Phillies going to Vegas ….

– PhilliesOutside –

The popularity contest is over, NL and AL rosters are set, okay not entirely,
there is still the opportunity to vote the final spot on each roster, my choices
are Votto (CIN) in the NL and  Konnerko
(CWS) in the AL, as for who
should be there and who shouldn’t it’s all about personal choice so now it’s set
the managers have to make the best of it.

The hype around  Strasburg continued, you have Charlie Manuel on national television and the best first
question you can come up with is “did you consider Strasburg an option” or words to
that effect. If you have any ounce of intelligence and slight knowledge of baseball,
you know the kid has made 6 starts is not going to the All
Star Game when so many other pitchers have accomplished so much more this
season. To those who claim his 100 mph fast ball is worth him being there, bullsh-it,
after seeing him against the Braves and the Mets, I am convinced the Strasburg
Hyper Interest Tension Syndrome
will dissipate
and die before the season ends, he will be ‘the kid that threw really hard’
for a season and a half maybe, who knows his agent may even be able to swing a
movie about him, cause he has obviously worn out his knee pads convincing the
media sheep to hype this kid up. Kevin Kaduk of the Yahoo Sports Blog “Big
League Stew”
is one of those who plays the reporter hidden inside a
blog, is a prime example of over hyping Strasburg, telling us ‘MLB is
missing out’
, this probably wouldn’t be so laughable if you weren’t actively
promoted by Yahoo as an authority on the MLB and sports.

The media sheep, they get one or two reporters to write it, the rest follow
and there go the bloggers
too
. Of course you have the bias
media
, yes that’s you Fox Sports, who will tell you that the AL won
the ASG voting because of who the fans selected, then there are those who have
chosen to publicly
mock Charlie
for a couple of his picks.

Lets see, Ryan Howard, yes we all know Votto has better
numbers, but he has better numbers than Albert Pujols too, and aren’t the
managers selections there for his amusement, to appease players on his team, after all
Joe Girardi chose A-Rod. Then we have Omar Infante and yes
on first glance I had a dazed look on my face and said “WTF!” then I
saw Chipper Jones’ comment about utility players never get selected, so
good for Charlie for doing his homework, now when a manager has spent
most of the first half of the season relying on utility players to maintain
contention in the division, then this choice makes sense, if indeed this game
does go the extra innings, he now has a player he can use when and where he
wants.

Inside sources, who do not wish to be named, said, the Phillies
organization is close to a deal with a large hotel consortium to appear in Las
Vegas
during the All Star Break, it seems they did such a good job
making the Pittsburgh Pirates look good over the weekend, the
Treasure Island Hotel Casino would like to use them to help increase awareness
of the Treasure Island pirates.

 

Advertisement

Corporate Domination ?

– PhilliesOutside –

The
Phillies
v BoSoxDemolition
Derby’
turned out to be just that, Boston
demolished the Phillies in the first 2
games, the Phillies did however manage to
scrape out a win on the final day, by way of a Raul Ibanez homer and some
inventive base running by Jayson Werth.

The crowd continued to express the desires to ‘Beat LA’ even
though they were referencing a different sport. The Phillies
get a day off, before heading to Yankee
stadium, Charlie Manuel managed to play switcheroo with his starting
rotation so that Halladay and CC match up, not sure if this was
all Chuck’s doing or if there were any financial or other compensations
involved. Did I just infer that there may be some kind of bribing going on,
naaaa, I would never do that, but Sony Online Entertainment might
or at least that’s how I read it, might infer that money should make a difference
to official controlling bodies of sports.

How about a headline “World Cup Needs America, Like It Or
Not”
, is this just someone trying to encourage the development of a
sport, or encourage the involvement for financial gain.

This head line was the headline of a blog post from the “Senior
Director of Global Public Relations”
for “Sony Online
Entertainment”
, yep way to go with the public relations there ‘Mr.
Big Shot’
actually I don’t know the guy, he may be a very nice person and
his name isn’t really Mr. Big Shot, it’s Mr. Scott Gulbransen,
and some of what he says maybe perfectly true, but it’s the end of his post that
my concern is with, he says:

“With a global recession, Americans and their wallets –
including the large television networks – throw more money at the
tournament than everyone else combined. FIFA and the World Cup
increasingly need American interest and money to keep the expensive show
afloat. Yes, it might be the world’s most popular sport, but America is
its richest and most important benefactor.”

This is why players of the sport stay in this country to play the game, so
they can benefit from all the big bucks that are invested so readily and easily
into the sport. (note the sarcasm).

I would probably agree that most Americans are going to say, ‘yeah and what’s
wrong with that statement’
, to someone who was not born here, who has
experienced how people have over the years perceived Americans, this does
nothing more than play into the typographical role of the rich arrogant American
who believes throwing money at it will get them preferential treatment, the same
way a lot of Americans have seen the Yankee
organization. The humorous part of this post was the closing statement, where he
said:

“For once, this non-soccer fan will be rooting for our US
team to kick some arrogant international soccer booty. Even if that
means I have to wake up at four in the morning to watch it.”

Something like this from an everyday person, would probably be excusable,
even laughable, after all it is a free country with freedom of speech, but let
me remind you this came from someone claiming to work for what could be
considered a very large global corporation and their job is high up in global
public relations for that corporation, so to me this sounds more like a gripe
from a company that wasn’t able to ‘BUY’ it’s own way, or even rights to a FIFA game, say World Cup 2010.

Yes my post also sounds like a gripe, but I am not associated with a large
corporation, my post will not receive preferential promotional treatment from a
website that seems to pay attention to the bigger names, now it’s grown, and
honestly it just goes to show that corporate is in the belief that it can buy whatever
or into whatever it wants whenever it wants. You can read the
full post from the man from Sony Online Entertainment here

…or…

click
here to see my review on how the World Cup and 1876 get linked


Where’s the cheese ?

– PhilliesOutside –

Why do we have the latest leaders board? 

Is it nice to know if your blog is seen more than someone else’s?

Are we being polite when we say “it doesn’t matter where on the list
we are”?

How do you really feel when your blog is seen less than someone who only
posted 1 post over 18 months ago?

It’s like asking “should Armando Galarraga suffer for the mistake of
some umpire who was not paying attention”? it was obvious to everyone that Jason
Donald
was out, everyone except Jim Joyce the umpire in question. Who
complained the least, the guy with the most to lose, Galarraga. The
problem is Joyce is the one that will be in the history books now and not
Galarraga. Of course Jim Joyce was man enough to admit his mistake
after the fact, but too little too late, if MLB re-adjust’s the numbers to show a
perfect game as many people have been calling for, this will set a precedence
and cause so many other requests for reviews of game outcomes, it would do
nothing except lengthen an already long season. – Okay that sent me just
tad off topic –

I guess what I am saying is, if we’re going to have a list of the top ‘blogillion’
blogs, shouldn’t it be a fair playing field for all. I can glance down the list
of blogs and instantly see those that I visit on a regular basis, I can also see
those that I know have no action and those that just appeared, and of course
there are those that have been lucky enough to be highlighted by the MLBlogosphere
and have miraculously jumped up the ranking considerably. I know Mark Newman
is a very busy man with MLBAM and all, but surely he has people that deal
with this now, or at least some guru/geek that can decipher the good the bad and
the ugly.

At this point there are no more questions just statements, the lists that
represents the Pro Blogs and the Beat Writers are of
course just what they are, it will be tough for a beat writer to compete with
Todd Zolecki
at the ZOZONE
simply because if anyone has been there regularly they know there are a few
people that seem to openly live there lives in the comments section of his blog,
of which is available both through the MLBlogosphere and of course as
regular news items on MLB.com.

The Fans Blog list however, is the one that is not on level
playing ground, there were people asking in the comments of last
months latest leaders list
how to get on the list, which is a tough question
to answer. Some of us spend as much time as we have available writing posts,
commenting on other bloggers posts in the hope that they will return the favor
and also that someone may see your link and visit your site, this works, most
bloggers do return the favor, I say most because not all do, and some don’t do
it all of the time either. -Okay moving slightly off point again – 

Lets take a look at some of the blogs that made the list this
month
and last
month

#24 is a blog that made a couple of posts in the middle of January, that’s
all this year, yet they weren’t on last months list but jumped straight in at
#24 for May.

#20 down from #19 last month hasn’t posted anything since mid August 2009,
don’t get me wrong I have nothing against these bloggers, in fact I was a
regular commenter of #20 when she was blogging.

#30 up from #41 last month, is even featured on the picture for this
month
, openly admits the blog is closed and has moved to a new location
away from mlblogs.

#33 up from #37 last month, okay this one is the funniest of all so far, 1
post in the life of the blog, that post was on April 29th 2009, yes over a year
ago, yet it still is on the list and climbing no less.

#35 down from #2 last month, this is an example of how being highlighted can
help, during March this blog found it’s way on the from of the Blogosphere.

These ones I mention are not the only blogs, they are just the ones I have
chosen to mention, there are a number of blogs with 1 or 2 entries a month or
just this 1 or 2 entries this year that seem to stick around the top twenty or
top thirty, because they have longevity in the Blogosphere. Just
one more I want to mention, last month #30 seems to move up to #27 this month,
the link however is a different link, the name on the list matches the blog it
linked to last month, but not the blog it links to this month, yet the blog it
is linked to this month is more believable as the blog that should possibly be
on the list, confused, so am I, I have no answer, so you’ll have to stay as
confused as me.

It’s fair to say most of, if not all, the top ten blogs have been around for
sometime and have made there way to the top ten because of it, or inspite of it,
it is also fair to say that some blogs stick around without any action for the
reasons. Like all newcomers to anything it takes time to be accepted and to
develop a following of any kind, it also helps when you get the assistance of
controlling organizations, like the MLBlogosphere. So hound them
till you get a front and center promotion like a couple of the top 10 blogs have
had this year already.

Strange as it may be I have no pictures in this post except that which I have
depicted with my words. Take this as you may, for some I am sure they will see
it as a gripe, a whine, for others they may just take solace in the fact that
there blog may be in the top 50, but the list just doesn’t show it.

I know my blog may have dropped 10 places and that maybe my miniscule 4500
hits (excluding my own hits of course) since season start, probably makes it a
stretch that I’m even in the top 50, but with the way the Phillies are
playing I have to whine about something and I am not going to fall into
the same trap as every other Phillies fan and complain about Charlie
or Milt or the players are getting paid to lose, sh-it happens.. or
maybe this is BP’s fault

Now where’s that cheese….

 


Moyer Makes History Look Easy….

– PhilliesOutside –

Friday, May 7th, 2010. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia. Jamie
Moyer
threw 105 pitches, over 9 innings giving up just 2 hits and
striking out 5, as he made baseball history.

Moyer is officially the oldest major league pitcher to throw a
9 inning shut out game, at
aged 47 years 170 Days young, Moyer was pushed to the bullpen
during August last year, this year some thought Kendrick should have got
the starting job, not Moyer. Personally I have said all along Moyer
was the choice for the starting rotation, I stand by that, and I say to all
those who will now jump on the Moyer band wagon, be careful what
you say.

I had said during spring training that I think Kendrick should not be
used as a starter till later in the year, and that Moyer will be
better more often than not during the first 100 to 130 games of the baseball
season. What Jamie did against the Braves, is far beyond
any expectation anyone could have seen, many could have hoped for, but no one
could truly have predicted.

Lets
not forget he wasn’t the only one on the field playing against the Braves,
even with the Phillies still feeling the effects of being without
Jimmy Rollins they have pulled together and over come some tough times.
With both Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard making very good
defensive plays, the offense was still keeping a steady average of hits and runs
as they managed to score 7 runs off Atlanta pitching, Jayson
Werth
having a blast of ‘Deja-Vu’ as he hit a 3 run Jack in back to back
games, the first against the Cardinals then again against the Braves.

The Phillies continue the home stand for another 2 days, both games
against the Atlanta Braves then they hit the road for a week,
heading to Colorado for 3 games and then Milwaukee
for 3 games, but this season is about taking it one game at a time and the focus
is on the Braves for the Saturday game. Saturday some may think the dug out
looks bare or just strange, but it should only be for one game. Charlie
Manuel
has said he will be missing Saturday’s game against the Braves for
personal reasons and he specifically said it had nothing to do with his health,
before we have a lot of conclusion jumpers.


It’s Time….

…to spring into action, players
have had a chance to wipe away the cobwebs, meets old friends, get
introduced to new ones, have their memories jogged on which base is
which, and figure out which shoe goes on which foot.

This week is the week that interaction
between teams begins, this week is the start of old and new rivalries.
It may only be spring training games, but it will give us a hint
of what’s to come, it will let us see who’s here to play and who’s here
to wing it.

The Phillies bring a core of
players which in essence is the strongest it’s had over the last few
years, some new additions, even a re-addition to what was already a
solid base of players. This is definitely the start of what should be an
interesting year all around baseball.

For the Phillies, question marks
will surround the likes of Lidge and Hamels, not just at
the start of the season, but all season long. The media will be waiting
to pounce on the first sign of anything that may show a reduced
performance, in my opinion Hamels will do just fine, for me the
one to watch will be Lidge, even though he will have a better
year than last year, (which shouldn’t be hard to do), he will
have just a mediocre year and hopefully Charlie will have him on
a shorter leash than he did last year.

I am sure it will not take Polanco
long to get his footing at 3rd base and become a dominant 3rd base
player, he is a familiar figure to the organization as are they to him.
It’s looking as if Polanco will be the only addition to last
year’s starting line-up in the field, the rest of the infield and
outfield should be more than accustomed to each other by now. We should
get a chance to see the new additions to the bench during this month and
some of the potential prospects, even though the farm system is a little
depleted with the acquisitions over the last couple of years.

We will definitely get a chance to see
the star acquisition Roy Halladay as he is set to square off against CC
in the opener against the Yankees this week, as with all spring training
games, we shouldn’t expect too much from him, after all we’d like to see
him still throwing maximum innings come October.

Around Baseball

Not too much to say at this point, just
waiting for the St Louis Cardinals to announce Pete Rose
as the players investment coach, following the announcement of McGwire
as the hitting coach, I am sure Pujols and Holliday will
be looking to him for inspiration.

 any
sarcasm is not meant to offend, unless it does, then consider the
possibilities of more during the season.

 


The Race is on…

Race for the N.L. East Division Title…

Looking at how the Phillies have been playing of late, I thought this division was going to be the closest run contest, but having seen how the Rockies and Dodgers are playing, the N.L. West could produce the biggest upset in September.

The teams in the N.L. East will all play a major role in the way this division unfolds during September, everybody plays everybody, so I am going to do a brief review of each team and the role they could play.

The Washington Nationals (47-90) in my opinion will have the biggest impact on the outcome of this division race. There current strategy seems to be reviewing players and setting up the team to go into the off season, so they can best decide who to trade and who to keep, plus they are looking at what areas they will need to fill during the off-season so as to not end up with the worst record in baseball in the 2010 season.

The Nats play everyone in the division which means they will be a spoiler and a helper, who they will help and who’s hope’s they will spoil is yet to be seen. They could even have a hand in the N.L. West with (2) 3 games still scheduled against the Dodgers. They host 3 games against the Phillies starting today (Tuesday, Sept 8th) and with the way the Phillies have been playing of late anything could happen.

The New York Mets (62-75) currently are in an ‘argumentum ad misericordiam’ state. They cannot decide if self-pity or pity from the fans right, considering the new stadium, the pre-season hype then the injuries, the ball park not very player friendly and of course the cross town Yankees doing so well, they are desperately seeking a ‘It’s NOT our fault’ acceptance from the not so fair weather fans.

Although they do play everyone in the division, the role of the Mets is more likely to be a deciding factor in where and how the Marlins and Braves finish.

The Atlanta Braves (70-67) are fighting to hold onto a winning record and at the same time desperately trying to stay in the wild card race. They are only 8 games back in the division race, but with Florida and the Phillies ahead of them, they would have to sweep both team during games this month and they only have 3 against the division leading Phillies. the wild card has it’s own challenges, currently 7 1/2 games out they have to hope the 3 teams ahead of them completely collapse.

They will probably be more inclined to spoil the chances of the Marlins while maintaining a winning record this year.

The Florida Marlins (72-65) are the FISH with a WISH. It’s tough to decide which is the hardest task for them, the wild card or division, both are very hard mountains to climb. Currently standing 6 games back in the division and 5 1/2 games back in the wild card it’s a 50/50 chance to make either one. They do have 6 games left against the Phillies and they did sweep the Phillies at CBP and the Phillies have been struggling of late, so there has to be hope in the hearts of the Marlins fans.

The Philadelphia Phillies (77-58) have a hard schedule ahead, with just 2 days off, but 2 double headers to play. They will play 6 games outside of the division, tough games against central division teams, but more importantly the in division games are critical. With Florida and Atlanta hoping for a shot the Phillies will have to bring the best of the season together to finish out on top.

A team in turmoil at the moment, with the starting pitching being the only element of the team delivering a winning performance, the offence needs to step up and the bull pen needs to refocus. the offense it’s all about the players, Raul Ibanez seems to be on a slow climb from his slump, the rest of them have to become more consistent, the bull pen is solid except for 2 or 3 players, who Charlie seems to favor.

It’s all about choices and this man has some to make…

Make the right choices and the Phillies can be in the post season shooting for a repeat, the wrong choices and the season ends October 4th.


HOUSTON we have a PROBELM….

Houston we have a problem… and it appears that Charlie is going to stick by that problem regardless…

Bench control to closer Lidge
Bench control to closer Lidge
Take your jacket off and put your ball cap on

Bench control to closer Lidge
Commence your warm up, tosses now
Check in mirror and in gods sake get the save

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,
Four, three, two, one, lights off

This is bench control to closer Lidge
You need to get three outs
And the papers want to know who really cares
Now its time to save a game if you dare

This is closer Lidge to bench control
I’m stepping from the pen
And I’m walking in a most peculiar way
And the fans look very different today

For here
Am I standing on a pitchers mound
Far above the field
Players shirts are blue
And there’s nothing I can do

Though I’ve walked two guys to base
Im feeling very ill
And I think this baseball knows which way to go
Tell my fans I really suck, they know

Bench control to closer Lidge
Your arm is dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, closer Lidge? 
Can you hear me, closer Lidge? 
Can you hear me, closer Lidge? 
Can you….

Here am I wallowing in self pity mode
Far above my skills
Players shirts are blue
And there’s nothing I can do.

 

I would have sang it on a video with images of Lidge and Charlie, but I cant sing, so sing it in your heads and picture another blown save from Lidge, and in case you don’t know the song, here it is, it’s only part of the song so you have to figure out where in the song the words fit….

 

Yes I admit it, I spent my teenage years in the 70’s and this guy was one of my favorites….


Phillies Offense Wakes Up…

On a night that had been promoted by the media to be the second coming of Pedro Martinez turned out to be the awakening of the Phillies bats. The night at Wrigley Field was broadcast on ESPN, you have to ask yourself, was that just a coincidence that the rotation was switched around to debut Pedro Martinez, or were greater powers at play, the word is, that the Phillies would not change the rotation just to help ESPN get extra ratings, but conspiracy theorists believe otherwise. Personally it didn’t matter, the Pedro Martinez debut was over shadowed by the return of the long awaited Phillies offense.

How did Pedro perform in his return…

martinez.jpg

for me the verdict is still out!

It is really hard to compare how one pitcher would have performed over another pitcher on a specific night, since things may have been different for a different pitcher. When you consider he went 5 innings, anyone else out on the mound and Charlie would have pulled in the 5th inning, he loaded the bases with nobody out, the fact that he had a huge lead at the time and his name is Pedro Martinez on his debut in a Phillies uniform was the only reason he stayed in the game to get through the 5th, had the Cubs hit a grand slam I hope Charlie would have pulled him regardless of the circumstances. In the end he finished with a 5.40 ERA, I just cant help thinking had it not been a struggling Cubs, but a red hot hitting team, he would have been crushed and the huge lead the Phillies had would have been worthless, but I will wait for at least a couple more starts before rendering a verdict on his inclusion as the 5th starter.

The night really was all about the Phillies offense, which came to life, you could tell from the begining it was going to be a good night for them, even the defensive plays were considerably better than they have been over the last couple of weeks.

Who was the hero of the night…

offense.jpg

 All of them!!

Yes, some had more hits than others, some had more RBI’s than others etc. etc. but the real fact is they all hit, they were all swinging the bats well, and none of them made any errors. Until Eric Bruntlett came in to give Chase Utley a rest, then he managed to kick a ball into the outfield that should have been a routine double play.

The only other incident, which I am sure will be picked up on highlight reels was that of a fan, with Victorino going back on to the warning track in left center, some stupid, idiotic, Cubs fan, I know I here some of you saying they just have to be a Cubs fan to to be those things, but this one was a little more of those things, he threw, what i can only believe to be perfectly good BEER at Victorino just as he was making a catch…

beer-mix.jpg

1 – Shows him throwing the BEER, (what a waste)

2 – Shows him pleading his denile case

3 – Shows him further denying it, while the wrong guy gets ejected

4 – Shows him bragging to fans around him how he got away with it. (okay, so I helped out a little with the t-shirt lettering)

It wasn’t over, I am guessing they reviewed the footage and decided the guy they ejected wasn’t the one,

because this lonely idiot…

beer-5.jpg

managed to get everyone around him ejected too…popular guy now I bet…

Today is a day game and Cliff Lee will be taking the mound, lets hope the offense stays alive and gives him similar support. It will be a day where the Phillies fans will be hoping to bounce back from the weekend and complete a sweep of there own.

Here’s something that came to me yesterday while watching this game, no real reason why it came to me just did, so thought I would share for others to ponder it, and if you know the answer great…

Has a hitter in a single game, hit for the cycle, been put on base by a HBP and got on base by a swinging strike that gets away from the catcher, thats 6 at bats, I know, but has anyone ever done that?…


The Phillies are an All Star Team……

Well 5 of them anyway, so Jayson Werth was selected to go by Charlie and the league agreed, I’m with Todd Zolecki on this one, Todd wrote:Wow.”

I am very surprised, Yes i know i said earlier that I thought Kemp should be the pick, still do truth be known, but when you have your favorite team being represented by 5 players at the All Star game, that’s special.

So now it is posible for the NL All Star Team to have the Phillies outfield on the field all at the same time, will that happen, we’ll have to wait and see if Charlie can pull that one off.

Now all the claims of having an All Star Outfield are fact not fiction or pipe dreams, another day the Phillies have something to be proud of….

With what seemed to be an unfair quantity of blogs about how Victorino should NOT have won the final vote, I am sure this news will resenate through and cause more unrest towards the Philadelphia Phillies, maybe this is the year, maybe we will get Halladay too.

 


Phillies Swept by Braves in Atlanta, First Since 2005

Another 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…..