Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Oh No!! Oh ... NO No-No ... Like Somehow, That's Better

August 30:  Los Angeles 3, PHILLIES 0

Were the Phils going through a divorce, Roy Halliday would have grounds for lack of support.  Another quality start, wasted because the Phils can't hit their way out of a deep-fried Twinkie (mmmmm ... deeeeep friiiiiiied Twinkieeeeee ....).  Not much to say about last night's game, so let's take a look at the case of Halladay v. Philadelphia Phillies ...

Here are the hitting stats for the Phils in the 10 games in which Halladay has been charged with the loss (10):

                 AB  R  H 2B 3B HR BB SO
4/26 @SF L,1-5   31  1  4  1  0  0  7 11
5/18 PIT L,1-2   31  1  6  0  0  0  3  8
5/23 BOS L,3-8   35  3  8  4  1  1  2  2
6/10 FLA L,0-2   30  0  4  3  0  0  1  6
6/15 @NYY L,3-8  32  3  5  0  0  0  4  9
6/20 MIN L,1-4   31  1  4  0  0  1  0  2
6/30 @CIN L,3-4  36  3  9  0  0  1  1  8
7/18 @CHI L,6-11 36  6  9  1  0  3  7  8
8/25 HOU L,2-3   32  2  7  1  0  1  2  7
8/30 @LA L,0-1   27  0  1  0  0  0  2  7
                321 20 57 10  1  7 29 68


All that lack of hitting comes out to a .176 average, .280 slugging, and .245 on-base percentage.  Absolutely unacceptable for one of the most potent offenses in the National League the past four seasons.  The stats will tell you that Halladay has received 14 runs of support in his 10 losses, and the table above shows 20 ... that's because I took game-end stats and didn't back out the stats accumulated after Halladay left the game.  For example, the Phils scored three in the ninth against the Yankees, long after Roy had been knocked around on June 15.  So, in that game, they gave him zero run support.

It should go without saying that run support is crucial for two reasons.  First, and most obvious, is that you can't win if you don't score (or you don't score more than the other guy).  Second, and again, fairly obvious, is that a pitcher, any pitcher, pitches with more confidence and more daring when he has a lead to play with.  He'll throw stuff just on the black in tight situations because he has some runs to work with.  Umpires help, too, as a pitcher with a nice lead, who is around the plate, will generally get a lot of close calls, which simply reinforces the aggressiveness and establishes dominance.

The Phillies have to be careful; these Braves are not going away, and to expect the Mets, Marlins, and Nationals to be of any help (as we've seen the last two nights) is a pipe dream at best.  While everyone waits for the Braves' youth to implode, the Braves have the one thing in this race that no other team has ... one of the winningest managers in the history of baseball, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer, in their dugout.

Order up!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

How Sweep It Is ...

August 29:  PHILLIES 5, San Diego 0

"Just when I think I'm out ... they pull me back IN!" -- Michael Corleone in "The Godfather, Part III"

And so it was that on the 29th day of August in the Year of The Big Phillies Fan, 2010, that the Phillies hath resurrected their morbid ways and did smite the Padres with something less than a slingshot and a rock.  In fact, they did it with the old soupbone ... three, to be exact:  Roy Oswalt's, Joe Blanton's, and Cole Hamels'.

I was impressed by the Padres pitching so far this season, and even said the other day that the Padres may still be the team to beat in the National League.  But hold on, Nellie!  These Phillies can chuck it with the best of them, holding the Pads to just three runs over the weekend, despite the offense being kept pretty much in check by the Padre staff, as well.

Mike Sweeney's first tater as a member of the Quakers was a sweet swing, indeed.  A low liner that made it out over the left field wall and what looked like an open window beyond the wall.  That made it 3-0 and gave King Cole the biggest lead he's had to work with since seventh grade.  The lanky lefty made the most of it, scattering four hits over eight innings and pretty much making San Diego hitters look foolish all afternoon.

It was refreshing to see the Phils bounce back from their disaster against the Astros, which clearly could have sent this team into a stone cold funk that could have bounced them right out of the playoffs.  But such are Charlie Manuel-led teams.

I posted a comment the other day on a thread at The Good Phight, a blog over on SB Nation at Yahoo!  The original poster had noted than in the last four pennant races, the Phils had one four-game losing streak in either August or September in each season (2007-2010).  I had done the research at Retrosheet, and discovered the following:

After each of the four-game losing streaks, the Phils record, from the game after the streak ended through the end of the regular season was:

2007:  23-11 (.676)
2008:  28-13 (.683)
2009:  16-11 (.593)
2010:  3-0 (1.000), updated since the post was made originally on The Good Phight

So, the Phils do take notice when they get in a funk, and then they make their opponents pay dearly.  They'll need to do better than the .593 they posted last year, because the Braves have a two-game advantage, to win the division.  But it is possible as the Phils, after those four-game losing streaks, are now 70-35 (.667).  At 73-57, with 32 games left, a .667 clip puts the Phils at 94-68.  That would mean Atlanta could go 19-13 (.594) and still tie for the division lead.

It's not an impossible mountain to climb with one month to go.  But with every win by the Phils, the pressure on this young Braves team begins to mount.  Let's see if the boys can keep it up at Chavez Ravine.

Order up!

On Steven Strasburg

Talk to any baseball fan, and they'll have an opinion on the Tommy John surgery that's ahead for Washington Nationals phenom, Steven Strasburg.  Some say he was rushed to the big leagues.  Some will say that this injury simply proves that the pitch count is useless.  Others are gleefully rubbing their hands together with an I-told-you-so look in their eye.  I believe the correct term for those in the last group is schadenfruede.

Through a completely different forum, that of wargaming, I have had the honor of corresponding with Curt Schilling, he of the bloody sock, unvarnished opinion, and killer split-finger fastball.  Back when Curt was still toiling for the Phils, I decided to break away from the usual wargaming conversation and ask him about arm injuries (in part, his own, but in general, about today's pitcher).

For those of you who don't know, Curt is an amateur historian, and knows his baseball history as well as a player can.  He's read tons of stuff about the past, and it's helped shape him as a pitcher.  So it came as somewhat of a surprise to this baseball fan (who knows the statistical history of the game, as well as its general history) when Curt's response about today's pitchers sometimes being oft-injured came through.

Paraphrasing, he said:  "Back then, it was survival of the fittest.  Teams didn't have a lot of money invested in a pitcher, so if he blew out his elbow after one start, they released him and found someone else.  By sheer force of numbers, the durable guys stayed and made up the staff for years.  Everyone else came and went.  You stayed in the Show because you were healthy."

Back in 1884, Old Hoss Radbourn pitched 678-2/3 innings, winning 59 and losing 12 for the Providence Grays of the National League.  And this, just the year after he'd pitched 632-1/3 innings!  Radbourn, who had been trying to get out of his contract, approached manager Frank Bancroft in May, and made a stunning proposal:  Let me pitch the remainder of the games, and if I do that for you, you'll let me out of my contract. 

Surprisingly, Bancroft agreed, in part because he didn't believe that Old Hoss could do it.  But do it Old Hoss did, pitching the Grays to the National League pennant, starting and completing 73 consectutive games.  On his career, Radbourn would start 502 games, and complete 488 of them.

In 1884, however, at the age of 29, pitching almost 700 innings took its toll.  His arm hurt so badly that his own wife had to accompany him on road trips to help him get dressed, especially to get his shirt on.  He couldn't raise his arm high enough to comb his hair.  And in the end?  Radbourn signed on for one more year in Providence before moving on to the Boston Beaneaters.

Old Hoss was one of those guys Schilling talked about: the survivor.  Look up the pitching register in the Baseball Encyclopedia, and see how many guys had one-year careers, or even one-game careers.  Some of the one-game guys pitched complete-game shutouts.  Surely, there was talent there to be mined.  Why didn't a young kid, who just shutout a big league ball club, get a second chance anywhere?

We'll never know, because injuries aren't recorded in those days of old.  Maybe the pitcher got home sick.  Maybe his arm stiffened after the game and the manager simply moved on to someone else.  Maybe, like Strasburg, he tore something, and was never the same pitcher again.  In the days before sports medicine, a blown MCL or ACL or rotator cuff simply meant the end of the line, no matter the age or experience level.

Back to Strasburg, it's impossible to fault the Nationals for trying to win for their fans.  Teams have been doing that since 1869 when the first pro team came into existence.  But unlike the teams of old, who would have discarded Strasburg immediately upon learning of his injury, today's teams will do whatever they can to repair and rebuild their investments.  And with procedures such as the Tommy John surgery, pitchers also know that their careers aren't over if and when a serious elbow or shoulder injury happens. 

Although you'd be hard-pressed to find many who would say this, today's medical techniques in sports medicine are win-win for everyone: the team gets to try and get as much as possible from their investment, and the pitcher isn't facing a life without baseball.

Questions, of course, will abound.  Did Strasburg hurt himself by not staying another year in college to develop his arm strength?  Did the Nationals advance him too far, too fast?  Did everyone do enough to make sure this injury was less likely to happen?

All good questions; all unanswerable.  No one knows why this happened.  Perhaps Strasburg's physiology is such that he's prone to this type of injury.  Maybe it's his delivery and arm slot.  Maybe it the way he throws or the types of pitches he throws.  Maybe it's his mechanics.  Maybe his physique, despite his desire, simply won't allow him to throw a baseball like he should to be injury-free.

[NOTE: Thanks to Todd for pointing out the issues raised about Strasburg's mechanics as a cause for concern and potential injury.  Try as I might, it's hard to read everything there is out there on baseball.  I thank Todd for his comments and links on the topic.  --  Brien]

Take a guy like Cliff Lee.  Weren't you surprised to find out that Lee does not ice down his arm after a game?  Doesn't that go against everything we've been told about how you keep an arm from developing arm troubles?

And how about Nolan Ryan's recent revelation that he doesn't believe in pitch counts.  And that he discovered, by pitching so much, his own shoulder wore down in all the right places that his own body "adjusted" to the toil on his arm and actually protected him from injury.  Could that be why a guy like Radbourn could do what he did?  That he'd pitched so much, for so long, that his whole shoulder simply got "worn" into shape?

So, what's the answer?  More pitching?  Less?  Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between Hoss Radbourn and a strict pitch count, especially in the minor leagues.  Maybe lessons could be learned from the so-called Ironmen and applied to today's pitchers.  Perhaps a combination of advanced, medical monitoring of pitchers, along with more liberal pitch counts, is the key.  There must be a happy medium, an optimum performance level that strengthens an arm/shoulder/elbow for the rigors of the big leagues, yet protects the pitcher from over-use.  It seems to me that if baseball wants to invest in the development of its players, it should look into finding the right mix that helps pitchers avoid career-threatening injuries. 

After 141 years, baseball is still finding the Nolan Ryans and Hoss Radbourns by chance.  Perhaps its time to start developing them on purpose.

Order up!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

That's The Way, Uh-Huh, We Like It ...

August 28:  PHILLIES 3, San Diego 1

Now, that's more like it, and if Joe Blanton can keep it together down the stretch, that would be phenomenal, and would give the Phils probably the best 1-4 starters in all of baseball.  That has implications, not only for the stretch drive, but for the post-season.  A fourth starter with confidence, improved mechanics and location, and recent success in important games is an important piece to have in your staff heading into the postseason.

Having Blanton back on his game gives Charlie some serious options, especially when series get stretched to a sixth and seventh game.  And I am a firm believer in managers having as many options as possible come playoff time.  I believe that you don't want or need any one guy on your staff who's a question mark. 

It's like playing with a 24-man roster because you're constantly looking for ways to get the guy into a game, but you also don't want him coming into a close game.  At playoff time, you're not wanting to be involved in any blowouts because of what that does to you bullpen, so you can't really hope for a blowout that you can bring your question mark into to give him some work.

As for today's game, some timely hitting by The Flyin' Hawaiian, whose triple to dead center plated Jayson Werth with the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run in the seventh.  What surprised me, as I followed the game on MLB GameTrack (or whatever they call it), was the removal of Jon Garland after the triple.  At that point, he'd only thrown 90 pitches, and while he had walked three, it didn't seem to be the type of situation that required pulling him.  He was due up fourth in the bottom of the seventh, so Bud Black had some options on the table.  Not having seen the Padres much this season, perhaps Black is more willing to pull a pitcher "early", given Black's career as a pitcher.

Lost in the shuffle of the game was the nice block (Yahoo! Sports had a picture of it in their game recap) of the plate by Brian Schneider in the fifth inning to tag out Nick Hundley and prevent a run.  Nice plate block, Brian!!

Although the Padres have pitched as advertised, I have been impressed with the way the Phils have been pitching these past few weeks.  The pitching has been good enough to keep us in games, and if the offense could stay consistent and rake like we know they can, this team is poised to make a great stretch run.

At 72-57, the Phils stand 1-1/2 games behind Atlanta in NL East, pending the outcome of tonight's game at Turner Field between the Marlins and Braves.  The Phils are also a game up on the Giants for the wild card, again dependent upon the outcome of tonight's game at AT&T Park between the D'Backs and G-Men.

60-60 Theory Update:  Phils have 12 wins above 60, and are 3 losses below 60.

Order up!

WABAC, 1984: The Trail Of Cheers

In the days of just two divisions in each league, and in the days before expansion to 28 teams, the National League teams played a very simple schedule:  18 games against divisional opponents (90 games in total), and 12 games against teams from the other division (72 games in total).  Every team in the NL East made two trips out west to play the California trio of the Giants, Padres, and Dodgers. 

Most of those trips consisted of three, three-game series.  On the rare occasion when they didn't, a four-game series was scheduled for the return visit.

This schedule was in place from 1969 through the 1992 season.

And in the 24 seasons' worth of road trips made by NL East teams out west, only once in those 24 seasons' worth of road trips, spanning 288 such trips by NL East clubs, did an NL East team win all of the games (8, 9, or 10) of such trips.

The season was 1984.  The Phillies were coming off a World Series appearance against the Baltimore Orioles.  But in the off-season, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, and Pete Rose all had left the club, and newcomers like Juan Samuel had been brought in to fill the void.

Through May 10, the Phils had gotten off to a rocky start.  Standing at 13-16, the Phils were already two games into an 11-game road trip, having lost five in a row and 10 of their last 12.  They had gone from being 1/2-game up in NL East to four games back of the Cubs (who would go on to win the division).  They'd just dropped their first two games of their road trip at the Astrodome.

And, so, on May 11, the Phils traveled to San Diego to face the Padres for a three-game weekend set, followed by a Monday-Wednesday set in Los Angeles, and concluding with another weekend set at Candlestick Park.  Many times over the years, the West Coast Swing (as it was generally called by the media and fans) had resulted in a mixed bag of results, especially in the Phils' glory days from 1976-1981.

Game 1, May 11:  PHILLIES 6, Padres 4 ... The Phils trail, 4-2, heading into the eighth.  But Mike Schmidt hit a 2-run shot (his 10th) off Goose Gossage in the eighth, and Sixto Lezcano hit a two-run shot off Dave Dravecky (his 5th) in the ninth to make a winner of Al Holland.

Game 2, May 12:  PHILLIES 3, Padres 2 ... Len Matuszak hit his fourth homer of the season, a two-run blast in the ninth off Andy Hawkins to break a 1-1 tie, then Al Holland held off a Padre rally in the bottom of the ninth to give Bill Campbell the win in relief of Marty Bystrom, who went seven.

Game 3, May 13:  PHILLIES 8, Padres 3 ... Juan Samuel drove in three, and John Denny scattered four hits over seven innings as the Phils scored in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th to even their record at 16-16.

Game 4, May 14:  PHILLIES 3, Dodgers 2 ... More late-inning heroics as the Phils, trailing 2-0 heading into the ninth, get three straight hits off Jerry Reuss to plate one run, then turn a sacrifice and an intentional walk into two more runs on an error by 1B Franklin Stubbs and a hit batsman (Matuszek) by Tom Niedenfuer as the Phils turn to Al Holland to finish the game.

Game 5, May 15:  PHILLIES 12, Dodgers 1 ... The Phils unleashed an 18-hit attack, headed by Len Matuszak's four RBI.  The Phils hit three homers (Schmidt, Matuszak, Aguayo), and Jerry Koosman got his 3rd win with seven innings of one-run ball.

Game 6, May 16:  PHILLIES 7, Dodgers 2 ... Steve Carlton's grand slam off Fernando Valenzuela highlighted a five-run fourth inning as the Phils romped in the series finale at Chavez Ravine.  Lefty gave up a run on six hits in seven innings to even his record at 2-2.

May 17 .. off day as the Phils traveled up the coast to 'Frisco to close out the road trip.

Game 7, May 18:  PHILLIES 1, Giants 0 ... Juan Samuel tripled home Ivan DeJesus in the top of the seventh accounted for the game's only run.  Marty Bystrom went seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, and Al Holland pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to record his 8th save.

Game 8, May 19:  PHILLIES 6, Giants 2 ... Tim Corcoran's three-run, pinch-hit double highlighted a four-run seventh inning that broke open a 2-2 game.  Al Holland entered the game in the eighth with the bases loaded and two out, getting Al Oliver on strikes to end the threat.  Holland had a Brad Lidge-like ninth, giving up three hits but no runs as Bob Brenly lined into a double play to assist Holland's ninth save.

Game 9, May 20:  PHILLIES 7, Giants 4 ... Juan Samuel hit a three-run homer as part of a five-run second inning as the Phils made Charles Hudson a five-game winner (5-2).  Larry Andersen earned his first save of the season and Mike Schmidt hit his 12th dinger of the season in the ninth.

Ten days.  Nine games.  Nine wins.  It had never happened before, and it hasn't happened since.  In part, the three-team, three-series "West Coast Swing" died with the advent of three-divison play and the addition of teams in Colorado and Arizona.

Yes, the Phils still take long road trips, and they often play the Padres, Giants, and Dodgers on those trips.  But those teams are usually ducked in as part of the trip, not the entire trip itself.  Gone are the days of those fun trips west, followed a week or two later by return visits to the Vet by those same three teams.

But in 1984, for one glorious, ten-day stretch, the Phils did what no one else has ever done, sweep nine games on a West Coast Swing.  The Phils ended their trip at 22-16, and returned home on May 22 to face the Dodgers.  They won that game, 3-1, to fashion a 10-game winning streak.

It would be the only highlight for the remainder of the season.  From then on, the Phils could never get a long, sustained level of quality play.  They'd win two, then lose three.  Win four, lose three.  Split every other game for a week or ten days.  With just nine games left, the Phils were 81-72, eliminated days earlier from the NL East race.

In a microcosm of things to come, the 1984 Phils lost their last nine games to finish at 81-81.  Little did we know it at the time, but that wonderful road trip spelled, officially, the end of an era that began during the 1975 season, and ran for almost ten seasons ... the greatest stretch of baseball ever played in the city of Philadelphia.

That Phillies dynasty spent its last performing a miracle in May of 1984.  It would be almost ten more years before we would see anything approaching that level of baseball again.

Order up!

Slide, Jimmy, Slide!!

August 27:  PHILLIES 3, San Diego 2 (12 innings)

Wasn't that one of the most beautiful slides into home plate that you've ever seen?

True, it's probably made all the more better because a) it was done by one of our guys and b) it won a ballgame we desperately needed to win.  However, stepping back this morning and watching the highlights again on MLB Network, and that slide was, for any baseball fan, a thing of beauty.

One thing's for certain, these Padres can pitch, and they are not going away any time soon.  I was impressed with their starting pitcher, Mat Latos, who throws 95 gas, then follows up with a killer, 83 change.  No wonder his WHIP entering last night's game was an amazing 0.98.  Indeed, the Padres can pitch, and that will take them well into the post-season.  If they can start hitting the ball with some degree of consistency, they'll be the team to beat.  Yes, Phillies fans, the Padres may well be the team to beat in 2010.

As frustrating as it must be to watch Brad Lidge close out games in person or on TV, for fans like me who live well outside the TV market (Chicago area), and who aren't ponying up the dosh for MLBTV, hearing about Lidge's ninth-inning antics is even more maddening.  A balk?  With the bases loaded?  In the bottom of the ninth inning?  With two outs?

Can Brad get more creative in blowing another save (his sixth in 22 chances already)?  Are you fans getting as tired of his highwire act the past two seasons as I am?  Geez, I love Charlie Manuel as a manager, but how far do you take loyalty when you're two games back of the faltering Braves and you've been munching Rolaids like they were salted peanuts for the past season and two-thirds?

How sad has the closer's situation become when fans and the media get as giddy as a school girl when he pitches a 1-2-3 inning?  Shouldn't that be a ho-hum occurrence?  It is in most cities.  One thing I am glad of, living so far from home:  I don't have to listen to sports talk radio on the morning after another Lidge-a-pa-looza.  I have a feeling, based on my own frustrations, that callers are often just about stark raving mad.

Anyway, a nice win last night.  A needed win last night.  And we made up some ground on Atlanta and put a half-game cushion between us and "the pack" in the Wild Card race.

As an aside, I've been looking for a "sign off" for each post here.  I thought about borrowing Gene Hart's classic, "Good night, and good hockey", modifying it for baseball.  I thought about cute.  Thought about philosphical.  Thought about corny.  Instead, in keeping with the "cheesesteak counter" theme, I'll be signing off each post now with one, simple tagline:

"ORDER UP!"

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Swept Away

August 24:  Houston 4, PHILLIES 2 (16 innings)
August 25:  Houston 3, PHILLIES 2
August 26:  Houston 5, PHILLIES 1

The following Hallmark card was left at the Phillies' clubhouse door by the Astros as they left The Bank this afternoon following the first four-game sweep against the Phils since 1999:

"What can we say, when we've ruined your day?
And made you all angry and surly.
How could we make, such a thoughtless mistake,
And cripple your playoff hopes early!"

It is unexpected sweeps like this, against a team as far below .500 as you were above .500, that can start a tailspin from which a team cannot recover.  With the Giants, Cardinals, and Braves sputtering along the last four days, the Phils had a golden opportunity to make up ground in the NL East race, and put some distance between them and everyone else in the Wild Card race.

Alas, the Phillies were bitten by their usual bugaboo ... playing down to the level of their competition.  And so, no ground was made up, no distance gained, as the Phils now face the Trail Of Tears known as a trip out West to face the Dodgers and the NL West-leading Padres (with a stopover on the return trip in Denver to face a Rockies team once again believing in miracle finishes).

What went wrong?  Lots of things.  Bad baserunning.  Lack of timely hitting.  A second-game-of-the-series mismanagement of the bullpen.  Ryan Howard losing his temper so that it would be Roy Oswalt, and not he, who came to bat in the 16th with the chance to be the hero.

Let's go back to Tuesday night ... [editor's note:  I now understand why the "big boy" blogs have a team of contributors and writers ... between lots of stuff to do in real life, a day down with a serious toothache, and work, I've been away for three days.  Bear with me when I "go back" to discuss stuff that's been discussed elsewhere already ad infinitum -- Brien]

It seemed obvious to me, watching via some bonus coverage on MLB Network, that the third-base umpire, Scott Barry, was just daring Howard to lose his cool.  After ringing up Howard on strike two (on a close, but questionable check-swing call), Barry put his hands on his hips in a definite imitation of Howard, then stared, wide-eyed, during the next couple of pitches, at Ryan.  It was player-baiting at its worst. 

Everyone knows that umpires are supposed to simply make their call and move on.  Barry did not, and his mimicry of Howard, followed by his intimidating, "don't you dare show me up" look was unprofessional and should be punished by MLB.

That having been said, Barry was also rather quick to pull the trigger in a game that was already in its 14th inning, and showing no signs of ending anytime soon.  Although he is not responsible for maintaining and tracking the lineups, he had to have known that the Phils had burned up a bunch of pitchers and a just about every position player to get to the 14th inning.  Surely, it could not have been lost on him that there may not have been anyone in the dugout to replace Howard in the event of an ejection.  That he tossed Ryan very quickly leads me to believe he had it in for Ryan after the first check-swing, and then used the second (a call he flat-out blew in his anger and need for revenge) to run Ryan and kill the Phillies' hopes in the inning.

Wednesday, you just knew that J.A. Happ was going to prove to the Phils that they'd made a mistake in trading him.  And when the opposing pitcher is Roy Halladay, well, that's even more incentive to pick up your game and match Doc practically pitch for pitch.  If only Mr. Kendrick could learn a lesson from Mr. Happ on bringing your A-Game.

The bats went silent again.  The baserunning stunk (Ben Francisco, please stop chatting about baserunning with Mr. Werth).  Seven hits and two walks led to two runs, five left on, a man picked off, and a GIDP.  Hoo boy.  At least Mr. Barry was umpiring at second, and unable to be a factor in the game in terms of check swings.

And today.  Seven more left on as the Phils made Wandy Rodriguez look like Dazzy Vance (and, yes, I love old-time baseball references, folks!).

The Phils head into San Diego with a 70-57 record to face the 76-49 Padres, who are holding opponents to a .235 batting average overall.  I'd like to say that the Padres are due for a bad stretch of pitching, but Bud Black has his team focused on the task at hand, and I must say that the Padres are looking like a team that should reach the NLCS at the very least.

The upcoming series could be a playoff preview ... let's hope these previews, unlike the last three days, are worth watching.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Houston, We Have A Problem

August 23:  Houston 3, PHILLIES 2

So, as yet another pennant race is shaping up, who rolls into town for a crucial, four-game set?  Yep, you guessed it:  the Astros.  And, just like 2006, when key September losses to Houston cost the Phils a wild card berth, we once again drop one to a team that's not even in a post-season race.

Brett Myers, to his credit, pitched very well (as I suspected he would in my post from last evening), keeping his team in the game long enough so that Carlos Lee could nick the bullpen for the game-winning hit.  What I didn't know, but discovered after the game, is that Myers has gone six innings or more in 26 consecutive starts, something that hasn't been done since Arizona's Curt Schilling went 32 in a row in 2002.  Kudos to Brett for posting such an impressive string of starts.

Joe Blanton pitched extremely well, given his troubles this year.  Seven innings and one run.  But the 'pen let him down, and that's been a huge bugaboo with the Phillies the last two years.  Bullpen meltdowns happen over the course of 162 games ... but we've experienced way too many the last two years.  And in 2010, given the injuries and inconsistent play from the offense, the 'pen simply has to be holding up its end of the bargain.  While they've done a good job, it hasn't been playoff-caliber at times, and at others, it's been eliminated-on-opening-day caliber.

One of my favorite blogs, The Good Phight, mentioned that this is a series that could easily go to the Astros, 3-1.  I scoffed at that when I read it this morning over a Butterscotch Krimpet and some Bosco.  But I'm not really scoffing, now.  I'm concerned that it might actually come to fruition.  I don't think anyone wants a long homestand to end in disaster, and possibly with the Phils looking at a four-game deficit or worse heading into that dreaded "West Coast Swing" (programming note:  a particular 9-0 "West Coast Swing" will be the subject of a coming WABAC Machine article).

Many Phillies fans see the Astros as Phillie Killers ... but that's plainly a myth.  As you can see, since 2005, the only time the Astros "killed" the Phils was the year the 'Stros went to the World Series:

PHILLIES RECORD VERSUS HOUSTON, 2005-2010
2010 (including tonight):  3-1
2009:  2-6
2008:  4-3
2007:  3-3
2006:  4-2
2005:  0-6

Yes, we lost a pair of September games to the Astros in Philadelphia in 2006 that cost us a wild card berth by one game, but those were in early September, and there were other games later in the month we could have won that would have made the losses to the Astros inconsequential.  But to label the Astros as "Phillie Killers" would be a misnomer.  Interesting how fiction quickly becomes reality.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

The 60-60 Theory

A friend of mine once said that he had figured out something that no one in SABR had figured out.  I assumed he'd meant some arcane statistic like Win Shares Per Dollar Of Salary, or OBP On A Full Moon, or something like that.

No, he said, it was something so basic, he was surprised no one had ever thought of it before.  He called it the Sixty-And-Sixty Theory, and he actually borrowed it from something his high school golf coach had told him.

The golf coach's advice to the young player was that too many golfers go out on the course expecting to play a perfect game.  When that doesn't happen, the coach went on to say, the golfer comes unglued because he starts to focus on the mistake, and not on the next shot.

Instead, a golfer should go out on a course and expect to hit five very terrific shots, and to hit five absolute howlers.  Thus, when the golfer hooks a drive into the woods, he should chalk that up to the five awful shots he already had mentally prepared for.  The key, according to the coach, was what a golfer did with the other 62 shots in his day (assuming the golfer would shoot a 72).  My friend then appied this theory to baseball, and went to Baseball-Reference.com to do some basic research to see if it could also be applied to pennant races in general.

Here's what he found:

In 95% of all seasons played by all teams since 1900, every team in baseball wins 60 games, and loses 60 games (the 1998 Yankees, 1962 Mets, 1984 Tigers, 2001 Mariners, and so on, obviously are exceptions to this).

Taking the golfing theory and applying it to baseball seasons, my friend rationalizes that every team should go into the season knowing that it should win at least 60 games, and that they will lose at least 60 games.  In this way, the theory goes, teams and their fans should only begin to celebrate or panic once their team has won its 60th game of the season, or lost its 60th game of the season.  The theory, applied then to baseball, is that it is what teams do in those other 42 games (the ones in which the outcome is in doubt) that eventually separates playoff teams from everyone else.

The major hole in the theory is, of course, that it is impossible to know which 60 games a team is "guaranteed" to win, and which 60 games a team is "destined" to lose.  But in reality, we, as fans, know them when we see them.

Take Saturday night's game against the Nationals.  It was 3-0 early, and fairly obvious that Kyle Kendrick didn't have his stuff.  As upset as we may have been with the 8-1 loss, that was probably one of those 60 we were going to lose.

But look back at that 10-9 game against the Dodgers a week or so ago.  It was one of The Sixty, until the Phils made a game of it in the eighth.  Now, the outcome wasn't as concrete as it had been an inning earlier.  This was one of The Forty-Two ... games that could go either way, or games that have the potential for a rally or comeback, or games that could easily be blown late.

Again, the theory has a huge hole in it.  But the basic concepts, I would argue, do hold true if you're a player or a fan.  If fans know their team will lose 60 games, the hope is that any loss up to and including #60 would not be treated as if it were the end of the world.  Conversely, folks should be rooting that the club get to its 60th win as fast as possible, because good things happen with every win after #61 (assuming that #60 comes in July).

Right now, the Phils have 70 wins, and only 53 losses.  They've already won 10 of those 42 games leftover after 60-60.  To get to 90 wins, they need only 20 more, with 39 to play.  That means that the Phils can play .500 ball from here on out and still win 90 games.  The only question left is: will 90 wins be enough to make the playoffs?

So, relax, Phillies fans ... the boys still have, if you even remotely believe in the theory, seven games that they will most definitely lose between now and the end of the season.  It's what they now do with the other 32 games remaining where the outcome is in doubt that will determine this race in 2010.

0000000swalt Does It Again ...

August 22:  PHILLIES 6, Washington 0

While it should have been obvious why the Phillies went out and got Roy 0swalt, those who may still have wondered should wonder no more.  Roy pitched seven scoreless innings this afternoon and shot down any notion the Nationals may have had at taking the weekend series from the Phightins.

The only thing Phillies fans won't see is 0swalt, facing his old team, the Astros, when a four-game series begins tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park.  The Phils will, however, be seeing a pair of old friends when Brett Myers starts Monday night's game against Joe Blanton, and J.A. Happ starts Wednesday night's game against Roy Halladay.

Getting back to 0swalt, he was extremely efficient this afternoon, scattering five hits over his seven innings of work, striking out eight and walking just one.  He threw 106 pitches on the day, 75 of them for strikes.  When you're getting roughly three of every four pitches over the plate, or making them unhittable, you're going to put up some nice numbers and quite a few zeroes (which is why I've chosen to use the zero ["oh'] in Roy's surname today).

The Nats tried the running game to rattle 0swalt, but to no avail.  When they got Desmond to second on a stolen base in the first, Roy simply struck out Dunn and Zimmerman.  When Chooch's throwing error allowed Bernadina to reach third after stealing second, Roy merely struck out Morse and Kennedy.

Make no mistake -- the 0swalt trade was a "make-up" for the Cliff Lee deal.  And for as great as Lee has been (he set the MLB record on Thursday night for the most strikeouts recorded before issuing his 10th walk of the season: 147, breaking the record of 143 held by Curt Schilling), 0swalt is proving to be, in 2010, what Lee was in 2009.

It's fun to see us once again heading toward September with a Big Three that can not only match-up with the best the National League has to offer, but who will also prevent the long losing streak that can cripple a playoff run.  Once in the post-season, being able to trot out Halladay, Hamels, and 0swalt will once again put fear into the hearts of the other NL playoff participants.

The rest of the season starts tomorrow night.  Four with the Astros before that seven-game Western swing that includes a make-up game on September 2 in Denver.  After hosting Milwaukee for three, from Labor Day on, it's all Eastern Division, all the time, including six big games against the Braves.

So, get out the deck chairs and pop up some popcorn ... this is gonna be one fun ride to the finish.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Kendrick Can't Keep Consistency

August 21:  Washington 8, PHILLIES 1

Naturally, after bragging up Kyle Kendrick's recent success on the mound, he reverts back to the Kyle Kendrick who couldn't get the Nationals out back in April.  And he still can't get them out in August.

Personally, I'm trying to figure this one out:  You're a major league pitcher who's been having success in getting guys out your last five starts.  You enter your start against the last-place team in your division knowing that the team ahead of you in the standings has already lost.  You go out to the mound knowing that you can gain ground on the division leader with a win.  This is your big chance to show the coaching staff that you've turned that corner, and are ready to be a reliable fifth starter for the stretch run.

And then, you go out and get lit up for the third time this season against one of the worst teams in the league?  Seriously, are you even paying attention to the game plan and the scouting reports?  And if the hitters are "onto you", aren't you making adjustments in your game plan to offset whatever the hitters are doing against you?  Are you even listening to Carlos Ruiz?

Kyle, it's time for you to grow up and start pitching like you mean it.  It's not enough anymore to blame your youth and relative inexperience.  You've been in a pennant race before.  You're pitching for the two-time defending National League champions.  You have an All-Star lineup to give you whatever run support you may need, but too often you put them in a hole they have a hard time climbing out of.  You should be pitching better than this, and more consistently than this.

Every time you give Phillies fans a reason to believe that you've finally figured it out and are becoming a guy we all can trust to go out there and give the club a quality start, you implode like that flight attendant who jumped out of the plane a couple weeks ago.  Every time Charlie thinks you might be a guy he can count on to win those extra games every team needs down the stretch to win a division or make the playoffs, you give him a very ugly reason to ship your sorry butt back to Lehigh Valley.

I understand that pitching in the majors isn't as easy as we mere mortals think it is.  However, we mortals also know that you're just one of 150 guys (give or take) in the world who can say "I'm a starting pitcher for a major league baseball club" ... so you do have the talent and ability to be where you are, and to make it look so easy to the rest of us.  It seems as though you're just not focused enough some nights.  It's not just the command issues, it's the pitches you leave up in the zone, the patterns you get into that hitters figure out much too easily and quickly, it's the inconsistency.

You're one of 25 guys, agreed.  But every five days, you have some serious control over the potential the team has for a win.  And while that is a great responsibility, it is also a great power.

So, please, stop pitching as though you are afraid of both.

Manager Of The Year?

Look around the National League, and you'll find four, built-in candidates for the Manager of the Year:  San Diego's Bud Black, Cincinnati's Dusty Baker, Atlanta's Bobby Cox, and San Francisco's Bruce Bochy.  On the surface, all four seem deserving of the honor because, quite frankly, with the exception of Atlanta, folks weren't really sold on the Pads, Reds, and Giants.

The problem with the way that the Manager of the Year is usually decided is that, many times, it's awarded to a manager whose team wasn't picked by the media (who, of course, vote on the award) to finish in playoff contention or in the playoffs themselves.  So, in some seasons, it's more like a "Surprise Team of the Year" award, given because it must have been the manager's keen skill that turned a bunch of guys no one held much respect for into a playoff-caliber team.

In other seasons, the Manager of the Year is the guy whose team was so dominant that, by golly, it must have been that manager's cool guidance and strategy that gave the team the killer instinct to so dominate the competition.  So, in other seasons, it's more akin to a "Team of the Year" award, but given to the manager, instead.

Rarely, however, is a manager given the award for the very reason he holds his job: managing a major league baseball team.  In 2010, with all the hoopla about Cox's Farewell Tour, and the surprise showings by those aforementioned Padres, Reds, and Giants, one manager's skill at managing his ball club may be over-shadowed, and completely ignored.

Yep, we're talking about Charlie Manuel.

It wasn't that long ago (2006, to be exact) that Phillies fans were very much against the quiet, unassuming manager from a town so far in the boonies that they have to import sunshine.  Charlie wasn't a smooth-talker.  Sounded more like some rube than one of the premier hitting coaches in all of baseball.  Fans just didn't take to him.  They wanted someone who looked, and sounded, and acted like ... well ... anyone but Charlie.

But ol' Chollie (as many fans have come to call him) wasn't as dumb as his speech or his mannerisms might have seemed.  Seems he knew a thing or two about what it takes to make a ballplayer want to give 100% every night, all 162 of them.  And when Phillies fans finally went for good ol' Chollie, they went for him in a big way.  Now, it seems there's almost nothing he can do to ever tarnish his reputation.  You can be sure that, for as long as he lives, Charlie Manuel will never pay for another drink in Philadelphia.

And it is that intelligence, that charisma, that persuasive way of his that has kept your Philadelphia Phillies in the hunt all these long months.  For any other manager, the spate of injuries to All-Star players would have crushed his team's spirit.  Just look at how the Mets imploded in 2009 when they lost Reyes, Beltran, Putz, and others.  *Jerry* Manuel couldn't keep Humpty Dumpty together.

Yet, here we are, six weeks away from season's end, with the Phils breathing down the necks of the pesky Braves, who will not go away.  How is it that the Phils have been able to hang in there by the skins of their teeth?

Charlie Manuel.

He started the season with Romero and Lidge out of his bullpen.  Less than two weeks into the season, his All-Star shortstop is out for a month.  He loses Carlos Ruiz to a concussion.  He loses Chase Utley to a thumb ligament.  Brian Schneider, the backup catcher, goes down.  He loses Ryan Howard to an ankle sprain.  Loses Shane Victorino to another strain.

The team doesn't hit from mid-May to early-July.  A 24-13 record turns into a 49-46 record, treading water and looking up at two teams in the NL East.  Joe Blanton looks like he should be pitching in the local slo-pitch league.  Kyle Kendrick is about as consistent as lumpy oatmeal.

And just when things were looking up, when Roy Oswalt joined the club in a trade, Jamie Moyer goes down, forcing Kendrick back into the rotation when he was just about to get sent back down to Lehigh Valley.

Through it all, however, the Phils refused to quit.  Refused to let the injuries and the inconsistency drive them where the Mets resided last year.  Charlie Manuel was the guy who kept the club's nose to the grindstone.  Kept reminding the club that if they played hard, and worked hard, and fought hard alongside each other, they would start to succeed and they would start to win, and then, the rest of the league would fear them.

Imagine Larry Bowa in charge of these guys at this time.  He would have believed he could scream and shout wins out of this bunch.  Dallas Green, for all he is revered for, could have upset all the post-game buffet tables he wanted, and would have lost this team back before the All-Star break.

But Charlie, quiet, simple, unassuming Charlie, has these Phillies in the hunt because he kept telling them to believe in the things that have gotten this club back-to-back pennants.  Because he has them believing like they did in 2007 when they did the improbable.

And because he has managed, quite literally, to keep this team, with such a huge target on its back, in the race in spite of every injury and inconsistency, Charlie Manuel, more than the four others I mentioned earlier, is the man who, in a perfect world, should be the unanimous choice for National League Manager of the Year.

Risky Business

With the arrest of Phillies' prospect Tyson Gilles on cocaine charges in Florida, I cannot help but wonder if Phillies fans back home aren't burying their heads under a towel, a la Curt Schilling.

While Gilles certainly appears guilty (when you get out of a seat in a patrol car and leave behind a bag of white powder that tests positive for cocaine, you're certainly not looking innocent) and will eventually have his day in court, incidents like these only serve to remind fans, players, and management that running a big league organization is risky business.

Take the phenom of the early 1990s, Brien Taylor, drafted by the Yankees in the first round.  Now, I was rooting for him to make it, not because I'm a Yankee fan in secret, but because he spelled his first name the same way I spell mine.  It would have been kinda cool to see a big leaguer with my first name, just as I do root for big leaguers with my last name (even though people who know me would never assume athletic genes in my family).

Anyway, Taylor had great stuff, and had put up some good numbers in the minors.  But ... he got into a bar fight (there's dispute on whether he was involved, or merely trying to break up the fight), and screwed up his shoulder.  After the surgery, he lost his velocity, and some of his command.  He'd become mortal.  And he never pitched an inning in the big leagues.

Such is the risk teams take, daily, on human beings they really don't have 100 percent control over.  Like Taylor.  Like Gilles.  Managers can set all kinds of curfews; players break them.  Managers can have team rules; players try to circumvent them whenever they are able.  Leagues can suspend you for 50 or 100 games for violating a substance policy; players still find ways to get suspended.

Yes, Phillies fans, we gave up Cliff Lee to get this guy, among others.  And that's what makes every trade for prospects "hurt" ... when the established guy has a great year, and your prospects don't develop, or, in this case, practically disqualify themselves from being able to compete and contribute.

And as long as there is baseball, there will always be trades in which established guys are traded for a the same kind of players that make fans say, "Who *are* those guys?".  Where fans need to hold back in their criticism of a general manager is when something like this happens.  Ruben had all the info that the Mariners had on this guy, that MLB Security had on this guy ... and he still winds up being (and I'll admit I'm playing judge and jury here) a coke head.

Proof-positive that running a club is risky business ... makes you wonder if, under the pressure, Ruben doesn't shut his office door and have his secretary hold his calls while he strips down to his underwear and socks, pops on the Ray-Bans, cranks up some Segar, and slides back and forth across the office floor.

On This Date and Happy Birthday features

I won't be doing these every day, because I'll only really be able to do them for the first year, after which, everything repeats.

For the "On This Date" feature, I'm highlighting all of the years that the Phils have made the playoffs, plus 1964, because, well, it's 1964.  :(

Enjoy them when they're posted.

On This Date ...

In 2009 ... the Phils lost at Citi Field to the Mets, 4-2.  Phils were 69-50, in first place in NL East, 5-1/2 games up on the Marllins.

In 2008 ... the Phils lost at home to Washington, 4-3, as Ryan Madson gave up four hits and two runs in the eighth inning to blow the save.  The Phils stood at 68-59, 2-1/2 games behind the Mets in NL East.

In 2007 ... the Phils beat the Dodgers at The Bank, 5-4, with Kyle Kendrick getting the win, Brett Myers the save, and Aaron Rowand hit his 21st homer.  The Phils stood at 68-58, 5 games behind the Mets in NL East.

In 1993 ... the Phils lost at Houston, 3-2 in ten innings, with Larry Andersen taking the loss.  The Phils stood at 78-45, in first place in NL East, nine games ahead of St. Louis.

In 1983 ... the Phils lost at Los Angeles, 6-0, as Kevin Gross took the loss.  The Phils stood at 63-57, in first place in NL East, 1/2 game ahead of Pittsburgh.

In 1981 ... the Phils beat Houston at The Vet, 5-4, to stand at 37-28 in the second half of the split-season, two games behind the Cards in NL East.

In 1980 ... the Phils won a marathon at the Vet, beating San Diego, 9-8, in 17 innings.  The Phils stood at 64-54, 1-1/2 games behind Pittsburgh in NL East.

In 1978 ... the Phils lost to the Padres (and Gaylord Perry) at the Vet, 7-3.  The Phils stood in first place in NL East at 65-56, three games ahead of the Cubs.

In 1977 ... the Phils, behind Steve Carlton, defeated the Astros at the Vet, 7-3, to move their record to 76-45 in NL East, 6-1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh.

In 1976 ... the Phils beat Houston, 7-4, as Jim Kaat out-dueled J.R. Richard.  The Phils stand at 79-41, 13-1/2 games ahead of the Buccos.

In 1964 ... Chris Short shut out the Pirates, 2-0, at Connie Mack to put the Phils 7-1/2 games up on Cincinnati at 75-46

In 1950 ...  Curt Simmons was the 4-0 winner at the Polo Grounds as the Phils beat the Giants to move to 70-45, 5-1/2 games ahead of Brooklyn.

In 1915 ... the Phils swept a doubleheader from the Cubs at Shibe Park, winning the opener, 7-5, and the nightcap, 3-2.  The Phils stood at 59-48, 1 game up on Brooklyn.

Happy Birthday To ...

B.J. Upton of the Rays, who's 26
Jason Marquis of the Nationals, who's 32
Craig Counsell of the Brewers, who hits the Big 4-0

Former big leaguer, Tuffy Rhodes, who hit three homers in his MLB debut, is 42
Former closer, John Wetteland, is 44
Former pitcher, Frank Pastore, is 53
Former hurler, Bruce Berenyi, is 56
Former Phillie, Craig Robinson, is 62

Chief Wilson, who holds the ML record for triples in a season with 36 in 1912, was born on this date in 1883, during the Phils' inaugural season in Philadelphia.

Today's Starter: Kyle Kendrick

This morning, we take a look at tonight's projected starter, Kyle Kendrick.

On the season, Kyle is 8-5 with a 4.45 ERA, with 69 strikeouts and 37 walks in 137-2/3 innings of work.  He's surrendered 22 homers so far this season in 25 appearances.

Kyle had been projected as going back to the minors before Jamie Moyer suffered his season-ending injury, and with good reason.  In 25 games, lefties are torching him for a .324 average, and he's struggled with his control against lefties as 22 of his 37 walks have been issued to them.  His WHIP against left-handed batters is 1.70.

I mention this because two of the Nationals' offensive leaders, Nyjer Morgan and Adam Dunn, are both lefties.  Morgan, who has 30 steals on the season, is the table-setter, and Dunn, who has 31 dingers on the campaign, is usually the guy who's driving Morgan home.  Dunn has fanned 152 times this season, and Morgan has whiffed 68 times, so these are free swingers (especially Dunn) who have few pitches they don't like.  If Kyle can keep the ball down, he has a fighter's chance of getting around these two.

However, the Nats have peppered Kendrick from both sides of the plate so far this year.  In two appearances, Kendrick has posted a 17.47 ERA in 5-2/3 innings.  He's had a no-decision in each game, but the Nats are hitting a tee-ball like .444 against him so far this season.

There is hope, Phillies fans.

In his last five starts, dating back to July 24, Kendrick is 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA and a WHIP of 1.33.  That's well below his season averages, and does include his August 10th debacle against the Dodgers, giving up six runs in 3-1/3 innings in the 15-9 loss.  So, taking that out of the equation, Kendrick's other four starts in that span showed him 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA and WHIP of 1.12,

I've read a few things about Kendrick, and from what I have seen, Kyle saw the light when he was about to be sent down when Oswalt came to town, and between that prospect, and the additional tutelage he is receiving from Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt, is starting to show signs of what scouts and Phillies manangement saw in him in his 2007 rookie campaign.

I'm gonna go all crystal ball here and say that Kendrick can't possibly remain this bad against Washington as he has been.  Both of his previous starts against the Nationals came back in April, and Kendrick has made some significant progress since then.  I think he'll have a terrific game this evening, given the guy he's facing, Steven Strasburg.

This could be a good one ... so grab yourself a 'steak or a hoagie, a pack or two of butterscotch krimpets, and a Frank's Black Cherry Wisniak (or your favorite libation) ... and enjoy the ballgame!!!

The WABAC Machine Coming Soon

For those of you under the age of 30, the term "WABAC Machine" probably means that internet website you can go to where you can find all of the now-defunct websites that ever existed.

However, the "WABAC Machine" is a tribute to one of my favorite cartoons, "Sherman and Peabody", which was part of the early 1960's classic, "The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show".  Now and again, I'll step in to the WABAC Machine to visit some classic games and memories from Phillies history.

Our first trip in the WABAC Machine will be September 1, when we travel back 30 years to San Francisco, where a man known as "The Pope" makes a challenge that will turn the season around.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Another Halliday For Phils 'Pen

August 20:  PHILLIES 1, Washington 0

Phillies fans, you know how much it pains any of us to watch our guys struggle with a team like the Nationals.  It seems like we play down to the level of the competition sometimes, and tonight was one of those nights as the Phils made Jason Marquis look like Rube Marquard.

Roy Halladay went seven again, lowering his ERA to 2.16 while raising his record to 16-8 (and we all know he probably should already have 20 wins if the Phils had his for him at all from mid-May through June).  His three walks issued tonight raise his season total to 25.  Twenty-five walks allowed and we're almost 5/6ths of the way through the season.  That's control, my friends!!!

Raul Ibanez continues his hot hitting, driving in the game's only run.  He also contributed on defense, something many said was his glaring weakness when he signed with the Phils last year, throwing in behind Ian Desmond after Ryan Zimmerman lined to Raul in the seventh.  A nice play, made even nicer by the persistence of Chase Utley, who "played to the whistle" and tagged out Desmond when he over-slid second in returning to the bag.

Speaking of Ibanez' defense ... at the time that Raul was signed, the consensus among "baseball people" was that while Ibanez was an upgrade from Burrell, defensively, that was tantamount to saying that Dave Kingman was an upgrade from Greg Luzinski.  In other words, Ibanez was better than Burrell, but a blind, one-armed monkey was better than either.

I had told anyone who would listen (and, living here in the Chicago area, that meant no one) that Ibanez has always had one asset that would compel him to improve his defense while adding some needed pop to the lineup:  Ibanez has been told his whole career that he wasn't "good enough".  And that has driven Raul to compile numbers (last year at age 37, and this year at age 38) that don't make him seem as old as his driver's license shows him to be.

And, personally, I love that about Ibanez.  He's not as gritty and gutty as an Aaron Rowand (whom most Phillies fans simply loved in his short stay with the club), but he will do all the things necessary to help you win.  Did you see his triple the other night against the Jints?  How many 38-year-olds do *you* know who could have legged that out?

Anyway, I disgress ... Ibanez has provided a nice spark for the club, and they are definitely feeding off him for the moment.

Madson and Lidge got some work in under post-season situations tonight (that is, protecting a 1-run lead against a gritty and determined opponent) that was nice to see.  Brad seems to be settling in now, and if Ryan, J.C., and Brad can get it together, Charlie's got himself his 2008 bullpen back for the stretch run.

The Phils now stand 17 games above .500 at 69-52, and have won 13 of their last 17.  They continue their series with the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.  Rookie phenom, Steven Strasburg (5-3, 2.97) will face Kyle Kendrick (8-5, 4.45).  On Sunday, it'll be Scott Olsen (3-5, 5.14) against Roy Oswalt (8-13, 3.36).

Welcome!! The Grill's Heated, And The Steaks Are On!!

Greetings, fellow Phillies fan!

If you're looking for someplace to discuss Phillies baseball, you've come to the right place.  Over the coming weeks, months, and years, I hope to dispense some interesting points of view on the Phightin's and their annual chase of a World Series Championship.

I'll have stats, analysis, opinion, anecdotes, looks back in Phillies history, and other items sure to please the diehard fan as well as the casual observer.  I'll try and keep it light, and may even get satirical or overly humorous at times ... but I also want fans to know that most of the commentary here will be serious and will hopefully get fans talking and thinking about trades, lineups, pitching rotations, etc.

Each post will be referred to as a "steak", and everyone commenting will be referred to as a "customer", and we'll keep the whole "cheesesteak shop" theme throughout the blog.

I encourage everyone to participate via comments.

So, enjoy the blog ... wit or wit out!!