2010 Phillies Year in Review
Posted: December 27, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2010 Season, A's, Angels, Arizona, Astros, Athletics, Atlanta, Baltimore, Blue Jays, BoSox, Brad Lidge, Braves, Brewers, Canada, Cardinals, Chicago, ChiSox, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Cliff Lee, Colorado, D'Backs, Detroit, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Florida, Giants, H2O, Halladay, Hamels, Hot Stove, Houston, Indians, Jimmy Rollins, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Milton Bradley, Milwaukee, mini-soda, Minnesota, Nationals, Nats, New York, Oakland, Orioles, Oswalt, 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 9 CommentsIt almost that time when we celebrate the begining of a new year
and invariably a new era in the successes of our teams. Before we jump forward
to what could be in 2011, here’s a small review of how my blog saw the Phillies
during 2010….
Here’s hoping you all have a very happy and safe New Year….
Enough is Enough or is it ?
Posted: December 15, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Blanton, Cliff Lee, Greinke, ho ho ho, Kendrick, phillies, Rangers, Royals, turkey, Yankees 6 Comments
The
whirlwind signing of the NEW number 33, Cliff Lee by the Philadelphia Phillies has
definitely brought out the reactions from fans all around baseball. It is safe
to say the reaction is mixed across the board from those that despise the
signing to those that really love it.
There are however something’s that Phillies fans need to keep
under control and that is over hyping the starting rotation, we all know the fan
base in Philadelphia can turn their love into hate on the toss of a coin. They
can deny it all they want, but deep down they know who they are and it’s those
fans that will be the first to call for Amaro’s head or Charlie to be replaced
when Phillies famous four get swept by a team like the Pirates or Astros.
One more note for the Phillies fans we don’t need a cutesy name
for these four guys, so enough with ‘Phour this’ or ‘that Phour’ the H2O was fun
but lets leave that as a thing of the past it really is ‘water under the
bridge’.
Should we be surprised at the general response from Yankee fans
who say what they will now, the majority thought they had Lee in pinstripes and
now of course the jibes at Lee for going back to Philadelphia are nothing more
than that of a spoiled little brat not getting that Christmas gift they wanted.
They are not the only group of fans that have shown that deep down they despise
Lee for wanting to go where he wanted to go and not where others thought he
should go.
For those that still seem to be bewildered by Lee leaving money
on the table to sign with the Phillies, ask LeBron James, he seems to think ‘when
your getting that much money $20Million is nothing, it wont change your life,
it’s about where you want to be after the first $100million’.
Just remember it’s not even January yet, hell any or all of them
could twist an elbow opening Christmas presents, or hurt a rotator cuff carving
the turkey. This is one Phillies fan that wants to enjoy the 2011 season with no
expectations other than to be truly entertained all season long by a
Philadelphia baseball team that has chemistry and energy with every start.
On a final note, what if the Phillies traded Blanton, Kendrick
and whoever could they still land Zack Greinke … ho!ho!ho!
be-LEE-ve ….
Posted: December 14, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Cliff Lee, Jayson Werth, New York, phillies, Rangers, Texas, Washington Nationals, World Series, Yankees 8 CommentsIt may seem like I have been absent, but in truth I have tried
to migrate my blog from here to ‘philliesoutside.mlblogs.com’, unfortunately
after the first post at my new home I have been locked out unable to
perform any actions on the blog. The tech support dept tell me they are working
on it and that I am not forgotten. Hopefully I will be able to use my new blog
by January.
It’s that time of year when the Phillies organization pulls a
shocker out of the hat. Last year it was trading Cliff Lee and signing Roy
Halladay, this year it’s signing Cliff Lee and trading no one.
Now I know everyone was expecting him to be in either a Rangers
uniform or the Yankee pinstripes, but it was those who truly believed (beLEEved)
was always hopeful of his return to the Phillies and this I am sure has left
fans in New York and Texas seeing RED, yep Phillies RED.
Now lots of people will be saying told you so and they can say
that, even I stated in my blogs earlier in the year that Lee would be back with
the Phillies, as much as I would like to take credit for seeing into the future
it was nothing more than wishful thinking by all that made the claim. I know I
am one happy Phillies fan seeing LEE back in the Phillies uniform….
I am sure there will be those that will say we paid too much,
that we are trying to buy a World Series, but the truth be known the Phillies
are just putting together a group of players they believe will WIN the World
Series. Some fans will continue to use this as an excuse to trash the Phillies,
that’s okay they can do that, but to all those Phillies fans that were critical
of the organization for allowing Werth to go to the Nationals, I say before you
gloat about this you should issue a full apology to the Phillies organization,
because LEE on the Phillies team is considerably better than what the Nationals
got in Werth.
Mighty Media !
Posted: November 9, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Boras, Cliff Lee, Hot Stove, Monkey Butt, phillies, POTUS, Rangers, Robert Gibbs, Werth, Yankees 3 CommentsThe ‘Mighty Media’ may have got tired of reporting
everyone else’s news this week and decided it was time to be the news. With
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, making demands and showing the
world he is the one with the power in the White House, threatening to pull the
POTUS from high level discussions while in a foreign country if he doesn’t get
his own way. I am sure he would have conceded to a visiting press secretary
pulling the same stunt in Washington, DC.
Then we have ESPN, who decided to listen to the millions and
millions, okay a dozen or so, regular viewers and oust the 20 plus year duo of
Sunday night baseball. Now if only Fox would concede to the sporting fans and
say bye bye to Joe Buck in time for next season.
The lack of instant trading and player acquisitions has given
the media to much time to create news instead of reporting it, I am sure if the
baseball season was in full swing the White House press secretary would have
been more concerned with Strasburg’s next start or which diamond to get the
POTUS on to throw out a pitch and ESPN wouldn’t have cared who was calling the
balls and strikes on Sunday night. It maybe time for the media to try a remedy
for the lack of baseball news….
….I am sure one of these is more than fitting for those media
people being the news instead of reporting it.
As
was expected the Yankees dove in head first and contacted Cliff Lee’s agent,
Darek Braunecker, just to let him know the obvious, that they were interested
and would be making an offer, also making contact was the Phillies, Ruban Amaro
jr. There were some other teams names being bandied about, but in all
seriousness Braunecker said they are just reviewing options and there is no rush
to commit. I think in reality the only serious contenders here are the Yankees,
Phillies and Rangers.
The Red Sox jumped into the Hot Stove with interest in an
outfielder, which could be Werth, since they contacted Boras. However how
serious can the Red Sox be this off season, since the owners have spent some
good money on acquiring the Liverpool Football Club and have made a commitment
to build that club back up and make it the top club in the Premiership, and if
you think baseball players salaries are high, then google some of the top
Premiership players salaries. I believe as far as teams with high payrolls, the
premiership has the most teams in the top 10, but I could be wrong.
It’s going to be a wait and see for the most part with some of
the top names on the free agent market and I am not convinced anything will be
solidified with the top names till later in December, even early January. Except
for those given to be re-signed by the Yankees.
Halloween in Arlington ….
Posted: October 31, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Giants, Halloween, Rangers, ron washington, scary movie, school girls, vampires, walking dead 6 CommentsOnce upon a time, at Halloween, women would love to dress up as
Elvira, or an evil hooked nose witch, these new modern times, however, have
given guys more reason to attend the fancy dress parties. The guys seem to be
drawn towards the vampire or even some sporting personalities, where as the
women have taken to living out some fantasy of slutiness with one of the more
popular being the….
….school girl look, much to the delight of the guys. Who if
luck is on their side will have lived out a fantasy of their own by nights end.
This current world series is matching that of the time of year
with so many….
….assumed dead players, showing that life after death is
possible.
If you enjoyed your mix of partying and Halloween last night then
you’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the Halloween episode of tonight’s World
Series….
Stranger things happen ….
Posted: October 30, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: animation, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago, Cliff Lee, democrats, Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, New York, Philadelphia, phillies, politicians, politics, Rangers, republicans, San Francisco, Santa Claus, Texas, vote, Werth, White Sox, WWE, Yankees 1 Comment
Those of us who are baseball addicts are engrossed in the events
of the Worlds Series and as it stands now the thoughts are varied, will the
Giants sweep the Rangers and force their total fade out or will the Rangers go 3 for 3 at home and take it back
to San Francisco, who knows, that’s the beauty of baseball.
While all this headlining play by play unravels the remaining 28
teams have their own soap operas going on, moves being made to set up an off
season of player movements, operations and I am sure controversies.
In Philadelphia some actions involving players have already
taken place and as always the right things are being said, the team says things
like, ‘in order to give the player a chance at free agency’, when they
really mean, ‘we don’t want you back so we’re letting you go as early as we
can’. The players say things like, ‘it was great playing with a good
bunch of guys and a manager like Charlie’, when they really mean, ‘I’ll
miss you guys it was fun and thanks for nothing Amaro’.
So in Philadelphia, we could see Werth buddy up with his new
agent and head to Chicago to try on some White Socks, maybe. We could also see
other players held in a state of frozen animation until the club finds it’s
off-season direction. They have already managed to get the Phillies
beat writer to plant the seed of a return to the Phillies uniform by Cliff Lee.
Pie in the sky? Maybe, but it’s baseball stranger things have happened.
There are obviously a few players in the World Series making
impressions on possible future teams, who’d have thought after his stint in
Tampa Burrell would have found a team willing to give him a shot, and when
Florida unloaded Ross, who would have said by accident the Giants would be
putting him in the outfield every game. So yes strange things do happen in
baseball more often than we realize, who would have guessed back in 1945 that
October 30th would see the Brooklyn Dodgers sign a player from the Kansas City
Monarchs and make a resounding change in history.
With Halloween a day away and mid-term elections 3 days away,
strange things will happen more than ever. Mid term elections actually tend to
bring out even stranger happenings than Halloween, scarier people come to the
surface, it just gets totally weird, all in the name of ‘Vote’ getting. So when
your at the polling booth remember the 5 key issues when making your selections:
There is no Santa Claus.
The WWE may not be real, but the t-shirt’s are and you
can wear them to vote.You’re not choosing the Cy Young or MVP.
It’s not a Fantasy League.
Politicians LIE, again and again and again and
again….
Sr. Egnar vs. St. Naig …
Posted: October 27, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Fox, Giants, LeBron James, MLBONFOX, Nike, Rangers, Sr. Egnar, St.Naig, wizards, World Series 3 CommentsIt’s definitely a time when Fox should be using those high
dollar wizards that create the trailers for shows, to entice you in, to watch if
nothing more than the pilot episode in the hopes to capture you for the whole
series. It’s there time to shine, but they aren’t, all I’ve seen is a rehash of
the ‘Timmeh vs. Doc’ pitchers duel, with the insertion of Lee in place of Doc.
So are Fox self convinced that promotional expenditure on this
World Series is a wasted expense, or are these wizards spending there time on
things like Glee, Lie to Me, House and other programs already established.
Maybe, just maybe Fox should consider outsourcing the
promotional works of the World Series to the wizards at Nike, after all they
have away of making even the years most hated sports personality enticing to watch….
….but they better hurry, it all starts today.
Who’s Following Who ….
Posted: October 26, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: bloggers, blogs, Fans, Fox, Giants, MLB, MLBlogs, New York, Philadelphia, phillies, Rangers, ratings, San Francisco, Texas, Yankees 6 Comments
It’s
becoming fairly clear as I peruse the blogs of known Yankees and Phillies
bloggers that a clear message is being portrayed. A projection of disdain emanates
from almost all those blogs towards the team that beat the team they supported
in the LCS. There is a continuing lack of restraint in portraying feeling of
contempt towards the respective teams. So it appears most of the Phillies fans
will be rushing to throw their screams and rally towel waving behind the Texas
Rangers, while those Yankee fans will be openly chanting and willing the San
Francisco Giants to be successful.
With there still being another day before the World Series
starts I have to ask, how is Fox attempting to maintain an interest level in
this pending World Series match up, personally I don’t know cause I haven’t
watched Fox or TBS since the Phillies game last Saturday. In addition to blogs
offering some colorful, possibly defaming descriptions of either of the teams or
their players that will participate in the World Series, it seems the other
topic most covered is the lack of ratability this match up is going to give Fox,
it seems that it may be broadcast mostly for the eastern prime time slots, where
the majority of the fans are slowly developing a ‘we don’t care’
attitude, due to the involvement of teams from the west.
Due to a request by ‘kaiserthegreat’
I have updated the disappearing logo image, yes he’s a Giants fan and there
is a chance he just wanted me to show the image with the Phillies faded out, but
quite honestly I don’t give a f***, because lets face it, every now and then you
have to let the insignificant teams win things, plus knowing what it’s like to
get all the way to the World Series and then lose, the Giants fans need to amass
all the glory they can before the Rangers embarrass the hell out of them.
As a disgruntled Phillies fan, I am entitled to be a part of
Phillies fan base that has leapt to the support of the Rangers and therefore the
demise of the Giants, besides I want to see if winning the World Series knocks
Hamilton off his wagon.
Rangers Celebrate ….
Posted: October 23, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2010, ALCS, ALDS, Atlanta, Braves, Fox, Giants, H2O, Minnesota, New York, NLCS, NLDS, Philadelphia, phillies, post season, Rangers, Rays, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, TBS, Texas, Twins, Umpires, World Series, Yankees 8 CommentsAlex Rodriguez stepped up to the plate, it was the bottom of the
9th, with 2 outs, A-Rod was the only thing that stood between the Rangers and a
visit to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
The scene was set, A-Rod who couldn’t take the Rangers there got
a chilling reception, the commentators called it poetic justice, A-Rod grabbed
his crutch and adjusted his cup as if to say ‘Suck This’, Neftali Feliz
the Rangers closer looked in, dug deep and threw 3 fast balls all around the 100
mph mark, with 1 strike away from celebration, again Feliz looked in got his
sign and threw, what must have looked like a soft toss to A-Rod, who froze then
flipped his bat from one hand to the other and walked back to the dug out head
held down, while the Rangers went into overdrive on the celebrations….
….there was no doubt the Rangers were happy with the win, they
can celebrate as much as they want, they deserved it. It’s a wait and see game
for the Rangers now as they contemplate their very first World Series, for the
travel manager it’s headaches ahead, as he has to make arrangements for both San
Francisco and Philadelphia, until he knows where they will be headed.
The Phillies host the Giants this evening in the hope of forcing
a game 7 Sunday. Mr. Durable Roy Oswalt takes the mound for the Phillies,
while the Giants counter with Sanchez.
Go Phillies….
PHEW !!!
Posted: October 22, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2010, ALCS, CBP, do or die, John Travolta, NLCS, Phil Hughes, phillies, Rangers, SFGiants, staying alive, Yankees 3 Comments
I
never thought the title of a movie would mean so much, ‘Staying Alive’, moves to
Philadelphia. Unlike the John Travolta, movie this one has a full cast of men in
Philadelphia Phillies uniforms, fighting for their place in history once more
this year.
It seems the Phillies just needed the 3rd inning last night,
where they got 3 of their 4 runs, the 4th run came off a homer by Werth in the
9th. The 3rd inning was definitely an inning to remember, a sac bunt that
wasn’t a bunt?, an error wasn’t an error? and 3 runs that were
definitely 3 runs, despite Joe Bucks need to prove they weren’t.
Halladay gave the Phillies another strong outing, not his best,
but then he was pitching with a groin strain from the 2nd inning on, lets hope
he’s back to par if and when we need him again.
Still complaining about Fox Sports and Joe Buck with his,
sometimes blind and senile side kick, who seem to create new ways to attack
certain teams. The target of their hate has been Philadelphia during this NLCS.
I for one hope he gets arrested in Philadelphia before Game 6, maybe they’ll
find a new host then.
It’s back to Citizens Bank Park, Phillies still in a ‘Do or
Die’ situation and turn to Oswalt, Mr. Durability. Since arriving in
Philadelphia, little Roy has played left field, taken the last at bat in a game,
taken a role as a relief pitcher and is one of the H2O starting rotation
members.
I never thought I would say this, but I find myself rooting for
the Yankees tonight, it’s something about them being in a ‘do or die’ situation
like the Phillies, plus Phil Hughes is on the mound for the Yankees.
Go Phillies….
Phillies Outside Archive Vault 