Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Friday, October 31, 2014
It's Friday, Time to Dance
The World Series just ended this week with the San Francisco Giants winning their third damn title in five years on the strength of Madison Bumgarner's absurdly awesome left arm. Clearly, the Phillies wont' be anywhere near the Fall Classic for quite some time, which gives us all the more reason to reminisce about 2008.
That's exactly what Philebrity did with this recall of Taylor Swift singing the National Anthem before Game 3 of the 2008 World Series in Philadelphia.
How far we have all come, huh?
That's exactly what Philebrity did with this recall of Taylor Swift singing the National Anthem before Game 3 of the 2008 World Series in Philadelphia.
How far we have all come, huh?
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
I'm Already Sick of Ryne Sandberg
Well it took all of three games for me to get sick of Ryne
Sandberg. When he took over for Charlie Manuel late last season, it was
whatever. The Phils were out of contention, and it was nothing more than an
opportunity for him to get his feet wet. Let him evaluate his players and get a
feel for managing at the big league level.
Expectations are low for the 2014 Phillies, as Ruben Amaro
Jr. has managed to turn the World Series caliber team he inherited into an
aging, middle-of-the-pack squad. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn't go out
and try to win games, and it doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t hope for the
unexpected. After the season-opening series in Texas, my patience for Ryne
Sandberg is already waning.
The Phillies will head to Chicago with a 1-2 record, but
they could have very easily been 3-0 and absolutely should be 2-1. Tuesday’s
loss isn’t 100% on Sandberg, but he made some decisions before the game even
started that I disagreed with. Most people will look at Wednesday night’s loss
and point the finger at Jonathan Papelbon, and he deserves his share of the
blame (especially with his comments last year about “not coming here for this”
and wanting to be in a competitive situation). But despite Papelbon’s piss-poor
performance, he did enough to get the job done and the Phillies should have
escaped with the victory if not for a crucial error in judgment by Sandberg.
What I disagreed with on Tuesday was the lineup. I didn’t
like that he sat Dom Brown, and I really didn’t like that he sat Cody Asche.
Asche, making his first opening day start, had perhaps his best game in the
majors. He was 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk, drove in two runs and scored four
runs. The kid had to be feeling great and had confidence through the roof. But
instead of penciling Asche right back in the lineup, he sits him. The logic was
to “protect” him from a lefty pitcher. I say why not send the kid right back
out there while he is feeling great and see if he can build off of the hot
start. Instead he rode the pine, along with Dom, and the offense banged out a
whopping two runs.
There are going to be lots of lineup changes over a 162-game
season, with a lot of factors playing in. Sometimes managers just like to go
with a gut feeling. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. I understand that and can live with it, but I disagreed with his decision and it irked
me.
What happened on Wednesday night did more than irk me. I was legitimately angry. It was an in-game decision, and making the wrong one directly led to the Phillies losing the game.
What happened on Wednesday night did more than irk me. I was legitimately angry. It was an in-game decision, and making the wrong one directly led to the Phillies losing the game.
Allow me to set the scene: Phils lead 3-2, bottom of the 9th,
runners on 1st and 3rd. If you are able to induce a
groundball, you can turn the double play and end the game. So here I am
watching the game, and I see the ball hit on the ground. Looks like it should
be a tailor-made double-play ball. I begin to stand in anticipation of the
possible double-play and the Phillies win, when to my horror I see the ball
shoot pass a diving Utley, who had apparently been playing just behind the
front of the infield grass. Tie game. Long story short, Papelbon concedes
another run and the Phils lose.
I was watching the
game on ESPN instead of the local feed, and they made no mention of the
Phillies' defensive alignment, so I was just assuming that they were at
double-play depth. So when I saw Utley diving for a ball that looked off the
bat like a tailor-made double-play ball, I was shocked, shock that eventually
wore off leaving behind anger.
After the play, ESPN aired a pre-pitch replay that showed
that the Phillies were, for some reason, playing the infield in. It makes
absolutely no sense. If you are hoping for a groundball anyway, why would you choose
the riskier proposition of the drawn-in infield and the potential play at the
plate when you have the safer option of the double play? Even if you get lucky
enough to have the ball hit right at a drawn-in infielder and get the out at
the plate, you have still left yourself with an out to get with the tying run
still in scoring position and the winning run on base. If you are at double-play depth, you give your fielders a better chance because the ball doesn’t
have to be hit right at them, and a successful double-play ends the game and
gets you a series win to open the season.
Again, I cannot see the logic to playing the infield in
instead of at double-play depth in that situation. Even if the Rangers had hit
a sac fly to tie the game instead of that grounder, I would have been angry
upon finding out they weren’t at double-play depth. As it plays out, there is a
grounder hit basically right to where Utley would have/should have been playing
that more than likely would have ended the game. Instead it snuck through, and
the Phillies lost as a direct result of the manager’s poor strategy.
Two days, one questionable lineup decision and one baffling
defensive strategy decision, and I am already fed up with Ryne Sandberg. At
this rate it won’t be long before I’m painting the “F” on my “Fire Sandberg”
sign.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Roy Halladay: The Workhorse Who Made You Believe
Roy Halladay: The Workhorse Who Made You Believe
As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him. — Joe aka @RevPaulRevere
- See more at: http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/sports/baseball/roy-halladay-workhorse-made-believe/2/#sthash.gYBPF6Vr.dpuf
Brotherly Love From A Philadelphian
I love Roy Halladay.
As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him.
As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him. — Joe aka @RevPaulRevere
- See more at: http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/sports/baseball/roy-halladay-workhorse-made-believe/2/#sthash.gYBPF6Vr.dpuf
Brotherly Love From A Philadelphian
I love Roy Halladay.As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him. — Joe aka @RevPaulRevere
- See more at: http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/sports/baseball/roy-halladay-workhorse-made-believe/2/#sthash.gYBPF6Vr.dpuf
Brotherly Love From A Philadelphian
I love Roy Halladay.
As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him.
Brotherly Love From A Philadelphian
I love Roy Halladay.As Alex pointed out, we tend to analyze and overanalyze our athletes these days, and that’s all well and good. We should use advanced metrics, more details and learn as much as we possibly can about our athletes.
But Alex is right — with Roy, it’s as simple love. The love of the game. The love of the work. The love of a player who always shows up, always works his tail off, always takes the ball and always gives it what he’s got — which just so happened to be better than anything else anyone else had on most nights.
Yes, Roy Hallady was only in Philadelphia for four of his 16 MLB seasons, and injuries and age made him a stranger in the final two. But I love Roy Halladay nonetheless, and I love him for so many reasons.
For starters, Roy Halladay chose to come to Philadelphia. Yes, he was technically traded to the Phillies, but he was the one who chose Philadelphia as his destination. The best pitcher in baseball, the one Toronto player who was the envy of the Yankees and Red Sox and everyone else, chose to come to Philadelphia in his quest for that elusive World Series ring.
That alone made Phillies fans so happy that some brilliant genius started a blog with the express purpose of going to the zoo with him.
The second he donned those red pinstripes, every Phillies fans imagined more parades down Broad Street, a dynasty led by the best pitcher in baseball. We had heard all about Roy Halladay, but we only knew what we heard. I hadn’t watched much of Halladay over the years, him playing for an American League squad that didn’t exactly conjure good memories for Phillies fans. But the expectations were so sky-high it would be near impossible for anyone to meet them.
Anyone but Roy Halladay, that is. Because not only did Roy live up to expectations, but he far, far exceeded them. In his first season, all he did was toss a perfect game, win a Cy Young, dominate from start to finish and lead the Phillies to the best record in all of baseball. Then, in his long-awaited postseason debut, he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds and later staved off elimination pitching with a pulled groin.
It was far and away the greatest pitching season I’ve ever seen from a Phillie, and he damn near did it again in 2011.
Roy Halladay was perfect. Roy Halladay was masterful. And Roy Halladay made everyone believe he could do damn near anything. He struck out batters yet was economical with his pitches. Walks were a four-letter word for him. He threw more complete games, more innings than all the rest. And he just kept going and going and going, giving his team not only a good chance to win every five days, but an absurdly great chance to win.
Watching him the past two seasons struggle with injury and age and command was one of the most difficult things to take, witnessing a legend fade. Here was the workhorse who made us believe, the workhorse who made Blue Jays fans believe and Phillies fans believe and baseball fans believe, failing to be what he always was.
But these past two seasons haven’t change a damn thing. Halladay — injured, aged, battered — kept going out there, kept taking the ball, kept working his ass off and kept making no excuses. For 16 seasons, he dominated the way few ever have. And in five more years, he should be taking his rightful place in Cooperstown.
This morning, Roy Halladay took out an ad in the Philadelphia Daily News thanking the Phillies and the fans, being the class act that he is. But really, he shouldn’t be thanking us. We all should be thanking him.
I love Roy Halladay, and I sure as shit would love to go to the zoo with him. — Joe aka @RevPaulRevere
- See more at: http://www.thesportsfanjournal.com/sports/baseball/roy-halladay-workhorse-made-believe/2/#sthash.gYBPF6Vr.dpuf
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Cliff Lee Is Still The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
Cliff Lee: 8 innings pitched, 14 strikeouts, 0 walks, 3-for-4 at the plate, 1 run, 4 RBI, a triple. Yep, he's still the greatest man who ever lived.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Italian Sausage Party at Citizens Bank Park
Last night, two teams that were a combined 19 games under .500 took the field at Citizens Bank Park, with the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants and their last-place record coming to town to take on the third-place Philadelphia Phillies.
For all intents and purposes, both teams' seasons might as well be over, making this far from a marquee match-up. But after walking around Center City all day and realizing just how beautiful it was outside, I decided to see if silver fox wanted to go to the ballpark and take in a Phillies game. After all, it had been a while since I've been to CBP, though not all that long ago that I saw the Giants play. So we decided to head to the game and enjoy perhaps but probably not the last game in red pinstripes for a few Phillies. You never know, even if it seems like Ruben Amaro Jr. still thinks this core is good enough to win a World Series when healthy. But I digress.
We got down to the stadium, purchased some cheap seats up in section 434, grabbed a couple beers and took our seats on quite literally a perfect summer night. There was no humidity, the sun was setting, it wasn't hot and wasn't cold — perfect conditions for baseball, one of the most comfortable nights of the entire summer.
To top it off, there was room for us to stretch out a little, with so many vacant seats, and the people in our section were quite pleasant actually. In fact, minutes after I sat down, I sneezed, and the guy sitting to the right of me with his son passed me a napkin. Hospitality in Philadelphia — it felt strange but was much appreciated.
As for the game itself, pitcher John Lannan started off on the wrong foot, giving up a run in the first inning, and I kept saying how they should trade everyone. But the Phils got it right back and even took the lead, as Michael Young got things going, Chase Utley followed suit and Delmon Young and John Mayberry drove in runs to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Moral of the story: Barry Zito is still terrible.
That first inning took forever, and the game just continued to crawl along from there. The Giants tied it up in the third, and it felt like it should have been the sixth. Thankfully, like I said, it was beautiful out and I had nowhere else to be.
Plus, we soon found out it was Italian heritage night, and the Phillies kept playing stereotypical Italian music. Some could argue it's racist, but whatever. I'm half Italian, and I didn't mind.
Again, back to the game. In what could potentially be his last game as a Phillie, Carlos Ruiz homered to left in the fourth, scoring John Mayberry and giving the Phils a 4-2 lead. Chances are Ruiz isn't going anywhere, but just in case that was his last game in Philadelphia, it was a nice way to go out … deriving in the eventual game-winning runs.
Two innings later, Michael Young — the Phil with the best shot at being traded provided he waives his no-trade clause — crushed a two-run bomb himself to left, and the game was pretty much over from there.
Lannan settled down after the third and seven innings to get the win. Ruiz and Young both hit two-run bombs, and Mayberry drove in two runs himself. All in all, it was a good effort from a team that looked like it didn't have another good effort left.
But really, all the game action is secondary to what took place between one of the innings.
Let me start by saying that over the course of my 29-plus years on this planet, I have been to quite literally hundreds of Phillies games. I've been going to games since I was a little kid, and there have been seasons where I've gone to close to 30 games. I've sat pretty much everywhere you can possibly sit in both the Vet and Citizens Bank, from club box to box seats to skybox to every section and row you can think of. And in all those games over all those years, I've never once caught a foul ball or home run ball, nor have I ever gotten a hot dog/sausage/t-shirt shot out of the Phanatic's cannon. Never. Not once.
So when the Phillie Phanatic came out with his hot dog gun shooting Italian sausages, silver fox and I had no delusions that a sausage would come our way. In fact, silver fox literally said, "There's no way he can get one of them up here." I thought the same. While I've seen the Phanatic hit the upper deck with his hot dog gun, I thought the angle we were at in 434, row 5, the last upper deck section lining up near the foul pole in left field, gave us no shot at a sausage.
Then, moments later, the Phanatic cranked up the CO2 and rocketed one right for us. It just kept rising on a line headed literally right toward me. What can only be described as a douchey-looking fellow in front of me wearing a Papelbon shirt tried to nab it, only to see the sausage fly through his hands and land right next to me. I'll be damned. I nabbed the sausage, unwrapped its layers of duct tape and split the sucker with silver fox. Not only did the Phanatic get it up to our level … he shot it right at us.
We considered that a victory in its own right, and we capped off the perfect evening with a cheesesteak and some chilling at my house following the victory for the Phillies and the victory for us. All in all, not a bad night at the ballpark.
For all intents and purposes, both teams' seasons might as well be over, making this far from a marquee match-up. But after walking around Center City all day and realizing just how beautiful it was outside, I decided to see if silver fox wanted to go to the ballpark and take in a Phillies game. After all, it had been a while since I've been to CBP, though not all that long ago that I saw the Giants play. So we decided to head to the game and enjoy perhaps but probably not the last game in red pinstripes for a few Phillies. You never know, even if it seems like Ruben Amaro Jr. still thinks this core is good enough to win a World Series when healthy. But I digress.
We got down to the stadium, purchased some cheap seats up in section 434, grabbed a couple beers and took our seats on quite literally a perfect summer night. There was no humidity, the sun was setting, it wasn't hot and wasn't cold — perfect conditions for baseball, one of the most comfortable nights of the entire summer.
To top it off, there was room for us to stretch out a little, with so many vacant seats, and the people in our section were quite pleasant actually. In fact, minutes after I sat down, I sneezed, and the guy sitting to the right of me with his son passed me a napkin. Hospitality in Philadelphia — it felt strange but was much appreciated.
As for the game itself, pitcher John Lannan started off on the wrong foot, giving up a run in the first inning, and I kept saying how they should trade everyone. But the Phils got it right back and even took the lead, as Michael Young got things going, Chase Utley followed suit and Delmon Young and John Mayberry drove in runs to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Moral of the story: Barry Zito is still terrible.
That first inning took forever, and the game just continued to crawl along from there. The Giants tied it up in the third, and it felt like it should have been the sixth. Thankfully, like I said, it was beautiful out and I had nowhere else to be.
Plus, we soon found out it was Italian heritage night, and the Phillies kept playing stereotypical Italian music. Some could argue it's racist, but whatever. I'm half Italian, and I didn't mind.
Again, back to the game. In what could potentially be his last game as a Phillie, Carlos Ruiz homered to left in the fourth, scoring John Mayberry and giving the Phils a 4-2 lead. Chances are Ruiz isn't going anywhere, but just in case that was his last game in Philadelphia, it was a nice way to go out … deriving in the eventual game-winning runs.
Two innings later, Michael Young — the Phil with the best shot at being traded provided he waives his no-trade clause — crushed a two-run bomb himself to left, and the game was pretty much over from there.
Lannan settled down after the third and seven innings to get the win. Ruiz and Young both hit two-run bombs, and Mayberry drove in two runs himself. All in all, it was a good effort from a team that looked like it didn't have another good effort left.
But really, all the game action is secondary to what took place between one of the innings.
Let me start by saying that over the course of my 29-plus years on this planet, I have been to quite literally hundreds of Phillies games. I've been going to games since I was a little kid, and there have been seasons where I've gone to close to 30 games. I've sat pretty much everywhere you can possibly sit in both the Vet and Citizens Bank, from club box to box seats to skybox to every section and row you can think of. And in all those games over all those years, I've never once caught a foul ball or home run ball, nor have I ever gotten a hot dog/sausage/t-shirt shot out of the Phanatic's cannon. Never. Not once.
So when the Phillie Phanatic came out with his hot dog gun shooting Italian sausages, silver fox and I had no delusions that a sausage would come our way. In fact, silver fox literally said, "There's no way he can get one of them up here." I thought the same. While I've seen the Phanatic hit the upper deck with his hot dog gun, I thought the angle we were at in 434, row 5, the last upper deck section lining up near the foul pole in left field, gave us no shot at a sausage.
Then, moments later, the Phanatic cranked up the CO2 and rocketed one right for us. It just kept rising on a line headed literally right toward me. What can only be described as a douchey-looking fellow in front of me wearing a Papelbon shirt tried to nab it, only to see the sausage fly through his hands and land right next to me. I'll be damned. I nabbed the sausage, unwrapped its layers of duct tape and split the sucker with silver fox. Not only did the Phanatic get it up to our level … he shot it right at us.
We considered that a victory in its own right, and we capped off the perfect evening with a cheesesteak and some chilling at my house following the victory for the Phillies and the victory for us. All in all, not a bad night at the ballpark.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Philadelphia General Managers' Money Issues
ESPN the Magazine recently released its money issue. In said issue, the staff used a bunch of newfangled statistics to calculate Surplus Value, figuring out what a player is worth and comparing it to his actual salary. They used this information to determine the most overpaid and underpaid players in sports, as well as to calculate a Surplus Value for each team, which were then ranked best to worst. If you are a Philadelphia fan, the results were not pretty.
According to the numbers, our GMs are among the worst in all of sports at evaluating talent and attaching appropriate value to the players they evaluate. Of the 13 markets with at least four major sports franchises, Philly ranked dead last with a combined Surplus Value of negative $354,728. That's $100,000 worse than the next worst city, Miami, and more than twice as bad as the third worst, Minneapolis. And that was just the beginning of the bad news.
They then ranked the 122 franchises that make up the four major sports. The Philadelphia franchise that fared best in those rankings, your Philadelphia Flyers, only managed to be number 90. So of 122 franchises, our four Philadelphia teams all managed to be in the bottom 32. They also ranked the five best and worst teams in each sport, as well as the five best and worst contracts in each sport, and yeah, there were plenty of mentions of Philadelphia in those rankings as well. Let's take a look at each team individually.
Philadelphia Phillies
Overall rank: 120/122. Yes, third worst. They have the worst cumulative Surplus Value in Major League Baseball. Of the five worst contracts in baseball based on Surplus Value, the Phillies are paying two of them, Ryan Howard (-$22.3 mil SV) and Michael Young (-$20.5 mil SV).
Of the 50 best-paid athletes in the WORLD, not country, world, the Phillies are paying four of those contracts. This has ballooned them to the 11th best paying sports team in the world. This for a team that failed to reach the postseason last year and is on its way to repeating that this season.
Some of the Phils' SV numbers may be somewhat distorted because a lot of the big-money players they are paying have been injured and haven't been their usual selves (Howard, Halladay). Also, the Phillies were in the middle of a period of unprecedented success, more money was coming in, and extra money was spent to try to keep the run going. Regardless, Ruben Amaro Jr. has slowly led the Phillies from their pinnacle as a franchise back to a middle-of-the-pack team.
Amaro has failed to address blatant weaknesses on his team, has completely disregarded age as he has watched his roster approach geriatric status, and has demonstrated an inability to properly value players, consistently overpaying his stars and failing to find value players at other positions or to fill the bench (although Ben Revere is now playing the way a lot of people expected him to).
Philadelphia Eagles
Rank: 100/122. They have the fifth worst cumulative Surplus Value in the NFL. At least they don't hold any of the five worst contracts in the sport. I don't really have much to say about the Birds on the subject. Their draft record under Andy Reid was putrid, but I'm ready to just sit back and see what the Chip Kelly era does.
Philadelphia 76ers
Rank: 105/122. They managed to avoid being in the bottom five in cumulative Surplus Value in the NBA, but Andrew Bynum's contract landed them on the worst contracts list. The Sixers have developed a lineage of piss-poor contracts and player evaluation. From passing on players such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki in the draft, trading for a depleted Chris Webber, giving an aging, shell-of-his-former-self Elton Brand a max contract, or drastically overvaluing players like Samuel Dalembert and Spencer Hawes, the Sixers' front office has been frustrating and angering fans of this fair city for years.
However, there is good news here. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that has been mired in mediocrity and irrelevance since a 6-foot guard from Georgetown was shipped out of town. The team hired Sam Hinkie as its new GM, and he immediately made a splash by trading fan favorite and the team's best player, Jrue Holiday, on draft night.
My immediate reaction to the trade was anger. Jrue was the lone reason to watch the Sixers last season, and now he was gone. But after the emotion wore off, I realized it was the best move for the franchise. They received the No. 6 pick Nerlens Noel and got to keep their No. 11 pick, which they used on Michael Carter-Williams. They received a first-round pick next year (top-5 protected) and still have their own pick, which should be somewhere in the top five or at worst top 10.
With one gutsy, stunning move, Sam Hinkie put this team on the right track. He is starting to load up on young players with a lot of upside, potentially got his team two top 10 draft picks in what is being called the best draft in a decade, and got his team out of the mire that is finishing 7-10 in your conference. The Sixers have a lot of work to do, but there is finally hope and a person steering the ship who knows what he is doing. Final note on Hinkie: He was hired from the Houston Rockets' front office, where he worked under Daryl Morey. Last season Morey added Jeremy Lin and James Harden and is about to add Dwight Howard. Oh, and the Rockets were ranked eighth out of 122 in the team SV rankings.
Philadelphia Flyers
Rank: 90/122. The best of a bad bunch, the Flyers avoided being in the five worst in the NHL but were responsible for the second worst contract, and we all know whose contract that was. That contract has since been bought out, so at least we can move forward from it. Anyway, when it comes to posting on this here site, I usually defer the hockey stuff to the Rev, and will do so here as he discussed the team's seeming lack of direction.
Most of us around these parts have known for a while that our GMs haven't been getting the job done. Thanks to ESPN the Magazine for really bringing the point home, showing me just how frivolous they are being with my hard-earned money that I spend on supporting these teams, and how poor they are doing with both talent evaluation and putting a monetary value on the talent.
According to the numbers, our GMs are among the worst in all of sports at evaluating talent and attaching appropriate value to the players they evaluate. Of the 13 markets with at least four major sports franchises, Philly ranked dead last with a combined Surplus Value of negative $354,728. That's $100,000 worse than the next worst city, Miami, and more than twice as bad as the third worst, Minneapolis. And that was just the beginning of the bad news.
They then ranked the 122 franchises that make up the four major sports. The Philadelphia franchise that fared best in those rankings, your Philadelphia Flyers, only managed to be number 90. So of 122 franchises, our four Philadelphia teams all managed to be in the bottom 32. They also ranked the five best and worst teams in each sport, as well as the five best and worst contracts in each sport, and yeah, there were plenty of mentions of Philadelphia in those rankings as well. Let's take a look at each team individually.
Philadelphia Phillies
Overall rank: 120/122. Yes, third worst. They have the worst cumulative Surplus Value in Major League Baseball. Of the five worst contracts in baseball based on Surplus Value, the Phillies are paying two of them, Ryan Howard (-$22.3 mil SV) and Michael Young (-$20.5 mil SV).
Of the 50 best-paid athletes in the WORLD, not country, world, the Phillies are paying four of those contracts. This has ballooned them to the 11th best paying sports team in the world. This for a team that failed to reach the postseason last year and is on its way to repeating that this season.
Some of the Phils' SV numbers may be somewhat distorted because a lot of the big-money players they are paying have been injured and haven't been their usual selves (Howard, Halladay). Also, the Phillies were in the middle of a period of unprecedented success, more money was coming in, and extra money was spent to try to keep the run going. Regardless, Ruben Amaro Jr. has slowly led the Phillies from their pinnacle as a franchise back to a middle-of-the-pack team.
Amaro has failed to address blatant weaknesses on his team, has completely disregarded age as he has watched his roster approach geriatric status, and has demonstrated an inability to properly value players, consistently overpaying his stars and failing to find value players at other positions or to fill the bench (although Ben Revere is now playing the way a lot of people expected him to).
Philadelphia Eagles
Rank: 100/122. They have the fifth worst cumulative Surplus Value in the NFL. At least they don't hold any of the five worst contracts in the sport. I don't really have much to say about the Birds on the subject. Their draft record under Andy Reid was putrid, but I'm ready to just sit back and see what the Chip Kelly era does.
Philadelphia 76ers
Rank: 105/122. They managed to avoid being in the bottom five in cumulative Surplus Value in the NBA, but Andrew Bynum's contract landed them on the worst contracts list. The Sixers have developed a lineage of piss-poor contracts and player evaluation. From passing on players such as Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki in the draft, trading for a depleted Chris Webber, giving an aging, shell-of-his-former-self Elton Brand a max contract, or drastically overvaluing players like Samuel Dalembert and Spencer Hawes, the Sixers' front office has been frustrating and angering fans of this fair city for years.
However, there is good news here. Finally there is light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that has been mired in mediocrity and irrelevance since a 6-foot guard from Georgetown was shipped out of town. The team hired Sam Hinkie as its new GM, and he immediately made a splash by trading fan favorite and the team's best player, Jrue Holiday, on draft night.
My immediate reaction to the trade was anger. Jrue was the lone reason to watch the Sixers last season, and now he was gone. But after the emotion wore off, I realized it was the best move for the franchise. They received the No. 6 pick Nerlens Noel and got to keep their No. 11 pick, which they used on Michael Carter-Williams. They received a first-round pick next year (top-5 protected) and still have their own pick, which should be somewhere in the top five or at worst top 10.
With one gutsy, stunning move, Sam Hinkie put this team on the right track. He is starting to load up on young players with a lot of upside, potentially got his team two top 10 draft picks in what is being called the best draft in a decade, and got his team out of the mire that is finishing 7-10 in your conference. The Sixers have a lot of work to do, but there is finally hope and a person steering the ship who knows what he is doing. Final note on Hinkie: He was hired from the Houston Rockets' front office, where he worked under Daryl Morey. Last season Morey added Jeremy Lin and James Harden and is about to add Dwight Howard. Oh, and the Rockets were ranked eighth out of 122 in the team SV rankings.
Philadelphia Flyers
Rank: 90/122. The best of a bad bunch, the Flyers avoided being in the five worst in the NHL but were responsible for the second worst contract, and we all know whose contract that was. That contract has since been bought out, so at least we can move forward from it. Anyway, when it comes to posting on this here site, I usually defer the hockey stuff to the Rev, and will do so here as he discussed the team's seeming lack of direction.
Most of us around these parts have known for a while that our GMs haven't been getting the job done. Thanks to ESPN the Magazine for really bringing the point home, showing me just how frivolous they are being with my hard-earned money that I spend on supporting these teams, and how poor they are doing with both talent evaluation and putting a monetary value on the talent.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Roy Halladay and Watching a Legend Fade
The day Ruben Amaro Jr. traded for Roy Halladay had everyone in the city of Philadelphia envisioning more parade floats driving down Broad Street in the cool November air. Even after Ruben inexplicably and, quite frankly, stupidly traded away Clifton Phifer Lee for reasons that made very little sense given how insanely dominant Lee was in his brief first stint with the Phillies, Roy Halladay was here to help Cole Hamels rebound from a subpar 2009, stabilize the pitching staff and lead the Phillies right back to the World Series for a third straight year and more. He was one of, if not the, best pitcher in baseball, after all.
All Doc did from there was go 21-10 in his first season in red pinstripes, toss a perfect game, lead the Phillies to the best record in baseball, win the National League Cy Young, toss a no-hitter in the first playoff start of his career, and help the Phillies stave off elimination for one more day pitching with a pulled groin.
He was everything we hoped he'd be and more … but sadly the Phillies succumbed to Cody Ross and his stupid face, as the pesky San Francisco Giants wound up winning the whole damn thing.
It was annoying and disheartening to see the Phillies bow out in the NLCS, but it was hardly the fault of Halladay. It's hard to get to the World Series if your bats are silent.
In year one, Halladay was everything Phillies fans and the front office had hoped for and more. He was the best pitcher in the game, or at least the best pitcher in the National League, and he was all ours for at least three more years. Certainly another parade was in store … especially after Ruben righted his insanely stupid wrong by swooping in during the darkness of the night and bringing back Cliff Lee to join forces with Halladay, Hamels and Roy Oswalt.
Well, in 2011, Roy was Roy yet again, going 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA and a career-high 220 strikeouts, finishing second behind Clayton Kershaw in the NL Cy Young race. The Phillies won a franchise-high 102 games, best in the Majors yet again, and were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series. Halladay was still as dominant as anyone, Lee was coming off one of the most remarkable two-year playoff runs in history, Hamels was back to his 2008 postseason form and Oswalt was there as the steady veteran to round out the league's best rotation.
Roy did his job to give the Phils a 1-0 series lead in the first round against the St. Louis Cardinals, going 8 innings and securing the victory. And when the Phillies went up by four in game two, it looked like they were all set to run right through the National League and on to the World Series. Only Lee couldn't hold the lead, a shocking revelation given his prior postseason success, and the wheels came off. Halladay was outdueled by his good friend Chris Carpenter in game 5, ending the season without even a playoff series victory, and neither the Phillies nor Halladay have been the same since.
Early on last season, Roy just didn't seem right. Opponents were jumping all over him in the first inning, and his command was nowhere near what we've come to expect — which is to say nearly perfect. Shit, this is a guy whose goal every year is to have less walks than games started, something he's done several times in his career. He was getting knocked around, and Halladay just didn't look like himself.
A guy whose "bad outings" would be giving up four runs over 7 or 8 innings was suddenly getting shelled. Turns out, Doc was pitching hurt, and he eventually landed on the DL with shoulder troubles in his pitching arm. His arm has been dead ever since.
Stupidly, Halladay came back last season when it was pretty clear the Phillies were going to have to go on a miracle run to make the postseason. Admittedly, they almost did, and while you can't fault Halladay for wanting to be out there for his teammates, he still wasn't himself. As it turned out, he wound up doing more harm than good.
His arm and his team have never recovered. He doesn't have the same velocity, the same command or, perhaps most importantly, the same bite to his pitches. He's become a guy with average stuff, and thus he's become an average pitcher. Actually, after last night's debacle against the Indians — lasting just 3 and 2/3 innings while surrendering 8 earned runs on 9 hits, including three home runs and two walks — his numbers suggest he's not even that.
In the blink of an eye, Roy Halladay went from the best in the game to mediocre at best. His legend has faded, and it continues to fade.
It's always sad to see this happen to the superstars of the game. They usually look the same and sound the same, still have the confidence that they can do what they've always done, but their bodies betray them.
Halladay's body, specifically his arm, simply won't allow him to be the pitcher he's accustomed to being. As a result, he's trying even harder to pinpoint his pitches that no longer have the same movent, which is resulting in command problems — both in the zone and out. Last night, he threw meatball after meatball, while also throwing an inordinate amount of balls. His pitches simply don't go where he wants them to go anymore, don't move like he wants them to move anymore, which is sad beyond belief for a guy who has made a career off pinpoint accuracy.
As David Murphy alluded to today, Halladay isn't necessarily done. He'll still give you good outings, some really good outings. However, they'll be followed by bad outings, some really bad outings — just like a lot of MLB pitchers. But the Roy Halladay the baseball world has known over the years is done. He's gone. And the Roy Halladay we saw dominate the National League his first two seasons in Philadelphia is fading away.
So are the Phillies are their chances for that parade we've been expecting ever since Doc arrived.
All Doc did from there was go 21-10 in his first season in red pinstripes, toss a perfect game, lead the Phillies to the best record in baseball, win the National League Cy Young, toss a no-hitter in the first playoff start of his career, and help the Phillies stave off elimination for one more day pitching with a pulled groin.
He was everything we hoped he'd be and more … but sadly the Phillies succumbed to Cody Ross and his stupid face, as the pesky San Francisco Giants wound up winning the whole damn thing.
It was annoying and disheartening to see the Phillies bow out in the NLCS, but it was hardly the fault of Halladay. It's hard to get to the World Series if your bats are silent.
In year one, Halladay was everything Phillies fans and the front office had hoped for and more. He was the best pitcher in the game, or at least the best pitcher in the National League, and he was all ours for at least three more years. Certainly another parade was in store … especially after Ruben righted his insanely stupid wrong by swooping in during the darkness of the night and bringing back Cliff Lee to join forces with Halladay, Hamels and Roy Oswalt.
Well, in 2011, Roy was Roy yet again, going 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA and a career-high 220 strikeouts, finishing second behind Clayton Kershaw in the NL Cy Young race. The Phillies won a franchise-high 102 games, best in the Majors yet again, and were the odds-on favorite to win the World Series. Halladay was still as dominant as anyone, Lee was coming off one of the most remarkable two-year playoff runs in history, Hamels was back to his 2008 postseason form and Oswalt was there as the steady veteran to round out the league's best rotation.
Roy did his job to give the Phils a 1-0 series lead in the first round against the St. Louis Cardinals, going 8 innings and securing the victory. And when the Phillies went up by four in game two, it looked like they were all set to run right through the National League and on to the World Series. Only Lee couldn't hold the lead, a shocking revelation given his prior postseason success, and the wheels came off. Halladay was outdueled by his good friend Chris Carpenter in game 5, ending the season without even a playoff series victory, and neither the Phillies nor Halladay have been the same since.
Early on last season, Roy just didn't seem right. Opponents were jumping all over him in the first inning, and his command was nowhere near what we've come to expect — which is to say nearly perfect. Shit, this is a guy whose goal every year is to have less walks than games started, something he's done several times in his career. He was getting knocked around, and Halladay just didn't look like himself.
A guy whose "bad outings" would be giving up four runs over 7 or 8 innings was suddenly getting shelled. Turns out, Doc was pitching hurt, and he eventually landed on the DL with shoulder troubles in his pitching arm. His arm has been dead ever since.
Stupidly, Halladay came back last season when it was pretty clear the Phillies were going to have to go on a miracle run to make the postseason. Admittedly, they almost did, and while you can't fault Halladay for wanting to be out there for his teammates, he still wasn't himself. As it turned out, he wound up doing more harm than good.
His arm and his team have never recovered. He doesn't have the same velocity, the same command or, perhaps most importantly, the same bite to his pitches. He's become a guy with average stuff, and thus he's become an average pitcher. Actually, after last night's debacle against the Indians — lasting just 3 and 2/3 innings while surrendering 8 earned runs on 9 hits, including three home runs and two walks — his numbers suggest he's not even that.
In the blink of an eye, Roy Halladay went from the best in the game to mediocre at best. His legend has faded, and it continues to fade.
It's always sad to see this happen to the superstars of the game. They usually look the same and sound the same, still have the confidence that they can do what they've always done, but their bodies betray them.
Halladay's body, specifically his arm, simply won't allow him to be the pitcher he's accustomed to being. As a result, he's trying even harder to pinpoint his pitches that no longer have the same movent, which is resulting in command problems — both in the zone and out. Last night, he threw meatball after meatball, while also throwing an inordinate amount of balls. His pitches simply don't go where he wants them to go anymore, don't move like he wants them to move anymore, which is sad beyond belief for a guy who has made a career off pinpoint accuracy.
As David Murphy alluded to today, Halladay isn't necessarily done. He'll still give you good outings, some really good outings. However, they'll be followed by bad outings, some really bad outings — just like a lot of MLB pitchers. But the Roy Halladay the baseball world has known over the years is done. He's gone. And the Roy Halladay we saw dominate the National League his first two seasons in Philadelphia is fading away.
So are the Phillies are their chances for that parade we've been expecting ever since Doc arrived.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
The Philadelphia 4: Coaches in the City of Brotherly Love
A funny thing happened to me over the past two years. You see, like a lot of Philadelphia sports fans, particularly Eagles fans, I was of the belief Andy Reid should be fired. I had this belief as far back as 2003, when the Eagles lost their third straight NFC Championship game, getting embarrassed by the Carolina Panthers one year after closing out the Vet in the most appropriate way possible — by getting Joe Jurevicius'd and Ronde Barber'd out of participating in the Super Bowl.
I was at that game. After the first drive, it sucked. Also fuck Warren Sapp.
But back to the last two years. You see, over the last two years, even as the Eagles stumbled and bumbled their way to mediocrity and worse, Andy Reid went from the top of the list all the way down the bottom of Philadelphia professional sports coaches as far as drawing my ire is concerned. In fact, it got to the point where I was having an easier time pulling for Andy Reid and appreciating all he's done. That is not to say I thought Andy Reid deserved to be retained as Eagles coach. He was fired, and rightfully so — honestly probably too late. But for all his faults, at least we knew what they were and he was called out on them. We could all see what was wrong with Reid and his teams as the wins began to come less and less, to the point where you didn't have to argue with anyone over his shortcomings.
That leads me to this post right here. With Andy gone, there is no coach that is universally criticized by his supporters and detractors alike any longer in Philadelphia. The closest thing right now is probably the debate of the hire of Reid's replacement, former Oregon Ducks coach Chip Kelly.
Personally, I'm a fan of the Kelly hire. It's different. It's creative. And it's forward-thinking. I'm willing to give him a shot. But there's not much to argue over yet, seeing as he's never coached a down of football at the NFL level — and his success out west has been pretty much praised across the board. We're in wait and see mode with Kelly, as far as I'm concerned.
That leaves the other three coaches, the men who are at the helm of the Sixers, Flyers and Phillies. So let's take a look at them all, and present all the issues I have with each.
Doug Collins
I love Doug Collins the NBA analyst. I really like what I know of Doug Collins the person. And I very much like that Doug Collins was an all-star player for the Philadelphia 76ers before I was a born and that he really seems to love the city I call home.
I do not, however, like Doug Collins the basketball coach. I just don't. And I really wasn't all that enthused when the Sixers signed him to a four-year contract — especially since he's never lasted more than three years at any of his previous stops. These were my exact words when he was hired:
I have no idea if this hire is a good thing or a bad thing. It certainly isn't an exciting one. And it's actually kind of sad, because Doug is an awesome analyst. TNT will surely miss him.
Truthfully, things have never gotten better, even with the Sixers making the playoffs and even winning a series last year. All of Collins' hallmark deficiencies have cropped up during his tenure as the head coach of the team that drafted him No. 1 overall: his reluctance to trust young players, his love affair with veterans who cannot play, his lack of progressive vision … the list goes on.
I hated the way he handled Jrue Holiday with Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams around, rarely trusting his young point guard with the ball until this season, with Andre and Lou finally gone. I hated the way he yo-yoed with Evan Turner and stunted Jrue's progression. I really, really hated the way he toyed with Nik Vucevic and Lavoy Allen before completely ignoring them because the soft and laughable Spencer Hawes was back.
Don't get me wrong, I give Collins credit where credit is due and even defended him at times.
But any progress the franchise has made the past two seasons has been far too short-sighted, to the point where you could argue it hasn't been progress at all. Players have struggled with what their roles are. Blind loyalty has set young players back. Not demanding his team gets the ball to hot players has cost the Sixers games. His complaints have given his players excuses. And his love affair with D-League talents Royal Ivey and Damien Wilkins have put more talented players such as Dorrell Wright (albeit an underperforming better talent) out in the cold.
Simply put, there is a reason Doug Collins has never lasted more than three years at one spot, and it's because he quite frankly isn't that great of an NBA coach. Don't get me wrong, he's a fine hire as a short-term stopgap, which is what he should be here in Philadelphia. But he's not the type of guy who is going to help a team mold into a contender. He left the Bulls, and shortly after they became a dynasty. He left the Pistons, and not too long after they became a mainstay under Rick Carlisle and then champion under Larry Brown. He left the Wizards, and they became a regular playoff team after.
I think this should be Doug's final season in Philadelphia as well, because the team needs someone with more vision and passion for the future. He's done wonders this season with Jrue Holiday, but it makes you wonder if this day could have arrived sooner had he entrusted him with the direction of the team earlier. The rest of the roster is stagnate and not getting any better under Collins. Evan Turner is a lost puppy most of the time, probably due to a combination of his own shortcomings and his power struggle with Collins. My fear is the Sixers will let him stick around one more season based of last year's playoff victory and this season's lost promise sans Andrew Bynum and now missing Thaddeus Young, the only other player outside of Holiday really worth a damn.
Truth be told, you don't hear the uproar about Collins outside the real intent observers — The700Levels and Liberty Ballers of the world — but you should. The Sixers have been stuck in neutral ever since Larry Brown jumped ship, and they haven't really moved out of that under Collins at all. Outside of Holiday, there's not much to be optimistic of, and that includes Doug Collins.
Peter Laviolette
Conversely, when the Flyers fired John Stevens and replaced him with Peter Laviolette, I couldn't have been more ecstatic. Admittedly, that was partly because I did not like John Stevens as a head coach whatsoever. But it was also because Laviolette was a good coach in Carolina who won a Cup, and he had the type of fire I like to see out of my coaches, especially hockey coaches. There was just something about Lavvy that drew me in, just like it drew in every Philadelphia fan.
When his team showed up flat, he laid into them. He wasn't afraid to challenge his guys yet still get the most out of them. And he's a veritable Philadelphia quote machine.
And of course, he helped get the Flyers to within two wins of hoisting their first Stanley Cup since the 1970s, thanks in no small part to his legendary timeout.
However, even with all the success and fire of Laviolette, he has his flaws. Like Collins' handling of Holiday and Turner, I didn't really like the way Laviolette held the oft-injured James van Riemsdyk back in the postseason two years ago when he was the best Flyer on the ice, one of several baffling decisions he made that postseason.
Then last season, after the Flyers retooled their team, they had a penchant for starting slow — an issue that lasted all season and cost them dearly in the playoffs, and a habit that has continued at the start of this season. It was an issue that he never corrected, which is the job of the coach no matter how much the players must execute. Further, this team has been one of the most undisciplined in hockey for years, they've had egregious defensive breakdowns on an almost nightly basis and the power play, save for the time spent with Chris Pronger manning the point, has been maddeningly inconsistent. These are all issues that are recurring themes under Lavioliette, recurring themes that never seem to get corrected.
Most Flyers fans won't want to hear this because they like Laviolette — hell, I like him too — but it's reminiscent of Andy Reid and his continued failures with clock management, use of timeouts and lack of in-game adjustments. Laviolette definitely has that "Philadelphia attitude" that the fans love so much, but he also has glaring blind spots as a coach. There's no reason this team should come out flat as often as it does, no reason they can't play more disciplined hockey and stay out of the box, no reason they can't play more responsibly defensively. Yet they never do. Add on top of that the mostly inept work in the face-off circle under his tenure — though admittedly they have been better in that regard of late — and it always seems to be the same issues, issues the coach has to correct. Frankly, I'm getting tired of waiting around.
It's difficult for me, because I actually love Laviolette's passion and it's clear he's a good coach. He won a Cup, took the Flyers to one of their own, and the team has had success. But it won't get the Flyers over the hump, especially with some key players who propelled them to that Eastern Conference Championship — Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger, Simon Gagne, Matt Carle — gone, unless Laviolette can prove he can correct these recurring mistakes. As we saw with Reid, that's easier said than done. And if it doesn't happen soon, I'm not sure it ever will.
Charlie Manuel
I'll keep this short with Manuel because, frankly — even though he has his own glaring flaws — it's hard to go too hard on Charlie. After all, he is the skipper who helped the Phillies become World Fucking Champions, and the Phillies have had unprecedented success under Charlie. All those NL East titles, playoff appearances, two World Series stints and a World Championship. It's hard to be too mad at Manuel, even after last season when the Phillies failed to make the playoffs. Hard to blame Charlie for the major injuries to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay, among others, that derailed the season.
I will say, however, that as we all know, Manuel makes some completely baffling moves. They are too long to even attempt to list. His insistence on never using his closer outside of a closing role (or at least until the 9th inning) has cost the Phillies countless games. His and his front office's lack of patience with Domonic Brown has left us all wondering what in the hell Brown is or can become. He has repeatedly wrote line-up cards that don't make sense, took a while to get the hang of the double switch and hasn't exactly always handled pitchers well. His flaws are only going to get more glaring as the roster ages, the way people focused on those shortcomings before 2007/08.
But, the players still do love playing for Charlie, and they've won a shitload of games under him. In fact, he's steered the most successful run Philadelphia Phillies history. After all, this franchise is the losingest franchise in North American sports history, but under Manuel, the Phillies have been consistent winners — something that seemed unfathomable to me as a child.
Truthfully, with the players he's had, it's hard to blame Manuel for the playoff woes of 2010 and 2011, when the team simply couldn't hit, not mention the unforeseen egg laid by Cliff Lee. And in 2009, they were beat by a better New York Yankees squad, and things may have been different had Cole Hamels not been experiencing an NLCS and World Series MVP hangover from 2008.
Still, Manuel definitely gives you some head scratchers, and with the team lacking more power than it ever has, fielding the shakiest defense in his tenure and needing to win games in more diverse ways, Manuel is going to have to do things that go against his nature, or the Phillies will struggle to keep pace with the Nationals, Braves and the rest of the National League whether they're healthy or not. So the spotlight is only going to hotter on Manuel's seat in the dugout. I have a feeling he doesn't' mind, but does that mean the Phillies will win? We're about to find out.
I was at that game. After the first drive, it sucked. Also fuck Warren Sapp.
But back to the last two years. You see, over the last two years, even as the Eagles stumbled and bumbled their way to mediocrity and worse, Andy Reid went from the top of the list all the way down the bottom of Philadelphia professional sports coaches as far as drawing my ire is concerned. In fact, it got to the point where I was having an easier time pulling for Andy Reid and appreciating all he's done. That is not to say I thought Andy Reid deserved to be retained as Eagles coach. He was fired, and rightfully so — honestly probably too late. But for all his faults, at least we knew what they were and he was called out on them. We could all see what was wrong with Reid and his teams as the wins began to come less and less, to the point where you didn't have to argue with anyone over his shortcomings.
That leads me to this post right here. With Andy gone, there is no coach that is universally criticized by his supporters and detractors alike any longer in Philadelphia. The closest thing right now is probably the debate of the hire of Reid's replacement, former Oregon Ducks coach Chip Kelly.
Personally, I'm a fan of the Kelly hire. It's different. It's creative. And it's forward-thinking. I'm willing to give him a shot. But there's not much to argue over yet, seeing as he's never coached a down of football at the NFL level — and his success out west has been pretty much praised across the board. We're in wait and see mode with Kelly, as far as I'm concerned.
That leaves the other three coaches, the men who are at the helm of the Sixers, Flyers and Phillies. So let's take a look at them all, and present all the issues I have with each.
Doug Collins
I love Doug Collins the NBA analyst. I really like what I know of Doug Collins the person. And I very much like that Doug Collins was an all-star player for the Philadelphia 76ers before I was a born and that he really seems to love the city I call home.
I do not, however, like Doug Collins the basketball coach. I just don't. And I really wasn't all that enthused when the Sixers signed him to a four-year contract — especially since he's never lasted more than three years at any of his previous stops. These were my exact words when he was hired:
I have no idea if this hire is a good thing or a bad thing. It certainly isn't an exciting one. And it's actually kind of sad, because Doug is an awesome analyst. TNT will surely miss him.
Truthfully, things have never gotten better, even with the Sixers making the playoffs and even winning a series last year. All of Collins' hallmark deficiencies have cropped up during his tenure as the head coach of the team that drafted him No. 1 overall: his reluctance to trust young players, his love affair with veterans who cannot play, his lack of progressive vision … the list goes on.
I hated the way he handled Jrue Holiday with Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams around, rarely trusting his young point guard with the ball until this season, with Andre and Lou finally gone. I hated the way he yo-yoed with Evan Turner and stunted Jrue's progression. I really, really hated the way he toyed with Nik Vucevic and Lavoy Allen before completely ignoring them because the soft and laughable Spencer Hawes was back.
Don't get me wrong, I give Collins credit where credit is due and even defended him at times.
But any progress the franchise has made the past two seasons has been far too short-sighted, to the point where you could argue it hasn't been progress at all. Players have struggled with what their roles are. Blind loyalty has set young players back. Not demanding his team gets the ball to hot players has cost the Sixers games. His complaints have given his players excuses. And his love affair with D-League talents Royal Ivey and Damien Wilkins have put more talented players such as Dorrell Wright (albeit an underperforming better talent) out in the cold.
Simply put, there is a reason Doug Collins has never lasted more than three years at one spot, and it's because he quite frankly isn't that great of an NBA coach. Don't get me wrong, he's a fine hire as a short-term stopgap, which is what he should be here in Philadelphia. But he's not the type of guy who is going to help a team mold into a contender. He left the Bulls, and shortly after they became a dynasty. He left the Pistons, and not too long after they became a mainstay under Rick Carlisle and then champion under Larry Brown. He left the Wizards, and they became a regular playoff team after.
I think this should be Doug's final season in Philadelphia as well, because the team needs someone with more vision and passion for the future. He's done wonders this season with Jrue Holiday, but it makes you wonder if this day could have arrived sooner had he entrusted him with the direction of the team earlier. The rest of the roster is stagnate and not getting any better under Collins. Evan Turner is a lost puppy most of the time, probably due to a combination of his own shortcomings and his power struggle with Collins. My fear is the Sixers will let him stick around one more season based of last year's playoff victory and this season's lost promise sans Andrew Bynum and now missing Thaddeus Young, the only other player outside of Holiday really worth a damn.
Truth be told, you don't hear the uproar about Collins outside the real intent observers — The700Levels and Liberty Ballers of the world — but you should. The Sixers have been stuck in neutral ever since Larry Brown jumped ship, and they haven't really moved out of that under Collins at all. Outside of Holiday, there's not much to be optimistic of, and that includes Doug Collins.
Peter Laviolette
Conversely, when the Flyers fired John Stevens and replaced him with Peter Laviolette, I couldn't have been more ecstatic. Admittedly, that was partly because I did not like John Stevens as a head coach whatsoever. But it was also because Laviolette was a good coach in Carolina who won a Cup, and he had the type of fire I like to see out of my coaches, especially hockey coaches. There was just something about Lavvy that drew me in, just like it drew in every Philadelphia fan.
When his team showed up flat, he laid into them. He wasn't afraid to challenge his guys yet still get the most out of them. And he's a veritable Philadelphia quote machine.
And of course, he helped get the Flyers to within two wins of hoisting their first Stanley Cup since the 1970s, thanks in no small part to his legendary timeout.
However, even with all the success and fire of Laviolette, he has his flaws. Like Collins' handling of Holiday and Turner, I didn't really like the way Laviolette held the oft-injured James van Riemsdyk back in the postseason two years ago when he was the best Flyer on the ice, one of several baffling decisions he made that postseason.
Then last season, after the Flyers retooled their team, they had a penchant for starting slow — an issue that lasted all season and cost them dearly in the playoffs, and a habit that has continued at the start of this season. It was an issue that he never corrected, which is the job of the coach no matter how much the players must execute. Further, this team has been one of the most undisciplined in hockey for years, they've had egregious defensive breakdowns on an almost nightly basis and the power play, save for the time spent with Chris Pronger manning the point, has been maddeningly inconsistent. These are all issues that are recurring themes under Lavioliette, recurring themes that never seem to get corrected.
Most Flyers fans won't want to hear this because they like Laviolette — hell, I like him too — but it's reminiscent of Andy Reid and his continued failures with clock management, use of timeouts and lack of in-game adjustments. Laviolette definitely has that "Philadelphia attitude" that the fans love so much, but he also has glaring blind spots as a coach. There's no reason this team should come out flat as often as it does, no reason they can't play more disciplined hockey and stay out of the box, no reason they can't play more responsibly defensively. Yet they never do. Add on top of that the mostly inept work in the face-off circle under his tenure — though admittedly they have been better in that regard of late — and it always seems to be the same issues, issues the coach has to correct. Frankly, I'm getting tired of waiting around.
It's difficult for me, because I actually love Laviolette's passion and it's clear he's a good coach. He won a Cup, took the Flyers to one of their own, and the team has had success. But it won't get the Flyers over the hump, especially with some key players who propelled them to that Eastern Conference Championship — Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Chris Pronger, Simon Gagne, Matt Carle — gone, unless Laviolette can prove he can correct these recurring mistakes. As we saw with Reid, that's easier said than done. And if it doesn't happen soon, I'm not sure it ever will.
Charlie Manuel
I'll keep this short with Manuel because, frankly — even though he has his own glaring flaws — it's hard to go too hard on Charlie. After all, he is the skipper who helped the Phillies become World Fucking Champions, and the Phillies have had unprecedented success under Charlie. All those NL East titles, playoff appearances, two World Series stints and a World Championship. It's hard to be too mad at Manuel, even after last season when the Phillies failed to make the playoffs. Hard to blame Charlie for the major injuries to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay, among others, that derailed the season.
I will say, however, that as we all know, Manuel makes some completely baffling moves. They are too long to even attempt to list. His insistence on never using his closer outside of a closing role (or at least until the 9th inning) has cost the Phillies countless games. His and his front office's lack of patience with Domonic Brown has left us all wondering what in the hell Brown is or can become. He has repeatedly wrote line-up cards that don't make sense, took a while to get the hang of the double switch and hasn't exactly always handled pitchers well. His flaws are only going to get more glaring as the roster ages, the way people focused on those shortcomings before 2007/08.
But, the players still do love playing for Charlie, and they've won a shitload of games under him. In fact, he's steered the most successful run Philadelphia Phillies history. After all, this franchise is the losingest franchise in North American sports history, but under Manuel, the Phillies have been consistent winners — something that seemed unfathomable to me as a child.
Truthfully, with the players he's had, it's hard to blame Manuel for the playoff woes of 2010 and 2011, when the team simply couldn't hit, not mention the unforeseen egg laid by Cliff Lee. And in 2009, they were beat by a better New York Yankees squad, and things may have been different had Cole Hamels not been experiencing an NLCS and World Series MVP hangover from 2008.
Still, Manuel definitely gives you some head scratchers, and with the team lacking more power than it ever has, fielding the shakiest defense in his tenure and needing to win games in more diverse ways, Manuel is going to have to do things that go against his nature, or the Phillies will struggle to keep pace with the Nationals, Braves and the rest of the National League whether they're healthy or not. So the spotlight is only going to hotter on Manuel's seat in the dugout. I have a feeling he doesn't' mind, but does that mean the Phillies will win? We're about to find out.
Friday, December 7, 2012
It's Friday, Time to Dance
Well, seeing as Ben Revere is now the newly minted centerfield for the Philadelphia Phillies, I pretty have to go with Revere sining "Single Ladies," courtesy of The700Level.
I hate that song so very much, like I'm sure a large percentage of the male population does, but looking at Beyonce is never a bad thing.
I hate that song so very much, like I'm sure a large percentage of the male population does, but looking at Beyonce is never a bad thing.
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