Tagged: Phillies
The Philadelphia Pedroes
Dan:
As a Red Sox fan, it’s been a tough October. But tonight’s match-up featuring ol’ pal Pedro Martinez against the hated New York Yankees is easy to get excited about.
It certainly conjures up memories of glory days gone by. For Sox fans — in fact, for all “baseball” fans — the Pedro Martinez era in Boston was immensely exciting. Pedro provided us with arguably the greatest stretch of pitching in baseball history, and along the way left us with enduring memories — many against our most-hated rival, the New York Yankees. It’s impossible to forget him drubbing Roger Clemens in Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS. Or his 17-strikeout, 1-hit gem in New York; or his epic battle with Roger Clemens in 2000 that ended with Trot Nixon swatting a game-winning homer. Or the Zimmer game. Or his great performance in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS that unfortunately gets overshadowed by Grady Little’s all-time absentee-management moment.
Now that our 2009 Sox have been swept aside in the playoffs, Sox fans have worried we’d be stuck watching the Yankees waltz to a championship. Now, after Cliff Lee’s amazing performance in Game 1, we see our old hero — Pedro Martinez — stepping up in a spot where he can slay the Yankees once again. We know he isn’t the same pitcher he once was. But maybe . . . just maybe . . . he can recapture that magic for one more night.
I’ll certainly be watching to find out.
Ready For October
Dan:
Here it is again: the most wonderful time of the year. October playoff baseball is upon us, and our beloved Sox are back in the mix. We almost take that for granted now. But we shouldn’t.
I don’t know why I have such a bad feeling about this series with the Angels. I shouldn’t. The Sox have the edge in almost every aspect of the game, and they man-handled the Angels last month. Still, it’s almost like the Angels are due, which scares me.
Anyway, here are my playoff picks:
American League:
Red Sox def. Angels – The Angels will run like crazy, but you can’t steal first. The Sox rotation and bullpen are insanely deep, and their bats are stacked. I’d pick the Sox to sweep, but my heart says in four.
Yankees def. Twins – The Twins have a ton of momentum, but they could sure use Justin Morneau right now. They haven’t won a game in New York since July of 2007, which means they could be due. But I think the Yankees are too much and should sweep them.
Red Sox def. Yankees – Of course. The playoffs usually come down to pitching, and the Sox have a deeper rotation and bullpen. I think they win in six.
National League:
Phillies def. Rockies – This is BY FAR the toughest series to call. I went back and forth on this several times. I like the Rockies, and they’ve been so strong in the second half. I also think Ubaldo Jimenez is a great up-and-coming ace. But the Phillies are very well-rounded. Ultimately, I think whoever wins this series wins the National League, and I don’t want to see the Sox and Rockies in the Series again. So I picked the Phils in who knows how many, although I’m leaning toward 4.
Cardinals def. Dodgers – I’m not terribly impressed with either of these teams, and the Dodgers really struggled down the stretch. Cards should win in 4.
Phillies def. Cardinals – I haven’t been a believer in the Cardinals all season, and even though they’ll make it to the NLCS, I still am not a believer. The NL Central was a HORRIBLE division this year. Phils in 5.
WORLD SERIES:
Red Sox def. Phillies – Sure, call me a homer. But the fact is the Sox are the most well-rounded team in baseball. And the National League is the junior division. Sox take it in 5 games.
(MVP – Jason Bay)
Why My Brother Is An Idiot
Dan:
It might be a mystery to some readers why the Fans On The Field bio lists two brothers who blog, but only one (the handsome one) who actually ever does any blogging on the site (the only intelligent blogging anyway). My brother Jason actually does blog about the Red Sox, but he does it . . . (wait for it . . . wait for it) . . . on his typewriter.
Thanks. I’ll be here all week. Try the meatloaf.
But seriously, folks, I know he’s my brother, but he’s a complete and utter and absolutely indisputable dope. Case in point: He recently actually had an opinion about baseball that he cared deeply enough to write about, and instead of utilizing the power of the blog (A Top 50 blog at that . . . as I pat myself on the back), he decides to drop it in a comment. And not about a big issue or anything . . . just about a little thing that will probably amount to the richest contract in franchise history, not to mention lead to an uber-popular player being shipped out of town. Certainly not worth a blog.
And to make matters worse, he argued his point in such a horrible, foolish, ridiculously inept manner, that it’s sheer lack of intelligence could be considered a direct soiling of our family’s good name. In fact, this Christmas I will officially ask my relatives to formally vote Jason out of the family.
Basically, Jason said this: The Sox should keep Lowell instead of signing Teixeira, and they should go out and sign Prince Fielder for 5 years and $90 million.
Genius.
Look, we’ve gone over this and I can completely understand The Nation’s emotional attachment to Mike Lowell. However, I would have expected my brother to check his emotions at the door and analyze the situation intelligently and break it down and present it logically, even if it was his case for keeping Lowell. Instead, he just says he wants to keep Lowell. No discussion about the benefits of this deal in not just the short-term, but long-term for the franchise. No analysis about age, stats, nothing. All of which, of course, is fine. Until he had to cement his legendary foolishness for us all to see, saying the Sox should instead bank on signing Prince Fielder . . . a player who is not a free agent, who the Sox may never get a crack at, and who – despite being just 60 percent of the player Teixeira is — Jason wants to give five years and roughly 80 percent of what Tex’s annual salary would be. And who knows if he’d even sign for that; chances are he’d want more.
I’m not going to point out that Jason still thinks the Hanley Ramirez and Anibel Sanchez for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell deal was bad for the Sox. I’m not even going to point out he has seriously disturbing man-crush issues over the Phillies’ Chase Utley. And I am not going to say he is not only an embarrassment to the family, but an embarrassment to all red-blooded, intelligent baseball fans and bloggers the world over, even if it is true. All I am going to say is: Jason, get me something good for Christmas.
Score One For The Phils
Dan:
If the Philadelphia Phillies make it back to the World Series next year, Philly fans will look back at today as the reason why.
The Phillies made one of the best acquisitions of this offseason today by signing . . . no, not CC, not Tex, not Manny or AJ . . . but Raul Ibanez.
Raul Ibanez is the most underrated baseball player in the major leagues . . . by far. And he has been for a long time. Over the past six years, Ibanez has toiled in relative obscurity with the Mariners as Seattle has been mired in mediocrity. While he isn’t a flashy name, and most fans who don’t play fantasy baseball probably don’t know him, for the better part of this decade he has been one of the Top 25 most productive hitters in baseball. He’s been a model of consistency year-in and year-out. And he just signed a contract that pays him “just” $10 million a year for the next three years. His value should easily put him north of $12 mill annually.
While it is true he is no spring chicken (he’s 36), his production has yet to drop off, despite most experts and fantasy players waiting for it to happen. And even if it drops off a little, his numbers will still be worth every penny of his $10 million a year. Now he’ll be playing in a tiny, glorified wiffleball park in Philadelphia, with a lineup consisting of big bats like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. He’ll finally be playing on a contender next season. And don’t be surprised if you hear a lot about Raul Ibanez in 2009; and don’t be surprised if he helps keep K-Rod and the Mets home come October.
Whatever Happened To The World Series?
Dan:
Have they played the World Series yet?
Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies on winning an utterly forgettable World Series. I think the television ratings for the series was an average of 17 people, one of whom was my brother who goes from 6 to 12 everytime somebody, somewhere, mentions Chase Utley’s name. His fantasy-baseball-spawned man-crush on Utley is so disturbing, I’m thinking of reporting him to the authorities.
At least the Devil Rays didn’t win it all. And it is kind of fitting that they lost the series to the most insignificant franchise in sports history. That isn’t sour grapes talking; the history of the Phillies backs me up on this. There’s the obvious 10,000 losses and counting to point to. There’s also their contribution — or lack there of — to baseball. I remember walking the timeline in the Baseball Hall of Fame once, and suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a mention of the Phillies in the 1950s. I said, “Whoa, where’d they come from?” Turns out they’d been around since the start of the century. They just hadn’t done anything or had any player worth a mention til then. And they wouldn’t again until 1980. It’s one thing to go 80 years without a championship. It’s a whole other exercise in insignificance to go that long without even making a ripple in the baseball world. To be fair, though, the Phillies for the most part have at least been worth keeping an eye on for the bulk of the last three decades.
Of course, this all explains clearly why nobody watched this Series. Imagine the LA Clippers against the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA Finals, or the Houston Texans taking on the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl. (Actually, insert any Atlanta franchise in discussions about fans not paying attention to a series.) Thankfully, this series only went five games. And it’s the only series I can ever remember not watching more than three innings of.
But now its on to the exciting Hot Stove season. I’m liking what I hear about the Sox chasing Texeira. In my previous post I said I hoped they would go after him, but wasn’t sure that they would. Obviously, Theo looks to see what my baseball genius mind has going on. I’m also liking that they are talking about going after Saltalmacchia for a catcher. They should do this regardless of whether they bring back Varitek or not, as they need to begin grooming his successor even if they have Tek for another two years. I can’t believe anyone will pay Tek the numbers Scott Boras is throwing out. But you never know. There’s a lot of stupid people in baseball with a lot of stupid money. (See: Angels sign Gary Matthews Jr. and see Yankees sign Jorge Posada to big money, mult-year deal . . . stuuuupid.)
Looking Ahead
Dan:
First, let’s get that uncomfortable part out of the way . . .
Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This is a deep team with a potent lineup — I mean, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Crawford? Ridiculous. They play great defense all around; not a Howie Kendrick in the bunch. And they have an excellent core of starting pitchers, with David Price set to arrive next year. This is a team built to compete for the next several years. (But expect them to take a step back next year, before coming back to seriously contend again in 2010. You heard it here first.)
It’s now on to the World Series, where hopefully the Phillies will crush Tampa Bay.
Sure, it’s disappointing the Red Sox didn’t make it back to the Series, especially against a solid franchise like Philly. But the fact is this Red Sox team WAS good enough to win the World Series. Unfortunately, they were banged up in October. It’s never good to lose a bat like Mike Lowell and have to replace him with a Mark Kotsay. It’s obvious to everyone both Papi and Beckett aren’t right. And Ellsbury is just slumping at the wrong time. That’s baseball. Good teams get banged up and slump. Teams like the ’06 Cardinals have .190 hitters suddenly hit .380 in October and have Jeff Weaver pitch like Sandy Koufax for a month. This baseball is a funny game.
Luckily, we have two recent world championships to comfort us. Remember the days when this loss would have led to a city of heartbreak and tears? And while it is sad to end the season like this — especially knowing this team could have won it all — we now have the luxary of just saying this just wasn’t our year . . . and we have the comfort of knowing we’ll be back in the mix next year.
Quick Thoughts On The LDS
Dan:
ON HAVING TIX FOR TONIGHT’S GAME: Having two tickets to “Game 4* – If Necessary“, I thought I might feel conflicted, maybe hoping the Sox would drop one so I could go to the game. But, no. I screamed and swore at the TV last night, wanting desperately for them to finish the series. I’ve been lucky enough to go to my share of playoff games. I wanted to skip tonight’s ridiculous 8:37 start and instead sleep. I never thought I’d be so upset about going to a playoff game.
HOW MANY TIMES are the Sox going to get the lead runner on-base, only to squander the inning?
IF THEY LOSE TONIGHT, I’m going to punch Wally in his Big Green Face.
IN CASE I HAVEN’T MENTIONED IT BEFORE, which I have, my brother and I were the ones who started the famed “LI-LLY” chant in Game 3 of the 2003 ALDS, the one where if you watch the “Cowboy Up” video, players like Mirabelli and Merloni later taped “LI-LLY” to the backs of their jacket to encourage the fans to keep it up.
YOU HAVE TO FEEL SORRY for the Milwaukee Brewers. If Ben Sheets had been healthy down the stretch, they likely would have wrapped up the Wild Card a little earlier, and then been set-up for October success with two stud pitchers in Sabathia and Sheets, plus an amazing young arm in Gallardo. They could have gone a long, long way, even with how enemic their offense was in the Philly series. Now they’ll likely lose both Sheets and Sabathia in the off-season, and although they have talented young arms, they might take a step back. (They might be a prime candidate to sign a Pedro or Schilling to a one-year, incentive-laden contract.)
COREY HART LOOKED like the worst baseball player I’ve ever seen. Maybe he isn’t. But he looked like it.
THE PHILS-DODGERS SERIES looks like it’ll be an exciting one. Everyone, though, is hoping for a Sox-Dodgers series. Everyone, that is, except for my brother: Mr. Chase-Utley-ManLove.
ON THE CUBS COLLAPSE: Ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha. Ah, ha ha ha ha. HAAA, ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha (snort). Ha ha. Ha ha. Oh, whoo whoo whoo, hee hee. Haaaa haa ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
A Quick NL Playoff Preview
Dan:
After doing the AL the other day, now it’s time to look at the NL playoffs. (Quickly . . . as I’m currently wearing an apron. Don’t ask)
LA Dodgers The Dodger are the champions of the National League West . . . which is kind of like being the tallest guy at a midget convention. Sure, they had a fun run once good-Manny showed up in August. And, sure, it’d be fun to see the 2003 Red Sox (Manny, Nomar and Lowe) make a run deep into October. But they don’t have the pitching to do it.
Milwaukee Brewers Do you think Ben Sheets has a permanent handicap sticker on his license plate? With a healthy Sheets, this team has serious October potential. But without Carl Pavano . . oops, I mean Sheets, they won’t go far. Unfortunate, as the Brewers of the early-80s were my favorite team not from Boston, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.
Philadelphia Phillies These Phils should do better than last year, but they won’t get past the . . .
Chicago Cubs I hate to say it, as I hate the Cubs, but they are the most well-rounded and talented team in the National League . . . which is a lot like being the tallest guy at a midget convention. It’ll be fun to watch them lose in the World Series (unless they play the Angels, White Sox or Rays, all teams I hate more than the Cubs).
Standing, according to Pythagoras
Jason
It’s hard to believe, but the 2008 MLB season is just about 25% complete. There’s a lot of ball left to be played, for sure. We also have some good data to look at the Pythagorean standings to see what teams are under or over performing in the win column. The complete standings are below. Here are a few things that stand out to me.
AL East –
Toronto really is this bad. They’ve only under preformed by a little more than a game. With Wells now hurt, it looking like it will be another disappointing year from the team north of the border. It’s too bad to. Come next year, Toronto might be the standard pick for 5th in the AL East – it’s going to be a tough division.
AL Central
Cleveland has under preformed by nearly three games – which is huge. They appear in good shape to right the ship and win the division.
AL West
What’s more surprising? The fact that the Angles are over performing or that the A’s have under preformed. Not having seen any A’s games outside of Japan this year, I’m not really up on the team. Guess I’ll need to spend some time watching, but how can they be this good? If it’s the youth, will it last?
NL East
Atlanta has under preformed by 4 games and the Marlins have over preformed by 3. All the talk before the season was about the Phillies and the Mets. However, its plausible that two teams from this division will make the playoff this year and both will play well south of the Mason-Dixon line. I’m not saying its going to happen (Go Phillies!). I’m only pointing out that base on a quarter of the season – it’s a real possibility.
NL Central
I hate to say it but, … the Cubs are a darn good team. St Louis too appears destined to make my last-place pick for them continue to look horrible. Another shock is the Brewers. You’d think a team with so many blown saves would be under performing – but they aren’t. I’m still a believer in them, but they need to have a really good next month – or it might start getting late early. And then there are those almost 500 Buccos! The pitching is starting to come together and the bats are OK. A word to the rest of the league – don’t let this team start to believe in themselves.
NL West
Bad news for the Giant – you’ve been over performing at 16 -22. Worse news for the Padres 14-24 seems to suit you fine. The Diamond Backs are clearly the cream of the crop here.
W%=[(Runs Scored)^2]/[(Runs Scored)^2 + (Runs Allowed)^2]
Pythagorean Winning Percentage.
Boston 0.587 1.1
Tampa Bay 0.549 0.7
NY Yankees 0.509 -0.3
Toronto 0.483 -1.4
Baltimore 0.465 1.3
Cleveland 0.576 -2.8
Chicago Sox 0.564 -2.3
Minnesota 0.480 1.2
Detroit 0.426 -0.2
Kansas City 0.400 1.2
Oakland 0.625 -1.4
LA Angels 0.500 2.5
Seattle 0.430 -1.8
Texas 0.418 1.7
Atlanta 0.632 -4.1
NY Mets 0.542 0.0
Florida 0.540 3.0
Philadelphia 0.528 0.4
Washington 0.370 0.9
Chicago Cubs 0.641 -1.7
St. Louis 0.569 0.8
Houston 0.554 -0.1
Pittsburgh 0.455 0.6
Milwaukee 0.438 1.8
Cincinnati 0.418 -0.9
Arizona 0.617 -0.4
LA Dodgers 0.548 -1.3
Colorado 0.407 -0.5
San Francisco 0.361 2.3
San Diego 0.354 0.6
Smoke and Mirrors?
Dan:
We are just over two weeks into the season and hitting that fun early time of year when some teams are doing surprisingly well early and making excited fans wonder: Are they for real? Let’s seperate the pretenders from the contenders.
Baltimore Orioles Sure, the O’s may have started out 6-1, but c’mon. This team has nobody on it except for some young players who are still a few years away from making an impact. Pretender.
Kansas City Royals I know, they’re the Royals. Still, Zach Greinke and Brian Bannister are the real deal — exciting young arms with great stuff. Gil Meche might be considered the ace of the team, but in reality he gives the Royals a very good Number Three. The lineup has some exciting young players with a world of upside, the tops being Alex Gordon who after disappointing last season looks ready for primetime. Funny as it may sound, this might be a team who could really use a stick like one Barry Bonds. They could stick around long enough to contend for a wild card this season, so consider them a contender, but this team is truly poised for next season.
Chicago White Sox The White Sox are a tough, tough team to read. On paper they have more talent than a team like K.C., so if I’m going to consider the Royals contenders, then . . . Still, there is something uneasy about a team that tanked so badly last season and is made up of a lot of aged vets. Given that the division suddenly seems wide open, it is hard to count anybody completely out of it. Still, I just don’t believe in the White Sox. Call it a gut feeling. Pretender.
Detroit Tigers Okay, so they’re not surprising in a “good” way for their fans. Still, their start has been surprising to say the least. The national media, which was on the Tiger bandwagon in a big way a month ago is suddenly jumping off like it is the Titanic. Slow down. This is still a very, very good team. And by August their mini-slump in early April will be a distant memory. Contender.
Oakland Athletics In the midst of a rebuilding phase, the A’s seemed poised to battle the Rangers for the basement of the division. However, despite three losses to the Red Sox, Oakland has started off the season in first place. But don’t believe in them. They have good arms in Joe Blanton and Rich Harden, but Billy Beane knows this isn’t his year. The team will fade toward the back of the pack quickly, and don’t be surprised if Beane deals Harden this summer (Boston is a nice place to live, Rich). Pretender.
Florida Marlins Before last season, I picked the Marlins as one of the teams I thought could surprise in 2007. But, they didn’t. Still, this is a team stacked with great young talent. It could be that time when that young talent clicks, and if Anibel Sanchez comes off the DL looking strong in June, watch out. All that being said, at the end of the day I liked this team a lot better when they had Miguel Cabrera. And, the team that won it all in 2003 was built by one John Henry — not MLB Public Enemy Number One Jeffrey “The Bandit” Loria. That team also had some vets on it, including Ivan Rodriguez. And there are too many other titans in the division. So where do they stand? Hell, if I know. They probably won’t beat out the Mets and Phillies, as those teams have the resources to make a mid-season deal. But, the Marlins could conceivably contend for third place, which is a good season for them. So . . . Contender.
St. Louis Cardinals What’s up with the Cardinals having the best record in baseball right now? They have no business doing that, especially when I picked them to contend for the division’s basement. They’ll fade soon . . . I think. Pretender.
RED SOX & MLB (by FANS ON THE FIELD .net) 