Threepeat

PHILLIES!!!

via Beerleaguer

2009 N.L. East Champs! Three in a row.

The title defense continues. Bring on the Cardinals or Rockies.

POLLS: Stay with the Young Guns

RECAP: So you guys think the Phillies should try to leg out the next month with Bastardo and Happ in the rotation. Still feeling that way after the weekend series versus the Red Sox? Well regardless of whether or not we want to stay with these young arms or find a proven veteran, we kind of have to stay the course. Most of the veteran targets are now off limits due to injuries (Jake Peavy, Erik Bedard) or their teams recent performance (Roy Hallady, Jason Marquis, Roy Oswalt). Who else out there would really be a huge improvement? One of these guys - probably Happ - will make it through the season. However, Bastardo may be in for another 4-6 starts because of the dearth of arms available. It's clear Kyle Kendrick isn't an option.

NEW: Despite their mediocre 5-5 record of late, how do you feel about the Phillies chance of repeating as World Champions of Baseball in 2009?

Voting ends June 22nd.

POLLS: Bastardo the Right Choice

RECAP: Twelve people voted and everyone of them agreed with the Phillies move to insert Antonio Bastardo - who started the season as a reliever at AA Reading - as the temporary replacement for the injured Brett Myers. The poll started last Monday, a day before Bastardo made his first appearance in which he went six innings giving up only four hits and one run. The poll ended this morning, about 12 hours after Bastardo made his second appearance, earning his second win by going five innings and allowing two runs on seven hits. Not too shabby. The fans were right to believe in Bastardo and management for making this call.

NEW: Let's stay with Bastardo. Should the Phillies search for a long-term, big-name replacement, such as Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb or Roy Halladay? Or should they stick with young guns J.A. Happ and Antonio Bastardo for the time being? Let us know in the right panel.

Voting ends June 15th.

The Facebook "25 Things" Post Invades Big League Stew

Meech from The Fightins has compiled his baseball-oriented list of 25 things, much like the one going around Facebook (seriously, who does those things?). If you're a Phillies fan, definitely check it out. It's good for a laugh and is great insight to a true Phillies fan.

Phillies Acquire Lidge

The Philadelphia Phillies made the first big offseason move that wasn't a player opting out. In a five player deal with the Houston Astros and former GM Ed Wade, the Phillies acquired Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo. The move will allow the Phillies to move former starter-turned-closer Brett Myers back to the rotation, despite his preference of staying in the bullpen. The Phillies, in essence, killed two birds with one stone. A proven closer, Lidge will help solidify what was Philadelphia's Achilles Heal last season - relief pitching and finishing games. Myers also moves back into the rotation and, barring a free agent signing, the 2008 starting rotation is set. Myers will slid in behind young gun Cole Hamels as the second starter giving the Phillies a solid 1-2 punch. Following Hamels and Myers will be Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer, and, unfortunately, Adam Eaton (unless he has a setback from offseason surgery). The Phillies may be interested in Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, former Twin (and Phillie) Carlos Silva, or resign Kyle Lohse. The chances of signing another SP is slim with the acquisition of Lidge but may be useful considering the injuries Phillies SPs experienced in 2007.

With the rotation set for now, the Phillies can continue looking for more middle and long relief pitching. Hopefully they will strike an accord with free agent J.C. Romero and also bring in David Riske, Scott Linebrink, Troy Percival, or Kerry Wood. The other area of need is third base. The Phillies would be content going into the season with a Wes Helms/Greg Dobbs platoon. However, Dobbs may see an increase in playing time in right field if Aaron Rowand leaves via free agency, especially now that Bourn is gone. This leaves Helms and newly acquired Bruntlett as the main options at third. It is unlikely the Phillies grab Mike Lowell, who will more than likely resign with Boston or travel to the Bronx and play for the Evil Empire. Other options include trading for Colorado's Garrett Atkins (who the Rockies are now saying is unavailable) or signing Mike Lamb. There is no chance the Phillies sign Alex Rodriguez or trade for Miguel Cabrera. Sorry folks.

The most intriguing possibility is another trade with the White Sox. As A Citizen's Blog mentions, obtaining SP Jon Garland and 3B Joe Crede aren't out of the realm of possibility. It would probably take three above average minor leaguers to snatch these players from the South Side. A Citizen's Blog mentions Greg Golson, Jeremy Slayden, J.D. Durbin, J.A. Happ or Kyle Drabek. I don't think they should trade Kendrick in this package. If the Phils acquire Garland and Crede (and lose Rowand in free agency) the starting lineup and five-man rotation would be:



This is obviously going to change. The Phillies will carry more than 6 RPs and who knows if Romero will resign or if the Phils will actually utilize Mateo. But you get the idea. I hate to lose Rowand and Bourn but this team is already improved on paper. They have 2 reliable starters already and if they obtain Crede and Garland they are much more formidable than the team that came out of nowhere to win the NL East in 2007.

Proven Wrong...In A Good Way

Yes folks, I was proven wrong and called out on it...twice. Steely McDonati in his "What an awful football weekend" post and E, in comments on Donati's post, have pointed out that I said the Phillies wouldn't make the playoffs. Boy was I wrong. Do I care? Not at all. I'd much rather look like an idiot and have my team in the playoffs than be right and watching other teams in the Fall Classic. The post E refers to will not be found on this site. It was posted on Sports Fountainhead's old home. But for reference and the chance for everyone to make fun of me, here it is:

"Can the Phillies make the playoffs? Absolutely. Will they? I'm saying it now, NO. Quote me. I don't care. They do not have the starting or relief pitching, unless Cole Hamels goes 1900 on us and pitches every game."

-- Me on June 11th, 2007

Oops.

Turbulent Weekend Ends on High Note

What started amazing on Friday (Phillies won, Mets lost, take over 1st in NL East; West Virginia loses to South Florida) turned terrible on Saturday (Phillies lose, Mets win, tied for 1st in East with 1 game left; Penn State loses to Illinois, dropping to 3-2 and out of the Top 25). But Sunday was better. Even though the Dolphins lost to a bad Raiders team (35-17) and Culpepper had a hand in all 5 Raiders TDs (2 passing, 3 rushing - I questioned why we gave up on him, so glad we did!), that couldn't even ruin my day. Sunday was great. Why? The Phillies beat the Nationals 6-1 and the Mets lost to the Marlins 8-1, which means...THE PHILLIES ARE THE 2007 NL EAST CHAMPIONS and in the playoffs for only the 2nd time in my lifetime and for the 10th time in franchise history. It is an amazing feeling, especially since they come just short in 2005 and 2006. Jimmy Rollins said this would be our year; we were the team to beat in the East. And he was right. As crazy as it sounded when the Phils started 4-11 and when they were 7 back of the Mets with 17 to play. This is a rare but wonderful feeling. Now it's time to take care of San Diego or Colorado, whoever takes the Wild Card.

LET'S GO PHILLIES!!!

Phillies in 1st

Yep, that's right! The Phillies have taken over 1st place in the NL East with a dominating 6-0 win over the visiting Nationals. Cole Hamels struck out 13 in 8 innings and Ryan Howard hit his 45th HR of the season in the 7th. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to Florida (7-4), left Philadelphia alone atop pf the East for the first time this season. They haven't lead a division this late in a season since, yep, you guessed it, 1993.

If the Phillies win tomorrow evening, they guarantee themselves a chance for at least a 1 game playoff with the Mets for the NL East title. Of course, if the Mets lose and the Phils win, HELLO PLAYOFFS! HELLO NL EAST CHAMPS!

I'm getting ahead of myself. First we have to survive Adam Eaton pitching tomorrow. Yikes.


LET'S GO PHILLIES!

Jimmy Was Right: PHILLIES IN 1st ... sort of

Jimmy Rollins - soon to be 2007 NL MVP (hopefully) - said it back in January: the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East. Well today, after they played their 159th game of the season, the Phillies are in 1st place. Well, a tie for one. Will what Jimmy said over 7 months ago hold true come Sunday evening? The next 3 days will tell us. The Phillies stay in the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park to host the Washington Nationals who hope to play the spoilers role. The Mets also remain at home to face off versus another NL East foe, the Marlins. To say these last 3 games are critical is an understatement and, frankly, the last 20 games have been. The Phillies were 7 games back of the Mets in the NL East on September 12, and 2 games behind the Padres for the Wild Card.

Here are a few things that could happen this weekend, one that may be the most exciting of all of 2007:

1. The Phillies & Mets win the same amount of games - this leads to a 1 game playoff on Monday in Philadelphia to determine the NL East champion
2. Fist team to 2 wins...or loses - that is, if the Phillies win 2 and the Mets lose 2, the Phils are in (and vice versa)
3. Keep an eye on San Diego and Colorado...the Wild Card is such a mess! There is no way of explaining the possible scenarios here cause there over about 5,239,451,763 different scenarios (see this)

And what happens if the Phillies fall short? Well then Philadelphia is deprived of post season experience for the 14th consecutive year. And I will die a little inside. After all, the Phillies have made the playoffs ONCE in my lifetime. And let us never speak of that experience (the hero, the zero).

"I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally"
Jimmy Rollins
January 22nd, 2007

Why him?

I don't care if Jamie Moyer was tagged for the loss. This is Geoff Geary's fault. Many of the bullpen failures are associated with him. He is awful. He was sent down to the minors in the middle of the year because he was pitching so poorly. He comes back up due to injuries and is still blowing games. Why put him out there? Ever? He is terrible. I'm not saying the Phillies definitely would have won last night if he hadn't pitched. But it makes me wonder every time he blows a lead. Last night Geary pitched 0.2 innings and gave up 2 runs. He had been pitching better but every single time he is put in the game I wince. You feel like he is going to blow it. Last night he delivered. Thank you, Geoff Geary, for blowing the game and quite possibly our chances at the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Don't bother pitching in the next 5 games. We want a chance to win.

GO PHILLIES

Goal: NL Wild Card/College Fantasy Football

The Phillies have been abysmal recently, dropping 4 in a row and 6 of 7. Their usually reliable offense has been only average (less than 4 runs/game). The pitching has been terrible, even for the Phillies. This became excruciatingly evident last night when Brett Myers blew the save, giving up 2 solo HRs in the top of the 9th. The Phils lost 4-3. The loss last night dropped Philadelphia 7 games behind the Mets in the NL East (tied with Atlanta for 2nd) and 4 games behind San Diego for the NL Wild Card. The Wild Card is the Phillies only hope now. They were within 3 games of the Mets less than 10 days ago and now find themselves in a hole that they can't get out of. Now they must hope the Padres, Dodgers, and Braves all struggle over the last 6 weeks of the season AND the Phillies must regain the form they had during the 3 weeks following the All-Star game. It is now Wild Card or Bust.


In other news, I recently found a new fantasy sport for me, College Fantasy Football. It's an interesting idea. Since Fantasy Football is so huge, and College Football is as well, why not combine them? So I joined 3 leagues on CBSSports.com and recently drafted. It's pretty much the same as NFL Fantasy Football except you draft entire positions for a team. I recently selected West Virginia Mountaineers RB with the 1st overall pick in 1 of my leagues. I guarantee myself Steve Slaton but also any other RB/FB that they may use. If any WVU RB scores, I get the points. I should also mention that CBS allows you to choose the pool of players you'd like to use. A lot of the leagues I saw chose 3 or 4 conferences while others selected all available. I prefer using all conferences because there are dominant fantasy players everywhere. In fact, I'm in a league that excluded the Big East and WAC so there was no chance for Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton, Pat White, Brian Brohm, Colt Brennan, etc. They are some of the top college fantasy producers! It's crazy to exclude them because they play in inferior conferences (which they both are). But the players are amazing (even if I do hate WVU)! But I am looking forward to the college season to start in less than a week and this will even add to my anxiety. Now the random CFB games I watch may mean something!

Out of Touch/Out of Reach

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I posted. I just moved to West Lafayette, IN with my fiancee and am finally settled in. I start work tomorrow. Anyway...

It's going to be tough for me to keep up with everything related to my teams. I'm now in the Mid-West. Keeping track of the Phillies/Flyers/Sixers were hard enough at Penn State since I didn't have Comcast (FSN-Pittsburgh? I don't give a tiny rats ass). The Dolphins are always hard to follow whether I'm in PA or IN. Now I won't even have Penn State stuff rammed down my throat. So I'm going to be relying even more on the internet and SportsCenter. It comes at a bad time since the Phillies are in the middle of a pennant race, and the Dolphins and PSU are preparing for kickoff. I'm out of touch. If anyone know how I can watch Phillies/Dolphins/Penn State games in Indiana let me know.

And out of reach. That would be what all my teams will be experiencing with their ultimate goals when their seasons end.

Phillies - probably will fall short of the wild card as a result of injuries/poor pitching
Penn State - solid, strong team but not elite; could win the Big 10...but won't
Dolphins - WILL surprise people this year by improving on last years record, possibly by 3 games...which still only gets them to 9-7; so no playoffs for a 6th straight year
Flyers - definitely will be improved (hard not to be), most likely squeeze into the playoffs between the 5-8 seeds; Lord Stanley's Cup will have to wait another year
Sixers - their 2nd half 'surge' this past year cost them a shot at Oden & Durant; solid draft but still a few years away from contending again; playoffs a long shot

Ugh. Doesn't look good. PSU football will be the only bright spot but even if they go 10-2 and play in a nice bowl game (Capital One, Outback again) it's not in the Big Easy or Pasadena. Bring on next summer...already?

SkyBlast: Fireworks with an Attitude

I've been trying to avoid spending money on the Pirates until they get their act together with management and start spending the money that fans give them wisely. However, whenever I am able to get a free ticket I still enjoy going to PNC Park to catch a game. This happened Friday night, as a friend had an extra ticket and offered it to me. The Phillies were in town, so you know it was going to be a slugfest.

The Phillies won 11-8, with home runs from Aaron Rowand, Pat Burrell, and uh, someone else. The Pirates had their own share of dingers from Matt Kata, Ronny Paulino, and Jose Bautista. Normally reliable Tom Gorzelanny had a poor start, giving up 4 in the 5th to break open a tight game, Shane Youman gave up another 4 in the 6th, and despite the Buccos' best efforts it was pretty much over after that. Some personal notes....the Friday red jerseys look just as awful in person as on TV....the loudest cheers from the sellout crowd were for the Pierogi race and when the Smashmouth guy said he was a Steelers fan (see below).....basically Pittsburgh fans have become completely apathetic towards the Pirates. This is a significant achievement considering how crazy this city gets about the Steelers and even the Penguins when they're good. At no point during the evening did I see anyone in distress about losing....no cursing or booing or anything like that....it was like everyone was just patiently waiting for what I'm about to write about.

The game was secondary on this evening. The Pirates have gone to a minor league level of shameless promotions in recent years to put people in the seats. The promotion on this evening was "SkyBlast". It's actually a weekend long event, after each game Thursday-Saturday there would be a live concert following the game along with the fireworks show. Following the Pirates' mold of acquiring talent past their prime, Smashmouth was the scheduled band for Friday. I was upset because I missed Styx, Thursday night's band; but relieved I didn't have to endure the Povertyneck Hillbillies, Saturday night's band. But whatever. After the game, they wheeled a big stage out to the dirt area around 2nd base (wouldn't that tear up the dirt?) and after warming up the crowd by playing the SNL Cowbell skit on the Jumbotron, Smashmouth came out and played a couple songs. Then there would be fireworks for a little bit, Smashmouth would play another song, more fireworks, etc, until it was all capped off by a simultaneous "All Star"/fireworks grand finale. Smashmouth was as expected: vanilla songs from the late 90's. But the fireworks......OMG the fireworks. Western PA is a big place for fireworks, so I've seen quite a few shows in my lifetime. Many after Pirates games, just about every 4th of July, etc. These were by far and away the most incredible fireworks I had ever seen in my entire life. I can't really put them into words, but if they had invested the same amount of money into their baseball team, they may have been able to keep Barry Bonds 15 years ago. Just saying. So I left PNC that evening both in astoundment at the amazing fireworks, and depressed that this is what Pirates baseball had come to.

Decisive game tonight

The Phillies and Braves will end their series tonight in Philadelphia as Buddy Carlyle faces off against ageless Jamie Moyer. Moyer has been on tear against NL East teams, a streak that hopefully will continue. This is a crucial game for both teams. If the Phils win they will again leapfrog over Atlanta into 2nd place in the East. If the Braves win they will put distance between themselves and Philadelphia, but also stay on pace with the Mets. The Mets have lost 3 straight. I think Ryan Howard will hit a HR tonight and the Phillies will hang on in the 9th to defeat the Braves 7-6. Hopefully I improve my predictions to 1-1 after that Marlins disaster on Thursday. GO PHILLIES!

Phillies take Game 1 versus Braves

It was key to this whole series. They needed this win. And they got it. Cole Hamels pitched a flawless game, except for the first inning when Atlanta scored all 4 of their runs. After that only 2 batters he faced made it on base - one on a walk and another on Wes Helms' fielding error. The Phillies have taken game 1 of the crucial 3 game set. Tomorrow Adam Eaton faces Lance Cormier. Earlier I declared that the Phils would take games 1 & 3 but lose 2. We'll find out tomorrow night. Elsewhere, the Marlins got to Billy Wagner in the 9th tonight and scored 2 runs to pull ahead of the Mets. They hung on and, as a result, 1st through 3rd in the NL East is separated by a mere 3.5 games. And if the Padres - currently tied with the Reds after 9 - lose, the Phillies are tied for the wild card lead!

Blown Save: Me

So I was wrong. Instead of 7-3 Phillies, it was 4-2 Marlins. My bad. But I was right about Kyle Kendrick. He went 7 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and had 1 K and BB. But Brett Myers couldn't keep it together and he gets saddled with the loss. This is terrible for the teams motivation and morale heading into a huge series against the Braves.

Kendrick vs Marlins; Phillies soon to enter 'do or die' part of schedule

The Phillies take the field tonight at 7:05 looking to sweep the Marlins and move to eight games above .500 for the first time since the final day of the 2006 season. Kyle Kendrick takes the hill for the Phils and I must say I'm happy about that. Kendrick has been, to say the least, a pleasant surprise this season since his first start on June 13. Kendrick is 5-2 and his last start was strong: 7 innings, 8 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 strikeouts...but a usually strong Phillies offense floundered and Kyle got the L. Kendrick's ERA is a respectable 3.88 and he has 25 Ks compared to 16 BBs. The Phillies offense is on a tear and they're facing Sergio Mitre who's ERA has been steadily rising since mid-June (2.29 on June 15 -> 3.67 August 8).

Prediction: Phillies 7, Marlins 3


It's important the the Phillies sweep the Marlins because they are about to enter an extremely important 3 weeks. The Braves come to Citizens Bank Park tomorrow and the 3-game series will play a crucial role in the NL East and Wild Card races. The Phillies get lucky and do not have to face John Smoltz. In contrast, the Phils send out their ace, Cole Hamels, in the first game. I think the Phillies will take 2 of 3 from the Braves, with Philadelphia losing the 2nd game (Adam Eaton gets the start...we're doomed). After the Braves series the Phillies head to Washington (when Shane Victorino returns) and then to Pittsburgh (when Michael Bourn may return). They should return to Philadelphia going AT LEST 4-2 on that mediocre road trip. Then comes 10 games that the Phillies must bring their A game: Dodgers (3 games), Padres (3), Mets (4). All at Citizens Bank Park. From the first game of the Braves series to the end of the Mets series I have the Phils amassing a 12-7 record, which wouldn't be too bad. If they finish off Florida tonight, take game 1 of their next series with Florida (last day of August), and go my predicted 12-7 in between the Phillies finish with a 18-10 mark in August and would be 74-60 heading into October...when Chase Utley returns! Wow, wouldn't that be something? I have faith.