Rays and Twins on Post Season Life Support ….
Posted: October 8, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2010, Atlanta, Braves, Giants, H2O, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, phillies, post season, Rangers, Rays, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Texas, Twins, Umpires, World Series, Yankees 4 CommentsThursday was a day off for the Phillies, a day to reflect on the
near perfecto by Halladay, a day for the grounds crew to perfect their grooming
of…
…Citizens Bank Park in time for game 2 of the NLDS between the
Phillies and Reds on Friday.
Thursday afternoon saw the Tampa Bay Rays, picked apart by a
Texas Rangers pitcher, the Rays went down 6-0 and now must head to Texas down by
2 games, knowing that every game is a life line to the post season, one more
loss and it’s back to booking tee times instead of next round travel
arrangements.
The Minnesota Twins played game 2 of their ALDS series against
the Yankees in their new home. It seems they may be psychologically hampered by
the previous loses in post season to the Yankees, because it doesn’t seem to
matter what they do they can’t get a break. Okay so the umpire made a bad call
on Berkman, but that didn’t lose them this game, it’s their own actions. With
Gardenhire ejected, probably for renaming the home plate umpire, but we’ll just
believe it was for arguing balls and strikes. He shouldn’t feel bad with Maddon
getting ejected in the Rays and Rangers game it’s probably a day for ejections.
The Twins now head to New York with each game a life line to post season, which
means they probably will be with the Rays, booking tee times before Wednesday.
The first game between San Francisco and Atlanta played out at
AT&T Park with the Braves hoping to give Bobby Cox a final season to
remember and the Giants hoping to just get out of the Bay area without a loss,
this could have been the first game into extras if not for the iatrical part the
umpires played in the 4th inning, and ultimately the hit that Ross managed to
squeak out of Lowe to drive in Posey. Giants take a 1-0 game lead into today’s match up.
It seems Halladay set the standard for post season pitching,
with both Lincecum for the Giants and Wilson for the Rangers pitching 2 hit shut
outs Thursday. This post season is definitely shaping up to be in the top few
all time great post seasons and seems to be following the theme of ‘Year of the
Pitcher’.
In addition to the Giants and the Braves game 2 today, we will
also see the ‘O’….
…. of the H2O Phillies post season rotation trio take to the mound
against the Reds. The Reds will be trying to get back on an even keel with the
Phillies or at the very least go back to Cincinnati with a hit, while the Phillies will be looking to go 2 games up before heading
to Ohio this weekend.
GO PHILLIES….
WTF Award for September goes to….
Posted: October 5, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Award, Bauer, Braves, David Beckham, Fans, Giants, HGH, In Touch, Irma Nici, MLB, phillies, Rangers, Rays, Reds, RSBS, Twins, Umpires, WTF, Yankees 8 CommentsThere has been plenty of drama during the final month of regular season play, the drama even continues into the few rest days
before the 2010 post season gets underway. Today I have decided to issue the final WTF Award of the season for the month of September, there will be too many other things to bitch, complain, praise even be in awe of, during the post season to worry about which moment is the most deserving to get the WTF Award, it would probably be an umpire for a lack of judgment or an over analyzed split second decision.
September like other months gave us a lot of great action, lots of highs and lows, depending on which team you were supporting. One thing I have learned this year is that it is difficult to sit back and reflect on the month and remember every action, re-action or inaction that may deserve a mention or ultimately the award. Initially it was my intention to check out stupid things that players, coaches, umpires or even non-baseball people did that would make almost everyone except that person say WTF.
This award was supposed to entail a ‘light hearted poke’ at dumb things people do, it turned out that it wasn’t just stupid, inconsiderate things that made us go WTF, there are many non-stupid things that can cause that reaction, so I found myself having to include great accomplishments too, of which there seemed way too many to mention them all, in fact as much as we find things to complain about with the teams we follow and the umpires who try to keep order between them, the things these people and entities do for the good is considerably more.
So for one last time this ailing memory will try to capture some things from September that made me go WTF…
There were any number of clubs that could have made you say WTF, from the NL we had the Braves starting the month as a 3 game leader of the NL East and ultimately hanging on to a wild card spot by their finger tips, or San Diego who started as a 4 game leader in the West and ended losing out on any post season play. The cardinals had already become the new NL ‘Chokers’ by the time September started.
The American had less to choose from with all post season teams having established relatively good positioning, it was more the fact that the Yankees went 13-17 and still made it, albeit via the wild card and home field was clinched by a team playing .500 baseball.
Other news that jumped out at me was a former hooker, Irma Nici, made a choice to name David Beckham as someone she had had as a client. First off when does a hooker know she’s a former hooker, how long between being paid for favors does it take to become a former hooker. I googled it, but no luck, I am thinking a Filibuster question for RSBS, so are you up for the challenge Jeff or Allen, “how long after a paid favor does a hooker have to wait before she can claim the status of a former hooker”.
Long story short, innocent or guilty I don’t know, but I understand the Beckham’s have filed suite against her, the magazine (In Touch) and the parent company of the magazine Bauer in Germany for various slanderous acts. The funny part her attorneys have counter sued because she claims harassment because someone sat outside her hotel and waited for her to exit so they could serve her with the writ. Okay she’s probably not all there and will claim something related to on job illness.
The next contender that jumped into the lime light, it may have taken a few months for it to work it’s way around to my email address, but it was definitely someone somewhere in the MLB that made this news worthy. Now believe it or not this did come via an email, and it was a legit email marketing this product, I may have made some improvements to make it more fitting for this use. The point is without the highlight by MLB of this type of product I do not believe this would be finding it’s way into email boxes as if it was a 5 Hour energy boost. I am not sure if she has a high neck sweater to hide her ‘Adams Apple’ because of the side effects or if the ‘batting average’ and ‘strike outs’ has a double meaning. Oh and if you clicked to get a free trial, your ‘IP Address’ has been forwarded to the FBI for investigation (that’s just incase any players are reading this).
Seriously I considered many things and kept coming back to the same group of people that I believe should get this award, so for those that actually stuck around to see who has won, the WTF Award for September 2010 goes too…..
….the fans, not just the Phillies fans, but to fans everywhere and fans of all teams. Through thick and thin, through good and bad, the true fan sticks with the club. The true fan spends money, sometimes money they can’t really afford, for brand name merchandise, player merchandise, travel to and from games, entry into ball parks, concessions etc, while inside ball parks, lets face it without fans the multi-million dollar payouts wouldn’t happen. Without baseball fans no one would be reading this blog, assuming they are of course and it’s not some sick joke being played on me, making me believe people are reading this……
What who’s insecure, nope, not me….
Enjoy the post season everyone
1 Day to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
The Final 8 BUCKed by FOX ….
Posted: October 4, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Braves, Fox, Fox Sports, Giants, Joe Buck, MLB, phillies, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Twins, Yankees 6 CommentsIt’s over, as much as we all would have liked to see single game deciders, it was not to happen, the Giants beat the Padres, there was no 9th inning rally to send it into extras, or even make the Giants sweat in the chilly bay air, they just got it done.
The Yankees fell to the Red Sox in the same fashion they have in 7 out of their last 10 games, which made the Rays game mute, all the same the Rays beat the Royals as if they wanted to be the division champions.
The Braves finally won a game against the Phillies, 1 out of the last 6 isn’t that bad I guess, although Cox had to get Wagner in from the pen, who eventually got the final out after giving up a couple of hits and a run, it was still just enough to give the Braves an 8-7 win.
The teams all know there places….
…. who’s wild, who’s not, where to be and what day.
We know who’s playing who, and at least initially we know when for the first 4 days anyway, then who the hell knows. MLB seems to have sold all post season rights to Fox, since it appears they are the ones calling start times. Sunday is listed as ‘When NFL Sunday Ends’ so everyone has to be in the dug outs ready to go when Fox tells them to go, or maybe it’s when Joe Buck can switch locations.
I am sure this is the first of many bash Fox moments between now and the crowning of the 2010 World Series Champions.
2 Days to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
Verisimilitude and Nitwittedness ….
Posted: October 3, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AJ, BoSox, Braves, Final Day, Giants, Girardi, Nitwittedness, Padres, phillies, Reds, Twins, Umpires, Verisimilitude, Yankees 3 CommentsThis weekend is what makes baseball a great sport, not a good sport, a GREAT
sport. With something on the line for 6 teams going into the final day of the
regular season, it is without a doubt, tense and nervous for some, exciting and
fun for others.
Just when you thought those teams that are comfortable will just sit back and
watch, along comes Charlie Manuel….
…. to place credibility back into the last weekend of the season. Initially
yesterdays line-up may have appeared a little weak compared to the last time the
Phillies and Braves met, but the game became a fight to the end with the
Phillies rookie Vance Worley giving a commanding performance thru 5 innings and
then the Phillies bullpen blanking the Braves thru the final 4 innings to give
the Phillies a 7-0 shut out on the day the Braves honored Bobby Cox.
Today I believe the Phillies may have jumped past Michael Vick to become the
most hated entity in Atlanta. Some Braves fans feel since the Phillies are in
why they don’t lay down and let the Braves get to the post season, as Charlie
Manuel said, "How is that fair to the Padres and Giants", so suck it
up Atlanta and win because you can, not because the Phillies let you.
The Yankees had a double header, while the Rays tried to find a way to beat
the Royals. The Rays managed to shut the Royals out in a 4-0 win, while the
Yankees took game 1 from the BoSox and looked like they may even sweep the
double header, except it was AJ on the mound and sometimes his cry baby attitude
gets the better of him….
….AJ’s mind went like this: let me check to make sure the
umpire called that play correctly, cause we all know, if I argue he’ll change
his mind, oh and while I argue let me see if I can trick the BoSox into thinking
it’s a dead ball. DOH!
It seems the only guy he tricked was Berkman, who just stood
there and looked dumb. Now I would like to know when AJ entered the dug out and
went down the steps, what the hell did AJ say to Girardi, it almost looked as
though AJ was blaming Girardi, and Girardi had this look on his face as if to
say AJ your just fu-cking crazy.
So we have the AL East all tied up again, but today it will be
decided, the winner of the east will also get home field advantage, the Yankees
passed the advantage back to the Rays yesterday, because now the Yankees need a
win and a Rays loss to clinch, so do they stay in Boston to find out or do they
grab everything and rush back to New York to see if they can celebrate.
The NL is a little more screwed up, the scenarios are bountiful,
the bottom line is the right wins and loses and there could be baseball everyday
till the post season starts. So we know the Phillies have home field in the NL,
but who will they play, we don’t know, since we could have 4 teams with the same
record at the end of today.
The introduction of video replay on the possibility of a home
run ball was supposed to make things right, everyone keeps saying we need more
video replays, to many errors by the umpires. What if the video replay shows one
thing yet they still make the wrong call after seeing it….
….there you have it fan interference, wait they’re playing in
Ohio, okay that means it must be a home run ball then. If you didn’t see this
then it’s worth a look, no matter how many time I replay it I still see the fan
reach over the fence touch the ball with his glove at the same time he hits the
fielders glove. The ball could have been caught by the fielder, if it wasn’t
caught it appears it may have hit the top of the wall and come back into play.
So how then will video replay prevent the umpires from getting in wrong, okay
it’ll involve someone in New York who’ll review it, lot of good that did.
This the last day of regular season is probably one of the most
exciting final days since they went to divisional play. We will at least know
the outcome of the American League battles and who the AL East champions are, as
for the National League, this could be done today or it could take till the end
of Tuesday for us to know.
3 Days to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
Do or Die Weekend, Phillies Playing Spoiler ….
Posted: October 2, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AL, Bobby Cox, Braves, Giants, Goodbye, NL, Padres, phillies, Rays, Retirement, Spoiler, Yankees 4 CommentsThe Do or Die weekend got underway Friday, the first day of October. For some teams this weekend is the only October baseball they will play this season, for others it’s a chance to keep their fans entertained for a few more weeks.
The National League has the Giants, Padres and Braves are all in Do or Die situations. The Padres must win at all costs, the Braves can make it with a mix of Padres loses and their own wins, the Giants just need a win.
The American League has all their post season teams decided, it’s just a case of who will have the Eastern Division crown, the Yankees and Rays were deadlocked at the start of play, so any sort of favorable win/loss combination would work for either team.
While the Yankees watched the rain fall in Boston, the Rays were embarrassingly out played by the Royals, so the Yankees get a half game lead by default.
The Giants and Padres get to beat up on each other and the first round went to the Padres who seemed to want it just a little bit more.
The Braves thought they had an easy shot, at home to the Phillies it should be a no- brainer. The Phillies already are in and so will be using the time for tryouts for a post season roster. The Braves have the best home record in baseball and so felt comfortable with having the champagne bottles ready to start cork popping.
The Braves didn’t count on the fact that the Phillies would like nothing more than to stick it to division rivals at any and all given opportunities. In the center of it as usual was….
….Jimmy Rollins with his first hit since returning, not just any ordinary hit, on a night when the wind was blowing in, J-Roll hit a deep line drive home run to left field for a grand slam in the 6th inning. Phillies end up postponing any Braves celebrations with an 11-5 win.
Today at Turner Field, they say goodbye to….
….Bobby Cox, not sure what this entails, but I am sure it’s a chance for the fans to cheer and scream and make Bobby cry and cover up the fact that he’s more saddened by the fact the he still doesn’t know if he can take off Monday for his retirement home.
Today the Phillies pit Vance Worley against Tommy Hansen, so I guess the Phillies are saying to the Braves, if you cant win today you don’t deserve to be in the post season.
Around Baseball –
The Yankees get to play a double header in Boston, this will be a tough day as it’s hard enough to win in Boston without having to win 2 on the same day.
The Rays are back at it with the Royals, having passed the advantage to the Yankees it’s almost a must win if they want any chance of the division title.
The Padres and Giants face of again in San Francisco, I am sure both these teams and the Braves will be score board watching, no one admits to it, but they all do it.
4 Days to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
Thankful it’s ‘JOE’ Blanton ….
Posted: September 30, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 2nd base, ALDS, BIG Joe, Giants, Joe Blanton, NLDS, Padres, phillies, post season, Reds, Tamp Bay Rays, Twins, Yankees 3 CommentsThe final regular season game against the Nationals, although the Phillies
are playing spring training type baseball at the moment, they have to consider
who they want in the first series of the post season when they head into Atlanta
for the final weekend. If they play ‘FALL’ training games in Atlanta it will
undoubtedly give the Braves the advantage over the Padres on who gets the wild
card slot. If Atlanta get the wild card then it would depend on how the Reds and
Giants finish out the season. This is of course speculative on the basis that
the Giants clinch in the West, stranger things have happened and the Padres
could still leap frog the Giants and grab the division.
The guy they call Big Joe Blanton took the mound tonight, some say
it’s ‘Big Joe’ cause he’s a ‘FATtee’, others say it’s cause of his
‘STATURE’…..
….me I’m just glad his name isn’t Richard. The bench players
got another start tonight and went back to back with homers in the top of the
2nd inning added to it in the 4th and 5th to give Joe a cushioned lead to pitch
off. When the start of the bottom of the 7th inning came around the Phillies had
just back up players on the field except for Blanton, I am sure the 7-1 lead the
Phillies were enjoying played a part, in addition to this being post season
auditions for the back up players.
A day off today gives everyone a rest and time to consider the
Braves series, do they continue auditions or go to Atlanta and make a statement.
The Phillies get home field advantage, which means they get to
play at home at the start of each series while they are in the post season. With
this in mind there is at least one change they should consider making before
post season play begins….
….the 2nd base bag, this has been the culprit of injuries and
has even come completely out and into the hands of sliding runners. This base
pad is responsible for a Valdez injury, Utley injury and a
Rollins injury and is suspected of being part of some bad judgment calls by
Werth, Ruiz and Victorino, so what do you say ground crew, lets replace this bag
with one that is more reliable and a little more favorable to the Phillies.
Around Baseball:
The Yankees lost to the Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays lost to the O’s,
so no changes there.
The NL West is still a fight to the end with both San Diego and
the San Francisco winning.
The Braves won again keeping their lead in the Wild Card and the
Phillies still uncertain of who will be the team they face in the first series
of post season play.
6 Days to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
Seven Days and Counting ….
Posted: September 29, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 7 Days, Braves, Giants, manuel, New York, Oswalt, Padres, phillies, post season, Rays, Reds, Tampa Bay, Yankees 4 CommentsSome called it a hangover game, some called it the day after game, but it should have been just another game that we went out there and tried to win. The starting pitcher goes out there, albeit a shortened game of just 5 innings regardless of how he does, so for Roy Oswalt, yes I said Roy Oswalt, cause if you were listening to the Phillies TV feed you would be a little confused, they kept on calling him Roy Halladay, in fact they called him Roy Halladay more than they called him Roy Oswalt, so just in case T-Mac , Wheels or Sarge actually read anything that is written here maybe they’ll offer an apology to Roy Oswalt.
So there not totally confused here’s what Oswalt looks like….
….without wanting to point out the obvious, he’s the one with ’44’ and the name ‘OSWALT’ on his back.
The Phillies have selected the post season schedule already, and needless to say they have selected the one that allows them to go with a 3 pitcher starting rotation. The choice was somewhat of a no brain-er, and members of the press asking Manuel why he’s going that way, should not be covering baseball for any media outlet.
Just in case you missed it, they have been labeled H2O by a number of fans and some members of the Philadelphia press….
They have suggested that Halladay will start game 1, but this is speculation at this time, it is also an obvious choice. In keeping with obvious choices personally I would have Hamels then Oswalt, this would be just to break up the righties with a leftie in between, but it’s all about what Charlie thinks at the time.
I was dubious about constantly resting players from our starting line up between now and October 6th, but on reflection I think it’s more for Manuel to see what bench players and what bull pen members are going to make the cut. It’s a waiting game now, it’s like a second round of spring training in the fall.
Around Baseball:
The Yankees and the Tampa bay rays won last night assuring them both of play off spots, it’s just a case of who’s the division winners and who’s the wild card team.
The Reds beat the LOLstros last night to clinch the NL Central, kudos to them.
The NL West is a fight to the end and can only be decided when the Padres and Giants go at each other in the final series of the season. The Braves need to keep winning to keep them in the wild card, the series against the Phillies could be their do or die series. The Padres have the toughest road over their final 5 games.
7 Days to post season play – GO PHILLIES….
Chuck chuckled and Phillies go 11 straight ….
Posted: September 25, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: 1960, Bing Crosby, New York Times, phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Red Sox, Simply the Best, Tigers, Twins, Yankees 2 CommentsThe Phillies do it again, win that is. It’s now 11 straight wins, giving the
Phillies a 93-61 record with 8 games left, and that was enough to make Chuck smile
a little more….
…. as even more good news came his way, when the Washington
Nationals closed out a win over the Atlanta Braves, making the Phillies magic
number ‘2’, could Carlie’s wish becoming true. Conceivably the Phillies could clinch on Saturday, like Charlie requested in his wish. They will know
before game time, if the clinch is possible, as the Braves and Nationals play an afternoon game on Saturday. The Yankees
fell short against the Red Sox and the Twins got demolished by the Tigers, the
Phillies now stand alone a top Major League Baseball with their 93 wins.
Bing Crosby’s wine cellar gave back Game 7 of the 1960 World
Series where the Pittsburgh Pirates managed a walk off win to defeat the Yankees
and win the ’60 World Series. See
the full story as reported by the New York Times.
One Game at a Time – GO PHILLIES….
Atlanta Braves True Lies …
Posted: September 22, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, Bobby Cox, Braves, CC Sabathia, Halladay, liar liar pants on fire, Mets, New York, NL East, Oswalt, phillies, post season, Tommy Hanson, True Lies, Yankees 7 Comments
The
Braves beat writers, coaches, players and fans have all been telling us of the
Phillies offensive woes when facing pitchers for the first time. This concerted
effort even have the TV analysts convinced to the point they are spewing the
same ‘Bull Sh-it’ in an ever increasing web of deceit.
Lets put our rookie pitchers against the Phillies ‘Aces’ cause that’ll give
us the best chance to win and make up ground on the division leaders. If you
believe that then you also probably believed the Mets were the team to beat in
the NL East this year.
The ‘Atlanta Braves True Lies’ appearing at a stadium near you,
if your a Braves fan that is. What was the real reason behind the need for
Atlanta to pit rookies against some of the best pitchers in the league this
year.
Who did the Braves stand the best chance of beating with their ‘Aces’ on the
mound:
- option 1 New York Mets
- option 2 Philadelphia Phillies
So why not be Brave and honest and tell the truth, they could
almost guarantee wins against the Mets with their ‘Aces’ on the mound, but
against the Phillies it was a crap shoot. The ‘truth is’ it’s better to beat
the Mets with Aces and lose to the Phillies with rookies instead of losing to
the Mets with Rookies then losing to the Phillies with Aces on the mound.
Good luck with the rest of the season with that mentality Atlanta, you may be
handing a Wild Card to a West coast team, or maybe that’s the plan, maybe Bobby
Cox has his retirement housing all picked out in Florida and can’t wait to move
in.
Roy
‘The Doc’ Halladay clinched his 20th win of the season against the Atlanta
Braves, making him the first Phillies pitcher to win 20 in a season since Steve
Carlton in 1982.
Roy joined CC from the New York Yankees as the only 2 pitchers this season to
reach the 20 win mark, with Jimenez and Wainwright close behind on 19 wins.
The biggest differences between the two 20 win pitchers, about 50 or 60 LBs
of blubber, that’s one stat I’m happy CC has more of than Halladay.
With Halladay’s 20th win the Phillies moved 5 games ahead in the NL East.
After being 3 games back on September 1st, the Phillies are certainly giving
themselves a chance at a 4th consecutive post season.
Even Jayson Werth seems to have gotten a new lease on life, we hope that his
joining forces with Boras has nothing to do with his sudden spark of enthusiasm.
The fact that he joined with Boras means he must have completely accepted the
fact that he’ll not be with the Phillies next year.
Tonight is the last of 3 at home with the Braves as Roy Oswalt takes the
mound for the Phillies against Tommy Hanson for the Braves.
GO PHILLIES…
The ALMOST Yankee Fan ….
Posted: September 13, 2010 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Astros, Braves, Cardinals, fun, phillies, Phillies Outside, Pirates, post season, Reds, Roller Coaster, season end, September, Texas, Yankees 7 Comments
A picture I came across not long ago, reminded me of how close it was that maybe I could have become part of the evil empire, it wasn’t to be, I saw the passage to the good side and followed the light. In defense of the fact that I had managed to wear a Yankees hat without my head burning, it was sometime in the 80’s and I had yet to see my first Phillies game. It wasn’t long after this I was resident down the 1st base line at Veterans Stadium enjoying the sight of the Philadelphia Phillies playing the New York Mets. It was early in my understanding of the game, so I was more into why this or why that, than any rivalry.
The brief visits over the next 10 years gave me more of an understanding of the game and an increased passion for the Phillies, even though during those early years in my baseball life L’s were a premium for the Phillies and the W’s could be something of a rarity. I learned that wins and loses aren’t necessarily what get you hooked to baseball, it definitely helps to have a post season visit at some point in time, but right down to the last game before elimination there is still hope and the knowledge that any team could and at times does collapse giving way to the unexpected.
The National League East is definitely heating up, with both the Phillies and the Braves playing only teams within the division through season end, with a 3 game set against each other in Philadelphia next week, the season will end on a 3 game series in Atlanta between the two clubs. I say tighten your belts it’s going to be an up and down roller coaster final couple of weeks for both Braves and Phillies fans.
Some have already written the Cardinals off, but with a couple of shots at the sCrUBs and the Pirates in the final weeks and the Reds having to play double duty with the Brewers and the LOLstros, in my opinion they could be in for a bumpy season end, it only needs the Reds to continue at the 3-7 pace and the Cards to improve with a spurt of wins, after all this is baseball anything can happen and it could be that Texas is the only team that appears safe at the moment, but even they could collapse and make the final weekend full of games that shape the post season.
Useless stats 101 – The year I got the Yankees hat and ultimately became a Phillies fan, there were just 2 divisions in each league and the Phillies finished 26 games back of the Cardinals, in the NL, with a 75-87 record.
Phillies Outside Archive Vault 