It's no secret that growing up as a Phillies fan through the mid-'80s, entire '90s (save 1993) up until 2007, I got used to pretty putrid baseball from the first sports franchise I truly loved. The Phillies were a bad team much more than they were a good one, so bad that they eventually eclipsed the 10,000 loss mark.
Watching weak hitters, horrid pitchers and suspect play in the field became the norm. However, one thing I got accustomed to was excellent defensive play at third base. No matter how bad the team seemed to be, the Phillies for the most part had a guy manning the hot corner who could flat out field the position.
I got spoiled right from the start, being born into watching 10-time Gold Glover winner Mike Schmidt make playing third look effortless, and then somehow was lucky enough to witness nearly every remarkable play Scott Rolen — an eight-time Gold Glove winner himself — made in the same vein as Schmidt. Those two are second and third all time in Gold Gloves for third basemen, trailing only Brooks Robinson's 16.
But it wasn't just the defensive greats like Schmidt and Rolen that did a hell of job manning third for the Phils. Schmidt's replacement Charlie Hayes was a fine fielder in his own right. Abraham Nunez, for all his faults at the plate, could flat out pick it at third. World Series hero Pedro Feliz was a vacuum at the hot corner. And of course, Placido Polanco won a Gold Glove last season and arguably deserved one in 2010.
Honestly, the Phillies have only really had three regular third basemen who weren't at least above average in the field at third in my lifetime. Dave Hollins wasn't anything to write home about in the field, but he wasn't a butcher either. The one season of Todd Zeile, a man never known for his defense, wasn't ideal. And David Bell just completely sucked at everything baseball-related in his three and a half painful seasons at third. Oh, and if you want to toss in Greg Dobbs for the few times he started, he was also atrocious at third, but he was a pinch-hitter much more than a fielder.
This is all to say that for the majority of my life, the Phillies were in good hands at third. Maybe not always at the dish, but always in the field.
Then this year happened. With Placido Polanco spending a good portion of the season on the bench or the disabled list nursing his old, injured body, the Phillies have put a revolving door of terrible players at third, and it's been a disaster. How much of a disaster, you ask? Well last night, the newest man to take the hot corner, Kevin Frandsen, made an error in the first inning on a dead double-play ball, an error that directly led to Washington's two first-inning runs. After the play, Tom McCarthy passed along this stat: Phillies third basemen not named Placido Polanco have made an error one out of every eight plays. One out of every eight. Read that again. An error every eight plays. That is beyond horrid. I mean, honestly, little leaguers don't make that many errors in that few chances. For real.
To put that into perspective, Polanco made an error one out of every 70-something plays for his career, according to McCarthy, and has an absurd .990 fielding percent this season. Yeah, talk about a major, major drop-off, and that's putting it lightly.
Frandsen's error was just another in a long line at third. Ty Wigginton was as bad as anyone I've ever seen over there, committing eight errors in just 48 chances for christ's sake.
Mike Fontenot, who played the majority of his career as a middle infielder, wasn't a whole lot better, committing a couple errors in just 25 chances. Only Hector Luna and Michael Martinez, who each only started one game apiece at third, came away unscathed in the error department. It's been beyond embarrassing.
In a season full of disappointment, underachievement and now key cogs being shipped off, nothing has been more comical than the play at third base. For all the terrible seasons and laughable play I've seen by the Phillies in my 28-plus years, that's the one thing I haven't been accustomed to.
I'm used to Schmidt and Rolen and Polanco, even Nunez and Feliz, not bumblers who make little leaguers look like Gold Glovers. Seriously, 2012 cannot end soon enough.
When I was younger, I was under the impression that the older I got, the more I would know, the better I would be at living life. Turns out I was way off.
No matter how old I get or how high my hairline rises, I continue to make terrible life choices. Like eating a cheesesteak at 3 in the morning. Or procrastinating at work (like I'm doing right now). Or drinking excessively on a weeknight or the night before a game. Just about everything I do these days negatively affects my life in some way, whether it be physically, mentally or professionally. But I just can't help it. My driver's license says I'm 26 years old, but my brain tells me I'm a 16-year-old moron.
All this makes me wonder if I'll ever wake up one day and become a real person. Don't get me wrong, every male adult has an immature side, is a juvenile at heart. But I really can't perform the most basic of adult tasks. And I don't have any real desire to, even though I know that's what I'm supposed to do. Like I said, I'm not a real person. I'm really not.
Links …
-File this under "News I didn't expect to see today" — Shawn Andrews, yes thatShawn Andrews, has signed with the Giants. If you recall, Andrews broke his leg in his very first game in the NFL … against the New York Giants.
I think Matt P. does a great job summing up pretty much everyone's feeling on this in Philadelphia — we hope he's gotten his demons under control, but we also hope he doesn't return to form playing for the Giants. Because before his depression issues took hold, Andrews was one of the, if not the, best guards in all of football, a true beast who was equally as good at run blocking as he was at pass blocking. And for a big man, he could get out and clear the way on screens as good as anyone. Here's hoping he doesn't return to that player as a division rival. That would be annoying.
-The Phillies have an unbalanced bullpen. Really, who besides Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and (gulp!) Brad Lidge has been reliable of late?
Phillies start a three-game set with Washington tonight, and the Birds are out in Cincy to take on Terrell Owens and the Bengals. Good thing our new TV arrived last night. That's right, back up and running with dual TVs in the living room.
I just recieved my season ticket renewal package in the mail today. And that package noted a $2/seat price increase across the board for every ticket. Exhorbitant? No, but significant enough. After selling out 73 games and playing 1 short of the maximum home playoff games, the phillies felt they could bring in more revenue. Even in this economy, blah blah blah. They also raised prices rather significantly before last year($3-$5 in places I believe).
After losing the World Series, the team is asking for its paying customers to pay even more. I figure they can, considering the quality product they're putting on the field. So I have a simple ask for the direction of the 6-7 mil that they will make from this price hike: extend Cliff Lee.
It will take 3x that amount a year to do so, but it's a start. This run can't go on forever, but having a proven workhorse like Lee at the top of the rotation will allow Ruben to fill in around him each year and keep the staff competitive. Hopefully Cole removes his head out of his ass, Drabek can step in and do what he's supposed to do, and Blanton/whomever fill out the back. Thats solid and should provide a foundation for winning while we still have the core in the lineup.
My mind has been elsewhere the last few days so I don't have too much to say on them signing Juan Castro, although as his agent said, "Who doesn't like Juan Castro?" 3rd base will be interesting though. Apparently they've alienated Pedro Feliz, so I wouldn't count on him as a safety net if Ruben fails to sign his intended target. Personally I would have given Pete Happy one more year. He's too solid defensively and led the NL in RBI's from the 7 hole. Yes he blew in the playoffs, but his performance in game 4 of the WS would have been legendary if the Lidge/Johnny Damon thing went another way.
We'll see. Today, the Phillies told me my tickets cost more. My response is, that is fine, but spend my money wisely. 73 sellouts aint gonna happen every year unless you continue to put the product on the field.
The Eagles won, embarrassing the Giants 40-17. Penn State won, easily steamrolling Northwestern in the second half to win 34-13. The Flyers won, exploding offensively in a 6-1 victory against Carolina. Hell, even the 76ers won twice, beating the Bucks in the home opener Friday and outgunning the Knicks 141-127 Saturday night. But the one team that I really cared about, the one team that mattered, went 0-2 on their home field to fall behind 3-1 in the best of seven World Series. I'd trade all those wins from the Eagles, Flyers, Nittany Lions and Sixers for one or two Phillies wins this weekend. All of them.
First, Cole Hamels shit the bed, and then last night happened. It was the most painful loss this side of Joe Carter. It really was. The Phillies, one strike away from facing Mariano Rivera and impending doom in the 8th inning, came back on the mighty Yankees. Pedro Feliz, who played the role Jayson Werth played Saturday night for the Phillies, put Joba in his place and tied the game. My angst, anger and frustration melted away. I went off on Joba, calling him a fat fuck fraud. I was certain the Phils were going to win. They had avoided Rivera, tied it up and stolen the momentum. A 3-1 series hole was about become a 2-2 tie, best of three sprint to the finish.
Then it wasn't. Brad Lidge, who had fooled us all into thinking he was perhaps back, got two quick outs … and then came undone. Single, hit by pitch, double, single, and 4-4 suddenly became 7-4, with the hammer of Mariano Rivera about to come down. A-Rod and company might as well have come to my house and punched me right in the gut as hard as they possibly can, because that's what it felt like. There was no anger. There was no huge blowup. I just went numb, grasping for air. We were all Lidge'd once again:
I got nothing. This series ain't over. But it's close to being over. Don't have a post in me right now. Absolutely, totally, utterly deflated.
The thing about last night is that for the first time in a long time, everything went wrong. Everything. For starters, Charlie Manuel put his players in a terrible position. He just did. I love Joe Blanton, I'm a huge fan, but after Cole Hamels blew up for the fourth time this postseason on Saturday, Charlie had to, had to come back with Cliff Lee last night. Not because Joe couldn't get the job done. In fact, Joe kept the Phils in the game against CC. But he had to go with Lee because, well, you have look at the entire series. By going with Blanton over Lee, and having Lee pitch tonight, he essentially has put the ball back in Cole Hamels' hands if there is a game 7. The same Cole Hamels who has failed to perform even moderately well in a single start this postseason. And that's not a good thing, not by a mile.
Whether he's pitched on three days rest before or not, you just had to get Lee out there so he could be ready for three games in this series. Something tells me Cliff would have been just fine. Then come back with Blanton tonight, Pedro for game 6 and then Lee again on game 7. Now the Phils need to get wins out of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez just to get to a game 7, where CC Sabathia would face off against Cole Hamels. That might as well be Cy Young pitching against Adam Eaton.
Also, facing a 2-1 deficit, I'd rather have Lee on the mound in a game that will determine a 2-2 tie or 3-1 hole than anyone else. That's just me. And this isn't hindsight talking here. I said all this before the game last night. I just don't agree with not going with Lee last night.
Having said that, Joe Blanton didn't lose that game, though he certainly didn't win it either. He came out and spotted CC two runs right off the bat. Derek Jeter led off with a single and Johnny Damon followed with a double. Of course, both players scored, and as much I try to dismiss Derek Jeter as over the hill or whatever, man, that guy is just so fucking good. Watching him this World Series makes it easy to understand why he's deified in New York. He is incredible, and he's earned every bit of his reputation. When October/November rolls around, he simply becomes the most reliable, most clutch player there is. He and Johnny Damon have killed the Phillies the past two nights, and they did it again.
The thing was, the Phils answered that early bell. Back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the first by Shane Victorino and Chase Utley cut the deficit to 1 and Pedro Feliz tied the game up with an RBI single in the 4th to plate Ryan Howard. But the Yanks wouldn't back down. These certainly aren't the Dodgers or Rockies or Rays. When the Yankees get pushed, they push right back.
The Phils needed an all-important shutdown inning in the 5th. What they got was a disaster. Joe Blanton led things off by walking Nick Swisher, hardly a threat with the way he's swung the bat this postseason. Chase Utley followed with yet another boneheaded defensive play. For starters, I have no idea why he wasn't closer to the bag, at normal double play depth. He seemed to have to go a long way for a ball up the middle that should have been easy to get to for a second baseman playing at double play depth. But he did get to it, and instead of taking the ball out of his glove and getting the sure out at second with a good toss, Chase tried to flip it to Rollins right out of his glove. That didn't work, as the ball went straight up in the air and the runners were safe all around.
You give the Yankees extra outs and they'll kill you. And of course they did. Jeter and Damon each struck again, each knocking in a run with a single. The two-run hole the Phils clawed themselves out of was back as soon as it vanished. That's no way to go about winning a baseball game, especially against the team with the best record in all of baseball.
The Phils showed no quit, however. In fact, their very next at-bat, Jimmy Rollins led off with a single and Victorino followed with a walk. Maybe the Phils could answer. No such luck. Sensing danger ahead, CC used his wits, quick-pitching Chase Utley on a two-strike count. Utley wasn't prepared, check swung and popped out. Then Sabathia got Howard to pop out to almost the identical spot, and again with a two-strike count on Jayson Werth, CC quick-pitched him to get Werth swinging. The middle of the lineup failed to come through, and Raul Ibanez hasn't helped whatsoever.
Raul had a tremendous season for the Phils, came up with some big hits in the first two series. But right now, he looks completely lost at the plate. He can't even make contact, let alone get a hit, and he's becoming an albatross in the 6th hole. His struggles have really killed this lineup. Without him picking things up, the Phils have no chance at the improbable comeback. None.
Of course, the Phils kept fighting. Chase hit another homer of CC to make it a one-run game, and the Phils were still breathing. The thing is, I think Charlie made another misstep with the way he handled the bullpen. Chan Ho Park had an easy 7th inning, and the pitcher's spot was nowhere near up in the lineup. I think he should sent him out for the 8th and then used Madson in the 9th. Instead, Charlie went with Madson in the 8th, which is fine, and when he got out of it unscathed, I would have left him in for the 9th, especially after Pedro tied it up and with the pitcher's spot coming up to lead off the bottom of the 9th. Charlie did not. He went with Lidge, and Lidge imploded. Again. It was his 9th loss of 2009. His 9th. He's a closer. Cole Hamels, in all his shittiness, had 11 losses in the regular season and has two this postseason. That's four more losses than the team's closer. Brad Lidge has had a 2009 to forget. Sadly, we won't ever be able to, not after last night.
He came in and got two quick outs. Then he lost a battle with Johnny Damon, for some reason abandoning his slider after Damon fouled two of them off. Damon singled to left on a fastball. Then he hit the struggling Mark Teixeira to bring up A-Rod with the game on the line. He threw Rodriguez two straight fastballs. The second one went to the left-centerfield fence, 5-4 Yanks. The Jorge Posada ended any hopes of a comeback by plating Teixeira and A-Rod. Now the Phils are down 3-1, and I feel like even with great outings by Lee and Pedro, this thing may be all over. Because if the Phils do somehow miraculously manage to win the next two and force a game 7, they'll be relying on their most unreliable starter this postseason, Cole Hamels, to outdeul CC in New York. Things seemed so much better Friday night. Now it's turned into a nightmare. Three more wins never seemed so daunting. This weekend sucked.
If you want to check out some highlights of teams actually playing well, here you go. I don't have the energy to write anything about them, because frankly, I had everything invested in the Phillies. Talk about a bad investment.
Oh, by the way, Brandon Jennings is all sorts of good, in case you were wondering.
Last season, after the Phillies defeated the Dodgers in Los Angeles to advance to the World Series for the first time in 15 years, Charlie Manuel relayed the story of the final conversation he had with his mother before she passed away during the playoffs. June said, "Charlie, you're gonna win those games. You're going to the World Series." I think Charlie and his team may have thought she meant the Phillies were going to win those games and go to the World Series forever, because that's what they've done ever since, now two years in a row.
This season has been a rocky road to say the least. Then again, so was last year. Yeah, in 2008, Brad Lidge was perfect and the bullpen was awesome, but lest we forget, the No. 2 starter in the postseason was sent down to the minors, the shortstop was injured and the starters were shaky. Oh, and Adam Eaton was on the team. But the Phils put it all together, got on a run and won the World Series. In a season where the shortstop was in a major slump, their No. 2 starter went down to injury, the bullpen imploded, the closer was the opposite of perfect and the ace regressed, the Phillies find themselves four more wins from another parade down Broad Street. These guys just know how to win, and they know how to put teams away. They proved that again last night.
Last postseason's golden boy, Cole Hamels, was on the mound for the second straight year with a chance to eliminate the Dodgers and send his Phillies to the World Series. Unlike last year, Cole didn't didn't dominate. Far from it. In fact, Cole couldn't even get through five innings, and I think it's officially time to state the obvious: the 2009 version of Cole Hamels stinks. I'm tired of hearing about how close he is, how he's just a few pitches off, how unlucky he is. The numbers don't lie, and his numbers aren't good. They haven't been all season. Sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. You are, as they say, what you are. And right now, Cole Hamels is a bad starting pitcher. Even worse, he's a dumb starting pitcher.
The first-inning home run he surrendered to Andre Ethier came on a horrendous pitch — a pitch he should have never thrown. Hamels was ahead of Ethier 1-2. He threw a changeup and a curveball to get those first two strikes. Then he pumped Ethier five straight fastballs. Five. On the fifth, Ethier sent it to the bleachers. Repeatedly in the at-bat, Hamels shook off Ruiz, who I can only assume was calling for that disappearing changeup at least once or twice with two strikes. The changeup is Hamels' putaway pitch, his strikeout pitch, his best pitch. And he refused to throw it. He's refused to throw it ever since Manny hit that three-run bomb in game 1. Instead, he thought it was a good idea to pump fastballs to Andre Ethier. Horrible, horrible pitching.
Then in the second, he gave up another home run on a 1-2 pitch, this time to James Loney. Guess what kind of pitch it was … yeah, a fastball. Instead of, again, going to his strikeout pitch, his swing and miss pitch, Hamels tried to sneak a fastball by Loney high and inside. He did not. Loney was all over it, crushing it to right field. The most maddening part was it was very similar to the pitch Loney hit out against Hamels in game 1. What I'm trying to say is, Cole is stupid and sucks. He went out and got himself a hat trick, giving up a third solo home run to Orlando Hudson in the fifth. And guess what, it was on a fastball up in the zone. All season long, Hamels has been getting burned on fastballs up in the zone, yet he continues to pump his straight, 90-93 mph fastball up and over the plate. Major League batters feast on those pitches, and that's why Cole Hamels has sucked this year. It's why he's sucked in these playoffs. But hey, both games he started, the Phils won. Still, I don't want him anywhere near that Yankees lineup in the World Series (assuming they get there). He better not be the game 2 starter. I think Pedro Martinez has earned that right, while Hamels has squandered it away.
Luckily for Hamels and all of Philadelphia, the offense wouldn't let it bother them. Right after Hamels gave up a run in the 1st inning, the Phils answered. Chase Utley worked a two-out walk to tie Boog Powell's record of reaching base safely in 25 straight postseason games. Then, finally tired of seeing Ryan Howard terrorize LA pitching, Vicente Padilla pitched around Howard, walking him on four pitches to get to Jayson Werth. Not a bad idea, considering Howard has been killing it while Werth, Ibanez and Feliz have struggled. But clearly, Werth was offended. Intentionally walk someone to get to me? Intentionally walk this.
What a great at-bat, and when he hit it, I was trying to will it out. Out it went, and off I went on Padilla, screaming, "YOU FRAUD! I KNEW YOU WERE A FRAUD! FUCK YEAH!" among other things. Boom. Game over. Sure, the Dodgers answered with Loney's home run, but this game was over right then and there. When these Phillies smell blood, they pounce. Sure, Loney answered. So fucking what? Pedro Feliz, who looked more lost at the plate than balloon boy in this postseason, smoked a liner the opposite way and into the right field seats to get that 2-run lead right back. Welcome to the playoffs, Pedro. Nice to have you. After an uneventful third, the Phillies pounced again. Jayson Werth, who simply is the man, led off with a single, and Raul followed with a double to drive him in, putting the Phils up 5-2 and chasing Padilla back to his rightful spot among shitty starting pitchers. You can fool people for a while there, Vicente, but we all knew you couldn't possibly be this good. And you're not. At least not in Philadelphia, in that ballpark.
Before it was all said and done, Shane Victorino was getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and before they even knew what hit them, the Dodgers found themselves in a 6-2 hole. After Cole surrendered the home run to Hudson and finally left the game after giving up a double to Rafael Furcal, cutting the lead to 3, the TBS announcers were at it again. A three-run lead is nothing in this ballpark. The Dodgers had gotten to the Phillies bullpen. Now they had a chance. Seriously, have these assholes watched this series? That supposedly weak Phillies bullpen has been pretty damn good. And last night they were awesome.
After Happ walked a guy and got one out, Chad Durbin finished off the 5th. Then the 6th, breezing through all four batters he faced — getting Manny to ground out, Kemp to strike out, and Loney and Martin to ground out. He did a phenomenal, phenomenal job. And how did this great, incredible, unhittable Dodgers bullpen react? The same way this overrated, overhyped set of arms has all series. They wilted under the pressure, showed their fear and gave up runs.
In came the untouchable Clayton Kershaw with his great stuff. Buck Martinez said his stuff was so good, his fastball so good, that Kershaw didn't even have to make great pitches. He just needed to throw it over the plate. The Phillies hitters would have a hard time catching up. Really? Have you watched this team once all season? Hell, have you watched them at all this series? If I recall, some guy named Jimmy Rollins smoked a pretty damn fast fastball the game before:
Really, you think pumping fastballs to a team that absolutely annihilates fastballs is a good idea, Buck? Well, how'd that work out for ya?
Chan Ho Park then came in and pitched a brilliant 7th, and skating around bases loaded trouble caused by Park and his own doing, Ryan Madson regained his dominant form, getting three straight batters with the bases loaded and no out to limit the damage to 1 run. The Phillies relievers, who had to pitch four and two-thirds, gave up one run combined. Meanwhile, the remarkable, outstanding, cannot-be-scored-upon Dodgers bullpen pitchers surrendered four runs by three different pitchers. Yeah, the pen is mightier. The Phillies pen.
Jayson Werth added another home run to his already insanely awesome night, and the Phils tacked on another for good measure in the 8th to go up 10-4. Then Brad LIdge came on for the 9th and showed once again, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is back, striking out Mark Loretta, popping up the eternally overrated Rafael Furcal and getting Ronnie Belliard to fly out to end the game and the series, sending the Phils back to the World Series:
Back-to-back National League Champions. Back-to-back World Series. These guys are good. Really good. I went out and celebrated with silver fox, downing a few beers and closing out the bar while taking it all in. The Phillies are in the World Series. Again. Four more wins from another title.
And Ryan Howard, for the first time all postseason, failed to drive in a run. He won the MVP anyway. Dude is a monster.
The coolest thing for me was watching the interview on Comcast with Ruben Amaro by Michael Barkann and Ricky Bottalico. They asked how Ruben was so calm, so reserved, at least considering. Ruben's response was priceless. He said he was proud of the great accomplishment, reaching the World Series again, but he said, just like the players, he truly believes and they truly believe there's still one more step. That they still need four more wins. Something tells me they'll get them. Four more wins. Four more.
Oh yeah, and did anyone else happen to flip to Fox's coverage after the game for the gathering on Cottman? Well, there was a girl who flashed her tits, and it was right on the live broadcast. And it was awesome. Nice boobs, lady. Nice boobs.
Holy calamity, scream insanity! That was either the ugliest great victory in this franchise's history or the greatest ugly victory. I can't really decide which one, but I do know that it was incredibly painful to watch. From the runners left on base to the errors to the bullpen to the comeback, it was exhilarating and horrifying all at the same time. Seriously, playoff baseball is the most agonizing experience of a sports fan's existence … at least this sports fan.
Things started out well enough, with the Phillies hitting a solo home run in the first inning for the second straight game to take a 1-0 lead, this time courtesy of Shane Victorino, and last night, we didn't fuck around at my house, syncing up the TBS broadcast with Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke on 1210. No more boring-ass TBS announcers who insist on calling the regular season the regular year. It's season, you schmuck, not year. Regular year is a stupid term, and if you say it, you are an asshole. Simple as that.
The funny thing about Shane's home run is that right after Shane's first swing, Adam EatShit said to me, "I feel like Shane hasn't really been hitting the ball that hard. When's the last time you saw him hit a solid line drive?" Seven pitches later, Victorino ripped his line-drive home run right into the Phillies' bullpen, almost on cue, as if he heard my roommate all the way in Denver.
However, from then on, the Phillies' offense sputtered. Luckily, Cliff Lee was on the mound. After another shaky start to his first inning, surrendering back-to-back singles to that son of a bitch Carloz Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, he got Helton to ground into a fielder's choice, and even after allowing a wild pitch to let Helton advance, putting runners on second and third with just one out, he blanked the Rockies, striking out Troy Tulowitzki and forcing Garrett Atkins to ground out. I had complete confidence in Lee from that moment on.
I think his teammates did too. In fact, maybe they had a little too much confidence in their ace, because they decided to not score many runs for him. Yes, Ubaldo Jimenez was sharp, mixing his pitches well and looking much more composed than he did late in game 1, but the Phillies let the young righthander off the hook time and time again. Take for instance, the third inning.
After Jimmy Rollins led off the inning with a ground out, Victorino, with Adam EatShit's words ringing in his ears, singled to right. Then Chase followed suit, singling to right himself, and Victorino, with not a great jump and sort of stumbling, took off for third. That bastard Carlos Gonzalez came up firing to third — and wouldn't you know it, that prick has a good arm too — and it looked as though Shane was a dead duck at third. The throw certainly beat him there, but the swipe tag by Atkins came awfully close to Victorino's foot hitting third. It was a close play, but I thought for sure he was out. And I was pissed. But the ump called him safe, and Chase, being the incredible base runner that he is, took second on the throw. Second and third with one out. Very nice.
Not taking any chances, Jimenez intentionally walked Ryan Howard to load the bases, and up came Jayson Werth. Now, if I said it once, I've said it a thousand times — under virtually no circumstance should a player swing before seeing a strike with the bases loaded (especially if the pitcher had just walked guys) and if they do swing before seeing a strike, it at least better be a meatball that they drive, otherwise, it's just not smart to swing until you take a strike. The pressure is all on the pitcher. He has nowhere to put the batter. He has to come to you. Make him throw you your pitch, and at least make him prove he can get one over. Jayson Werth, who is great at working counts in all other situations, is notorious for going against my golden rule, and last night was no exception.
After taking the first pitch for a ball, Werth decided he was going to swing no matter what, fouling off a fastball up in the zone. I'll admit, it was a strike. But it was up and in, a pitch he probably wasn't going to do a whole lot with, and he swung anyway. With the bases loaded. And it gets worse. Much worse. The next pitch, which was even higher and more inside, he took a hack at again, fouling it off. It was ball two. I mean, the thing wasn't even close to a strike. And on the very next pitch, he chased a changeup in the dirt to strike out. All he had to do was get his bat on the ball, especially considering he's tough to double up, and at least one run would score. Instead, he struck out with one out and the bases loaded by chasing two incredibly awful pitches. If he simply would have been patient, Werth would have found himself up 3-1 in the count, a great hitter's situation, and probably would have gotten an RBI, either by driving a meatball 3-1 pitch, or walking in a run. Instead, he struck out like a jackass, because he took an absolutely horrible approach at the plate. I was murdering him for it.
Then Raul followed up with a strikeout of his own, but at least he worked a tough at-bat, seeing a strike and laying off some nasty pitches. Too bad he couldn't lay off that final deadly slider. Give Jimenez credit for striking out two batters with the bases loaded and one out, but also admonish the Phils for making his job too easy in a tight spot. And yes, I mean you, Jay Werth.
Getting out of that jam gave Jimenez a shot in the arm, because after that, he was on point. In the 4th, he sent down Pedro Feliz, Carlos Ruiz and Cliff Lee in order, making it five straight Phils retired. He added to that with a perfect 5th, extending his streak to eight straight outs. Luckily for the Phils, Cliff Lee was keeping pace, doing exactly what he did in game 1.
After avoiding damage in a tough first inning, Lee set down the Rockies in order in the 2nd, making it six straight Rockies retired. He followed up by getting Jimenez to ground out to start the third, and after a one-out walk to Gonzalez, he got the speedy Dexter Fowler to ground into a double play courtesy of a Chase Utley tag on Gonzalez and throw to first. It looked like Lee just may be able to go the distance again, and I had a feeling that he just may.
He set them down in the order in the 4th, and after giving up a leadoff single and then a two-out single to, of all people, his counterpart Jimenez, he actually managed to get Carlos Gonzalez out — 5 innings pitched and still no runs for Colorado. Great trade again, Rubes. Great trade.
But this game was definitely turning into a nail-biter. After failing to execute in the third, Jimenez had shut down the Phils, and when he got Ryan Howard to ground to lead off the 6th, it looked like whoever got into the opposition's bullpen first was going to win. However, Jayson Werth, who royally fucked up in that third-inning, bases-loaded, one-out at-bat, made up for his transgressions — and he did it, surprise!, by being patient. Seriously, why can't he just take his normal approach with the bases loaded? I don't get it.
Anyway, after taking a first-pitch strike, Werth took the second for a ball, then missed a curveball, fouled off a nasty fastball, took another ball to bring the count even, and then Jimenez made his first mistake since the first inning, hanging a changeup out over the plate. And Werth did not miss it, crushing a solo shot to right center to put the Phils up 2-0. I immediately forgave his previous sins, screaming his name and clapping my hands. A 2-0 lead with Lee on the mound? Oh yeah, L.A., here we come!
Not so fast …
Jiminez settled down, got Raul to fly out and then Pedro Feliz to ground out on one pitch — his second straight at-bat getting out on one pitch. And in the bottom of the sixth, the Rockies struck back. With one out, Todd Helton worked a walk, and it came back to bite Cliff Lee. But here's the thing, that walk was a complete travesty. After throwing his first pitch clearly high, Lee threw three straight perfect strikes at the knees, no doubt about it strikes, yet the umpire called them all balls, awarding Helton first base. It was complete bullshit. All three of his final pitches were strikes, but Lee got squeezed and Colorado took advantage. The bad umpiring continued (again for both sides).
Tulowitzki followed with a double that plated Helton, and I was furious at the ump. Yes, Lee could have retired Tulowitzki and gotten out of it with no damage, but still, he got screwed on that walk, plain and simple. Luckily, Lee regained his composure and got Atkins to line out to Feliz, and thanks to some horrendous base-running by Tulowitzki, who was halfway to third for some reason, turned it into an inning-ending double play. Da da, da da da, da da da da, TU-LO! What a fucking gay chant. Way to run yourself out of the inning TU-LO!
Both Lee and Jimenez got through the 7th unscathed, and the Rockies made the first move to the pen. With a 2-1 lead and Lee on the mound, and with the Rockies now in their bullpen, I really liked our chances. And my confidence only grew stronger when Franklin Morales came in and walked Chase Utley to start the 8th. And I got even more excited when Chase stole second … that is until Howard was called out on strikes on a pitch that was, in my opinion, outside. But such is life in this series: shoddy umpiring with floating strike zones. It's been maddening. But the Phillies were still in good shape. The lefty Morales intentionally walked Werth to set up the double play and get to the lefty Raul Ibanez.
Showing some rare patience that he has actually be displaying all series, Raul never took the bat off his shoulder, walking on 5 pitches to once again load the bases for the Phillies with just one out — the same scenario they failed to take advantage of in the third. After a pitching change, up came Pedro Feliz to face Rafael Betancourt. Feliz, who had just gotten out his last two at-bats seeing a grand total of 2 pitches, had to be up there taking at least one pitch, especially with a new pitcher in there fresh out of the bullpen, right? Wrong. Instead, Pedro continued his retardation at the plate, swinging at the first pitch Betancourt threw, a low slider no less, and popping out to shortstop. I wanted to wring his fucking neck. Three at-bats, three pitches, three outs. What a fucking idiot. And for the second time in the game, the Phillies took terrible approaches with the bases loaded at one out, this one even more retarded than Werth's third-inning at-bat. If I could have killed Feliz through thoughts, he would have died a horrifying, torture-filled death. It was the single worst at-bat in Phillies history, no doubt.
Then Carlos Ruiz followed up by grounding out, and again swinging before taking a strike. The Phillies failed yet again to get anything out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation. They had two chances to blow the game wide open, to give their ace a big cushion, and they couldn't do it. Twice. I was beside myself, and I wanted to break anything and everything in sight. Stupid, stupid baseball. I hate the playoffs.
To my surprise, Charlie had no one up in the bullpen during the top of the 8th, meaning it was still Lee's show. And this time, he got Carlos Gonzalez, that fucking jerk, to fly out. The Phillies, holding the slimmest of leads, were now just five outs away from a rematch with the Dodgers in the NLCS. But then, Lee got squeezed again, walking Dexter Fowler on four pitches when at least two of them were strikes, no doubt in my mind. I was pissed. I can only imagine what Lee was feeling.
Two pitches later, disaster struck. The normally sure-handed Phillies, one of the best fielding teams in all the land, shot themselves in the foot. Todd Helton hit a weak grounder to Chase, who bobbled the ball slightly as Fowler leapt over him to avoid runner's interference, and Chase hastily backhanded the ball to second. It was too hot to handle for the typically flawless fielding Jimmy Rollins. Safe all around, as I yelled at Jimmy to "catch the fucking ball!" Upon further review, it was a tough play all around, from the runner being so close to Chase, to the tough throw, but still, it's a play that has to be made. Now the tying run was on second and there was just one out. And that was it for Lee. Time for Ryan Madson.
At this point, my heart was beating, but seeing how effective Madson has been this season as the setup guy, I was still slightly confident. Then, on the third pitch he threw, Tulowitzki hit a flare to left that I thought for sure was dropping. I was ready to lambast Madson and curse Rollins and Utley for royally fucking up that ground ball. But out of nowhere, Ben Francisco, who came in when Madson entered as part of a double switch, made an insane diving catch keep the lead. It was simply incredible, and I was freaking out. What a fucking catch! Unfortunately, he couldn't double up either runner, throwing a tweener throw toward first that missed the cutoff, but it looked like Fowler actually read it well and was heading back to second anyway, somehow, there wasn't a great chance of getting the runner at first.
With that catch, I thought for sure the Phils would get out of it. Hell, it should have been the third out anyway. But no such luck. On the next pitch, pinch-hitter Jason Giambi singled to left to plate Fowler, tie game. I was cursing the defense, Madson and the entire team for giving the game away by leaving the bases loaded twice. And things got worse. Two pitches later, Yorvit Torrealba, another Rockie I despise, crushed a Madson fastball over Victorino's head, scoring Helton and Giambi, 4-2 Colorado.
I was livid. I fucking crushed Madson and the Phils in complete and utter disgust, ranting about how they gave the game away, how they deserved to lose. But I also felt awful for Cliff Lee, because while the team certainly deserved to lose, coming up small in key spots at the plate and making a critical error in the 8th, Cliff Lee certainly deserved to win. He pitched excellent again, but his teammates gave him no help. I resigned myself to preparing for game 5, because I just thought they had played too poorly and too sloppily to put things together this late, even when Madson got out of it to keep it a 2-run game.
I should have known better. As this team proves over and over again, they are never out of it until there are 27 outs. Never. No matter what the score is. Though the way the 9th started, I had no confidence. For some crazy reason, Charlie Manuel decided to lead off the 9th by pinch-hitting Greg Dobbs for Ben Francisco. Yes, the Rockies had their closer, the right-handed Huston Street, in the game, but Greg Dobbs has done exactly jack shit this season for the Phillies. Ben Francisco, on the other hand, has been the best bench player on the team since coming over from Cleveland. The best bench fielder and the best bench hitter. And, if the Phils somehow miraculously did find a way to tie it up or even take the lead, who the hell was going to play left? Dobbs is a horrible outfielder, and Francisco, as he displayed the inning before, is a very good outfielder. So to sum things up, Charlie took out Francisco, who is a better hitter and fielder and runner than Greg Dobbs, simply to get a lefty-righty matchup. Got it. As I expected, Dobbs continued his shitty season by striking out. Great start guys.
But then, as has been the case with the Phillies since, well, since Jimmy Rollins took over the shortstop spot, J-Roll ignited the seemingly dormant Phils by singling up the middle. Unfortunately, Shane Victorino hit a chopper to second, and Rollins was out at second. The Phils were down to their last out with Victorino on first and Utley at the dish. Chase, being the professional he is, remained calm and patient, working a 6-pitch walk off Street, and suddenly, me, Adam EatShit and our roommate began to believe, but none of us dared to say a word for fear of the jinx.
OK, that's not entirely true. My one roommate said if Howard isn't trying to hit a home run here, he never will. And on the fourth pitch he saw, Street made a mistake and Howard unleashed on it. As he hit it, we all started going nuts, and I leapt off the couch, almost hitting our ceiling fan with my head, and went bonkers. In Citizens Bank, that ball is long gone, but no matter, it got the job done. A crushed two-run double to tie the game. We all exchanged pain-inducing high-fives and went ballistic.
Six pitches later, I again almost jumped through the roof, as Jayson Werth made me forget all about that third-inning shitfest, singling home Howard to give the Phillies an improbable 5-4 lead. Holy hell! I couldn't believe it, and after the Rockies finally got out of the inning, I turned to Adam and asked him if that really just happened. Yes, yes it did. Ryan Howard, you are a Cot-Damn Beast. And Jay Werth, man oh man, have you been a steal. Good job, Mr. Gillick.
I was so excited I could hardly breathe, but this thing was far from over. For the second straight night, the Phils headed to the bottom on the 9th with a one-run lead, in a one-run save situation. We all know how they've gone for Philadelphia this year. Plus, who the hell was going to play left? Dobbs? Well, no, it turns out. Miguel Cairo, an infielder by trade, manned that post. OK then.
To our surprise, Charlie didn't go with Brad Lidge to start the 9th, instead opting for Scott Eyre, fresh off a rolled ankle. Eyre got pinch-hitter Eric Young Jr. to ground out, but then that pesky Carlos Gonzalez struck again, singling to left. We all looked around wondering whether Charlie dare bring Lidge in, with a speedy runner on first who could surely walk to second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Larry Andersen wondered the same thing.
The answer was no. Charlie stuck with Eyre against Fowler and with the lefthanded Todd Helton on deck. Eyre got Fowler to line out to short. The Phils were one out away from reaching the NLCS for the second straight year. But Todd Helton was not ready to go home, singling to center to keep the Rockies alive. And he represented the go-ahead, now on first base and the righthanded Troy Tulowitzki at the plate. I was pulling my hair out. The cleanup hitter was up, the prefect spot for Colorado. That's when Charlie called on Lidge, and Philadelphia's collective hearts stopped beating.
For the second straight night, it came down to Lidge vs. Tulowitzki. And for the second straight night, Lidge came through. Boy did he come through.
He threw some devastating sliders to an overmatched Tulowitzki, and again, I almost flew through my roof, jumping higher than I ever have. Somehow, some way, the Phillies pulled it off. Brad Lidge, for all his struggles during the regular season, has remained perfect in the playoffs as a Phillie. Lights out, Colorado. L.A., here we come!
It was, without question, one of the most heart-stopping, gut-wrenching games ever played, and certainly the most entertaining elimination game thus far in the playoffs. And the Phillies, who I left for dead after a disastrous 8th, resurrected for the 9th and eliminated the Rockies. New flash: These guys are good. And as Adam EatShit said after the game, they're winners. Might as well keep on winning.
Last night, I was offered free tickets to the final Flyers preseason game against the Minnesota Wild, so naturally I took them. I, along with sliver fox, Adam EatShit and his little brother, headed down 95 to see the final tune-up before the regular season opener Friday. On the ride down, Adam asked his little brother who his favorite Phillie was, and he said he liked them all. So then Mr. EatShit asked him if there's anyone he doesn't like on the Phillies, and he replied Pedro Feliz.
Myself being a big Pedro fan, I respectfully disagreed, telling the little tyke why I am a fan. We agreed to disagree and made our way into the Wachovia Center. I was incredibly interested to see what the lines looked like in this final tune-up, and everyone who will make the team suited up, with the exception of Blair Betts, who we all want to see make the team but is in contract talks with the Flyers, thus not quite on the squad yet.
I gotta tell you, I really liked what I saw last night. Yes, the Flyers lost 5-4 in a shootout, and giving up four goals in regulation sounds bad, but early on, the team played incredibly well, especially Ray Emery. The new goaltender faced 10 shots in his period and a half of action, surrendering just one goal. That goal was the direct result of a boneheaded play by Jeff Carter. Down a man, Carter raced over to a puck in his own zone and saw Scott Hartnell streaking down the ice, wide open. Carter saw him and tried to get the puck to him on a backhanded shovel pass, hoping to reach Hartnell for the sure shorthanded breakaway. One problem: Carter flubbed the backhand, failing to get it out of the zone, and Martin Havlat wound up scoring because of it on a chance Emery really had no shot to stop.
But besides that one that slipped by him, Emery was sharp, smothering the puck to prevent rebound opportunities and showing his insane athleticism and speed going from post to post. For a guy I clearly didn't want any part of, Emery has played fantastic this preseaon. That certainly bodes well for the Flyers' chances.
But of course, as I'm sure you've all come to expectfrom me, my eyes were glued to Claude Giroux, and for good reason.
Giroux was impressive yet again last night, scoring the game's first goal, and all night long, he was making things happen out there on the ice. The guy is going to be a star, there is no doubt in my mind. Jame vanRiemsdyk will surely benefit from playing on a line with Claude.
As far as the line combinations are concerned, I have to say, I love this team's depth. I was a little stunned to hear that 28-year-old NHL rookie Mika Pyorala, who has spent his career in Europe, would be playing alongside Mike Richards and Simon Gagne, but in the few games I've watched, Pyorala has looked good. And he did again last night, scoring a goal and finishing the night a plus-2. Much like his linemates, Pyorala looks like a player with some nice skill and a scoring touch who is also not afraid to get a little dirty playing defense. Gotta love that. The next top line of Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere simply has a ton of firepower. The more I see of this line and the more I think about its potential, the more I love its makeup. Carter is a sniper, which he proved with a breakout 2008, and Hartnell has a knack for being around the crease and finding the back of the net himself. Adding Danny Briere, a great playmaker and incredible passer, to that duo makes for a lethal scoring line.
From there, as I stated earlier, I'm pretty high on having JVR and Giroux on the same line, and Arron Asham is a hard worker that adds some grit. Asham played well with Briere and Giroux last season, so he'll do, but I wouldn't mind seeing another more skilled or quicker player up there with the two youngsters. Either way, don't sleep on this line, not with the incredible talent of Giroux and the goal-scoring potential of JVR.
Add all that to the very solid fourth line of Ian Laperriere, Daniel Carcillo and Darroll Powe, and the Flyers can comfortably roll four lines every single night. With Laperriere and Powe providing tremendous defensive play and relentless pursuit, along with the toughness and even scoring touch of Carcillo, and that's a fourth line that you can rely on. My hope is that Blair Betts gets signed as well, and the Flyers can move either Carcillo, Powe or Laperriere up to the third line to play alongside Giroux and JVR, with Betts centering the fourth line. Then keep Asham around as the extra forward. Either way, I'm liking this team's depth a lot.
Add in the defense pairings that are looking quite good, and this team has some scary potential. I love the Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn reunion. Together two years ago, this was a shutdown pair, and while Coburn didn't necessarily have a bad 2008, he wasn't quite the same player with Kimmo by his side. Now they're back together, and Chris Pronger and Matt Carle looked very comfortable, and formidable, together. I'm not sure I can name another team that has two shutdown defensive pairs as talented as the Flyers top two. Then add in steady defensive defenseman Ryan Parent along with 24-year-old Danny Syvret and the Flyers have depth there too. Especially with Randy Jones in the minors and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen occupying the seventh defenseman spot. Though I will say, Syvret, in his limited ice time last night, didn't look impressive.
As far as the game itself is concerned, our attention was split between the happenings on the ice and the Phillies game. From where we were sitting, sliver fox and I could see the Phillies game on a TV in one of the sky boxes.
We saw J.A. Happ skirt around a bases loaded jam in the 2nd, Lance Berkman trotting around the bases in the 3rd and Paul Bako driving in Jimmy Rollins to tie it. The next time I glanced over, I saw Pedro Feliz trotting around the bases. Since we couldn't see the score from our seats, silver fox looked it up: grand slam by Pedro, Phils leading 5-1. Bet you like Pedro now, huh little guy? Moments later, they flashed the score and highlighted Pedro's grand slam on the scoreboard, and the fans went nuts.
The only other time I looked up, we saw Jayson Werth hit his homer. From there, all attention was on the Flyers. After Emery left, Johan Backlund came in and immediately gave up a goal. It was a nice shot in a prime scoring position, but it beat Backlund on the short side, showing he was clearly out of position. And he didn't look much better the rest of the way. The nicest thing I can say about what I saw from him is that I really hope Brian Boucher gets healthy fast.
While the score didn't bear it out, the Flyers were playing well. They outshot the Wild, who are known as a defensive team, 39-24, and to my surprise, the Flyers actually fared well in the face-off circle. They won 35 of 62 draws, good for 56.5 percent, led by Mike Richards (9-13, 69 percent) and Darroll Powe (9-15, 60 percent). Giroux also won five of nine, and both Briere and Jeff Carter each won half their draws. Looks like the Flyers actually did work on that this offseason. Let's hope it carries over into the season.
We left the game with 10 minutes left in the third so as to get home in time to see the end of the Phils game. It was preseason after all. We got to my house in time to see the final two innings, now with the score at 7-4, watching Ryan Madson actually close out a game. Though, as has been any Phillie in the closer role's forte, he made it exciting, giving up a leadoff single to Kaz Matsui followed by a fly out and then another single, bringing the tying run to the plate with one out. But then Madson struck out Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence to get the victory and, thanks to a Braves loss, reduce the magic number to 1 with five games to play. I feel a whole lot better after last night than I did this time yesterday, and thank god for that.
Last night, I was in attendance as the Phillies played a makeup game against the Padres, even though it looked as though the makeup was even jeopardy of being rained out. In fact, when I got off the subway, it was raining a bit. Thankfully, the drizzle let up before the first pitch and the game went on without another drop from the sky.
In hindsight, I kind of wish it would have rained. Not because the game itself was bad or anything — it wasn't, the Phils won 9-4 — but because of the people surrounding me.
You see, I got tickets to the game from my cousin. He called me up and told me that his friend had an extra ticket, and he told him he could invite someone. Naturally, my cousin asked me to go, knowing full well I'd never turn down a chance to see the Phils in person for free. What he neglected to tell me was that his friend had gotten the tickets as part of a group discount with a whole bunch of his churchgoing friends. Two and half full rows of section 307 were bought and distributed to a bunch of Christians who all go to the same church. Then there was my cousin and me, Christian Bible-thumpers, not so much.
For starters, I have no problem with people or their religious beliefs. I don't care for those who force their beliefs on others, because really, what business is it of yours what other people care to believe? Anyway, I wasn't annoyed last night by the fact that these people were all religious. I didn't even hear a single remark about religion or beliefs or any of that. What annoyed me about this group was the fact that throughout the entire freakin game, people were getting up in the middle of innings, in the middle of pitches, standing up to yell across the row to their other churchgoing friends, discussing everything under the sun besides the actual game, and generally just not giving a shit about baseball.
It's a shame too, because last night's game was the tits. The Phils jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to some big hits by Pedro Feliz, Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins (Chase, too).
Cole looked like his 2008 playoff self through three innings, breezing through the San Diego lineup (which sucks) and seemingly regaining his confidence after a very shaky first half. He did hit a stumbling block in the fourth, struggling with his location in the inning and routinely falling behind the San Diego hitters. As a result, he was elevating his pitches again, and the Padres put up three on him to make it a one-run game.
Thankfully, Ruben Amaro ignored all the objections from outsiders and signed Raul Ibanez, because the next at-bat, he helped the Phils get all three of those runs back and then some with another clutch hit, this time a two-run double.
From there, it was all Phils. Hamels settled back down, getting through seven innings of four-hit ball with six strikeouts.
With the exception of that awful fourth inning, he looked like the Cole Hamels we've all come to expect prior to this up-and-down season. It's simple for Cole, really: If the guy keeps his pitches down, he's the dominant ace that went undefeated in the postseason last year, winning both the NLCS and World Series MVP. If he loses his concentration and begins to elevate the ball, he gets hit. Something tells me he'll be focused down the stretch and just fine. At least he better be.
As for the Padres, well, Kevin Correia was extremely unimpressive, as the Phils knocked him around for nine hits and eight runs. In all, the offense was rejuvenated, cranking out 14 hits, with every starter getting at least one hit except for Cole. Jayson Werth and Pete Happy led the way, each getting three knocks on the night.
It was a pretty nice night. Except for the annoying section I was sitting in. And the dollar dogs. I ate four of them, but man, it seems like every time I go back there for Dollar Dog Night, the hot dogs get worse and worse. Them shits were gross last night. Step it up, CBP staff.
Remember this guy? Greg Dobbs, the guy who hit .301 last season. The guy who set the Phillies record for pinch-hits in a season. The guy who was the best pinch-hitter in baseball.
Remember him? Yeah, well, that guy is long gone friends, and last night was a perfect example of just how far Dobbs has fallen since this season. With the Phils down a run in the 9th, Dobbs stepped to the plate to pinch-hit with Stairs on first and two out. Dobbs chased the first pitch, which was out of the zone, then looked at a fastball on the outside corner. Down 0-2, he took a very close pitch for a ball, and then, he just watched as a 95 mph fastball whizzed right by him for strike three. Game over. Dobbs was caught looking at a pitch he would have crushed last season.
Now, that's not to say we should expect Dobbs to get a hit there, off one of the best closers in the game, Francisco Rodriguez, but the at-bat was just horrendous. He pulled a vintage Pat Burrell, staring at strike three right down the middle (well, middle-in). Certainly, the 6-5 loss doesn't rest on Dobbs' shoulders. When your team scores five runs off Johan, including four home runs, you should win. The pitchers didn't do their job. But still, that's the type of spot Dobbs is paid for. He won't always come through, but this year, he has very, very rarely come through, and I really don't know why.
Last year, Dobbs was fantastic. He was every bit as important as anyone else on that team in the run to becoming World Fucking Champions. Honestly, every time he came in the game, I thought he was going to get a hit.
This year? Well, saying Dobbs has been horrendous doesn't even do it justice. The failures of Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge have been well-documented, but in reality, those two guys have at least made positive contributions to the team. Jimmy still plays marvelous defense, and Lidge, as awful as he has been, does have 13 saves.
Dobbs, on the other hand, has been nothing but an albatross for this team.
The pinch-hit extraordinaire is currently batting .184 with just 9 hits, 6 runs, 2 home runs, 6 RBI, .268 on-base percentage, .347 slugging percentage and .615 OPS. His pinch-hitting numbers are even worse. After going 22-for-62 last season (.355), Dobbs has just 4 pinch-hits in 28 at-bats (.143).
Considering Dobbs is a horrible defensive player, his presence has not helped the Phillies whatsoever this year. So, what exactly is the problem?
I guess the most obvious answer is a lack of plate appearances to really get going. Last season, Dobbs finished with 240 plate appearances and 226 official at-bats in 128 games played. So far this season, Dobbs has just 56 plate appearances and 49 official at-bats in 44 games. He simply hasn't had as many opportunities to get swings in this season.
The reason lies in Pedro Feliz. Last season, Feliz battled through back pain, limiting him at the plate and allowing Dobbs to get much more playing time at third when Pedro needed a rest to heal his aching back, not to mention that Dobbs would often pinch-hit for Pedro late in games.
But after offseason surgery, Pedro is as healthy as he's ever been, and it's shown. Now, not only is Feliz continuing to amaze with the glove, but he's batting .305 and has been the Phillies best hitter with runners in scoring position. And he's no longer getting pinch-hit for late in games because he's absolutely killing the ball from the 7th inning on.
So yeah, it's to be expected that with less playing time, another 22-pinch-hit, .301 average season is out of the question. But .184 with virtually no production at all, this far into the season? That's too much of a drop-off. Dobbs needs to find a way to get back to the guy who pitchers feared when he came in the game, the guy who would battle and fight to extend a game.
Because the last thing the Phils need is another wasted bench spot, what with the likes of Chris Coste and Eric Bruntlett already proving worthless this season.
Jayson Werth, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to witness something I've never witnessed in person in my entire life. In my 25-plus years on earth, I've gone to literally hundreds of baseball games. Not once had I ever witnessed live a player steal home. Until last night. Jayson Werth is a beast.
In that most awesome 7th inning, with the Phillies leading 4-2, Werth got a one-out single and then watched as Will Ohman threw over to first approximately 35 times to try and keep Jayson close to the bag. Clearly, this pissed Werth off, and in the ultimate fuck you, he stole second anyway (his second steal of the game). And to drive his fuck you point home even further, Werth stole third, with Jimmy Rollins trailing him to second, to rub a little salt in the wound.
Then, well, he poured the whole damn bag of salt in there, stealing home as Russell Martin lobbed the ball back to the pitcher. And he stole that shit easily. It was awesome. As was the game itself. So much for the unspectacular.
The game started off the way I expected it, with Chan Ho Park giving up a run in the first inning and the Dodgers crushing the ball off him, even the outs. Juan Pierre was particularly raking it, literally hitting the ball hard every at-bat.
Even though he only had one hit, the little guy was smacking the ball around. But not like Raul. After Jimmy Rollins finally did something good at the plate by tying the game with an RBI single, Park gave the run right back. No worries. Raul to the rescue. In a three-run third, Ibanez smoked a two-run double and the Phils never looked back.
Park settled down and pitched six very impressive innings. The offense didn't explode, getting only six hits, but the Phils did show some rare plate discipline, taking a ton of pitches against a wild Los Angeles staff. When's the last time you remember the Phillies walking 8 times in one game? Hasn't happened often.
That brings me to Pedro Feliz. Pete Happy walked four times last night. Four. I don't think Pedro walked four times all last season.
A notorious free-swinger, Pedro seems to have changed his approach at the plate early in this young season and it's paying off. Feliz is batting .303, well above his career .253 average and the .249 he posted last year. The main reason is his sudden affinity to see pitches. Pedro is no longer just going up there hacking. He's looking for his pitch, working the pitchers and now he's batting over .300. If he can keep this up, watch out. A hitting Pete Happy makes an already potent lineup that much more potent.
Anyway, with the Phils holding down the fort, the excitement hit the stands. My cousin somehow, some way devoured 11 hot dogs. I'm not even sure how that's possible. I had five and I still feel like garbage. A section over from us, there was a nice fight, with an old guy telling a younger guy he was going to tear his face off. That was pretty sweet.
Of course, the highlight of the game was watching Werth completely and utterly embarrass his former team. Honestly, watching a guy steal every bag in an inning was quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever witnessed at a baseball game, with the exception of this. And the fans were clamoring for a curtain call.
Werth didn't oblige on that, but as he went out to take his post in right for the 8th, the fans gave him a standing ovation, just going wild. And Werth acknowledged them with some huge fist pumps to the crowd. Pat Gillick cannot possibly be given enough credit for signing Jayson Werth.
Madson came in and was just throwing flames: 96, 95, 96, 95. I don't know where this all came from down the stretch last year, but I like it. Madson has become a shutdown guy in the 8th.
Wish I could say the same for the artist formerly known as Mr. Perfect.
Yeah, Lidge got the save last night, but he sure as shit didn't look good doing it. He decided to go the Mitch Williams route and make it difficult. Lidge surrendered another run and let too many guys on base. He was hardly lights out, and it's really beginning to worry me. We all saw how he melted down in Houston after being awesome beforehand.
I certainly hope that doesn't happen again. All I know is, as Joltin' Joe sent me in a text last night, "Lidge really looks like shit" right now.
But Jayson Werth is the man. I wish I could have heard Harry call that bottom of the 7th.
Last night, I made the questionable decision to go the Phillies game and get my Charlie Manuel bobblehead.
Now, the decision wasn't questionable because it was a Phillies game. Of course I love going to Phillies games. But with the Sixers taking on the Magic for game 5 and my rooting interests of seeing the Rangers choke in game 7 consuming some of my thinking, I kind of wanted to just watch the Phils/Sixers/hockey games at my house. But, I decided instead to leave work early, get drunk with silver fox and Toonces before the Phils game and watch in attendance.
I'm glad I did, seeing as the Sixers were handled by the Magic 91-78 while the Fightins hit four home runs in the 7-1 win. The thing that sucks is Cole only lasted 4 and a third because he rolled his ankle on a play I thought he simply slipped on. Turns out, it was a pretty bad turn of the ankle. Just what we need.
Chad Durbin came in and did a bang-up job, and the offense did not disappoint. Chase got things going in the third with a two-run bomb, and in my inebriated state I called Pedro Feliz's home run. True story. Ask Toonces.
The game was a grand old time, as Chase hit another bomb and Raul continued to be totally awesome with a dinger of his own, not to mention Toonces deciding to knock the beer that was resting on my knee right off, thus drenching the poor kid in front of us. Then an inning later, the guy got me again, knocking another beer out of my hand. What a waste of wonderful alcohol.
I didn't really see much of the Sixers except a little of the fourth quarter, but at the end, Orlando pulled away. However, I did come across this:
Damn! Howard rocked Sammy there. Poor guy. Not only do the Sixers take it on the chin, but Sammy literally takes it on the chin. Down 3-2, I don't see the Sixers forcing a game 7. Then again, I didn't see them getting to a game 6 to be quite honest with you.
But now back to the main point: New York's penchant for choking. It's becoming a habit I'm beginning to thoroughly enjoy. After nearly a quarter-century of choke jobs and losing here in Philadelphia, I'm taking great joy in watching another city see its teams collapse before their eyes.
With last night's 2-1 loss in Washington, the Rangers blew a 3-1 series lead, making me very, very happy. (Plus, the Devils got knocked out too!) And when you think back to it, everything began to unravel with New York back in 2004. That's when the choking truly began.
In case you've forgotten, the Yankees won the first three games of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox, then proceeded to lose four straight, becoming the first team ever in the history of the universe to blow a 3-0 series lead. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series, and the Yankees haven't even come close to getting back since. And this, year, well, they're not doing so hot either.
Then, there has been the whole debacle that is the New York Knicks. I don't think you can properly say they are chokers, but more accurately, jokers. It was a choke job hiring Isaiah Thomas to run your franchise in the first place, but really, the Knicks have become a laughingstock, although they are working their way out of that.
But that doesn't mean choking has been few and far between for New York. No, not at all. Just take a look at the New York Mets. They blew September division leads the past two seasons, trying to belittle the Phillies with their words in the process, while the Phils caught fire down the stretch both years to leave the Mets in their wake.
Yeah, the choking trend did take a turn when the Giants won the Super Bowl, but fuck the Giants. How'd that whole Brett Favre thing work out for the Jets? That's what I thought.
Anyway, with the Rangers completing their collapse last night, it's become abundantly clear that New York is becoming pretty good at this choking thing. At least they're good at something.
This year, the Rockets became one of my favorite teams in the NBA because they signed Brent Barry, got Ron Artest and, of course, had Dikembe Mutombo.
When the Sixers first traded Theo Ratliff for Dikembe Mutombo in 2001, I was devastated, angry and upset. Not because I had any problems with Dikembe, in fact, quite the contrary, after all, his pure joy when his 8th-seeded Nuggets toppled Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton and the top-seeded Sonics was just an awesome sight, but I was/am a HUGE Theo Ratliff fan. But it turns out, the trade was brilliant, as Mutombo helped lead the Sixers to the NBA Finals with his incredible defense and tremendous rebounding, and the big guy really grew on me. He really, truly did.
Dikembe Mutombo is the best defensive center I've ever seen play, and by all accounts, he is the nicest, funniest guy in the NBA. And he truly has his priorities straight, helping out his impoverished homeland and doing good deeds all over the place. Sure, I remember in 2002 when every time he touched the ball in the Sixers-Celtics first-round playoff series the entire Wachovia Center let out a collective, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" because of his clunky hands and awkward offense, but I also remember a warrior and a great teammate. I'm going to miss Dikembe and all his hilarious antics, Cookie Monster voice and incredible defense. All the best to you, Dikembe. Now on to the links …
-Go to TrueHoop and read everything, especially the awesome coverage of Dikembe's retirement here.
Back in the day, somewhere around 7th, 8th, 9th grade, my friends and I used to have these ongoing jokes about Vinny Testaverde, Yancey Thigpen and yes, Chauncey Billups where we'd make these weird hand motions when referencing them for no apparent reason. I'm not sure why we did it, why it involved those three guys or exactly how it started, but we were pretty committed to it. Clearly, my friends and I were weird kids.
-Jeremy Tyler, considered the best high school big man in the country, is leaving HIGH SCHOOL early to play professionally overseas.
Some of the details:
Tyler told the Times that he's making the move because he's too focused on getting better at basketball to spend time hitting the books, adding that "people look to college for more off-the-court stuff versus being in the gym and getting better."
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The 17-year-old Tyler left San Diego High School before finishing his junior year, but he says he'll try to get his diploma by taking classes online. He also says he's ready to spend two years in Spain before returning in June of 2011 for the NBA draft.
Tyler told the Times of his European excursion, "It will help me get better and grow up."
First Brandon Jennings, now Tyler. This, my friends, is awesome. I certainly don't want a lot of players to go overseas, preventing me from watching the future players of the NBA before they get there, but leaving high school, and the books, behind to get paid, that's freakin great. I wish I could have done something like that. School is for fools kids. I would know, I graduated from college in just four short years and now get paid dick to work for the man. When I grow up, I want to be just like Jeremy Tyler.
-A first-round exit is not good enough, and neither is the status quo:
Fans focus on results and look for reasons for those results. The easy targets when a hockey team disappoints are the goaltender and the head coach.
Marty Biron has played well in this series. He has not won a game by himself, as Fleury did Tuesday or as Biron did a couple of times in last year's playoffs. But it would be a stretch to blame Biron, a soon-to-be free agent, for what has happened in this series.
Stevens is a tougher call. The Flyers were stunningly flat in Game 1. That is the players' fault, but responsibility for a performance like that tends to fall on the coach. And then there is the simple truth that coaches are not exactly permanent fixtures in the NHL.
Look at the Penguins. They won their series against the Flyers last year, advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, and then replaced their head coach in the middle of this season. It is an unforgiving business, but there's little reason to believe changing coaches would accomplish anything.
The Flyers are a good team, but the results say they are not as good as Pittsburgh. That was true last spring, and it appears to be just as true this spring.
Sometime late Saturday afternoon or early evening, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will walk to the podium at Radio City Music Hall and announce that a Penn State defensive end has been selected in the first round of the draft.
Eight months ago, most people figured that defensive end would be Maurice Evans. He was coming off an outstanding sophomore season in which he registered 12 1/2 sacks and 21 1/2 tackles for losses and forced five fumbles. He was All-Big Ten. The world was his oyster.
Then, last September, everything went to hell. Police were called to a noisy party at a State College apartment shared by Evans and teammate Abe Koroma. The cops found marijuana in the bedrooms of both players.
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It's perfectly understandable why Maybin decided to pass on his final year of eligibility and declare for the draft. Evans' decision to do the same, though, is a little bit more mystifying.
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His position coach - Lions defensive-line coach Larry Johnson - basically told Evans that he should stay in school for 1 more year. He advised him to return to Happy Valley, put up the kind of numbers he put up as a sophomore, and improve his draft stock.
Basically, if Evans' marijuana incident wasn't proof enough of how stupid he is, his decision to go pro certainly drove that point home. The guy is an idiot, and it pains me to write that because Mo Evans is one of my favorite players from Penn State. He was an absolute beast in 2007, and if he came back this year, he'd be the best player on the defensive line and with a bounceback season like 2007, he would have vaulted to the upper half of the draft. Now he's going to be a late-round pick with no guarantees. What a moron.
-The Yankees, despite a bevy of empty seats down low, are already planning to raise ticket prices next year. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
That's a good idea, because, uh, Scottie is not ready for the NBA at all. He should come back to Villanova, work on his consistency and try to turn himself into a first-round draft pick, because he sure as shit isn't a first-rounder this year.
For the record, if you haven't been watching the NHL playoffs beyond just the Flyers-Penguins series, you're missing out. Typically this time of year I spend much more time watching the NBA playoffs, but this year, I've been watching more hockey than ever, and it's awesome. Last night's Chicago-Calgary game was incredible, and the end of the Rangers-Caps game was epic. Watching Alex Ovechkin is one of the most incredible things in the world, even when his team loses. His goal last night was sick:
He shoots the puck so hard that it's nearly impossible to even see. And the most impressive thing is how deadly accurate he is. The guy barely ever misses the net. Makes me even more disgusted with how many times the Flyers do miss the cage. But Ovechkin, even in all his dominate glory in the third period, couldn't best Henrik Lundqvist, who was incredible.
Anyway, the Flyers will try to stave off elimination in Pittsburgh tonight. This has the potential to be the worse thing ever. The Pens are up 3-1, the Rangers are up 3-1, the Devils are tied 2-2, and Boston already swept. If the Devils win, and with the Rangers and Pens all but wrapping things up, the remaining teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs would go like this: Pittsburgh, New York, Boston and New Jersey. There is nothing that could possibly be worse than that. I mean, I'd be forced to root for a team from Boston to represent the East, and God knows I don't want to do that. It would be a lot easier if the Flyers decided to just do the impossible and win three straight already.
