CHOKE…CHOKE…CHOKE
Posted: October 7, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: choke, decade, game on, HBP, Mets, New York, Tigers, Twins, wrold series, Yankees 8 Comments|
The Tigers end up
…and the Twins get The Tigers are now Now all the teams are in |
The End is the Begining…
Posted: October 4, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AL, Cardinals, Dodgers, Launch, Marlins, NL, phillies, play offs, post season, Red Sox, repeat, Rockies, Tigers, Twins, World Series, Yankees 12 Comments|
The Phillies close out the regular season fielding 1 starter and 8 bench players. Jayson Werth played trying to get his 100th RBI on the season, but was unsuccessful, the Marlins walked him in the 10th and Hoover followed up with a base hit driving in Mayberry for the win. The final day of regular season has come down to the AL Central, who could have expected anything less, will the Tigers join the Mets as the decades biggest chokers. They have to win this Tuesday on the road against the Tigers in the tiebreaker for the AL Central division championship. The Dodgers finally won the NL West division, which has set the National League post season games. Home field advantage overall in the NL goes to the Dodgers, although I am not sure that this makes much difference in the NL. The Rockies have the worst road record among the NL post season teams and only have a winning record overall against the Cardinals. Although post season play is a completely different atmosphere and regular season wins and loses don’t really reflect the way a team plays in the post season, there will still be some element in the back of the players minds about how they have performed against those clubs. The way the playoffs look now: Phillies host the Rockies —- regular season 4-2 Phillies Dodgers host the Cardinals —- regular season 2-5 Cardinals Angels host the Red Sox —- regular season 5-4 Angels Yankees host either the Tigers or Twins —- regular season 5-1 and 7-0 Yankees Predictions at this point are really irrelevant since everybody wants their team to win it all. There are obviously some favorites among the sports analysts, but as I said post season play has a different atmosphere and teams tend to play better since the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer…
Who will be left at the end is anybody’s guess, we all want our team, and the pundits along with fans of non-post season teams will all speculate, but they are all just guessing. Who will take the prize in 2009…
My message to the Phillies…
…it’s time to launch your bid for a World Series repeat |
Final Countdown…
Posted: September 28, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: AL Central, AL East, AL West, Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Championship, CWS, Dodgers, Holliday, Marlins, NL Central, NL East, NL West, phillies, Pirates, postseason, Pujols, Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, RSBS, Tigers, Twins, Yankees 18 Comments
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Since my last post some If you understood that psycho AL East As much as it pains me to AL Central The Detroit Tigers AL West Although the Angels NL The Phillies NL The Cardinals
…this picture of Holliday AL The Dodgers AL The BoSox have NL Like the AL Central
Streaks… Spoilers… Race… the My message to the Phillies:
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Birthday Shout-Out on Phillies last Day Off
Posted: September 21, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Angels, Birthday, Cardinals, Dodgers, English Premier League, Liverpool, magic numbers, phillies, Tigers, Yankees 18 Comments
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A Happy Birthday shout out Since he’s lives in England The football fans in England
It is tough to imagine, Baseball as of 2 pm eastern time on Cardinals magic Phillies magic number Angels magic number Dodgers magic number Yankees magic number Tigers magic number
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MOUNTAINS to CLIMB…
Posted: September 19, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: American League, Angels, Atlanta, BoSox, Boston, Braves, Cards, Chicago, Colorado, Cubs, Detroit, Dodgers, Florida, Giants, Halos, Los Angeles, Marlins, Minnesota, mountain dew, National League, New York, Philadelphia, phillies, race, Rangers, Red Sox, Rockies, San Francisco, Sox, spoilers, St. Louis, Texans, Texas, Tigers, Twins, wild card, Wite Sox, Yankees 10 Comments
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A million dollar hole in one
American
Yankees – without Detroit – are Angels – are Boston – look set to
National
Phillies – sitting on Cardinals – with the Dodgers – still have Colorado – sit on top More… Streaks… I Spoilers… Race… the
My choices at this time It is September ball and we For the
…being |
Cap Tip, Double Take, Spotlight and More…
Posted: September 14, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: ALCS, Angels, Baltimore, Braves, Cards, Derek Jeter, Dodgers, Eagles, Giants, Ian Desmond, Jays, Marlins, Martinez, Mets, Nats, NFL, NLCS, O's, Padres, phillies, Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Ruiz, Tampa Bay, Tigers, World Series, Yankees 18 Comments
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In a week when individual Cap Pedro Martinez has
Double The Phillies played
The The Phillies
and Streaks… the Spoilers… Race… the
My choices at this time It is September ball and we For the
…make the right choices and |
The Race is on…
Posted: September 8, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Atlanta, Braves, bull pen, CBP, Charlie Manuel, Fish, Florida, Ibanez, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Nats, New York, NL Central, NL East, NL West, october, offense, Philadelphia, phillies, post season, Raul, September, Washington, World Series, Yankees 22 Comments|
Race for the N.L. East Division Title… Looking at how the Phillies have been playing of late, I thought this division was going to be the closest run contest, but having seen how the Rockies and Dodgers are playing, the N.L. West could produce the biggest upset in September. The teams in the N.L. East will all play a major role in the way this division unfolds during September, everybody plays everybody, so I am going to do a brief review of each team and the role they could play.
The Washington Nationals (47-90) in my opinion will have the biggest impact on the outcome of this division race. There current strategy seems to be reviewing players and setting up the team to go into the off season, so they can best decide who to trade and who to keep, plus they are looking at what areas they will need to fill during the off-season so as to not end up with the worst record in baseball in the 2010 season. The Nats play everyone in the division which means they will be a spoiler and a helper, who they will help and who’s hope’s they will spoil is yet to be seen. They could even have a hand in the N.L. West with (
The New York Mets (62-75) currently are in an ‘argumentum ad misericordiam’ state. They cannot decide if self-pity or pity from the fans right, considering the new stadium, the pre-season hype then the injuries, the ball park not very player friendly and of course the cross town Yankees doing so well, they are desperately seeking a ‘It’s NOT our fault’ acceptance from the not so fair weather fans. Although they do play everyone in the division, the role of the Mets is more likely to be a deciding factor in where and how the Marlins and Braves finish.
The Atlanta Braves (70-67) are fighting to hold onto a winning record and at the same time desperately trying to stay in the wild card race. They are only 8 games back in the division race, but with Florida and the Phillies ahead of them, they would have to sweep both team during games this month and they only have 3 against the division leading Phillies. the wild card has it’s own challenges, currently 7 1/2 games out they have to hope the 3 teams ahead of them completely collapse. They will probably be more inclined to spoil the chances of the Marlins while maintaining a winning record this year.
The Florida Marlins (72-65) are the FISH with a WISH. It’s tough to decide which is the hardest task for them, the wild card or division, both are very hard mountains to climb. Currently standing 6 games back in the division and 5 1/2 games back in the wild card it’s a 50/50 chance to make either one. They do have 6 games left against the Phillies and they did sweep the Phillies at CBP and the Phillies have been struggling of late, so there has to be hope in the hearts of the Marlins fans.
The Philadelphia Phillies (77-58) have a hard schedule ahead, with just 2 days off, but 2 double headers to play. They will play 6 games outside of the division, tough games against central division teams, but more importantly the in division games are critical. With Florida and Atlanta hoping for a shot the Phillies will have to bring the best of the season together to finish out on top. A team in turmoil at the moment, with the starting pitching being the only element of the team delivering a winning performance, the offence needs to step up and the bull pen needs to refocus. the offense it’s all about the players, Raul Ibanez seems to be on a slow climb from his slump, the rest of them have to become more consistent, the bull pen is solid except for 2 or 3 players, who Charlie seems to favor. It’s all about choices and this man has some to make…
Make the right choices and the Phillies can be in the post season shooting for a repeat, the wrong choices and the season ends October 4th. |
Just a Random Quickie…
Posted: August 20, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Arizona, Blanton, BoSox, Brett Myers, D-Backs, Diamondbacks, John Smoltz, Krusty, Lee, Martinez, Mets, New York, Pedro, phillies, Rays, SideShow Bob, South Park, Yankees 18 Comments|
Time for a quick blog, choosing the subject was a challenge, there have been a few recently. So it was a pick out of the hat between, John Smoltz and some sarcastic banter about the Cards recent addition, last nights performance by Cliff Lee, which is already covered plenty of times and opportunities will keep arising, my verdict or lack of on Pedro Martinez, Brett Myers fight to get out of a car or Yankees/Boston and the Rays chance to take over Wild Card. and the winner is……. Pedro Martinez, my verdict…. What has Pedro done for us lately, well unfortunately his recent start against the D-Backs was shortened, so we were unable to see if he could go beyond 5 innings and if he would give up any more runs as he tires, so I guess the verdict is still out on that subject…. But still, since it was Pedro Martinez that was chosen lets review what he brings or could bring to the Phillies…
We all know he’s a 3 time Cy Young winner, but his last one was 9 years ago so he’s a 7 time All Star, again last one was 4 years ago how about a 5 time player of the week, yep, 7 years ago he’s an innings eater, yeah okay, highest ranking was ’98 and ’04 when he was 6th in the AL How about he was an All Star MVP, that’s true 10 years ago Here’s one, he won ‘MLB.COM ODDITY OF THE YEAR’, and that reflects on what exactly? – Oh I see he found it amusing that the sprinklers came on at Shea, while he was pitching for the Mets. So he’s a comedian, a clown, someone fun to be around, well the Phillies have there fair share of those guys, I guess the question will be…. Is Pedro going to be the CLOWN…
or will he turn out to be just another side show…
Only time will tell… …for me there hasn’t been enough time or action to determine. This weekend he is scheduled to start against the Mets at Citi Field, we’ll see if his old club comes out and destroys him or if he manages to destroy them. Based on the Mets current state of affairs I would have to say the advantage is Pedro’s going into the game, but we’ll see. Truth be known I would like to see him face the Marlins, but that probably isn’t going to happen. Till the next time when I hope there will be more action and evidence to show if Pedro’s involvement is worth the hype or not… Tonight Blanton goes to the mound, and we’ll see if the Phillies offense can support him and clinch a sweep of the D-Backs. |
Alumni Weekend, Kalas Induction, Fish sink Phils…
Posted: August 8, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: A-Rod, Alumni, Blanton, Cleveland, Fish, Francisco, Harry Kalas, John Kruk, Marlins, Nolasco, phillies, Red Sox, Victorino, Yankees 7 Comments| It was the start of Alumni weekend at CBP, and before tonight’s game they inducted Harry Kalas onto the Phillies Wall of Fame. The activities delayed the start of tonight’s game, but it was all well worth it. A number of the Phillies Alumni were in attendance and were surprised by Harry’s voice being the one to introduce them to the waiting fans.
Yes there was a game tonight, the Phillies and the Fish, went at it in a 3 game series opener, for the Phillies it was Joe Blanton on the mound and he was squaring off against the Marlins right hander Nolasco. This in my mind (which is a little warped and sometimes x-rated) should have been a chance for Blanton to get his 8th win on the year and prove his recent solid performances will continue on through the rest on the season. (sigh) Blanton showed up to pitch, which is always a good sign, and as all good pitchers in a starting rotation do, from time to time, he had a little bit of a shaky start, but settled in and pitched well through 6 2/3 innings, the problem was the Phillies defense and offense decided to take a night off.
The only player who really showed up to give 110% was Francisco, the new arrival from the Cleveland trade. Since Victorino was again suffering, this time from a slight quad strain, Francisco got a starting role. In an effort to get the defense fired up he threw a bullet in from the outfield to gun down a runner at the plate to end the top of the 7th inning, then his continuing efforts were trying to jump the offense into action he hit a 2 run home run to left field which landed in the flowers beds, in the bottom of the 7th inning. Unfortunately for Blanton, he was out of the game by this time, but it was still, too little too late, the Phillies could do little to support his efforts and they ended up losing 3-2. One thing that, again in my mind, (see previous note about my mind), I found entertaining was the presence of one of my favorite Phillies players from seasons past. It took me a while to find this picture in my archives, and it was the only one that I had that showed the mullet hanging out of the cap. How times change.
Okay so he’s not on everyone’s list of Philadelphia’s finest players, he didn’t really carve anything specific into the Phillies history books, but for me he was and still is the type of character I like to see. Scandal Brewing or was this just innocent: The Yankees and the Red Sox go 14 shut out innings, then bottom 15th 1 on 2 out A-Rod at the plate….‘possibly’ deep in the depths of the new Yankee stadium the under paid supporters of A-Rod were discreetly turning all the AC fans to suction mode for the left field, bullpen area. A-Rod hits his home run then in an effort to prevent discovery he sends a electronic signal to the guys below to switch the AC fans back to normal,
how else do you explain the shortened celebration and anxious run toward the dugout while messing with something obviously hidden in his uniform… these questions need answers….
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Cliff Lee’s, Debut in Philadelphia at CBP…
Posted: August 6, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Bako, Cliff Lee, Florida, Happ, Lee, Lidge, Madson, Marlins, Nationals, Nats, october, Philadelphia, phillies, Predictions, Rays, Red Sox, Rockies, Rollins, San Francisco, Utley, Victorino, Washington, World Series, Yankees 12 Comments|
Cliff Lee made his debut in Philadelphia at CBP, the anticipation of the crowd was high, all things considered, the pressure on Lee must have been huge. After his shut out in San Francisco, would the fans be expecting to much and could Lee deliver another solid game in front of what is now his home crowd.
The first inning, he seemed to show a few nerves, but that was to be expected, what wasn’t expected was for J-Roll to miss-judge a ball and let it go into the outfield. This allowed a runner to be on 3rd with 1 out, setting up a fly ball RBI in the 1st for the Rockies. Yes it was a tough play for Jimmy, but he has made that play many times before, he sets his own standards and that wasn’t quite it. It didn’t take Jimmy Rollins long to correct his earlier miss-judgment, he was hitting and running bases straight out of the gate. He didn’t need his red/orange shades to make himself look cool, he was doing that just by his actions.
His first 3 at bats he hit a single, double and triple, yes a cycle would have been nice, but for someone who less than 8 weeks ago was hitting right around the .200 mark and was struggling to even get to first base, was now producing multi hit games, stealing bases and scoring runs and that is the driving force leading the Phillies offense. The Phillies scored in the bottom of the 1st Utley’s sac fly, driving Rollins in, then Bako hit a home run, his first of the year, in the 5th, followed by Victorino’s RBI hit to drive in Rollins again. Rollins finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored. Lee may not have been the domination machine he was in San Francisco, after all, we had that from Happ last night, but he did give the Phillies a solid 7 innings, with 112 pitches, giving up just 1 run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 9, great job Cliff Lee and I am sure the fans in Philadelphia will soon make you a fan favorite, it seems almost everyone else on the team is anyway. The bullpen did there thing… HOORAY!!!… Madson pitched a solid 8th inning giving up just 1 hit, Lidge came out in the 9th to close the game out and collect his 21st save of the year, and do so giving up just 1 hit. Phillies win the series with the Rockies 2-1 and since the Marlins chose to give the Nats a 4 runs in the 8th inning and go on to lose the game in Washington, the Phillies go to a 7 game lead in the NL East, of which I might add is currently the largest divisional lead, over a 2nd place team, in the majors, that may change by nights end. The Phillies welcome Florida to won for a weekend series, and tomorrow night the Phillies workhorse Joe Blanton takes the mound in a bid to keep the Phillies winning home stand moving onward and upward. Around the majors, well not around, around, just in New York, this for me is an interesting month, the Yankees and the Red Sox duel it out 7 times this month, why is that so interesting for me, well I have suggested, or maybe even predicted, a repeated October World Series match up between the Phillies and the Rays, therefore the need for the Yankees and Red Sox to beat each other up and give the Rays a chance to make up ground is crucial to my prediction becoming a reality… |
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