MLB Clubs, Liars, Cheats and Thieves…
Posted: August 4, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Angels, Arizona, Astros, Athletics, Baltimore, Blue Jays, Boston, Brewers, Cardinals, Cards, Cheats, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Cubs, D-Backs, Detroit, Diamond Backs, Dodgers, Fish, Florida, Giants, Halos, Houston, Indians, Kansas City, Liars, Los Angeles, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Milwaukee, Minnesota, MLB, Nationals, Nats, New York, Oakland, Orioles, Padres, Philadelphia, phillies, Pirates, Pittsburgh, Rangers, Rays, Red Birds, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, San Diego, San Francisco, Seatle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Texas, Thieves, Tigers, Toronto, Tribe, Twins, Washington, White Sox, Yankees 12 Comments| Since yesterday was a day off for the Phillies, I decided to do a little research on various aspects of going to a ball game. At times this may get complex and hard to follow, but I will try and make as easy as I can, hopefully, and as short as I can, which maybe a problem.
Some of the comments from different team websites, indicated that fans were un-happy with what the club has been doing by way of trades etc., in most cases the clubs are promoting the fact that they have to run the club like a business, so money is a deciding factor and a large contributor to that is the volume of fans visiting the ballpark. Obviously there are a number of other factors that allow clubs to generate income, but it seems a number of fans saying ‘if it was cheaper to go to the game then we would’. Personally I think a number of clubs are pricing themselves to high, considering the city they represent, especially during this economic environment. I believe a lot has to do with the way a club is marketed, and the way the clubs evaluate the methods of income. The safe, comfort zone type income to assessed gross required, has been and still is, done by looking at how much income the club needs to generate from seating, looking at the history for the quantity of fans that come to games during a season, the different seats that are purchased, then from this they calculate the amount they need to generate from that specific seat. This is obviously a simplified methodology for, what I call ‘comfort zone marketing’. It is my belief that it is time for some clubs to look at new (to them) innovative methods, to get fans to visit the ball games, and go for lower seat prices and work off generating a higher volume of visitors. I tried to see what different clubs were doing to encourage fans to the ball park and it seems, some of the struggling clubs use high dollar incentives on a less than regular basis, instead of lower cost incentives on a regular basis. In doing this research I also ran into some other questionable information, with regard to the claimed numbers of attendees at ball games, this to say the least seemed to be very creative by some ball clubs, of which I will highlight later on in this post. Below is the information I was able to gather, I can only assume the information is accurate with regard to attendances, the seat prices were taken from each clubs online website, some were easy to obtain others made it a lot more difficult to determine how much you would pay if you came on game day to buy a ticket. The low prices reflect, the cheapest seat or standing ticket I could find and the high price reflects being able to sit as close to the end of the dug out as possible. All prices are US Dollars. The attendance numbers are through the first 50 home games of 2009, where a team hasn’t played 50 home games they had played sufficient to estimate to that number. All attendance numbers are in millions. AL ————–Attd.——-Low——-High———NL ————Attd——-Low——-High NYY 2.27 14 375 PHL 2.20 18 60 BOS 1.89 12 325 FLO 0.90 14 100 TB 1.20 10 85 ATL 1.47 6 40 TOR* 1.18 9 62 NYM 1.96 23 450 BAL 1.20 8 55 WSH 1.19 5 75 DET 1.50 5 52 STL 2.03 21 115 CWS 1.37 23 57 CHC 2.01 20 230 MIN 1.42 10 52 HOU 1.49 7 39 CLE 1.13 9 70 MIL 1.99 8 48 KC 1.20 7 43 CIN 1.23 5 72 LAA 2.02 21 200 PIT 0.98 9 35 TEX 1.39 11 115 LAD 2.22 11 285 SEA 1.39 8 65 COL 1.62 15 100 OAK 0.89 9 95 SF 1.74 25 110 ARI 1.28 5 145 SD 1.22 10 55
*Toronto prices are Canadian Dollars. I reviewed a number of playback footage from different games to try and evaluate the accuracy of attendance numbers at different games, tried to get a feel for visiting fans and home fans, so the following is probably going to be the mother of all assumptions, but I am going to lay it out anyway.
Liars and Cheats: They are so easy to pick on, and I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. Yankees- I tried to be fair about this, but having reviewed a number of games it is clear that the attendance numbers are somewhat generous. Where they show near sell out crowds it is clear on the replays that there is an abundance of empty seats especially in the high dollar sections and yes at a number of games believe it or not the visiting fans seemed to out number the home fans. The other noticeable thing at the Yankees new stadium was the visiting fans seemed to occupy the majority of the high dollar sections. Especially for the games they played against the Phillies and Red Sox. So are they cheating the visiting fans, we know it’s a ball park visitors would attend, the city has other attractions plus the city is one of the easiest, if not easiest to visit, so why not cheat the visiting fans. Mets- Although in some respects they appeared to portray much the same results as the Yankees they were not quite as bad, but then the overall attendance at the Mets games were lower than the Yankees, even for visiting fans. Braves- You will also find them under thieves, simply because i don’t believe all the field seats by the visiting dugout are sold out for the season. They are cheating the fan base here because of what they were and not what they are now.
Thieves: This one was kind of a tough one to ascertain, but I have to say those that I placed in this category it is basically for the same reasons. Indians- They have the most expensive ball park to visit within the central division, the city does not have huge alternative attractions and the ball park is not that easy to get to by any mode of transport. The Cleveland airport sucks, directions from major highways/interstates suck, local signage to get to the ball park sucks, and parking is expensive for the area. Does not encourage or attract many visiting fans and there is not much in the way of encouragement for local fans to attend games. This is bad especially as it’s a NFL town 1st and an NBA town 2nd, leaving the Indians in a weak 3rd spot. Marlins- Yes the club is doing well, but attendance is very weak, the low priced entry is reasonable, but the higher priced seats are to much for the stadium, it’s hot there, the concessions seem high in price, again not so easy to get too, its more expensive to get to since its vacation season most of the time, so area prices are geared to tourists. The club should have better incentives to attract more home and visiting fans, the visitor fans normally out number the home fans. Cubs- Lots of visiting fans, although home fans do out number the visiting ones, the problem here is Wrigley is a well known ball park and they play on that, high prices for the name. Braves- This one was had me concerned, for one I couldn’t get close to the seating area I wanted unless I was a season ticket holder, which confused me since the attendance there sucks. That or there driving visiting fans as far away from the field as possible so as too encourage home fans to buy the more expensive boxes.
Fair and Reasonable: Well everyone will accuse me of being biased, so we’ll get this out of the way first. Phillies- Seat prices all around are reasonable, home fans definitely out number visiting fans, the ball park is easy to get to, parking is easy, food and concessions are quality and reasonably priced. Rays- Easy to get to via car or air, lots of parking around the stadium, nice enclosed stadium, considering they are reigning AL champions, pricing is fair, even high value seats put you right where you expect, concessions are reasonable. It is somewhat of a confusion as to why they don’t draw more attendance, some visiting teams will out number the home fans, but that depends on the team. Pirates – Royals – Astros – All these clubs exhibited the same elements and have to be the best 3 clubs for visiting fans to attend. These have to be the cheapest ball parks to visit, they appear to be fan friendly for both home and visiting fans. These 3 clubs definitely get 5 stars as value for money ball clubs. All other clubs- Seemed to be fair to both home and visiting fans, with no major distinguishing benefits that would make them great or make them a part of the Liars, Cheats and Thieves lists. If you managed to read all this and follow it all, you probably have more patience than most. ~peter~ If you think that any numbers I have displayed here are grossly inaccurate let me know and I will do my best to verify the findings and correct any errors which may or may not be present. I will not however change my assessment of the way I see the ball clubs, this is purely my opinion of how I see the club representing itself to home and visiting fans. |
Baffled by the Bay, A Different View…
Posted: August 3, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: bullpen, Giants, Hamels, Philadelphia, phillies, San Francisco, The Pen 8 Comments Yes, they travelled through time zones, but it wasn’t that far really…
They weren’t at a high elevation…
There were no shadows on the field…
It should have been money in the bank…
Hamels pitching for 4 2/3 innings was music to my ears…
But then, for no apparent reason, with 2 outs and nobody on base in the 5th inning, did Cole lose something…
We started the 6th inning, had Cole found what he lost in the 5th, the answer was NO, the inevitable happened a call to the bullpen…
The guys from the pen closed the game out, without giving up any more runs, Hamels had allowed 7 runs to score, which was too much to recover from, the Phillies lost the game 7-3 and the series by 3-1 in San Francisco, but they were heading back to what we hope are the comforts of home…
Phillies take loss on Bark at the Park Night in San Francisco…
Posted: August 2, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Bark at the Park, Blanton, dogs, Giants, Hamels, Lincecum, phillies, San Francisco, Sandoval, Zito 8 CommentsLast nights game at AT&T Park in San Francisco was scheduled to be a pitchers duel between Lincecum and Blanton, although both pitchers were very good the game itself was not so exciting. It was a game where the Phillies team made Lincecum look like a very ordinary pitcher, the problem for the Phillies is the offence is currently struggling with RISP. The Giants hitters were being held in check by Blanton and Blanton was actually looking like the better pitcher, the 5th inning turned the Giants luck into a run the same thing in the 7th, there were no great plays by anyone, no super hits, in fact even Sandoval tried to bunt his way on. The most exciting part of the game between the 7th and 8th inning, Blanton’s evening was done, he new he should be in place for the win, but the offence was letting him down, with a 1 for 6 with RISP and 8 LOB, he had given up just 7 hits and 2 runs had crossed the plate, almost any other game he would have the lead. I guess his temper got the better of him between inning and he took it out on some things in the dugout…..
…basically that was the game, nothing really stood out.
Other events were probably more interesting to some, it was Bark at the Park night, so there were a lot of dogs in the stands, no I am not talking about any diverse individuals who may or may not live in the San Francisco area…. real dogs… although going by some of the attire of the dogs the owners mentality may have to come into question….
there’s more….
and last but not least, what I’d call a normal dog, shame about the gay bandana round it’s neck….
Hopefully today will be a good game, where all the players on both teams make an effort to be ball players. It’s Hamels against Zito, so it should be a good game, but we thought that yesterday too, so who knows.
the CLIFF LEE show….
Posted: August 1, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Ben Francisco, Blanton, Cleveland, Cliff Lee, Dubee, Francisco, Giants, Indians, Lee, Lincecum, manuel, Philadelphia, phillies, Philly, RBI, RiSP, San Francisco, Tribe, Utley, Victorino, World Series Champions 7 CommentsCliff Lee made his debut as a Philadelphia Philly last night in San Francisco, he was acquired this week by the Phillies as a top addition to the Phillies starting rotation, this was his first start for a National League team having spent his major league career with the Cleveland Indians.
This was a chance for the fans and the Philly players to see what Ruben Amaro Jr. had acquired for the team, before the game Dubee and Manuel had said ‘they would sit back and watch, mostly, so they could see what he could do’.
Now before everyone gets overly excited and thinks that he is being put on a pedestal with expectations way above what he could possibly deliver, we all must understand it’s his first game and this cannot be expected every time he goes to the mound… you can hope… but don’t expect it. With that said Cliff Lee came out last night and looked like a natural born NL starting pitcher, the Phillies wanted a pitcher and they got one.
He showed poise and confidence….
He showed he could field his position…
and the Kung-Fu Panda was no match…
and this was just the 1st inning…
What we didn’t know was, could he swing a bat?…
he showed us…
not just once but twice…
he hit a single and a double, with a short sharp swing, you’d almost think he had been through an intense Utley hitting course.
and he was enjoying it…
but how would he fit in with the other Philly players?….
How couldn’t you fit in with the guys in the dugout….
Cliff Lee is officially a Philly….
Yes there was other players on the field, and they all played their parts with the normal characteristics that the Philly players have, this may have only been a 5-1 win for the Phils, but if they had really hit with RISP, it could have been double digits for the Phil’s.
Ben Francisco had another start in place of the injured Victorino, who by the way, probably wont be back till Tuesday is my guess, had another good game with hard hits at each at bat, he picked up a hit and an RBI.
Well done!! the front office for the new players, initial showings make them an excellent fit for the reigning World Series Champions.
Joe Blanton the Phillies work horse, goes today against Lincecum, Phillies have had a tendancy to come alive when facing the Ace of the opposition, lets hope this happens tonight…
The WILD WEST Trip…
Posted: July 31, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: error, Feliz, Garko, Giants, Lee, Lopez, phillies, Sanchez, Sandoval, Umpires, Utley, Velez, Walker, Werth, Wild West 4 CommentsIt was a night that saw the Phillies produce 3 errors and give up 4 unearned runs in a 7-2 loss to the Giants.
The Phillies weren’t the only ones to commit errors last night,
it seems the 2nd base umpire needed something to help him see clearer….
How do you get this…
from this….
I am sure there is a special lesson at umpire school that tells them how to determine if a player is out, because the ball beat them to the bag, or if there safe when they are tagged before they reached the bag, probably some reverse logic to keep them in the highlight reels.
Now instead of nobody on with 1 out, there’s a runner in scoring position with no outs, then Velez, hits the ball deep to right field, okay a regular fly ball, Werth has this so we should be okay…. wrong…. it slides in and out of Werths glove then rolls to the base of the wall, Werth struggled to pick it up and throw it back in, so now instead of 2 out nobody on we have Torres scoring and Velez on third with nobody out…Cliff Lee hanging over the rail in the dug out must be thinking……I am in a nightmare is this the Indians in Phillies uniforms…….Okay so maybe he wasn’t thinking that, but it was looking like it… the Giants hit a sack fly to put 2 on the board in the bottom of the 1st and take a 2-1 lead from there they never looked back..
The WILD WEST show didn’t stop there after Sandoval hit a bomb into the bay in the 3rd inning to put the Giants up 3-1, the phillies continued on with the show, maybe to make Lee feel at home, who knows….
We somehow manage to get to the bottom of the 4th inning and with 1 out and 1 on, Feliz goes for the double play,
Utley didn’t agree…
the ball flips off Utleys glove into the outfield, now you have 2 on at 2nd and 3rd and only one out, more timely hitting by the Giants and instead of being out of the inning they now have a 7-1 lead.
For the most part Lopez pitched okay, except for the extra pitches he had to throw due to the errors, but he only gave up 3 earned runs, the bull pen went to work in the 5th inning and shut the Giants down. The WILD WEST show didn’t end there though, top of the 6th Chase Utley at the plate, now to me Utley has given up and error been involved the error with Feliz, so all in all he’s kind of helped the Giants, what happens in the 6th…..
the WILD PITCH show….
Sanchez got wild with his pitches, this one was headed straight for Utleys head, normally very composed and used to being hit with balls, Utley was a little shaken, turn and glared at Sanchez, took the next pitch, then stepped out of the box as he was about to deliver the next one, Sanchez tossed a slow roller to the plate, the tension was mounting and you could tell there was a little animosity had developed between Utley and Sanchez in just 3 pitches…. well Sanchez obviously wanted to show he was boss and threw an 88mph and 89mph fast balls for strikes,
then a 90mph fast ball,
that Utley sends deep…..
home run… Chase Utley
That was almost the end of the WILD WEST show, although no more runs were scored, the bottom of the 7th inning with 2 outs and Garko at the plate Walker dings Garko on the shoulder, in what was clearly a payback pitch for the incident at Utley’s head, both teams get warned.
The question is will both team move on from this or will it generate more tension and create an interesting weekend….
Cliff Lee goes tonight, his first start for the Phillies here’s hoping the bats come to life and the errors dissapear…..
D-Backs Freeze Phil’s Bats….
Posted: July 30, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: #10, #31, #34, D-Backs, Florida, Francisco, Happ, homeless, Indians, Lee, Lopez, Marlins, Mets, New York, Petit, phillies, Rays, upton, Victorino, Werth, Yankees 5 CommentsIt was another hot night in Phoenix, with the news of the days trading activities that brought Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco into the Phillies organization, it was an opportunity for the team to show the new arrivals how good they really are with a sweep in Arizona.
Unfortunately this was not to happen, Petit who started this game for the D-Backs was 0-5 on the year, but to watch him pitch tonight you would think he had been 5-0, he kept the Phillies hitters off balance and swinging wildly at the plate, the only 2 Philly players that even was remotely succesful off him was Howard and Ibanez, both picking up 2 hits off him.
Victorino, was shut down completely, in a rare shortened game for him. The bottom of the 1st inning with a runner on first Victorino made an unbelieveable diving catch in the outfield, somewhere it appeared a spike got caught, then his glove under 
his body, regardless he held onto the ball for the 2nd out of the inning, however as he started to come to his feet you could see some pain showing in his expression. As with team mates Werth came over to check him out, but Shane was definately walking with a slight limp as he moved back towards center field. He would leave later in the game and is now listed as day to day.
The very next hitter, Upton, launched a ball to left field just clearing the fench and missing Ibanez’s glove for a 2 run home run. That was all Happ would allow the D-backs for the 6 innings he pitched, Happ may not have
been the winner today, but showed maturity and quality with every pitch after the home run holding the D-Backs to just 1 more hit.
The Phillies bullpen also gave up 2 runs, giving the D-Backs a 4-0 shut out over the reigning World Series champions.
The Phillies head to San Francisco for a 4 game set and to meet up with their new team mates, it was reported yesterday on MLB Network, from other media sources that Lee would wear #34, since Lopez had the #31 shirt, but who knows that could change and Francisco would wear the #10, they also reported that Lee would start Saturday, but as yet that is unconfirmed, as reports say Charlie hasn’t decided yet.
In other news, the AP are reporting that New York is offering free airline tickets to anywhere in the world for homeless people, there are obviously some provisions attached, I am just speculating but could this seriously affect the Mets fan base, or this an attempt by the Yankees to try and strong arm the Mets team out of New York, only time will tell. AP further reports that this practice has been going on since 2007 and some 550 families have been sent somewhere else in the world, because their homeless and New York would rather they weren’t in New York…. Watch out Florida, they may be sending some new Marlins or Rays fans your way…
Phillies and the Tribe, Do the Deal of the Year……(UPDATED)
Posted: July 29, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Amaro jr, Carrasco, Donald, drabek, Francisco, Happ, Indians, Knapp, Lee, Marson, phillies, Ruben 13 CommentsI have decided to update this entry, having had more time to consider everything, not much more, but some more, while this update is still in the state of flux awaiting the physicals, which I am told is just a routine thing now, I have added the update at the end of this entry…..
The Phillies get left handed, Cy Young winner, Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco from the Indians, they also get to keep JA Happ and Drabek. In return th
e Phillies are sending prospects, Jason Knapp (RHP), Carlos Carrasco (RHP), Jason Donald (SS), and Lou Marson (catcher) to Cleveland.
This will definately make the Phillies rotation a left handed ‘DOMINATION ROTATION’ depending on how they line the guys up, the Phillies now have an over abundance of starters, once Martinez gets through his rehab work, it could also line the bull pen with fresh strong arms, something the Phillies are in need of on the road to the post season.
As good as this deal is, it does not guarantee the Phillies a post season, hard work and continued strong team play is what will get them there.
Well done Ruben Amaro, Jr, I think your first big trade deadline deal is a good one and the fans should be very happy with the outcome.
What of Halladay, well I have said all along I didn’t think the Jays were serious, but who knows, I say go at it, let the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox get into a bidding war if they want him.
With Lee out in LA the chances are he will join the Phillies when they hit San Francisco.
UPDATE:
This update is nothing more than further considerations of what this deal really means, or what we gave and what we got. Many of the comments on the main news story blogs, both Philadelphia and Cleveland are calling this a one sided trade, and initially it looked like that even to me, but consider this, it only appears one sided because it didn’t include Drabek or Happ, thats it, that the bone of contention from everyone. Now the names Drabek and Happ were thrown around by the media and the Jays as must haves for the Phillies to land Halladay. Look at the Phillies counter offer, this is what the Phillies thought Halladay was worth.. whats the difference between that and this trade, Happ and Knapp plus Marson and Taylor, so when you look deep at this it really was much of a price drop in the eyes of the Phillies front office to get Lee… I hope I have made this clear enough to at least generate some consideration that this wasn’t such a one sided deal….
Hamels ‘A’ce Game Returns…
Posted: July 29, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Ace, D-Backs, Hamels, Happ, haren, Lidge, Petit, phillies, Roberts, Rollins, Utley, Victorino 2 CommentsWith the trade deadline approaching, and more people are asking is Hamels the Ace we all wanted or was he a flash in the pan. Last night he showed everyone why he has been the Ace of the Phillies pitching staff. On a night more than any other this year he needed his ‘A’ game and he delivered.
The Haren vs Hamels game had been headlined as a make or 
break for Cole, days before, the Philly fans are looking to see if management delivers another Ace to the starting rotation, the fans were also looking to see if Cole could deliver them a sign that he is the Ace.
The first inning Hamels gave up, what became a complimentary homerun to Roberts, from then on he pounded the strike zone through 8 innings, he threw a total of 112 pitches, 79 of them for strikes. He gave up a hit to his counterpart, Haren, who singled in the 3rd inning. Since Cole out pitched Haren he certainly didn’t want to be out done by him at the plate, so in the 5th inning Hamels returned the favor, only instead of a single Hamels
crushed a double to left center, splitting the gap in the outfield, Hamels cruised into 2nd standing,eventually Hamels crossed the plate to break the tie and put the Phillies in front, and from there they never looked back.
Victorino, had tied the ball game with a solo homerun in the 3rd inning keeping his hot streak alive and well.
The D-Back errors didn’t start until the 5th inning last night, it was like boredom set in so the players just lost concentration. Rollins hit a ball hard, causing a miss play by the D-Backs, Utley’s smart base running to 1st base caused an error on a throw to home plate, mix in some other miss plays and the D-Backs had another game of errors turns into opposition runs.
You had to feel bad for Haren, he pitched very well, with almost any other defense behind him he would have probably won that game, there was more than once you could tell from the look on his face, he wished he were somewhere else. The Phillies offense really did well last night working the count and getting Haren to throw as many pitches as they could, he ended up throwing 117 pitches in 5 innings of work.
The only real shadow of doubt for the Phillies last night was the 9th inning, Lidge with a save opportunity came in to close out the game and ended up giving up 2 runs, before finally finishing off the D-Backs, I for one am glad it was NOT a 1 run game.
It all happens again tonight with Happ going against Petit, if he hasn’t been traded by then of course, if Happ is on the mound, here’s hoping Happ has recovered from his first loss and puts on another dynamic display of pitching.
Phillies Take D-Backs to School….
Posted: July 28, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Arizona, D-Backs, Feliz, Garland, Halladay, Hamels, haren, Howard, Lidge, Madson, Moyer, Park, Philadelphia, phillies, Roberts, Rollins, Utley 8 CommentsPhiladelphia, Phillies showed the D-Backs how to play professional baseball last night in Arizona.
Yes, this may seem harsh, but the Phillies took a clear advantage of the D-Backs errors, errors which would have been hard to find in a triple ‘A’ game, and there was Jamie Moyer, who pitched himself into trouble twice in the first 3 innings,
loading the bases at one point, with nobody out, his experience, his self control and excellent defence, from his infield that knows no limits and definately knows how to support their team mate in times of trouble got him through the struggles.
Moyer, moved on from his struggles and pitched with control and poise through another 3 2/3 innings, shutting the door on the D-Backs. In total Moyer pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up 6 hits, 4 walks and striking out 5, giving him his 256th career win and closing out July with a 3.30 ERA his best month this year.
Side Bar: During this ‘will he, won’t he’ couple of weeks on Halladay, it has been noted that a number of people have been commenting on blogs, calling for Moyer to retire, last night was just another reason why he shouldn’t, right now he’s pitching very well, and he’s got 10 wins on the year, giving him 13 seasons with double digit wins, I know wins dont mean anything in a pitchers stats, but as I’ve said before, it’s wins that get you to the post season. (end side bar).
D-Backs defense for 8 innings looked like a group of guys on a Sunday morning throwing a ball around not really caring where it went, or if someone could catch what was thrown at them. With Feliz on 1st, (now you have to understand Feliz has 0 (zero) stollen bases this year), the pitcher, Garland, is acting like it’s J-Roll or Victorino over there, so he ends up throwing the ball past the 1st baseman which ultimately puts it up the right field line, Feliz, who seemed like a diferent person on the bases last night, ended up going from 1st to 3rd. Another one was, Utley on 1st a base hit fumbled in the shift off of Howards bat, allowed Utley to get to 3rd, after beating the 3rd baseman in a foot race to 3rd base, that should have been a double play or at least got Howard at 1st. There were other simple plays in the infield that should have resulted in outs that didn’t and although the Phillies played hard last night, those infield mistakes are the main reason for 4 extra runs the Phillies scored. Of course the ‘Howard Homer’, a 2 run shot in the 4th was all Howard.
So having seen all that go on imagine the surprise when in the top of the 9th a bloop hit, which had it been earlier in the game would have scored 2 runs, is caught by Roberts with a spectacular dive to end the inning.
The Phils bull pen went to work in the 7th inning Park came into the game in releif of Moyer and got the 1 guy he faced, 8th inning Madson came in, experienced some struggles, gave up a couple of runs on 3 hits, and struck out 2. Lidge was set to come in for the 9th, a non-save situation, so there was obviously a few nerves, but Madson had struggled so maybe Lidge would be okay, well he was, 3 up, 3 down, with a strike out thrown in there. Phillies end up taking the first of three from a struggling Arizona, 6-2.
Room for thought: Why did Charlie use Bruntlett in the 9th and not Dobbs, that confused me, tonight we do it all again Hamels vs Haren, now I know Haren has a pretty good contract with the D-Backs, but could it be possible when the Phillies go to San Francisco that Haren goes with them…..
Phils take series finale from Cards 9-2, Jays reject Phillies counter offer…
Posted: July 26, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Arizona, Blanton, Cardinals, Cleveland, Halladay, Holliday, Howard, Ibanez, Indians, Jays, Lee, Lugo, News, phillies, Pujols, Rollins, Trade Deadline, Utley, World Series 10 CommentsFor me the important part of today was another win, which in reality is what gets you to another post season, and without getting to the post season you can’t win another World Series.
In a game that had a freaky 1st inning, yes for me it was freaky, it’s not often you see the top of the 1st score a run and move a runner from 1st to 2nd on a fly ball, well it happened, but that wasn’t the freaky part, the bottom of the 2nd, it all happened again, exactly the same, it was like one of those if you can do it so can wee things from the movies. it looked as though it would be a very nail bitting game, by the end of the top of the 5th inning. It was just 3-2 Phillies, but the bottom of the 5th inning produced the 2nd 2 run homer from the Phillies by way of a deep to centerfield shot that hit the top of the center 
field batters-eye wall from Ryan Howard, at that point I felt with Joe Blanton on the mound the Phils were on there way to a victory. The game had the Phillies hitting 4, 2 run homers from Utley, Howard, Rollins and Ibanez….coupled with the first inning run it gave the Phillies another hard hitting win.
Even with the long balls and the double plays, for me the guy that made today was Joe Blanton he came into todays game with an ERA of just 0.83 for the month of July, and today he showed us why, he continued to get his pitches in the right location, keeping hitters off the bases. He went a solid 8 innings, giving up just 7 hits and 2 runs, while walking 1 and striking out 6…. The last 3 batters he faced just put an exclamation point on his perfomance, striking out in order, Lugo, Pujols and Holliday to end the top of the 8th. This is the type of trade deadline acquisition that has helped the Phillies. He’s not a media man, he’s not a look at me type guy, he goes out there and gets the job done and he works hard between his starts. I am not saying he’s better or worse than anyone else, my point is as far as acquiring someone, this guy was one of the better mid-season acquisitions the Phillies have made over the past few years. Well Done Joe keep it going through August….
So the Blue Jays turned down the counter offer the Phillies made for Roy Halladay, that is understandable, you see there are other teams still making offers and they want to get the maximum they can for him, the fact is other teams now know what they won’t except, so they have a lead role to offer something better than the Phillies offered. There are also reports that the Angels recieved a list of demands from the Jays for Halladay to go to them, it is reported that they like the Phils believe the asking price is too high.
I have read a lot of comments on blogs lately regarding this subject, me personally I am at the point where I say if they don’t like what we are prepared to give then walk away from the deal. Lots of people think Halladay is going to bring us another World Series, well he won’t, it’s a team thing, yes he does have the stats that say he will help the Phillies in acheiving that goal, but for me any trade is risky, regardless, some say the risk is minimal for the Phillies, on paper that maybe, but in reality, no one knows for sure, because there are no guarantees.
It would be nice to add to our starting rotation, in a manner that will improve it, not just add to it with more #4 and #5 rotation pitchers. I would like to see a serious consideration given to Lee at Cleveland, no he’s not Halladay, but he’s more affordable and would still increase our chance of another World Series.
So for all those commenters on the Halladay stories that say the Phillies blew it by rejecting the Jays outlandish request, I say this —- now you’ve got more days to whine, complain, attack management and continuously comment as if it was your discision and that you believe you are the almanac and crystal ball of baseball, and when others dont agree with you, you still have time to turn your frustrations out on them and start bad mouthing each other in the comments of a news story that most people have read and moved on from, sometimes days, but definately hours before you’ve started insulting each other.
It’s off to Arizona for the Phillies, and then onto the west coast for a road trip that will take us into August and past the trade deadline, so who will join the Phillies on the road, anyone or no one???
Phillies Outside Archive Vault 