Red Pinstripe Explosion

PSWA dinner reveals inspiring sports heroes

2012-02-01T02:36:00.000-08:00

note: This is another column of mine that ran in the Gettysburg Times about my experience at the PSWA dinner.

My body suddenly froze as I locked eyes on a face that looked as familiar as when the body attached to it donned a Philadelphia Phillies uniform.

His jet-black hair was well kept - likely aided by some gelling agent - with its usual part down the left side. Ruben Amaro, Jr. looked directly through my gaze without expression, the perfect poker face for any general manager.

As Amaro hung a right into the socializing area outside Ballroom C, my eyes grew wider as he was followed by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and right fielder Hunter Pence. At that moment, I didn't know which items to shove in their faces, a baseball and pen, or my digital recorder.

Neither seemed appropriate, however. These men were baseball royalty, but I was surprised how much they appeared like regular guys without any mental reminders.

I snapped myself out of the trance and gave Charlie Manuel a pat on the back and a simple greeting; as if he was a friend I had just bumped into at a party. To my relief, he briefly spun his head around and returned the greeting with a smile. Good old Uncle Cholly.

There is sometimes a fine line between reporter and fan, and I frequently danced on both sides of it during the 108th Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Dinner Monday night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, N.J. I gabbed with fellow sports writers while snagging a few John Hancocks from the head table.

The event was held to recognize Philadelphia-area athletes in all sports with achievement awards. Manuel received a special achievement honor for becoming the winningest manager in Phillies history this past season. Pence won the 2012 Good Guy Award for his immediate affinity with the team and fans when he was traded from the Houston Astros last July (further bolstered by his recent one-year, $10.4 million contract that avoided arbitration).

When Manuel began his acceptance speech, the only words I heard clearly through his West Virginia drawl was "nudist colony," which prompted the biggest laugh of the evening from the audience. His full opening line was, "I feel like a mosquito at a nudist colony," but he had to wait a good 15 seconds for the laughter to die down before he awkwardly delivered the punch line: "I don't know where to start."

Often the butt of a joke due to his 'not-so-good' diction, Manuel came across to the crowd the same way he did with me earlier, as a humble man who appreciated the job he was given as the Phillies' skipper.

As for Pence, the way he worked the crowd, you might have thought he actually grew up in Philadelphia (his speech revealed but a hint of Texas twang). His opening referred back to the acceptance speech given by Philadelphia University men's basketball coach Herb Magee, who playfully lamented that his granddaughters were more excited about getting their picture taken with the dashing Pence than seeing him receive the Living Legend Award.

In response, Pence quipped, "I just won the Good Guy Award so don't parade your granddaughters around me, please."

The Philly outfielder was also one of several honorees to mention the rousing speech given by Temple University head football coach Steve Addazio, whose rant of inspiration made every attendee in the ballroom feel like one of his players in the locker room on game day. When he was finished, no one questioned how the Owls won their first bowl game since 1979.

"Is my heart still pounding," Pence asked as he looked in Addazio's direction. "I don't know if you're still here or not, but I need you to speak to me before every game."

My recorder captured all of this humorous dialogue, but I shot an arrow through my professional credibility by yelling out Pence's name right before he approached the podium. Truth be told, he was the main reason I wanted to attend the dinner. From the moment he put on those red pinstripes, he has reminded us all of what a baseball player used to be before the stat crazes and steroids - pulling up those socks to his knees, choking up on the bat like the Mickey Morandini of old and slapping the lumber at the ball with odd precision.

My reporter sensibilities came back into focus when the PSWA honored the memories of boxer Joe Frazier and Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno.

As the chilling sounds of boxing's 10-bell salute filled the silence in the room, emotion overtook the bell's ringer, Frazier's daughter Jacqui Frazier-Lyde - a boxer in her own right, as well as a Municipal Court Judge. But like her father did so many times in his career, she finished what she started.

Paterno was honored with poignant words from former Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro, who played in just five games as a freshman before a spinal injury ended his career. After surgery, he was given only a three percent chance to walk again, but he defied the odds during an eight-month stay at the Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia. A frequent visitor kept his spirits high.

"Every week Coach Paterno came to visit me," he said. "It was a three-hour drive. He didn't have to do that. He was one of the most genuine, down-to-earth people I ever met. My career was over and he asked me every day what I wanted to do with my life. He got me internships and sent letters of recommendation. He wanted me to be successful after football."

A shining example of Paterno's Grand Experiment, Taliaferro is now a lawyer in Cherry Hill and was recently elected to the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The Philly area was the site of another miracle recognized by the PSWA in its final award presentation. The association chose Anthony Robles as its 2012 Most Courageous Athlete. The Arizona State wrestler captured the NCAA Division I title at 125 pounds at the Wells Fargo Center last March, despite being born without a right leg.

"I never thought of it as a handicap," said Robles, who has become a motivational speaker since graduating and is working on a book about his life.

As Robles spoke, the real magic of this event washed over me. The association helped my realization by turning off all the lights except the one on the podium, making Pence, Manuel and Amaro disappear. Stories like Robles and Taliaferro are at the core of what it means to be a sports writer; teaching readers who are living in an increasingly cynical world about overcoming any obstacle to achieve success.

Though I returned to being a fan by the end of the dinner, Robles and Taliaferro were now the athletic giants who left me frozen in awe as they walked by.

Rollins baited by Phillies

2011-12-22T21:52:00.001-08:00

This is a Phillies column that I wrote for the Gettysburg Times, but since the website now has a paywall, I'm posting it here too. Enjoy!

The Phillies did not retain Jimmy Rollins for $33 million; they got him for 34.

The offseason Hot Stove requires strategy one might use in chess and Philadelphia moved a queen over to the bullpen to protect King Rollins. That queen’s name is Dontrelle Willis.

Not many teams took the bait on the 33-year-old Rollins when he tested the free agent waters due to the money and years he was expecting. Such a well-known but weathered veteran - with an on-base percentage that paled in comparison to his peers even at his peak - was only going to get that from the one team for which he played his entire professional career (think Derek Jeter).

However, I think it’s more than just coincidence that after the Phillies break weeks of relative silence on the acquisition front with Willis’ signing for $1 million, they announce the return of his Oakland, Calif. homeboy a few days later.

It makes sense to me why J-Roll might have needed that extra push. His team is now expected to win the World Series every year, but 2008 still stands alone. The start of each season probably isn’t as fun now that the sharp-tongued shortstop has everyone telling him his team is the one to beat, but seeing the familiar face of Willis should be a welcome change.

And Willis should be such for the Phillies as well. In the role of relief pitcher, the “D Train” might finally be allowed to leave the station.

While the former Rookie of the Year has an ERA of 5.65 since 2007, the one thing he still excels at is getting left-handed hitters out (holding them to a .127 batting average last year as a member of the Cincinnati Reds). He only turns 30 next month so he should have plenty of gas left in the tank.

I just hope moving to a contending team won’t be too overwhelming for the head case. He tends to unravel after a couple batters reach base.

Still, the Philadelphia bullpen is far from my most pressing concern for the upcoming season. I’m thrilled Rollins made the move that will likely keep him with the Phillies for the rest of his career. He’s a leader in the clubhouse and still an above-average defender, but a lineup with him, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard just isn’t intimidating to opposing pitchers anymore.

The occasional burst of the old production will be enough to compliment the dominant pitching staff during the regular season, but I don’t see it showing up against the elite arms it will face in the playoffs. The Phillies left that ability in 2009, and Hunter Pence (as much as I love the way he plays the game) is not enough to make up the difference.

Unfortunately, the limited options of reliable free agent, right-handed outfielders have already signed with other teams. The only one left with any clout is San Francisco’s Cody Ross. Fans remember well how he destroyed Philly pitching in the 2010 NLCS, but the Giants are even more starved for offense than the Phillies. Not to mention the nearly $7-8 million Ross will demand. Chances are, he’ll stay right where he is.

But next October is far away, and there’s a whole season to enjoy before then. I’m glad I get to enjoy the next four with Jimmy Rollins.

Ear-Lee Exit

2011-10-08T05:02:00.001-07:00

For those hopelessly befuddled by the 2011 Phillies' failure to bring home a second world championship in four years, look no further than the man they brought in to do it.

And let's be honest, people. How often does the best team during the regular season actually win the World Series? The Phillies definitely weren't before they won it in 2008.

How can a team that wins 102 games lose in the first round of the playoffs? The 2001-02 A's know a little bit about that. It took the New York Yankees eight years to win it all again with the highest payroll, and the pitching juggernaut in Atlanta that won 14 straight division titles captured the ultimate trophy just once.

And be glad Ryan Howard's Achillies waited until the last out of the NLDS to give out on him. Sure he only had two hits in 19 at-bats, but he almost single-handedly won Game 1, and his 6 RBI in the Division Series were six more than he had in nine postseason games last year.

Sure, the offense could have been a little more consistent (just six total runs after the second inning of Game 2), but in my humble opinion, if you're going to point the finger at anyone, point it at Cliff Lee.

It's a fact that the Phillies would have won their fifth straight division title without Lee (they did it last year). Philadelphia brought the Anointed One back to shut down the opposition in the playoffs like he did for the team in 2009. Lee was the missing piece of the puzzle, ensuring the world title that everyone predicted would return to the City of Brotherly Love.

In Game 2, the Phillies did their part by handing Lee an early 4-0 lead. Such a lead should be plenty for the guy who went 4-0 in the postseason two years ago. A lot can happen in two years.

Lee didn't look anything like the guy he was in June and August. The streaky ace hit a dip at the absolute worst time, as the Cardinals pounded him for five runs on 12 hits in a come-from-behind win.

He pitches like the Phillies needed him to, and they're preparing to play the Brewers in the NLCS right now. That's the ugly nature of the five-game series. Lee himself said that loss was on him alone, and he was right.

In his last three postseason games - dating back to the 2010 Fall Classic - Lee is sporting an ERA of 7.13. He's an elite pitcher with a full arsenal of weapons to get guys out, but when he's not keeping the ball down or working the corners, those pitches are left in the middle of the plate for major league hitters to crush. Here's hoping his stuff is more effective next October.

I personally can't wait for it. The odds are always stacked against the best team in baseball, so I hope the Phillies beat them.

Don't be surprised

2011-09-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

Here I come again with my negative anxiety, so let me just be clear that the Phillies, their monster starting rotation and a pocket full of Pence should take care of the Cardinals in the Division Series, in three or four games.

Now that the should is out of the way, I simply want this post to be a reality check for all those fans who saw their team cruise through a 102-win season, and expect to see that parade through Center City. It's now October and a sample size of 42 years (since MLB did away with a single division in each league) tells us that every team that reaches the postseason has an equal chance of winning it all.

For the Phillies, the opening round might present a bigger challenge than any possible matchups further in. The Cardinals are a scary bunch.

Their offense produced better than any in the National League and got the best of Philly pitching more than once. St. Louis' 6-3 advantage in the regular-season series is also a cause for concern.

But what scares me most of all? The Phillies absolutely cannot hit Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia, the projected starters for Games 2 and 3.

Since last season, the pair of hurlers have combined for 5-0 record and an unbelievable ERA of 0.88 in eight starts against the Phils. There wasn't a single poor or even mediocre outing in that stretch. I'm sorry to say that's the reason I was kind of hoping the Braves would win on Wednesday. We've proven on more than one occasion that we can beat Atlanta, in both blowouts and squeakers.

Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa must have also seen the numbers, explaining why he set up his rotation the way he did. However, it could work out in Philadelphia's favor.

Carpenter will pitch on Sunday on just three day's rest. I don't have any stats on his effectiveness in that situation because he's never done it before in his major league career. It's quite a gamble, but it's the smart move for the Cardinals. My guess is, an unflappable veteran like Carpenter will still throw his game.

If that's the case, the Phillies absolutely need to win Game 1 tonight. You know Doc will deliver his best, and though Kyle Lohse has enjoyed a solid year, he doesn't silence the Philly bats like Carpenter and Garcia. Losing to one of them won't be so bad if the Phillies are already up a game.

Then again, our guys could sweep, or they could get swept. That's the randomness of the playoffs. As always, I go in cautiously optimistic, and I can't wait for another awesome year of October baseball.

Holy Cow!

2011-09-29T02:06:00.000-07:00

The final day of the 2011 regular season was shaping up to be an epic one, but I could not have scripted a better finish if I tried.

Here was the sequence of events:

The Orioles down to their last strike, Nolan Reimold clocks a Jonathan Papelbon heater into right center for a ground-rule RBI double to tie the game. Robert Andino follows with a line shot that falls just under the glove of a diving Carl Crawford, allowing Reimold to score the winning run.

After the celebration in Baltimore between first and second base, I switch over to the Yankees-Rays game in the bottom of the 12th inning. With the count even at 2-2, Evan Longoria shoots a laser that barely clears the left-field wall, punching Tampa Bay's ticket to the postseason.

Need we any greater examples of baseball's magnificence?

In both of the games mentioned above, the victor did not own a lead until the very last pitch, and each one was a strike away from defeat.

In the National League, the Phillies' 4-3, 13-inning win over the Braves knocked them out of the playoffs after the Cardinals' 8-0 win over the Astros earlier in the day.

Baseball is full of historic late-season collapses, but 2011 earned its distinction with a pair of breakdowns in the Wild Card race. Atlanta and Boston each entered the final month of the season with a lead of more than 8 games in the Wild Card standings, but by the 162nd game they fell into ties with St. Louis and Tampa Bay, respectively. Such an occurrence was crazy enough, and it seemed as if at least one of the two races would result in a 163rd contest.

The walk-off gods were having none of that.

In the end, the baseball universe righted itself. After all, a team that opens the season 2-10 isn't supposed to make the playoffs (only three teams ever have), and it's no surprise that Crawford, who was very un-Crawford-like during his first season in Beantown, failed to make the play that sealed the Red Sox' fate.

But hand it to the Cardinals and Rays for playing their butts off in September after wallowing in mediocrity for much of the year. These are the kind of late surges that lead to world championships.

Speaking of hot finishes, I need to give props to the O's, who I still consider my second favorite major league team. They closed out the season with 11 wins in their last 17 games, and turned Boston's mighty roar atop the AL East into a whimper in that final series. Say what you want about the 14 consecutive losing seasons, but there's no sweeter ending than a walk-off win over the Red Sox. Hero Andino put it best:

"End the season like this, [to] make Boston go home sad, crying, I'll take it all day."

Take it all winter, guys.

The numbers don't lie

2011-09-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

In June and August, Cliff Lee has pitched better than anyone in baseball history.

What about the other three months of the year?

I admit I have seen no one else try to answer that question, because it's not a normal practice to search for flaws with the best team in baseball - particularly after Hunter Pence's arrival put the offense back on track.

However, I feel it's a very important question when it comes to the quest for a World Series title. No one would argue that the rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt/Vance Worley is easily the most intimidating of any playoff-bound team in the last dozen years, but if those guys aren't pitching up to their reputations, the road to the top gets murkier.

Here is why I'm concerned about Lee:

June 6-28, Aug. 4-Sept. 6 - 11-0 0.30 ERA, 1 HR

April, May & July - 5-7, 4.22 ERA, 14 HR (the Phillies went 8-9 in those 17 starts by Lee)

I present the above evidence for anyone saying that Lee is deserving of the Cy Young Award. He definitely deserved it in 2008 because he dominated throughout the entire season. I find it much harder to back someone who is only great 40 percent of the time.

While Halladay and Hamels have been consistently effective all season (the run differential between each of their best and worst months is less than two), Lee has been incredibly streaky. This isn't uncommon for him, but the problem is when he's not pitching his best, he's barely an average pitcher, and the rust takes a while to shake off. Don't get me wrong, Lee has carried his weight overall this season, but if he takes another dip in the playoffs and another starter has a bad outing, things could go wrong very quickly.

We all remember how stellar Lee was in the 2009 postseason, when he almost single-handedly pitched us into the World Series. He finished 4-0 in five playoff starts with a 1.56 ERA. He picked up the only two wins in the series against the New York Yankees.

Lee began the 2010 postseason much the same way with the Texas Rangers. He won his first three starts, allowing just two runs and striking out 34 in 24 innings. The wheels came off in the World Series, however. He lost Games 1 & 5 and coughed up 10 runs to a San Francisco Giants team that had averaged just three runs per game over the first two rounds of the playoffs.

That begs the question, which Lee are we going to get in October this season? With a 10.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, we can afford a bad Lee over the next few weeks. That way, he can recover in time to pitch like he did two years ago.

Shades of the past

2011-07-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

"You want to be in a town where it's exciting and people are paying attention."

~Hunter Pence after being traded to Philadelphia

Anyone paying attention to the Phillies in their three-game sweep over the Pirates this weekend received wonderful reminders of 2009, even though Hunter Pence's arrival was a big call to the future.

In each game, a different member of the formally dangerous offense sparked the victory - Chase Utley on Friday, Ryan Howard on Saturday and Raul Ibanez in Sunday's thrilling 6-5, extra inning triumph.

Though his .247 batting average suggests otherwise, Ibanez has been a presence in the lineup. His two bombs on Sunday gave him 16 on the year, already matching last year's total with two months left to play, and his game-ending, RBI double gives him three of the Phillies' six walk-off hits this year. Take out the two weeks in late April when he failed to get a single hit, and Ibanez' average is .275. Sure, that's not eye-popping, but his production is a welcome surprise given his age of 39.

Ibanez also drove in 25 runs in July, which led the majors. In fact, the hottest month of the year was a good one for the Philly bats in general. They hit .272 and averaged 5.5 runs per game, while their 138 runs, 402 total bases and .789 team OPS (coming into Sunday) all led the National League.

Charlie Manuel is notorious for his placating remarks about how good the Phillies lineup will get "when the weather warms up," and they're proving him right. On the eve of a 10-game road trip, the hot-hitting Phillies go in with extra confidence. Pence now mans right field and the No. 5 hole, and Placido Polanco just returned. Don't be surprised if the flashbacks to the recent past continue.

Winning the hunt

2011-07-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Man, this is going to suck three years down the road.

But who has the luxury of thinking about the future? The Phillies certainly won't have to deal with paying for any luxury, that's for sure, but with no World Series trophy at the end of this season, they'll pay with the thunderous boos emanating from Citizens Bank Park.

Enter: Hunter Pence.

The Phillies gave away their final bargaining chips in the farm system - Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid and a player to be named later - going all in for what could be their last shot for ultimate glory. The recipient for the second straight July was their old friend, Ed Wade, who sent that key righty bat from the Houston Astros packing.

To be sure, Pence is no Jayson Werth. He's not going to put together any 20-20 seasons or walk once or twice every game. His career OPS of .818 is also a bit underwhelming.

It also would not have been that great of a risk for the Phillies to make no moves before the Trade Deadline and try to win it all with what they had. To this point, their group of players gave them the best record in baseball, and with Chase Utley back and healthy, the offense was showing shades of its former robust self (evidence once again in Friday's 10-3 win over the Pirates).

However, this move means that Shane Victorino will no longer be burdened with occupying the No. 5 hole - a place no one should have expected his presence at any future time when he first came to Philadelphia. A guy with a little pop in his bat (Pence has hit 25 homers in each of the last three seasons) will provide adequate protection for Ryan Howard, and Victorino will no longer have to be the only member of the .300 club.

The big right field issue has also been solved by this trade, as the Phillies are getting an upgrade at the plate and in the field. The Ben Francisco Experiment was DOA, and now the team doesn't need to wait for Domonic Brown's bat to come around. He can return to the bench or build his confidence back up in Triple A. He'll get his chance again next year when Raul Ibanez leaves. I'm relieved the Phillies didn't deal Brown to make this trade work. While some may view the present one as shortsighted, shipping off Brown would have made no sense.

Pence is one of the more amiable fellows playing the game, which will make him popular in Philadelphia. He'll stay long enough to make a good impression, too, because he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2013 season.

It remains to be seen if Pence's bat and glove make the difference in October, but it'll be nice to see a new face in that lineup, and Pence's presence only adds assurance to a fifth straight NL East title. Plus, the guy's name is Hunter. How can you go wrong?

They can't lose!

2011-07-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my friend, Bill, and I were enjoying a wonderfully scorching day in the upper deck of Citizens Bank Park. Halfway through the Phillies' 5-3 win over the Padres, a thunderstorm that I had been tracking on my phone narrowly missed Philadelphia. We saw the dark clouds just east of us, and Bill said it looked like it was about to rain. I mentioned to him that the storm was going to hit New Jersey instead. His instinctive response to that was, "Yeah, Jersey needs a bath." Oh, we inhabitants of the states surrounding the aforementioned location never miss an opportunity to make fun of it - a practice passed down through the generations. This may seem like a mean thing to post, but I have just one Facebook friend from New Jersey, and she's not into baseball. Just in case, a thousand apologies, Jen. ;-)

Say Chase, how is your right leg feeling? Apparently, awesome.

Most guys are lucky to get one inside-the-park home run in their careers. With Utley's race around the sacks in Tuesday's 7-2 win over the Giants, he now has three. The victory was quite a statement to make against the team that denied the Phillies their third consecutive trip to the World Series last year.

And give it up again for that four-eyed, baby-faced, Mohawked rookie. The kid threw his first major league complete game, holding the Giants to just three hits. He's quickly moving himself into Rookie of Year discussions. Since he rejoined the Philly rotation last month, he's 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA. Whatever weaknesses his stuff may have, opposing hitters haven't been able to exploit them yet. Let's hope that lasts the rest of the season.

That's my two cents about the latest in a long row of triumphs. I'd like to try something new and share a link to a Phillies-based column I wrote for the Gettysburg Times:

http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/sports/article_560d8b2e-b807-11e0-a63c-001cc4c002e0.html

The column was written in jest about my recent change in luck when attending Phillies games. Enjoy!

Doc's Red Fever

2011-07-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Anyone doubting Roy Halladay's allegiance to his team needn't worry on Monday night. Doc wore the bright, Philly red all over his face.

It doesn't matter how much baseball you watch, you always see something new, and I can't recall a time that a pitcher had to leave the game due to heat exhaustion. Major League Baseball players are used to the elements of every blazing hot summer, but for whatever the reason, Halladay's body bowed down to the boiling, mid-July atmosphere at Wrigley Field. It showed in his delivery, his performance and the fiery complexion which awkwardly contorted with every wince of strain on Halladay's face.

After a successful showing in the All-Star Game, this was not how the second half was supposed to begin. A 6-1 loss to the aimless Chicago Cubs with the best pitcher in baseball on the mound?

It occurs to me that Halladay's struggles pointed to a troubling reality. Perhaps he simply felt the heat of the quickly-advancing Atlanta Braves.

Atlanta has been the hottest team in the NL over the past month, and Philadelphia's comfortable cushion in the East has shrunk to just 2.5 games. Right now, there's just that sense (call it that same old Phillies fan pessimism if you wish) that the Braves are going to be in first place sometime in the near future.

I'm not saying the Phillies won't wrap up yet another division title, but given the way both teams are presently playing, I don't see them maintaining their lead. Consider that last year, Atlanta was in first place for more than half the season, and it has an even stronger team this year.

Both squads have similar make-ups, with strong pitching and sketchy hitting, but the Braves have a better bullpen and they aren't as likely to endure long stretches when their offense is literally incapable of scoring runs.

The Phillies knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park, and their biggest test may come sooner than they thought. The rest of the team needs to heed Halladay's warning and put that fire out as soon as possible.

It's a wonderful Worley world

2011-07-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

All the focus has been on John Mayberry, Jr. driving in nine runs over his past two games, but was anyone happy to see the whole Philly offense sticking it to R.A. Dickey?

Coming into Friday's game, Dickey had a career ERA of 2.25 against the Phillies, his best ERA against any NL team with at least 20 innings pitched. He and his fancy knuckleball shut out Philly twice last year.

It was good to see the Phillies get to him early and go on to beat the Mets convincingly. The Braves are going to keep the pressure on through the entire second half, so every win is huge. Winning this series over New York would also be an important statement to make, as the coaching staff is saving Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee for the Cubs.

And how about that Vance Worley? (I suddenly realized I just uttered a phrase abused far too much by Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy, so I vow never to use it again)

I'm still not sure if Worley's stuff really is that exceptional, or if he simply hasn't yet caught up to the law of averages (Randy Wolf's 1999 season, anyone?). The four walks he allowed in 5 1/3 innings on Friday tell me it's the latter, but reliever Chris Perez came in and shut the door, and Ryan Madson - fresh off the DL - aided the bullpen train that followed in a non-closing role to help tie down another win for Worley. He's now 5-1 this season with an ERA of 2.15.

Worley's high susceptibility to the free pass (3.98 walks per 9 innings) will eventually get him into trouble, but he's done exactly the job the Phillies needed him to do in the absence of Roy Oswalt.

Now if Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco can recover quickly from their ailments, the offense should do its part over the next two-and-a-half months. We can't rely on Mayberry every night.

note: Since 2005, the Phillies have posted a winning percentage of .589 or better in the second half. Last year, they went 50-25 (.667) after the All-Star Break.

Now I've Seen Everything

2011-07-14T02:04:00.000-07:00

note: Not only have Netflix' raised rates not inspired me to rebel, but in the best tradition of my mindlessly-follow-the-masses mentality, as well as my shameless loyalty as a Capitalist consumer, I have increased my Netflix viewing. All is not corrupted, however, as my main object of entertainment has been Ken Burns Baseball. You're welcome, Netflix...

My initial overwhelming joy to see the National League pull off back-to-back All-Star victories has been muted somewhat with the realization that a Washington Nationals reliever got the win in each case. It's more that those relievers were the lucky benefactors of an NL offensive surge in an adjacent frame. Still, when the Senior Circuit makes it three in a row next year, I hope the winning pitcher is from a more deserving team.

Well, Phillies, you now have your homefield advantage in the World Series. All you have to do is fend off the Braves in the second half and remember how to hit in the postseason, and another title is as good as yours.

Fight Like a Brave

2011-07-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Note: This story is obviously old given the Phillies' awesome walk-off, 3-2 victory over the Braves on Friday night, but it didn't go up on Sports Haze and I'd like to give it some light. The whole Sports Haze experiment, 11 months in the making, has come to an end as I've decided to cut ties with the website. My posts on this blog will start up once again, though probably not nearly as often as last summer. I feel my best work about the Phillies was on here, so when I do post, I hope I live up to those standards. Enjoy!

Just think of this as a warm-up to a title fight.

Back when boxing was mainstream, two top-ranked mashers with similar strength and talent would meet multiple times to decide ultimate dominance, and fans across the country would debate about who was the true champ.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves have proven themselves as the elite teams in the National League this season, and their three-game series to close out the first half will give a glimpse as to which team is the best. It’s far from the last meeting between the two clubs, who could clash again in the postseason.

On paper, this series favors the Braves because they’re the hotter team and they’ve won four of their last six games against the Phillies. Atlanta is 14-3 since June 19, shrinking Philly’s lead in the division from 6 games to 2.5. With a sweep, the Braves could be in first place for the first time since Opening Day, and that momentum could keep them there.

Pitching has been the hallmark of both of these squads all season. The ace trios of Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee/Cole Hamels and Tim Hudson/Jair Jurrjens/Tommy Hanson each boast a record of 30-13, while the ERAs only slightly favor the Phillies (2.59 to 2.67).

The offense for both teams is about the same, as each has gone through its fair share of struggles this season.

What the Phillies need to worry about are the stellar relief arms of the Braves. Atlanta’s bullpen ERA of 2.64 is by far the best in baseball, and if the Braves get a one- or two-run lead late, their win probability shoots through the roof.

The Phillies aren’t taking any chances, throwing their big guns in each of the three games. They have the edge in Game 1 tonight, with Halladay going up against the young Brandon Beachy, who has yet to beat Philly in four starts. In fact, all three of his career losses have come against the Phightins’.

The Phillies need to win at least two out of three to maintain their cushion going into the break. This is the first of many challenges to prove that they’re still the best in the land.

Let's get ready to rumble.

Lee makes it three

2011-06-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

There’s been a lot of World Series talk over the last few days, and Cliff Lee’s presence on the Phillies has been a big reason for those conversations.

Lee entered Tuesday’s series opener against the Boston Red Sox riding back-to-back shutouts and a 23-inning scoreless streak. He proved just how in the zone he is right now, as the most dangerous offense in baseball couldn’t break through.

Lee didn’t allow a hit through the first five innings, and he threw his third consecutive shutout – something a Phillies pitcher hasn’t done in 61 years. He also continued his impressive showing at the plate, driving in one of Philadelphia’s runs in its 5-0 victory.

It’s hard to imagine any pitcher enjoying a better month. Lee went 5-0 in June, allowing just one run in 42 innings. Like Charlie Manuel always boasts about the Phillies’ offense, Lee seems to be catching fire with the warmer weather. July is an ever hotter month, so Lee could carry on this brilliant run for a while.

If the left-hander records another four outs without allowing a run in his next start, he’ll move into second place on the Phillies’ all-time scoreless innings list behind Grover Cleveland Alexander, who set the bar quite high at 41 2/3 innings 100 years ago.

It’s incredible to think of just how remarkable this run for Lee is. All it takes is a single with a runner at second or a solo home run to break the streak, and he hasn’t allowed hitters to get that far. The best pitchers in the game will often allow a solo shot in an otherwise stellar outing, but over Lee’s last three outings, not a single batter has made solid enough contact.

At this point, it’s perfectly fine if the scoreless streak ends during his next start, which he’ll likely make on Sunday against the Blue Jays. It’s possible Jose Bautista could yank a mistake into the seats (hopefully with no one on base) like he has all season long. It still would not take away from what Lee has done over the past month. He’s a big part of the Phillies’ winning machine that continues to run smoothly, despite a shaky offense and depleted bullpen.

For the second time this season, Roy Halladay and Lee have tossed back-to-back complete games, and they (as well as an off-day) could not have come at a better time. Ryan Madson was just placed on the DL, the third Phillies closer to be shut down this year. The aces in the starting rotation keep on showing why such a hit won’t affect Philadelphia as much as other teams.

And with the Phillies reaching 50 wins before anyone else and before the halfway point of the season, the starters may even help them get to 100 – the World Series included in that figure, of course.

Christmas comes ear-LEE

2010-12-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Cole Hamels is now a No. 4 starter.

Let me repeat that.

Hamels, the crafty left-hander with a career ERA of 3.53 while pitching in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball, is the fourth-best starting pitcher in his team's rotation.

Most teams are happy if their No. 4 reaches the sixth inning, but the Philadelphia Phillies really won't have to give the sixth inning a second thought in 2011 after they pulled off the deal of the century Monday night. Cliff Lee, the most pursued player in the offseason, is returning for his second tour of duty with Philadelphia. He helped us reach the World Series, and exactly one year after we sent him packing, he turned down more lucrative deals with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers to come back for five years and $120 million.

Things like this just don't happen, do they? It's like getting a winning lottery ticket, losing it and the lottery printing you a another copy of the winner.

OK, it wasn't quite that easy for Ruben Amaro and the rest of the Phillies brass, but it's not everyday in this present climate that you offer a guy less money than the competition and end up with him. Lee has not only proven himself as an elite pitcher, but an elite human being who unlike some others (ahem...Jayson Werth) considers multiple factors in a potential deal over just dollars and cents.

In an odd twist of fate, we have Amaro to thank for setting up this "fearsome foursome" of pitchers that may provide enough of an edge over a wildly inconsistent offense. Had he traded for Roy Halladay and kept Lee before the 2010 season, it's likely he wouldn't have traded for Roy Oswalt at the deadline. Sure, he would've saved himself a lot of grief, but things could not have worked out better for him or the team.

Lee made it clear several times over the past year that he didn't want to leave Philadelphia after the 2009 season. He loved his teammates, he loved his coaches, he loved the fans and so did his family.

And my fellow Phillie fans, pay your respects to Kristen Lee, Cliff's wife. She reportedly had just as much of a say in this decision, and why shouldn't she? I mean really, where would any of us be without our wives? She loathed the poor treatment she received from Yankee fans during the ALCS in October, while the Lee's most fond memories during the last two years of frequent city-hopping were apparently made with Philadelphia.

The best part: all of the high-prized free agents are gone, and the Yankees didn't land any of them. In the end, their bottomless wallets got the shaft from Lee twice in less than six months, and he returns to the place he never wanted to leave.

Welcome home, anointed one, and hang your red stockings with cheer.

Brushing off the nats

2010-12-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

The world made a lot more sense to me before Jayson Werth ended his brief status as a free agent by signing a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Washington Nationals.

Werth was one of the most sought-after players on the market, but this deal made a pathetic splash in a pool drained by years of sucking. The former Phillies right fielder allowed one World Series ring on his finger to pay lip service to his conscience before he finalized the humongous payday.

Maybe the Boston Red Sox could've given Werth a similar contract, and they probably would have before the Nationals jumped the gun, but they made the right move grabbing Adrian Gonzalez first. Gonazalez is three years younger and is a more proven commodity.

I'm not going to pretend that any other person in Werth's position would turn down the exact contract he and agent Scott Boras were looking for, but he can't expect his experience on the field to be as enjoyable either. A doubling in salary will prove a substantial price to pay.

In a division as competitive as the NL East, the Nationals are easily still a few years away from finishing better than fourth place. Werth will impress his teammates with his enviable blend of power and speed, but the response to his big blasts out of the yard won't stir the same frenzy in the half-empty Nationals Park.

Werth will also deal getting beaten by his former team 10-15 times out of the year, and given the fairly short distance between Philadelphia and D.C., he'll hear plenty of boos when the Phillies are the visiting team.

Werth isn't a savior that the Nationals are banking on. He's presently on the slow rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. Werth may sell a few tickets before Stephen Strasburg's return, but in a baseball sense, everyone's getting screwed from this deal. The Phillies lost a key right-handed bat in the middle of their lineup, the Nationals are losing money that could've been better spent on the pitching they desperately need, and Werth is losing those special extra games in October he's grown so accustomed to playing over the last four years.

Werth out of the yahd

2010-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

Good news for Jayson Werth: it sounds like he’ll be able to keep the scruff after all.

The New York Yankees have more immediate concerns than the free agent right fielder – who just declined arbitration – such as shoving their cold shoulder into Derek Jeter’s mouth and luring Cliff Lee into a pitching rotation that was supposed to get them another World Series title. Werth didn’t get one either with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010, but with the numbers he’s put up over the past three years, he’s the best outfielder on the market that money from another contender can buy.

And said contender will likely jack up its payroll for the purchase. The question is whether or not the bearded slugger is ‘Werth’ the amount hardball agent Scott Boras will demand.

A nine-figure payday would be unlikely even if Werth was still south of 30, because he’s not a big enough name to attract that kind of dough in the present economic climate. But Boras will work his magic to replace his own pupils with dollar signs, while an emphatic “ca-ching” escapes from his mouth.

Werth will then sit comfortably with his new team, likely with a multi-year deal making nearly double per season than he did in 2010 with the Phillies (7.5 million).

The "right" offer could send Werth anywhere from Beantown to Chi-town or Hollywood, and he will be paid too much to play in any one of those places. Business deals are never without an element of risk, and Werth is most definitely a risk.

His resume is impressive, but it lacks a monster season that warrants 15 million. Any ballclub spending that much is paying for a versatile outfielder who will put up blinding offensive numbers for approximately six weeks out of the season, while tolling the Mendoza Line during the other four months. That team must also endure countless at-bats during which Werth will lunge unsuccessfully at a 3-2 pitch out of the zone with runners in scoring position.

However, buyers are looking at more than Werth’s box scores, and despite the previously mentioned end result, he works the count full better than anyone in the game. In this era of over-protectiveness concerning starting pitchers, Werth is the kind of batter that will drive up pitch counts.

Werth’s OPS has also increased in each of the last three years, and he surpassed 100 runs scored for the first time in 2010.

Among all the teams with a chance to make the postseason, this is a match made in heaven for the Red Sox. Werth is a sabermetric goldmine to Boston GM Theo Epstein.

The Red Sox were hurt even more than the Phillies last season and still managed to lead all of baseball in team OPS (.790). Not only will Werth fit right in with a lineup full of patient sluggers, but Boston can cover Boras’ ridiculous asking price.

Werth’s bat would replace the recent hole left by Victor Martinez, and his right-handed swing is a good complement to lefty David Ortiz. His swagger and long locks will woo the ladies, and his blasts over the Green Monster will encourage all of Red Sox Nation to chant his name. It’s an easy and inviting image that will be hard for Epstein to dismiss from his mind heading into the Winter Meetings.

Boras can make those daydreams a reality, and Werth will soon get a visit from another bearded fellow. Santa is coming early this year and he’s wearing a Boston cap.

Well deserved

2010-11-17T01:38:00.000-08:00

Much like his stature, Roy Halladay's performance on the mound in 2010 was heads and shoulders above his peers. It stood out to the point that the announcement of his selection as this year's National League Cy Young Award recipient on Tuesday seemed more like a formality than a surprise.

Honestly, if this vote went any other way, I would have been shocked. Throughout the postseason I even heard broadcasters saying repeatedly he was the likely winner.

For those few still scratching their heads, Doc led the league in these categories: wins (21), innings pitched (250 2/3), complete games (9), shutouts (4), walks per nine innings (1.1) and strikeout/walk ratio (7.88). He also posted career bests in ERA (2.44) and strikeouts (219).

It's hard to believe Halladay's perfect game at the end of May became somewhat overshadowed by several similar achievements from other hurlers, but in the so-called Year of the Pitcher, he was still the best. In fact, he became the first pitcher in 87 years to walk just 30 batters in 250 or more innings of work.

The BBWAA proved the prognosticators right, giving Halladay all 32 first-place votes for his second Cy Young. Though such a landslide was not unprecedented, the choice hasn't felt this crystal clear since the heyday of Pedro Martinez.

You can't just leave this decision to numbers, though. Halladay provided the Phillies with more intangible support. Before this season, the team built its success around its high-powered offense, but in 2010, pitching maintained the pulse. Halladay was the leader of a pitching staff that carried the Phillies through the middle two months of the season when the offense endured its longest lull in years. When nothing was going right, it was up to the veteran to ascend that hill and pitch his heart out for those 1-0 and 2-1 victories.

And this guy thrived off pressure. Consider that his overall opponents' batting average during the season was .245, but with runners in scoring position, that dropped to .173. With a guy pitching around the plate as much as Halladay does, hits are going to happen, but once guys get on base, they'll likely run back to the dugout from that same base when the inning ends. Other pitchers, even some of Halladay's closest Cy Young competition, tend to lose focus when they allow a few baserunners, but he amazingly becomes even more locked in. That's not something you can teach.

Halladay is humble almost to a fault, and he would've gladly traded in this great honor for a World Series title. While that should be the most important goal of any player in the game, Halladay may not have realized that if he didn't give the Phillies this incredible season, they probably wouldn't have made the playoffs.

All Good Things...

2010-10-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Pat "The Bat" Burrell is headed back to the World Series, but unfortunately for the white-rally-towel twirlers, not as a member of the Phillies.

Brotherly love wasn't enough for the boys in red pinstripes as they saw their season end with a 3-2 loss in Game 6 of the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, who needed to beat the San Diego Padres on the final day of the regular season just to make the playoffs.

Now the two teams that were expected to meet again in the World Series for the second straight year will both be watching from home. An offensive blackout led to the demise of the both the Phillies and the Yankees, though the writing was on the wall for Philadelphia.

Injuries took a heavy toll on the Phillie hitters for a significant part of the regular season. While the addition of Roy Oswalt led to a dramatic turnaround over the last two months and another NL East title, that same old magic that carried the team through the previous two postseasons was nowhere to be found. And playoff teams that boast some of the best pitching in baseball took a note from the Yankees on just how to handle such a dangerous lineup.

It was no surprise, then, that Ryan Howard was the strikeout victim who ended Philly's 2010 dreams.

Howard is now first or tied for first for the most strikeouts in two separate postseason series, and drove in nary a run from the clean-up spot this October. Since his infamous whiffing in the 2009 Fall Classic, the Big Piece has struck out in 30 of his 56 playoff at-bats. That means that in more than half his trips to the plate, the man who is paid $20 million per year to crush balls over the fence didn't even put the ball in play. Of the 26 times Howard managed knock the ball between the lines, only one left the yard.

Ironically, Howard was the only starter in the lineup to hit better than .300 in the postseason this year, though he was typically all alone on the basepahts. Raul Ibanez was a distant second with a .226 average. Carlos Ruiz, who had never hit below .262 in any previous postseason, was dead last at .192.

As Charlie Manuel explained, the Phillies were too concerned with working the count, rather than being selective. They stood and stared at too many fastballs down the middle of the plate, making it easier for pitchers to get them to chase at breaking balls that tailed out of the zone. Combined, Cincinnati and San Francisco held Philadelphia to 3.7 runs per game - compared to 4.6 in '08 and 5.5 last year - and not even the likes of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels can carry you to a championship with that kind of production.

The beleaguered Phillies pitching staff still consistently put the team in a position to win. Aside from Game 3, each one of Philadelphia's losses in the NLCS could have gone the other way. It was basically the Giants coming up with the big hits, and some would add Halladay not getting the start in Game 4. No one can predict what would've happened in that scenario, but as close as each game was, such decisions loom very large.

But the shadows cast on the end of this season will quickly fade, as the sun shines brightly on a new day for the Phillies in 2011. All three elements of H2O are returning, as well as the entire starting lineup, aside from the likely departing Jayson Werth. Should the corner outfielder follow in Burrell's footsteps and find his way back to the Fall Classic with another team, the Phillies hope that when he gets there, they will be staring him down from the opposing dugout.

Can Phillies complete comeback?

2010-10-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

What Roy Halladay did Thursday night is not unprecedented.

Some fans remember well, and others would love to forget, Curt Schilling's gutsy performance in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS. With the Boston Red Sox facing elimination, Schilling led them to victory while sutures struggled to hold together a ruptured tendon in his right ankle.

Admittedly, a strained groin is not the same as a bleeding ankle, but Halladay adjusted to the pain and the sinking fastball he was forced to abandon. After the Philadelphia Phillies took the lead in a crazy third inning, Halladay made it stand up as his team went on to win 4-2 and send the NLCS back to Citizens Bank Park.

The law of averages tells us that the Giants will win one of the next two games and advance to the World Series, and the way this series has gone for the Phillies, that's a good bet to make. The hitting just isn't there like it was in 2008 and '09, but then again, teams have a way of rallying around a wounded teammate. Boston did it in '04 and the New York Yankees seem to be doing it in the ALCS for Mark Teixeira.

Either way, this is turning out to be a thrilling postseason. It's the first time since 2004 that both LCS's have reached Game 6. And with both teams that were down 3-1 winning Game 5, it makes an improbable comeback in one of the series seem more likely.

How likely is it for the Fightin' Phils? Of the six times it's been done since the LCS went to the best-of-seven format in 1985, three have come in just the last seven years, and three of the six teams won the last two games on the road. The latter fact doesn't hurt or help the Phillies, but their success in the postseason centers around playing well in their own digs. Since 2008, Philadelphia boasts a 15-4 playoff record at home. That's the kind of clout the Texas Rangers wish they had right now.

Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels (if it gets that far) will do their jobs, but the offense must do theirs. Manager Charlie Manuel can help that along - and atone for a plethora of bad choices in Game 4 - by putting Jimmy Rollins back in the leadoff spot for Game 6. He's proved that he's at least close to where he was before his latest injury setback. Since Game 2, he's 5-for-15, and he swiped second and third base in the seventh inning of last night's triumph. Shane Victorino, meanwhile, is clogging the top of the order with a measly three hits in the series.

If the Phillies continue hitting at their present .190 clip, their season will end at Citizens Bank Park. That hasn't happened yet in the postseason (their playoff runs in '07 and '09 ended on the road) and for a hostile fan base so used to seeing their team succeed in October, it won't be a pretty sight. It's in the Phillies' best interests and the well-being of Philadelphia to reward Halladay's effort, stun the Giants and punch their third straight ticket to the World Series.

Reds get a lump of Cole

2010-10-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

It wasn't that long ago when the Phillies experienced the hurt they just put on the Cincinnati Reds in the Division Series.

It was 2007 and a fairly young Philly team made a surprise trip to the postseason for the first time in more than a decade. Leading the way was experienced manager Charlie Manuel, who was in the third season of a job that finally paid the dividends the higher-ups were hoping for. Just as quickly as the Phillies realized their dream, it was snatched away by a three-game sweep.

Since then, Philadelphia has done nothing but win in the playoffs, and it showed an untested Cincinnati team and its veteran manager how it's done.

Twenty-six-year-old Cole Hamels locked up his team's third consecutive trip to the National League Championship Series with a pitching performance on Sunday that arguably exceeded any of his stellar starts during the 2008 postseason. He allowed just five hits and struck out nine in a 2-0 win. Hamels threw the second complete-game shutout for the "Big Three" in the series, proving that even if two of the three are dominating, the Phillies are still unbeatable.

Hamels often found himself on the wrong side of these kind of games during the regular season, but the October Phillies are a different breed from the first-half Phillies. They come up big when it matters the most. Shane Victorino made a game-saving grab, Chase Utley hit his 10th career postseason home run and Hamels took care of the rest.

The crafty left-hander said after the game that his overwhelming success at the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark - he's now 7-0 there - could be partially attributed to that fact that it was the site of his first big league start back in 2006. The Reds have improved a great deal since then, but they ran into an even more refined Hamels. The perfection of his cut fastball in the latter half of this season added a new weapon to set up his deadly changeup, which had Cincinnait's right-handers hitters fooled all night.

As good as their pitching has been, the Phillies would be the first ones to admit that they're still not firing on all cylinders. Nearly half of their 13 runs scored over the three games were provided by the opposition. The shallow dimensions of Great American were barely enough to take Utley's homer, the first long ball of the postseason for Philadelphia. The team knows it can hit much better than this, and a better outing from Roy Oswalt also wouldn't hurt. His first playoff start in five years turned out like his first start as a Phillie, but he went 7-0 after July 30 so a better outing in the NLCS is very likely.

The players in Philly know to ignore all the great hype surrounding them, but thus far they're on track to prove the prognosticators correct. The Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants - two other teams that have returned to the playoffs after long absences - are in the midst of an uncomfortable battle, and whichever group advances, they know the road only gets harder against a dangerous Phillies team that's now won six of its last seven series on the big stage.

Braves tripped up

2010-09-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Philadelphia Phillies fans from Mars hate the Atlanta Braves more than ever now after one of their own got taken out.

The Phillies may have won Monday night to stretch their winning streak to eight games and take a four-game lead in the division. Cole Hamels may have continued his second-half brilliance. Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz may now be one of the most beloved catchers in all of baseball for his barrage of clutch hits.

But the night belonged to Braves left fielder Matt Diaz. The hot corner was moved back about 200 feet, as Diaz made a sensational diving catch in the first inning, and then caused a nutty Philadelphia fan covered from head to toe in a red, skin-tight outfit to take a dive in the seventh.

The Golden Rule for players when fans run onto the field is to steer clear, lest they run with violent motives in their head. Diaz chose to ignore the rule and took matters into his own hands, running up on the guy from behind taking him out with a nudge and a trip. He could see the taser-less security guards weren't going to catch up to the fan, and really, where could he have hidden a weapon in that get-up?

Jayson Werth and Brian McCann laughed in appreciation of Diaz's fearless act after watching from home plate, and Philadelphia fans in the left field seats gave him a standing ovation. During the heat of a postseason race, it was a perfect gesture of solidarity and sportsmanship. Fans and players alike can't stand when some fool further delays a game so many people already call too slow. It disrupts the flow of the action and breaks the players' concentration. All they can do in a situation like that to express their contempt is stand and stare at the offender with their hands on their hips. Diaz finally decided to utilize his hips in another way, and more power to him.

Diaz also collected one of the six hits allowed by Hamels in a game that could've easily ended in a 3-1 win for the Braves, rather than 3-1 the other way. With a runner on in the top of the seventh inning, Martin Prado missed a towering three-run homer by about a foot down the left field line. Hamels got him to ground into a double play - one of the three on the night - on the very next pitch to end the threat. Errors by Jason Heyward and McCann led to two unearned runs for Philadelphia in the fifth. Those proved to be the difference.

The Phillies stayed true to their formula of looking lost at the plate against a rookie. The momentum of scoring at least five runs in each of their last four games couldn't help them against the untested arm of Brandon Beachy, who was called up to make his major league debut after a sore knee made Jair Jurrjens a late scratch. Beachy surrendered only an RBI double to Ruiz before the mistake-prone fifth inning led to his exit.

The Atlanta bullpen, which boasts the second-best ERA in the majors (3.02) behind San Diego, pitched 3 2/3 innings of one-hit ball. The Braves' bullpen is their big advantage over the Phillies, but they hope the relievers won't be needed as much over the next two games of the series.

The Philly offense has failed to score more than three runs in 16 of Hamels' 31 starts this season, but he has won his last four and though the numbers weren't on their side tonight, the Phillies won their eighth straight. They also won their 90th game and with 11 left to play this season, it's the quickest they've done so since 1993. It's got to be hard not to imagine the glory of yet another division title as the reality of that comes more into focus with each passing day.

In the meantime, the Phillies will gear up for the second game of the series, tip their hat to Diaz and ban all Martian landings in Citizens Bank Park through the rest of the year.

Milestone madness

2010-09-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

In the glory years of a professional team, several standout players often eclipse the standards set by past legends on the path to the team's ultimate goals.

New marks were achieved by both Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Washington Nationals. With his 1-2-3 ninth inning, Lidge tied a member of the previous Phillies "dynasty," Tug McGraw, on the all-time team saves list with 94. Ryan Howard's two-run, opposite field shot in the third inning put him one ahead of Pat Burrell on the Phillies career list with 252. Burrell was the longest tenured Phillie when he helped this present successful group win a World Series in 2008.

The names Howard and Lidge aligned themselves with are connected in another crazy way. McGraw got the last out of the 1980 World Series, while Burrell's last hit as a Phillie set up the winning run in the clincher of the '08 Classic. As this team edges closer and closer to the reality of an unprecedented fourth straight division title, it's natural for these positive reminders of the past to sprout up like the beautiful green grass on the field.

While some milestones are being reached, Howard is writing his own history, raising the bar even higher for future Phillie sluggers. His homer on Saturday not only passed Burrell but gave the big man his 30th of the season. He is the only player in Phillies history to reach 30 homers and 100 RBI in five straight seasons. This feat also places him in the ranks of active players like Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. Not even Mike Schmidt managed to reach such a level of consistency.

Howard and Lidge both realize how fortunate and unique they are to play this game at a high level over a long period of time. Milestones are nice, but the only number that matters to them at the end of the night is three, as Philadelphia's sixth straight victory kept it three games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East. At the worst, the Phillies will be two games in front when they open the most important three-game clash of the season against the Braves on Monday.

Teams on a magical run need the support of players in a class by themselves, but guys like Wilson Valdez are also proving how vital they are to the equation. The 32-year-old boasts a .260 average out of the eight hole with more than double the at-bats from any previous season due to Jimmy Rollins' multiple injuries. He's provided more than his fair share of productive games, and Saturday was a prime example. Valdez posted his third three-hit game of the season with a pair of doubles, including one that put the Phillies ahead for good in the second inning. If the team was to enter the postseason without Rollins, it doesn't have much to worry about with Valdez at short.

It also helps that Shane Victorino is riding an 11-game hitting streak since his return to the leadoff spot.

The Phillies were also glad to see Kyle Kendrick finally hold the Nationals to less than five runs this season. He escaped a big jam in the first and pitched six innings for the first time in four starts. This is the Kendrick Philly wants to see - the kind who will minimize damage when his back is up against the wall. It's a mental toughness Kendrick has struggled with throughout the year. He'll still have to earn his spot on the postseason roster with the two or three starts he has left, but tonight was a step in the right direction.

Joe Blanton will be starting in the playoffs no matter what, so the Phillies would like his string of solid outings to continue. He pitches for the sweep today before the big three, a label that's becoming more and more common with each passing day in Philadelphia, lay it all on the line. All they need to keep in mind is that history is on their side.

Philadelphia twilight

2010-09-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is one ham the Philadelphia Phillies wish wasn't tender.

Jimmy Rollins tweaked his right hamstring while legging out a double in Wednesday's game against the Florida Marlins, a scene that has been played out in 2010. He gingerly rounded first base and then painfully limped his way home on a single rather than immediately coming out of the game and saving the fans the agony of witnessing this unpleasantness twice in one inning.

After four days, Rollins is still not in the lineup, which is completely necessary and won't hurt the team in the short run. It's unfortunate because he had just recently begun showing shades of his former speedy self, swiping bags at a frequency he hadn't enjoyed all season. That unfettered speed is a key component of the Philly offense, and it is something the team will need in the postseason.

J-Roll hasn't been the only issue this season as anyone who has paused for a few minutes on just one Phillies game all season can tell you. Of the team's big contributors - excluding Roy Oswalt who's only been with the club since the Trade Deadline - only Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels have avoided serious injury. Given so much adversity, it's astounding the Phillies are tied for first place with 19 games left to play.

They are on the verge of their fourth straight playoff appearance, however, which is what the organization expects of out this talented group. Halladay has certainly been an invaluable addition in 2010, but the anyone associated with the Phillies will say the heart and soul of the team lies with its home crop core of Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The boys up top have invested hundreds of millions to keep these three together to provide an atmosphere of unity, particularly after all this success. But with each passing season, it's seeming more and more like the organization is getting in too deep.

Consider that the mean age of the Phillies starting lineup is presently 31.9, compared to 28.6 in 2007. Many of the players are nearing the point when their numbers start to decline, and their bodies can't handle the strain of a 162-game season.

Rollins is the most glaring example. He's made three trips to the DL since 2008, and his numbers in that time (.258/.321/.417) have suffered, especially for a leadoff hitter. They're a noticeable dip from his output from 2004-07 - .288/.341/.475. As J-Roll has struggled to stay on the field this year, it's hard not to think about past stars of the game who started to fade once they entered their 30s, like Ken Griffey, Jr., Frank Thomas and Juan Gonzalez. While Utley's and Howard's injuries were purely accidental, some fans have to be wondering when their bodies will start to fail them.

Such troubling thoughts are not on the players' minds right now, but they've gotten so used to winning. Should they not reach the World Series or lose their grip on the postseason altogether, you can bet they'll be mulling over an uncertain future during the offseason. This run can't last forever and all of these big trades in recent years have made it difficult to build another core of J-Rolls, Utleys and Howards.

Twilight is starting to fall over Philadelphia, but the Phillies hope to hold on to that setting sun as long as possible.

Just call me Cy

2010-09-11T02:10:00.000-07:00

Step aside, John Denny.

Younger Phillies fans won't remember the aging right-hander, who enjoyed the best year of his career in his first season with the club in 1983. He went 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA, winning his first and only Cy Young Award and guiding Philadelphia to its second World Series in four seasons.

Roy Halladay is putting together similar numbers in his first year as a Phillie, though his career is far from over and has followed a much more impressive path. Doc became the first Philly hurler since Denny to win 18 games in a season during the Phils' 8-4 win over the New York Mets on Friday that kept them a game ahead of the Braves in the East.

Halladay already has his first Cy Young and is gunning for his second. His 18th win tied for the NL lead in that category with Ubaldo Jimenez and Adam Wainwright, and he surpassed the 200-strikeout mark for the fourth time in his career. He only needs eight more to eclipse his career high of 208 that he set last year.

Before Friday's win, Halladay was tied with Shane Rawley (1987), Curt Schilling (1997) and Jon Lieber (2005) for Phillie pitchers with the most wins in a season since '83. Two more will give him his third 20-win season and first for a Phillie since Steve Carlton won 23 in 1982.

Phinally!

2010-09-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

It took 100 days, but the Phillies believed that they would eventually find themselves back on top in the NL East because...well, that's just the way it's supposed to be.

They started erasing the seven-game deficit much earlier than they did in 2007 (late July, rather than late September), and the changing of the guard came while the Braves were falling apart against the Pittsburgh Pirates, of all teams. There wasn't much conventional about the switch for Philadelphia either on Tuesday night.

In a bizarre contest that saw the Phillies end as 8-7 victors over the pesky Florida Marlins, it seemed like they did everything wrong AND everything right in the game. As we've so often seen this season, Joe Blanton was not at his best, but he left with a lead. The Philly bullpen and defense coughed that lead up, but Shane Victorino and Placido Polanco worked some two-out magic in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ryan Madson was credited with a blown save, but wound up getting the win.

If you prefaced the explanation of this game with the fact that Chase Utley and Jayson Werth combined to go 0-for-8 while stranding five runners, chances are, most people would assume a loss. However, offense was what won this game for the Phillies, and they got plenty from everyone else. Victorino can deny it all he wants, but Charlie Manuel seemed to remember that his speedy right fielder excelled in the leadoff spot earlier this season when Jimmy Rollins was on the DL. He's now 5-for-10 since Manuel put him back at the top.

Ryan Howard dusted off his Mr. September cap, as he launched a solo shot the other way. Raul Ibanez did the same and fell a double short of the cycle. The offense as a whole put runs on the board in five different innings. It's fair to say Atlanta should be panicking right now.

The Phillies did hit an offensive lull recently while Utley and Howard rediscovered their timing after stints on the DL, but this one only lasted a week instead of two months. The full lineup is back and in a great position to cause some real damage. It's all divisional opponents from now until the end of the regular season, and the team's only objective is to add to its lead before hosting a three-game set against Atlanta Sept. 20-22.

And for the sake of the coaching staff's sanity, make the wins a little easier.

Forbidden touch

2010-09-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

“I think Michael and I would have felt something if we touched.”

So many immature college students could run that comment down multiple inappropriate paths, but in a completely different sense, the touch that Michael Young and Texas Rangers third base coach Dave Anderson did not feel was the clasping of hands to celebrate what could have been an amazing come-from-behind victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Instead, third base umpire Alfonso Marquez penalized Anderson and Young for making contact with one another too early, resulting in the final out of a 6-5 loss that swept the Rangers out of Target Field.

On the play in question, Vladimir Guerrero hit a sharp grounder back up the middle with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning. Orlando Hudson managed to snag the ball with a back-handed lunge behind second base to keep it in the infield, and fired to third to try and nail Young. Christian Guzman scored the fifth Texas run, while Young barely made it back to third ahead of Matt Tolbert’s tag. However, Marquez determined that Anderson touched Young before he retreated back to the bag – an illegal assistance according to the Official Rules of MLB – and Young was called out to end the rally. He would’ve been the potential tying run, but instead, would-be hero Nelson Cruz was reduced to the role of dumbfounded spectator in the on-deck circle.

Upon closer inspection of the somewhat blurred video of the play in question, Young makes his turn around third and slows up as he approaches Anderson. Both of their right hands overlap one another in the shot, but whether or not they actually touched each other is inconclusive. What plunges this decision into even more doubt is that at the point of “contact” Marquez’s head isn’t even facing the two of them. At best, he had a peripheral view, while his main focus was on Hudson’s throw. This makes the call more of a guess than anything, which drives the human error factor past an acceptable limit. Umpire crew chief Tim Tschida said this was only the second instance of coach’s interference he’d seen in 30 years. The other one he saw should have remained the only one.

Considering the contact was two bare hands, Anderson and Young would’ve felt that immediately. We have to believe them when they say they didn’t feel anything. On the other hand, it was dangerous for them to be that close to each other in the first place. The close proximity of a player and coach during that particular situation is such a rarity to see for an umpire, he might just assume contact.

But this is just the way September is starting out for Texas. Before Sunday’s game, the Rangers lost Josh Hamilton for an unspecified amount of time due to the bruised ribs he suffered crashing into the center field fence after making a leaping catch the day before. Cliff Lee was also scratched from his Tuesday start. His back is reportedly feeling better, but Texas doesn’t want to take any chances.

With these issues weighing heavily on the team, C.J. Wilson picked a bad day to end his personal seven-game winning streak on the mound. He allowed six earned runs for only the second time this season and first since he allowed seven on May 18 against the Angels. The Rangers actually won that game 8-7, but winning has not been so easy in the past week.

There’s no way to know if the Rangers would have completed the comeback even without the interference call, as Cruz had just four hits in his previous 21 at-bats (.190). The team would love to see production earlier in the game so it’s not trying to dig its way out of a four-run hole in the ninth inning.

Anderson and Young would especially like to see that because now they know to wait until after a win is in the books before slapping hands.

Bitter Sweet 16

2010-08-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

note: My role as an MLB writer for sportshaze.com has increased and shifted to the AL West. Considering this new position and my regular sports writing job, I must unfortunately curtail my blog postings about the Phillies. Time simply will not allow me to continue to do so at the rate I have been all summer. I'll still post when something monumental happens, but those one or two of you who were getting their Phillies news from me, you'll have to choose another outlet. Thanks to all of my readers, regardless of frequency. As always, GO PHILS!

Charlie Manuel may have been able to pencil in his entire starting lineup for Tuesday night's game, but he never would've guessed what the lineup would look like by the end of it.

Ryan Howard single-handedly wrecked the night for my Fantasy Baseball offense with his 0-for-7, five-strikeout performance. His final strikeout on an attempted check swing to end to the bottom of the 14th resulted in just the second ejection of his career. With Raul Ibanez moving over to first base in the top of the 15th, Manuel figured Roy Oswalt may as well face his former team in some capacity, so the good sport ace trotted out to left field to replace Ibanez.

Naturally, Oswalt then made the first put out of the frame, and the consummate professional couldn't help but crack a smile at the absurdity of it all.

The smiles didn't last long as Houston took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 16th, and Oswalt failed to come through with a walk-off, three-run shot in the bottom half to keep Philadelphia in sole possession of first place in the Wild Card.

The loss also continued a frustrating trend, holding the Phillies exactly 2.5 games behind the Braves in the NL East for the eighth consecutive day. Both teams are 5-4 in their last nine games and each has picked up every win and loss on the same day. The scenario is pretty intriguing, but mostly just annoying.

Unfortunately, the Phillies seem to be returning to their late-May swoon, as they've managed more than two runs in a game just once since their 8-2 win over the Giants a week ago. Howard and Chase Utley have been non-factors since their return from the DL, making the basepaths a lonely place for hot-hitting Jimmy Rollins.

As J-Roll used to say, Philadelphia still is the team to beat in the division, and the National League. Its pitching rotation is as good as any in baseball, and a strong September is still in the cards for the offense. As long as Howard doesn't get thrown out of anymore games and the Phillies start winning when the Braves lose, the baseball universe will unfold as it should.

Slim Pickins

2010-08-20T23:18:00.001-07:00

That's the toughest seven innings of shutout ball I've ever seen anyone pitch.

Roy Halladay weaved in and out of trouble in one his most eventful outings of the year. In the end, the Nationals couldn't break through. Usually eight hits and three walks will get your base runners a few high fives from the guy in the on-deck circle, but Halladay is of that special breed of pitchers who become more un-hittable when guys get on base. Two double plays from one of the best defenses in baseball also helps.

Amazingly enough, the Phillies have now played in seven 1-0 games this season, and three in just the last 12 games. Friday's win made them 4-3 in such contests. It's another symptom of the Year of the Pitcher.

Halladay is just as responsible for that as any other hurler. Since the Phillies' resurgence, he's done nothing but win. He's won each of his last six starts, posting an ERA of 1.37 over that stretch. The Cy Young-worthy group continues to be cramped in the NL, but none of the other names can match Halladay's durability (200 innings, 8 complete games) or control (1.1 BB/9, 7.2 K/BB).

The only run of the game came in the third inning on Raul Ibanez' hot-shot double off the glove of Adam Dunn. It was a play that most first basemen (maybe even Ryan Howard) would make, or at least knock down to prevent the run from scoring. The Phillies benefited, though, and it's all they would get off Jason Marquis.

When Dunn stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with a man on second and two out, the pessimist inside of me though, "It's about time for Brad Lidge to blow a save, and Dunn has the pop in his bat to do it." Dunn's teammate Ryan Zimmerman had already done the same to Lidge three weeks ago. However, Lidge got Dunn to do something he does a lot more of than hit home runs, as he whiffed on a slider in the dirt to end the game.

Though I'm wary of the fact that Lidge will be the closer if the Phillies make it back to the postseason, he's been a big part of this turnaround. He's converted his last seven save opportunities and has saved 10 of Philly's 21 wins since July 22. His light is flickering back on at the right time.

Getting back to the 1-0 phenomenon, the Phillies have scored in just two of their last 17 innings. That's not the best way to enter their first game against Stephen Strasburg. Then again, the rookie sensation has been anything but sensational in his two starts since coming off the DL. He didn't pitch past the fifth inning in either one and allowed a total of seven earned runs. The Phillies don't have a good track record this season against pitchers they've never faced, regardless of that pitcher's recent performance, so a change in that trend is definitely in order.

Bad timing

2010-08-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

Mike Sweeney notched his first big hit in a Phillies uniform Thursday night. Stepping to the plate with two on and two out, he yanked a 1-2 offering from Sergio Romo past a diving Pablo Sandoval (the ground shook as Kung Fu Panda fell upon it) for a two-run double.

Had this been either one of Cole Hamels' previous two outings, it would have been a walk-off hit.

Instead, Hamels put the Phillies in an early 5-0 hole - not even providing them a chance to try and give him support - and they failed to pick up any ground on the Braves, who lost earlier in the day to the Nationals. It was just the third time this season Hamels allowed at least five earned runs. Hopefully, he wasn't scoreboard watching, because if this was his nervous response to pitching in an important game, it's going to be a bumpy road through September.

Hamels did not look comfortable on the mound, as San Francisco knocked him around to the tune of three runs on four hits. Rookie phenom catcher Buster Posey hit the first of two RBI doubles off him, and the damage could have been even worse had it not been for an inning-ending double play. Hamels made it through just five innings and 86 pitches before Charlie Manuel pulled the plug. Setting the Giants down in order in his final frame didn't make any difference.

Jonathan Sanchez took the Gaints rotation off life support, taking a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning. The only guy who gave him trouble was Shane Victorino, who went 2-for-3 with a walk. It wasn't until he was lifted that the Phillies finally started to show their own signs of life, and it was too little, too late for the fans who made up the 100th consecutive shutout at Citizens Bank Park and biggest sellout crowd of the season. They all had a big reason to come out and support their team, which sported baseball's best record (20-5) since July 22, and the second-best home record of the season behind Atlanta. Instead of celebrating, 45,000 exited the stadium scratching their heads.

It is just one loss, which is unavoidable in this game, but in the climate of playing from behind at this stage in the season, each defeat is magnified and dissected and feels like a momentum-destroyer. It's the playoff itch that can't be satisfied until the winners are decided. Until then, raw skin will be the result.

Luckily, some positive news concerning Ryan Howard may provide some ointment. He has been cleared to start his rehab assignment with Class A Lakewood and could rejoin the team as early as Sunday. The Phillies can't wait to get him back into the cleanup spot, as his .292 average is the highest since his MVP year in 2006 and his 81 RBI were leading the NL went he went down. Keeping fingers and toes crossed, the Big Man's return will give Philadelphia its full starting lineup for the first time since May 21.

I love to ride my bi-cycle

2010-08-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Rollins may have fallen a double short of the cycle on Wednesday night, but the Phillies collectively hit for the cycle two times over in their ongoing quest for their fourth straight division title.

The Philly bats teed off against San Francisco Giants pitching. Ryan Howard is not expected to return until next week, so the Phillies continued to share the load. An offense potent by reputation enjoyed one of its most balanced games of the year, as seven of its 11 hits went for extra bases, including two homers, three triples and two doubles. Four Phillies had at least two hits and six drove in at least one run.

J-Roll led the way with a 3-for-5 night, making the Giants pay dearly for an error that allowed him to step to the plate with two on and two outs in the fourth inning. He golfed a Matt Cain slider into the right field seats for a three-run shot to give Joe Blanton all the support he would need.

Though Average Joe continues to struggle in the first inning, he's putting together a solid second half as he tends to do every year. While he's only 2-1 in that period, he's given the Phils five quality starts, and they've won four of the last five games in which he's pitched.

Carlos Ruiz continues to rake the ball, as he added two more hits - including just the fifth triple of his career - and raised his average to .297. This is becoming a more popular phrase in Philadelphia with each passing day: Chooch is the man.

Domonic Brown gave us another glimpse of the future when he pinch hit in the eighth inning and cranked a no-doubter into the second deck off Guillermo Mota. Though it will be sad to see him go when Howard comes off the DL, we'll get Brown back in September when the rosters expand. Judging from the curtain call the fans demanded after tonight's blast, his name will be a welcome sight in Phillies box scores through the rest of the season.

About the only satisfaction the Giants received in this game was watching Pat Burrell go yard against his old team for the second straight night. I admit it was nice to see Pat the Bat make his first return to Citizens Bank Park since he helped the Phillies win a World Series. I'm also glad he's a enjoyed a resurgence since coming back to the National League. He finds himself in a playoff hunt, but if the Phils complete a sweep tomorrow to further pad their lead in the Wild Card, his contributions may not mean that much.

Personally, I'd rather see the Giants battling the Braves for the Wild Card, but as Philly has kept on winning, so has Atlanta. The Phillies' deficit in the division has teetered between one game and three games over the past two weeks. The Braves have been in first place every day since May 31, and with a game remaining against the Nationals, followed by a three-game set against the Cubs, that string will probably continue. As I've been reminding myself at least five times a day, at least it's only August.

The K stands for Killer

2010-08-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Phillies left fielder Raul Ibanez may wish he had his at-bat back in the top the ninth inning in Saturday's game against the Mets. He couldn't hold up his swing on a pitch out of the zone, ending the Phillies' shot at a little more insurance in a game they wound up winning anyway. Considering it was Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez on the mound, Ibanez should be glad that last pitch didn't end up lodged in his forehead. K-Rod had already learned by that point that his fist wasn't strong enough to do the job.

That strike three wound up being Frankie K's last of the 2010 season, as the New York Mets just revealed that he will miss the rest of the season due to a torn ligament in his pitching hand. In a weird twist of fate, the injury was likely suffered during his alleged thrashing of his girlfriend's father, Carlos Pena, three days previous. It's no wonder he injured his hand, considering that he was trying to ram it through the skull of another human being, belonging to the grandfather of his children, no less.

Apparently, this whole fight was precipitated by Pena talkin' about K-Rod's mother. I'd sooner expect such an exchange to occur on an elementary school playground, and it wouldn't end with someone in handcuffs.

Maybe Rodriguez recently read a tutorial on tough love and took it much too literally, and we've all seen him flex his muscles and scream his head off after every save. Getting knocked around by those cannons can't be much fun, and the only message I would derive from such a shellacking is, "Get me the hell away from this guy, now!" Pena and K-Rod's girlfriend, Daian Pena, agreed with such a stance and had K-Rod arrested right there at Citi Field. A judge later ordered Rodriguez to stay away from the two of them.

And what was his punishment from an embarrassed Mets organization? Two games. A penalty of $125,000 can barely be considered a slap on the wrist for a guy making 12.2 million. K-Rod did not only commit third-degree assault on a member of his own family, but did so at his place of work. Pictures of the shackled closer being escorted from the stadium by police were splattered all over the Internet. If that happens at almost any other job, that's the last time he would be seen on the premises.

Maybe if Rodriguez had been punching a dog, the penalty would've been more severe.

The Mets end up looking like world class idiots, because it turns out K-Rod's crime has made it impossible for him to return to work. In a way, I'm glad he screwed up his thumb. He's now receiving the exile from Citi Field and his teammates he should've gotten from the start. After Rodriguez undergoes surgery to repair the torn ligament, he'll be forced to sit and reflect on what he's done while he waits for his Sept. 14 court date. It took a little time, but justice has been served.

Sometimes, it just takes one

2010-08-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

No one will argue that leadership is a vital component for any team in any sport, but after a successful season or a championship run, you will never see a coach or manager crediting him/herself. Even for the best teams, particularly in a 162-game Major League Baseball season, the randomness of the game takes hold. A few lucky bounces can make the difference in key games, and no one person will affect the outcome all that much.

However, so often in the game we see the acquisition of a new coach or a new player, and it's like someone flicked on the light switch. Guys who weren't hitting are suddenly scalding the ball, and pitchers who couldn't throw strikes are suddenly getting everyone out. What's the big change?

Any major league player will tell you that baseball is 95 percent mental. If your mind isn't going the right way, you're not going to perform. That's why you often see managers and coaches getting replaced in the middle of a long slump. If it's the overall atmosphere that's causing the failure, then maybe a change in personnel will create a winning mentality.

So far, the changes are helping the Phillies and Orioles. Since Philadelphia fired hitting coach Milt Thompson and brought in Greg Gross, the team has gone 17-5, while Baltimore is 9-4 since the hiring of new manager Buck Showalter.

When Showalter entered the picture, the Orioles sported the worst record in baseball and had long abandoned the pipe dream of contending down the stretch. Their main problem - as has been the case for a decade - was lack of starting pitching. Three starters in the rotation had double-digit losses, and Jeremy Guthrie was the only one with an ERA below 5. He also led the rotation in victories with four.

Since no-nonsense Buck took the reigns, Baltimore is not looking so lost. The team rattled off nine wins in 11 games, seven of which were on the road. Over that stretch, the starters went 6-1 with an ERA under 3. If the Orioles stay on their present course, they'll achieve their first month with a winning record since June 2008.

Showalter has a reputation for bringing a sense of order to teams with no direction, like the New York Yankees teams of the early 1990s and the brand new Arizona Diamondbacks a few years later. He's not telling the Orioles how to hit or pitch, but as Guthrie explained, he's helped change their mentality.

"It's not a coincidence that we've turned it around since Buck showed up," he said. "He hasn't done anything necessarily different to make us win games, but we know what he expects. No magic formula, but maybe a kind of a good shift for us in gears."

The Philadelphia Phillies offense was in dire need of a shift in gears early in the second half. The hitters had been stuck in neutral for the better part of the season, and the team went 2-6 on its road trip after the All-Star Break, falling six games behind the Atlanta Braves in the division.

With injuries suffered to nearly every position player at different points in the year, the team was in uncharted territory, and management felt someone needed to take the blame. Thompson had guided a healthy offense through two trips to the World Series, but he was apparently ill-equipped to help the hitters adjust to so many injuries.

Since Gross took over hitting instruction, the offense has kicked it into high gear, averaging 5.2 runs per game, more than a run better than it managed under Thompson since mid-May. What's more impressive is that the team continued to hit after losing Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino.

While the Phillies are the ones hitting and not Gross, he probably helped bring them a fresh perspective. During last night's game against the Mets, Gross said he tried to focus on the differences hitters displayed when they were hot or in a slump - whether it's a difference in stance at the plate or their swing - and remind them of those changes whenever they weren't hitting well. Gross basically described the job of every hitting coach, but the Phillies must like what he has to say.

Now if Gross could unlock the mystery of how to hit when Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels are pitching, then we'd really be in business.

Run, Forrest, Run

2010-08-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

It's fair to say that Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino aren't impressing anybody with their batting averages, but they made a rebound effort by Kyle Kendrick stand up in the Phillies' 3-1 win over the Mets Sunday night that gave them a series win and moved them into a tie for first place in the Wild Card with their next opponent, the San Francisco Giants.

The speedy pair swiped three bags, all of which factored into go-ahead runs for Philadelphia. J-Roll gave us a sense that he has fully returned to health, stealing second and third base three pitches apart in the third inning, and making it easily each time. Though Rollins doesn't get on base nearly as often as he should, this is what we expect to happen when he does.

In years past, we saw the Phillies scrape out wins like this more often. Injuries have prevented that this season, but with the guidance of first base coach Davey Lopes, the base runners are still ahead of Bill James' curve. In the all-too important goal of not making outs, the Phillies are 67-for-80 in stolen-base attempts this season, a respectable success rate of 83.8 percent. Philly runners tend to make it to the next bag safely when they steal, and that can make the difference in games like Sunday night when offense was hard to come by for both teams.

Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge also showed us shades of their 2008 selves with scoreless frames to close out the victory. Sure, two of Lidge's three outs were smoked balls that just happened to be hit right at people, but how many of his saves in '08 were achieved in that fashion? Probably more than we'd like to admit.

The Phillies climbed to 15 games over .500 for the first time this season. Since they nearly snatched first place away from the Braves a week ago, Bobby Cox's bunch are again playing like they want a division title. The Phightins' need to keep the pressure on, and they should thank their lucky stars that Tim Lincecum just pitched on Sunday. He's not exactly having a freak-type year, but there's no need to give Chase Utley (2-for-20, 8 K's against Lincecum) that big of a test in his return to the bigs.

Ecstasy or agony

2010-08-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

I discovered not long after Roy Halladay's arrival that he's a pretty boring quote, utilizing every cliche in the book to describe his success on the mound. But the few times when he's asked to chime in on topics outside the pitching realm, he's come up with some real gems. Halladay's two-out hit in the top of the third inning in last night's game against the Mets started a rally that brought the Phillies' 38-scoreless-innings streak at Citi Field to an end, and his description of hitting duality was so spot on, I had to use it to title this posting.

The pitcher-friendly Citi Field has been the site of much agony for slugging Philadelphia this season. Its embarrassing three-game series there in late May started an offensive funk that took two months to escape. New York's R.A. Dickey continued the trend on Friday night with a performance that rivaled plenty of others as the best of the season in this Year of the Pitcher.

Philly did not suffer the same fate on Saturday and received quite a bit of help in its 4-0 victory. Opposing third baseman's legs are becoming more like giant croquet wickets for Phillie hitters. After Casey Blake's miscue led to two runs on Thursday night, David Wright misplayed another potential double-play ball off the bat of Jimmy Rollins in the sixth inning last night, providing a cushion twice as large for a wheeling and dealing Halladay.

Doc kept the Mets guessing all night long. His entire arsenal was working, and Halladay is nearly impossible to hit when he can throw any pitch in any count. He was able to keep his own count down as well with a couple of nice plays from the mound. This was key, as Ryan Madson had us all frantically praying to the baseball Gods in a shaky ninth inning.

Who knows why, but I was watching last night's game with a bunch of New York fans and one of them predicted a game-tying grand slam for the Mets. Knowing the bullpen's track record over the last year-and-a-half, I couldn't bring myself to come to Madson's defense. Sure enough, a nervous Madson loaded the bases, giving one of those base runners a free pass when he plunked Fernando Martinez in the back after getting ahead of him 0-2. My silence ensured I wouldn't be eating any words regardless of what happened, but Madson managed to get out of the jam and preserve the win for Halladay.

I swear these relievers are giving me grey hairs.

Much has been made of the great number of times the Phillies have been shutout this season. Friday's 1-0 defeat brought that number to 10, three more than all of last season. However, Saturday's 4-0 win made it 13 times the Phillies have shut out their opponents, four more than last year. It's a loose measure of success, but it's usually a good sign if a team shuts opponents out more than it gets shut out. Just look at the Tampa Bay Rays. They recently became the first team in major league history to get no-hit or one-hit five times in a season, but they have the same shutout ratio as the Phillies (plus-3) and own the second-best record in baseball.

We can expect a few more shutouts to fall our way before the end of the season with such a formidable pitching rotation. That's some ecstasy all Phillies fans can enjoy.

Another Broxton feast

2010-08-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Just to let all of you know, I've recently become a Philadelphia Phillies beat writer for sportshaze.com. All of my posts here will be placed on that site as well. It's a startup sports site that covers baseball, football, basketball, hockey and the NCAA. I encourage everyone to check it out!

I’m wondering which will happen first: Darrelle Revis successfully renegotiating his contract with the New York Jets or the Phillies reclaiming their lead in the NL East. One thing I know is that the Phillies’ waiting game is much more fun to watch.

From now on when Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton enters a game with the Phillies trailing, I’ll simply say, “The Phils have this one well in hand.” Since Matt Stairs’ moon shot off him in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, Broxton has just one save in four opportunities and a 9.82 ERA against Philadelphia. Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz provided the walk-off magic this time around, completing the Phillies’ largest comeback victory of a topsy-turvy 2010 season, but the writing was on the wall before Ruiz dented it with his double.

I can’t claim to know the state of Casey Blake’s ankles four months into a long season, but they had to be in better shape than Bill Buckner’s when a tailor made double play ball came bouncing his way off the bat of Ben Francisco. The replay shows he lifted his glove, expecting the ball to bounce higher than it did, which allowed two runs to cross the plate and the tying run to get into scoring position with nobody out. I don’t even care if Mariano Rivera was on the mound, the Phillies’ win expectancy shot through the roof with that error.

Much kudos go to Ruiz, whose hitting is finally catching up with his defense and excellent handling of the pitching staff. Despite some time spent on the DL, Chooch is putting wood on the ball with much more authority this season. His average with runners in scoring position (.293) is just a point lower than his general batting average, and both would be career highs. Pitchers prefer facing the bottom of the order, but Ruiz is making himself comfortable down there and making an already-potent lineup that much more dangerous.

Such an incredible victory covered up another ugly performance from the bullpen, which allowed a total of 14 runs in just 12 innings during the series. Danys Baez was the only reliever to toss a clean frame last night, lowering his season ERA to 5.40. This remains a glaring issue Philly will continue to deal with through the rest of the season.

But as I said before, it will be an exciting finish that makes me happy I’m not a Jets fan.

Kicking and Screaming

2010-08-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

"Afterwards, I just turned around and I've got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes. It's super unprofessional. I don't know where he learned how to fight."

Anyone shown this quote out of context would think it was some wild form of wrestling or kickboxing, though I can't think of any that allows the wearing of spikes. At any rate, Chris Carpenter was one mad Cardinal after his team's brawl with the Cincinnati Reds last night in the bottom of the first inning. The rivalry is heating up with Boston-New York-type intensity, and if this display is just the beginning, I can't wait for Sept. 3 when the two teams meet up again.

And for the record, Chris Carpenter, your privileged life growing up in New England pales in comparison to the hard, impoverished existence of Johnny Cueto before he became one of the lucky few from the Dominican Republic to ascend the ranks of Major League Baseball. Spikes or no, he could kick your ass in a fight any day.

The Phillies are continuing to show some fight without the meat of their order. Since my last posting, they have gone 2-2 and remain firmly latched onto the coattails of the division-leading Atlanta Braves. Four games is far too small a sample size to measure success, so maybe I should think about taking longer vacations.

Losing a game when you score nine runs is never fun, but Domonic Brown unloaded for his first major league home run. We were all waiting for that one, and if he wasn't just a replacement bat for Shane Victorino, I'd expect that shot to open the flood gates and lead to 15 more homers in the last eight weeks of the season. Hopefully, Ryan Howard can give the lineup that kind of production when he returns. God knows we're all used to it this time of year.

Getting everyone back healthy will be key because in less than a week, the Phillies start a stretch of 24 games in 23 days. As always, I'm sure they'll make things interesting all the way down to the wire.

Temporary Pharewell

2010-08-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Adrian is officially on vacation so all he can say about tonight's game before he leaves the area for four days is it seems like the Phillies did everything they could to lose, but the Marlins and the umpires were having none of that! The road sweep was lovely and it catapulted them into new territory. Philly is 12 games above .500 for the first time this season, laughing in the face of its injuries and the Braves, who are hanging on to their lead in the NL East by a thread.

The Phillies always seem to play well when I'm not following them, so maybe when I return, they'll be sitting in first place. Brad Lidge, is that too much to ask?

Sweeney Swoon

2010-08-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Man, it must suck to be John Mayberry, Jr.

The kid was a highly touted prospect when he was traded from the Texas Rangers before the 2009 season, and he made an immediate splash after a late May call-up when he hit a three-run homer in his first big league game, off Andy Pettitte at Yankee Stadium, no less. Mayberry continued to impress during Interleague Play, getting eight hits in his first 25 major league at-bats, three of them home runs.

National League opponents proved much more difficult for Mayberry, as he managed just four hits through the rest of the season while striking out 16 times in 32 at-bats. Then, this younger and more versatile kid named Domonic Brown out-shined Mayberry and everyone else in the Phillies' farm system, earning his call-up last week after Shane Victorino went on the DL - a move that had all Phillies fans yelling at the organization, "What took you so long?!" Brown is a star in the making and has all but locked down a spot as a starter with the team in 2011.

Mayberry, who has never hit better than .268 in any season in the minors, finally got his shot at redemption earlier this week when Ryan Howard was the latest Phillie to catch the injury bug. Of course, Mayberry has played just four games at first base in his professional career, but the Phillies were gambling that he would flash some of that pop he showed early last season.

Oh wait, the Seattle Mariners just put 37-year-old Mike Sweeney on waivers. Sorry kid, we'd rather take a chance on him.

I understand the Phillies' thinking in this move. Sweeney is a lifetime .298 hitter, who can stroke the ball to all fields, and he's one of the most respected and well-liked players in the game. He was also tearing it up in the minors during a recent rehab stint.

The key word in that previous sentence was rehab. The perpetually sore Sweeney would be a no-brainer as a DH replacement, but for the Phillies his best value is a right-handed bat off the bench. Due to injuries, Sweeney has played just 27 total games at first base since 2006, and now the Phillies expect him to play there every day until Howard's return.

I admit that it'll be nice to see a former Wilmington Blue Rock in a Phillies uniform, but did Ruben Amaro need to make such an impulsive buy? Having Sweeney in the lineup won't make much difference if Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth don't continue to hit like they have been. I've beaten this topic into the ground already, but Amaro could've simply waited for a solid relief pitcher to hit the waiver wire. Whether it's Sweeney or Mayberry in there, it won't change the anxiety we all feel in the pit of our stomachs late in the game when the Phillies' fate lies in the hands of Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson. And unless the relievers hook up a wire to the dugout, they won't feel Sweeney's positive influence from the bullpen.

As of this posting, the Phillies have not yet decided who they're dropping from the 25-man roster to make room for Sweeney. Cody Ransom and Greg Dobbs are possibilities, but they provide more flexibility in the field. Mayberry could only play first base, so there's not much use for him when Sweeney arrives later today. It's the reverse of what happened to Kyle Kendrick last month when he was demoted to Triple-A, but came right back to the big league club before even throwing a pitch for the Iron Pigs when Jamie Moyer got hurt. Mayberry won't complain when he gets the ax, but I'm sure he'd give anything to have Kendrick's good fortune.

Sorry dude, the old man won out.

You didn't do anything in here!

2010-08-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

I reference the words I heard out of my mother's mouth countless times when I was young after every failed attempt (in her eyes) to clean up my room. Each utterance deflated the work I thought I had done, which turned out to be three wasted hours.

Jayson Werth also failed to do any "cleaning up" in last night's game against the Florida Marlins. His line read 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. Werth has now struck out in 10 his 19 career plate appearances batting fourth. He rarely performed so poorly at the plate in one game, even during the two months when he wasn't hitting. I guess Werth got too used to that reassuring feeling every time he stepped into the on-deck circle to see the mighty Ryan Howard digging in at the plate in front of him.

Fortunately, Werth's bad night was the only blemish in an impressive 6-1 win over the Fish. Roy Halladay showed shades of the perfection he enjoyed in his previous start in Florida, and provided his own run support with a two-run single. The bottom of the lineup made it easy for Charlie Manuel to pull his ace after seven innings and 108 pitches. Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz bailed out Werth, going a ridiculous 7-for-10 with two bombs. Performances like that can certainly carry the team until the Big Man comes back.

It's early August and we're just two back in the division. I'm hoping Werth can get some lumber on the ball tonight, but I'm liking our chances either way.

Black cats and broken mirrors

2010-08-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

Beware, Jayson Werth.

Make sure security keeps an extra eye out for black cats trying to dart across the outfield. Always have some salt handy in your locker to throw over your shoulder before every game. Don't shave off the beard until after the season is over.

The injury bug has now struck every starter in the Phillies lineup this season except for the whiskered right fielder, and the way he's been hitting lately, we can't afford to lose him. Raul Ibanez went down yesterday after hurting his wrist on a slide, and Ryan Howard had to be helped off the field in today's game after spraining his ankle trying to scurry back to second base. It's just one ailment after another and it's getting too hard to remember which players are healthy.

Through all the Phillies' ups and downs, one guy who will remember 2010 as the highlight of his career is Wilson Valdez. He's played almost a full season up to this point, lending his defensive talents in place of Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Chase Utley. Though his .237 average as a starter is a poor substitution, his bunt single in the 11th inning of today's game in Washington sparked a hurting club to a 6-4 win. He risked an injury himself by sliding into first, but we'll excuse him for that.

The only problem is Howard was the only player who had not only avoided injury all year, but had also been hitting well consistently. I'm fearful as to how the offense will respond if he has to go on the DL. My own experience tells me such a trip is inevitable. During my sophomore year of college, I sprained my ankle in a volleyball class. I was walking fine after just two days, but I didn't play again for two weeks. The Phillies need Howard down the stretch more than anyone else, so they're not going to rush him back.

A nice trip home would be a good prescription for this team, but it still has a three-game series in Florida to get through. The Marlins are just as scrappy as the Nationals, so it could be a long journey to Friday without the big man in the middle of the order.

Schmidt or Roberts?

2010-07-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry to my readers for the overload of posts today, but this is one I've been holding for a few weeks. I decided against running it as a column in my paper, and it was ignored by a blogging site, so I'll share it with all of you now. We're no longer preoccupied with the Trade Deadline, and I think this is an interesting topic over which to mull. Enjoy.

Earlier this year, Bob Costas conducted an interview with Phillies great Dick Allen. As predicted, Costas asked him all about playing during the turbulent 1960s, the controversy he often stirred up as an outspoken athlete and his reputation for hitting tape-measure blasts.

At the end of the interview, Allen gave his opinion on who he thought the better Phillie was, Robin Roberts or Mike Schmidt. It’s generally an unfair comparison between a pitcher and position player, but much like he did during his playing days, Allen gave the controversial answer when he said Roberts. Costas pressed him on that briefly, but Allen simply replied that Roberts took the mound for nine innings every time out and dominated hitters.

In retrospect, Allen’s opinion is understandable, considering that he played when Roberts was already a pitching legend and Schmidt wasn’t on the map yet. It’s not surprising Allen would defer to the elder Hall of Famer.

But who really was a greater Phillie?

Several Top Ten Phillies lists found online all rank Schmidt higher than Roberts, though lists like that always tend to favor hitters over pitchers. Schmidt also helped Philadelphia to win its first-ever World Series title, and he added three MVP awards and numerous Gold Gloves. To be fair, Roberts guided Philly to its first World Series in 35 years in 1950, and the Gold Glove and Cy Young awards didn’t exist during his prime.

The only way to truly compare a pitcher and a hitter from two different eras is to see how they match up with their top contemporaries. Roberts’ were likely Warren Spahn and Whitey Ford, while Schmidt’s top competition were fellow third basemen Brooks Robinson and Darrell Evans.

Roberts was widely considered the best pitcher in baseball from 1950-1955, but his career ERA of 3.41 was significantly higher than Spahn (3.09) or Ford (2.75). His winning percentage was also the worst of the three, but he also had the lowest run support.

Allen wasn’t exaggerating about Roberts’ durability. He led the league in innings pitched for five straight years, and his 346 2/3 innings in 1953 are second-most by a Hall of Fame pitcher in a single season after World War II. He threw more than 300 innings in a season six times.

However, Spahn managed to pitch at a high level later into his career. He only threw more than 300 innings in a season twice, but he was still easily cracking the 200-inning mark into his 40s. Spahn pitched more seasons and innings than Roberts, while allowing 71 fewer home runs. That was perhaps Roberts’ biggest drawback; he wasn’t a ground-ball pitcher. He also never struck out 200 batters in a season – not as dominant as Allen originally suggested.

Saber-metrically speaking, one aspect of pitching that Roberts did dominate throughout his career was control. Though Ford posted the highest career strikeout rate of 5.6 per nine innings, Roberts’ strikeout per walk rate of 2.61 was far ahead of Ford and Spahn, who both posted a 1.8 mark. Roberts had the best WHIP (1.17) among the three, and his BB/9 rate of 1.7 is ranked 45th all-time and ninth among Hall of Fame pitchers.

Those final numbers help Roberts’ case, but Schmidt’s comparisons to Robinson and Evans aren’t nearly as hazy.

Robinson, dubbed “The Human Vacuum Cleaner,” was a better fielding third baseman than Schmidt, with a higher career range factor and fielding percentage, but Schmidt trumps the other two in nearly every offensive category. Phillies fans know about his 548 home runs, but Schmidt’s career OPS of .908 ranks 27th all-time among Hall of Fame hitters. Schmidt also set all-time team marks in runs, hits, RBI, walks and total bases.

According to the numbers, you can make an argument for and against Roberts’ superiority over his peers, but Schmidt was clearly the best. He also played during one of the organization’s most successful periods, further brightening his spotlight.

Sorry, Dick, looks like you got this one wrong. The best pitcher in baseball for a brief time doesn’t compare to arguably the best hitting third baseman in history, regardless of the discrepancy between pitching every fourth day and playing every day. Maybe Costas should have asked Allen’s opinion about a more sensible pitcher-hitter comparison like Schmidt and Steve Carlton. I put it to all of you to hash that one out.

No longer a priv-Lidge

2010-07-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

I had just had my mind warped by the dream maze of Christopher Nolan's "Inception" but my mind has never been clearer about the Phillies' missed opportunities before the elapsed Trade Deadline.

True, Philadelphia pulled off the biggest trade of the week by adding Roy Oswalt, but the problem it didn't solve laughed with glee tonight as Brad Lidge was given the ball in the bottom of the ninth to protect a one-run lead against the Washington Nationals. He recorded just one out before Ryan Zimmerman ended it with a monster three-run shot to center field. It was Lidge's fourth blown save of the season, which isn't that many at this point in the season, but he's only appeared in half the games of most closers. That places his effectiveness right around the level of his 2009 season.

As the Phillies dropped yet another game on the road to a last-place team, other teams had just completed deals to help prevent such deflating results. Back-end relievers Matt Capps, Kerry Wood, Will Ohman, Octavio Dotel and Javier Lopez all recently found themselves in new homes. Even before Philly added Oswalt, it's largest weakness was undoubtedly the bullpen. I can't say for certain how hard Amaro tried to get a reliever, my guess is whenever it was brought up, he would start start babbling in unfamiliar tongues, except for a few select words - "Oswalt....Oswalt....must make them forget about Lee...."

We'll spend the rest of the season cringing when we don't have a big lead late in the game. That's actually not different from the norm, and I see now that I was being too optimistic. I suppose I forgot for a moment that I was Philadelphia fan. The Phillies are on the verge of getting swept by the Nationals, so we have to hope the bats sizzle early and Cole Hamels goes deep into the game. It'll do me good not to see Lidge or Ryan Madson warming up for a few days.

Going for the jinx

2010-07-29T22:33:00.000-07:00

It's official: the Phillies starting rotation now touts a Roy double feature, and the rest of the National League has to be squirming in their seats over the power shift. Roy Oswalt finally decided that he wanted to experience the bi-polar, battery-throwing bonanza that will surround the elevated stage of the pitcher's mound at Citizens Bank Park. He wants to devour a cheesesteak and sprint like a mad man up the steps of the Art Museum. More than anything, he wants to ride that victory float down South Street in November and help the City of Brotherly Love celebrate its second championship in three years. I salute you, Mr. Oswalt, and I pray your sensitive back handles the stress because with J.A. Happ bravely trying to fill your shoes in Houston, the Phillies have left themselves few options if you or one of the other starters goes down before the end of the season. But don't pay attention to me, that's just my hometown pessimism shining through. Welcome to Philadelphia.

That's just how it happens. The middle of the order had stirred from its two-month slumber, but the canons didn't go off tonight against the Diamondbacks. But with the Phillies winning like they are, it was the little guys who stepped up to keep the streak going. Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez went 5-for-10 with two RBI out of the 7- and 8-holes, and Valdez played hero in another extra-inning thriller that pulled the team within 2.5 games of first place. In their last five extra-inning contests, the Phils have won them all in walk-off fashion.

The red-pinstriped boys also went 7-0 on their homestand. As they've proven time and time again, when the weather gets warm in Philadelphia, there's no place they'd rather play.

Never put it past me to be cynical, though. The Phillies are hitting a rather light part of the schedule. We thought they might have been back during Interleague Play, but that was when they took five out of six from Toronto and Cleveland. All six of those games were played at Citizens Bank Park. The results were turned on their head when the Phillies played bad teams on the road (2-6 at Pittsburgh and Chicago). Things seem different now that Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez are hitting, and Domonic Brown has made an immediate impression, but the next three series (two on the road and all against NL East opponents) will give us a better idea of just where the team stands.

For now, I will risk the jinx and say that the Phillies are back!

Brown Bomber

2010-07-29T03:58:00.000-07:00

Last night while I was at work, a colleague in his 60s found a silly, yet mostly mundane moment hilarious (trust me, it's not even worth repeating), and he wondered why the 23-year-old in the next cubicle wasn't laughing with him. The younger employee simply replied, "I found it funny, but not as much as you did." The old man shot back with sarcasm, "No, you just don't have a sense of humor," followed by a Santa Claus-like chuckle. It occurred to me that the younger man and I didn't laugh because we've been differently conditioned by "The Office," "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy." Our grandkids won't get the humor in those shows either. That might have made both of them laugh had it dawned on me to say it quickly enough for it to be timely to their brief conversation. Oh well...I share it with you all now.

The rookie spoke calmly and confidently (I'm paraphrasing): "You guys print whatever you want, but I'm just here to do what I can to help the team."

What resolve. What conviction. I doubt A-Rod will think to say that after he ends all the speculation with his 600th home run.

Phillies fans finally got what they were looking for, as rookie Domonic Brown made the seamless transition from Triple-A to The Show, and the Phillies made a similar transition from one outfielder to another, stretching their winning streak to seven games in the process.

Brown's two RBI's against the Diamondbacks were enough by themselves to win the game, and Roy Halladay made sure of that. He was his usual brilliant self, and he's got to be thrilled with the incredible run support he's gotten over his last two starts. The Phillies have been scoring a ton of runs no matter who is on the hill, which is what we expect.

Not even the best players in the game can say they started their career with an extra-base hit, and Brown's double was a few feet short of souvenir land in right field. While I was still at work, keeping an eye on the game, I added the rookie to my Fantasy team after his double. It's the most impulsive buy I've made in four years of playing, and wholly unnecessary with three other Phillies sitting in my starting lineup. But I must show respect to the peak of the future of which we all are getting a preview in the next few weeks.

As I watched him during Spring Training, I already felt as if Brown was a part of the major league squad. The spotlight didn't bother him and neither did all the talk of his potential getting stifled by Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez (much like people said about Ryan Howard and Jim Thome). The kid took it in stride like he did with the deafening noise inside Citizens Bank Park Thursday night.

Shane Victorino's injury is a tough break for the team, but it's the break a young star needed, and no offense to Wilson Valdez, Greg Dobbs and Brian Schneider, but Brown is much more than a reserve filling in for a starter. He's getting the exposure at the right time, and it will let the Phillies know how he handles the pressure. Arizona and Washington are small potatoes, but the Marlins and Mets will provide good tests for the kid. Even if he finishes his stint in a slump, it's good to see his name in the lineup. It'll be there for good before we know it.

Really??

2010-07-29T02:13:00.000-07:00

It's funny that I started this blog with a post about veteran pitcher Roy Oswalt, and by the end of the day, he may be a Phillie. Much has been going around about his hesitation, making him appear like a whiny, selfish child, but most players in his position must carefully weigh the pros and cons of leaving the one place they've known for so long. I don't doubt Oswalt's desire to win a championship, and he can help more than one team toward that goal. He's a great fit for the Phillies, but they have to be the right fit for him.

Apparently, the only thing left to decide is whether or not Oswalt will waive his no-trade clause. It's hard to believe that this deal could go through without giving up Jayson Werth. JA Happ is good buy for the Astros, but if Ruben Amaro is content with fully depleting our farm system's best prospects, it seems out of touch with the organization's long-term goals. Win or lose this year or next, I love how this present crop of Phillies were mostly home grown. The mark of a successful and respectful team is its ability to groom top prospects and hold onto them when they reach their full potential in the majors. Watching this team turn into the Yankees is not something I'll enjoy.

But who am I kidding? I'll still watch. In any case, aside from my unwitting prediction of Ken Griffey, Jr.'s retirement, much of my crystal ball visions in this blog have been wrong. Oswalt and the Braves could be friends, but he's coming to Philly instead. Then again, there's still plenty to time for this deal to crumble and another team to swoop in like the Rangers did to the Yankees when they snatched Cliff Lee.

Now that was fun to watch.

We will get by

2010-07-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Now THAT was more like it.

The last time Cole Hamels had a shaky outing (June 26 against Toronto) his team scored just one run for him. Tonight, the hitters kept on battling as the lead bounced back and forth.

The Phillies scored multiple runs in four different innings, and a potent, but impatient Diamondbacks lineup couldn't keep up. And the 3-5 hitters in Philadelphia's order, the constant source of scrutiny and frustration since late May? They went 6-for-11 with two bombs, six RBI and five runs scored. Please sir, can I have some more?

Jayson Werth finally went yard again, and you can expect some more of that in the near future. His jacks always come in bunches, and his signature blast is the one that lands in the center field vines at Citizens Bank Park. Raul Ibanez is working on a six-game hitting streak, batting .429 (9-for-21) in the span. He's also driven in at least one run in his last four starts. The 3-hole seems to be agreeing with him.

A 3-0 loss to the Strasburg-less Nationals can't be a good sign for the Braves, as their seven-game lead in the NL East has been chopped in half in less than a week. It's looking more and more like the Phillies will be nothing but spectators as the Trade Deadline nears, so they can't let up.

In the midst of all this success, Philly lost another key piece for at least a few days as Shane Victorino left in the seventh inning with an oblique muscle strain. The way things have been going, I was waiting for the next starter to go down, and I'm not surprised it's Victorino. He made trips to the DL in 2007 and '08 after constantly pushing his small frame to the limit with his blazing speed in the outfield and around the bases. A warning light goes off in my head whenever I hear about an oblique injury. I didn't even know what an oblique muscle was until 2006 when Albert Pujols was sidelined for a month with an injury to his, ending what would have otherwise been a career year (and would probably have cost Ryan Howard his first and so far only MVP award).

The Phillies shouldn't let this stop their current surge, and Jimmy Rollins (sore left foot) should be back on the field by the end of the week. As I alluded to in a post last week, the lineup will do just fine with Placido Polanco hitting leadoff.

The only problem is with Victorino out, Werth is no longer a bargaining chip for an upper-tier starting pitcher, and he's the best one Philadelphia had. Then again, if he really is heating up, would Ruben Amaro want to trade him anyway? The Phillies are still near the top of the list of teams who may land Roy Oswalt, but no matter how interested the Houston Astros may be in J.A. Happ, or how many young prospects the Phillies are willing to part with, I can't see Oswalt wanting to play in Philadelphia. It would give him a shot at another World Series appearance, no doubt, but he can get that much closer to home.

However, if a deal is somehow made and Oswalt becomes a Phillie, Amaro might finally silence his critics.

Dog Days ending?

2010-07-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

A big congratulations to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza for his no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers Monday night. Holy 1992, that's unofficially six no-nos this year. Offensive numbers in both leagues are down across the board. With nearly two-thirds of the season elapsed, there are still two pitchers (Josh Johnson and Adam Wainwright) with an ERA under 2, and last year's empty barrel of 20-game winners may be filled with multiple names in 2010. Garza got one back for Tampa Bay, as in the first half it endured the dubious honor of getting no-hit twice in less than two months (incredible considering the Rays presently own the second-best record in the majors). I think we can definitely call this the Year of the Pitcher. Step aside steroids, the mound masters are making a comeback to reclaim what you stole. Read more of my thoughts on this topic in a column that will be posted on the Gettysburg Times website Thursday morning.

I've still got a ton of vacation to use this summer, so my blog will continue to provide only general summaries of the Phillies' weekend series. If they keep winning like this from Friday to Sunday, that's just fine by me.

The Phillies finally ran into a team that was struggling at the plate even more than they were, and it's probably a coincidence, but they haven't lost a game since new hitting coach Greg Gross stepped in. Perhaps a serious move like that was the wake-up call the offense needed.

Philadelphia has tied its longest winning streak of the season and scored more than three runs in four consecutive games for the first time in more than a month. Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth both seem to be warming up, which is absolutely vital during Chase Utley's absence. Kyle Kendrick and J.A. Happ did a good job of saving face for the organization, as trade rumors and vicious accusations have been hurled like D batteries from the upper deck.

Perhaps I'm nitpicking at this point, but I still saw some troubling trends which contradicted the look of a team busting out of a slump, particularly in the final two games against the Rockies. The Phillies went just 5-for-27 (.185) with runners in scoring position. In 15 of those 22 outs Philly hitters were either retired on balls in the air or swinging third strikes. To use a tired cliche, they're still trying to do too much at the plate, and it nearly cost them the last two games of the series.

So did Brad Lidge.

Most of the Philadelphia closer's saves have been an adventure this season, and he really got the heart racing in his most recent two. Lidge got the third out in each one with the bases loaded after throwing at least 30 pitches (somewhere, Curt Schilling sat with his head buried in a towel). He's averaging 19.4 pitches per inning and 5.95 walks per nine innings in 2010. Lidge has found the bite on his slider again, which has kept his ERA from approaching last year's horrible numbers, but he's no longer dominating enough to deserve the closer's role.

Charlie Manuel is stubbornly choosing to turn the lights on every ninth inning when he could take the pressure off everyone by going with a closer-by-committee. It's not the ideal situation, but it would work better than leaving it all up to a veteran past his prime. Ryan Madson still has closer-type stuff, while J.C. Romero is getting both lefties and righties out this season.

Fortune remains on the Phillies' side as their next two opponents, the Diamondbacks and Nationals, are both making themselves comfortable in last place. Philly looks like it can actually beat those kind of teams, which should cut even more into Atlanta's lead in the East. As both the Phightins' and I will happily attest, there's plenty of summer left.

Throw a Cole on the fire

2010-07-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

I would be remiss not to at least share my feelings on the announcement of minor league players now getting tested for HGH. When I first learned about this particular hormone a few years back, I was appalled baseball wasn't testing for it along with steroids. As far as I was concerned, HGH gives players even more incentive to cheat because not only was it not being tested, but it didn't swell the muscles and the head to alarming sizes. The drop in power numbers across baseball would suggest that the steroids policy was enough to deter most players from using any performance-enhancing drugs, but this latest step may help cleanse the sport completely. I'm all for it.

Before Cole Hamels went to bed last night, his next start staring him in the face, he knew that he was now a member of a three-man rotation for all intents and purposes. That's a wild notion, let alone reality, and quite a burden on a young pitcher. No one knows how long these thoughts kept Hamels awake last night, but when he stepped off the mound after eight innings of one-hit ball against the streaking St. Louis Cardinals, he appeared like he'd had the best night of sleep in his life.

It was a performance that should've guaranteed a win for the Phillies, but like so many similar performances this season, they gave Hamels nothing and kept all of us biting our nails. To be fair, the Phillies were facing an elite pitcher in Adam Wainwright, but they hit him all game. He admitted afterward that he didn't have his best stuff, but no pitcher has really needed his best stuff against Philadelphia over the last two months.

As the game moved into extra innings, I still couldn't see this falling the Phillies' way, despite how lost the Cardinals looked at the plate. The game was in St. Louis and the momentum still seemed to fall on the home team's side.

It turned out that nine innings of just one hit were too many beatings on the confidence, and Placido Polanco was due to hit one out. Even after his shot, the Phillies managed to string enough baserunners together to tack on another run. The swing on Jayson Werth's RBI double carried the awkwardness of a man whose name had never been thrown around so much for all the wrong reasons, and who had previously been 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position, but it got the job done. How ironic it would be if this was the win that finally led to the right track for a team Werth might not even be a part of by next week.

I will not make such a claim yet, however. Even the worst teams in baseball don't lose all of their games, and Philadelphia has lost four of its last five series, making an anomaly out of that sweep of the Reds before the All-Star Break. Past experience also suggests that the Phillies were supposed to win this game. The two previous times they fell to two games over .500 this season, they won their next game to avoid a complete collapse. It's almost like the Phils are playing Russian Roulette with their season and they haven't yet pulled the trigger with the bullet in the chamber.

The team is hoping that a new starting pitcher will remove the bullet altogether, but I'm not convinced such a move will sweep in drastic changes. Just looking at the past couple of years, top-notch arms that were traded mid-season went to teams that were already playing well. When CC Sabathia was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in July 2008, they were sitting in second place nine games above .500 and just 3.5 back in the NL Central. The Phillies weren't far removed from a 10-game winning streak and had a six-game lead in the NL East when they picked up Cliff Lee last year.

The Phils aren't in the midst of a run this time around, and the arms available aren't of the caliber of Lee or Sabathia. They can't even score runs for the two aces they already have.

But there is good news. Philadelphia finally returns home after nearly two weeks, and after a 2-6 road trip, is somehow in second place. The Phillies sport an encouraging 27-18 record at Citizens Bank Park, and their recent victory, the roar of the home crowd and the sight of the Liberty Bell in right center have to stir up some optimism. The Phillies need all they can get right now, because there's a real possibility with the maximized budget and tight grip on the few prospects they have left that no new pitcher will don the pinstripes before July 31.

St. Louis slugger

2010-07-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

I congratulate you, Mr. Ryan Howard.

With your home run in your hometown tonight - and big, big brother watching - you moved into fourth place on the Phillies all-time homer list. I say with certainty that Chuck Klein will not be the last name you pass. Watch out Pat the Bat, you're next.

It's late July and it's almost expected that you're leading the league in RBI by this point in the season. Your ability to drive in runs consistently over multiple seasons is matched only by the man occupying your space for the team you grew up cheering on from your home. People will say what they will about your strikeouts, but it's still fun watching you play the game.

It's been especially fun over the past week as we Phillie fans try and reach for anything positive. Right now, you are the only hitter on the team playing like he wants to make the postseason. You have at least one hit in every game since the start of the second half, and of the Phillies' 25 runs over the span, you have knocked in 10 of them. The way you're seeing the ball at the plate gives off the impression that you're feeling the increased importance of every game as September gets closer. You don't know any other feeling than helping the team win when it matters the most.

What a shame that none of your brethren are feeding off the same passion. What a shame they haven't discovered the ability inside themselves to turn up the intensity. It must not be much fun walking the path alone, but if nothing else brings you comfort in these tough times, you did your family proud tonight and you checked off yet another item on the list of your growing legacy in the history of the Phillies and Major League Baseball.

Again, I say congratulations.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down

2010-07-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's about time those 80-mph heaters caught up to the old man.

Sad as it may seem, Jamie Moyer is now the latest Phillie to take a ride on the DL carousel, which is becoming so crowded that it's turning into a maniacal game of spinning musical chairs. Kyle Kendrick was the man left standing as he was demoted to Triple-A. I don't see Andrew Carpenter or J.A. Happ changing the team's present fortune. It looks like the Phils are going to limp their way to the Trade Deadline.

It's incredible we got Moyer's services for this long. He's reached double figures in wins every full season he's spent with the Phightins', even leading the squad with 16 in 2008. He hasn't played less than a full season since 2000 when he was already in his late 30s.

After Moyer was forced to the bullpen to make room for Pedro Martinez last season, he proved his value this past spring and made it back to the rotation. He was as consistent as anyone could hope to be at his age, and hitters still admired his deceptive style on the mound. He was the third-best starter behind Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, and I wouldn't be surprised if his elbow began bothering him well before tonight.

Make no bones about it, this team is lost right now. The impulsive decision to option Kendrick appears like a virtual swing and miss at a bad pitch. The NL East has reverted back to its mid-2000s form with the Braves comfortably sitting in first place and the Phillies wallowing in mediocrity with the rest of the division. They managed to pull themselves out to make late runs in '05 and '06, and I'm wondering if they have the same fight in them this time. I can't make any predictions at this point.

The Phillies aren't going anywhere with their present group, so the only card left to play is a major trade. They need a starting pitcher now more than ever, and the option of trading Jayson Werth before the deadline - judging from the growing noise of frustration from the fans and the media - is becoming more of a possibility each passing day. His - and Happ's - involvement in a possible swap for a right-handed hurler would protect more prospects, but Werth's value is falling sharply with each strikeout. As far as other teams are concerned, 2009 may as well have been a fluke for the right fielder.

Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren and Ben Sheets have all been thrown around as possible names for a trade. All of them are stretches due to Oswalt's full no-trade clause and Haren's and Sheets' inconsistency (not to mention they're both injury-prone). The Phillies are maxed out on payroll so if they're serious about a deal, they're going to give up more than what's comfortable for them, particularly when dealing with the Astros, Diamondbacks and A's, who are all out of contention.

There's no perfect solution to this problem, and Ruben Amaro, Jr., said a pitcher alone is not going to get the Phillies back to the World Series, and he's right. The offense has been stuck in a coma for the better part of the season. But Amaro is dealing with a spoiled fanbase that has grown too accustomed to winning and is still angry at him for letting Cliff Lee get away before the start of this season. Whatever lies ahead for the team after July 31, he will be the scapegoat for any major failures.

But it's not Amaro's fault. This group was talented enough at the start of the year to become the first National League team in nearly 70 years to appear in the Fall Classic three straight times. Injuries to several key pieces of the puzzle have negatively affected the team more than anyone is willing to admit.

The tone of this post makes it sound like I'm throwing in the towel, but I'm merely explaining the reality of the Phillies' predicament. It's still very possible to snap out of this funk and make a run, but I will not feign shocking disappointment if that doesn't happen. Philly's morale is broken and it can't be restored until the players rediscover the confidence that made them the team to beat.

My Bad

2010-07-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

I promised a post about Shane Victorino concerning the rate at which the ball is flyin' out for the Hawaiin this season. This is a lesson to me to never again preview a post based on an assumption.

I figured there had to be some explanation as to why with 45 percent of the season left to play Victorino had already exceeded his season high in home runs. I was planning on making the grand claim that he was drawing from the bad example of Jimmy Rollins, whose power numbers had increased in recent years without regard to his on-base percentage. Referring to the theme of yesterday's posting, I reasoned that Victorino was trying to hit more home runs.

I deferred to Victorino's 2010 stats, expecting to find a significant difference in certain areas from past seasons. Specifically, a player trying to hit more home runs would have a lower ground-ball/fly-ball ratio and would tend to be less selective at the plate, resulting less pitches per plate appearance, more strikeouts and less walks.

Unfortunately, the verdict was not in my favor. Victorino's numbers in all the areas I just mentioned don't differ significantly from past years, and neither do J-Roll's for that matter (comparing his 20-plus home run seasons to the rest). In fact, I didn't even take into account that Rollins began hitting more home runs after the Phillies moved from the Vet to Citizens Bank and he cut down on his strikeouts, which contradicts the assumptions I made about Victorino.

The only significant difference in both their cases is in the years with more homers, their home run percentage on fly balls was much higher. Basically, Victorino is hitting the same amount of fly balls as he always did, it's just more of them are leaving the yard. That could be chalked up to a quicker bat speed, and not to mention that most of Victorino's blasts barely make it over the fence anyway. He's always been a fly-ball hitter and it's paying off for him more than ever.

Victorino has suffered from a lower batting average this season, but that has nothing to do with his increased power. Bad luck is a big factor there as his average on balls in play this season is just .258. He's simply hitting balls right at people more often than before.

If there's one thing I have learned from this rather humbling discovery is Charlie Manuel has the wrong guys in the leadoff spot. He's being blinded by Rollins' and Victorino's size and speed. It's true that the two of them will steal a healthy amount of bags and have a good chance of scoring when they reach base. The trouble is their collective OBP (.333) is far too low, and even though they're both switch hitters, they don't hit to all fields consistently enough. Placido Polanco, on the other hand, sprays the ball all over the place and is one of the best two-strike hitters in baseball. As for reaching base, no one is better at that on the Phillies than Chase Utley. I wonder what would happen if Manuel stuck Utley in the leadoff spot for a few weeks after he returned from the DL. Given the chance, he could definitely swipe more bags and is a smart base runner. The modified lineup would look something like this:

1. Chase Utley (L)
2. Placido Polanco (R)
3. Jimmy Rollins (S)
4. Ryan Howard (L)
5. Jayson Werth (R) (assuming he's still with the team in August)
6. Shane Victorino (S)
7. Raul Ibanez (L)
8. Carlos Ruiz (R)

The two-hole has always belonged to Polanco, obviously, but with Utley in front of him, there's more of a chance he would come to plate with a man on, and the distribution of righties and lefties in the order wouldn't be compromised. After dealing with a patient Utley and a pesky Polanco, a starting pitcher won't enjoy the first inning as much.

I guess this is how you learn and grow from making mistakes. I realized some errors in my logic and the journey to correct them led to a new batting order for the Phillies. At this point, it would behoove them to try anything new.

Stop trying so hard!

2010-07-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

The thing that I've grown a greater appreciation for as I've delved deeper into my understanding of baseball is the infinite number of things that can result from a pitch to the plate. I suppose the same is true after a snap of the football, a tee shot or a serve in tennis, but those things don't flood me right to the core with anticipation like baseball...

How lovely - the Phillies hit three home runs tonight. It's just a pity all of them came when the game was already lost and with no one on base. Four of the team's six runs Sunday night came via the fly ball. None of them threatened the Cubs' lead, so the pressure was more or less off in each case. Therein lies the point of my posting, which I'm embarrassed to say was unearthed by one of the game's most despised color analysts, Joe Morgan.

Then again, it makes perfect sense. How else would a team full of sluggers try and rid itself of a slump? Swing for the fences to try and be a hero and get the offense going. This is not the right mindset to have in a slump, but everyone in the lineup (except Placido Polanco) has home run on the brain every time they step to the plate. That may be fine for Ryan Howard, who's in the zone right now, but Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez are in too much of a rut, while Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino (the subject of my next posting) need to worry more about working the count and getting on base.

On the other hand, I can understand how frustrating this long stretch has been. The Philadelphia offense is not known to hit for average, hit well with runners in scoring position or post a high on-base percentage (they're presently among the bottom half of NL teams in all three categories), but they always had the home run to fall back on. Though the Phillies are presently fourth among NL teams in home runs with 98, they're on pace to finish well below last year's league-leading total of 224.

Injuries to Chase Utley and Rollins are partially to blame, but you see the great number of swings and misses at pitches out of the zone, the wasted pitches pulled foul and the countless pop-ups in the infield, it's not hard to guess where the rest of those missing bombs went. The hitters have spent so much time trying to crush every pitch that they've forgotten to look for the right one.

Being down by eight runs can sometimes clear a player's mind. It's easier to focus on your at-bat when the singular act of hitting a home run or reaching base will not affect the outcome of the game. The Phillies got down, way down, and then the home runs followed. The runs arrived far too late and once again, did not help Roy Halladay.

This will be a tough pattern to break, and it's hard to believe it's been going on for two months. A four-game sweep of the Reds is oddly bookended by six losses in eight total games to the Cubs and Pirates. The Reds weren't exactly at their best when the Phils faced them, and the St. Louis Cardinals are entering their series with Philly revitalized from a three-game sweep of the Dodgers that put them back in first place. This is not a good sign for a team that isn't hitting. Maybe instead of swinging for the fence, just aim for patches of grass unoccupied by white uniforms...

Polly gets his cracker

2010-07-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, guy's first game back from the DL. It almost seemed like it was supposed to happen that way.

It was Placido Polanco's only hit of the game, and it started the Phillies' four-run rally in game that came within one out of their third straight loss to the Cubs. Polly got some help on the other end, as Brian Schneider was out by a mile after trying to score from second base, but Geovany Soto let the excitement of a game-ending tag get the best of him. He barely allowed the ball to deflect off the top of his glove before he went lunging for his counterpart. In Bob Uecker's ironical vain, Schneider would have been "out by an eyelash," at the plate, but he instead scored the Phils' tying run.

Sadly, it's becoming routine in the eighth and ninth innings to beg the Phillies to keep rallies going because you never know which Brad Lidge you're going to get in the ninth. Luckily, patience above all else led to the promised land. Five of the nine batters in the frame drew walks, including a rare one from Jimmy Rollins. And though Jayson Werth couldn't put the ball in play, it was refreshing to see him do something else in a crucial, late-game moment than strike out.

I must also give big props to Raul Ibanez for tearing down the line on a weak grounder to Derek Lee that turned into an RBI infield single when James Russell couldn't cover first base in time. Much has been made of Ibanez's lack of contributions to the team, but he's one guy who will bust out of that batter's box on contact, no matter where the ball is headed. He doesn't look 38 years old running down the line either.

There were so many good things to like about that inning, and the Phillie lineup is nearly whole again with Polanco back in there, but the offense continues to sputter along. Cole Hamels is looking better with every start, but the hitters didn't give him a single run. This was his eighth quality start of the season that did not result in a winning decision. Had Soto waited a fraction of a second longer, Hamels' 2010 record would have fallen below .500 yet again. Roy Halladay can definitely relate.

Doc and Hamels are the Philly's two best pitchers, but they are a combined 17-14 on the year. The Phillies have given them each an average of less than four runs per game, compared to nearly six for Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick. You can't expect the aces to keep piling up the goose eggs on the scoreboard every single time out.

OK...I expect that from Halladay, and we'll see what the Phillies give him tomorrow against Cubs hurler Tom Gorzelanny. The odds don't look good as the Philly bats mustered just three hits off him in a loss on May 19, and that was in one of the seven games this season they had all the regulars in the lineup. They need to break their current trend soon or they'll need binoculars to see how far ahead the Braves are in the division.

Pass the mustard

2010-07-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

A throwaway title seemed fitting as I'm running out of unique ways to describe the Phillies' inconsistency. We're only two games into the second half, but the team has nothing on their plate but baseball for the next 16 days. Every subsequent loss is going to make that journey stretch out even further.

I admit that Philadelphia would not be playing with such off-and-on success with all of its pieces in place, but like Ryan Howard said, this team can still win even with all of these injuries. Maybe the players don't remember what its like to have so many of their teammates missing at one time. They're clearly not coping with it as well as the Boston Red Sox.

Howard has seemed to fool himself into thinking it's already late August in these first two games, smoking three two-run jacks, two of which have given the Phillies the lead. Thus far, he's provided two-thirds of the Phightins' total offense in the second half, and he can't be expected to carry the load on his own. The Cubs have suddenly forgotten that they're a team in a freefall, so the rest of the Phillie bats need to follow Ryan's example over these last two games.

When it comes to the Phils, I've never subscribed to the wait-and-see approach, but after following them more closely than I have before, I'm reaching that ambivalent point. The Phillies will either snap out of this for good at some future date or ride the seesaw through the rest of the season and likely miss the playoffs. They need several core players back and shop aggressively at the Trade Deadline (Ruben Amaro, Jr.'s moves last season basically got the Phillies back to World Series). Only then will the team be able to prevent one different aspect in every game that prevents it from winning.

The Big Stein demands final calzone

2010-07-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

The baseball gods have been rewarding my patience over and over again for the past several years. Some presents have satisfied trivial hopes, others have been monumental. I got to see two Phillies win back-to-back Home Run Derbies. Two Phillies won back-to-back MVPs. The Phillies made the playoffs for three straight years and won their first world championship in my lifetime. An unbelievable five Phillies took the field for the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis. And now after 14 years of waiting, I finally see the National League win the Midsummer Classic this year. As an introverted, hometown Phillies fan with a lower class background, I was born to be an underdog, and the NL underdogs finally pulled one out.

Those same baseball gods opened their gates this morning to welcome home a true giant of the game, George Steinbrenner. Despite the hostility I feel toward the New York Yankees, particularly after watching my team lose the World Series to them last year, I must pay grudging respect for a man whose death at the age of 80 dealt a huge blow to the game of baseball.

Grudging respect is what I conveyed to the TV screen when I watched the last All-Star Game ever played at the old Yankee Stadium, and when I saw the last-ever game played there two months later. Grudging respect was what I gave to Yankee captain Derek Jeter in a column I wrote about the second World Baseball Classic, when he led a determined United States team with his words and his bat.

I have to try hard to fathom the loss that the Yankee organization and fans are feeling because for everything there is to love about Steinbrenner, there are an equal number of things to hate. I don't subscribe to the notion that winning is everything, and I despise the practice of trying to win a World Series by filling your roster with over-priced free agents. I question Steinbrenner's morality due to many of the decisions that he made during his four decades as the owner of the Yankees.

However, I'm certain that when Steinbrenner took the job in the early 1970s, he knew it would be his last. All die-hard baseball fans understand the great tradition of baseball and the significant place it holds in the fabric of American history. Much of that tradition can be associated with the Yankees, and Steinbrenner put his heart and soul into returning the team to prominence and carrying on the torch.

The Boss also softened up in his final 15 years as owner. I actually rooted for the Yankees in the World Series during their dynasty years in the latter half of the 1990s, and those Yankees were built the right way with a significant number of their contributors coming from their farm system.

Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly can't make this claim, but today's Yankee players admired "Mr. Steinbrenner" for the care he showed to them, the fans and the organization. Until his health declined, he was a visible, accessible owner who wanted nothing more than his players to win and take pride in donning the New York pinstripes. The legacy of the Yankees was one he understood, cherished and helped continue into the new millennium.

I still can't wait for the day when the New York Yankees are no longer the best team in baseball, and millions of fans agree with me, but I can't ignore the lost presence of such a giant to the team and to the sport. We can hate the Yankees all we want, but we must all admit that we would love to have the vision and success of George Steinbrenner.

Why does the AL always win?

2010-07-12T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've got some more Trek geek trivia for you, which compares to the National League's current plight. I noticed a long time ago, and it's probably noted on several Trekker blogs and message boards, that during the entire seven-year run of Next Generation, Geordi LaForge was the only regular who never won a poker game. Seven years without winning once - that sounds familiar...

Ah, the age-old question.

It may seem strange to categorize the question as age-old considering that the NL dominated the Midsummer Classic for the majority of its history. But I think the adjective fits in my case, since the AL turned the tables in 1988 when I was only six years old. In that time, the AL has gone 18-3-1 in the All-Star Game and is presently maintaining a 12-game winning streak (excluding the 7-7 tie in 2002).

I’m on a fool’s errand to try and find an answer to the AL’s success, but that has never stopped any of my previous endeavors. In my research I used a combination of my own observations and expounded upon the opinions I heard and read from various sources. As always, it’s up to my audience to decide whether or not my findings carry any weight.

The first thing I did was to limit my research to the past seven All-Star Games, since the ridiculous decision was made that the winner of the mid-July showcase would be rewarded home-field advantage in the World Series (a decision that hasn’t really hurt NL teams, which have won three of the last seven Fall Classics without home-field advantage). The All-Star Game shouldn’t affect anything during the regular season or playoffs, but it’s good to study the games that have actually mattered. Steroid use has also been on the decline since 2003.

With the parameters set up, I started searching for a pattern of dominance. I knew this would be no easy task, given the inherent randomness of one baseball game, let alone seven. There was also the fact that the AL had won each of the last four All-Star Games by just one run.

Luckily, I happened to catch an interview Bob Costas conducted with Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. He asked them why they thought the AL kept winning, and they said the designated hitter gave the Junior Circuit all the advantage. That argument seemed pretty weak, but Costas led me down a more concrete path of reasoning when he pointed out that the Phillies offense struggled mightily against New York Yankee pitchers in the World Series. Howard particularly looked bad against a continuous string of breaking balls low and away.

It then dawned on me; why don’t NL pitchers throw Howard more off-speed junk? I’ve also read that AL pitchers in general throw more breaking balls, maybe because they don’t have to worry as much about small ball with the designated hitter. When you’re not throwing to poor-hitting pitchers or worrying as much about the bunt or hit-and-run, you don’t rely as much on the fastball. All major league hitters are looking for the fastball, so could the AL just be getting better pitches to hit from NL flame-throwers?

A general look at total baserunners and strikeouts over the last seven years turned up no patterns. The AL didn’t dominate either category.

As I continued my search, I read a theory online (with no numbers to back it up) that said the American League had better relief pitching in the All-Star Game. I immediately tracked down those numbers and on the surface, they appeared to support the claim.

In the past seven All-Star Games, AL relievers have posted a 3.91 ERA, compared to the NL’s 5.49. The disparity grows even more in the four one-run contests, three of which were decided in the last two innings. Since 2006, AL relievers have allowed just two earned runs in 15 innings, while striking out 16. In that same stretch, NL relievers have surrendered eight earned runs on 16 hits with just eight strikeouts.

This might explain the NL’s tendency to lean on starters much later in the game. The AL always seems to come up with the big hit off the guys whose job it is to shut down late rallies.

However, this explanation is hurt quite a bit by the fact that AL relievers have also walked eight batters in the past seven Midsummer Classics, compared to just three by the NL. The last thing you want to see late in a tight contest is a bunch of free passes. The AL is simply picking up the key outs, while the NL keeps getting hit.

In the end, this all seems to come down to a lot of luck. The AL stars keep calling heads and at the end of each game, George Washington’s profile continues to shine up at them.

The American League does have one clear advantage in relief pitching, though. Of the eight saves it has recorded since 1997, Mariano Rivera has four of them. Arguably the best relief pitcher in baseball history, Rivera has yet to allow an earned run in the All-Star Game.

The NL won’t have to worry about Rivera tomorrow due to his opting out, but his mentioning leads very well into my only other explanation: the AL always wins because the Yankees and the Red Sox are the two best teams in baseball. No other teams have enjoyed such a prominent presence in the Midsummer Classic. Since 2000, no fewer than a combined seven players from the two squads have been selected as representatives of the AL elite, and the pair also made up more than half of the starting lineups in ’02, ’05 and ’08.

Not only did New York and Boston feature some of the best pitchers of the last decade, but their hitters are notorious for working the count and getting on base. Stability breeds success and with so many Yankees and Red Sox taking the field every year, not to mention the pesky Ichiro cementing himself at the top of the lineup, it’s a winning formula. Aside from Albert Pujols, the NL can’t maintain that kind of consistency.

Whatever help the NL needs to break the pattern, it won’t get it from second-year manager Charlie Manuel. The Phillies skipper, in his infinite wisdom, decided to fill his roster with Atlanta utility infielder Omar Infante and Houston Astros centerfielder Michael Bourn (.255 batting average, 66 strikeouts and .661 OPS). Manuel apparently doesn’t pay attention to anyone in his league outside of former Phillies and players from his own division. Two guys who have no business making an All-Star Team, and probably never will again, were chosen outright, while the Reds’ Joey Votto – the best hitter in the NL right now – needed to squeeze in with the fans’ final vote. Votto is a guy who could easily come up with a couple of big hits, and he might not even leave the dugout.

This isn’t the first time NL managers have made poor decisions in the All-Star Game. King Albert Pujols was kept away from his batting box throne in the ’07 Classic by his own manager, while the vastly inferior Aaron Rowand (even in his career year with the Phillies) was given a second at-bat and flew out with the bases loaded to end the game.

The odds don’t seem to be in the NL’s favor with all of these mitigating factors, but if the closeness of the past four games is any indicator, the coin could still fall the Senior Circuit’s way by the time the last out is made tomorrow in Anaheim.

Unfortunately, I see the gap widening and Washington’s face shining brighter than ever. The AL will take this one by a final of 6-3.

I can't keep up!

2010-07-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

From Lewis Black's 2006 HBO Special, "Red White and Screwed" - The past year-and-a-half is the toughest time I've ever spent as a comedian. It's just become more and more difficult. I just can't keep up with all this sh*t. It used to be easy. One or two things might happen in a week, but now something will happen and I'd read about it, and I'd go, "I'm gonna make that funny," and the next day, THIRTY OTHER THINGS HAVE F#!&ING HAPPENED! I don't even have a Ports of Dubai joke, and we're on to immigration!

It’s unfortunate I don’t have access to the Internet whenever I spend a weekend in my old stomping grounds (northern Delaware as most of you know). The Phillies tend to pull off the most memorable and improbable feats during those weekends, so excuse me once again for this untimely posting.

You know you’ve seen a great baseball game when it enthralls you to the point that you don’t much care who wins. Such a game took place Saturday night. I happened to make a trip to the batting cages and after a few unsuccessful sessions of trying to hit the ball the other way, I began watching the pitching masterpieces of Roy Halladay and Kevin Wood. One thing is for certain, if the Reds continue to bring up prospects of Wood’s quality, they’re going to be a contender in the NL Central for years to come.

I watched in awe and disbelief as Wood took a perfect game into the ninth inning. My adrenalin had already been pumping from hitting some live balls, and now I had to keep myself from shaking with excitement. It would have been worth a Phillies loss if it meant I was going to witness this unprecedented event. If all of these standout performances on the hill across baseball were the result of cleansing the game of steroids (assuming it was primarily the hitters who were cheating), I’m not complaining.

Wood came within three outs of perfection, narrowly out-dueling his veteran opponent. Halladay arguably had his best outing of the season, aside from his own perfect game, keeping Cincinnati from rewarding its rookie hurler’s dominance with any runs. Perhaps Halladay felt more himself on the mound with his battery-mate, Carlos Ruiz, back behind the plate.

Ruiz was apparently itching to return as well. Not only was he a key part of Halladay’s memorable night two months ago, he ended Wood’s bid with a leadoff double. Even Phillie fans at Citizens Bank Park would not have minded cheering on history for the other side, but when that hit found grass in left center, their screams conveyed a different message: Chooch is back!

Unlike Armondo Galarraga’s denied glory, this near-perfect game was legitimate, and Wood displayed the mental toughness of a veteran, stranding Ruiz on base and preserving his nine-inning, one-hit shutout.

They call it homefield advantage for a reason, though, and the Phillies finally provided for the bullpen the run that would have been enough for Halladay. After Ruiz’s second double, Jimmy Rollins came through with a walk-off hit. In the end, Philadelphia denied Wood a rare accomplishment and achieved one of its own, winning its third straight game in walk-off fashion. Who could’ve imagine packing so much into a 1-0 game?!

The Phillies are becoming an authority of 1-0 games, as they swept the Reds on Sunday with their second straight win of that score. It's been 97 years since Philly pulled that off, and that was 10 years before Babe Ruth made the home run popular.

J-Roll provided the only run in both games, slapping in the latter with an opposite-field hit like I wasn't able to do in the cage. Since his return from the DL, Rollins has definitely come through in big spots for the Phitins.

In four games, the Phillies beat the Reds by just five total runs. You hope the All-Star Break won't stop the momentum because it's wins like this that will lead to ones of larger margins down the road. I can certainly see a half-full glass. Placido Polanco and J.A. Happ will be back soon, and Philadelphia is generally a second-half team.

Good luck to Halladay and Ryan Howard in Anaheim tomorrow, and I hope the rest of the team enjoys the break. Three days don't seem like much after 20 straight games, and the Phillies have 18 straight more to begin the second half. If they stay on this winning track, it'll have to come on the road with back-to-back, four-game series against the Cubs and Cardinals. Philly just improved its record against the NL Central quite a bit, so watch out, Carpenter and Wainright.

Paying the ransom

2010-07-09T23:40:00.001-07:00

Holy Howard, they did it again!

This team is certainly capable of the comeback they pulled off tonight, but who would have expected to see it? The way this season has gone, it's completely unlike the Phillies to suddenly figure out a pitcher who had been dominating them for eight innings.

And while it was Ryan Howard's blast that won it against the Reds in the 10th inning, the thanks really goes to Cody Ransom, who entered the game with just six at-bats this season and seven big league homers in his career. He hadn't gone yard in nearly two years, but he made sure he didn't miss Francisco Cordero's fastball that caught too much of the plate. His blast followed Greg Dobbs' three-run shot that breathed some life into a down-but-not-out offense. Give it up for the bench guys! Praise for them has not been a common occurrence this year.

Though the Phils couldn't finish it in the ninth, you could not have asked for a bigger momentum shift. It was the perfect time for Ryan Madson to make up for his rocky return from the DL on Thursday, and push that ERA back down. The deflated Reds were retired in order in the 10th - two by strikeout. It was a pleasant reminder of the '08 Madson.

It's all but a certainty that the Phillies will go into the break in third place, but these last two wins have to fill them with more confidence than they've felt in several weeks. I recall another team a few years back that won two straight games in walk-off fashion after some horrible defeats, and they went on to pull off the biggest postseason upset in baseball history before going on to win the World Series. This obviously isn't the same situation of the 2004 Red Sox, but this would not be bad time at all to turn the ship around.

Never a dull moment

2010-07-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

I'll never admit it when the they lose, but the Phillies always have a flare for the unusual, and all the quirky ways they win and lose games give me constant reminders of why I love baseball so much.

No one could have predicted this outcome.

It's early July and Shane Victorino now has more home runs than Jayson Werth. In Thursday night's game, the Phillies lost the lead twice after the seventh inning, Brad Lidge blew a save (stirring up horrible memories of last season) and they still managed to win.

How was this possible? Brian Schneider became the second Phillies catcher this year to hit a walk-off home run in extra innings. Philadelphia has not been used to homers from No. 2 on the field since a man named Lieberthal. Phillies catchers only have a combined eight bombs this year, but this one felt so good. It laughed in the face of the logic that was so certain the team would lose this game.

I dare any player from any other team to say they got a better welcoming reception at home plate, too. The crazy Hawaiin was at the center of the celebration, beckoning the hero with a few pounds of the bat that sent his team and the home crowd into a frenzy. Regular season baseball doesn't get much better than that.

Even if Philly was sitting in last place, wins like this make anyone feel like they're walking on air. There are still three crucial games left before the break, but I'm not going to ruin the moment. Let those guys enjoy the present and the present is the rush of victory. Way to go.

Deception Island

2010-07-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Brady Anderson, you'll never know it was me because you'll never read this blog, but I apologize for taunting you from the stands at that Orioles game my dad and went to nearly nine years ago. You were a great player nearing the end of your career, and I was too immature and disrespectful to realize that. A thousand pardons.

Though my blog title does reference today's topic, I would like to brag that I also have been to that island on the Antarctic Peninsula. It was amazing.

Admittedly, I'm finding it harder to blog about every Phillies game because I don't want to keep spewing out the same material over and over. There's not much point if I can't touch on something original, something new that hasn't occurred to me or - if I'm really lucky - anybody else. I've got to keep this thing fresh so it continues to be a product people want to continue to invest their time in, even if my audience is just a few crazy baseball fans. It's true that Jamie Moyer picked the worst time to have another bad outing when the Braves are starting to feel comfortable at the top, but today I'd like to talk about the Big Man.

I've held off blogging about No. 6 because more than anyone else on the team, his role is clear and simple: hit home runs and drive people in. Over the past four years, no one has been better at doing that than Ryan Howard. The only other three players to put up his numbers in four straight years - Babe Ruth, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Sammy Sosa - are either dead, suspect or retired. Ryan is, dare I say, an island unto himself.

Though he's been just as bogged down by the Phillies' struggles this season as anyone else, a quick glance at his present stats does encourage a little optimism. Howard seems to be continuing on last year's track of approaching the hitting success of his rookie season. The month of April notwithstanding, it's been a long, long while since we've seen Howard's batting average at .298. He's finally starting to understand why there are always three hitters on the right side of the infield when he steps to the plate. He's hitting the ball the other way with more regularity, especially on the ground.

And therein lies the deception...

Upon closer inspection, Howard is on the track toward the least productive season of his career. No one could expect him to maintain the freakish numbers forever, and he'll still probably hit more than 30 homers and knock in and score more than 100 runs. But all around, he's not taking the same approach at the plate as in years past. Consider these numbers in a "if the season ended today" scenario:

- Though Howard is striking out less (a career-low mark of 23.1%), he's also walking a lot less, just 7.3% of the time. Pitchers would consider themselves lucky to get Howard out when he first got to the bigs, but the task is not so hard anymore.

- Not surprisingly, Howard's discipline at the plate is also wavering. While teammate Jayson Werth is presently tied for second in the league in pitches seen per at bat (4.38), Howard's 3.79 is barely a blip on the radar. He'll still see his fair share of 2-2 and 3-2 counts from less experienced pitchers who just want to stay away from him, but Howard used to work the count a lot better than he does now.

- Howard's line drive rate remains steady in the 20s, but many more of those line drives are falling in for singles. We're used to seeing much more pop from Howard. If the ball didn't go out, it would at least be caught at the warning track or crushed deep into the alleys for a double. His present extra-base hits rate of 9.6% is not the inconsistency you'd expect from your cleanup hitter. It could be the pressure to perform from his new contract or the extra weight he lost in the offseason. Whatever the reason, Howard just isn't driving the ball with the same authority.

- Relative to the rest of the league, Howard's OPS of .854 is quite respectable, but it's not the figure you want from your power-hitting first baseman and sits 100 points lower than his career average.

- Despite his higher batting average, the big man's on-base percentage is only .349. There was one season in which he got on with less frequency, and that was 2008 when he batted just .251. That year, his numbers in all the other categories I previously mentioned were markedly better than in 2010.

Of course, we're only halfway through the season, and we all know what happens to Ryan in August and September: nobody can seem to get him out. If the Phillies continue to struggle, they'll need him to step up more than ever as the postseason looms. All these singles just won't cut it.

With Placido Polanco and Chase Utley out, Howard also needs to work the count a lot more. Werth's the only one doing a good job of that in the lineup right now, and many of his counts seem to end fruitlessly with strikeouts in key situations that only build a pitcher's confidence back up. The pitcher won't even experience that good feeling if Howard battles until he gets that mistake pitch and crushes it onto Ashburn Alley. Man, I sure miss that.

A clean victory

2010-07-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

I hope millions of other people are just as outraged as I am by the latest commercial Pizza Hutt has dished out. Two Little Leaguers are sitting in their team's dugout after a game, giddily telling the viewers that their coach rewards every loss with a trip to the famous restaurant. They all but admit that this mouth-watering gesture gives them incentive to lose. This is some of the worst marketing I've ever seen, and I curse the people that allowed it to see the light of day. Viewed another way, the commercial is a biting critique on how the Unites States educates its children. It's no secret that child obesity is reaching epidemic levels, and the amount of unhealthy food ads thrown at our youth today is appalling. No wonder they're lagging behind almost every other developed nation in the classroom. We see our unfit, uninspired preteen slumped on the couch surrounded by half-eaten snacks and lost in whatever world Playstation has dreamed up, and rather than pulling the plug and encouraging him/her to get outside and experience life, we laugh to ourselves, marvel at the child's hand-eye coordination and say, "We never had anything like that when I was growing up." Believe me, you're better off without it, and so is your kid.

It's good to see the Phillies win with Roy Halladay on the hill like they're supposed to. They only gave him three runs, but that was enough tonight against the first-place Braves. It was also good to see two of those runs supplied by Greg Dobbs' two-run shot that gave the Phils their first lead in the sixth inning. If anyone needed to come through, it was him. He was able to straighten out yesterday's monster foul ball in Pittsburgh.

More importantly, Philadelphia had its first error-free game since Halladay's last start June 30. Four straight games with at least one defensive miscue is not very Phillie-like, and nothing gets under a pitcher's skin more than the guys behind him giving the opposition an extra out. Just ask Cole Hamels about Game 2 of last year's NLCS.

Speaking of Hamels, he's on tomorrow night and he'll need to be just as sharp as Halladay. You never know how many runs the Phillies will score these days, and you can't break this momentum. The Reds are next in line and are just as determined to keep their lead in the Central.

Cloudy skies

2010-07-04T23:35:00.000-07:00

Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard didn't have much to celebrate today.

This was a day to reflect upon the freedom we enjoy in this great nation and the men and women who are serving in the military for us, and for a few select baseball players, this was a day to enjoy being selected to represent their team and their sport in next Tuesday's All-Star Game. Any pleasant feelings brought on by those events were destroyed in the bottom of the seventh inning when six Pirates triumphantly crossed the plate and completed a demoralizing Keystone Series for the Phillies.

It would be unfair to say that the team is playing as bad as it did during that horrific stretch in late May/early June, but it is hard to remember how much worse that was when you lose three out of four to Pittsburgh. That kind of failure would be understandable if this was football or hockey, but the Pirates are a team not playing for anything. The team that just passed them in the NL Central standings started the season 0-8, and who knows how many of their players will still be taking the field at PNC Park this time next month.

It was shocking how quickly Joe Blanton's motor went from cruising to stalled out. The pitcher who closed the sixth and then opened the seventh seemed like two different people. Three of Blanton's first four pitches in that crucial inning were crushed, and suddenly the go-ahead run was at the plate. To add insult to injury, his catcher had just given him some insurance in the top of the seventh with a solo homer (Dane Sardinha has turned plenty of heads during his short time with the major league club). It was an ugly meltdown to watch, and we've all seen more than our fair share this season.

Now the Phillies have to carry this burdensome load into a three-game series with the division-leading Braves. In the absolute worst-case scenario, Philadelphia could be eight games back by the end of it and just one game above .500 (a place the team has not fallen to since the third game of the season). Then again, the Phillies were in this spot just three weeks ago. They were fading fast before they managed to take two of three from the Yankees and start a brief resurgence. Should they pull that off again, they could still end the first half feeling good about where they are.

And Halladay and Howard could feel good about being All-Stars.

Would you like to ride with Batman?

2010-07-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone remembers this commercial, but it was from the mid-1990s, and it involved a football coach checking on one of his players who was on the receiving end of a shell-shocking tackle. The coach asks him, "Who am I," to which the player responds plainly, "You're coach." The coach then asks the player, "Who are you?" The player beams at him with confidence as he proclaims, "I'm Batman!"

The Phillies offense has been afflicted with a case of mistaken identity, though the new person is not a masked vigilante with a killer suit and a car that fills the military with envy (I just wanted to share the memory of that hilarious commercial). Philly is more akin to Two Face, dominated by an evil side that can't score runs. The only upside is that every once in a while, Harvey Dent re-emerges to dispose of enemy pitching.

I guess Daniel McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf were like the Joker, a new threat the Phillies had no idea how to overcome, and Paul Maholm was the familiar crime boss who was easy to put away (despite the lefty coming in with a 3-1 record and 3.29 ERA against Philadelphia). The Phillies jumped all over him early in a 12-4 thrashing that finally gave them a win at PNC Park. No matter what team the Phils face, when they hit the cover off the ball like they used to do on a regular basis, it seems to occur at random, and these outbursts are surrounded by three- or four-game stretches of bewilderment. It's a dizzying pattern to follow and is not making much of a dent (no pun intended) in the division.

I'm glad Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth finally listened to my pleas, ending their respective RBI droughts of six and eight games. They combined to drive in four runs - the kind of production you want to see out of at least one of them every game with Utley and Polanco out of the lineup. Ironically, their help wasn't really needed tonight, but J-Roll and Victorino aren't going to combine for six hits and the cycle too often.

Ben Francisco finally got the home run monkey off his back, and his increased playing time over the last few weeks has helped his hitting. I'd expect to see him out there more and more. It may still be too early to tell, but it appears as if 38-year-old Raul Ibanez is on a career decline.

Kyle Kendrick is dealing with his own Two Face issues, but the better half that he showed throughout all of Spring Training - and easily won him the fifth spot in the rotation after J.A. Happ went down - returned in his first-ever complete game. This is the fifth straight game in which a Philly starter has gone at least seven innings, but the team is just 2-3 in that stretch.

This is a group that is fully capable of winning, even regaining first place in the East, without Chase Utley or Placido Polanco. There's no doubt in my mind of that. I'm just not sure they believe that right now. I feel like I've said this way too much, but tonight's win was a good start back to that confidence. They need to find their inner-Batman and continue to take care of the bad guys.

Rolling the wrong way

2010-07-03T02:16:00.000-07:00

My initially-shallow well of useful information to dispense about a Phillies loss has been now been completely tapped, so I won't even make the effort this time.

I will instead reveal a troubling realization I made a mere 12 hours ago: Jimmy Rollins does not represent what I believe to be a model baseball player - particularly as a leadoff hitter, the role he's occupied for the majority of his career.

My discovery of this was first made possible from Jimmy's own mouth and strengthened by my current reading of "Moneyball," Michael Lewis's bestseller, which I'm utilizing to sharpen my baseball knowledge and observations of the game. The information I've soaked in has cast the game in an even more negative light than the Steroids Era.

It started with an interview Bob Costas conducted with Rollins and Ryan Howard for MLB Network in late May. It aired a month later and I finally caught it yesterday afternoon. The interview, like many before it, fell short of my expectations. The majority of Costas's questions were fluff-dominated, and Howard gave his usual cliche answers without a hint of clarity or intellect (I get more substance out of high school athletes), while J-Roll did his typical job of looking cute for the camera and the audience.

The only meaty question Costas aimed at the stars concerned an infamous incident in 2008 when Rollins got chewed out by Charlie Manuel for not hustling down the line on an infield pop-up that was dropped. At the time, Rollins didn't question his manager's disappointment and immediately owned up to his mistake. While he repeated those words to Costas, he then tried to justify why he didn't charge out of the batter's box. I can't recall his exact words, but no justification should have ever been attempted. You don't hustle, you hurt the team. Period.

Costas remained on this topic for a few minutes and asked Rollins what the point was of walking out of the batter's box and admiring a home run, rather than running on contact to try and reach second base in case the ball didn't leave the yard. Jimmy's response was something like this:

"When you've been around long enough, you get a good feel for which balls are going to be home runs. Sometimes you hit balls that you're not sure if they're going to go out or not, but you've got to make it look like you know."

Before making that ridiculous comment, Rollins had already said what most devoted Phillies fans knew, that his idol growing up was Rickey Henderson. The thing Jimmy loved the most about Rickey was his showmanship; how he worked the entertainment aspect of the game. His cocky statement about admiring home runs only confirmed the fact that he didn't adapt the right aspects of Rickey's game to his own.

It's true that Rickey showed off and he displayed a remarkable mix of power and speed, but the area of the game he absolutely dominated was the very definition of a leadoff hitter - getting on base. In addition to all of his stolen bases, runs and homers, Henderson walked 2,190 times in his career, which was briefly an all-time record before being broken by Barry Bonds (a ton of Phillies fans, including myself, saw his record-setting free pass with the Padres in 2001, as it came in a game against the Phils). Jimmy Rollins' 484 walks barely scratches the surface.

In even more glaring example of the colossal gap separating the two players, Henderson's career on-base percentage of .401 ranks 43rd all-time among non-active players. Jimmy Rollins does not even have the highest career OBP on his team. In fact, of all the starters in the lineup, J-Roll's career OBP of .330 is dead last. As the students of the Bill James School of Baseball will tell you, OBP is the best tool we have of measuring a hitter's performance for his team.

This realization is damning to say the least, but I have always believed that hustle and putting forth your absolute best effort all the time are the highest responsibilities of any athlete. Many baseball players today are too blinded by their bank accounts and star status to give their all on the field, and J-Roll is no exception. We've all watched as his home run totals have ballooned over the past four years (an average of 12 in his first five seasons to an average of 22 from '06-'09), and he most likely stood and stared at each one with a smugness Rickey would applaud. Unfortunately, those shots don't mean much when he's not reaching base with any kind of regularity.

I'm not saying that Rollins isn't a valuable piece of the team, as his MVP year in 2007 will prove, but he could be helping out the Phillies so much more just by making small adjustments most leadoff hitters should perfect in the minor leagues like working the count better and hitting to all parts of the field.

And Jimmy, don't stand and watch the ball. Bust out of the box and think about second base.

That don't make no sense!

2010-07-01T20:58:00.000-07:00

OK, people, explain this to me.

A shuffled lineup and the overwhelming presence of backup players did not seem to hurt the Phillies on Thursday night. The top three hitters in the order all reached base at least once. Greg Dobbs showed some life with just his second two-hit game of the season, and Jimmy Rollins displayed some necessary power from the three-hole with a double. Wilson Valdez went yard again and is now 7 for his last 22 (.318) with two bombs, 8 RBI and 6 runs scored.

Cole Hamels rebounded from his ugly start last Saturday, pitching seven quality innings. He allowed just five hits, struck out eight and didn't allow a home run for the first time since May. He also took a page out of Roy Halladay's control book, throwing 75 percent of his pitches for strikes.

And yet, the Phillies lost 3-2 to the Pirates, who are fading away toward their 18th straight losing season. They were beaten by a McCutchen, but not the one who is presently the only Pirate anyone outside of the Pittsburgh area can name. Daniel McCutchen was making just his second start since returning from a demotion to Triple-A (a return only made possible by an injury to Zach Duke). Before Thursday, McCutchen had yet to see his ERA fall into the single digits this season, but he is now the latest in a long line of pitching nobodies that looked like a somebody against the Philly lineup.

With so many injuries plaguing the team, the Phils needed their three-headed monster of Howard-Werth-Ibanez to do some damage, but tonight they looked like the three blind mice. 1-for-11 with no RBI, four strikeouts and seven runners stranded is not going to get the job done, guys. Everyone else did their job, but you left them hanging. Against the Pirates of all teams!

To be fair, things being the way they are, I wasn't expecting a sweep. The Bucs got themselves a win at home against the reigning NL champs. If the Phillies don't win these final three games, it'll be a long wait until the Trade Deadline.

Oh Pooey

2010-06-29T22:16:00.001-07:00

Ok, Wilson Valdez, just hit like that every day for the next month.

Yeesh...this season is starting to resemble 2007 more and more, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Phillies fans woke up today and discovered that half of their infield was on the DL for an unspecified amount of time. The revolving door of injuries is starting to get jammed as Philadelphia was just about to get J.A. Happ back. Once he returns, that still leaves six players who can't take the field.

Losing Utley and Polanco is the biggest blow yet; no question about it. Chase was starting to hit like himself again and Polanco has been the team's most consistent hitter all season. The Phillies had no choice but to recall Greg Dobbs, whose hitting hadn't improved with a demotion to Triple-A.

And yet, the Phillies still won on Tuesday against the Reds with the help of seven combined RBI from Valdez and Brian Schneider. This obviously won't be the norm, but Philly needs its remaining regulars in the lineup to produce now more than ever.

This would be the perfect time for Jayson Werth to enter one of his bizarre home run streaks, and why not? He had one last year right before the All-Star Break. Though his average is right around .300, Ryan Howard needs to start playing like the 125-million dollar man. Ashburn Alley is missing his presence.

With Jimmy Rollins already missing so much time, the Philly lineup has yet to resemble the stability of the last two seasons, but again, I bring up 2007. Utley, Howard, Shane Victorino, Brett Myers and Freddy Garcia (remember him??), among others, all missed time with injuries, and Pat Burell's dismal first half made him an unofficial absence as well. And how did the team respond? It went on to win the division on the last day of the season and advance to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

Tonight's win was a good start and history lets all of us know that there's still hope.

Grudging Congratulations

2010-06-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

I've noticed recently that if a pitcher doesn't throw a fastball in a hitter's count, it means he's not giving in, and if he does throw a fastball then it means he's not afraid. It makes me wish that we could just call pitchers frightened quitters and get away with it.

It was that quick swing and power that we all remember well, but it wasn't for our team.

Instead, Scott Rolen's blast off Kyle Kendrick in the fourth inning ruined his night and foretold the rest of the game. I can't imagine Phillies fans would react with appreciation in Citizens Bank Park, but I admit I'm happy for Rolen that he hit his 300th home run - not just because he's on my Fantasy Team.

Exactly one half of those bombs were hit for the Phillies, and though he's now spent more seasons with other teams (and winning a World Series with St. Louis), I still feel like Rolen is a Phillie at heart. He spent his formative years with us and enjoyed some of his best seasons before injuries took their toll and likely prevented him from possible Hall of Fame consideration.

It's also good to see him finally put up some solid numbers again in the twilight of his career. I don't know how many years he has left in the tank, but live it up, Scotty.

As for guy who hardly ever gets injured, Chase Utley might possibly need to make a trip to DL after he foolishly decided to play thumb wars with second base in tonight's game. The base won hands down and Utley was tagged out trying to stretch a single into a double. The guy who played nearly an entire game with a broken wrist three years ago needed to be lifted in the ninth inning when he couldn't properly grip a bat with his swollen right thumb. This is not promising news.

I was also surprised that Utley slid head-first into second base. It's a sliding technique coaches at all levels discourage for the very reason Utley may have to miss a few games or worse. Utley was one of the few players I'd noticed who usually tried to slide feet-first, and he's so far the ONLY one I've seen do that on the always-dangerous slide into first base. It's one of the reasons why he's my favorite Phillie. Like the Scott Rolen of old, Utley displays a mix of power and speed. His work ethic and approach to the game are admirable, and though he's a star, he shies away from the spotlight and never does selfish things like admire his home runs after they leave his bat (Raul Ibanez and Shane Victorino are good about that as well).

Can you tell I'll miss his presence if Chase is forced out of the lineup?

On a final note, it's interesting that the Phillies managed to do so little against a strikeout pitcher that didn't strike anyone out. Johnny Cueto left the magic up to his sparkling defense, easily erasing the nightmare of his previous outing against Philly last year when he allowed nine runs in the first inning. The way they've been hitting lately, it wasn't far-fetched to expect a similar outcome. But Cueto, Rolen and the Reds in general are on fire right now, and the Phils stepped into the flames.

Shame on me for not putting Cueto on my Fantasy Team as well.

Advantage, Average Joes

2010-06-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

My Dad never gets tired of telling me that during Matt Stairs' brief but memorable tenure with the Phitins, he considered the two of them twins. They were both 5-foot-8 and of generous girth (Stairs apparently grew tired of the comparison as he shed 30 pounds in the offseason before heading to camp with the Padres). The only major difference between them was the distance the ball would travel when each of them made contact with a major league fastball. My dad's batted ball might barely reach the pitcher's mound if it had a good tailwind, while Stairs' ball would result in a beer shower for the guy sitting halfway up the second deck after it landed in his cup. The chubby MLB journeyman resembled many of his fans, which along with his easy-going personality and timely pinch-hit bombs, endeared him to all in Philadelphia. Having a gut doesn't necessarily mean you can't win big games.

It's been crazy times at Wimbledon with single matches lasting three days, and I just watched a clip of the movie "Dodgeball." The combination of the two to form the title of this blog works so well with the Phillies' most recent game against the Cleveland Indians that I feel like everything in the cosmos may be righting itself. It's clear I don't have enough faith in my team to believe it was capable of returning to its former self without any supernatural intervention.

It's also so easy to forget that the Phillies are actually a game better than they were at this point last year, because four games above .500 was still good enough to claim first place in the division in '09. When Jimmy was no longer rolling and the rest of the team laid down and dared everyone else in the East to try and dethrone them, no one could do it.

That strategy didn't work as well this year, but a little competition never hurt anyone.

Every other Phillies blogger or reporter has already slapped a metaphor on the vicious storm that halted today's laugher in the eighth inning, but who can blame them? This is the first time in more than a month that the Phils brought the thunder and truly beat up on someone, and like Stairs in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, the chubby guys led the charge.

First, there was Uncle Cholly, who got ejected for the second time in three games in the second inning, causing him to miss virtually all of the Phillies' outburst. His usually calm and collected demeanor fits this team well, but it always helps to see your manager show some emotion. The players are returning to their early-season form, and he doesn't want to see them get cheated. Big kudos.

Then there was Joe Blanton, and there wasn't anything average about his performance today. He threw his second straight quality start after notching just two in his first eight. He's finally gotten control of his sinker, as he's induced 19 ground outs against 11 fly outs over those two starts. His eight strikeouts today were also the most he's collected in a start since striking out 10 Tampa Bay Rays exactly one year ago.

Finally, Dane Sardinha had Phillies scouts booking the next available flight to Hawaii when he belted his first major league homer. Most fans had no clue who this guy was before today's lineup was announced, and now a few nuts will purchase some fish head masks off amazon.com and spend the next few weeks isolated in a section of the upper deck at Citizens Bank Park, gyrating to their own choreographed dance and calling themselves "Dane's Sardinhas."

The slimmer stars did their part as well. I usually look this kind of stuff up myself, the stickler that I am, but I'll simply ask when was the last time Chase Utley and Jayson Werth each had at least three hits in a game? I may hate myself later for saying this, but it looks like the slump is ending. The offense not only piled on the runs, but did so in multiple innings, which had been a problem even before the team's well-documented struggles.

Of course, the Indians are a team the Phillies are supposed to beat, and they finally did so in a manner that we're used to seeing. The bats are finally rewarding some stellar outings by their starting pitchers. I know Roy Halladay is begging for that kind of support, so we'll see what big boys step up for him tomorrow against his old team. At least I'm feeling optimistic again, which should automatically be the case when Doc takes the hill.

note: I noticed earlier today that the recently-improved Phillies are just one of three teams in the NL (the Reds and Padres being the other two) that sport a record above .500 both at home and on the road. Now there's a nice shot of optimism.

Good to be home

2010-06-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

Man, I figured I would always be able to think of something to write about in these italicized unrelated introductions, since they're not limited to baseball. I guess I was wrong...

Just like Mr. Ozzie Smith told that high school auditorium full of fans in Cooperstown, "It's all about timing."

It didn't matter that Jimmy Rollins was hitless in his first eight at-bats since coming off the DL. The only important thing is what took place in his crucial ninth trip to the plate tonight with his team down a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to the Cleveland Indians.

First of all, the Phillies are lucky that with a runner at first and nobody out, pinch-hitter Ben Francisco's ground ball didn't result in a double play. That left the tying run on base and gave J-Roll a chance to be a hero.

And I don't think I've ever seen Jimmy hit a ball that hard. All I can say is thank goodness it stayed fair.

It was the first walk-off blast of Rollins' long career, and the Wizard of Oz was sure on to something when he talked about timing. To get a big hit like that just after returning to the club provided his teammates with a glaring example of why he's so vital to their success. J-Roll not only came through in the clutch but also right after committing an error that allowed the go-ahead run to score a half-inning earlier. Maybe the presence of Rollins really can help the Phillies get back on track, or at least not dwell so much on how far they've fallen in recent weeks.

Before I move on to my next topic, I must mention how I "saw" J-Roll's shot. With no access to the live game, I was watching it using Gameday on mlb.com. It's a three-dimensional simulation of the live game, showing the trajectory, speed and break of each pitch right after its thrown. Despite Indians closer Kerry Wood's great difficulty with staying healthy during his career, it was impressive to see that his fastball was still reaching the mid-to-upper 90s.

It's also impressive that no matter how hard a ball is thrown, if it's right down the middle, a professional hitter will crush the hell out of it. Wood's 1-1 fastball to Rollins clocked in at 95 miles per hour, but he could not have hit the center of the strike zone so precisely again if he tried, and Jimmy knew exactly what to do with it. The hit reminded me of J-Roll's walk-off triple in Game 4 of last year's NLCS off Dodgers closer Jonahtan Broxton. That fastball was thrown at 99 mph.

Tonight's win gave the Phillies their sixth win in their last nine games, believe it or not, and many of those games have been against the best teams in the AL. With four Interleague games left, Philly already has more wins than it did in IP last year and in 2008.

The victory also guaranteed the Phils a home series win, something they haven't pulled off since taking two out of three at home against the Braves May 7-9 (it was also their first Interleague home series win in three years). This is the second time I'm referencing the 1997 Phillies since starting this blog, and I hope it's the last. That was the last time Philadelphia played six straight home series without winning one of them. It's a good thing they've thrown in a few road series wins or else they'd need binoculars to catch a glimpse of first place in the East.

Dramatic victories are always fun for a team and after the Phillies' only other walk-off win on May 4, they won nine of their next 11. If that's what's in store for them in the next two weeks, it's going to be a relaxing All-Star Break.

Take the hint, Raul

2010-06-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

(Roundtable host to Bob Feller): “In 1940, you threw the only no-hitter on Opening Day in major league history. What do you remember, or what can you tell us about that game?”

Feller: “It was cold as Hell.”

The 91-year-old Hall of Famer then elaborated on his unique feat, saying how happy he was to accomplish it in front of his teammates, fans and family.

Family was the recurring theme of the Father's Day Hall of Fame Classic Weekend in Cooperstown. The nostalgia was as thick as the summer heat, and my dad and I soaked it all in. The Baseball Hall of Fame was easily in the top five of the most incredible places I've ever been to in my short lifetime. As we walked around, my dad and I quickly realized that anyone who wasn't a baseball fan in this town was automatically an outsider. We expected that, but the feeling was still a surprise because it's usually the exact opposite. It was almost like coming home.

I would argue that the gigantic role that baseball has played in his life has kept 'Rapid Robert' going all of these years. All of the great memories and community feel of the sport have kept Feller young. Being surrounded by thousands of other devoted fans (yes, even the Yankee supporters) made us all feel like kids again, too. Feller and the other six Hall of Famers in attendance during the weekend jumped at the chance to recapture that feeling of innocence.

Feller conveniently leads me into my next topic, as tonight Jamie Moyer tied the former Cleveland Indians hurler nearly twice his age on the all-time wins list. He notched his 266th victory with yet another stellar showing on the hill against none other than Feller's old ballclub. The tame Tribe hitters were clueless against Moyer's slow deception, as they managed just two hits off him through eight innings.

Of course, one of those two hits was a moon shot by Russell Branyan to tie Moyer with another Phillie, Robin Roberts, for the most home runs allowed all time at 505. What's even more interesting is assuming Jamie plays out the remainder of his three-year contract as a starter and retires after the 2011 season, he might finish his career surrendering 548 dongs, which would match Mike Schmidt's Phillies-leading career total. It's quite a dubious honor, but obviously chalked up to Moyer's durability in the game, and it won't hurt his Hall of Fame eligibility.

One player who did hurt his own standing was Greg 'fallen-from-pinch-hitting-grace' Dobbs. As the Phils re-activated Jimmy Rollins from the DL, they designated Dobbs for assignment. Philly also ended the second brief, failed experiment with Scott Mathieson, recalling Mike Zagurski in what has to be an attempt to help the bullpen recover from one its worst meltdowns in recent memory against the Twins on Saturday.

It says something about the state of bench when you need to subtract a guy to make it better, but Dobbs has quickly turned from Mr. Dependable into Mr. Expendable. It's a sad result as Dobbs was such an integral component to the postseason-bound teams of 2007 and '08. Before I fully understood the dynamics of the situation, I was actually surprised when Jayson Werth started getting more playing time in the latter half of '08 than Dobbs, who was a better hitter. That is clearly not the case anymore.

The team is presently not making any headway with closing the gap in the division. The All-Star Break and the Trade Deadline are quickly approaching, so other major personnel changes may take place if the Phillies remain on their present course of mediocrity.

Raul Ibanez, take this as your final warning.

The 38-year-old Phillies left fielder hasn't been the player they expected him to be for a year now. He's not seeing the ball well, which was even a fact during last season as a whole when he posted the worst strikeout/at-bat (1/4.2) and ground out/fly out (1.27) ratios of his career.

Ibanez has only managed brief glimpses of his former self in 2010. The latest occurred earlier this month when he went 8-for-20 over five games against the Marlins and Red Sox, but he has returned to his usual output, hitting just 5-for-22 (.227) since. His overall batting average hasn't risen above .267 at any point this season, and his power is virtually non-existent.

I don't know how many more times I can hear Charlie Manuel say that Ibanez will work his way out of this funk. He just might, but we've been waiting for a full season now. Given a healthy number of at-bats, Ben Francisco could provide the Phillies with so much more at the plate and in the field. I'd give Ibanez another week or two at most, and then at the very least bench him for a few games. This lineup can't afford a black hole in the No. 6 spot any longer.

Tonight's win was good, and J-Roll's return was even better. Despite all the griping and negativity, the boys' ride through Interleague Play has turned out a little better than I feared. The toughest part of it is over, so it's time to finish strong. Simply summon your inner-Feller.

Nuttier than Victorino

2010-06-17T21:50:00.000-07:00

Another short one tonight. They always seem to be short when the Phillies win, but this time I actually have a good reason. I'm driving to and from Altoona tomorrow to cover a state championship baseball game, coming back to Gettysburg to type a sloppy story, then driving to Delaware for some quick zzzzz before getting up Saturday morning to drive five hours north to the Baseball Hall of Fame with my dad. Who said life had to be boring?

All I can say about tonight's game is it's good to see the Phillies win back-to-back games and score more than five runs in each of them. You've got to go all the way back to May 14-15 to find the last time they pulled that off. I almost called it a miracle just then, but these are the Phils we expect to see. This would be the perfect time to turn it all around, while they're still just 3.5 out.

It doesn't get any easier over the weekend, with Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and the rest of the TC crew, hoping to take full advantage of the short porches at The Bank in the Philadelphia summer heat.

On a more serious note, this Hall of Fame trip with the "old man" is something we've talked about since I was a little tyke in a Little League uniform. I've really broken the bank with this Father's Day gift, but I owe my love of the best game on earth to him, and this is something I want to share with him while he's still here and healthy and before all my free time is eaten away when my wife and I decide to have children. Cooperstown is the Mecca for all fans of baseball, and the time for my pilgrimage has arrived.

Happy to be wrong

2010-06-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Six hits aren't that reassuring, but a win at Yankee Stadium is, and I saw a few other things that stuck out about tonight's game.

Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth went back-to-back right after a four-run inning, which is an important step for home run hitters trying to escape a slump. They got a hold of hittable pitches, rather than swinging late or not at all.

The Phillies as a team stole three bases. That's an aggressiveness they need to show in every single game. They have the speed to beat the pitchers with quick deliveries and catchers with accurate arms. I dare you to try and catch me, Yadier Molina.

Certain Phillies players love to prove wrong what I say about them in fresh posts, but they've all been for the best so keep it up!

Jamie Moyer gets shelled by the Boston Red Sox, then turns around and eats the Yankee lineup for dinner over eight innings of off-speed glory. He seems hit-or-miss, but if we're keeping Joe Blanton in the rotation, then Moyer definitely belongs there.

It remains to be seen whether this will finally be the game that leads the Phillies back to the team we remember from the last two years, or just another glimmer of sunlight in an otherwise stormy sky. I tend to lean toward the second possibility.

Again guys, prove me wrong.

Fair & Balanced

2010-06-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

I don't typically write about what's going on in the news, because sadly I don't consider myself informed enough. Even when I try to be, details thrown around on any given day end up confusing me, and I just turn right back to ESPN. However, at this critical time for our country, I offer a simple question. I completely understand President Obama's initial decision to allow BP to clean up its own mess in the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone would have; it was their fault. But after how many failures does it take for a president to exercise his executive power to find someone, ANYONE with more intelligence and resources to try and clean up the mess. The entire ecosystem down there is now screwed as this crisis has dragged on for countless weeks. I can't claim to know the Obama administration's plan of action when the spill first occurred, but it's safe to say they waited too long to respond.

Ok, A-Rod didn't play tonight, but it's not like the Yankees needed him anyway.

I'll go on about how this is the beginning of the end for the Phillies (which is still premature to say at this point), but not today. I decided instead to distract myself with another more positive baseball activity.

I just cast my votes for the All-Star Game.

It's really thrilling to have a tiny hand in deciding which ball-bashing superstars - and aging, but still adored veterans - will race onto the field in July's battle of the leagues. To call the process a popularity contest is as obvious as calling Albert Pujols a good hitter, but I try not to concern myself with that too much. The reason for that is I'm just as guilty as everyone else.

I'd like to think that my selections are objective and based on performance from year to year. First of all, I always wait until June to vote so I get a much better idea of the standouts in each league. I then look through each starter's season stats to determine my selections. I make sure to look at the sluggers who have also hit for a high average, in addition to the most successful leadoff hitters. In the case of a tie between two power guys, stolen bases will tip the scale.

Also, players who have superior career numbers, but who are no longer producing (i.e. - Chipper Jones, Jim Thome, Jason Giambi, etc.) aren't considered.

I undermine this whole process, however, because I also follow two fundamentally flawed and ridiculously unfair rules: vote for every Phillies starter at least once and don't waste any votes on a Yankee.

Fox News, I am ready to send you my resume.

In recent years, I have felt a steadily growing guilt about the former rule, so I've begun to split my votes in the NL between Phillies and other position players I feel are more deserving. This new practice became necessary when I deferred to Ryan Howard's .220 batting average and 90 strikeouts, while King Albert was getting the shaft. I realize my current division approach doesn't help anyone or anything aside from my own conscience, but I can live with that.

There are plenty of other voters out there like me, which is more apparent than ever this season. Despite the Phillies' slide, six of them would be headed for southern California July 13 if the present results were final.

On the flip side, the two New York Yankees most deserving of a start at Anaheim, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano, aren't getting any love from me. It's easy to rationalize that move, however, because they clearly don't need my help.

I wish I could claim that above all else, I want to see two teams filled with the best players of the 2010 season lined up on either side of home plate at Angel Stadium next month. But in truth, all I really want to see is as many red-pinstriped players there as possible, so they can show baseball fans around the country just how good they are.

Maybe by then, they actually will.

Bad time for a rematch

2010-06-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

For the first time in my journalism career, I will be covering a state championship game. Best of all, it's a baseball championship game. Against all odds, one of the area high school teams that we cover at the Gettysburg Times has won every single postseason game it has played for a chance to do something no area baseball team before it has accomplished (at least according to the archives that go back to 1977). Nothing beats Major League Baseball as far as sports are concerned, but it's times like these that I consider myself infinitely lucky to be a professional sports writer.

It's really a shame the New York Yankees won't be facing Roy Halladay AND Cole Hamels in their upcoming clash with the Phillies at Yankee Stadium. Philly fans have been waiting all season long to say that, but it does look like Hamels is finally approaching the dominant hurler he was in 2008.

They'll have to triple the normal security in New York for tomorrow night's series. Plenty of people will be drive up I-95 to see their home team, and considering that they will enter the same place in which the Yankees dethroned the Phillies as world champs last November, tempers will undoubtedly flare throughout every section and every row.

It actually makes me glad I won't be there.

I also wouldn't want to see A-Rod break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the ninth with a towering home run to right center. I wouldn't want to witness the careless flipping of the bat as he watches his shot leave the yard, throwing one fist in the air and popping the pink bubble gum in his mouth. He'll pop it with authority, basking in his superstar smugness and the knowledge that he is the latest in a long line of spoilers who have denied Roy Halladay's pitching brilliance with a win.

Halladay should be 10-2 right now, and the confidence he gives his teammates should allow him the expectation that they will support him on the other end. But thus far, Halladay as had to be "perfect" to let his success show at least somewhat in his record. Over his last five starts combined, the Phillies have scored a paltry five runs for him. Halladay has gone just 2-3 over that stretch. A complete-game loss is almost unheard these days, and it's even harder to believe that Halladay has one this season, particularly with such a loaded lineup.

Sure, Halladay's one really bad start of the season came against another AL East opponent, the Boston Red Sox, but the Yankees would be foolish to think that they're in for an easy night.

The Phillies offense also can't think the same about CC Sabathia, who hasn't recorded a win against Philadelphia (including the postseason) since June 2007. Sabathia is also off to his usual slow start, as four of his six wins this season have come against the down-and-out Baltimore Orioles. However, the Phillies aren't hitting much better than the O's right now.

The Phils need to kill the scenario playing out in my head because I don't see Kyle Kendrick enjoying much success against the Yankee lineup, and Jamie Moyer still has yet to prove that he can pitch against a hot-hitting club. The A-Rod bomb I'm envisioning will spark a three-game sweep that reduces the Phillies to a doormat for the Twins when they come to town at the end of the week.

Tomorrow night the boys in red will have to make Halladay feel good about only giving up one run to the opposition. Shane Victorino will need to reach base at least twice. Chase Utley will need to rediscover the stroke that allowed him to go deep on Sabathia three times in last year's Fall Classic. Raul Ibanez must maintain his recent surge, and for heaven's sake, Ryan Howard, just leave those tailing breaking balls alone!

The Green Monster's name is Oscar

2010-06-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Man, can anything go right for Jayson Werth?

The poor guy gets three hits for the first time in more than a month, and not only do the Phillies lose, but they get crushed by the largest margin of the season to the Red Sox.

To dump another bucket of lemon juice into the gaping wound, Jamie Moyer suffers the worst outing of his 24-year career. I didn't think my prediction would come true, but Boston lit Moyer up like he was in Little League.

Holy freaking God. Make it stop!

Wake me when it's the All-Star Break

2010-06-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

As far as I'm concerned, my word is absolute law when I say that "Cause and Effect" is the best episode of Star Trek the Next Generation. None of you could dare debate me on such a concrete fact because you have no clue what the hell I'm talking about.

"Just get on with the blog, you big Trekkie dork!"

Very well, Number One. Engage...

I'd feel worse about tonight's pathetic loss if Josh Johnson wasn't on my Fantasy Team. That performance may have just propelled me out of second-to-last place. With Interleague Play upon us, that just may be where the Phillies are heading.

Consider that since 2004, the Phillies have managed a .500 record in Interleague Play just once (8-7 in 2007). They've played particularly poorly against the AL during the regular season recently. In 2008 and 2009 combined, only the San Diego Padres (8-23) had a worse Interleague record than the Phils (10-23). Their three-game set with Boston last month was the beginning of this present breadown, which leaves little room for optimism about the next few weeks.

As recent All-Star Games and World Series have further proved, the AL generally dominates the NL in head-to-head matchups (that's a topic I'll explore in greater detail as the Mid-Summer Classic draws closer). Sub-par teams like the A's and Orioles are beating up on solid clubs like the Giants and Braves.

Looking at Philly's upcoming series, it has to get through New York, Boston and Minnesota before even seeing a sub-.500 AL team (Cleveland). Given that daunting challenge, it's hard to see a road series against the Blue Jays getting moved to Philadelphia as an advantage.

The past month, the Phils have traveled down a path marred with potholes and speed bumps, and now it looks like they're going to crash through the final warning sign and drive right off the cliff (or dare I say, their starship's warp core is about to breech). They haven't been hitting against pitchers they're familiar with, so what happens when they face a bunch of arms they don't usually see?

My only hope is that the two players who recently joined the team after spending significant time in the AL, Roy Halladay and Placido Polanco, can somehow lend some advice and guide them through the rough seas ahead. The duo presently represents the best pictcher and hitter on the team, respetively, so they better start doing some talking. Getting Jimmy Rollins and J.A. Happ back as well wouldn't hurt.

Giving up the Chase

2010-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

I actually had tonight off from work and was willing to sit through the atrocious commentating of the Washington Nationals' broadcasters so I could see how much last year's No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg would live up to the hype in his major league debut. I was denied his seven-inning, 14-strikeout masterpiece against the Pittsburgh Pirates (yeah, I know, it may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but a big league hitter is a big league hitter), though, because none of the usual sports stations in Gettysburg showed the game. MLB Network also blacked it out, despite this inexcusable error. Eh, at least I'll have plenty of other opportunities this season to catch a glimpse of his 100-plus heat before his arm falls off.

I have no idea if tonight was a random flash of lightning, or the approach of that old Phillies storm that dominated the division last season.

Given the fight of the Phils in Tuesday's series opener against the Marlins, it seems like the latter. The big boys showed some life, and the offense battled back from three different deficits in the game. The 10 runs scored were more than double what Philly had managed in its entire three-game series in South Florida in late May, and the most runs the Phils had scored in a single game since May 17.

If this truly is a new beginning, may the red flood drown the rest of the East and cleanse us all.

One guy I wouldn't mind see returning to his old ways is Chase Utley, and I'm not referring to his recent performance. Since the start of the 2009 season, Utley has fundamentally changed his approach at the plate.

The difference is noticeable when comparing Utley's stats from '08 to '09. He clearly made a concerted effort to be more selective at the dish, as his walks shot up from 64 to a career-high 88. That's usually a good thing for a hitter, but it wound up hurting Utley's production. His OPS remained steady in the low-.900s, but consider the significant drop in other areas: hits (177/161), doubles (41/28), total bases (325/290) and RBI (104/93). Utley's totals in all of those categories except hits were career lows since he became a starter in 2005, as was his .282 batting average.

It seemed like Utley's search for the perfect pitch inhibited his overall ability to hit. He also struck out 110 times in '09, which was six more than he had punched out in '08 in 36 fewer at-bats. Stealing a career-high 23 bases helped maintain his runs scored, but 2010 paints a much drearier picture for the Phillie second baseman.

We all know that Chase will snap out of the team-wide funk, and his two hits tonight were a good starting point. But heading into the second week of June, Utley has swiped just two bags on the year, which aren't nearly enough to account for his deficits in other areas. He's on pace to set a new career high in walks and maintain his above-average power, but the projected 74 RBI fall well below Utley's standards and aren't adequate in the 3-hole of such a potent lineup.

Though most guys would be happy with 150 hits and 30 doubles, this isn't the Utley we're used to seeing.

It's especially key for Chase to abandon his present tactics in order to step up in late-game situations against left-handed relievers. Of the three lefties in the Phillies' lineup, Utley has the most success against south paw hurlers with a .283 average. He can't be content for them to pitch around him, so they can go to town on Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez with a steady diet of breaking balls. Jayson Werth could conceivably save the day with a big hit in between them, but only during the eight random weeks of the season when he catches fire.

I'd love to see Utley recapture his past aggressiveness both at the plate and on the bases. The team needs that spark from him now more than ever.

What planet is this guy from?

2010-06-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

I happily hopped into my wonderful Chevy Lumina and made the short drive to Dillsburg, Pa., to cover my first high school baseball state tournament game. One of our area teams was going up against a team that traveled all the way from Philadelphia, a three-hour trip after factoring in traffic. The hometown fans quickly became bored, as they saw their boys jump out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and beat the Philly boys in five innings via the 10-run rule. It was disheartening to me that this squad was the best the inner city had to offer, and they struggled with basic mechanics you're supposed to learn in Little League. Major League Baseball has been trying to encourage inner-city youth to appreciate and learn the game again. From what I saw, there's still a long way to go...

Speaking of struggling teams from Philadelphia, I temporarily thought last night that I'd have to push back this particular posting when a Phillies hurler was pitching a no-hitter through six innings. Common sense then smacked me in the face, as I realized that pitcher was Cole Hamels.

Hamels no longer possesses the mental clarity to hold a team hitless for nine innings. Hell, he has to fight to keep his team in front when it gets an early lead for him, and the Phils hadn't even managed to do that for what feels like the 20th straight game. Sure enough, the Padres only needed two solo homers to break up the no-hitter and put themselves in great shape to win the game, denying the Phillies their first home series win in a month.

I know the rule is to never talk to a guy who's throwing a no-hitter, but Hamels is one of those guys you almost have to do the opposite. Talk to him about anything that gets his mind off the fact that he's throwing a no-hitter, because he'll think too much about the bite on his curve or the movement of his splitfinger and then bam! You're down 2-0.

One run.

Seriously, guys? I thought we were done with this. And the guy who dominated you on the mound...what's his name....LeBlanc? The only LeBlanc I had ever heard of before last night was the guy who played Joey on "Friends," and we could probably throw him out there and he'd have just as much success against this lineup.

The Utley-Howard-Werth combination is forming a Bermuda Triangle that wipes out all run production. The trio was a dismal 1-for-11 last night, and for the second game in a row, Jayson Werth ended it striking out swinging with a runner in scoring position.

This is starting to feel like some weird baseball horror movie.

LeBlanc's sucess against the Philly lineup reminded me of the all-to-recent scoreless drought of 30 straight innings against a bunch of no-name pitchers. At roughly the same time, early Cy Young Award favorite Ubaldo Jimenez pulled off a stretch of 33 innings without allowing a run. I've had the opportunity to see the wizard work and Praise Jeebus and Holy Hershiser, his stuff is nasty.

It’s too bad we don’t get more physical evidence of the supernatural or else the Phillies could claim that all those other pitchers they couldn't figure out were injected with Jimenez mojo or talent juice, and then the Monstars came down with orders from Danny DeVito to put the enslavement of the human race up for grabs in a contest featuring Michael Jordan and…oh wait, wrong fantasy…

You see how easy it is to get lost in this nightmare? For the love of Bugs Bunny, get out of this funk, Phillies, and get back in first place where you belong!

Moyer is so money...

2010-06-06T00:37:00.000-07:00

...and he doesn't even know it!

Mr. All-Business. Dr. Humble. Professor Changeup. Whatever title you throw his way, Jamie Moyer is all those things.

Living up to the innocence invoked by his first name, the 47-year-old won his 100th game over the age of 40 - and 264th overall - in style, tossing a complete game at a time in his life when most major league pitchers are teeing off at the country club or breaking down pitches and at-bats from the broadcast booth.

Most pitchers in their 40s don't reach the number of their age in wins, much less 100. Pitchers in this era are generally afraid to throw even their breaking balls at 80 miles per hour, and Moyer just baffled the San Diego Padres lineup with nine innings of that speed.

Mr. Ageless even added a Kodak moment in the ninth inning when his chest met grass going after a ground ball up the first base line from Jerry Hairston, Jr (flashbacks to Game 3 of the 2008 World Series, anyone?). He flipped to Ryan Howard to get the out and seemed annoyed that it took him so long to get the ball to first after he quickly rose to his feet again. Jamie, a lot of guys your age would need assistance from multiple family members/friends to get up after a spill like that. It just says so much about his great desire to help the team win.

The Phillie bats finally showed their appreciation for their veteran hurler's efforts, scoring more than three runs in a game for the first time since I started this blog (I briefly considered shutting it down and sitting on my cursed typing fingers until the drought was over).

Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth finally realized the bottom of the order couldn't hit above .220 forever, and they broke through against Jon Garland, one of the best pitchers in the league for the past month.

The sluggers also finally accepted the fact that to break out of a slump, you absolutely must hit the ball the other way. All three men did that on their run-scoring hits, and the humid, June air of home sweet home did its part as well. Let's face it, Werth's blast might have been playable for an infielder in April.

This is exactly what I like to see - some good baseball against a first-place team. Work out the kinks now because it won't be this easy against the Red Sox and Yankees later this month. They've got short porches too and batters who will foul off every deceivably slow pitch in the world until they find one to their liking.

That won't stop Moyer from challenging those hitters, just like all the others he's faced over the past 24 years. It's also nothing to him to dive for balls like his much younger defenders behind him do every day. That's why the Phillies keep him around.

And that's why he's so frickin' money.

Jimmy crack corn, and we need him back!

2010-06-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

And now a report from hippie-dippie weatherman Al Sleet.

Tonight's forecast: Dark.

Ah, the words from the late-great George Carlin were wondrously prophetic of the Philadelphia Phillies' present state. These are indeed dark times for the Phitins', and they would all welcome even some widely scattered light in their sky.

Sure, the Phillies are over their scoreless spell, but we expected a little more moisture than this. The offense has been atrocious, while the pitching has been a mix of brilliant and so-so. The latter has been the case all season, but the hurlers didn't have to worry that much with the big boys clocking the ball all over the place in April and early May.

To give an idea of just how bad things are going, the Phillies are 2-9 in their current slide. Before the down spiral they had the best record in the National League, but in each of these past 11 games the Phils haven't managed more than three runs, while getting outscored 50-14. The last time Phlly went 11 consecutive games scoring three or fewer runs was their first 11 to open the 1997 season. That year, the Phils finished tied for the worst record in the NL.

It's very hard to imagine that such a potent lineup would be capable of falling to those depths.

Here's an even creepier fact: this freefall began the first day Jimmy Rollins returned to the DL for the second time this season.

I realize the original story of the song I referenced in the title of this posting is about a slave mourning the death of his master. Certainly that doesn't reflect the present day, but it's interesting how J-Roll's absence has seemed to control the Phillies on their present course.

That argument at first glance appears pretty weak, as the team went along fine when Rollins was out for nearly a month earlier this year. However, when J-Roll came back the first time, the Phillies only had their veteran leader and former MVP for FIVE DAYS before he went down again. I'm not a major league player, but such a quick switch from misfortune to fortune and back to misfortune must have been quite frustrating. The roller coaster ride may have affected the players more than they realized, and Placido Polanco recently going down couldn't have helped.

Rollins is recognized as one of the best leadoff hitters in the game, and Polanco is one of the best contact hitters. When they're both out, it can have a negative impact on the offense. The way the Phillies are playing right now, they're probably begging for the return of No. 1 and No. 2 in the lineup.

At the same time, we have to remember that these are veteran major league hitters who have all experienced the loss of key guys before. They should be coping with it much better than they are. The Phillies played just fine when Rollins made his first trip to the DL in 2008, and the team made it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years while dealing with major injuries during all of 2007.

Given how tightly packed the standings are in the NL East, the Phillies could quickly find themselves in last place if they stay on their current course. Jayson Werth recently tried to put a rosy spin on the situation when he said, "We've played about as bad as we can here the past few weeks, and we're still in pretty good shape. I think sometimes all the negative talk needs to be looked at with the big picture in mind."

I'm sorry, Jayson, but you guys are presently smearing paint all over that big picture like distracted children in art class. You've gotten teacher Charlie so fed up that he's actually using big words like "big-headed" and "cockiness." There aren't any rainbows or sunshine, and the daily lineup is devoid of any gold stars.

It's time to fix this mess and fix it fast. The Phillies need to find themselves just to survive Interleague Play. Crossover games have never been kind to the team, aside from the big exception of the 2008 World Series. The players should try and summon the mentality of that triumph because they're definitely not playing like champions right now.

And just in case that's not enough, Jimmy, please hurry back.

Just call me Miss Cleo

2010-06-03T00:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! My Hollywood spin on Ken Griffey, Jr.'s long career turned out to be a prediction of the future. Apparently, I was controlled by other-worldly forces because just 14 hours after my post, Junior announced his retirement after 22 years and 630 home runs in the big leagues.

Not only that, he does it on my mom's birthday and 23 years to the day after he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners as the No. 1 pick. As George Costanza would say, worlds are colliding!

It's clear I possess some supernatural ability, so I will now don a purple cape with gold lining, a pair of 3D glasses, grow out my fro and highlight it with white streaks. I will make appearances at baseball stadiums and sporting goods stores across the country and derive visions of the future with my magical baseball, unearthed from the rubble of the old Yankee Stadium.

Who will win the 2010 World Series? When will the Pittsburgh Pirates finish above .500? Will Jose Canseco sign a deal to appear as himself in his own documentary entitled "Steroids & Me: A Love Story?" These questions and many more will be answered!

Or it was all just crazy coincidence.

Either way, my so-called psychic instincts were clearly out to lunch earlier this evening when I was laying out the front page of the sports section. I managed to fill it completely before 8 p.m. Griffey then decides to announce his retirement, and then a pitcher no one ever heard of was cheated on what would have been the final out of a perfect game, baseball's third in less than a month.

Making just his third start of the season for the Detroit Tigers after initially failing to land the No. 5 spot in the rotation in Spring Training, Armondo Galarraga seemed destined to nail down the first perfect game in franchise history after rookie centerfielder Austin Jackson made a Willie Mays-type catch over his shoulder for the first out of the ninth inning. Two batters later, a ground ball to first base set up what I have to believe would have been the first perfect game in which the pitcher made the 27th putout himself. Miguel Cabrera's throw to Galarraga at the bag beat Jason Donald by at least a half-step, but veteran umpire Jim Joyce called him safe.

Galarraga was the only one who didn't argue the call and remained composed enough to settle for a one-hit shutout. He threw just 88 pitches, 67 of them for strikes. That's perfection in anybody's book.

Joyce confessed to making the wrong call to the media after viewing the replay. The remorse he must have feel is unimaginable. Baseball players, managers and broadcasters all quickly came to Joyce's defense for his human error.

Despite what the replay showed, I do believe that as an umpire, it's your responsibility to keep emotion out of your decision-making on the field. If Joyce felt in that moment that Donald was safe, then he had to call him safe, regardless of what it meant for Galarraga and the Tigers.

However, the tidal wave of media and fan speculation and accusation may force Major League Baseball to finally loosen its grip on the old traditions, join the 21st century with every other sport and implement a full instant replay system.

My only question is can baseball afford to go down that road? I never hear people complain about the tempo of any other sport, and you know managers are going to toss their red flags out onto the field at least five times per game. Baseball may have recovered from the financial crisis it faced 15 years ago, but does it really want to move for something that may turn people away from the ballpark? The die-hard fans it has will stay no matter what, but all the others may not be willing to sit through more delays.

MLB should proceed cautiously through this pressing consideration. Then again, I suppose that's easy for me to say. The umpires got all the calls right in Roy Halladay's perfect game.

"Because of the kids!"

2010-06-02T02:32:00.000-07:00

I would like to share a fond personal memory:

I was a senior in high school as the new millennium approached (at least what the general public considered the new millennium, which as we all know, actually didn’t begin until 2001), and AOL was asking its users what they felt the Song of the Century should be. The classic rock lovers, I among them, weighed in the heaviest on this question. I cast my vote for Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven,” which was running neck-and-neck with Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird.” However, as I kept scrolling down through the votes, I noticed that another song had beaten both by long shot. It was John Lennon’s impassioned, secular call for world peace, “Imagine” and this realization brought an understanding grin to my face.

“Imagine all the people living for today. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”

The turn of the millennium brought the dawning of a new era for Major League Baseball. New legends were emerging before our eyes, breaking ancient records at an alarming rate.

None of us wanted to believe at the time that the era we were actually witnessing was created by performance-enhancing drugs. Ten years later, the lie and the disease of steroids are still with us.

It’s gotten to the point when the system of innocent until proven guilty no longer applies. Guilty by association has never been a more damning accusation.

And now over the past year, names have been slowly leaking off a supposedly sealed list of positive tests. Every name that’s revealed is followed by varied reactions on a spectrum with shocking at one end complete lack of surprise on the other.

With all the scandal unfolding, it’s natural for us to keep hanging on to some sense of purity and decency in the game.

There’s not much left to grasp, but the media and fans alike believe with deep conviction that one name still represents innocence and natural ability: Ken Griffey, Jr.

Steroids don’t cause people to fall unconscious, and that’s about the only controversy Griffey has stirred during his 21 years in the big leagues. Given the time during which he played and the astronomical numbers he put up as a member of the Seattle Mariners, he should be thankful that the only pressing questions from reporters are about his snoozing activities in the clubhouse during the late innings.

Fifteen years ago, Griffey, along with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, helped wake baseball back up from its nap with his explosive blend of power, speed and defense. He also struck endorsement deals with nearly every sports corporation imaginable. If you ate Wheaties or played Super Nintendo, you saw Junior’s face.

And when people finally started asking questions about these hammering heroes, Griffey was the only one whose physical frame still resembled the one from his rookie card.

The heat was on for the beefed up stars by the time Congress got involved in the steroids investigation in 2005. At the now-infamous hearing on steroids in March of that year, no seat was set aside for Griffey, because everyone knew one wasn’t necessary.

Since 2001, Junior has been crippled by countless injuries that have kept him from the production that made him a star in all but one season. One short-term benefit of steroids is that they help the body heal quickly from injuries. As anyone in Cincinnati can tell you, Griffey was hurt more often than he was healthy.

Junior’s descent from prominence reminds me of the movie “Unbreakable.” Griffey almost seemed like Bruce Willis’ superhero character in the 1990s, but his constant trips to the DL over the past decade have transformed him into Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Elijah, a.k.a. Mr. Glass.

Junior exhibits an interesting duality of those opposing forces in the film. He remains a beacon of light through baseball’s dark times, while he physically resembles a figure worn down by a body which can’t function any longer through the demands of his sport.

And what makes Junior so innocent, anyway? We have recently learned that certain kinds of performance-enhancing drugs or infrequent usage of others won’t drastically affect the physical appearance of the athlete taking them. Just ask A-Rod or Manny Ramirez.

The simple fact is Ken Griffey, Jr., just seems to be too much of an upstanding guy to sink to such a level. To our knowledge, he’s never cheated on his wife or made enemies of teammates or the press. He grew up around the game thanks to his father, who didn’t struggle with the personal demons that Bobby Bonds, Barry’s dad, did.

All Junior has to do is look into the camera and flash that smile that continues to remind us of his squeaky clean image, and he’s maintained that image while dealing with both the positives and drawbacks of being a star for more than half his life.

Regardless of whether or not Griffey was napping in the clubhouse during a game a few weeks ago, the veteran certainly sleeps easy at night knowing that he has given the game everything his body would allow, and nothing more.

And as long as his star shines above us baseball fans, we can all rest easy as well.

Did that actually happen?!

2010-05-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

While spending the holiday weekend in my home state of Delaware, I reluctantly joined some friends of mine at Damon's to watch the Flyers battle the Blackhawks in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Had it not been for an opportunity to chow down on some barbecue ribs, I might have rejected their invitation. Now I must eternally bow before those ice boxing-obsessed knuckleheads for far more than a simple porkfest.

Gee, Roy Halladay, thanks A LOT.

For the rest of the season, I will be unable to speak a single negative word about the Philadelphia Phillies. That's at least four - and most likely five - long months of holding my virtual tongue after every blown lead, losing streak or Ryan Howard slump.

Halladay, you may not understand after all those years in Toronto, but do you know how impossible such restraint is for a Philadelphia fan?? You may as well banish all the cheesesteak vendors from Citizens Bank Park or take away the Phanatic's all-terrain vehicle. It just ain't natural.

You bestowed this ungodly task upon me with your historic performance against the Marlins last night. Never before had I witnessed a no-hitter of any kind, coming the closest in 1997 when I watched Mike Mussina - during his pre-traitor glory years - take one into the eighth inning for the Orioles. Roy, you have now provided me with a trifecta of baseball bliss by showing me a perfect game for my team by the best hurler in baseball.

My standing in the sports blogging universe will never be the same. Even a hint of criticism toward my guys, and it's, "Hey, shut up, fool. You saw Roy Halladay throw a perfect game. They won't even let Johan Santana stay in the game past 105 pitches."

See what you've reduced me to?

And what's worse is you toyed with those hitters, while making all of us sweat. Nearly half of your outs never made it out of the batter's box, and I swear all 11 of those strike threes were on different pitches. You probably set a record for 3-2 counts in a perfect game, and you didn't give in with a fastball on any one of them.

To top it all off, you followed your worst start as a Phillie with the best start anyone in the majors is going to have all season. While all of your teammates crowded around you in celebration after the final out, the Marlins' dugout and clubhouse was likely littered with the splintered remains of bats broken out of the frustration you caused. Someone who makes a lot less money than you had to clean all that up, and the sounds of weeping can be heard from the second-floor administrative offices of the Louisville Slugger Factory.

All good, old-fashioned ribbing aside, you dazzled, champ. That pile of dirt 60 feet, 6 inches from the plate that you've made an inviting home over the past decade is your launching ground of magic displayed not just last night but every fifth game of the season. Most of the people who packed into that sports bar in New Castle, Delaware, were supporting a different team in a different sport, but by the last few innings of your greatest achievement, they were all cheering for you. Baseball never fails to remind me why I love it so much, and you gave me one of the best examples ever. Thanks for 2 hours and 14 minutes I'll never forget.

We caught a fish!

2010-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

The Phillies finally remembered how to score!

I could hear the collective sigh to the east after the Phitins' 3-2 win over the Marlins earlier tonight, and I never would have guessed the drought-ending raindrop would be a Raul Ibanez triple. Get it however you must, guys.

Then Ryan Howard ties the game an inning later with an RBI single, while he's sitting comfortably on my Fantasy Bench. Naturally...

I won't gripe anymore about my own failings as a manager. Charlie Manuel's confidence never wavered, and his boys are still in first place where they belong. And what a lovely metaphor - all they needed to get out of their funk was a trip to the Sunshine State.

Everyone enjoy their Memorial Day festivities! It's tough for me to rationalize honoring fallen American soldiers by inhaling a bunch of grilled hot dogs, but they are so very delicious.

Cheese and Goose Eggs

2010-05-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

And now for something completely different...

It's...

A report from the BBC2, as BBC1 has been arrested for showing its naughty bits in public.

It's just a four-game losing streak, but even the recent glory of a World Series title and three straight division titles aren't enough from wrestling down that same old Philadelphia fan pessimism. The Flyers are going to have to win a Stanley Cup to do that. It's times like these I almost wish I was a hockey fan.

The struggling Phillies have scored in just one of their last 38 innings. I'm not even going to bother wasting time on a search, because that has to be the worst futility of any team in that long of a stretch this season. The team itself hasn't been shut out three times in four games since 1990. Though I will always hate that Comcast doesn't show the Phillies here in Gettysburg, I'm glad I haven't been witness to the way they're playing right now.

At the same time, it doesn't surprise me all that much. As dangerous as it is, this lineup is full of sluggers who are very susceptible to striking out. Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth have all been known to suffer horrible slumps that last for long periods of time. If those slumps should coincide, that short porch in right field may as well be sitting directly behind first base.

It also doesn't help when J-Roll is on the DL and Shane Victorino isn't hitting in his stead. Roy Halladay has also lost his last two starts, though the lack of run support can negatively effect even the best pitcher in baseball.

Man these Phillies...they can destroy anyone and then turn around and make pitchers like Zach Duke, Tom Gorzelanny and R.A. Dickey look like Pedro Martinez.

Hopefully that closed meeting last night after Philly's second straight shutout loss to the Mets was a swift reminder to the players that they are a winning group that are still sitting in first place. That won't last long if this keeps up.

The Phils need to salvage a win against New York before a six-game road trip through Florida and Atlanta. If not, then I must resort to two words that have never before escaped my mouth.

Go Flyers.

Beards of Summer

2010-05-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Since I reminded myself of it yesterday, here is one of Larry Anderson's Shallow Thoughts, which during television broadcasts in the late 1990s were always preceded by this question from Harry Kalas (clearly grinning in anticipation as he asked it): "L.A.....do you have a Shallow Thought for the day?"

"Yes I do, Harry. If a turtle loses its shell, is it homeless or naked?"

a pregnant pause, then the obligatory chuckle from HK

Man, when it's not Interleague Play, those Phillies sure are fun to watch, aren't they? They've made first place their exclusive home as of late, and in no small thanks to that lovable furry slugger, Jayson Werth.

Playing his first full season as a starter in 2009, Werth came into his own, bashing long balls left and right and displaying more patience at the plate than anyone else in the game. And for female fans, Werth wasn't a bad dude to look at while he trotted around those bases, growing out his locks for the playoffs and rockin' the cool soul patch on his chin.

Then JW showed up at Spring Training camp in late February looking like he had just spent the last three months mushing sled dogs through the Yukon. The patch had transformed into a thick forest, which became the focus of all his interviews. Werth grew irritated by that same question (Who are you hiding underneath that fur?) after a few days like anyone would. Then again, maybe Barry Bonds should have done the same thing. I'm not in any way suggesting that Werth is taking steroids, but if Bonds had grown out a long beard, it might have distracted everyone from his freakishly expanding cranium.

I already touched on the subject of Werth's facial hair in a column I wrote for the Times at the start of the 2010 season. Unfortunately for me, the jerk went and shaved off his beard the day before the column ran, disproving all of my humorous predictions about how long he would keep it.

Werth then turned the tables again by simply growing the beard right back! It's recently dawned on me that Werth, like all baseball players, is probably ridiculously superstitious when it comes to playing the game. He grew the beard in the offseason and decided he liked the look (god knows why; it makes his long face appear downright creepy), but the Florida heat eventually got to him and he shaved it off.

Then the baseball superstition kicks in when he realizes this is his final season before becoming a free agent, and he needs to convince the higher-ups around the league that last year wasn't a fluke. It's Opening Day, and that beard can't grow back fast enough.

In his first two games against the Washington Nationals (Werth and everyone else's punching bag in '09), Werth goes just 1-for-8. By the end of the week, however, whiskers have sprouted all over the place. He's back in the zone. Five games in, Werth's average spikes to .409.

But where's that explosive power? Put your trust in the beard, Jayson.

By late April, Yukon Werth has all but returned, and he goes yard twice in one game against Arizona. Come early May, the beard is large, and Werth is in charge. He piles up eight extra-base hits in six games and nabs Player of the Week honors. As of this posting, Werth is ranked third in the NL with a .327 batting average and leads the league in doubles with an eye-popping 22. He's also on pace for his first 30 home run/100 RBI campaign.

Though I make fun, Werth's strategy is clearly working, so stick with it, buddy.

It's possible Jayson could be taking the advice of teammate Ryan Howard. The Big Man has been sporting a thin beard since last season, and it has apparently done wonders for him as well. 2009 was Howard's most consistent season since his rookie year. Consider that his batting average dipped below .250 in just two games the entire season, and both of those came in the first week of April. For a power hitter that strikes out nearly 200 times a season, that's an amazing accomplishment. It's all thanks to the scruff.

Clearly I am not basing any of this posting on dependable and recommended statistical analyses. Werth and Howard will likely shave off their beards before tomorrow night's game and combine to go 7-for-9 with five taters just to spite me and my hairy theories. That's fine; fuzz or no fuzz, just keep on winning fellas.

It's Time to Let Sarge Go

2010-05-24T02:10:00.000-07:00

A question for you to ponder: Is it a crime that I was born and raised in the Delaware Valley and at the age of 27, I just saw my first lacrosse game??

I trust I've left the five of you in suspense for my next posting. I made sure I waited until the oddest time of day to do so. Delirium has a way of making sequences of words flow in unique, distorted fashion.

This is something I've been meaning to get off my chest for quite a while: it's time to let Gary Matthews, Sr., go. His Cadillac Time has come and gone as far as I'm concerned, and I long for the sweet sounds of Larry Andersen's Shallow Thoughts.

Let's face it, some ex-ballplayers and managers are not meant to be broadcasters. I used to think otherwise, so I was excited at the start of the 2007 season when Sarge entered the booth for the Phillies. He was a local hero, despite only spending three of his 16 seasons with the Phightins.

I cut him some slack during that first year getting his feet wet with Harry the K and Wheels. HK was a broadcasting legend, and Chris Wheeler was also a seasoned veteran (all of his personal controversy aside). While I'm sure both of them made Sarge feel right at home, keeping up with those guys on air was likely intimidating.

However, by 2008, I had gone from giving Matthews the benefit of the doubt to doubting the benefit of his so-called broadcasting skills. The untimely passing of Harry last season (R.I.P) only made Sarge's inadequacies stick out more.

Whenever watching Phillies games, I'm usually cringing from the fourth through sixth innings when Matthews is on. In my many years of baseball viewing, I only reserve the disrespect of pressing the mute button during Atlanta's home games when the Tomahawk Chop theme plays, but I may have to extend that discourtesy for my beloved Phillies. Sarge is just too hard to listen to without fear of popping a blood vessel in my forehead.

To give some examples of his futility, Matthews never offers any insightful or original comments, which is the purpose of a color commentator. The play-by-play guy explains what happens, and the color guy elaborates with his own baseball knowledge and experience. I don't doubt that Matthews carries a wealth of both in his head, but it just seems like his discomfort of talking live on the air prevents any of that from pouring into the microphone. Instead, we just get glorified explanations of what the play-by-play guy just said, or embarrassing comments like this:

"What happens is you jerk off the ball. You just wanna let this guy here jam you, and if it comes, it comes."

This is probably Sarge's most infamous statement, and is the fodder for all 20-something Phillie fans with a YouTube account.

What I can't stand is when Tom McCarthy (who is no Harry Kalas himself, but good enough with Wheels) will try and draw some of Matthews' knowledge out with pointed questions. The only problem is that TMac partially answers the question himself in the middle of asking, and Sarge will simply regurgitate back that answer with slightly different words. Yeah, Sarge, we know J-Roll was looking for the fastball. McCarthy already said that...

Perhaps I'm being too harsh, and Sarge does impart some worthy comments for the die-hard fans. It's only that I'm so disappointed with the words he just said that I'm not even listening. Watching baseball should not have to be this tedious. Too many people already can't stand it because it's "too slow."

And hey, it's not like Sarge would be out of luck without the job. Many older fans would still line up for autographs and public appearances, thanking him for his stellar performance in the 1983 NLCS. And if that's not enough to pay the bills, he could be very successful implementing his own line of fedora hats. Half the male adult fans at Citizens Bank Park would be wearing them within a month.

Until then, Sarge's presence is just one of the many negative realities of today's Phillies' broadcasts that frequently find me lamenting, "Man, I really miss Harry and Whitey."

Welcome!/Oswalt to the NL East??

2010-05-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings, everyone!

Recent anxieties about my job security in the print journalism universe have pushed me to join the most up-to-date medium in the easiest and most insignificant way available: starting a blog. New technology has never come easy to me, and even setting up this blog took much longer than the average time, which is probably around 45 seconds.

But alas, here I am and it's time to get blogging! First, I'd like to point out that though this is a forum I'm presently focusing on sports, it is a completely separate entity from my position as a sports writer with the Gettysburg Times. My opinions expressed here in no way reflect those of the paper.

Second, I'm a rather scatterbrained individual. In fact, it only occurred to me to start this blog a couple hours ago. I can't promise that I will post with any degree of regularity, but I vow that when I do post, I will let all of you know. I value all input.

And finally, though I am a writer of all sports and love my job, the one sport about which I'm truly passionate is baseball. Therefore, the majority of my postings will concern the National Pastime, and my hometown team, the Phillies. I apologize if these topics are too boring for most of you, but too bad, this is my blog. If my baseball ramblings will in anyway aid in my dream to exclusively write for a major league ballclub, they will have served their purpose.

That introduction should suffice. Please enjoy all of my postings, however ingenius or inaccurate they turn out to be. Trust me, I've been in the sports reporting business for three years, and I've hit every point on that spectrum. Now let's commence with some baseball chat, which oddly enough for my first go-around will not deal with the Phillies.

It was just reported yesterday that Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt was asking for a trade. This news did not come as much surprise to me considering that the team is off to one of the worst starts in franchise history, and his paltry run support falls below what Jayson Werth alone provides the Phils nearly every night.

I imagine it's frustrating how close Oswalt came to donning a World Series ring in 2005, only to be denied by the Chicago White Sox, who needed help from the umpires just to make it to the Fall Classic. Since then, Houston has never finished better than 11 games above .500, which won't cut it against the powerhouse St. Louis Cardinals.

So where should Roy go?

His age (32), full no-trade clause and the $29 million left on his contract makes that a difficult situation, and the Astros would no doubt demand a lot in return. It doesn't appear Oswalt will be moved in the near future, but there are a couple of possibilities down the road if the teams are willing to take the risk.

The best option for both parties to me is the Atlanta Braves. They've gotten trounced by everyone in the division thus far, including the Washington Nationals, and their starting pitching - outside of Tim Hudson - has fallen well short of expectations. Altanta also has no timetable on the return of Jair Jurrjens, so a slot is open for Oswalt.

I imagine the Mississippi native would also like to remain close to home, especially after a recent tornado destroyed his parents' house. And given that the Phillies are just a Roy Halladay injury away from losing their grip on the East, adding Oswalt could help the Braves sneak into the postseason for the first time in five years.

I don't think the transition would be tough for Oswalt, as he wouldn't be switching leagues and has respectable numbers against the other four NL East teams - 19-12 record with an ERA of 3.46.

It all depends if the Braves are willing to spend the money. Their 2010 Opening Day payroll of $84.4 million was ranked 15th among the 30 major league teams, and they dumped $11 million in the offseason when they traded Javier Vasquez to the Yankees.

The deal is just one Tomahawk Chop away, and I say go for it, but me and my small-town newspaper salary will leave that decision up to the big boys.

I hope you've enjoyed these musings. Let me know what you think! Signing off for now.