing Manuel at that point in the season, as well as for not having better players. Roster. "All players who made an appearance for the Phillies during 2013 are included." 2013 Philadelphia Phillies