With home-field advantage throughout the playoffs all but wrapped up, the Phillies will play 11 semi-meaningless games in 10 days to end the season.
Meaningless is obviously an over-statement, and many people WILL be watching these games – but instead of focusing solely on the standings, this is what I will be watching for…
1. Can Halladay or Lee snag the Cy Young from Clayton Kershaw
Given that Halladay has been arguable better than last year, and that Lee has been arguably better than Halladay – it would just be strange to think that anyone could beat them out, but that’s precisely what Clayton Kershaw is doing right now.
If I had a vote today – it would be Halladay by a hair, with pretty much all the sabermetric measures showing him as the best of the three. All 3 will probably get 2 more starts.
2. What do the newcomers look like?
There are a couple interesting call-ups, most notably Justin De Fratus and Joe Savery, who along with Mike Schwimer, could make a push for a spot in our suddenly troubling bullpen.
We saw De Fratus last night, and I’m not sure what was going on with him. His fastball was only 90-91mph and his reports from the minors have him much higher (95-96mph). First game jitters? Didn’t get fully loose? I don’t know – would like to see him again.
Savery is also interesting in that he has seemed to regain some of his arm strength after a hiatus from pitching and then a move to the bullpen.
Schwim has been up and down, and looks to have promise long term, but needs to be more consistent. I doubt any of the 3 are on the post-season roster, but it’s likely they will all be in the mix for the 2012 opening day roster.
Brandon Moss is another player to watch as a possible bat off the bench. He tore it up in the AAA playoffs.
3. Who is the 4th starter in the playoffs?
Vance Worley has been a great story, but for me it’s Roy Oswalt hands down. He’s been better than Worley since returning from the DL, looks to be getting some velocity back, and it a notoriously strong finisher. I think Worley could handle the spotlight just fine, but Oswalt has the potential to be dominant that Worley does not.
Oswalt (9 starts since return): 54 IP, 3.50 ERA, 43 K, 1.44 WHIP
Worley (last 9 starts): 51.2 IP, 4.00 ERA, 55 K, 1.33 WHIP
4. Will rest help Ryan Howard’s ankle?
It sounds like this is the plan – and perhaps a cortisone shot before the playoffs – but to me it doesn’t sound like an injury that necessarily gets “fixed” by rest. We will see.
5. Just how many games will we win?
We need only go 4-7 in our final 11 games to reach 102 wins and become the best regular season team in Phillies history. We’d have to go 7-4 to get to 105 wins, making us the 23rd team to do so and only the 5th since 1980.
6. Can Bastardo get his groove back?
Bastardo has struggled of late and it seems to me his arm is getting a little tired. His velocity is down into the low 90′s and his control has faltered. I would sit him for the first 7-8 games and then get him some time in the final 3-4 games.
7. Who pitches the 7th in the playoffs?
Brad Lidge is making a strong(ish) case to take over Mike Stutes role in the 7th inning. He’s throwing almost only sliders, but people aren’t hitting them – or at least not with runners on base. He’s given up only 2 runs in 15.1 IP, but has a huge 1.63 WHIP that just won’t fly in the playoffs. Stutes has a 5.03 ERA since August 1st. Could it actually be David Herndon, who has a 1.89 ERA over that same time frame? I guess we hope the answer to this question is none of these guys, but rather Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt.
8. Arbitrary single-season milestones that I’m not going to pretend I don’t enjoy?
Can Halladay get 20 wins? Victorino 100 runs? Rollins 30 SB? Hamels to 200K? Lee another SHO? Halladay another CG?
9. Hey! Remember Domonic Brown?
I’m still solidly in the Dom Brown camp, though I don’t really see a place for him on this post-season roster, even as a pinch-runner type. We will see.
I’m not like overwhelmingly worried about it at this point, but I’d probably add Cole to the list. They don’t make post season rotations like they used to with 3 days rest now a totally Angelic thing. The 4 man count puts your 3 guy in a potential game 7, and I could stand to feel a little more confident in Cole’s Game 3 assignment about 2 weeks from today, let alone a would be 7 down the road. I’m like not nervous, but just under worried, I vguess is the best way to put it. Yeah, he’s thrown some excellent innings since the little rest, but some less than great ones, too. That’d be pretty high on my list, not at the top.
By the way, another chapter to the pointless discussion of who’s the 4 is that it’d be kinda ridiculous to reassign Chooch to Vanimal at this point, late season and all, and starting Vance kinda puts Schneider in the lineup. Brian’s done a credible job, some timely hits mixed into a mediocore offensive year, but you definitely want Chooch in the lineup every game. I think if you polled the 25 players, coaches, Charlie and Ruben on the team MVP, Chooch would probably surprise with the frewuency of mention. I mean, the whoile pitching staff gives him an edge right there. No disrespect to the obvious guys, but I don’t think anyone appreciates his value like the club itself, and you want him in every post season game.
My only worry at this point would be the offense – if they can get even mildly hot then everything else should be fine.
wow. Not at all concerned about the pen? Maybe the offense is a bigger concern, but you really just brush by the pen?
I wouldn’t say not at all but not really. I think Madson can handle it, Worley will be in there. The rest of them aren’t perfect but not giving up a ton. Certainly not more than a decent offense can absorb. They should only really need to cover 1 or 2 innings per game - if its more than that than something else has gone wrong already. This post season belongs to the Aces.
Good points. Worley is an asset. I’m all for the aces going far and deep, I guess if I have a concern, it’s playing from behind and Charlie feeling compelled to pinch hit as early as maybe even the bottom of the 6th, and losing that starter’s edge. It’s not likethe pinch hitters are so talented that a 3-0 deficit is one that you feel warm and fuzzy about turning it around, especially since Charlie saves his better pinch hitters fro late.
The recent increased rate of gopher balls thrown by the golden-armed starters is a mild cause for concern. Just one can turn tide in a taut playoff contest. The Marquee Three gotta keep that aspirin sealed inside the park.
Nick Punto is certainly no Pete Orr at the Second Base Fairgrounds. However, judges awarded him with the “Congeniality” Ribbon for his early fielding contributions to his former organization’s cause.
Phils may be trying to slip the famous 100-win game playoff curse.
While you wait for playoffs to begin, see Dick Stuart battle Gus Triandos, Duke Snider taking on Hank Aaron, Willie Mays slugging it out with Mickey Mantle and Rocky Colavito going up against Jackie Jenson, among 22 other entertaining bouts: http://www.hulu.com/home-run-derby
Check out the table comping Doc 2010, versus 2011. Let’s see Kshaw’s 2012 versus this year down the road.
http://blogs.delawareonline.com/philledin/2011/09/20/18-and-counting-halladay-falls-short-of-20-wins/comment-page-1/#comment-19743
On other hand, Halladay didn’t experience ’11 Kershaw-like success until he was 25 whereas the Dodger is only 23, and has been ringin’ it up pretty good – exceeding Hamels’ numbers - for 3 seasons now.
This Kendrick character is something else. I mean, he loads the bases, and whoever cares right now gasps and thinks here we go again. The Doctor does that, and I know at least 1 person who thinks so what, got em right where we want em. KK, for all his oft mentioned flaws could still grab 1 more start, should Vanimal, or Animal, as Charlie thought everyone called him, heads to the pen. He’s actually positioned to visit sub 3 ERA territory if he gets that chance. Ran like an 11-4, 3.87 ERA back in the day, and people thought he sucked (which he basically did). Now, he’s almost a full run lower (3.12), and we can start the discussion all over again from a much lower ERA. This guy’s leading the charmed life, but ya gotta respect his longermedness. Somehow, some way, he’s done it. 3.10 as we speak.
Kendrick usually pitches well on Tuesday afternoons at home against sub-.500 teams following
division-clinchings. Ask Billy Beane.
bench, pinch-hitting:
Gload 18-72
Mayberry 7-29
Francisco 7-24
Martinez 3-16
Orr 5-14
Bowker 0-8
Valdez 0-6
Brown 2-4
Schneider 0-2
total 42-175/.240/1HR/17 RBIs
How ‘The East’ Was Not Won
What people might not be fully cognizant of is that guys like Schwimer, and DeFratus are real students of pitching. Schwim can go sabermetrics on ya with the best of em. I mean, there’s much more to pitching than that, but it helps your focus. Well, theirs. Not mine. I don’t pitch. And ya hate to see losing experiences mixed in along the way as part of the growth process, but it’s all part of the game. Woulda been nice to win this game, but at least I can get to Wal mart before they close. 3-0 Nats.
Let’s try a foreign language tweet. Note how the fans remain seated.
http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=most%20players%20ever%20in%20a%20baseball%20game&tnr=21&vid=1147655553937&l=68&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fvideos%2Fthumbnail.aspx%3Fq%3D1147655553937%26id%3D318a4ef54dc85153e54ea52c4dd66975%26bid%3D%252fQEjm3apjGWk1Q%26bn%3DThumb%26url%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.youtube.com%252fwatch%253fv%253dYaxpAkOWNM0&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYaxpAkOWNM0&sigr=11am04ieg&newfp=1&tit=Ballplayer%26%2339%3Bs+Amazing+Wall-Climbing+Catch+-+Masato+Akamatsu+Makes+…
Well that is hopeful on Bastardo but…well I think he is probably cooked. Stutes is clearly done, whether physically or mentally or both. Bad teams are eating these guys up.
We really don’t have much of a bullpen anymore. Remember when everyone was worried about the Braves pen wearing down? It appears it was more applicable to the Phils. REally is amazing considering how many innings the starters logged that we have a bullpen that is out of gas. You wonder how other teams survive at all when they have 2 complete games the whole season. And I am talking the good tteams like the yanks, Texas, braves, etc.
Anyway, looks like we pray the starters can go at least 7 enough times and go with Lidge and Madson. Only need to win 11 out of 19 to win a title.
Well, now isn’t this just sweet. Ross Detweiler all but wraps up the CY for Clayton Kershaw. How suhweet.
Roger Clemens had a 10.3 WAR in 1997. Might wanna remember that in case it somes up in the Trial of the Century since OJ’s was last c3entury. Even if not, it’s interesting to compare it to the WAR score put together by Ross Detweiler tonight. 12. Or so it seems. I dunno why they talk about Strasburg all the time. Sheesh.
O/U on Giants-Dodgers is 5.5. Guess you gotta have a high digit to scare some under players off. That’s a blood pressure raiser if you play the over on that. But it’s blue light special night on the Giants. Not too often you can lay 100 to win 225 on Mr. Lincecum. Course he’s lost 3 straight to Kshaw this year, but who’s counting.
Commander Cholly’s quagmire: 8 mapped skirmishes left; tent hungover on excess of success; more troops to shuffle than a Chinese general; performance-and-morale sag; fierce opponent determinism;
phenomenal but increasingly restless public support; a preannounced plan to activate intensity on Saturday, Sept 24 in the face of a mingling menagerie of New York Metroplitan soldiers on their soil; spectre of engagement with an unknown enemy that is set to begin Saturday, Oct 1. (10 more toss-and-turn nights), Philadelphia’s piece of world peace hanging in the balance.
Clayton Kershaw, first Dodger to win 20 games since Ramon Martinez in 1990, first Dodger to go 5-0 versus Giants since Vic Lombardi in 1946.
Tim Lincecum “definitely” endorses Kershaw as Cy Young Award candidate.
“If this boy doesn’t win the Cy Young, something’s definitely wrong,” said teammate Matt Kemp.
[Dylan Hernandez, LATimes, 9-21-11]
5-0 against the worst hitting team in baseball is a bit of a black mark on Kershaw’s resume. But hey – you can only pitch against who is on your schedule. Still….I get a bit impatient when people like Howard Utley or victorino are diminished for playing in a “bandbox” but our pitchers aren’t rewarded commensurately for pitching in the same. Considering the nasty offense in the NL west and the ballpark Kershaw pitches in, his stats should be placed in context. They are nice, but they don’t match Halladay or Lee.
pah! just give it to him and let’s get it over with. It’ll be one more positive thing the Dodgers can take out of this season amongst a publicly humiliating divorce, PR damaging incidents in the stadium, the financial state of the franchise and growing apathy with the fans.
Even better it could make them, what I believe would be the first team in MLB history to have the Cy Young winner and MVP on a team that had a losing season.
You’re on the right track in saying they’d be the first losing team to cop the honor, but they have to be a losing team first. They stand a game over .500 heading into tonight.
I was in a discussion with someone who researched the same teams winners. Here’s what was written…
<<Johan Santana and Morneau in 06, Carpenter/Pujols in 05, Zito/Tejada in 02 (boy they both stunk across the bay 9 years later), Glavine/Pendleton in 91, Henderson/Welch in 90, Hersheiser/Gibson in 88, Sutcliffe/Sandberg in 84, Yount/Vukovich in 82, SCHMIDT/CARLTON in 80, Garvey/Marshall in 74, Willis/Drysdale in 62, Ford/Maris in 61, Wynn/Fox in 59.
My oh my, it DOES happen a lot. However, every one of these teams made the playoffs except the 62 dodgers, and they finished 2nd in the NL at 102-63..
In 68, Denny McLain and Bob Gibson swept the two awards in their respective leagues. That will never happen again.>>
There are other instances of teamd sweeping the award through 1 guy. At a minimum, Sandy Koufax did it in 1966. The list starts in 1959 because the CY started in 1956. The Dodgers, in a sense were a playoff team in 1962. They lost a 3 game playoff to the Giants as a result of a first place tie.
Sour grapes.
Beating 2-time Cy winner Tim Lincecum head-to-head - 2-1, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1 – a black mark on resume? Phillyfan pholly.
Kershaw’s 18-2 since May 2. That’s premium pitching in the dimensions of any stadium.
you kinda made my point – 3 total runs in 4 games. Not sour grapes. I really don’t care that much about individual awards. Just like consistency – if the bank is a hitters part and dodger stadium is a pitchers park – lets use the obvious when we evaluate statistics. In the last month when comparing Halladay and Kershaw I have not heard any national media bring up that point. Kinda avoiding the elephant in the room.
My underscoring of Kershaw’s giving up just 3 runs in 4 winning starts in one of baseball’s strongest rivalries against the other club’s 2-time Cy winning ace in no way supports your hometown position.
Elephant in the room? More like common housefly or spider. Maybe it’s not brought up by big picture writers because stadium differentials are seen as bearing little significance on the big picture of seasonal pitching excellence.
Dodger Stadium was initially considered a pitcher’s park; it isn’t now. Change in field dimensions, including reduction of foul territory, have rendered it neutral in that regard.
May as well blame the “unfair” California weather conditions for the prominent rise of The Claw.
Presumed: popular hubbub about nice guy Mayberry playing more regularly quieted after his costly, hesitant play and crappy throw in center yesterday. And another ball rolled between his legs recently, didn’t it. Better, more productive ABs this year but still a deserving reserve.
Meanwhile, the Houston Blastronauts are 45.5 games off Phils’ orbit at 53-100. Rumor mill has it that free agent pitcher Shawn Chacon was recently squired around town on repentant GM Ed Wade’s blessing by goodwill ambassadors Brett Myers and Jason Michael in an attempt to strengthen the team’s 2012 chances. Full reconciliation of differences is said to rest on a years-ago promised locomotive ride across the left field wall.
I’ll give you a sleeper candidate for MVP in the NL. Hard to think of him as a sleeper, but Albert Pujols is getting his numbers very much in line with his career numbers, and is whacking the ball around at a pivotal time. Like last weekend at the Bank. Matter of fact, you eliminate his lousy, horrific in fact, start, and what he’s done since mid May is probably exactly Albert. April counts, but it certainly discredits the growing number of people who have mentioned him and decline in the same sentence this year.
if they get the Wild Card, it’s definitely worth a second look.
Just goes to show you that consistency is boring and overlooked. The effects, though, much more pleasant.
Go Bert, Keep adding to your gargantuan price tag.
late lead over the Mets now, with the Braves having lost. Could be 1.5 back. Albert has 2 more hits.
And the Red Sox, Beckett, no less, lost AGAIN.
Ray-watching now Tell you what, it could be some final week and a half if te Rays pick up this game and tomorrow’s.
Bastardo went from a season for the ages to a complete nightmare. Can’t remember such a complete implosion, from unhittable to getting hammered night after night. His confidence is clearly shot.
I do NOT want to play the Cardinals in the first round.
The stereotypical super-hot wild card team.
Jaime Garcia, who we CANNOT hit.
Pujols – duh.
If it somehow does work out that way, take comfort in the fact that we can get to their back end late in games.
I don’t know how up to the minute Bodog.com’s odds are, but there appears to be a real time maybe very short lived bonanza of an opportunity on the Cardinals at this very moment.
The Braves are a 15/2 NL pennant favorite, the Cardinals are 15/1. The Cards finish with a day game against the Mets today, then 3 with the Cubs, and 3 with the Astros. The Braves play the Nats for 3, who have given them all sorts of trouble this year, and then the you’d think anxiious to win Phillies. In that schedule regard, the Cards look interesting. But the Cards aren’t a perfect club, and have turned momentum back on a dime before. But they appear to have a very decent shot at running one helluva regular season happy ending, at least on the paper schedule. And ending what would be a more than serious disappointment to the Braves year.
All I know for fact is that the Cards got ripped industry wide for the Rasmus deal. The stand alone on that was Ron Gant, who cited the Cards improved pitching for this year off the trade as his reason. The Cards are on the verge of verifying the unique view held by Gant. Baseball is a fascinating game. Particularly since Adam Wainright isn’t part of this.
My feeling of about 2 days ago that the Braves and BoSox would hang on is interesting to think back to. Sort of like craving a steak, and finding lobster’s on an attractive special. Good stories, wny way you look at it.
Brian Schneider is hitting .172 with a .233 OBP and 33 OPS+. If I believed in booing, I’d boo him.
He makes me ALMOST nostalgic for Jimmie Coker, Jimmie Schaeffer and Jim Essian. Nice late chuck last night though, nailing would-be thief.
My underscoring of Kershaw’s giving up just 3 runs in 4 winning starts in one of baseball’s strongest rivalries against the other club’s 2-time Cy winning ace in no way supports your hometown position. >>
That is continued ridiculousness off the first time Kshaw was embellished as a CY candidate because of his record in part against a 2 time CY winner. It’s like this woman I know who grew up in Portugal, and has lived in the States for 30 years. Her use of the word we is entertaining. It’s we as in Europeans when it suits, or benefits her, or we as in American when that’s to her advantage. Never mind that she passed her citizenship test thanks to no question from the INS folks demanding names of 3 Atlanta Braves when Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine were household names. Well, in this house, at least. We is plural, but within 1 Nation under God, and the CY is either the epitome of pitching recognition, or it’s not.
Here sits Tim Lincecum with 2 CY awards, and nary a dropoff in his demonstrated ability in a much misleading 13-13 season. And to pursue a point, he’s referred to as a 2 time CY cat. There sits Greg Maddux, as good a pitcher of a terrific generation, who is referenced as a 4 CONSECUTIVE time CY winner, and the point is raised about the CY being opinions of peoples who don’t play the game, or some similar downplaying point. Part of a unique Maddux is slightly overrated pitch.
Hardly surprising to come from a source where Jimmy Carter is ridiculed, and a fellow board member raises offense to it, and the unwritten invitation to offer a simple apology is followed up with “you contribute little.” Such is life in the faceless world of bravery over the internet. The one where a rise in blood pressure triggers a personal reply that merely confirms a projected image.
You knew a woman?
Don’t hold grudges, Kenneth. They’re bad frequencies.
Sorry that I don’t esteem Goose-eggy Greggy quite as highly as you and once dared to state the mildly dissenting opinion. On the Jimmy Carter exchange, your memory is remarkable, and your nose is in another’s business.
Continue typing your large tossed salads. And keep ‘em fresh, please.
The then and now of it all……
pre season starters expectations from 3/27/11
Doc 240 IP (227) 2.50 ERA (2.41) 1.10 WHIP (1.05)
Cliff 230 IP (226) 2.75 ERA (2.38) 1.05 WHIP (1.03)
Roy O 215 IP 2.95 ERA 1.10 WHIP
Cole 215 IP (206) 3.15 ERA (2.80) 1.15 WHIP (0.98)
Joe 190 IP 3.80 ERA 1.35 WHIP
full article http://www.reclinergm.com/2011-philadelphia-phillies-preview-starting-pitching/
not too shabby.
didn’t check how the smattering of others did, and I ommited K’s which you’d requested, too. Didn’t feel too comfty projecting that. Kinda missed on Cole, bulk of his work was better than expected. Irony of Doc is last year, what I thought was fairly conservatively, I thought he’d go 18-6, which for now, he is this year. I guess others did W-L, too, but I wasn’t comfty with that, either. I have a feeling that I’ll feel it smart not to play this game with these guys next year. I mean, the Big 2 should be okay, but I’d rather get out of the guessing game a year too soon than a year too late. I’m sure your guesstimates were pretty good.
Here’s something to keep an eye on over the weekend. You know the Cards reupped with Berkman for 12 mil for a year yesterday, and I guess maybe a little surprisingly did so with Carp 2 weeks back. Personally, I don’t know how that fits in with Albert. Part of me says it increases their desire to sign him, but most of me says it means he’s gone. Well, last night, Joe Strauss, Post Dispatch beat guy tweeted a message that he talked to someone that has him revising the odds on Cards resigning him, and he’ll have it in the paper this weekend. Course his word is hardly official, but it’s lead thinking, which is kinda fun to ponder. Those impressed with the Phils year, and more so with post season success will be in a rush to crown the club heavy faves again in ’12, but if Albert hits the Bay, or Miami, I’d rather digest it and develop thinking then. Lots to concentrate on this year yet.
shabby (but omitted):
Roy O 215 IP (133) 2.95 ERA (3.86) 1.10 WHIP (1.37)
Joe 190 IP (37.1) 3.80 ERA (5.30) 1.35 WHIP (1.53)
regardless of the 4-aces efforts to be good teammates, nobody considered Joe B. to do much. To have 3 of 4 aces exceed expectations is pretty much as much as any team or fan could hope for. They have been “as advertised.” That doesn’t happen much in sports.
A 3.80 ERA from Joe? That was a whacked out prediciton anyway. anything under 4.5 from Joe is gravy.
A 3.80 ERA from Joe? That was a whacked out prediciton anyway. anything under 4.5 from Joe is gravy.>>
Indeed. That’s why 4 people made predictions, and 3 of the 4 were sub 4, with Pete, giving Joe a favorable writeup in the narrative was the high guy at 4.2. Seems like at the time, you chose the silent strategy, perhaps too entranced at calling the number of team wins at a certain number.
But it would appear like you’ve developed a new forte here. You seem to have a certain level of skill at post event prediction evaluations, and another level of skill and before the fact predictions.
Would have been nice to see the 4 and 5 guys have full seasons of minor injury interference to see what might have happened rather than listening to what’s clearly after the fact typical nonsense.
Welcome to Uneek Theatre: 6 consecutive losses, including sweep of 4 at sold-out CBP by the Washington Irrationals. Tonight’s features: Citizen Pain and The Postman Always Rings 162 Times.
Desperately Seeking W ?
although that adverb looks inappropriate when you take in Charlie’s post game press last night.
as much as my heart goes out to the mugged fans, it’s all October results for me now, that and getting Bastardo and Oswalt in shape.
If you gave Vic a lie detector test, and he came up truth telling while saying he wasn’t worried, that’d be good enough for me, but I’m um…..worried isn’t the word….maybe cautious or confused? on him, in addition to the 2 guys you named. He seems to have had a poor September. OBP is like .280. You know Chase hasn’t been kicking it at the plate for a while. It kills me to see him perform at anything less than great, because he’s been so good. Hopefully, in his case, it’s more timing for the week he loss to the concussion.
here’s the thing; you can’t have all cylinders firing at once unless you are the 2007 Rockies or 2010 Giants. I’m banking on us having so many cylinders, that enough will bark and get us what we need to back our Nitrous arms. Utley usually has good at bats so even when he’s off, he is not a black hole, Vic is a free spirit so anything can literally happen and Jimmy is … well Jimmy so he’ll show up when he feels the need to. What we won our (100gms) on is still constant.
I continue to get adequate sleep.
It works all kinds of ways. We were on fire going into the 2007 playoffs, with a miraculous run to clip the Mets. And then we laid an egg.
Good suggestion. Could be paired with St. Hunter’s Fire.
I’m reserving my panic for when the starting 8 are on the field together – if they don’t start improving after that then I’ll worry.
However you want to spin it – Rollins and Vick a combined 0-28 against Nationals (or any!) pitching is not encouraging.
Thanks goodness we have some games next. And it will do them good to face a team with something significant to play for in Atlanta. It is really like playing playoff opposition. It should help them mentally.
Want to hear spin? I was telling someone this morning that at least Rollins was popping up to the outfield last night, lol. So at least he was hitting it harder. Trying to stay positive…..
Jimmy is the one guy you shouldn’t worry about. Not so much that he will produce, but he’s definitely getting ready in steps. He’s said so himself. It’d be awesome to turn the infield pop to outfield pop to a couple meaningful gappers, and get the fireuppedness in place.
“Still the team to beat”
Jimmy Shortstop
September 17,2011 AD (seems so long ago)
UTley batting .172 with two RBI in his last 20 games can’t be good either. he has fallen off a cliff. Knee has to be bothering him. Never seen him this inept.
You know you’re smack dab in the middle of ‘tweener times, MLB edition when something soooo speculative as this is written. But that’s okay, because nary a week ago, one of the boys over at Fangraphs keyboarded a piece trying to convince readership that the Cardinals of St. Louis would be best served by moving Albert Pujols to shortstop. Nerds are winning believers picked a bad time to announce that off an article that’s barely off the press.
Digression in place, the subject is that last part of the would be Los Angeles CY winning trifecta preceded by Messers Koufax, and Fernandomania. It’s nice that Phillie faithful haven’t spent much time yapping about the roughly 175 mil on the books to Doctor Harry, and Clifton Groundhog. I mean, it’d be nice if they played on the cheap, and revenue generation wasn’t so critical to pay it, but Holy Hamels, if you think the subject of Cole’s next deal is P-R-I-C-E-Y, well……
In the overall scheme of things, compared to veterans on the whole, Doc and Cliff aren’t a bargain, but are essentially paid fairly.
Then, in his last year before the first of a would be 3 on a row arb years, what a joyous coincidence for the woebegone nee Brooklyn club that Kshaw matches and prolly surpasses the Philly tandem. AT A COST OF 500K! Shall we count our lucky stars that the sabermetropologicians haven’t come up with a value per pitch stat that would have them rename the honor The Clay Kershaw award and kill the memory of Old Denton True?
500K for THAT performance? Sandy won MVP and 1 award for 2 league CY honors in ’66 off a held out for 110K, but this might equal that on the value index.
It’s depressing to rush kids to adulthood. Change a diaper here, go to a high school grduation there, and the only thing on deck is your first social security check. So there’s merit to live and let live, and tra la la la la let’s live for today, but thinking ahead to what the Kshaw kid could make is mind boggling. There’s some precedence in Tim Lincecum’s travels, 2 early CYs that he copped, but this is gonna get ridiculous on a team with dwindling attendance (36K this week, Kshaw versus Freak, Round 4), and long term Kemp and Ethier deals on deck. The talk this past spring was that CK could nail 4 mil in arbitration next year, if he had a good year. Let the bidding start at a cool 5. Start, he said. Jered Weaver has had a great year. He got 4 mil in arb. He’s the 2nd best pitcher in LA. David Price? I don’t think so.
But the intruiging thing to me is what happens with this young man long term. Not so much for him, but the clubs that will strategize to acquire him, planning on the big expenditure early on. Spare me the what if he’s just having one good year. Larry Bowa, 600 year veteran of MLB already thinks the dude is headed to Cooperstown.
Kshaw, by my count, will be a free agent before the 2015 season. Whether its a bluff or not, the Washington Nationals have already said they aren’t a player for one of this year’s creme de la creme, Prince Fielder. That’s 100 mil in the vault, the position to be ably manned by Mike Morse. By 2015, Stephen Strasburg will be all of 25 years old, maybe 26. Bryce Harper will be in his 3rd big league year at age 24. Jayson Werth figures to still be productive, however barely, Danny Espinosa should be rounding into his destination of just a notch below the likes of Cano and peak Utley. Ryan Zimmerman, injury prone that he can be, still won’t be over the hill. Ian Desmond might even win a Gold Glove by then. Although pitching is the name of the game is a lesson older than dirt, ballclubs follow trends. The lesson the Phillies have offered is you never have enough aces. Strasberg and Kershaw might dwarf the antics of Halladay and Lee. And the Lerners, said to be running on great wealth might make the recent 4 game sweep a lot more meaningful in the future if they could sign this guy.
Only about 5, 10, 15 or 20 ballclubs could go from good to great with a signing of the young lefty. But you can’t help but feel that he’d be a more perfect fit in Washington than a lot of other places. It’s scary to think how unbeatble the Strasburg-Kershaw combo would be. Especially if you think this week’s Nats sweep was hurtful.
This might be important. David Hale on Bastardo…
– Dubee on Bastardo’s pitch-tipping: “When you look at the swings Washington took off him the other day, you’re not supposed to hit some of those balls the way they hit them. He threw a couple down sliders that Zimmerman hit and Gomes just missed — we’re not talking about lazy sliders that are up in the strike zone. We’re talking about sliders with depth and action to them. Hopefully we’ve hit on the right thing.”
– Dubee on spotting Bastardo’s tip: “This one wasn’t (easy) because I wasn’t looking in the right area. But if somebody found it, it was glaring.”
– As Charlie pointed out, Bastardo’s a fastball-slider pitcher, so if he was tipping the slider it was an easy process of elimination to the point that the opposition would always know what was coming.
hagen wrote about it also. Definitely caught my eye. Another reliever who throws a slider came to Philly off of a down season ana couple years back. Turns out someone told him he was tipping his pitches also, and he went on to convert every single save opportunity he got…
Individual goals might seem very secondary compared to the big prize, but what’s playing out in Los Angeles the last few games of the year is even greater than meets the eye. And that doesn’t even take into consideration Clayton Kershaw, about whom teammate Matt Kemp said words to the effect of “We knew what was going on out there tonight,” discussing the motivation of Kshaw’s 20th win this past week against Tim Lincecum.
Well, you’d best believe that if the Dodgers are as focussed on post season awards as their mediocore year leaves them focussing on, it becomes critical for any and every Dodger to avoid being doubled up, to get on each and every at bat. Matt Kemp is in the ultimnate zone.
It’s not even the wholeness of winning the Triple Crown. He’s got a decent RBI lead, is tied with Pujols in homers, with a game in hand, and trails only Reyes and Braun by a few points on the average front. He’s 11 hits (5 games left) away from 200, and 3 dingers short of 40 and securing the 40/40 mark. He’s protecting a .400 OBP by .002, and within .13 of an OPS of 1.000. Think you could live with his 150 strikeouts? Kemp’s already got a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger on his resume.
Can he run the table the last 6 games and achieve the Triple Crown and all the other frivolities? Tonight, he faces Aaron Harang, a pretty good pitcher, but like the rest of the hurlers in western civilization, Kemp sees the ball well off him. 4-13, a dinger, and a double. Tomorrow, Cory Lubke, who Kemp has 2 doubles off of in 5 at bats. Get through these 2 games, making progress against the competition, and the standards, and he’ll go to Phoenix for the last 3 in what many fans might not realize, but it just might be the most historic chase since Mac and Sammy obliterated the Babe some 12 years ago. Not too bad for a guy who used to platoon with Juan Pierre.
it just might be the most historic chase since Mac and Sammy obliterated the Babe some 12 years ago.>>
AHEM. Many correctables upon reread, you just let fly. At least, normal people do. But when you omit a Roger Maris from a signifcant would be point, you better believe an amendment screams of need.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch … “the Phillies’ eight-game losing streak is the longest by any team following a league- or division-clinching win since the first World Series in 1903. The Minnesota Twins had the previous long streak. They dropped five straight after clinching the AL West in 1987.” [Inquirer writer Ray Parrillo; 9-25-11]
Tough day coming up for the negative paranoid types that have swarmed in negativity for the past week or so.
Phils are winning, and get a load of this, playing well, to boot.
It’s Philadelphia Phillies baseball time. Philadelphia Phillies baseball the way we know it. All part of the master plan to join in unison with 2 fine, but not as good clubs from the past and share in a 101 win season.
Aww, now we’re gonna share. That’s nice. Wouldn’t bet on it. Get a load of this, they’re hapless at present. I’ll take the even 100 or the ’just last week’-unimaginable 99, thank you. Bang the drum slowly, Deep Dish.
Valentino Pascucci, Iron Pigs’ castoff … 2-out 7th inning bang … 8th Hamels’ gopher ball in last 5 starts. And then Not King Cole runs his mouth post-game about teammates. What a prince.
Howsa ’bout dat J-Roll rollin’ a bunt single? Knew he could do it! Now, if he could just elevate that .334 OBP, Phillies would have themselves a leadoff hitter.
Pence’s patellar looks sore … like the expression Herndon wore when Hunter failed to track down Willie Harris’s long, nosediving quail near the wall.
Stutesy looked nasty for 2. Resolute.
Kendrick found his old self.
Charlie said, “Way to go, Joe” and then rotated the tires into another ditch.
Tommy Mac called 125 million $$$ Ryan Howard one of the best pinchhitters in the game. I’m gonna tune in today for more richness from Mr. Chitterchatter.
This losing streak is no longer meaningless. If they don’t get to 100 wins, what I believe has become an important psychological mark for this team since about July, the malaise will linger into the postseason. Need to finish 2-2 or a 1st round loss goes from highly improbably to 50/50 ish. This streak isn’t so much how it is impacting the phils, but also how it is impacting the attitude of the opposition. Zona much more confident and the “they definitely can be had” will be a factor.
Home advantage throughout should help. ‘Bank’ “deposits” in many opposing pitchers ears rattle.
There’s probably a fair degree of joy spread through the baseball world this morning. Particularly in Philadelphia, probably Texas, likely Los Angeles. These are thre markets that were victimized, or embroiled in a long term rivalry with the officially no longer World Champion San Fransisco Giants.
Winning a championship, particularly at a pace of 1 every 56 years is one thing. How you defend it is the real experience. It’s a great thing when a champion makes noise that warns of threat, or repeat. It just makes things more interesting, particularly when the title itself had some Cinderella aspects to it. I wasn’t aware that Cinderella was a ballplayer in her prime, but damn, she keeps popping into baseball references a lot. Hard to figure if she was an infielder or outfielder, or golden armed reliever.
The Ginats were an in and out threat this year. There’s little question that the ins were camoflauges ever since their tremendous young player, Buster Posey went down to a season ending unfortunate incident eons ago. Pitching rich talent kept them afloat, and depite the Posey loss, they will still finish the year ahead of 2 competitors in their division that Giant haters would have been happy to see them trail. Let alone last year’s title challenging Padre club.
As recently as August, the Ginats were considered likely to be back in the playoffs, and have a more formal chance to defend their crown. I mean, the Arizona Diamnindbacks? C’mon. Then the Ginats went into an offensive slump that made their club of last year look like the ’27 Yanks.
In the end, the Giants just couldn’t overcome that. But a short lived Zona slump, and fatigue driven unBrave September let them take a final shot at defending their title within the playoiffs. They won 8 in a row, and truly generated some terrific offense. They at least showed the heart of a champion, and one can’t help but respect that, even if it is the minimum expectation of guys paid handsomely.
It ended with a screeching halt last night. Perhaps sensibly, in that CY discussion worthy Ian Kennedy cooled their offense a final time, and perhaps ironically in that their hailed pitching staff gave up 15 runs to the grapefruit seeing Dbacks. Yeah, a heartless end as a closing sentence, but a final chapter of heart, if not productivity over the last few weeks. Winning a title is one thing. Showing the heart of a champion in the aftermath is a nice followup. No matter how hard, how vocally a disbelieving public tries to disavow the 2010 World Champs as flukes, or 1 hit wonders, the Giants appear to have worn the crown inarguably well. Demanding fans might feel justified in asking for more, with only a repeat satisfying that demand, but to me, a final tribute to the World Champs seems well deserved as they exit stage off season.
Bochy or gibson are the coach of the year. Losing posey was big but almost every team, including the champs, lose a major player or a combo thereof for the entire season. Do you realize the Thursday eve the Giants starting lineup, including the starting pitcher, was not in the opening day lineup? While not all were due to injury and some due to ineptitude, it is testiment to the coaching of that team and, of course, the pitching, that they were still in the race with 5 games remaining.
phillyfan says:
September 23, 2011 at 3:12 pm
regardless of the 4-aces efforts to be good teammates, nobody considered Joe B. to do much. To have 3 of 4 aces exceed expectations is pretty much as much as any team or fan could hope for. They have been “as advertised.” That doesn’t happen much in sports.
A 3.80 ERA from Joe? That was a whacked out prediciton anyway. anything under 4.5 from Joe is gravy.
Reply
Ken Bland says:
September 23, 2011 at 4:03 pm
A 3.80 ERA from Joe? That was a whacked out prediciton anyway. anything under 4.5 from Joe is gravy.>>
Indeed. That’s why 4 people made predictions, and 3 of the 4 were sub 4, with Pete, giving Joe a favorable writeup in the narrative was the high guy at 4.2. Seems like at the time, you chose the silent strategy, perhaps too entranced at calling the number of team wins at a certain number.
But it would appear like you’ve developed a new forte here. You seem to have a certain level of skill at post event prediction evaluations, and another level of skill and before the fact predictions.
Would have been nice to see the 4 and 5 guys have full seasons of minor injury interference to see what might have happened rather than listening to what’s clearly after the fact typical nonsense.
Giants losing Buster Posey early was like when Tom Brookshier went down with a shattered leg in ’61 after the Champion Eagles got out of the gate 6-1. Eagles lost next 2 to Giants (38-21) and Browns (45-24), weren’t the same team without Brookshier’s spirit and abilities - reign was over, as was Brookie’s playing career. Jim Brown called Brookshier the best tackler he ever faced. I call Buster Posey one of the best rookie leaders I’ve ever seen. Hope he makes it back fully but I have some doubt about the prospect.
Being a baseball beat writer must be fascinating. I mean, it’s probably zero different than any other sports, or non sports beat, for that matter. You sit there and watch Cliff Lee get within 1 out of a 7th CG shutout, and on 1 pitch, rewrite, baby, rewrite. Cover a bank robbery, get your story together, and before you hit send, the police radar tells you the would be getaway guys got nailed, and it’s rewrite, baby, rewrite. Or at least add a sentence.
Flexibility might be the key to good reporting.
But flexibility has not been much of a requirement this year. Oh, the likes of Halladay and Lee have had a small sum of 9th inning cough ups, and once in a while, the offense has scored a late comeback, but for the longest time, the key has been historic relavance. Imagine being a beat person 300 years from now, in the year 2525, if man is still alive, and twitter goes defunct, and we still have sports reporters. This year, a scant 100 plus years into The Game, these guys have all drawn references, and frequently to gloried Phillies teams of years gone by as central themes. First year of x shutouts since xyxy. Most series wins in a row since whatever year. The frequency of that theme is undeniable, and plentiful. Course most of that is accented by this being a terrific team by any comparison, complimented by a long history to draw from, accenting the significance. But a few centuries from now, when the designated hitter thankfully is finally fading, these cats and catsettes are gonna have a field day on drawing from the historic compariosn base.
Alas, this has taken on a consistent, if not different twist of late. First losing streak of however long since. And today, we are told that the Phils could lose their 9th in a row for the first time in like 10 years.
Who the bleep cares? I mean, maybe it’s part of a reporter’s gig to present that data. But what the frig are the common denominators of dreadful Phillie clubs of the past and this marvelous unit that no matter how the season ends has offered up a storied summer for the ages. What’s the point of the Phils haven’t scored an earned run in 150 innings, the longest stretch since before Ben Hur was a rookie in the National Chariot league? All part of the game, I suppose. But not a part of the game I find too interesting. Somehow, the comparisons of positive achievement seem more fascinating. But if there’s any measure of merit to comping the recent results with sad teams of days gone by, I just don’t see it. Well, maybe 1. I believe it was the 2000 Yanks that lost 15 of their last 18 games after clinching early. Course that wasn’t a sad team, if I have the year correct. They won the World Series that year.
Can’t wait til tomorrow. The nerdish approach will be writing about the Phils going for their first 2 game winning streak since earlier in the 2011 season. Now that, will be worth noting.
Going for 9th L in a row today for first time since 1999, Year of the Cats Rob Ducey and David Doster, 13 team editions ago.
Marvelous unit.
A feral Halladay had better scratch and claw.
19 hits. Nice job. Somebody stoked the coals.
Halladay. Nice season II. Should be considered a favorite for opening day start next year.
Atlanta Braves. Have become Nice Guys. 10-17 since Aug 25. Think Jurrjens and Hanson would’ve helped?
The 2011 NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies will find themselves in a precarious position tonight. They have the enviable/unenviable choice of picking their playoff opponent. The Braves, once a threat, now injury decimated into a choking machine, are actually quite an auspicious opponent now. So is it really a healthy ambivalence; Dbacks or Cards?
Conventional wisdom says play for the best record, honor the game etc. But after coming off a 7-game losing streak, in spite of the Zen Zone reassurance of their skipper, it was clear that this team panicked, … if it was even just for a moment. They fell asleep, then woke up and found they had forgotten how to win and in their hasty rush to pull it together and recreate the magic, they started to slide hard.
Well now the skid is over and the once sliding engine is now beginning to build it’s momentum up again to respectability. So whether it’s the 100 gm mark (a definite psychological blow if they miss it), or just going into the postseason with some steam, these next 3 games should mean something to Manuel and His Crew. But at the cost of facing the red hot ‘quick-their-ship-is-sinking-now’s-our-chance’ Cardinals? Or swallow some humble pie and vote the Braves in to secure a date with the grossly inexperienced Dbacks.
Decisions, Decisions.
.. Pah, I say go for it. Sweep ‘em if you can. I have always been perhaps unduly overconfident in this team and even that nasty turd in the immediate rear doesn’t change that much.
Bring on the Cards to the bank, we’ll up the ante, refinance their wallets and show ‘em what a real hand looks like.
Play Ball.
correction: 8- game L streak
nothing like a typo to make you sound smart.
TB 1 GB. And who said scoreboard watching was not trending?
Here, by the way, are the six pitchers in the modern era to have a losing record with an ERA below 2.75 and at least 200 strikeouts, assuming Lincecum doesn’t win one of the last three games in releif, of course:
2011 — Tim Lincecum, Giants (13-14, 2.74, 220)
2004 — Ben Sheets, Brewers (12-14, 2.70, 264)
1967 — Gaylord Perry, Giants (15-17, 2.61, 230)
1910 — Ed Walsh, White Sox (18-20, 1.27, 258)
1909 — Nap Rucker, Brooklyn Superbas (13-19, 2.24, 201)
1905 — Cy Young, Boston Americans (18-19, 1.82, 210)
I guess Cy Young didn’t win the Cy Young Award that year.
Though Lincecum had a good year, he sees room for improvement.
“You try to take what happeend during the whole season and try to build off the positives and erase the negatives,” he said. “You try to reaseess what you need to improve upon. There are a lot of things I need to do: throw more strikes, less walks, those kind of things, and make better quality pitches. Year by year you try to say the same things and try to execute it.”
all from Hank Sculman
Anytime you try to forecast something, there are 2 sides to it, ranging from the law of averages catching up, to how strong is the momentum. Let alone the talent at hand. Any and all ways that we try to get a feel for the NL wildcard, and the Phils first round opponent, it’s ridiculously clear that there appears a huge advantage to the Cardinals securing that berth. They are so much the opposite of the Braves right now, it’s comical. It might not play out the way of the Cardinals, but let’s go on that liklihood, and at least leave a trail of factors for the archives for potential reflections…
- softer opponent
-better pitching health
-momentum, even if it’s yesterday’s news, 10.5 deficit all but gone, winers of 21 of 29 included
- HFA if a playoff occurs and its reversible, but 3 straight over the ATL earlier this month figures a plus
– how would you favor Fredi G over TLR?
Realistically, the Cards will be hard pressed to sweep the Stros. Houston sucks, but this to a fair extent is a rivalry, and the woebegone Houston club has a chance to play spoiler. And they bat last, so you have to think they will win 1 game, somehow, someway. Should they, that would force the Braves to still win 2 of 3 against the Phils to force a tie, and that one game playoff Thursday. In St. Louis.
So let’s assume the Cards get there. Now you could very, very easily anticipate a Phils-Redbirds series as scary in some obvious ways. Garcia might as well be Koufax against the Phils, Berkman is 14-30 against the Phils, and Pujols is Ruth against anybody. Add hot wild card to the equation, and you could easily fall into fear being a fear. Objectively, despite all that, while the Cards are a good club, and balanced, and experienced, they are not so skilled that they sweep through that build of fear without a tendency to self conviction. Their “success” against the Phils this year is deceptive by a combination highlighted of Phillie injury when the clubs met in St. Louis, and a decided Phillie win in a reduced to 2 meaningful games recent series of 4 at the Bank.
To be sure, credit the Cards for playing the Phils well, but the season series in favor of the Redbirds is deceptive.
But if the Cards have to work harder to make this seemingly inevitable matchup reality, it’d be to the Phils serious advantage. Their pitching staff could be a lot closer to disarray than a work to the finish mandates just by nature of a push at the stretch. At best, they likely throw the very average record of Edwin Jackson in Game 1, dependable again vet Chris Carpenter is back to Game 3. This St. Louis club is definitely a respectable opponent, not at all far removed from the general level that the Brewers or Dbacks would offer, but it’s not like they are ridiculously scary. But whatever the Phils can do to make the Cards road tougher would certainly be advantageous.
Its pretty easy IMO. With our lack of offense and good starting pitching, it will come down to the better bullpens will win.
At this team, with San Fran gone, Atlanta is the only possible playoff team with a decided advantage over Phils in that category (now that out pen has imploded). They were built with the lefties to handle us. So now we want Atl out….period. IT would be almost a dream scenario, based on opening day prognostication, to have both San Fran and Atl not even in the playoffs.
Cards most glaring weakness is the pen. We want to face them in round 1.
ergo, I expect Charlie to play for wins this week at atlanta, not just rounindg into form.
so far, it looks that way.
Ozzie goes to Miami
IMO a brilliant move by Marlins GM Hill or is it Loria who called for it? Either way it’s both a shrewd and tactful acquisition. The voice he brings, the media attention, the Hispanic factor down in Florida together with the new ballpark; if all this cannot garner interest and attention to the Miami Marlins, I’d wager nothing else could. But as a manager, the intensity he brings will definitely have an impact on that young ball-club. What that will turn out to be, who knows? I think it’s a very good fit.
Along with the suddenly competitive Nats, the NL East may not be such a cakewalk next year.
Enjoy it while you can.
One thing about the 1964 Phillies that I wonder how many people realize. After the disheartening 10 game losing streak crushed the positive city wide sentiment, they won their last 2 games. Didn’t help, doesn’t really matter, but at least there was heart to the end.
I look at these 2 truly incredible failed months by the Atlanta Braves and Boston Red Sox, and who even knows how their last 2 games play out, but it’s almost night and day. The Braves, a much, much younger club on the whole probably went nuts when Houston won tonight. I don’t sense any panic there. They’ve given it their best shot, and if I’m looking for some silver lining, they have some young pitchers who will benjefit from September exposure in the madness.
Now the Red Sox, presumed to be void of curse after 2 world titles, I really wonder. There’s no doubt that a guy like John Lackey probably feels like Wednesday’s finale can’t come quickly enough. Not to seel his game effort last night short, but so much professional, and personal frustration this year, and I may be way off base suggesting that, but that wouldn’t surprise me. Nor would it surprise me if some other people in that clubhouse feel similarly. Eric Bedard has probably hated his Boston experience, Jonathan Papelbon is probably ready to do free agency. Josh? If his head is screwed on correctly, it’s news to me. It just comes across as a complete mess.
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Joe Maddon managed the Red Sox. And if Terry Francona skippered the Rays. I feel like I’m piling on Tito, but despite the excellent PR skills, I can’t help but wonder if he’s lost control of that clubhouse. Carl Crawford has been horribly misused there this year. How a guy with that speed has maybe 2 steals in the last 30 gamesi is mind boggling. Theo has done some excellent things in assembling this roster, but also needs to be accountable for this pitching staff, injuries or not.
I wonder how many people remember that the Rays started 0-8. They made the April Bosox look good. The Boston club still has time to salvage something, if not win the wild card, which they are tied for. But it’s harder than hard to imagine them having even as much as the 64 club. At least that club showed some heart. The Red Sox might, too. But it also wouldn’t be surprising if they get shellacked 1 of the next couple nights. And Yankee fans might like that, but there’s something really sad about that. Even if the shoe does fit.
You may be giving Maddon too much credit, Tito too much blame (though I like the former too):
“Beckett’s 2011 season is done. He finishes 13-7 with a 2.89 ERA. The historians will look at the numbers and consider it a success. But we’ll know better. When the Red Sox needed Josh Beckett most, he disappeared. Wish we could say it was the first time.” John Tomase, Boston Herald, 9/27/11
Beckett said something to the effect that ‘it’s only a game’ just last week, following his previous loss. All that money outlayed and titular “ace” gives you a flatline.
Crawford, never a superstar, chumped yearlong, after benefitting ridiculously from FA seller market. Equipped with utensils but shied from the kitchen.
Lackey, another overpaid FA, lacking both out-pitches and ‘northeast competition’ heart, gave his best ‘Doyle Alexander in NY’ imitation these past 2 years – composite 5.26 ERA, 82 ERA+ … 10.5 hits and 3.1 BB per 9.
J.D. Drew - Philly’s most dependable battery outlet – in 5 Beantown years (14 million per) topped out at 24 HRs (’09), 68 RBIs (’09, ’10), .280 BA, (’08).
Mike Cameron‘s .149 half-season (traded 7/5/11) in part-time role was the end product of a FA letdown at 2 yrs/15 million.
Huge Yen FA Dice-K, after his fine ’08 performance, has been a disaster in last 3 seasons, while starting just 44 due to injuries.
Local boy genius THEO EPSTEIN reeled ‘em all in, spent the chips, populated that dugout. Tito played the hand.
- – - – -
And yet, despite their freefall, the RS may still be playoff bound and a big October baseball factor if the Oreos crumble next 2 nights. Trends end in a blink in our national pasttime, as ‘Halladay, Lee & Co.’ just emphasized.
I love heart. The follow through of persistence. The heart of the champion defending. Of the dead reviving. Of the last mile. And right up there, the heart of the Boston Red Sox. Left for dead many times the past week, the cursed have shown it tonight. Must win atmosphere grasp around their throats, Ryan Lavarnway has put the club in position to want to walk through the Camden Yards doorways with excitement and anticipation tomorrow. 2 smackers by the young rook, and the BoSox have a chance to rest Paps another day off his heartful effort in the Apple. It’s nice to see the paper champs of spring training at least fighting their way through the turmoil.6 outs from a truly great win.
…yeah I see your heart and raise you a youthful resilience.
NYY-TB : 3-5 Final.
You can wait to pat them on the backs.
Not that it came as a surprise the way Daniel bard has struggled of late, but inability to shut the O’s down mandated using Paps to close it out.Unfortunately for the BoSox, Paps ran into some excellent hitting by the O’s forcing him to throw another 30ish pitch outing. So they go into tomorrow with Lester being pathetic of late, and coming back on 3 days rest. match that against owning the Orioles lifetime. Bard threw a lot of pitches, and Papelbon has 2 30 pitch outings in 3 days. How do you spell oy vey? Schill enthusiastically gave a doesn’t matter to the Papelbon pitch count, and Lester 3 day deal after the game, and he’s been there and done that, but you have to wonder. Heart don’t be scoring points after a certain point where body outweighs mind. The question is where is it. And to top everything else off, even winning tomorrow probably just earns them a trip to St. Pete for Thursday. But at least they showed heart tonight. Better than making their fan base go through more pain.
This one gets filed under self serving, but I’d assume a few million others feel the same.
For the most part, I generally accept television’s control of sports, seemingly overdone that it is. But I don’t appreciate being held hostage by the parlay of determination of final entrants, and last minute ratings projections that might not reveal the playoffs schedule until as late as late Thursday afternoon/evening.
The Phillies and Yankees have already clinched HFA. These are 2 known commodities, with beaucoup recent playoff resumes that are thick and thorough. Everyone knows the Yanks are one of the most dominant television attractions in sport, kingpin NFL included. So you wanna give them prime time casting Friday/Saturday, and have the Phils play second fiddle, that’s fine. Sure, you can hold out hope that another prized TV package, the Red Sox make the field, and try to squeeze them into prime exposure, but it seems to me that at this point, as an unheard of courteousy to the wide collection of fans of the Phillie and Yankee clubs, what’s so hard about saying the Yanks get the primke time start on Saturday, the Phils the late afternoon game, or even being stupid enough to plot the Phils in the early game Saturday to allow the peeps to plan ahead. Don’t make no difference who they play, at least the 2 locked spots followings have a whopping 3-4 days ahead to plan it. What’s so unruly about TV Guide just listing opponent to be determined, and locking in the Philly and Apple entrants in firm spots. Number 1 seeds are getting treated like 1A seeds.
I’m sure there’s a simple and pallatible explanation as to why this can’t be done, that would throw me back into the state of mandatory flexibility, but on the surface, this makes a lot of sense. I’d just like to know which hours I need to lock into, and we’re at a point where it seems that the fine folks at TBS could help me out with that. Would it help if I said, “pretty please?”
This makes sense….I also would vote for anything that gives another advantage to teams that clinch early….like starting the playoffs with 1 or zero days off….and doing 1 game away, and 4 games in a row for the 1 seed…..there doesnt seem to be a big reward for teams with the best record…football goes as far as to give a high seeded team an entire week off..
Curt on the BoSox 9/27/11, 2 games left
http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/21143236/schilling-players-theo-more-blame
Sounds of the guys that made it happen this year. Interviews with 2 of The Games Greats.
http://www.danpatrick.com/2011/09/26/clayton-kershaw-on-cy-young-race-going-to-high-school-with-an-nfl-qb-and-kemp-for-mvp/
http://siriusxmsports.posterous.com/cliff-lee-phillies-pitcher-talks-about-the-te
Peter Gammons, who’s seen a game or two at Fenway, via Twitter: “How to get people fired: Boston Sept. starters- -25 G, 4 2/3 IP per GS, 3 outings of 7 IP, 4-13, 4.76, 218 baserunners in 119 IP, 9 WP, 9 HP.”
That’s terrific. It’s just like when you get a lead, it’s a whole lot easier to pitch from ahead, count, score, anyway you look at it. Tony gets Conrad, and translates the momentum into his first good inning since his last one. A tremendous reference method to insure accuracy, if I ever saw one.
Now what I’d think has to be done is to get him right back out there tomorrow night, which sets a nice look see at how he is back to back, beneficial on multiple fronts. Guy could be a real asset with the few off day playhoff schedule. But we know this for sure. He pi6tched well tonight. And considering the options, we’ll take it.
Phillies tie franchise record with 101 wins. And Charlie Manuel ties Gene Mauch as team’s winningest manager with 645 wins.>>
What a great night for those of us appreciative of the little things.
AD not exactly the late season man for the Bosox when he is needed. Hasn’t been able to carry the team like Howard has done so many years late in the season. 27 homers a bit disappionting. I think the Bosox would have traded some of those singles for a well timed 3-run homer or two that resulted in another victory in Sept. Singles and OBP are nice, but sometimes you need to worry more about producing runs than getting on base. It isn’t always the best idea to rely on the next guy. Isn’t that simple. I think the Bosox would rather have 35 homers and .296 BA.
AD – 157 GM 117RBI
Howard 150GM 115RBI
If you accept the notion that results are what matters then you have no basis for complaint.
That’s a good post. It brings consistent clarity to your continued lack of contributions to realistic and or good baseball conversation. Adrian has had a bad shoulder for a month. You’e vahd a bad baseball brain for months.
He can’t drive the ball, and you can’t drive any intelligent baseball thinking. Another whacked out baseball opinion has been recorded.
You say Moneyball, I say money player.
You say Fantasy stats, I say winning baseball.
You say Gonzo, I say Bozo – more style than substance.
Howard will not be mistaken for Mr. October, but he is Mr. September. And he has carried a team to the playoofs. He has had series and playoffs where he excelled.
Gonzo is 0-2 now in two straight years when the spotlight his shined the brightest.
Let’s not talk Shoulders. Howard has been gimpy since last August and I don’t hear anyone giving him a break. Still produced nicely. No need for September heriocs this year. Sorry, I would rather have Howard than Gonzo going into this Saturday.
There is no intelligent argument that can be made the Ryan Howard is better than Adrian Gonzalez. None. Ever. Sorry.
Didn’t say that he was better. I said that so far he has not stood out and carried a team when the spotlight is brightest, which is exactly what Howard was doing in his monster years at AG’s age now.
It can certainly be argued that for the next 3 weeks one would take Howard over Gonzalez.
AG has been a no-difference player to this point in his career. If he retired tomorrow, there wouldn’t be a blip in baseball history regarding his career.
Wow – Weiters up with 2 on in the 9th. Must be aweful painful to be a Bosox fan right about now
Just wanted to say GO PHILS! They flipped the switch and turned the swagger back on. I’m glad our postseason appearance is not coming down to the final game. Its a lot more fun watching the others go through it.
Jimmy, still seeing the market intelligently.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jon_heyman/09/28/jimmy.rollins/index.html
I think 5 years is too long for someone who makes repeated appearances on the DL – $10-12/yr for 3 years is doable, maybe give an option for 1 or 2 more. I still can’t see him leaving the Phillies right now. They still have enough going for them to make another run or 2 after this year.
I believe firmly that your view plays right into the theme of the article. Many will ignorantly take Jimmy’s position as a demand. It’s not. It’s public negotiation. And if Jimmy had spoke of a 3 year deal, I think people thinking in your terms, of less, would be saying 2 is enough.
Some people take Jimmy for a loud mouthed fool. He’s anything but. He knows the game, and is playing it well. Ask high, and settle for reality’s best presentation.
Time and the market are on his side. A winning post season completes his parlay. He deserves to get a sweet deal, and chances are he will.
I’d only suggest that people realize this is NOT a demand, it’s pure negotiation.
I know Jimmy is being Jimmy and I don’t really believe that he’s ready to leave Philly.
At any rate, I hope he’s still our SS next year.
hope so too, but have to see what RAJ’s overall plan is. Chase and Polanco are probably done as regular contributors to a title contending team. If they don’t win the title this year I think RAJ makes a bold move to improve the offense production at 2nd and 3rd base. There really isn’t that much out there to improve upon at SS. I think they are committed to giving Brown another shot, this time in left field. So improvements would need to be at 3rd and 2nd.
How about the quietly good year Chooch has had on the BA front.
I think both Chase and Polly still have years on their contract so I don’t see any newcomers in either position. Both have been injured so you really can’t judge them too harshly.
I’ll agree with you on chooch – he’s coming around again which is right in time.
I think we’ll see a platoon of Brown/Mayberry next year as neither one are really ready for an everyday shot.
First paragraph of that article not 100% accurate. Jimmy is still a good defensive player – probably a bit better than average – but has clearly lost a step or two from his peak. Also something of a relative statement to say he’s les is less brittle than Reyes – Reyes has missed more time, but they’ve both been hurt more than you would like. Jimmy tends to play thru it, but it affects his production. More convincing argument for me as far as Rollins v Reyes is that Reyes is a goofball while rollins is a guy that anyone would want in the clubhouse
Having said that, is it outstide the realm of possibility that someone gives him 5 years? Probably not. Would it be a smart move for a team that wants to contend? Probably not, unless it’s a cheap. I’d be comfortable with 3 I think. Who knows what he’ll actually get, but I dont blame him for starting the conversation at the high end. It may wind up being a Werth type situation. Does he want to max out his last contract, or does he wan to remain a Phillie
Can we please stop it before it gets started? You know, the “Braves will be tough next year” chatter that we are bound to hear next March. Once again, not enough proven starting pitching, defense, and gimpy Chipper.
Since 2009 the clammer gets louder each spring training and the Phils have managed to put them more distant in the rear-view mirror each year. Enough already….
Last post of a long regular season…
and likely longer with game 163 fairly likely tomorrow with both leagues facing that possibility. Seems a little too simple for 1 of the leagues, somehow, some way not to have a Thusday playoff.
Two clubs, in what seems very easy thinking are overwhelming choices of sort tonight. Brett Myers pitches for Houston, and you can respect the veteran’s ability, but in what logical advanced way can you possibly look at Houston with much confidence. The Red Sox offer up tired pitching, and logic pretty much derfies expecting them to win. And you know darned well they both won’t turn out as expected, but that get categorized as pretty inarguable advance thinking, as opposed to actual playing on the field matters. Personally, I think the Cards and BoSox win. The Cards because they should, the Bostners because they shouldn’t.
But, be that as it may, the playoff odds, courteusy one of the many departments at ESPN figures the Rays at a 40.9% chance, and the Red Sox at 59.1. No reasons are available. The same source makes more sense on the NL side. The Cards are a 61.3 liklihood, the Braves have dropped to 38.7.
Unfortunately, the pennant lines are not available. I’ve referenced them before, and their absence takes away more consistent comps, but we have only World Series odds, and the Cardinals have moved ahead of the Braves. 10 on the Braves will win you 220, 10 on the Cards would pocket 160. Both the Rays and Red Sox are 10-1 dogs to win the World Series, the Yanks are 4/1, trailing the heavily favored Phils, off whom you could wager 40 dollars to win 70.
Phils-Cards Saturday at the Banks is my expectation. Cannot wait.
I am wagering on the D-backs and Tigers. That is where the money is and a somewhat realistic chance.
In the middle of TRYING to study for a biochem midterm now, I just have to say today is the most exciting day in baseball! I need 4 TVs.
A fella once stopped me on my endless braggings. He said ‘I don’t think the Phillies are the best team in baseball”
He was wrong.
Period.
A wise man once said “To the victor go the spoils”
… that statements has no bearing at all in this situation. I would like to reverse that statement; “To the spoiler goes the victory”
The Baltimore Orioles celebrated their victory like none other this year when the heralded Papelbon was taken on back to back doubles and a single with 2 outs. 90 seconds later, Evan Longoria lines his fly ball into the left field pocket of the Tropicana Dome.
(I guess heart is not enough then?)
At last I can study.
That was an incredible night of baseball.
Charlie passed Gene Mauch, though he doesn’t hold a candle to him as a manager [GM John Quinn player-shopped at Sears, not Neiman Marcus]; Tito and Fredi experienced a haunting travail of “The (late, great) Little General.”
Phillies lived a charmed life in G 162 … blown call at 3rd on Bourne, Uggla running hesitation on path to plate, Wilson botch of Ruiz tailor-made DP grounder, Utley ‘look what I found scoop’ of DeFratus’ short-arm, Martinez’ ‘no margin for error’ track-down, 8 [!] shutout relief innings from kiddie corps. Seems that gods of the game wanted them to win, petrifying Atlanta in co-ignominy with Red Flops.
Two roads diverged in a summer wood (Beltran Boulevard and Pence Place). Ruben Amaro Jr. took The Astro Not Taken, and that has made all the difference.
last two paragraphs are well-said. I don’t agree with the first “hold a candle to” comment. a team of stars can be harder to manage than scufflers who are all-the -ready to buy into the team concept and are just happy to be there. Just ask Tito, Willie Randolph, and Billy Martin. Like saying Phil Jackson isn’t a
Charlie is the best manager in Phils history and one of the best in the game today. Completely underestimated in the baseball world. To transform a team of losers to champs in a city that just loves to chew up its young is quite a feat. Now has done it for 5 straight years. Unheard of in sports today, outside of the NE Patriots. It is the 5 straight years that is the key. We will all hear about LaRussa, Gibson, etc, but lets see tham repeat this year’s success for 5 straight years. Very very unusual. As great as managers like LaRussa are in the game today they are hard pressed to make the playoffs two consecutive years, let alone 3,4, and 5. Manual has done it with with stars and not stars, with injury depleted lineups and healthy lineups. Under the ire of fans and media, and as a beloved grandfather.
Team of losers? ’04 Phils won ’86 w/Bowa. Charlie walked into talent (including Rollins, Utley, budding Howard, buddy Thome, clockwork Abreu, a peaking Burrell, white-hot closer Wagner), just as he had in Cleveland. Has been bestowed with more in increments by FO. Has NEVER had to manage a team of mediocre talent like some of Mauch’s Phils, Expos & Twins rosters. I strongly suspect Manuel’s Double-Bubbles wouldn’t be as big, his demeanor not as fan-and-player-friendly if lording lesser situations. IMO, he’s holding serve, good-naturedly.
By the way, Gene could handle neon egos; his Gene Autry-Angels included Rod Carew, Bobby Grich, Fred Lynn, Don Baylor, Bob Boone, John Candaleria, Don Sutton, Mike Witt, Al Holland, Tommy John and that all-time shrinking violet Reggie Jackson. His 4 full LA seasons: 93, 90, 92, 75; 1st, 2nd, 1st, 7th.
Wondering. Did you see Mauch manage at any interval? If not, how can you conclude Charlie is the best mgr. in Phillies’ history? If you did, how can you conclude Charlie is the best mgr. in Phillies’ history?
LaRussa, like his style or not, has got game, indisputably … 33 yrs, .536, 5 pennants, 2 WS
Champs; 105-, 104-, 103-, 100-game winners (& 2 99s).
Thanks for the compliment re expression.
I respect your top regard for Charlie but firmly disagree on the basis of his tacticianal deficits and career bout of longball-itis, his bounteous club rosters’ provisions, my leaning towards
tighter (not uptighter) leadership, and influenced to a degree by sentimental tugs for Phillies of humbler, less hyped, more sensible times. (Please consider me ripe, not old.)
Actually, the only undefeated manager in franchise history is Andy Cohen (1-0), a Jewish coach, a former ML player who got his 1st hit against Phils in 1926, a former vaudeville act, an honored name of the El Paso Diablos’ playing field, who directed his sole game in 1960 while the Phils transitioned from the exasperated, eminently reasonable Eddie Sawyer - who quit after the 1st game - to the wily, fiery, young Gene Mauch … #4 in your program, #1 in my heart.
Soooo I win the fantasy league right? I’m Balco Inc. I won the h2h matchup with Big Joe Blanton during the regular season and had the better overall record.
I’m glad we get 2 days off – I need them
Can’t wait for Saturday though.
GO PHILS!
Baseball is like no other sport. Wouldn’t shock me if we sweep the Cards or get swept.
First inclination in viewing the playoff field and the Phils-Redbird matchup in particular is the amazement of the last minute qualifiers getting in seemingly unscathed. Oh, the Cards and Rays could stand more time to get their pitching straight, but off such well packed drama, you’d think both clubs would be in disarray after exhausting their Septemeber staminas to hit the post season at the 11:59:59 mark.
The Phils can never look back, if they are upset, and think they lucked ino a bad opponent. If they lose, they lose. Fact is, the Cards are a good club, but a beatable one. But at the start of the week, as much as the Cards looked like the obvious opponent, the least we hoped for was the Cards to have to work, to be a little out of whack. They survived short stints by both Garcia and Westbrook, which should make them more than able to come back on minimal rest. It might even be a blessing that their comebacking ace, Chris Carpenter now slots into an either critical, or pivotal Game 3, at home, against Cole Hamels, who might throw a gem, but for whatever advanced indications are worth, is not as ready for the playoffs as his rotation mates. That might not be advantage St. Louis, but it’s not disadvantage Cards either. Suffice to say that in opposing a veteran club with some serious talent, it would have been nice to see some other advantages develop, but as a wise man likes to say, whatever.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I feel sorry for the clubs that got left out. At times during September, I found the Red Sox act comical, at other times sympathetic. I really have zero emotion for the Braves. But the one thing that really moves me about the Red Sox loss is the intruige of financial implication. That high payroll, with zero playoff revenues is intruiging. They get a lot more revs than the Rays in season off the Florida club’s attendance struggles, and I’m sure business community support, and now the Rays’ll get a little post season dinero income, but off the way Ruben always talks about the importance off revenues off a similar sized payroll, it’s intruiging to think about how this might affect the seemingly affluent Red Sox. Oh well. Not my problemma.
Kyle Lohse? for game 1? you gotta be kidding me?
TLR must still think it’s September.
And Furcal and Holiday will most likely play banged up. Heh if that’s not an advantage for you, not sure what is.
I was very happy to see that Garcia was not starting game 1.
Lawyerly move. Billable 3 hrs.
I think it is a smart move. I think LaRussa is willing to punt Game 1. He understands that they are coming off an emotional high, tired and banged up and Phils are geared and ready. Winning Game 1 would be gravy. He isn’t throwing it away by any means, but he doesn’t want to waste Garcia when the rest of the team has little to give. I think he is banking on winning game 3 with Carpenter at home. So he wants to win 1 of the first 2 in philly. He likes his odds better with Garcia in Game 2 when the Cardinals are more desperate and they are going against a lefty. Cards set up better against lefties with Pujols and Berkman able to bat right.
yes it is a smart move if you look at it that way. but it is a dumb move when you look at it this way; it’s a 5 game series. period. don’t win any of the first two, you’re mostly likely done. home field goes out the window to momentum. i guess TLR is very confident in his veteran team that they can win 3 straight. wonder who will pitch that game 5 for them?
Thin line between love and hate:
Red Sox were 77-0 when leading after 8. Orioles were boxed, down to one last strike. Papelbon 197 ERA+, 219 S, career. Nolan “Effin’” Reimold.
Rays‘ shred of hope pinned to Dan Johnson, toting a .108 average, down to one last strike versus
Yanks, Gorgo of AL East. Bang. Johnson’s 2nd homer of year.
A bit bummed we get stuck with the 5pm start. Game too important to have an odd time with the dreaded “shadows” that teams aren’t used to playing in. NEver play this time of day during the season. Dang TV. Except for Playoffs, they don’t do 5pm starts since the good old twilight doubleheaders I attended in my youth at the Vet.
Another silent, non-impact performance by Gonzo, followed up by “are you kidding me” excuses. “We play too many late night games for TV so we end up getting into other cities too late at night. We get tired” OUCH! now there is a gamer….Wonder how Sabermetrics factors in 3 big-light season (2007, 2010, 2011) failures and accompanying excuses. Some players aren’t made fo rthe big stage…
To whatever extent pre game hype matters, and who knows if it bears significance, or not, the Cardinals have the Phillie fans pretty much right where they want them. Now whether this filters down to the directly involved personnel, it’s too easy to say it doesn’t.
The Tony LaRussa pitching rotation has many Phillie fans, including some very astute ones, in a state of euphoria.
And there’s a chance they are correct in feeling that way.
But there’s also a very plausible chance they have bit the bait, and fail to see the logic of a wise move that paves the way for either a more competitive series, or an upset. How much of an upset? Well, you have to bet 295 to win 100 on the series if you play the Phils. What is this? Intel against lowball estimates back in the day?
I don’t know the logic behind TLR’s rotation. But I feel pretty comfortable in guessing.
We know for fact that Chris Carpenter has reidentified with being an excellent pitcher. Despite the relatively easy road during the last few days of the season, the Cardinal comeback wasn’t easy enough for the club to have Carp ready for anything sooner than a Game 3 start. He could have pitched Jaime Garcia on regular rest in Game 1, and have him ready for Game 5, if it goes that far. That of course, would seem logical. Carp against Cole in Game 3, in St. Louis is a fairly okay matchup for the Cards in relative terms. Saving Garcia for game 4, matched against Roy O is also somewhere between a tossup, and certainly not particularly disadvantageous to the Cardinals. So you have a decent percentatge shot at winning those 2 games.
There’s a lot of assumption in this, all pertinent to TLR’s thinking. It also assumes he’ll stick with the announced plan to pitch Garcia in game 4. There’s nothing that prevents him from altering to using Garcia in Game 2.
And it’s not like he’s sacrificing Games 1 and 2. He’s just playing to his strength in Games 3 and 4, and off a road upset in the first 2, or a Game 5 crapshoot, taking an interesting strategy to completing a 9 games back to competitive foe, or upset in a series that most feel is a gap filler toward better things.
People are quick to criticize the move. It may indeed backfire. But if, and I can’t emphasize the word if enough, this is TLR’s thinking, I hardly think it’s automatically stupid without seeing the results. At a minimum, this guys long and successful managerial record warrants that respect.
Given a choice of Carp and AW, I doubt Tony messes around. Given reality, I take a wait and see attitude toward the result although I think he’s playing a longshot. But this guy’s been playing a longshot all season. Think Howard Ehmke, and you can’t rush to the yellow pages for a psychiatric help to rescue TLR.
Garcia in Game 2 would be astute managing. Garcia not till Game 4 is over-managing, something LaRussa is also known for. Its called EGO. Just imagine the accolades he will get if it works. Unfortunately he is reducing the chance it would work.
You can’t go down 0-2 in a series and expect to win. Furthermore, you can’t expect to win one of the first 2 games without using one of your 2 best pitchers. HE isn’t managing, he is hoping. If they do happen to win one or two early, it isn’t due to LaRussa.
The way to beat the phils in this series is to remind them early on in the series that they can’t hit real well. Win a game 2-1. Get the headlines screaming and Phils hands tighter on the bats. Garcia has demonstrated he does that to the Phils regularly. Besides, don’t you want the chance to throw Garcia twice?
“way to beat phils… remind them early… that they can’t hit that real well.”
Good point. But Lohse is capable, albeit somewhat questionable, of limiting Phils for 6 to 7. His lifetime 3.43 vs. Phils in 10 starts and 60.1 innings is bettered only by his ERA vs. ‘Stros & Rays.
Is a respectable 3-1, 3.52 in 10 G, 9 starts in packed Petuniaville (CBP), even with waftings of Bull’s Bar-B-Q tantalizing his schnoz.
Has rebounded to fairly solid ’08 form this year after 2 junkyard ones.
That stated, he could get clubbed to Columbus Boulevard.
Interesting choice by LaRussa.
Refusing to be outdone by a cityslicker, Charlie is now mulling the placement of a clean baseball in Kyle Kendrick’s glove.
I agree with you that he has been dealt a weak hand. It doesnt change the fact that it’s a bad move, it just makes it much wiser when you consider his position.
Mind games are for the regular season.
Playoffs are all about wins. He will look like a genius if it works out.
I’m already too overhyped for this stuff. It’s like zero has changed since RyHo deprived , well, wrong word, but did something to deprive JW a final Phillie at bat, and I remember the second like it was yesterday. Cliff, Opening Day, and 162 games, let alone a full year of life just can’t take that minute away, and FINALLY, a chance to absolve (?) that crap and get this thing to where it belongs. How do you spell Paradecity?
Anyway, I don’t really care about predictions, but they do contain an element of fascination, and I see where
TroyRenckTroy Renck, Rockies
Predictions I made in today’s paper: Cards in 5, Brewers in 5. I realize Cards over Phils makes no sense and why I like longshot pick.
It’s at least interesting to hear people’s logic, even if hard worker Troy didn’t give any. I’d like to know if there is any.
Over at MLB Network, Mitch picked the Phils, Crew, Tigers and Rangers. Bo10 did the same, but Mitch picked the Rangers to win it all, Larry the Phils. If Mitch is right, and Cliff loses a 3rd straight series, to his former employer no less, they are gonna have to come up with a new level of depression terminology to throw around the shrink ward. That’d be worse than that ending last year.
We get Dick Stockton and Bob Brenley. If the Cards do some positive stuff, Stockton’s gonna sound like a homer. He’s a long time good as they get ‘caster. Might have preferred Brian Anderson again. His Crew work is really good. Flavor of you don’t even know who’s doing the game, which is greatness in and of itself.
Totally psyched. T minus too many hours and counting.
Hooked on a feeling: I just can’t help believing that the great Billy Joe Thomas will perform the singing of our national anthem before the start of today’s playoff game in Arlington, unless, of course, raindrops keep falling on his head, or he’s distracted by the eyes of a New York woman or a rock ‘n roll lullaby. The native Houstonian sure could sing.
Everyone who has watched postseason games knows that it rarely ever hinges on the big names. Most likely guys like Cody Ross and Juan Uribe end up as post-season heores. Partly because of luck, partly because the big names will be focused on and will not get anything to hit. So if I was to sum up the difference between wins and losses in the playoffs I would say; bottom of the lineup/pinch hitters and back-end bullpen. I have little respect for the Cards revamped bullpen after acquiring Dotel, who is decent, so I will skip that. So, of note is:
Phils back end vs. Cards
Ryan Madson: 15 for 81 off of Madson with 11Ks.
Players he has faced most: Furcal 4 for 22, Holliday 2 for 14 Pujols 0 for 11 Berkman 3 for 8 2B,3B
Mad Dog will be ok, especially since he is doing so well against the heart of their order. Might wanna watch Berkman though.
Antonio Bastardo: 2 for 9 off him with 3 Ks – those 2 hits courtesy of Molina- HR, 2B. Since Cards are leaning right heavily, he may not factor that much into the equation unless Lidge goes Lidge. I would like to hope that it will not get to that. Player he will most likely face: Jon Jay – no at bats against.
Michael Stutes: 4 for 12 off of him with 2BB. The common theme here seems to be that the Cards have not seen our young pitchers much which is definitely a plus. Players he will most likely face: David Freese, Skip Schumacher, Furcal, Theriot, Molina. Basically anyone not named Berkman, Pujols and Holliday.
Brad Lidge: It would be pointless to pull out any Brad Lidge stats because the Lidge of then and of now are strangers. But regarding Charlie’s preference for veterans in critical situation, Lidge will most likely coming in for Pujols and Holliday in any late inning bar the 9th.
Pujols – 9 for 27 with 2 dingers (division familiars)
Holliday: 2 for 5, both were 2B.
May the Baseball gods help us when Lidge trots out his slider (and nothing else) out there.
Phils bottom/pinch hitters vs. Cardinals pitching
Jon Mayberry: 3 for 6 off Garcia. He will be starting anyway.
Placido Polanco: 10 for 28 off Lohse. No extra base hit, and 2 GIDP. Giving his post injury tendencies to pull a Valdez, not sure how this stat is portentous.
Carlos Ruiz: 5 for 20 off Lohse, 0 for 6 off Carpenter, 3 for 6 off potential closer Motte with a 2B, HR. He will be our key guy in clutch situations, good thing he started his habitual late streaking.
Ross Gload: 3 for 8 off Lohse and nothing to note which is fitting for a pinch hitter. He will still get plenty of at-bats to swing a game or two.
Wilson Valdez: Valdez will have to bat merely for the fact that this is the National League and he is a strong defensive replacement at key positions. No stats of note for his ‘terra-phillic’ bat.
Somehow I don’t think the Ben Francisco’s and the Michael Martinez’s will even factor in here because TLR manages like a textbook, so they will most likely just make cameos before getting pulled back for the real thing when LaRussa begins his musical chairs bullpen game. Furthermore, the postseason roster has not released yet, or perhaps, I have not found it yet; the latter more likely.