WTF Award for May goes to….
Posted: May 31, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Andre Ethier, Astros, Cardinals, Crzblue, Dallas Braden, Dodgers, Fox News, Greta Van Susteren, Houston, Jayson Werth, Joe Blanton, LOLstros, Los Angeles, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Oakland A's, Philadelphia, phillies, Sarge, Shane Victorino, St. Louis, WTF Award 10 CommentsIt’s the end of the Month and since nothing really jumped right out at me and
said here this is it, I have to decide on the WTF Award
for the month of May.
As I reviewed things that came and went there were reasons why I held onto
the award this month. Some of the contenders that could have received it were….
Dallas Braden would be an obvious choice, for the perfect game
earlier this month. In all fairness to Dallas, he hasn’t done anything
before this event and the chances are he won’t do anything after this event,
other than be an average pitcher in the rotation of a ball club that struggles
to stay around the top when there being really good, but are normally fighting
to get off the bottom, in other words your destined to stay in Oakland
or at best move to Houston at some future
date when Oakland no longer wants you.
Actually the real reason is pure prejudice, I can’t give an award to anyone
named Dallas.
The St. Louis Cardinals team were
contenders for this award, last month they were the first team to allow the LOLstros
a win and this month they actually allowed the LOLstros
to sweep them, not on the road in Houston,
but at home in St. Louis. The reality is if
anyone should have got the award for this event it should have been the LOLstros,
which eliminates the Cardinals from even
being a consideration.
The LOLstros for sweeping the Cardinals,
no couldn’t do it, just can’t give anything to a team that has Ed Wade
connected to it, yep call it sour grapes, call it prejudice, I don’t care, just
not going to happen, unless he wants Lidge back.
Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles
Dodgers, has been a contender for this award, no one can be out that
long with a little injury to your pinky finger, it’s like saying you’ve got to
sit the rest of the game out because your manicure needs touched up, and in his absence
they’re having a competition centered around Matt Kemp, you
can check this out courtesy of fellow blogger Crzblue’s blog, unfortunately
Andre is eliminated from consideration because he’s on the same team as Manny
Ramirez.
Shane
Victorino and Jayson Werth were considered for their
togetherness in the out field while backing up the perfect game, but Jayson
had shaved, so I thought that news may have been leaked to them that I was still
in the hunt for a suitable candidate to receive the award, so I had to instantly
disqualifythem.
It was considered to go outside the world of baseball and give the award to Fox
News host Greta Van Susteren who thought it would be rewarding to
have uncontrolled people vote on her stupidity or intelligence or lack of it, Greta
the fact that you had to have a poll that pit you against a fan that sent
you ‘fan mail’ with a spelling error tells us who is really the one with intelligence,
then of course we have to consider how many college degree’s you need to get
your job, and calling someone out on spelling, doesn’t that make Fox News like
the kettle calling the pot black. (can I use that expression, my mum always
did).
There were a number of other contenders, whom I could continue to ridicule as
I explain why they didn’t get it, but I’ll just get right to it. It is possible
that this is a little unfair, it is possible that there may be some bias
involved in this months award, but the award, I believe was given on merit, it’s
been given to a team who during the worst 10 days of this short season has been
shut out 5 times, a team that scored in just 1 inning out 50 innings, a team
known for home run hitting hasn’t hit a home run in 54 innings, a team that has
struggled to hit anything anywhere rallied behind their ‘ACE’ pitcher on
May 29th, 2010 to allow him to throw the perfect game, then went straight back
out there the next day to be shut out, yes my friends I give you the recipient
of this months WTF award Mr. Roy ‘The Doc’ Halladay of
the Philadelphia Phillies.
Due to other commitments I had to enlist some assistance in presenting the
award to Roy…..
….Joe was very helpful and seemed like a profession al
at the job.
Then later Roy got interviewed by Phillies
radio and tv analyst ‘Sarge’ on his great accomplishment….
….as you can see Roy was ecstatic on his great achievement.
Well done again Roy I am sure you will treasure this award, (if he knew about it), and keep it on prominent display, (if
there actually was one to display.)
Moyer Makes History Look Easy….
Posted: May 7, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Braves, Cardinals, Charlie Manuel, Citizens Bank Park, history, ice cream, Jamie Moyer, Moyer, phillies, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Shut Out, Turkey Hill 12 CommentsFriday, May 7th, 2010. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia. Jamie
Moyer threw 105 pitches, over 9 innings giving up just 2 hits and
striking out 5, as he made baseball history.
Moyer is officially the oldest major league pitcher to throw a
9 inning shut out game, at
aged 47 years 170 Days young, Moyer was pushed to the bullpen
during August last year, this year some thought Kendrick should have got
the starting job, not Moyer. Personally I have said all along Moyer
was the choice for the starting rotation, I stand by that, and I say to all
those who will now jump on the Moyer band wagon, be careful what
you say.
I had said during spring training that I think Kendrick should not be
used as a starter till later in the year, and that Moyer will be
better more often than not during the first 100 to 130 games of the baseball
season. What Jamie did against the Braves, is far beyond
any expectation anyone could have seen, many could have hoped for, but no one
could truly have predicted.
Lets
not forget he wasn’t the only one on the field playing against the Braves,
even with the Phillies still feeling the effects of being without
Jimmy Rollins they have pulled together and over come some tough times.
With both Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard making very good
defensive plays, the offense was still keeping a steady average of hits and runs
as they managed to score 7 runs off Atlanta pitching, Jayson
Werth having a blast of ‘Deja-Vu’ as he hit a 3 run Jack in back to back
games, the first against the Cardinals then again against the Braves.
The Phillies continue the home stand for another 2 days, both games
against the Atlanta Braves then they hit the road for a week,
heading to Colorado for 3 games and then Milwaukee
for 3 games, but this season is about taking it one game at a time and the focus
is on the Braves for the Saturday game. Saturday some may think the dug out
looks bare or just strange, but it should only be for one game. Charlie
Manuel has said he will be missing Saturday’s game against the Braves for
personal reasons and he specifically said it had nothing to do with his health,
before we have a lot of conclusion jumpers.
Phillies take series from Reds, set new club record
Posted: July 10, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: All Star game, All Star Team, Beltran, Brad Lidge, Chan Ho Park, Ibanez, Jamie Moyer, Jayson Werth, Kemp, Lidge, Moyer, Park, Philadelphia, phillies, Pirates, Pittsburgh, Raul Ibanez, RBI, Record, Reds, Shane Victorino, Utley, Victorino, Werth 2 CommentsJayson Werth went deep to record his 20th home run of the season making him the 4th player to be on 20 home runs or more before the All Star Break, a first for the Phillies franchise and only the second MLB team to accomplish this feat. Werth has put up impressive numbers in the first half of this season and has more than proved that he can be an everyday player, I personally thought he would struggle as an everday outfielder, so well done Jayson, you are on a season setting personal best. Jayson’s name has been thrown in the mix for the All Star Game, since Beltran is injured, is Werth worthy of an All Star pick, well he has certainly put up the numbers, however I believe there are others who are a little more deserving, if it’s an outfielder they need then I would have to go with Kemp, he has better numbers this year, if it’s just any position player then there are a number to choose from and everyone will have there own personal favorite.
Chase Utley, in a ball park that is suposed to allow almost anyone to go deep, showed everyone last night that you dont need to hit the ball over the fence to get a home run, his second inside the park home run against the reds. This one came in the 3rd inning and it was Utley’s 20th homer of the year, although there wasn’t a play at the plate this time, he needed some recovery time to catch his breath, who wouldn’t.
Jamie Moyer pitched through 5 innings giving up 6 runs on 8 hits, since the offence took the lead in the bottom of the 5th Jamie was the pitcher of record giving him, his 254th career win. Jamie gave up two home runs, not unusual for Jamie, all in all a good outing for him.
Chan Ho Park gave another stellar performance from the bullpen, 3 scoreless innings, giving up 1 walk, with 4 strike outs.
Brad Lidge continues to make everyone nervous in the 9th inning, after getting the 1st two batters he gave up a walk, but came back nicely to close out the game with a scoreless inning.
Even though the Phillies have taken six of seven in this home stand, they still have a below .500 record at home this season, a sweep of the Pirates would put them still 1 game shy of the .500 mark. We all know that sweeping the Pirates is a huge task, they have played well against NL East teams this year, I for one am glad we have Blanton, Hamels and Happ to face them this weekend.
Victorino won the vote for the final spot on the All Star team, he is more than deserving of his place, he again last night picked up a couple of walks, a hit and a couple of RBI’s and continues to play gold glove quality defense in the outfield. Well Done Shane!!
To the Pirates, welcome to Philadelphia, the in state rivalry isn’t quite as intense as some would think, but still it will make for a good weekend, especially if the Phillies keep up this excellent home stand performance.
RAUL IBANEZ will he return today or will they wait till tomorrow, I think he will probably be here today, but my gut tells me they should probably wait till tomorrow.