I know we have a "big" series coming up with the Mets. We also had a tough trip to the West Coast. Due to all kinds of circumstances, my Phillies-viewing is at just about an all-time low. Therefore, I am largely not commenting on those games since I know little about them. It's also tough to comment too much on this Mets series since I have not been watching. Although it does seem that nobody has had a chance to watch our offense any time recently (with the exception of the last 3 innings of the Giants series)
With all of that said, here are just a few random notes about the Phillies or baseball in general:
- Trivia question: What is the past tense of the word "fly?" (answer below)
- The Mets are currently in first place with our beloved Phils in 2nd. As long as this is the case, I will actually be referring to the Phillies as being in first place. Recent history tells us the Mets are far too hysterically bad to have a shot at finishing in first place. Therefore, we are in first
- I now know what we are missing out on in terms of a broadcast team. Spending 4 days in Virginia and watching some Nationals games, I got to listen to Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble. The beautiful relationship between these two men made me want to be a Nationals fan. First of all, they are both there through the whole game. I don't know why the Phillies insist on doing some type of awkward tag teaming throughout a game. Probably to eliminate any flow. Or else to let Christopher Wheeler look up answers to trivia questions for 3 innings. Aside from that, it just seems like Bob and Rob are two Nationals fans talking about the game together. I don't know about everyone else, but I would like to hear a little bit of bias while watching my hometown team on my hometown station. It makes games more exciting and makes you feel like a part of the conversation.
- If you could only have one current Phillies player for the next 5 years, who would you pick? Jeremiah and I recently held a fantasy baseball draft with a few special stipulations. I'll tell you about that on another day I'm sure, but this draft really made me think about which player would be the most valuable for the next 5 seasons. It seems like you could really count on Chase Utley because it just always seems like you can count on him. Ryan Howard seems very important to the front office judging by his contract, but is he the one player they would pick if they could only have one? Roy Halladay is fantastic, but do we have to worry about him in 5 years when he is 37 years old? Shane Victorino is our youngest position player at 29. Does he do enough to make him worth 5 years and no other players? I have no idea what the heck Cole Hamels will do in his next start, much less the next 5 years. Something to consider
- Apparently the Phillies really do want to keep Jayson Werth around after this season. I wonder how difficult that is going to be, though. Werth is going to want some serious money, especially considering the money given to Jason Bay by the Mets who, I would say, is nowhere near as good as Werth as an all-around player. I wonder how much the Phillies are willing to spend. We are now at the point of selling out every single home game. Between that and $15 for parking (unbelievable, right?!), they've gotta have some spare cash laying around to give him somewhere close to what he wants. It is very true that we need a right-handed bat in our lineup, and without him, we would obviously be lacking one. I would rather pay him more than get someone to replace him that is not a true "Phillie"
- Speaking of "Phillie," is the singular form of "Phillies" really "Phillie?" With pluralization rules, could we not also assume that a single Phillies player is a "Philly?" Everyone assumes the i-e, but if you were to make "Philly" plural, it would also be "Phillies." Who thinks of these things?
- I do. As evidenced in the trivia question. The answer: flew. However, what does a baseball announcer say when someone flies out? "Howard flied out to deep right in his last at-bat." Flied, not flew. So here is how awesome baseball is:
According to dictionary.com, there are 32 definitions for "fly." The past tense is most definitely "flew" for 30 of these. There are only 2 definitions of fly that have the past tense "flied." One of them is related to theater or something. The other is specifically for a fly out in baseball. Awesome
- Speaking of how awesome baseball is, I love random baseball stats that have to be made up. There are so many different statistics in baseball that, if I did not watch basically every Phillies game, I would be convinced that they literally played half of their games on paper. Every single situation you can ever imagine happening has happened at some point in the history of this game. If, at any point in this season, you see that something has happened for the first time, please please please tell me. So then I can choose not to believe you. So here is an awesome stat I heard not too long ago, a perfect example of everything happening in baseball:
The Braves got no-hit by the Rockies on April 17. On April 18, they beat the Rockies on a walk-off single by Jason Heyward.
This was the first time that the Braves* had a walk-off win the day after being no-hit since 1951.**
*Yes, this is specific enough to only apply to the Braves, not baseball in general
**Yes, this has actually happened before. With this team.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Catching Up
Sorry for how horrible I have been at updating still. My old excuse of student teaching is now over. My excuse for right now is that I am in Virginia and cannot even watch the Phillies much less update a blog about them. But here's my best shot.
I last "updated" after Kendrick's 8 shutout innings that were blown by our bullpen. What have we learned since then?
-Roy Halladay is not human
-Our offense still does exist
-Cole Hamels is still undecided
-Jayson Werth is clutch
-Our pitching is suspect
Admittedly, some of these things were not really "learned" in the past 5 games, but they were certainly confirmed.
The Diamondbacks are a team that we need to win a series against. They are not a bad team, but they are definitely not good enough to win a series against us. We now play the Giants, a team with much better pitching than the D'Backs. If their pitching shuts down our bats, it will be very uncomfortable relying on our bullpen to get us through 3 games in San Francisco. Luckily, we probably don't have to worry about the first one since Roy Halladay is pitching that game tonight. Wednesday night's matchup should be an interesting one. Tim Lincecum is one of the best pitchers in baseball, and Cole Hamels can be if he wants to be. Hopefully he can get his act together for that game and go from there.
In other news, Ryan Howard signed a 5 year, $125 million extension today. This is a ton of money, but I think it is definitely a good thing. This locks up one of the cornerstones of our team for another 5 years on top of the contract he already had for this year and next. That will be one less thing to worry about in the future, and I think we will actually be saving money by doing this. Howard has put up big numbers consistently for us, and he will continue to ask for more and more money with those numbers. This prevents him from even being able to ask, and it also prevents us from losing him to the highest bidder. Overall, a great move by the Phillies.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Yikes
I did not get to actually watch this game due to the Flyers game. I did, however, follow it via Gamecast on ESPN.com. That was extremely painful. Judging by the comments on the last post, I think I am glad that I didn't get to see it.
Halladay starts Wednesday, Moyer on Thursday. Happ is skipping a start but should be back next time through the rotation I believe.
Halladay starts Wednesday, Moyer on Thursday. Happ is skipping a start but should be back next time through the rotation I believe.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Braves Series
The last two games against the Marlins are tough ones to handle. Moyer had a horrible first inning on Saturday night, but he came back and pitched very well for the rest of that game. In other words... So other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
We shouldn't expect to win a game in which our starter gives up 5 runs in the first inning. We also shouldn't expect to go 8 2/3 innings without scoring a run. This is a game that can actually be blamed on both pitching and hitting, something that rarely happens to the Phils.
Sunday's game was a different story. It was a great pitching performance to see live. It was a game where I actually felt like I was witnessing something great. I would be the greediest person alive to ask to see a better game than that by Cole Hamels.
The offense, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. We had only 4 hits in the game, 2 of which were infield singles. Obviously that is not going to get the job done. It was as if the Phillies read my blog after Friday night's game and said, "Oh wait, we aren't expected to hit this well every night?" So I apologize to everyone for making them aware of their overachieving.
We have the Braves coming up now in Atlanta. I have heard a theory that the Phillies hit a lot better in warm weather. Judging by the season so far, I can believe that. So luckily, Atlanta should have some warmer weather than experienced in Philadelphia over the weekend. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but Wednesday and Thursday temperatures will be up around 75-80 degrees. So, hoping that that was the problem, we should not have a problem hitting.
We have 3 interesting matchups in this series:
Kyle Kendrick vs. Tommy Hanson - Count this game as a loss. I'm not saying we're definitely going to lose, but we should in no way expect to win. Go in with that attitude and be open to a pleasant surprise. Kendrick has been awful, and Tommy Hanson had a great rookie year last season and has started off this season just as well.
JA Happ vs. Tim Hudson - There are questions about whether or not Happ will actually start on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury, but until we hear more, we can expect that he will. He has yet to give up an earned run this season, but he lacked control in the last game while walking 6 batters. He may be a question mark for us considering those two problems. Hudson is an above average pitcher who the Phillies have performed above average against. Our expected lineup for this game has a .294 career batting average against him. Ryan Howard has a .353 average with 5 home runs in 34 at-bats. He is still a good pitcher, though, so we cannot necessarily expect this type of success to continue. This game is pretty much a toss-up.
Roy Halladay vs. Derek Lowe - We know all we need to know about Halladay up to this point. We can expect a win solely based on the fact that he is pitching. This could be an uncomfortably good game, though. We have often struggled against Derek Lowe and his sinkers. Our best hope with a sinkerball pitcher is to get his pitch count up and do one of two things: 1) Get him out of the game to face the bullpen or 2) Have him start elevating pitches so we can hit balls in the air. With Lowe, most of our success has come from the latter. I think this team this year has done a much better job of taking pitches and working counts than in the past, though. I would say this game is ours as long as we continue playing the way we have been (in warm weather, at least).
Wednesday night's game is on ESPN so we get a break from Christopher and Thomas. I hate when games are on ESPN or Fox because it actually makes me appreciate those 2 and forget how bad they are.
One exciting note from being at the Cit on Sunday: I got paid $1 to get myself an authentic Chase Utley jersey. True story. I'm just going to leave it at that rather than giving an actual explanation. Either way, you're jealous
We shouldn't expect to win a game in which our starter gives up 5 runs in the first inning. We also shouldn't expect to go 8 2/3 innings without scoring a run. This is a game that can actually be blamed on both pitching and hitting, something that rarely happens to the Phils.
Sunday's game was a different story. It was a great pitching performance to see live. It was a game where I actually felt like I was witnessing something great. I would be the greediest person alive to ask to see a better game than that by Cole Hamels.
The offense, on the other hand, was nowhere to be found. We had only 4 hits in the game, 2 of which were infield singles. Obviously that is not going to get the job done. It was as if the Phillies read my blog after Friday night's game and said, "Oh wait, we aren't expected to hit this well every night?" So I apologize to everyone for making them aware of their overachieving.
We have the Braves coming up now in Atlanta. I have heard a theory that the Phillies hit a lot better in warm weather. Judging by the season so far, I can believe that. So luckily, Atlanta should have some warmer weather than experienced in Philadelphia over the weekend. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, but Wednesday and Thursday temperatures will be up around 75-80 degrees. So, hoping that that was the problem, we should not have a problem hitting.
We have 3 interesting matchups in this series:
Kyle Kendrick vs. Tommy Hanson - Count this game as a loss. I'm not saying we're definitely going to lose, but we should in no way expect to win. Go in with that attitude and be open to a pleasant surprise. Kendrick has been awful, and Tommy Hanson had a great rookie year last season and has started off this season just as well.
JA Happ vs. Tim Hudson - There are questions about whether or not Happ will actually start on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury, but until we hear more, we can expect that he will. He has yet to give up an earned run this season, but he lacked control in the last game while walking 6 batters. He may be a question mark for us considering those two problems. Hudson is an above average pitcher who the Phillies have performed above average against. Our expected lineup for this game has a .294 career batting average against him. Ryan Howard has a .353 average with 5 home runs in 34 at-bats. He is still a good pitcher, though, so we cannot necessarily expect this type of success to continue. This game is pretty much a toss-up.
Roy Halladay vs. Derek Lowe - We know all we need to know about Halladay up to this point. We can expect a win solely based on the fact that he is pitching. This could be an uncomfortably good game, though. We have often struggled against Derek Lowe and his sinkers. Our best hope with a sinkerball pitcher is to get his pitch count up and do one of two things: 1) Get him out of the game to face the bullpen or 2) Have him start elevating pitches so we can hit balls in the air. With Lowe, most of our success has come from the latter. I think this team this year has done a much better job of taking pitches and working counts than in the past, though. I would say this game is ours as long as we continue playing the way we have been (in warm weather, at least).
Wednesday night's game is on ESPN so we get a break from Christopher and Thomas. I hate when games are on ESPN or Fox because it actually makes me appreciate those 2 and forget how bad they are.
One exciting note from being at the Cit on Sunday: I got paid $1 to get myself an authentic Chase Utley jersey. True story. I'm just going to leave it at that rather than giving an actual explanation. Either way, you're jealous
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Consistency
Sorry it has been so long since my last update. I assure you, this will not be a trend. Last year, I most often updated this either late at night or when I woke up in the morning. In doing student teaching, both of those times have kind of been taken away from me. Give me one week and things will improve.
The Nationals series ended in disappointment again, but it is still a series win, and winning a series is always a good thing. The Nationals never had a problem scoring last season, they just could not stop other teams from scoring at all. Now that they have a pitcher or two that can give up less than 4 runs in an inning, and since our bullpen is so shaky right now, we may see a few losses to the Nationals.
Another example of the shakiness that is our bullpen came in last night's game against the Marlins. Halladay's first start in Philadelphia went very well, pitching 8 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits. Having an 8-2 lead going into the 9th inning should be nothing to worry about, but our bullpen has proven that it is not that safe after all. The bullpen did very well in our first few games of the season, and they've shown at times that they can be great (Kendrick's last start - 7 1/3 innings, 1 earned run). The problem is clearly inconsistency. That is something that is not too scary when you've built up a 5 or 6 run lead, but in no way can we count on that for the entire season. Chase Utley is on pace to hit 97 home runs. That won't keep up. Polanco is on pace to have 194 RBI. That won't keep up. Ryan Howard is on pace for 275 hits. That won't keep up. Carlos Ruiz has a .471 on-base percentage. That won't keep up. Even Juan Castro is batting .400 and has 6 RBI in 4 games. He is a career .231 hitter (which means, That won't keep up). Although all of these things are fantastic for the time being, at some point the pitching (aside from Doc) will need to step it up.
Games this early in the season are often seen as very low-pressure. These games against weak opponents are still wins. It is not like beating the Braves in September, but these games will ensure that those games actually matter. A loss here or there to the Nationals or Marlins or Astros would not be the end of the world, but it's very dangerous to become "OK" with it.
As for the rest of the series, hopefully the starters can look like they have in the past. Jamie Moyer has absolutely ripped apart the Marlins in the past, and we all know Cole Hamels can be one of the best pitchers in the league. Let's pray that the rain stays away and the bats stick around. I'll be at the game tomorrow, so I'm excited to report back from the Cit
The Nationals series ended in disappointment again, but it is still a series win, and winning a series is always a good thing. The Nationals never had a problem scoring last season, they just could not stop other teams from scoring at all. Now that they have a pitcher or two that can give up less than 4 runs in an inning, and since our bullpen is so shaky right now, we may see a few losses to the Nationals.
Another example of the shakiness that is our bullpen came in last night's game against the Marlins. Halladay's first start in Philadelphia went very well, pitching 8 innings and giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits. Having an 8-2 lead going into the 9th inning should be nothing to worry about, but our bullpen has proven that it is not that safe after all. The bullpen did very well in our first few games of the season, and they've shown at times that they can be great (Kendrick's last start - 7 1/3 innings, 1 earned run). The problem is clearly inconsistency. That is something that is not too scary when you've built up a 5 or 6 run lead, but in no way can we count on that for the entire season. Chase Utley is on pace to hit 97 home runs. That won't keep up. Polanco is on pace to have 194 RBI. That won't keep up. Ryan Howard is on pace for 275 hits. That won't keep up. Carlos Ruiz has a .471 on-base percentage. That won't keep up. Even Juan Castro is batting .400 and has 6 RBI in 4 games. He is a career .231 hitter (which means, That won't keep up). Although all of these things are fantastic for the time being, at some point the pitching (aside from Doc) will need to step it up.
Games this early in the season are often seen as very low-pressure. These games against weak opponents are still wins. It is not like beating the Braves in September, but these games will ensure that those games actually matter. A loss here or there to the Nationals or Marlins or Astros would not be the end of the world, but it's very dangerous to become "OK" with it.
As for the rest of the series, hopefully the starters can look like they have in the past. Jamie Moyer has absolutely ripped apart the Marlins in the past, and we all know Cole Hamels can be one of the best pitchers in the league. Let's pray that the rain stays away and the bats stick around. I'll be at the game tomorrow, so I'm excited to report back from the Cit
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Walk-Up Music
We finished up a series sweep of the Astros today by showing that we don't just need to score 8 runs a game to get the job done. Halladay pitched a complete game and let the offense and bullpen take a bit of a rest in a 2-1 victory. Moyer struggled yesterday, but our hitters picked up the slack in a 9-6 win. That completes our 6-game road trip to start the season, and this brings us to our home opener tomorrow against the Nationals.
One of my favorite parts of going to my first Phillies game of every season is hearing the players' walk-up songs for the first time. A great question to ask people is, "If you were a Major League Baseball player, what would your walk-up song be?" For those who are unaware, each player picks a song to play as he steps into the batter's box. Some choose just one song for the whole season. Some switch their song every week. Some even use a different one for each at-bat in a game. Some people decide to go with a song that gets them pumped up. Some go with songs that they just really like. Some choose songs that fit their name or personality.
Since I will not be able to go to the game tomorrow to find out what players' walk-up songs are, I have made a list for myself of what each players' walk-up song should be, along with an explanation of why. We'll start by going through a standard lineup:
Jimmy Rollins - "The Waiting" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg
-As some of you may know, I have a big problem with Jimmy as our leadoff hitter. This is mostly due to the fact that he is not nearly patient enough as a hitter to consistently get on base by drawing walks as well as see more pitches in an attempt to let those hitting after him get a look at a few more. It seems that for Jimmy, "the waiting is the hardest part," just as Tommy and his buddies sing in this classic
Placido Polanco - "Motown Philly" by Boyz II Men http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzkICG47LU
-Polanco spent part of 2002 through part of 2005 in Philadelphia before heading off to Detroit. He is now back from Detroit in a Phillies uniform again. This song by Boyz II Men talks about how they started in Philly, went to Detroit (Motown), and came back again. Although Polanco didn't actually start in Philly, his journey is similar to that of this classic R&B group.
Chase Utley - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by Various Artists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscED3psy_U
-Chase Utley's walk-up song is and, hopefully will forever be, "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. He has used this for years and it is a great intimidating start to a song to set the tone for his at-bat. However, if I were to pick a song that exemplified Chase Utley, I would have to pick one that exemplifies baseball. So, because Chase Utley is baseball, he gets this song sung during the 7th inning stretch of ballparks across the country
Ryan Howard - "The Boss" by Rick Ross http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78hT0H8nt_E
-This is actually a song that the Big Man used in 2008 as a walk-up song. It is very fitting for him, seeing as it says, "I'm the biggest boss that you seen thus far." Ryan Howard is gigantic and he is definitely a boss. There is no denying either one of these things
Jayson Werth - "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJRCE6e2xIg
-Look at Jayson Werth and tell me this doesn't fit
Raul Ibanez - "Naked Mole Rap" by Ron Stoppable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6scHgACSD0
-Look at Raul Ibanez and tell me this doesn't fit
Shane Victorino - "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFvENQBc-F8
-This is one that was actually suggested to me by my fellow William Tennent High School student teacher Jack Holmes. It is a great fit for Victorino, seeing as everything he does seems to be very smooth and graceful. Along with that, he is considered quite the criminal by opposing pitchers and catchers as he has racked up 98 stolen bases in the past 3 seasons
Carlos Ruiz - "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBaZmmdluM&feature=related
-Chooch has a lifetime .247 batting average during the regular season. As a catcher batting 8th in our lineup, that's not the worst thing in the world, but we certainly cannot count on him for production. Once we get to October and the playoffs, though, Chooch becomes an absolute animal. He has his .303 in the playoffs in his 32 career games. Last season, he hit a whopping .341, nearly 100 points better than his lifetime average. I don't know what goes on with him through September at the plate, but he certainly wakes up when it really counts
And now for a few bench players...
Ben Francisco - "Sally the Camel" by who knows/cares http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3X5mWR80qA
-Look at Ben Francisco and tell me this doesn't fit
Brian Schneider - "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc5iTNVEOAg
-Schneider is another Phillies newcomer. In the past, he has been one of those pesky players who isn't necessarily all that great but seems to step it up against the Phillies. These are some of Christopher Wheelers' favorite players to keep track of, and he always seems to be making a comment along the lines of, "Boy this guy always seems to do well against the Phillies doesn't he?" Shut up, Christopher. Schneider does, however, fit that description. Playing for the Expos/Nationals and the Mets for his whole career up until this season, he has consistently been one of our worst enemies. Now, he is one of us, though
And finally, I picked a few songs for some pitchers. The only pitchers that ever have this type of song are generally closers, but I felt that a few of them earned a "walk-up" song of some sort.
Roy Halladay - "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhyMvQ_N7Zc
-Halladay has spent his entire career toward the bottom of the AL East behind at least the Yankees and the Red Sox. He can now finally escape that prison and experience the freedom of being in Philadelphia with the 2-time defending NL champion Phillies
Jamie Moyer - "You Make Me Feel So Young" by Frank Sinatra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1llj6uCI-j8
-Jamie must feel this way about the game of baseball, seeing as he is 47-years old and still going out there to pitch. Although he struggles at times, we all must admit that it's nice to see that he can still move after this many years in the majors
Brad Lidge - "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM
-Lidge is probably hoping that Phillies fans can remember the "glory days" of 2008. He was horrifying last season. On the flip side, Phillies fans are hoping that Lidge can remember the "glory days" of 2008
I don't know about everyone else, but I will be making a CD with these songs on it so I can listen to it on the way to any Phillies games that I can make it to this season. If you have any suggestions of your own for some walk-up music, I know I would love to hear any other input on this. Or if you want to share your own awesome walk-up song, do that.
One of my favorite parts of going to my first Phillies game of every season is hearing the players' walk-up songs for the first time. A great question to ask people is, "If you were a Major League Baseball player, what would your walk-up song be?" For those who are unaware, each player picks a song to play as he steps into the batter's box. Some choose just one song for the whole season. Some switch their song every week. Some even use a different one for each at-bat in a game. Some people decide to go with a song that gets them pumped up. Some go with songs that they just really like. Some choose songs that fit their name or personality.
Since I will not be able to go to the game tomorrow to find out what players' walk-up songs are, I have made a list for myself of what each players' walk-up song should be, along with an explanation of why. We'll start by going through a standard lineup:
Jimmy Rollins - "The Waiting" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyCa35_mOg
-As some of you may know, I have a big problem with Jimmy as our leadoff hitter. This is mostly due to the fact that he is not nearly patient enough as a hitter to consistently get on base by drawing walks as well as see more pitches in an attempt to let those hitting after him get a look at a few more. It seems that for Jimmy, "the waiting is the hardest part," just as Tommy and his buddies sing in this classic
Placido Polanco - "Motown Philly" by Boyz II Men http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHzkICG47LU
-Polanco spent part of 2002 through part of 2005 in Philadelphia before heading off to Detroit. He is now back from Detroit in a Phillies uniform again. This song by Boyz II Men talks about how they started in Philly, went to Detroit (Motown), and came back again. Although Polanco didn't actually start in Philly, his journey is similar to that of this classic R&B group.
Chase Utley - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" by Various Artists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscED3psy_U
-Chase Utley's walk-up song is and, hopefully will forever be, "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. He has used this for years and it is a great intimidating start to a song to set the tone for his at-bat. However, if I were to pick a song that exemplified Chase Utley, I would have to pick one that exemplifies baseball. So, because Chase Utley is baseball, he gets this song sung during the 7th inning stretch of ballparks across the country
Ryan Howard - "The Boss" by Rick Ross http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78hT0H8nt_E
-This is actually a song that the Big Man used in 2008 as a walk-up song. It is very fitting for him, seeing as it says, "I'm the biggest boss that you seen thus far." Ryan Howard is gigantic and he is definitely a boss. There is no denying either one of these things
Jayson Werth - "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJRCE6e2xIg
-Look at Jayson Werth and tell me this doesn't fit
Raul Ibanez - "Naked Mole Rap" by Ron Stoppable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6scHgACSD0
-Look at Raul Ibanez and tell me this doesn't fit
Shane Victorino - "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFvENQBc-F8
-This is one that was actually suggested to me by my fellow William Tennent High School student teacher Jack Holmes. It is a great fit for Victorino, seeing as everything he does seems to be very smooth and graceful. Along with that, he is considered quite the criminal by opposing pitchers and catchers as he has racked up 98 stolen bases in the past 3 seasons
Carlos Ruiz - "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBaZmmdluM&feature=related
-Chooch has a lifetime .247 batting average during the regular season. As a catcher batting 8th in our lineup, that's not the worst thing in the world, but we certainly cannot count on him for production. Once we get to October and the playoffs, though, Chooch becomes an absolute animal. He has his .303 in the playoffs in his 32 career games. Last season, he hit a whopping .341, nearly 100 points better than his lifetime average. I don't know what goes on with him through September at the plate, but he certainly wakes up when it really counts
And now for a few bench players...
Ben Francisco - "Sally the Camel" by who knows/cares http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3X5mWR80qA
-Look at Ben Francisco and tell me this doesn't fit
Brian Schneider - "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc5iTNVEOAg
-Schneider is another Phillies newcomer. In the past, he has been one of those pesky players who isn't necessarily all that great but seems to step it up against the Phillies. These are some of Christopher Wheelers' favorite players to keep track of, and he always seems to be making a comment along the lines of, "Boy this guy always seems to do well against the Phillies doesn't he?" Shut up, Christopher. Schneider does, however, fit that description. Playing for the Expos/Nationals and the Mets for his whole career up until this season, he has consistently been one of our worst enemies. Now, he is one of us, though
And finally, I picked a few songs for some pitchers. The only pitchers that ever have this type of song are generally closers, but I felt that a few of them earned a "walk-up" song of some sort.
Roy Halladay - "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhyMvQ_N7Zc
-Halladay has spent his entire career toward the bottom of the AL East behind at least the Yankees and the Red Sox. He can now finally escape that prison and experience the freedom of being in Philadelphia with the 2-time defending NL champion Phillies
Jamie Moyer - "You Make Me Feel So Young" by Frank Sinatra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1llj6uCI-j8
-Jamie must feel this way about the game of baseball, seeing as he is 47-years old and still going out there to pitch. Although he struggles at times, we all must admit that it's nice to see that he can still move after this many years in the majors
Brad Lidge - "Glory Days" by Bruce Springsteen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM
-Lidge is probably hoping that Phillies fans can remember the "glory days" of 2008. He was horrifying last season. On the flip side, Phillies fans are hoping that Lidge can remember the "glory days" of 2008
I don't know about everyone else, but I will be making a CD with these songs on it so I can listen to it on the way to any Phillies games that I can make it to this season. If you have any suggestions of your own for some walk-up music, I know I would love to hear any other input on this. Or if you want to share your own awesome walk-up song, do that.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Nationals Wrap-Up / Astros Preview
We finished the series in Washington yesterday with a 6-5 loss. Kendrick did not look awful, but he certainly did not look very good. After a solid spring, expectations were higher for him this season. He struggled at the very beginning and very end of his start yesterday, but in between retired 10 straight batters. So it looks like he could be effective, but yesterday may just not have been his day.
Thomas McCarthy hit two milestones yesterday in saying both the funniest thing he's ever said as well as the smartest thing he has ever said.
Funniest: "The Pirates will not be going undefeated this season." This was said right after they got their first loss after starting the season 2-0.
Smartest: "Man he is a good baseball player!" This was said about Chase Utley after legging out a double in the top of the 9th inning.
So congratulations to Thomas McCarthy. Keep this up and I might start calling you Tom
Something that bothered me throughout this game as well as after the game was the analysis of the Phillies hitting with runners in scoring position. Yes, we were 2 for 15. Yes, that is awful. But is it really that bad? Our first 2 runs were scored on groundouts. So we could really up that to being 4 for 15 seeing as we produced runs in those situations. Could we have gotten more out of those situations? Absolutely. But we still got something. Another run scored on a sacrifice fly. We could say that we make us 5 for 16 in the game with runners in scoring position. And one of those outs was Jayson Werth's fly out to deep center in the 9th that moved Utley over to 3rd. It didn't score a run, but it was some success. That would put us at 6 for 16 in terms of effectiveness with runners in scoring position. That's a .375 average, which isn't half bad where I come from. I realize that these opportunities could have turned into something much more, but don't be completely fooled by the numbers.
I don't know many people who love baseball statistics as much as I do, but there are some that make no sense at all. I hate when someone is up to bat and the stat "Runner on 3rd, Less Than 2 Out" comes up. A player could be 0 for 50 in those situations with 75 RBIs. It is completely irrelevant since all it takes is a ground out or a sacrifice fly to get a run home.
It is disappointing to lose to the Nationals, but winning a series is always a positive. And so we move on...
---------------------------------------------
We have the Astros coming up this weekend. Tonight Happ faces some no-name who actually pitched against us last year. He did pretty well in that game, but we often do much better against pitchers the second time around. The Astros have scored something like negative 3 runs this season while facing 3 very good Giants pitchers. We have Happ, Moyer, and Halladay this weekend, and I expect big things. Hopefully Happ can pick up where he left off last season and Moyer can be as consistent as he has been for us for a few years now. Halladay will never lose a game so no worries there (here's hoping that doesn't jinx him).
The general plan for this blog will be to recap each game but also preview each series. On off days I try to mix it up a little bit usually, but all of those plans can change depending on circumstances. For example...
I will be at Penn State this weekend, so I'm not sure on any udpates after tonight's or tomorrow's game. I do know that I will be updating on Sunday with something I'm pretty excited about before the home opener on Monday. So hopefully this can hold everyone over until then. Have a good weekend and go Phils!
Thomas McCarthy hit two milestones yesterday in saying both the funniest thing he's ever said as well as the smartest thing he has ever said.
Funniest: "The Pirates will not be going undefeated this season." This was said right after they got their first loss after starting the season 2-0.
Smartest: "Man he is a good baseball player!" This was said about Chase Utley after legging out a double in the top of the 9th inning.
So congratulations to Thomas McCarthy. Keep this up and I might start calling you Tom
Something that bothered me throughout this game as well as after the game was the analysis of the Phillies hitting with runners in scoring position. Yes, we were 2 for 15. Yes, that is awful. But is it really that bad? Our first 2 runs were scored on groundouts. So we could really up that to being 4 for 15 seeing as we produced runs in those situations. Could we have gotten more out of those situations? Absolutely. But we still got something. Another run scored on a sacrifice fly. We could say that we make us 5 for 16 in the game with runners in scoring position. And one of those outs was Jayson Werth's fly out to deep center in the 9th that moved Utley over to 3rd. It didn't score a run, but it was some success. That would put us at 6 for 16 in terms of effectiveness with runners in scoring position. That's a .375 average, which isn't half bad where I come from. I realize that these opportunities could have turned into something much more, but don't be completely fooled by the numbers.
I don't know many people who love baseball statistics as much as I do, but there are some that make no sense at all. I hate when someone is up to bat and the stat "Runner on 3rd, Less Than 2 Out" comes up. A player could be 0 for 50 in those situations with 75 RBIs. It is completely irrelevant since all it takes is a ground out or a sacrifice fly to get a run home.
It is disappointing to lose to the Nationals, but winning a series is always a positive. And so we move on...
---------------------------------------------
We have the Astros coming up this weekend. Tonight Happ faces some no-name who actually pitched against us last year. He did pretty well in that game, but we often do much better against pitchers the second time around. The Astros have scored something like negative 3 runs this season while facing 3 very good Giants pitchers. We have Happ, Moyer, and Halladay this weekend, and I expect big things. Hopefully Happ can pick up where he left off last season and Moyer can be as consistent as he has been for us for a few years now. Halladay will never lose a game so no worries there (here's hoping that doesn't jinx him).
The general plan for this blog will be to recap each game but also preview each series. On off days I try to mix it up a little bit usually, but all of those plans can change depending on circumstances. For example...
I will be at Penn State this weekend, so I'm not sure on any udpates after tonight's or tomorrow's game. I do know that I will be updating on Sunday with something I'm pretty excited about before the home opener on Monday. So hopefully this can hold everyone over until then. Have a good weekend and go Phils!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Sixers?
Tonight, Comcast decided to show the 76ers lose to the Heat rather than the Phillies. It would be one thing if they showed the Sixers completely tanking in order to get a better draft pick, but they actually tried to win the game tonight. If you need another example of the word "majoke", this situation is most definitely a majoke.
Needless to say
But in case I actually do need to say it, I did not watch the game tonight. Instead, I attempted to listen to it on the radio. That lasted about 3 innings until I had to fight every urge to throw my sister's clock radio across the back yard due to the horrendous reception as well as Cole Hamels' struggles. I cannot even begin to tell you how frustrating it was to listen to this game other than by simply saying that I was actually getting annoyed at things that Franzke and LA were saying. It was that bad.
So after 3 innings I came inside and followed the game on ESPN.com's Gamecast. Things got better from that point on, and I was able to settle down. The offense looks fantastic, and it appears that Placido Polanco needs some kind of nickname because I am going to be talking about him way too much, and I don't really want to use either one of those names as they are. If you did not get a chance to witness Ryan Howard's home run tonight (which you probably didn't), I just heard on Baseball Tonight that it was 172 feet high, and only 2 home runs since 2006 have reached that height. The ball was in the air for 7 seconds. I don't even know what those numbers mean other than that Ryan Howard is an absolute beast. If you're wondering about my .290 batting average prediction for him, he's currently at .364. And the first 2 games mean a lot for that stuff.
Something awesome about these games that may not be as obvious is our patience at the plate. We have walked 17 times in 2 games. Even Jimmy has walked 4 times, including to lead off the game today.
Although our two games this year have been great, Cole Hamels has already given me some reason to be concerned. It seemed like one of his biggest problems last season was getting out of bad innings. That proved to be a problem again today. Although it was not a huge deal because of the run support he received (which is uncommon for Cole) and it was only his first start of the year, I think this is something that we should keep an eye on as the season progresses. He was also uncharacteristically inaccurate. He has only walked 4 or more batters in a game 8 times in his career before tonight, which consisted of 116 games. This includes just twice in his last 60 games. Once again, we probably shouldn't be too concerned yet, but it is something to be aware of.
Kendrick will be pitching tomorrow to close out the series. I am guessing that Uncle Chuck is doing this in an attempt to keep the rotation the same once Blanton comes off the DL. Blanton would normally be our 3rd starter I guess, so we are just going to keep it that way. I have confidence in Kendrick. Apparently he has been working pretty closely alongside Halladay, and he's even grown some facial hair. I think the facial hair thing is actually more exciting. If the bats keep going the way they are, this game should not be a real problem no matter what Kendrick does. And we always seem to hit better when he pitches anyway. Craig Stammen will be pitching for the Nationals. No, you've never heard of him. Yes, he'll be in Triple-A by the 4th inning tomorrow.
Needless to say
But in case I actually do need to say it, I did not watch the game tonight. Instead, I attempted to listen to it on the radio. That lasted about 3 innings until I had to fight every urge to throw my sister's clock radio across the back yard due to the horrendous reception as well as Cole Hamels' struggles. I cannot even begin to tell you how frustrating it was to listen to this game other than by simply saying that I was actually getting annoyed at things that Franzke and LA were saying. It was that bad.
So after 3 innings I came inside and followed the game on ESPN.com's Gamecast. Things got better from that point on, and I was able to settle down. The offense looks fantastic, and it appears that Placido Polanco needs some kind of nickname because I am going to be talking about him way too much, and I don't really want to use either one of those names as they are. If you did not get a chance to witness Ryan Howard's home run tonight (which you probably didn't), I just heard on Baseball Tonight that it was 172 feet high, and only 2 home runs since 2006 have reached that height. The ball was in the air for 7 seconds. I don't even know what those numbers mean other than that Ryan Howard is an absolute beast. If you're wondering about my .290 batting average prediction for him, he's currently at .364. And the first 2 games mean a lot for that stuff.
Something awesome about these games that may not be as obvious is our patience at the plate. We have walked 17 times in 2 games. Even Jimmy has walked 4 times, including to lead off the game today.
Although our two games this year have been great, Cole Hamels has already given me some reason to be concerned. It seemed like one of his biggest problems last season was getting out of bad innings. That proved to be a problem again today. Although it was not a huge deal because of the run support he received (which is uncommon for Cole) and it was only his first start of the year, I think this is something that we should keep an eye on as the season progresses. He was also uncharacteristically inaccurate. He has only walked 4 or more batters in a game 8 times in his career before tonight, which consisted of 116 games. This includes just twice in his last 60 games. Once again, we probably shouldn't be too concerned yet, but it is something to be aware of.
Kendrick will be pitching tomorrow to close out the series. I am guessing that Uncle Chuck is doing this in an attempt to keep the rotation the same once Blanton comes off the DL. Blanton would normally be our 3rd starter I guess, so we are just going to keep it that way. I have confidence in Kendrick. Apparently he has been working pretty closely alongside Halladay, and he's even grown some facial hair. I think the facial hair thing is actually more exciting. If the bats keep going the way they are, this game should not be a real problem no matter what Kendrick does. And we always seem to hit better when he pitches anyway. Craig Stammen will be pitching for the Nationals. No, you've never heard of him. Yes, he'll be in Triple-A by the 4th inning tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
High Hopes Glossary
I've been doing a blog (kind of) for about a year now. I've also been living in this world for over 22 years. If you have come in late on either one of these things, a good number of the things I say may make absolutely no sense. Plus there may be some new stuff this year that won't make any sense unless explained. To help out with that, I'm providing you with the High Hopes / Cameron Koehler glossary. Because most of what I say is spoken like a 12-year-old who mostly talks to himself.
Word/Term - Definition
Baseball - Chase Utley; Chase Utley is baseball
Big Man - what first baseman Ryan Howard can be referred to as
Chase Utley - see "Baseball"
Cheese - one of my best friends and roommates from Penn State. Last year it was a goal to make him a die-hard Phillies fan. Although he is a fan, he is far from die-hard. That quest is for the most part over, but his fandom is appreciated either way
Chooch - catcher Carlos Ruiz; any time Ruiz is doing well, this time can be referred to as "Choochtober"
Christopher Wheeler - horrendous member of the Phillies television broadcast team; the color commentator for the 1st through 3rd as well as 7th through 9th innings; commonly referred to as "Wheels" by others, but I call him by his full name because I feel his abilities in no way warrant a nickname
The Cit - Citizens Bank Park, site of the Philadelphia Phillies' home games; greatest place on Earth
Dippin' Dots - (1) this year's new term referring to the minor leaguers in the Phillies system, with whom I am obsessed
(2) the ice cream of the future
The Drunk - (1) what Jayson Werth has been known as since the 2008 World Series parade; can also be referred to as "J Dub"
(2) Phillies right fielder who can be identified by the constant drool rolling down the center of his chin in the form of hair
Dukes - one of the biggest contributor's to this blog in terms of comments and intelligence; the biggest and greatest Phillies fan I have ever met
Fishing with dynamite - a phrase used to describe something that is not fair. For example: The Phillies getting Roy Halladay is not even fair. It's like fishing with dynamite!
Origin: the movie Wedding Crashers
*nearly replaced by the phrase "trading for Pujols" when trading Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols was discussed. This variation failed to stick when the trade talks subsided quickly
Freak nasty - see "Nasty"
James Calvin - what Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins is referred to as when I am upset with him, which can be very often. This reflects his lack of deserving any type of nickname at those times
Jeremiah - my brother-in-law, with whom I talk to about the Phillies more than anyone. Many of my blog ideas come from conversations with him, so he is mentioned quite a bit
Jesus Christ - Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price; a term unintentionally coined by ESPN analysts during the 2008 World Series when it was revealed by several of them that Price can, in fact, walk on water and has come to Earth to save everyone
Joe Camel - reserve outfielder for the Phillies, also known as Ben Francisco. If you don't think he looks like the character Joe Camel of the cigarettes, I have taken some liberties with MS Paint to show you that you cannot actually tell the difference when a Phillies uniform is put on said character. (side note: this picture is the greatest thing I have ever done)
Majoke - word referring to something that is a joke, but even worse usually. For example: James Calvin Rollins swinging at the first pitch of every game is a big majoke
Naked Mole Rat - Phillies hairless left fielder Raul Ibanez. Can also be referred to as simply "Naked"
Nasty - a word I use probably way too much. This always means something positive. When something is extremely awesome, it can be referred to as "freak nasty"
Sarge - Phillies color commentator for the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings on television. Originally hated by yours truly, has now become my favorite member of the television broadcast team. A lethal mixture of Bill Cosby, Christopher Walken, and Scooby Doo. His random inflection and constant need for emphasizing pointless syllables causes any of his quotes tO bE tYpEd LiKe ThIs
Thomas McCarthy - the atrocious play-by-play announcer for the Phillies television broadcast team. A Mets fan at heart, he is often referred to as T-Mac. I do not refer to him as T-Mac because (a) he sucks, and (b) that nickname is far too athletic
Uncle Chuck - referring to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. Most often used when he makes a stupid decision but it turns out for the best. For example: Uncle Chuck pinch-hitting with James Calvin after sitting him for not hustling was a big majoke. But I guess it's fine since he hit a walk-off home run.
Word/Term - Definition
Baseball - Chase Utley; Chase Utley is baseball
Big Man - what first baseman Ryan Howard can be referred to as
Chase Utley - see "Baseball"
Cheese - one of my best friends and roommates from Penn State. Last year it was a goal to make him a die-hard Phillies fan. Although he is a fan, he is far from die-hard. That quest is for the most part over, but his fandom is appreciated either way
Chooch - catcher Carlos Ruiz; any time Ruiz is doing well, this time can be referred to as "Choochtober"
Christopher Wheeler - horrendous member of the Phillies television broadcast team; the color commentator for the 1st through 3rd as well as 7th through 9th innings; commonly referred to as "Wheels" by others, but I call him by his full name because I feel his abilities in no way warrant a nickname
The Cit - Citizens Bank Park, site of the Philadelphia Phillies' home games; greatest place on Earth
Dippin' Dots - (1) this year's new term referring to the minor leaguers in the Phillies system, with whom I am obsessed
(2) the ice cream of the future
The Drunk - (1) what Jayson Werth has been known as since the 2008 World Series parade; can also be referred to as "J Dub"
(2) Phillies right fielder who can be identified by the constant drool rolling down the center of his chin in the form of hair
Dukes - one of the biggest contributor's to this blog in terms of comments and intelligence; the biggest and greatest Phillies fan I have ever met
Fishing with dynamite - a phrase used to describe something that is not fair. For example: The Phillies getting Roy Halladay is not even fair. It's like fishing with dynamite!
Origin: the movie Wedding Crashers
*nearly replaced by the phrase "trading for Pujols" when trading Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols was discussed. This variation failed to stick when the trade talks subsided quickly
Freak nasty - see "Nasty"
James Calvin - what Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins is referred to as when I am upset with him, which can be very often. This reflects his lack of deserving any type of nickname at those times
Jeremiah - my brother-in-law, with whom I talk to about the Phillies more than anyone. Many of my blog ideas come from conversations with him, so he is mentioned quite a bit
Jesus Christ - Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price; a term unintentionally coined by ESPN analysts during the 2008 World Series when it was revealed by several of them that Price can, in fact, walk on water and has come to Earth to save everyone
Joe Camel - reserve outfielder for the Phillies, also known as Ben Francisco. If you don't think he looks like the character Joe Camel of the cigarettes, I have taken some liberties with MS Paint to show you that you cannot actually tell the difference when a Phillies uniform is put on said character. (side note: this picture is the greatest thing I have ever done)
Majoke - word referring to something that is a joke, but even worse usually. For example: James Calvin Rollins swinging at the first pitch of every game is a big majoke
Naked Mole Rat - Phillies hairless left fielder Raul Ibanez. Can also be referred to as simply "Naked"
Nasty - a word I use probably way too much. This always means something positive. When something is extremely awesome, it can be referred to as "freak nasty"
Sarge - Phillies color commentator for the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings on television. Originally hated by yours truly, has now become my favorite member of the television broadcast team. A lethal mixture of Bill Cosby, Christopher Walken, and Scooby Doo. His random inflection and constant need for emphasizing pointless syllables causes any of his quotes tO bE tYpEd LiKe ThIs
Thomas McCarthy - the atrocious play-by-play announcer for the Phillies television broadcast team. A Mets fan at heart, he is often referred to as T-Mac. I do not refer to him as T-Mac because (a) he sucks, and (b) that nickname is far too athletic
Uncle Chuck - referring to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. Most often used when he makes a stupid decision but it turns out for the best. For example: Uncle Chuck pinch-hitting with James Calvin after sitting him for not hustling was a big majoke. But I guess it's fine since he hit a walk-off home run.
Monday, April 5, 2010
More Than Meets the Eye
The first game is behind us and there is already a lot to be excited about for this Phillies season (or is there?). Our 2 biggest additions looked great (or did they?). Yes, it was against the Nationals, but for all we know the Nationals could win the wild card this season. No, I'm not serious (or am I?).
The game started off a little shaky with Halladay giving up a run in the first inning. After throwing 33 pitches in the first 2 innings, though, he ended up throwing just 37 in the next 4 and 88 pitches total in 7 very strong innings. The expectations for Roy were unreasonably high, and he just about lived up to them with 9 strikeouts while giving up just 6 hits and starting off the season with a 1.29 ERA.
Polanco had a career-high 6 RBIs in the game including a grand slam.
Every starter had a hit in the game, including Roy Halladay (who even had an RBI!).
Against a hilarious Nationals defense, Ryan Howard legged out an infield hit.
As you can tell, and you probably saw by watching the game, there are plenty of positive things to take from this game. But there is more to this game than meets the eye. Let's look at all of the negative things so we can keep ourselves grounded and be a little more realistic about our expectations:
- Roy Halladay can only put down a bunt when he's swinging away. Why is it we're paying so much for this guy?
- We only put up "crooked numbers" in this game. Thank you Christopher Wheeler for continuing your trend of letting us know how mind-blowing it is for a team to score more than 1 run in an inning.
- Polanco has started this season with a .600 batting average through one game. Yeah, that's great and all, but his on-base percentage is a mere .500. Damn those sacrifice flies!
- Jimmy Rollins showed that he might be willing to take some pitches, work a count, and get on base. In 2 World Series seasons, he has never pulled this crap.
- Raul Ibanez did not hit a home run against the Nationals for probably the first time ever. What is going on with this team?!
- Thomas McCarthy is still oddly obsessed with testing Christopher Wheeler's trivia skills while forgetting that a baseball game is still actually being played.
- I remembered that we have to watch the first 3 games from a blimp above home plate at the Nationals' ballpark. And then we'll do it 6 more times throughout the season after this series. I hate that place
- The Phillies have added a feature known as the "Thirst Inning" sponsored by Budweiser in which they please all of the children and families out there by showing random people in the stands with beer. I knew the broadcast was lacking something last season.
So I think it is pretty clear that this game was not all good. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we may have a long season ahead of us judging by Opening Day.
The game started off a little shaky with Halladay giving up a run in the first inning. After throwing 33 pitches in the first 2 innings, though, he ended up throwing just 37 in the next 4 and 88 pitches total in 7 very strong innings. The expectations for Roy were unreasonably high, and he just about lived up to them with 9 strikeouts while giving up just 6 hits and starting off the season with a 1.29 ERA.
Polanco had a career-high 6 RBIs in the game including a grand slam.
Every starter had a hit in the game, including Roy Halladay (who even had an RBI!).
Against a hilarious Nationals defense, Ryan Howard legged out an infield hit.
As you can tell, and you probably saw by watching the game, there are plenty of positive things to take from this game. But there is more to this game than meets the eye. Let's look at all of the negative things so we can keep ourselves grounded and be a little more realistic about our expectations:
- Roy Halladay can only put down a bunt when he's swinging away. Why is it we're paying so much for this guy?
- We only put up "crooked numbers" in this game. Thank you Christopher Wheeler for continuing your trend of letting us know how mind-blowing it is for a team to score more than 1 run in an inning.
- Polanco has started this season with a .600 batting average through one game. Yeah, that's great and all, but his on-base percentage is a mere .500. Damn those sacrifice flies!
- Jimmy Rollins showed that he might be willing to take some pitches, work a count, and get on base. In 2 World Series seasons, he has never pulled this crap.
- Raul Ibanez did not hit a home run against the Nationals for probably the first time ever. What is going on with this team?!
- Thomas McCarthy is still oddly obsessed with testing Christopher Wheeler's trivia skills while forgetting that a baseball game is still actually being played.
- I remembered that we have to watch the first 3 games from a blimp above home plate at the Nationals' ballpark. And then we'll do it 6 more times throughout the season after this series. I hate that place
- The Phillies have added a feature known as the "Thirst Inning" sponsored by Budweiser in which they please all of the children and families out there by showing random people in the stands with beer. I knew the broadcast was lacking something last season.
So I think it is pretty clear that this game was not all good. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we may have a long season ahead of us judging by Opening Day.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Predictions
I have come up with 10 semi-possibly-bold predictions for the 2010 Phillies season. I'll revisit these things as the season goes and remind everyone how horrendously stupid I am.
1. Roy Halladay will win 22 games along with the NL Cy Young Award
2. The Phillies will win 100 games (in the regular season)
3. Ryan Howard will hit over .290 and win MVP
4. Jamie Moyer will become a great-grandfather
5. Raul Ibanez will miss significant time with some type of injury, and John Mayberry will end up hitting 15 home runs this season serving as his replacement
6. Shane Victorino will lead our team in batting average for the 3rd consecutive season (And yes, you read that right. He did lead our team each of the past 2 seasons in batting average)
7. I will have a brain aneurysm listening to the Phillies broadcast team (obviously the television team, not the poetry that is Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson on the radio)
8. JA Happ will end up with the highest ERA of our regular starting pitchers after having the lowest last season
9. A Phillies pitcher will throw a no-hitter this season. And it won't be Roy Halladay
10. The Phillies will win the NL East for the 4th straight time, the NL for the 3rd straight time, and the World Series for the 2nd time in 3 years. They'll beat the Minnesota Twins in 6 games.
Feel more than free to leave comments with your own predictions or comments on mine
1. Roy Halladay will win 22 games along with the NL Cy Young Award
2. The Phillies will win 100 games (in the regular season)
3. Ryan Howard will hit over .290 and win MVP
4. Jamie Moyer will become a great-grandfather
5. Raul Ibanez will miss significant time with some type of injury, and John Mayberry will end up hitting 15 home runs this season serving as his replacement
6. Shane Victorino will lead our team in batting average for the 3rd consecutive season (And yes, you read that right. He did lead our team each of the past 2 seasons in batting average)
7. I will have a brain aneurysm listening to the Phillies broadcast team (obviously the television team, not the poetry that is Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson on the radio)
8. JA Happ will end up with the highest ERA of our regular starting pitchers after having the lowest last season
9. A Phillies pitcher will throw a no-hitter this season. And it won't be Roy Halladay
10. The Phillies will win the NL East for the 4th straight time, the NL for the 3rd straight time, and the World Series for the 2nd time in 3 years. They'll beat the Minnesota Twins in 6 games.
Feel more than free to leave comments with your own predictions or comments on mine
Friday, April 2, 2010
2010 Season Preview
Partially because people have requested it, but mostly because I loved doing it, the blog is back this year (and with a slightly new look). I decided it was time for a fresh start. I obviously couldn't use the same URL this year since the repeat of '09 never fully happened. If you're interested in reliving any of the old stuff, you can check out www.repeat09.blogspot.com. But the future is now.
So with all of that being said, I am glad to be back, and I could not be more ready for baseball season. It has been quite the offseason for the Phils, making it seem like MLB higher-ups should simply let us use September as a warm-up month before we start the playoffs. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. On to the preview:
Predicted 25-man roster (when healthy):
SP Roy Halladay (R)
SP Cole Hamels (L)
SP Joe Blanton (R)
SP J.A. Happ (L)
SP Jamie Moyer (L)
RP Danys Baez (R)
RP Jose Contreras (R)
RP Kyle Kendrick (R)
RP Chad Durbin (R)
RP JC Romero (L)
RP Ryan Madson (R)
RP Brad Lidge (R)
C Carlos Ruiz
1B Ryan Howard
2B Chase Utley
SS Jimmy Rollins
3B Placido Polanco
LF Raul Ibanez
CF Shane Victorino
RF Jayson Werth
C Brian Schneider
INF Juan Castro
INF Greg Dobbs
INF/OF Ross Gload
OF Ben Francisco
To start the season, Blanton, Romero, and Lidge are on the disabled list. That means that Kendrick will be our 5th starter for a little while, and we'll have Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon in the bullpen.
The pitching staff for this season looks very strong with the addition of Roy Halladay. He is widely regarded as the best pitcher in baseball and with good reason. Plenty of people were upset about losing Cliff Lee, but Halladay is definitely better. On top of that, it is easy to remember Lee's first and last 5 games for the Phils last season, and I will not in any way ever downplay what he did for us in the playoffs; however, he was pretty average in those games in between. I expect Halladay to be consistently dominant throughout the season. If you need to know anything about him, read this great article from the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1167875/index.htm
That is the biggest new news for this season in Philadelphia. The rest of the pitchers I plan on talking about as they make their first starts or do something relevant out of the bullpen.
The rotation as a whole looks very strong. As much as Jamie Moyer struggled to start last season, he ended up being very consistent and it is an absolute pleasure to have him as a 5th starter.
The bullpen is by far the biggest question mark on this team. Madson is really the only one that we can come into the season with high expectations for, and Durbin should not be a real concern either. Other than that, Contreras, Baez, and Kendrick are all pretty much new to the Phillies' bullpen. Lidge and Romero will be coming off of injuries and disappointing 2009's. It will be interesting to see how all of these guys do in the 2010 season. Luckily, we don't have to worry about them at all in 20% of our games. Thank you, Roy.
The biggest change to our batting order comes in the form of Placido Polanco. If, by some miracle, the Phillies can figure out a leadoff hitter that can get on base, Polanco could end up being the team's MVP this season (I know, I know, but he'll definitely be important). He is a prototypical number 2 guy in the lineup, someone who can put the ball wherever he wants to and knows how to advance runners when he needs to. He puts the ball in play and simply gets his job done. We haven't had someone like this the past 2 years. Werth struck out too much for a #2 hitter, and Shane popped out too much. Polanco should be perfect for that spot. I didn't know we had a hole in our lineup until Polanco filled it in perfectly. The Phillies scoring less than 4 runs in a game this season would be like any other team scoring less than 0 runs. It should be impossible.
The Division:
It is clear that the Phillies should run away with the NL East this season again. But, we can look at what we're up against anyway.
Florida Marlins - I'm still convinced they are our biggest threat for the division. Hanley Ramirez is an unbelievable player, and their starting rotation now only has more experience. Whether they look good on paper or not, they always find a way to put together enough wins to be in some kind of playoff hunt toward the end of the season. ESPN the Magazine simulated the season 100 times and had the Marlins winning the East 0 of those 100 times. It had the Nationals winnings it once. That's complete crap. Watch out for this team.
Atlanta Braves - I feel like their entire season is resting on the shoulders of 20-year-old Jason Heyward. He could be fantastic. He's also only 20 years old and could completely choke. They do have a solid lineup and pitching staff, so they are another team that the Phils will need to keep an eye on. I think if Heyward is successful, the Braves will be. If not, I don't see them as much of a threat, although they definitely will compete.
Washington Nationals - They are looking more promising this year than they have in awhile, but their success will also ride on their top prospect. I am excited to see Stephen Strasburg in the majors, but you can never count on the success of a young pitcher. Plus, a starting pitcher only covers 1 out of every 5 games. They'll definitely struggle again this season, but I would say not nearly as much as last year.
New York Mets - Hilarious
It should be a very fun and exciting season. I'm excited to be following it on this blog, along with anybody who decides to follow with me. Baseball is back. Get excited.
So with all of that being said, I am glad to be back, and I could not be more ready for baseball season. It has been quite the offseason for the Phils, making it seem like MLB higher-ups should simply let us use September as a warm-up month before we start the playoffs. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. On to the preview:
Predicted 25-man roster (when healthy):
SP Roy Halladay (R)
SP Cole Hamels (L)
SP Joe Blanton (R)
SP J.A. Happ (L)
SP Jamie Moyer (L)
RP Danys Baez (R)
RP Jose Contreras (R)
RP Kyle Kendrick (R)
RP Chad Durbin (R)
RP JC Romero (L)
RP Ryan Madson (R)
RP Brad Lidge (R)
C Carlos Ruiz
1B Ryan Howard
2B Chase Utley
SS Jimmy Rollins
3B Placido Polanco
LF Raul Ibanez
CF Shane Victorino
RF Jayson Werth
C Brian Schneider
INF Juan Castro
INF Greg Dobbs
INF/OF Ross Gload
OF Ben Francisco
To start the season, Blanton, Romero, and Lidge are on the disabled list. That means that Kendrick will be our 5th starter for a little while, and we'll have Antonio Bastardo and David Herndon in the bullpen.
The pitching staff for this season looks very strong with the addition of Roy Halladay. He is widely regarded as the best pitcher in baseball and with good reason. Plenty of people were upset about losing Cliff Lee, but Halladay is definitely better. On top of that, it is easy to remember Lee's first and last 5 games for the Phils last season, and I will not in any way ever downplay what he did for us in the playoffs; however, he was pretty average in those games in between. I expect Halladay to be consistently dominant throughout the season. If you need to know anything about him, read this great article from the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1167875/index.htm
That is the biggest new news for this season in Philadelphia. The rest of the pitchers I plan on talking about as they make their first starts or do something relevant out of the bullpen.
The rotation as a whole looks very strong. As much as Jamie Moyer struggled to start last season, he ended up being very consistent and it is an absolute pleasure to have him as a 5th starter.
The bullpen is by far the biggest question mark on this team. Madson is really the only one that we can come into the season with high expectations for, and Durbin should not be a real concern either. Other than that, Contreras, Baez, and Kendrick are all pretty much new to the Phillies' bullpen. Lidge and Romero will be coming off of injuries and disappointing 2009's. It will be interesting to see how all of these guys do in the 2010 season. Luckily, we don't have to worry about them at all in 20% of our games. Thank you, Roy.
The biggest change to our batting order comes in the form of Placido Polanco. If, by some miracle, the Phillies can figure out a leadoff hitter that can get on base, Polanco could end up being the team's MVP this season (I know, I know, but he'll definitely be important). He is a prototypical number 2 guy in the lineup, someone who can put the ball wherever he wants to and knows how to advance runners when he needs to. He puts the ball in play and simply gets his job done. We haven't had someone like this the past 2 years. Werth struck out too much for a #2 hitter, and Shane popped out too much. Polanco should be perfect for that spot. I didn't know we had a hole in our lineup until Polanco filled it in perfectly. The Phillies scoring less than 4 runs in a game this season would be like any other team scoring less than 0 runs. It should be impossible.
The Division:
It is clear that the Phillies should run away with the NL East this season again. But, we can look at what we're up against anyway.
Florida Marlins - I'm still convinced they are our biggest threat for the division. Hanley Ramirez is an unbelievable player, and their starting rotation now only has more experience. Whether they look good on paper or not, they always find a way to put together enough wins to be in some kind of playoff hunt toward the end of the season. ESPN the Magazine simulated the season 100 times and had the Marlins winning the East 0 of those 100 times. It had the Nationals winnings it once. That's complete crap. Watch out for this team.
Atlanta Braves - I feel like their entire season is resting on the shoulders of 20-year-old Jason Heyward. He could be fantastic. He's also only 20 years old and could completely choke. They do have a solid lineup and pitching staff, so they are another team that the Phils will need to keep an eye on. I think if Heyward is successful, the Braves will be. If not, I don't see them as much of a threat, although they definitely will compete.
Washington Nationals - They are looking more promising this year than they have in awhile, but their success will also ride on their top prospect. I am excited to see Stephen Strasburg in the majors, but you can never count on the success of a young pitcher. Plus, a starting pitcher only covers 1 out of every 5 games. They'll definitely struggle again this season, but I would say not nearly as much as last year.
New York Mets - Hilarious
It should be a very fun and exciting season. I'm excited to be following it on this blog, along with anybody who decides to follow with me. Baseball is back. Get excited.
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