There is nothing new to report
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Marlins tonight, as they looked to get a firm hold on the division. For a while it looked like they would do just that as Cole Hamels went 7 innings allowing just 4 runs on 8 hits. Meanwhile, Ryan Howard racked up 4 RBIs all on his own with a 2 run double in the 4th inning, and a 2 run blast in the 7th inning. Raul Ibanez added a solo shot in the 6th inning and Hamels himself slapped an RBI single later in that same inning. After 7 and 1/2 innings the Phils were still ahead 6-3 and appeared to be headed for the win. Then the rains came and the wheels came loose. After an hour or so rain delay Ryan Madson took the mound and gave up a run in the 8th to cut it to 6-5. Then in came Brad Lidge to get the save in the 9th. He almost did, getting 2 outs with only a man on 2nd. Next Hanley Ramirez drew a walk and Jorge Cantu followed him with a game tying single. Finally Bret Carroll lined a pinch single that just got through the infield to give the Fish the 7-6 win. There's really not much else to say. Lidge is still not 100% and it is beginning to become doubtful now that he ever will be, at least this season anyway. Tonight there really wasn't anyone else available to pitch so you can't blame Charlie for giving Lidge another shot. I just hope Chan Ho Park and Brett Myers get well soon. Anyway so the Phils drop to 88-63 overall now and down 6.5 games up in the NL East. The magic number is still 5 though, so there is nothing to worried about.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils traveled down to Florida tonight to begin a series with the Marlins, which if they win, could help them effectively put their NL East lead out of reach. Today, to make up for yet another game that got rained out earlier this season, the Phils and Fish engaged in a doubleheader, and not just any doubleheader, but the rare back to back doubleheader. That's right the 2 teams played the 2 games literally about 20 minutes apart from each other. In the first game Joe Blanton was dominating, striking out 9 and allowing just 2 hits in 7 shutout innings. Meanwhile, a 2 run single by Jayson Werth in the 5th inning pushed the Phils ahead 4-0. Then in the 8th inning the Phils put it out of reach with a solo homer by Raul Ibanez, a sac fly by Jimmy Rollins, a wild pitch, and a 2 run single by Ryan Howard pushing the lead to 9-0. Florida gamely cut the lead to 9-3 in the bottom of the inning before Clay Condrey closed it out in the 9th inning. In the 2nd game Anibal Sanchez turned the tables on the Phils striking out 7 and allowing just 2 hits in 8 scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Jamie Moyer posted 7 strong innings for the Phils allowing just 3 runs on 9 hits, while striking out 5. Unfortunately, the Phils could not put together a rally in the 9th, as Leo Nunez retired them in order to clinch a split of the doubleheader and Moyer's first loss ever in Miami. It's too bad they didn't win the 2nd game of the doubleheader because then they would really be in the driver seat right now, but ultimately it was a good night for the Phils. They did what they had to do. Sanchez was just too dominant and they were a little tired I think in that 2nd game. I am impressed with how well Moyer has pitched since the Phils moved him to the bullpen. Is there anything this 46 year old can't do. On a more negative note it was revealed today in an MRI that Brett Myers has a strained shoulder and is going to end up back on the DL for a week or so. He should be ready to pitch by the time the playoffs roll around, but losing another reliever to injury was the last thing the Phils needed right now. Hopefully his absence won't hurt them too much down the stretch. At any rate the Phils move to 88-62 overall now, still 7.5 games up in the NL East, and their magic number drops to 5 with that win in the first game.
Monday, September 21, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils are off today which means we can now finish our countdown of the Phils top 25 most memorable player nicknames No.s 5-1.
5. "The Secretary of Defense" aka CF Gary Maddox.
When you lead the NL in virtually every defensive category used to measure the play of an outfielder for a decade, you tend to get a nickname like this one. The truth is Maddux really was the best defensively at his position in the 70s and early 80s. From 1975 - 1982 he won 8 straight gold glove awards. From 1973 to 1980 He accumulated 300 or more putouts 8 straight times. Finally overall his career fielding percentage was an incredible .983 with just 78 career errors in 14 seasons(only about 5 a season) to his name. In fact, he never committed more than 10 errors in a season. Unfortunately, as good as his defense was, that's how bad his hitting could be. He was a serviceable hitter for the most part, generally about .280 or so per season, but that was never quite good enough for Maddox to earn the accolades he deserved. Thanks to his 2nd tier hitting he never did manage to get on an all-star team, and some say he's best player ever to never play in an All-Star game. At any rate while it couldn't get him into the midsummer classic, Maddox's hitting was enough to allow him to shine come fall. It was Maddox who raced under and squeezed the final out of the 1980 NLCS and it was Maddox who slapped the game winning hit in that same game. For those two indelible moments he will always be remembered.
4."The Met Killer" aka LF Pat Burrell.
No Phillie terrorized the hated Mets in the last 5 years or so quite like Burrell did. He could be in an 0 for 30 slump and still come in and get hit to bury New York. Whether he was getting the hit to put the nail in the Mets' coffin or delivering a dramatic late inning homer or hit to save his team, the Mets certainly saw there fare share of Burrell while he was here. They're probably very happy now that he is in Tampa. One man who must have been particularly happy to see Burrell go would be ex Phils closer Billy Wagner. Burrell owned Wagner in 2007 and 2008 with a couple of dramatic late inning homers to thwart Wagner save opportunities. Wagner wasn't the only Met pitcher to feel the sting of a Burrell homer. In his career against the Mets thus far Burrell has batted .246 with 42 homers, 104 RBIs, and 132 hits, simply remarkable numbers to have against one team. It really is thanks to the power of the Met killer, that the Phils were able to track down the Mets for the 2007 NL East crown. He was a big help again for the same reason in 2008. So it was tough to see him go in the offseasonn, but it's okay because there is a new Met killer in town and his name is Raul Ibanez. Thus far against the Mets in his career, Ibanez is batting .297 with 6 homers, 23 RBIs, and 30 hits. Behold the new Met Killer.
3."The Wampum Walloper" aka 1B/OF Dick Allen.
Okay so this one is pretty easy. Allen was born and raised in Wampum PA, not far from the city of the Philadelphia, and if you ever saw him play at old Connie Mack stadium you know he packed one heck of Wallop with every swing of the bat. If you think Ryan Howard hits long homers you should check out video of Allen. Right from the first time he stood at the plate as a rookie he and his titanic blasts were an awesome sight to behold. His rookie season in 1964 is arguably the greatest rookie season any Phils player has ever had. That year en route to rookie of the year honors, he batted .318 with 29 homers, 91 RBIs, 201 hits, 125 runs scored, 13 triples, and 38 doubles, all while carrying the team on his back as they pushed towards the playoffs. Then of course there was that monumental collapse and what could have been a long star-studded career here quickly dissolved into frustration and petty bickering. Allen continued to play on an unworldly level for the next 5 seasons in Philadelphia, bashing 40 homers in 1966, and joining the 20-20 club in 1967 with 23 homers and 20 stolen bases. None of it was ever good enough for the Philly faithful who expected ,perhaps unfairly after Allen's rookie season, to see him leading the team into the playoffs and to a championship. It wasn't Allen's fault the team didn't win in those years but the fans just wouldn't let him off the hook. Eventually after day after day of obscenities and trash being hurled his way, Allen just couldn't take any longer and left for St.Louis in 1969. Incredibly he came back in 1975, but he was no longer the same player and retired 2 years later.
2."Lefty" aka P Steve Carlton.
When you're a left handed pitcher and they simply call you Lefty there's not much else to say.
1."Micheal Jack" aka 3B Mike Schmidt.
What, you expected someone else at the top of the list? Okay so this a bit of cheat, since it's not really a nickname, it is his name, Micheal Jack Schmidt, but the way Harry Kalas always said it so perfectly, it has gotten to the point where all you have to say is those 2 words and everyone knows who you are talking about. I don't have to tell you how great a player he was. You already know him to be the greatest 3B who ever lived. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves here, 548 homeruns, 1595 RBIs, 2234 hits, 1506 runs scored, 1507 walks, 10 gold glove awards, 6 silver slugger awards, 12 all-star game appearances, 3 NL MVP awards, 1 World Series MVP award, #1 in our hearts.
5. "The Secretary of Defense" aka CF Gary Maddox.
When you lead the NL in virtually every defensive category used to measure the play of an outfielder for a decade, you tend to get a nickname like this one. The truth is Maddux really was the best defensively at his position in the 70s and early 80s. From 1975 - 1982 he won 8 straight gold glove awards. From 1973 to 1980 He accumulated 300 or more putouts 8 straight times. Finally overall his career fielding percentage was an incredible .983 with just 78 career errors in 14 seasons(only about 5 a season) to his name. In fact, he never committed more than 10 errors in a season. Unfortunately, as good as his defense was, that's how bad his hitting could be. He was a serviceable hitter for the most part, generally about .280 or so per season, but that was never quite good enough for Maddox to earn the accolades he deserved. Thanks to his 2nd tier hitting he never did manage to get on an all-star team, and some say he's best player ever to never play in an All-Star game. At any rate while it couldn't get him into the midsummer classic, Maddox's hitting was enough to allow him to shine come fall. It was Maddox who raced under and squeezed the final out of the 1980 NLCS and it was Maddox who slapped the game winning hit in that same game. For those two indelible moments he will always be remembered.
4."The Met Killer" aka LF Pat Burrell.
No Phillie terrorized the hated Mets in the last 5 years or so quite like Burrell did. He could be in an 0 for 30 slump and still come in and get hit to bury New York. Whether he was getting the hit to put the nail in the Mets' coffin or delivering a dramatic late inning homer or hit to save his team, the Mets certainly saw there fare share of Burrell while he was here. They're probably very happy now that he is in Tampa. One man who must have been particularly happy to see Burrell go would be ex Phils closer Billy Wagner. Burrell owned Wagner in 2007 and 2008 with a couple of dramatic late inning homers to thwart Wagner save opportunities. Wagner wasn't the only Met pitcher to feel the sting of a Burrell homer. In his career against the Mets thus far Burrell has batted .246 with 42 homers, 104 RBIs, and 132 hits, simply remarkable numbers to have against one team. It really is thanks to the power of the Met killer, that the Phils were able to track down the Mets for the 2007 NL East crown. He was a big help again for the same reason in 2008. So it was tough to see him go in the offseasonn, but it's okay because there is a new Met killer in town and his name is Raul Ibanez. Thus far against the Mets in his career, Ibanez is batting .297 with 6 homers, 23 RBIs, and 30 hits. Behold the new Met Killer.
3."The Wampum Walloper" aka 1B/OF Dick Allen.
Okay so this one is pretty easy. Allen was born and raised in Wampum PA, not far from the city of the Philadelphia, and if you ever saw him play at old Connie Mack stadium you know he packed one heck of Wallop with every swing of the bat. If you think Ryan Howard hits long homers you should check out video of Allen. Right from the first time he stood at the plate as a rookie he and his titanic blasts were an awesome sight to behold. His rookie season in 1964 is arguably the greatest rookie season any Phils player has ever had. That year en route to rookie of the year honors, he batted .318 with 29 homers, 91 RBIs, 201 hits, 125 runs scored, 13 triples, and 38 doubles, all while carrying the team on his back as they pushed towards the playoffs. Then of course there was that monumental collapse and what could have been a long star-studded career here quickly dissolved into frustration and petty bickering. Allen continued to play on an unworldly level for the next 5 seasons in Philadelphia, bashing 40 homers in 1966, and joining the 20-20 club in 1967 with 23 homers and 20 stolen bases. None of it was ever good enough for the Philly faithful who expected ,perhaps unfairly after Allen's rookie season, to see him leading the team into the playoffs and to a championship. It wasn't Allen's fault the team didn't win in those years but the fans just wouldn't let him off the hook. Eventually after day after day of obscenities and trash being hurled his way, Allen just couldn't take any longer and left for St.Louis in 1969. Incredibly he came back in 1975, but he was no longer the same player and retired 2 years later.
2."Lefty" aka P Steve Carlton.
When you're a left handed pitcher and they simply call you Lefty there's not much else to say.
1."Micheal Jack" aka 3B Mike Schmidt.
What, you expected someone else at the top of the list? Okay so this a bit of cheat, since it's not really a nickname, it is his name, Micheal Jack Schmidt, but the way Harry Kalas always said it so perfectly, it has gotten to the point where all you have to say is those 2 words and everyone knows who you are talking about. I don't have to tell you how great a player he was. You already know him to be the greatest 3B who ever lived. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves here, 548 homeruns, 1595 RBIs, 2234 hits, 1506 runs scored, 1507 walks, 10 gold glove awards, 6 silver slugger awards, 12 all-star game appearances, 3 NL MVP awards, 1 World Series MVP award, #1 in our hearts.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils finished their series with the Braves this afternoon, well sort of. The first half of the game was in the afternoon, but a rain delay pushed the conclusion into the evening. At any rate Cliff Lee got the start and pitched well, but the delay forced him to leave after the 4th inning. Fortunately by then the Phils had already built a 4-1 lead, thanks to an RBI double by Ben Francisco in the 3rd inning, an RBI double by Raul Ibanez and an RBI single by Pedro Feliz in the 4th inning, and finally a triple by Chase Utley in the 5th inning. Then the rains came before the two teams could begin the bottom of the 5th inning. From there Tyler Walker and Sergio Escalona combined to get the Phils to the 8th inning with the lead intact. Ryan Madson took it from there with a 1-2-3 8th. Finally in came Brad Lidge to get the save in 9th, and after allowing a 2 out run, he was able to close out a 4-2 Phils win. This was Lidge's 31st save of the season thus far which is not too bad for a guy who has also blown 10 saves this season. Really though this was an impressive afternoon for the Phils bullpen and they would not have won if it hadn't been. The Phils scored 4 runs today without hitting a single homerun. That's a good sign for a team that had been struggling to score without the long ball. With the win today the Phils also took the series from the Braves and reduced their magic number to just 6 now. Overall they are now 87-61 and back to 8 games up in the NL East.
EAGLES NEWS
Fresh off an easy win over the Carolina Panthers the Eagles returned to the Linc this afternoon for their home opener against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. With Donovan Mcnabb still nursing a fractured rib, Kevin Kolb took the field for the first start of his NFL career. He played well completing 31 of 51 passes for 391 yds and 2 TDs. Unfortunately, he was also intercepted 3 times, and although 2 of the 3 realistically occured when the game was already over including one right at the end that was returned for a TD, they still provided theme for the Eagles today. They simply made too many mistakes in every facet of the game to contend with the high powered Saint's offense today. They committed 7 penalties for 45 yards, most of them stupid special teams penalties that ruined good returns. In addition to Kolb's 3 turnovers, Ellis Hobbs fumbled the opening punt return in the 2nd half, killing off all of the momentum the Eagles had at the time. Lastly the Eagles defense broke down far too many times. Sure, Drew Brees had another unbelievable day throwing for 311 yards and 3 TDS, but it all seemed a little too easy at times. Yeah he made a couple absolutely perfect throws that the Eagles really couldn't do anything about, but there were quite a few plays they could have defensed better. In adittion they also did one thing you can't do against the Saints, they allowed them to run the ball effectively for 133 yards and 2 TDs. In all New Orleans racked up 421 total yards of offense and 48 points That's embarrassing even against the Saints, especially considering the Eagles posted 463 yards of offense and 22 points. Thus, they could have, should have and would have been right with New Orleans in this game if the defense could have played even half as good today as they did last week. In reality the offense was the only bright spot for the Birds. Besides Kolb, Desean Jackson with 4 catches, including a 71 yard TD pass, for 101 yards, Brent Celek with 8 catches for 104 yards and Jason Avant with 7 catches for 79 yards were also impressive. Yep that was pretty much the only thing for the Birds to be positive about today. They were also right with New Orleans after the 1st half of the game with the score 17-13 Saints, so that was kind of positive as well. Unfortunately it didn't last long, as Hobbs fumbled the opening punt of the 2nd half to set up one Saints score and then Kolb tossed in his first interception of the day to set up another Saint's score and before you knew it the Saints were up 31-13 and the Eagles were finished.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued their series with the Braves tonight. Pedro Martinez got the start but he was clearly tired from his 130 pitch effort last weekend,and he tweaked something in his kneck during an at bat and had to leave after the 3rd inning. Before he left Pedro allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, putting the Phils in an early hole from which they could not escape, especially not after Chad Durbin allowed another 3 runs on 2 hits through the next few innings. It was still 6-0 Atlanta as the Phils came to the plate in the top of the 9th. There they finally mounted a rally but it came up just short. First Ryan Howard crushed a 2 run homer. Then with 2 out, Jimmy Rollins and Greg Dobbs collected back to back RBI singles to cut the lead to 6-4 and allow the go ahead run to come to the plate in the person of Ben Francisco. Unfortunately, Francisco popped up to end it and the Phils 6 game winning streak. After watching Pedro tonight, it seems the Phils will have to be a little more judicial when using him from now on. He obviously can't handle the workload he used to anymore. Hopefully his injury is not serious. Speaking of injuries Dobbs had been out for a while with an injury before tonight, so it was great to see him back out there again collecting a pinch hit. The Phils were scoreless until the 9th thanks largely to Braves starter Javier Vazquez who is having a heck of a season with now 14 wins. If not for the Cardinals Chris Carpenter, Vazquez might be on his way to a cy young. Anyway so the Phils drop to 86-61 overall, and now lead the NL East by just 7 games.
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