Vote for VICTORINO to the All Star Game
Posted: July 5, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: All Star Ballot, All Star game, All Star Team, All Star Voting, phillies, Victorino 3 CommentsOkay so I am wearing out my keyboard and mouse voting for Victorino, added a widget to Facebook, tried to add one to Windows Live, get an error, trying to figure that out, I am confused why you can customize a button specifically for Victorino and display the vote button on any number fo friend networking sites, yet they failed to let you do it for MLBlogs, DOH!!!, I am sure they think people will do it from the MLB main page, their favorite team website or the MLBlogs main page. Just something I noticed is all…… VOTE VOTE VOTE
BLANTASTIC, Phillies SWEEP Mets
Posted: July 5, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: All Star Ballot, All Star game, All Star Team, All Star Voting, Blanton, bullpen, Chan Ho Park, Cora, Fans, Feliz, Hit by Pitch, Howard, Ibanez, Mets, phillies, Reds, Rollins, Romero, Shut Out, sweep, Utley, Victorino, vote, Wright 2 CommentsBlanton surpassed all the hopes and expectations of the Philly fans just dreaming of a sweep, he pitched a good seven and a third shut-out innings, having good command of his fast ball and change-up, he kept the Mets of balance and guessing wrong, he gave up just 4 hits and walked 3 and set the phillies bullpen up nicely to clinch the win and the sweep.
The bullpen was again outstanding, not body likes to see a player get hurt and nobody wants to see an extra guy on base, but admit it, when Romero hit Cora I am sure there were a few fans thinking, ‘wish I could have done that’, so that set up Park to come in and get a double play, which just left the ninth. The commenators seemed confused as to if Lidge would pitch or not, then it was confirmed he was stretching in the pen, just 14 pitches today to go 1, 2, 3 in the ninth, was definately scenes from Lidge of ’08.
Rollins has surely quietened down the sceptics just a little, a lead off homer gave the Phillies an early lead, having another multi hit game Rollins is either back or just really likes to stick it to the Mets.
Utley, Mr. Second-Base God, hits another long ball to give Phillies a two zip lead and that’s all they would need, the defense was outstanding, turning double-plays when they were needed, Howard showed his fielding skills and that all the extra pre-season in-field training has paid-off.
With a home stand start like this I find myself looking forward to the next game, in anticipation of what extraordinary feats the team will show off next, bring on the Reds.
Congratulations go to Utley and Ibanez for making the All Star starting line-up and congrats to Howard for making the All Star team.
I realise it is fan based voting, but why wasn’t it a closer race between Feliz and Wright, Feliz is a better defensive third-baseman than Wright and has been above average with offence this year, just a thought.
Don’t forget send Victorino to the All Star Game as the 33rd man voting is open so get to it he deserves to be there: VOTE NOW
Fox Destroys July 4th, Phillies take 2
Posted: July 5, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 4th of July, 600, All Star Team, Atlanta, Braves, Durbin, Fox, Ibanez, Lidge, Madson, Manny, Mets, MLBTV, Moyer, Nationals, phillies, ramirez, Rollins, Romero, Utley, Victorino, Washington, Werth 1 CommentIt seems I am not the only one who has negativity about Fox, So living in Ohio, just 550 miles or so from Philly what does Fox put on my TV, NOT Phillies vs Mets thats for sure, and since it’s blacked out on MLBTV, I have no alternative but to listen to the game on WPHT via MLBTV. So this is the first time this season I have had to do this, so here’s how the highlight are from a radio listners point of view.
First Inning – Jimmy Rollins, doesnt run the play out as hard or intense as he should for a guy in a slump. So Phillies leave men on base, we can’t do that against the Mets and oh yeah, Werth hits an RBI fly ball.
Second and Third Inning – Some pitch by pitch and has Manny Ramirez added longer dredlocks, cause it looks terrible, expalnation that it was meant to look terrible in a baseball uniform and not terrible in general.
Fourth Inning – Couple more runs score, Utley and Ibanez gets congrats for making the All Star Team as starters, then more appologies, cause the selection show is not till Sunday and no one knows who’s ahead in the voting till then, you must be looking at an old list.
Fifth Inning – Moyers pitching better, gives up a run.
Sixth Inning – Victorino RBI with 2 outs, he’s playing well and Atlanta lost, more unimportant drival about Nationals players and Braves players
Seventh Inning – 87 pitches through 6 and a third for Moyer, hopefully the bullpen can save this one for him Durbin in gets a hitter out, hits a hitter, 10 pitches, in comes Romero, lets hope he can find the strike zone, the stikes the next guy out inning over. Fireworks at the Wharf were last week, so probably going to watch the downtown today.
Eigth Inning – Romero resumes gets one out gives up a hit, Madson in – gets 2 out, Lidge is warming up in the bullpen, guess he’ll be in for the ninth wonder if he’s okay hasn’t pitched since Toronto.
Ninth Inning – Lidge 1,2,3 in 13 pitches. So Philly take 2
Not the most enjoyable way to spend 4th July, having to listen to nothing and make out what was really happening, at least with TV you can see for yourself your not relying on others to keep you informed.
So thanks Fox for screwing up my 4th of July.
Not a single mention about Jamie’s 600th start – Congrats Jamie, keep em coming.
Dare I say SWEEP today, fingers crossed.
Phillies beat up on Mets
Posted: July 4, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 4th of July, Homers, Howard, Jamie Moyer, Lopez, Madson, Mets, Myers, phillies, Rollins, sweep 1 CommentYou all knew at some point the guys were going to have a game like this at home, and it just happened to be the Mets on the recieving end, couldn’t have happened at a nicer time or against a better opponent. With the traumatic road trip and the recent sweeps against the Phils, this was what the fans needed, no time for the boobirds to anounce themselves, straight out of the gate players were swinging and hitting an opposing starter. The free for all ended when the Mets bullpen took over, but even so some nice encouraging things were seen.
Rollins was swinging good aswell as being patient about what pitches he chose to swing at, okay 2 games of hits doesn’t always mean the slump is over, but he looked comfortable at the plate for the first time in a long time, it was like his season was just begining.
Lopez, under what must have been a stress filled day of returning to the majors, gave an excellent performance, while pitching strikes and keeping the hitters of balance, the type of game you hope you are going to get from all your starting rotation, now if he can produce that performance again and again, then maybe we have found a fill-in for Myers.
It was good to see Madson have a relaxed 9th inning, hopefully it will help towards getting his confidence back and giving us the same type of performances we enjoyed last year.
As much as I would like to think it was a dominant Phils team that put the Mets and their fans into a silent stuper, I have to admit that they themselves did everything they could to help the Phillies and the Philly Fans enjoy a long awaited win at home, so for that we should thank the Mets and hope they continue to be supportive in todays game.
The only thing I am still waiting for is Howard to start hitting long balls again, maybe he needs a clubhouse vacation like J-Roll got recently. So today we hope and prey that Jamie Moyer has another good start and goes deep into the game, keeping the Mets off balance and swinging through his off-speed pitches and completely missing his slow/fast ball.
Lets make this a happy 4th of July with another win against the Mets and then maybe we can dream of a sweep of our own.
Phillies Swept by Braves in Atlanta, First Since 2005
Posted: July 3, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, Braves, bullpen, Charlie Manuel, Citizens Bank Park, Dobbs, Happ, Homers, Howard, Ibanez, Madson, Mets, New York, phillies, Rich Dubee, Rollins, Utley Leave a commentAnother night where it started Happ-y and ended with Maddog Madness, there was not much that the Phillies could hold there heads up for last night. Happ had another good start, J-Roll broke his O-fer, Dobbs and Utley were good at the plate. So Madson blew another posible win, Madson’s fault, maybe, a couple of pitches that missed their mark were hit well, one was even crushed. Should he have been put in, well he is the set-up man, but he has been off his game lately, who’s fault, Charlie for putting him or Dubee for agreeing, who knows what discussion went on in the dug-out before they decided, hinde sight is 20-20 so we all know it was a bad choice, but with Romero having a tough time finding the strike zone of late and the complete nervous appearance of any of the bullpen it’s tough to decide who could have come out and given us what we wanted. It’s done now nothing we can do but learn from it, Yes it seems we are slow learners this year.
What are the current positives – Yes we are tied for first, but we have 4 games in hand so concievably we could be 43-37, that’s the positive look. The negative side is we could be 39-41, maybe it’s good we have those games in hand, we stand a chance of getting out of the slump before we play those games in hand.
Let’s hope J-Roll stays out of his slump, at least with him being aggressive on the bases we have more chances to score. Current concerns obviously the bullpen, but also Howards lack of homers during this road trip and the the uncentainty of when we’ll get Ibanez back. I am sure some of Howards problem is Ibanez missing, lets face it pitchers were prepared to pitch good pitches to Howard so they didn’t have to face Ibanez.
We had a bad road trip, lets hope that will turn around the home stand. A series win or sweep of the Mets, is that to much to wish for, I think not, anything is possible the way Phillies are playing, they have to break out at home and start to dominate everyone who comes to the park.
I still think we will go into the All Star break on top of the division, may not be by as many games as everyone would like, but still we will be on top.
So now we get ready to see if we can crush the Mets this weekend and start the home stand on a positive…..
Phillies Blown Away in Atlanta….
Posted: July 1, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 9th inning, Atlanta, Braves, double play, Expo's, Happ, high hopes, HK, Howard, Philadelphia, phillies, pitcher, Rollins, sinker, Utley Leave a commentI have tried hard to think of something good, and the only thing that comes to mind is the double play in the 2nd…. Rollins – Utley – Howard…. after that the fact that the game was over in quick time and we have a chance to recover some dignity tomorrow night with Happ on the mound. I would say this to all other team managers, if your scheduled to play the Phillies find a sinker ball pitcher as your starter, I think we have been killed by them this year, especially of late. Tonight didn’t matter who put up an O-fer, who stole a bag. When everyone seems to be below average at the plate it really doesn’t matter. I guess all teams at some point have some bad games, we just seem to be lumping them all together. For a short time in at the start of the 9th, I was remember a game some years back against the Expo’s, if my memory serves we were down 10-1 and came back to win by scoring 10 or 11 runs in the 9th, that memory was short lived since we were quickly down to our final out, then with the swing of a bat and a throw to first it was done. Oh well tomorrow is getting closer all the time and as HK would remind us, we’ve got HIGH HOPES….
Phillies have extras in Atlanta
Posted: June 30, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, Braves, bullpen, Feliz, Howard, Majors, Mayberry Jr, Mets, NL, phillies, Rollins, Turner Field, Utley, Victorino, Wright 1 CommentWhat a night of swings and roundabouts, ups and downs, highs and lows, whatever you call it, it was good baseball.
Rollins is back in the line-up and batting at the top of the order, regardless of what others may think, it’s good to see him in the line-up, even if he did get an O’fer at the plate, the team just appears to be well adjusted with him there, so welcome back Jimmy.
There was a lot of things that happened tonight,
Victorino went back to back on the Braves pitchers, tough luck Shane, any other night they would have been back to back hits up the middle.
Utley became the first left hander to homer off Lowe this year, way to go Chase, that’s why he is probably the best second-baseman in the majors.
Howards ground-rule double scored Victorino, but had Utley tryin to get the umps to give him home, guess they didn’t hear the umps reviewed one the other night, still he was around third when it went out…. not sure the umps here had a sense of humor with them, Chase obviously did.
Thats when the evening started to have ups and downs, Phillies lead Braves tie, again in the 5th, then the Braves lead into the 6th.
Feliz, I think the best 3rd baseman in the NL, even better than Wright for the Mets, saved a run in the 6th with an unbelieveable play, and then went onto hit a homer as part of back to back homers with Mayberry Jr.
Before the back to back homers, it seemed like some of the hitters were in panic mode, down one, first pitch swinging again, I guess it’s good when the ball fly’s like Pedro’s did.
The bullpen played well tonight, despite the Phillies loosing it in the bottom of the 10th, it was good baseball from both teams, just unfortunate that the 2 Braves players that hurt us, weren’t really regulars, and as they say THAT’S BASEBALL…
Another shot tomorrow, the 9 straight streak at Turner Field ended so its time to start a new one.. GO PHILLIES…..
The Pen….
Posted: June 30, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: bad day, closer, Lidge, Madson, MLB Network, phillies, set up, starting rotation, The Pen Leave a commentThe Pen MLB Network Sunday nights…. if you haven’t seen it, youre missing out. The only problem with this show is it isn’t long enough. I normally DVR this show and watch it on the off day, so I get my 7 day Philly fix. This show has given me a new found respect for the guys in the bullpen. You only saw them for an inning or one hitter, if they did good then they did their job if they sucked you didn’t want to see them for a few days. Well this show has introduced you to their personalities, it has shown you want they go through just to stay in the pen. I have to say it’s probably one of the hardest jobs on the team, like they say, these guys have one shot, they have to bring their best and deliver, if they screw up or have a bad day, the whole team suffers. I know you might think the same goes for the rest of the players too. Consider this, position player has a bad day, his team mates try and pick up the slack over 9 innings, if the starter has a bad day then the fielders can help and there is always the bullpen. So next time the bullpen has a bad day, don’t be so hard on them, especially Madson and Lidge who probably have the hardest jobs in the pen. Watch The Pen on MLB Network and you too may get a new found respect for these guys.
Two out of Three ain’t bad……..
Posted: June 28, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: All Star Ballot, All Star Voting, Atlanta, base runnin, Blue Jays, Braves, double, inter-league, Jamie Moyer, NL East, old fashioned baseball, phillies, triple, vote 1 CommentJamie Moyer gets another win…. I think Jamie is a hell of a guy, he just keeps pounding the ball into home plate, no matter what happens he just keeps on pluging away. He had a slow start, giving up some homers, but it didn’t seem to phase him and when I think I am just a few years older than him, he looks as though he could be doing it at 50, probably not, but he makes it look so easy, even when he’s loosing or winning. Well today he couldn’t have got the win without the offence and it was good to see them score runs with old style baseball, play hard, run hard and hit for the gaps, everyone likes to see homers especially from the Phillies, but when they go out and win from base running, a double, a triple and a fly ball, its nice to know they don’t have to hit homers everyday. So a couple of errors that could have been costly, but like all good team mates they played through them and still left the Jays feeling Blue. So now it’s off to Atlanta, inter-league is over, thankfully, back to a stretch of NL East games, these all count a little bit more, so lets see more of why the Phillies players rank high in the All Star Voting. Don’t forget you can still vote till midnight Thursday, lets get more Phillies on the team…. VOTE….VOTE…..VOTE
Bloopers, Loops and Homers…..
Posted: June 27, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: bloopers, Charlie Manuel, Gary Matthews, Happ, Homers, loops, phillies, rubber match, Shut Out, team chat, Umpires, Werth 3 CommentsWhat a diference a day makes, or was it the
team chat that Charlie had after last nights game. It was
good to see Happ pitch nine scoreless innings and for Werth
to be just short of the cycle. It was also good to hear that
the Phillies players haven’t been complaining about the
umpires, even though they have good reason too. Today was a
day to build on and move forward, hopefully tomorrow will be
as good if not better, the rest of the season starts
here….. Well I have a week of where I have complained and
just so I dont dissapoint, just one more thing… does Gary
Matthews get some kind of hand out from Cadilac… just
curious why he keeps calling homers a cadilac moment… maybe
I am used to HK calling the homers, but cadilac time or
moment just doesn’t cut it and it’s irritating to me
anyway…. okay thats the whine today… positive thinking
now, unless something else really irritates me… GO
PHILLIES… take the rubber match
tomorrow….
Phillies Outside Archive Vault 