A New Begining….

Posted: April 4, 2010 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2010 Season, A's, Albert Pujols, Angels, Arizona, Astros, Athletics, Atlanta, Baltimore, Blue Jays, BoSox, Brad Lidge, Braves, Brewers, Canada, Cardinals, Chicago, ChiSox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, D'Backs, Detroit, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Ed Rapauno, Florida, Giants, Houston, Indians, Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Milton Bradley, Milwaukee, mini-soda, Minnesota, Nationals, Nats, New York, Oakland, Orioles, Padres, Philadelphia, phillies, Pirates, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Rays, Red Birds, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Ryan Howard, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Spring Training, St. Louis, Tampa Bay. Boston, Texas, Tigers, Time, Toronto, Tribe, Twins, Umpires, Washington, White Sox, Yankees | 13 Comments

It’s finally here. Spring is Sprung…

…all the cheap shots at the American League teams are out of my system, until something really horrendous happens, it’s time to focus on the task at hand, supporting the Philadelphia Phillies through thick and thin, taking all the abuse other fans can give, and giving it back in the same good humored rivalry it is all meant.

Accepting that when my team does something, which to the average human, is totally off the wall and far out there, they are doing it for the best interests of the club and not to spite the fans.

Everyone gets a clean slate, even umpire Ed Rapauno, gets a fresh start and can step out without fear of humiliation in Philadelphia, until that first call anyway. It’s a time when Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes have the same number of stolen bases, or a time when even Brad Lidge is no longer a…

…loser.

It truly is a special time, the Cubs have the same record as the Cardinals, Milton Bradley has as many RBI’s as Albert Pujols, and any player can claim to equal Ryan Howards home run quantity.

The time has come to start waving those towels, the time has come to grill in the parking lot, the time has come to never be short of beer, the time has come to start screaming LET’S GO….

– peter

So It Begins….

Posted: April 3, 2010 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: A's, Angels, Arizona, Astros, Athletics, Atlanta, Baltimore, Blue Jays, BoSox, Braves, Brewers, British Empire, Canada, Cardinals, Chicago, ChiSox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, D'Backs, Detroit, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Florida, Giants, Houston, Indians, Kansas City, Kodak, Los Angeles, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Microsoft, Milwaukee, mini-soda, Minnesota, Nationals, Nats, New York, Oakland, Orioles, Padres, Philadelphia, phillies, Pirates, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Rays, Red Birds, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay. Boston, Texas, Tigers, Toronto, Tribe, Twins, USSR, Walmart, Washington, White Sox, Xerox, Yankees | 11 Comments

Sunday evening is the opening day game for the 2010 season. The New York Yankees visit Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. There is so much wrong with the opening to this years season, it’s the 30th time these 2 teams have played the opener.

First of all the current reigning World Series champions open the season on the road, it wouldn’t be so bad if it was a team that had little or no fan base, even with the hyped up pricing at Yankee stadium the fans do splurge for special occasions and attend games, so that’s not an excuse, but we have heard Yankee fans whine before and this will just let them whine some more.

The game is in Boston, okay so this is purely an observational comment, that unfortunately I have no substance to back it up with hard facts, I could maybe invent an inside source, but that would just be playing like the media boys and being a politician about it, anyway back on point, during the off-season there appeared to be an inordinate amount of subliminal promotion of the Boston Red Sox.

The teams themselves have what is probably a fan base that consists of arguably the highest percentage of arrogant fans in baseball and probably the world of sports, not only do both sets of fans believe they follow the greatest sports franchise that was ever created on this planet, they also believe that they are the only fans to know the facts, that they are the only ones to see the truth in plays, when the team has a call against them that is seen as an injustice to the whole concept of baseball. They will also feel that anyone who dares to write or speak any kind of non-supportive words or sentences will be a premeditated, merciless intent of attack against them personally and therefore will not find any element of humor of any form in such types of communication, and thus will feel to enter into a communicative exchange or even make comment on such a expression, would be seen to actually accept that there maybe an element of truth in what was communicated or that not everyone believes these 2 teams are the be all end all of sports franchises, thus they stick with communicating among themselves, unless they sense a turncoat that they can easily convert.

So, having said all that, not all fans of these 2 franchises are like this, just enough to warrant the expressive terms used to identify either of these clubs.

Little known things – fact or fiction –

Boston Red Sox was known as the Red Stockings, Stockings was changed to Sox to eliminate the growing belief that many Bostonian fans were cross dressing transvestites.
‘Red Sox Nation’ was originally a derogatory term, inferring the fans were a group with an imaginary history or goal.

Yankees – Yankee was originally used to reference people from the Boston area, descendants of the English.
Yankee or Yank is commonly used to refer to anyone from the United States by other countries, sometimes but not always a derogatory inference.

Evil Empire, derogatory term, now embraced by many Yankee fans, also has been used to describe, USSR, British Empire, Xerox, Kodak, Walmart, Microsoft, all things or companies that either no longer exist or have self destructed from arrogance and are reformed in a smaller dose, or are on the verge of self destruction from internal arrogance with a GOD complex.

Now I have suitable provided sufficient data to ensure zero comments from either sets of fans, for the rest of us mere mortal baseball teams the season really starts on Monday and it will be a beginning of who knows what, it’s the start of a season of unknowns, all we know for sure is that our teams will participate and our support for them will not falter. No matter how good or bad they perform we will continue to publish post that ultimately support them to the end.

N. L. East Crystal Ball….

Posted: March 31, 2010 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, babes, ball girls, Braves, chicks, Florida, girls, Homer, hooters, hot chicks, Marlins, mascots, Mermaids, Mets, Mr Met, Nationals, Nats, New York, Phanatic, Philadelphia, phillies, pimp, Tomahawks, Washington | 14 Comments

As the National League East is the division the Phillies are in, I have decided to review the NL East a little differently than I did the other divisions, but not much differently.

Anyone with any sort of technical savvy should be aware, that all major league websites are controlled and sourced through a centralized system, which is why they basically have the same layout and the same MLB news items, there are areas which are specific to the actual clubs feeds, but still the look and feel of each website is similar to the extent that if you find something on one about that club, you should be able to find the same thing on another clubs site about that particular club. Well if you’re still following this thought then the rest should make some sense.
I decided to review specific things that may be of interest to one fan or another and I looked at the same on each website, this is how it turned out.

The Washington Nationals will without question be at the bottom of the division again this year, even though they have a player that if utilized could be a contender for the 2010 ROY award, that would be Ian Desmond. Anyway I digress, the Nats website…

…is headlined “Get Your RED On” What the hell does that mean? I looked RED up on google, bing even yahoo, but couldn’t find anything that remotely related to visiting the Washington Nationals and cheering them on, is this just more inaccurate promotional work coming out of Washington. I hunted for the Nats mascot and any ballgirls or cheerleaders or similar and found this, a mascot called ‘Screech‘ which looked a lot like ‘Swoop’ in a Nats uniform, which was kind of ironic since they were also advertising the Eagles this summer, just in case anyone is confused, that’s the band Eagles not the NFL team they are promoting. I couldn’t find any ball girls, softball team, cheerleaders or anything like that on the Nationals website which probably means they are all working as interns somewhere in DC.

The Florida Marlins, will try very hard this year, but will only manage to be good enough to finish 4th in this division, the Marlins website however…

…claimed ‘Serious Fun’ and invited people to ‘Get In On It’, okay I have to ask, “get in on what?”, then I found the Mermaids and realized what the fun was and what they wanted you to get in on, so no need to google, bing or yahoo anything. I did try to find out what the entry requirements were to be a Mermaid, cause it looked at first glance that they had just got together a group of Hooters employees, but I found that you can actually hire these Mermaids for private functions, and there’s me thinking that would be classed as pimping and be illegal, but I guess Miami-Dade anything goes especially when you have trouble voting on issues.

The Atlanta Braves have an excellent pitching rotation, if all are healthy and pitching to form, but they lack some other factors which will be needed to make a run at this division, they should finish 3rd again this year thanks mostly to the pitching staff. The Braves website…

…continues to tell everyone how wonderful Turner Field is, even though it hasn’t been that way for a number of years now. There was some good news though I found out that the Braves have a mascot called ‘Homer’ so i looked around for the big yellow headed dude with the pot belly eating donuts, but alas all I found was what looked like a poorly cloned ‘Mr Met’. The good news was they actually appear to have some hot chicks still living in Atlanta, I am not sure being a member of something called the ‘Tomahawk Team’ is going to inspire a future mate to actually close their eyes and fall asleep with one of them in the same building never mind room.

The New York Mets if everyone is healthy, especially Reyes who needs to stays off the sauce, or whatever he’s been on, should make a vast change from last year, still it won’t be enough to win the division. The Mets website though maybe even worse than the Nats…

….there is lots of invites for you to spend money, they promote a belief in comebacks, obviously they have Mr. Met, but he was hard to find and I had to surf via pages telling me I can join this or that for a nominal fee. It seems to be all about Citi Field, which is fine since they spent a bundle of money on it, but it seems there are no hot chicks left in New York that like the Mets, or at least I couldn’t find anything on the website.

The Philadelphia Phillies this year will go back to the big stage, after winning the division and the repeating for the 3rd time as N L Champs. Of course like any other prediction it’s based on the players being healthy, except for the Phillies where it’s based on Lidge being on the DL all season long. The Phillies website…

…Okay so I am more comfortable with the Phillies website and can find things easily, there is no tacky slogan, although the Phillies do use a couple in commercials, the mascot is easily found, which as you can see, I caught him making sure there was space for the 2010 trophy. Anyone that’s seen a game in Philadelphia at the Bank or even prior at the Vet, will know the Phillies have ball girls, who are on hand for every home game and I understand are all fairly well accomplished softball players, sit near one if you can they are also at times very good conversationalists. So to sum
up the NL East without a biased view, the Phillies have the best looking ball girls, best looking website and the best chance to win the division again.

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

trademarks,

trade names,
copyrights and patents are the property of their respective owners.

Friday – Double the Fun Day…..

Posted: March 5, 2010 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Astros, Blue Jays, brainless, Braves, Cards, friday, fun, Hamels, Marlins, Mets, Mets suck, Moyer, Nats, phillies, Rays, Reyes, roids, Tampa Bay, Tiger fans, Tigers, Yankees | 9 Comments

The Phillies played the Blue Jays in two games today. A morning game saw the first outing of Jamie Moyer and a afternoon game saw the first outing of Cole Hamels.

In the morning game Jamie Moyer showed he still has a little something left, after enduring an off-season of operations and hospital visits, Moyer took to the mound Friday morning in a ‘B’ game against the Blue Jays and threw three scoreless innings. Moyer gave up 3 hits and picked up 3 strikeouts in his 3 innings. The Phillies ended up losing this one 3-2, this game doesn’t affect preseason standings.

The afternoon game started by giving the Philadelphia fans a moment of anguish as Hamels second pitch was hit long by Bautista for a home run, then Hamels managed to walk the second batter, Hill, after which Hamels seemed to settle down for the remainder of his 2 innings work, striking out 2 batters. He did manage to mix in some of his newer pitches, which for Hamels is good for his first outing in preseason games. The pitching staff following Hamels didn’t fair quite so well as the 4th inning saw Toronto put 8 runs on the board, Bastardo was the only Phillies pitcher to come away with a clean slate on the day. The Phillies also managed to knock in a few runs as they ended up losing this game 14-9, needless to say both teams had pitchers and players working on the revolving door process, good luck if you kept a full score card on this one.

Around Baseball

The Tampa Bay Rays almost threw away a 7 run lead to the Yankees, but ended up holding on to win the game 12-7. For awhile in the middle innings it was touch and go as to whether the Yankees/Rays game or the Phillies/Jays game would have more runs.

The Nats and the Braves were also trying to have the highest scoring game of the day as the Braves beat the Nats 11-8, however the honor of highest score went to the Astros and Tigers as the Tigers beat the Astros 17-7. I am sure the Tigers fans will savor this achievement, since it could be the last this year.

The Mets were playing split squad games today against the Cards and the Marlins. They managed a win against the Cards, but lost to the Fish.

Of course Jose Reyes found a reason not to play in either of the Mets games, but instead flew back to New York with a possible ‘thyroid imbalance’. Speculatively speaking, the blood in his brain could just be dizzy from all the spinning, this claim could be squashed if they prove he’s not brainless, but then who knows, now a ‘roid‘ has been attached to his name the possible outcomes are almost endless.

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

Phillies & Yankees Four Months Later….

Posted: March 4, 2010 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Astros, Brewers, CC Sabathia, Fielder, Giants, Marlins, Mauer, Nats, phillies, Roy Halladay, Twins, Yankees, Zito | 10 Comments

It’s about four months since the Phillies and Yankees closed out the 2009 World Series and today they stepped out onto the same baseball diamond again. Both teams looked relaxed and ready to play some spring training baseball, for the Phillies it was the first Grapefruit League game of 2010, for the Yankees it was their second.

The Phillies fielded most of the starting players, omitted was Utley, Howard and Ibanez, it was the first time Roy Halladay would throw game time pitches in a Phillies uniform, and came out ready to show his new team mates what he could do. Halladay threw two solid hit-less innings, picking up 3 strike outs.

The Yankees surprisingly were the opposite, they fielded just 4 of their starting players, which only included the catcher and 2nd baseman in the infield behind CC Sabathia, it didn’t stop CC having a solid start over 2 innings giving up a couple of hits and a couple of walks.

The game was pretty much like that through 6 innings, both teams traded hits occasionally, but it wasn’t till the 7th inning when the Phillies scored a run. By this time both teams were down to AA and AAA players. It stayed like this till the 9th inning when the Yankees scored a couple of runs with good base running to take the lead. Bottom of the 9th the Phillies mirrored the Yankees with some hitting and running to score 2 runs and win the game.

It was good to see the Phillies out playing another major league team making the regular season even closer.

Around Baseball

Rumors that Joe Mauer may sign an extension with the Twins circulated today after his agent arrived at spring training which was called a regular visit, but could also indicate talks for extending Mauers contract.

The Nats took a double beating today, against both the Astros and the Marlins. Pence of the Astros homered twice in the 4th inning as the Astros had 9 cross the plate, in fairness to the Nats it did look like a AA squad showed up against the Astros.

Zito dinged Fielder in the back today in the 1st inning, it seems the
Giants have held a grudge since last year when Fielders home run base
trotting ended with an earthquake type celebration at home plate. It doesn’t seem to have helped much as they are currently down by 2 runs in the 4th inning. But who knows maybe the Giants will have better luck against the Brewers AA squad in later innings.

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

The End is the Begining…

Posted: October 4, 2009 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AL, Cardinals, Dodgers, Launch, Marlins, NL, phillies, play offs, post season, Red Sox, repeat, Rockies, Tigers, Twins, World Series, Yankees | 12 Comments

The Phillies close out the regular season fielding 1 starter and 8 bench players. Jayson Werth played trying to get his 100th RBI on the season, but was unsuccessful, the Marlins walked him in the 10th and Hoover followed up with a base hit driving in Mayberry for the win.

The final day of regular season has come down to the AL Central, who could have expected anything less, will the Tigers join the Mets as the decades biggest chokers. They have to win this Tuesday on the road against the Tigers in the tiebreaker for the AL Central division championship.

The Dodgers finally won the NL West division, which has set the National League post season games. Home field advantage overall in the NL goes to the Dodgers, although I am not sure that this makes much difference in the NL. The Rockies have the worst road record among the NL post season teams and only have a winning record overall against the Cardinals. Although post season play is a completely different atmosphere and regular season wins and loses don’t really reflect the way a team plays in the post season, there will still be some element in the back of the players minds about how they have performed against those clubs.

The way the playoffs look now:

Phillies host the Rockies —- regular season 4-2 Phillies

Dodgers host the Cardinals —- regular season 2-5 Cardinals

Angels host the Red Sox —- regular season 5-4 Angels

Yankees host either the Tigers or Twins —- regular season 5-1 and 7-0 Yankees

Predictions at this point are really irrelevant since everybody wants their team to win it all. There are obviously some favorites among the sports analysts, but as I said post season play has a different atmosphere and teams tend to play better since the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer…

Who will be left at the end is anybody’s guess, we all want our team, and the pundits along with fans of non-post season teams will all speculate, but they are all just guessing.

Who will take the prize in 2009…

My message to the Phillies…

…it’s time to launch your bid for a World Series repeat

Final Countdown…

Posted: September 28, 2009 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AL Central, AL East, AL West, Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Championship, CWS, Dodgers, Holliday, Marlins, NL Central, NL East, NL West, phillies, Pirates, postseason, Pujols, Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, RSBS, Tigers, Twins, Yankees | 18 Comments

Since my last post some
things happened that should have happened and some things happened that
were unlikely to happen. They are almost irrelevant since they all would
have happened eventually.

If you understood that psycho
babble then you need read no further, alternatively, just for the hell
of it you could keep on reading just to find out if you analyzed and
decoded my psychotic ramblings about the weeks changes in the divisions.

AL East

As much as it pains me to
read the constant joyous writings of my preferred Yankee
bloggers, I have to admit, I have all week continued to torture
myself by reading the constant jubilations of such bloggers who have
shown their humor, while proving a contagious sickness exists among Yankee
fans, blogging of their unambiguous support during a week which has seen
the Yankees clinching a playoff berth, to actually winning
the AL east division, while enjoying a 5 game winning streak.
When less than a week ago the Yankees magic number was 9
and it looked as though it may take them into the middle of this week to
finalize the division, they did it all in 6 days and I am sure that
there are some Yankee fans who will become even more
delusional about 6 days of work and a day of rest.

AL Central

The Detroit Tigers
are probably the only divisional leading team that while reducing the
magic number have also managed to reduced the division lead and
with a series starting against the second place Twins, the
Tigers are in jeopardy of losing that slim lead and being
classified as the American League’s choke artist’s much the same as the New
York Mets are in the National League. The Tigers are
just a .500 team at home this year when facing the Twins
which could mean they will stay as is, in the division, unless the Twins
have a little more desire and fight than the Tigers.
This is definitely going to go down to the last couple of games of the
season. With the Tigers being 5-5 over their last 10
games and the Twins being 8-2 over their last 10
games, I have to say the edge goes to the Twins.

AL West

Although the Angels
haven’t clinched yet their magic number is down to 2 and like Detroit
they start a 4 games series against the second place team. This series
is a little different though, the Angels only need to take
1 out of 4 to win the division, in fact they only need to take 2 out of
their last 7 games. Now you wouldn’t think that would be too much of a
challenge, however some Angels fans must be biting their
nails this week, since the Angels lost the mid month make
up game to the Yankees they have been on a somewhat
downward spiral. Still I think 2 games out of the next 7 is a comfortable
task for the Angels and will become division
champions before the end of the week.

NL
East

The Phillies
having completed a 10 game road trip going just 5-5, due to more bullpen
woes, they have managed to reduce their magic number to 3 and
eliminated the Marlins from the divisional race, however
the Braves are still hanging around. The Phillies
have their final 7 games at home and although they close out the season
hosting the Marlins who are sure to be looking to extract
revenge, I believe the Phillies will have clinched the
division before that series gets underway.

NL
Central

The Cardinals
had the least amount of work to do last week to clinch the division and
although they only went 5-5 during their last 10 games managed to seal
the division championship, however one noticeable thing has come to
light during the celebrations the Cardinals enjoyed…

…this picture of Holliday
and Pujols, who else thinks this makes the pride and joy of at
least half of RSBS
look gay, it must raise the question "What is Albert’s right hand
gripping or fondling?". If you didn’t know they were in the clubhouse
celebrating then you would think they were just exiting a club somewhere
in San Francisco, maybe. Okay, as unlikely as this maybe,
since he’s married with 3 kids and a devout Christian,
he certainly has that look.

AL
West

The Dodgers
having clinched a post season place are still looking to win the division
this week. In fact they should be able to seal the deal with the
breakfast meeting against the Pirates today.

AL
Wild Card

The BoSox have
all but taken this, with the few games they have left the Rangers
will find it very hard to make a run now even with the Red Sox at
the start of a losing streak, they themselves are doing no better. The Red
Sox should have this clinched by the end of the week.

NL
Wild Card

Like the AL Central
race this is a close one, and will probably go down to the final weekend
of play. The Rockies may have the upper hand, but are only
2 1/2 games up on the HOT Braves at the moment.
While the Rockies play host to the Brewers,
which will be tough, especially as the Brewers just
completed a good series against the Phillies, the Braves
are hosting the Marlins, who have just been ousted from
the division race by the Mets. Look for the late charge
from the Braves to come through and clinch this Wild
Card.

Streaks…
Win
streaks – Braves with 6 games and the Yankees
with 5 games. Losing streaks – Baltimore with 10
games.

Spoilers…

the Mets have killed what was left of the Marlins hopes…
the CWS have prevented the Tigers
from getting any kind of lead built up…

Race… the
tightest race is still the AL Central, with the Tigers
poised to crumble against the Twins. The NL Wild
Card should see the Braves over take the Rockies
and clinch this coming weekend.

My message to the Phillies:

MOUNTAINS to CLIMB…

Posted: September 19, 2009 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: American League, Angels, Atlanta, BoSox, Boston, Braves, Cards, Chicago, Colorado, Cubs, Detroit, Dodgers, Florida, Giants, Halos, Los Angeles, Marlins, Minnesota, mountain dew, National League, New York, Philadelphia, phillies, race, Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, San Francisco, Sox, spoilers, St. Louis, Texans, Texas, Tigers, Twins, wild card, Wite Sox, Yankees | 10 Comments

A million dollar hole in one
(Golf), a $25,000 message on shoes (NFL), mountains to climb (MLB)…

American
League Mountains…

Yankees – without
question lead the AL east 6 games up on the BoSox with
just 14 games left to play, at the extreme they have to play better than
.500 ball for the rest of the season. The last week of the regular
season is going to be the easiest week for the Yankees and should have
no problems winning this division.

Detroit – are
currently the AL central leaders, I say currently, because
they are the team most likely to blow their post season chances, having
just a 3 game lead and still 6 games left against the Twins. Detroit
has a 4-8 record against the Twins this season, which puts
the odds in the favor of the Twins to clinch the division.

Angels – are
favorites for the AL west, holding a 7 1/2 game lead,
although they have 6 games left against the Rangers and are only
4-9 against them this season, they should be able to hold a lead in the
division based on the other teams they play. Still with 15 games left
they have to play better than .500 ball through the end of the season.

Boston – look set to
clinch the AL wild card, with 16 games left they have what
should be the easiest schedule left in the season of AL
teams, still they will have to play better than .500 ball to get a post
season spot.

National
League Mountains…

Phillies – sitting on
an 8 game lead in the NL east have 8 games left against
division rivals, with 16 games left to play just 1 game better then .500
ball will give them a third division title in a row.

Cardinals – with the
largest divisional lead in MLB currently at 10 games, they
are odds on favorites for the NL central. A fairly safe
schedule left for the Cards, they are now fighting for
home field advantage and of course pride against the Cubs.

Dodgers – still have
the hardest challenge in the NL to clinch their division,
they are in a much better place now than they were a week ago and so are
now looking like favorites for the NL west, especially
since they probably have the easiest schedule left of all the NL
division leaders.

Colorado – sit on top
of the NL wild card at the moment, but with just 4 1/2
games covering the top 4 teams this is the race that should be where the
excitement is right down to the last couple of days of the regular
season. The 4 teams in the hunt for the NL wild card
probably have similar schedule strengths, with maybe Florida
having the hardest and the Giants having the easiest.

More…

Streaks… I
have decided that 5 or more games in a row are the only ones worth a
mention under streaks, so the current streaks. Win streaks – Phillies
with 6 games and the Twins and Oakland
with 5 games. Losing streaks – Indians and Mets
with 6 games and the Astros and Rangers with
5 games.

Spoilers…
the Royals have killed what was left of the CWS hopes… the
Mariners are currently trying to do as much harm as they can to
the Yankees… the Reds are trying to end the hopes of the
Marlins… the D’Backs are beating up on the Rockies…

Race… the
tightest race is now the AL central, with the Tigers
looking as though they are about to crumble under the pressure, when
your website’s slogan is: "The Pennant Race Is On"
you know you have problems. The NL wild card has the most
teams locked in a battle. This will heat up next week and I believe we
will see the Giants and the Braves emerge as
the two fighting for the winning spot.

My choices at this time
still put the Angels and the Yankees in the ALCS and
the Cards and the Phillies in the NLCS.

It is September ball and we
all know that can change in a matter of a week….

For the
Phillies and Charlie this week Thanksgiving comes early…

…being
thankful for what you’ve got … Got Phillies !!!

Cap Tip, Double Take, Spotlight and More…

Posted: September 14, 2009 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: ALCS, Angels, Baltimore, Braves, Cards, Derek Jeter, Dodgers, Eagles, Giants, Ian Desmond, Jays, Marlins, Martinez, Mets, Nats, NFL, NLCS, O's, Padres, phillies, Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Ruiz, Tampa Bay, Tigers, World Series, Yankees | 18 Comments

In a week when individual
sports showed how easy it is to lose just because of a temper tantrum
and the NFL got underway with the first week of games. Well done to the
Eagles.

Cap
Tip…

Pedro Martinez has
put in 2 very good performances back to back, I for one am very
surprised. He has come close to self destructing each outing in the
first few innings, but he has got through it and gone on to pitch well,
Sunday night against the Mets especially. Pedro went 8
innings, at least 6 of them were showing a slight resemblance of the 29
year old Martinez, throwing 130 pitches on the night he
struck out 7 and walked 2, he only gave up 6 hits… so well done Pedro…

Double
Take…

The Phillies played
the Nats last week and the Nats played the spoiler
in 1 game, but the double take was when the Nats
played one of the emerging stars to be from the Washington organization,
a little known short stop named ‘Ian Desmond‘, who has some
pretty big shoes to fill, not because he’s destined to replace a great Nats
player, but because he is being highlighted in likeness, actions and mannerisms
to another short stop in the majors….the player they are a likening
him too reached his own milestone this week…. if you didn’t guess this
one then where have you been this weekend, cause lets face it sports
media has really only talked of one short stop…now you’ve got it…Derek
Jeter…Who became the new Yankees most hits record
holder… well done Jeter, the Yankees
actually kept a player long enough to achieve this, so well done Yankees
too…but I digress, the look-a-like, act-a-like Nats
upcoming short stop Ian Desmond and Derek Jeter, you
decide….

The
Spotlight…

The Phillies
starting pitchers do well, they get the glory and the win, the pitchers
from the pen get a hold or a save they get the glory, but what of the
guy behind the plate calling the pitches, or blocking that one in the
dirt, giving the pitchers a target to throw at, or saving a stolen base
with a throw. The catcher, where’s his glory, okay so a catcher has
stats like all players, but mostly if the pitcher throws the ball where
the catcher sets up he doesn’t get smacked around, and in the case of
the Phillies the man behind the mask is Carlos Ruiz. Obviously
not all catchers are equal, some are hitters, but cant throw very well,
some aren’t that good at calling a game and get the signs from the dug
out, some just cant throw very well, and some cant block a really good
slider in the dirt. Ruiz I think is good at all the roles
a catcher plays and yet is in the shadow of the starting rotation or pen
most of the time. So here’s my way of putting the spotlight on one of
the best unsung hero’s the Phillies have on the team and without
question one of the best catchers in the NL…

and
More…

Streaks… the
only real streak going on this week is that of the Tampa Bay Rays
and unfortunately it’s a losing streak, so my hopes of a repeat of the
2008 World Series clash has been dashed, even if they win every last
game the hopes that the other teams in the Wild Card race would lose
enough to enable them to make it are slim to none.

Spoilers…
the O’s have taken a couple from the Yankees… the
Nats took a couple from the Marlins… the Jays
took a couple from the Tigers… the Braves took 3 from
the Cards… the Padres took a couple from the Rockies…
most of the other teams destined for the playoffs only gave up 1 loss to
non-contenders.

Race… the
tightest race is still the NL West, although the Dodgers don’t
seem to be giving any ground and maybe the Rockies peaked
to soon, with the Giants and Rockies getting ready
to play each other, the Dodgers get a chance to extend the
lead by hosting the Pirates…

My choices at this time
will put the Angels and the Yankees in the ALCS and
the Cards and the Phillies in the NLCS.

It is September ball and we
all know that can change in a matter of a week….

For the
Phillies it remains the same for this guy…

…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.

The Race is on…

Posted: September 8, 2009 | Author: Phillies Outside | Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, Braves, bull pen, CBP, Charlie Manuel, Fish, Florida, Ibanez, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Nats, New York, NL Central, NL East, NL West, october, offense, Philadelphia, phillies, post season, Raul, September, Washington, World Series, Yankees | 22 Comments

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.

Phillies Outside Archive Vault

A New Begining….

So It Begins….

N. L. East Crystal Ball….

Friday – Double the Fun Day…..

Phillies & Yankees Four Months Later….

The End is the Begining…

Final Countdown…

MOUNTAINS to CLIMB…

Cap Tip, Double Take, Spotlight and More…

The Race is on…

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