Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis collided in a scary play on this week in Philly history

Mickey Mantle was at the plate.

It was the eighth inning of a spring training game between the Phillies and Yankees on April 8, 1955, held in Wilmington, before 5,264 fans. And it was three days before Opening Day.

Mantle smoked a fly ball to left-center field off appropriately named Phillies pitcher Jack Spring.

Richie Ashburn and Del Ennis both took off in pursuit.

The 170-pound Ashburn, 28, was reaching for the ball when he collided with Ennis, 29, weighing in at 195 pounds, at full speed.

The outfielders, two of the Phillies’ best players but who also were no longer the “Whiz Kids” who had won the National League pennant in 1950, fell to the luscious green grass.

The two were sprawled out as the ball bounced around the outfield, and as Mantle and two other Yankees circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

Ashburn, the blond center fielder, sprained his left knee and suffered a concussion, and was taken to his room at the duPont Hotel.

There was a danger of the injury derailing Ashburn’s historic streak. He had appeared in 730 consecutive games, at the time a National League record.

Left fielder Ennis headed home to Philly, where X-rays revealed he had cracked his fibula just below the knee. It was estimated that Ennis would be sidelined for six weeks.

But the fallout was a mixed bag.

Ashburn’s streak came to end, when manager Mayo Smith opted to keep him out of the lineup on Opening Day, but Ennis wouldn’t be down for long.

Both men would make their return on April 16.

But there was a silver lining on the afternoon of April 8.

Ashburn collected three hits, and the Phillies recorded 15 hits overall, off some of the top pitchers in the game including all-time great Whitey Ford.

And the Phils scored the winning run when Mantle fumbled a hit to center field.

And the Phillies beat the dastardly Yanks, 8-6, who had swept Ashburn, Ennis, and the Phillies in the 1950 World Series.