When Brandon Phillips walked out of the clubhouse late Monday, there were at least a half-dozen family members and friends waiting for the veteran second baseman, most wearing Braves gear and one extremely large dude wearing a Braves jersey with “Phillips” on the back, his massive lat muscles putting considerable stress on the fabric and seams.
“That’s my cousin,” Phillips said, laughing. “Yeah, he played football.”
It was a big night for Phillips and Co., after his second-inning homer gave the Braves a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in a 5-2 win against the Pirates at SunTrust Park. It was the 200th home run of Phillips’ career, making the Stone Mountain native the 48th major leaguer to have at least 200 home runs and at least 200 stolen bases in his career.
“It feels good to do it in front of the family and the friends,” said Phillips, who was traded to the Braves from Cincinnati just days before spring training, after the Braves learned the severity of second baseman/utility man Sean Rodriguez’s shoulder injury.
“My parents, everybody was watching the game, even though it was raining and all that. They were still here to support me, and for me to do it in a Braves uniform is also a blessing. I have to thank the Braves for that opportunity.”
Phillips, who turns 36 next month, had 200 homers and 205 stolen bases after Monday, including three homers and seven RBIs this season, and certainly looks capable of getting plenty more in each category before he’s done.
The 16-year veteran had a .275 career average with a .742 OPS, and in his first season with the Braves he was batting .296 with a .783 OPS before Tuesday including a .354 on-base percentage that would be the highest of his career if he were to maintain it all season. Current best: .353 in 2011, when Phillips hit .300 with 58 extra-base hits (18 homers) and won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award in addition to one of his three All-Star berths.
Among the 48 players with at least 200 homers and 200 stolen bases are six second basemen, including Hall of Famers Joe Morgan, Roberto Alomar, Ryne Sandberg and Craig Biggio. The other two are still active, Phillips and Ian Kinsler.
“I don’t really pay attention to the career stats, I just try to go out there and play the game,” Phillips said. “But for me to reach that, it’s a blessing. It’s something I never thought I would do. But God blessed me to go out there and show everybody my talent, and it feels good just to be able to knock it out of the way, because I’ve been on 199 for a long period of time.”
When asked if that meant he was aware it was his 200th as soon as he hit it, Phillips smiled and said, “Well, when you have teammates that care about stats and stuff like that, how can you not think about it?”
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