Brogna. Estalella. Sefcik. Not names that strike fear into the hearts of opposing pitches, exactly--the three slugged a mere 160 longballs over the course of their combined careers, just a handful more than Ryan Howard hit in his first three full years as a Phil. But damned if they didn't do a pretty good impression of Murderer's Row (or at the very least, Utley-Howard-Ibanez) on September 8th, 1998. Facing the Mets and starting pitcher Hideo Nomo, Rico Brogna, Bobby Estalella and Kevin Sefcik all went yard a pair of times each, accounting for six of the seven homers the Phils hit that day at the Vet--a single-game record for the Phillies franchise.
Starter Paul Byrd didn't exactly have to be brilliant with that kind of run support, and indeed, he was acceptably adequate, giving up three runs and nine hits over five and two-thirds. The barrage of roundtrippers (the seventh and last of which being a pinch-knock by Marlon Anderson) the Phils hit drove in a total 11 runs, and the boys ended up taking the game by a final score of 16-4. The win brought the Phils to a serviceable 68-76, 23 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East.
Rico Brogna had a pretty good 1999 season for the Fightins, hitting 20+ homers and driving in 100+ runs for the second straight season, but Estalella and Sefcik's hot streak didn't last, the two combining for just one more bomb in the red and white. By 2000, none of the three remained on the team.
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/09/to...
