Before the bottom of the sixth inning in the third game of the
season, the Phillies were pathetically averaging as many errors as
runs: 7 in two and a half games.
The
Phillies’ strengths last season — offense and defense — seemed to be
their 2008 Achilles’ Heel. Nothing was going right and all of the
bounces favored their opponents. Suddenly, in the bottom of the sixth
inning, batted balls that were being caught previously were finding
holes and dropping in front of fielders. They scored six runs in an
impressive rally that consisted of no extra-base hits; rather, eight
singles, a hit batter, and a wild pitch. Nine straight Phillies batters
reached base before Chase Utley hit into a 3-2-3 double play to end the
inning. A recap of the carnage:
C. Utley singled to right
R. Howard singled to right, C. Utley to second
P. Burrell singled to left, C. Utley scored, R. Howard to third
G. Jenkins singled to right, R. Howard scored, P. Burrell to second
P. Burrell to third, G. Jenkins to second on wild pitch
P. Feliz singled to center, G. Jenkins and P. Burrell scored
C. Coste singled to right, P. Feliz to second
G. Dobbs singled to left, P. Feliz scored, C. Coste to second
J. Rollins hit by pitch, C. Coste to third, G. Dobbs to second
S. Victorino singled to right center, C. Coste scored, G. Dobbs to third, J. Rollins to second
Heading into the top of the seventh with their first lead since the
bottom of the fourth inning on Monday’s Opening Day game, the Phillies
asked their bullpen to be efficient. Ryan Madson responded, quickly
retiring all three Washington Nationals hitters he faced.
They had a chance to pad their newfound lead when Ryan Howard
singled and Pat Burrell doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh,
but the offense went back into hiding as Geoff Jenkins struck out, and
Pedro Feliz and Chris Coste grounded out. Unfortunately, the Phillies
had to ask their bullpen to hold onto a one-run lead, and as expected,
they couldn’t do that.
Ryan Madson returned to the mound to start the eighth inning and
promptly walked lead-off hitter Ronnie Belliard on four pitches. He got
Felipe Lopez to lazily fly out to center fielder Shane Victorino, and
Jesus Flores almost did as well, but the ball fell in the proverbial
Bermuda’s Triangle between Jimmy Rollins, Burrell’s replacement in left
field Jayson Werth, and Victorino.
With Rob Mackowiak, a left-handed pinch-hitter, announced, Charlie
Manuel replaced Madson with J.C. Romero. Nationals’ manager Manny Acta
countered by pinch-hitting Paul Lo Duca for Mackowiak. Romero appeared
wild, not having thrown a true strike for the first five pitches, but
Lo Duca helped him out by swinging 3-1 at what would have been ball
four. Following suit as the previous two hitters, Lo Duca also lazily
flied out to center, and the Phillies looked like they’d actually
escape with the lead. Not so.
Cristian Guzman sharply hit a grounder just out of the reach of
third baseman Pedro Feliz. Jimmy Rollins slid to try and keep the ball
near the infield to prevent the tying run from scoring, but the ball
instead deflected off of his glove towards foul territory, and that did
allow Belliard to touch home plate. Lastings Milledge followed with
another infield single to load the bases for the dreaded Ryan
Zimmerman, already with two game-winning HR to his name. Luckily, the
Phillies continued his oh-fer day, as he grounded out to Jimmy Rollins
to end the inning at 7 runs apiece.
The Phillies loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the
eighth but couldn’t push in the go-ahead run. Manuel elected to use
Opening Day victim Tom Gordon to hold the game in a tie in the top of
the ninth inning, and boy, does Gordon make it interesting. He started
off well, striking out Austin Kearns, but Nick Johnson, after a great
at-bat in which he started 0-2 and worked it to 3-2, reached base via a
line drive that was just barely out of the reach of Utley’s glove. The
next three at-bats went walk, fly out, walk, so the bases were loaded
with two outs. Pinch-hitter Willie Harris came out to bat for reliever
Luis Ayala, and everyone in the stadium held their breath as Ryan
Howard cleanly fielded a grounder and flipped it to Gordon to end the
inning, the game still tied at 7-all. Gordon had a scoreless inning!
His ERA went down more than 100 points, from 135.00 to 33.75!
To mimic Seinfeld, yada yada yada, Phillies waste a Jenkins lead-off double in the bottom of the ninth, yada yada yada, game goes to extra innings, yada yada yada,
Jimmy Rollins starts off the bottom of the tenth with a lead-off
infield single. Victorino sacrifice bunts Rollins to second and
Rollins, noticing that only shortstop Cristian Guzman would be able to
cover third, raced him to the bag and did so safely, giving the
Phillies a runner on third base with one out, and Chase Utley and Ryan
Howard due up. Acta, for the second time in the game, ordered both of
them to be walked, putting the pressure on Jayson Werth. Reliever Jesus
Colome couldn’t find the plate and walked in the winning run on four
pitches, giving the Phillies their first win of the season.
Kyle Kendrick will face Josh Fogg tomorrow night when the Phillies visit the Cincinnati Reds for a 7:10 start.
Well, Opening Day is a wrap, and once again, the bullpen is
responsible for the Phillies’ first loss of the season. You may recall
Ryan Madson blowing last year’s opener
by serving up a two-run home run to Edgar Renteria, then of the Atlanta
Braves. Today’s culprit is Tom Gordon, responsible for all five runs
the Washington Nationals scored in the top of the ninth inning.
A recap of the coup the Nationals staged against the ineffective right-hander and de facto closer:
Lastings Milledge legs out an infield single to shortstop.
Nick Johnson hits a one-out RBI double to deep center field and advances to third on the throw home.
Austin Kearns walks.
Johnson scores when Carlos Ruiz tries to catch him napping off of third base when Paul Lo Duca bluffs a squeeze bunt.
Lo Duca doubles to left-center, scoring Kearns.
Ronnie Belliard doubles to deep center, scoring Lo Duca.
Dmitri Young hits a two-out RBI double that bounces high off of the right field fence off of reliever Clay Condrey.
Brutal.
Starter Brett Myers wasn’t sharp, but nonetheless effective. He
pitched five innings, allowed five hits, walked two, allowed four runs
(three of which were earned), and only struck out two.
Ryan Madson relieved Myers in the sixth inning. With two outs,
Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman eked out an infield single to
shortstop, and Lastings Milledge followed by jacking a two-run home run
well over the left field fence.
The Phillies had opportunities but could only manage three runs in
the first six innings. Chase Utley hit a sacrifice fly in the first,
Pat Burrell hit an RBI single in the fourth, and Utley hit a solo homer
to right field in the sixth.
The Phightin Phils did mount a comeback in the seventh. Jayson Werth
led off with a walk. The gravy train appeared to be rolling when
catcher Carlos Ruiz yanked an RBI double to left-center and reigning NL
MVP Jimmy Rollins defended his honor by tying the game up with a
two-run homer that just barely cleared the fence around the 380-foot
sign, courtesy Nationals left-hander Ray King.
That was it though, as the Phils quickly went down 1-2-3 in both the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings.
Costas, speaking before he emceed (and donated $50,000) at
Tuesday’s Make-a-Wish sports auction at the Broward County Convention
Center, doesn’t understand what compels so many nonjournalist sports
fans to seek a forum for their opinions.
I don’t know… maybe it’s the enjoyment one gets out of discussing
something you enjoy? I’d much rather talk with a bunch of baseball fans
than with some Englishmen about cricket. Wouldn’t you?
Why is one’s lack of journalism credentials prudent to seeking “a forum” for his opinion?
Before the Internet, most fans were content talking about sports with their buddies.
It’s funny that this line of reasoning is somehow passable. Try it in another context.
“Before anesthesia, most patients were content having open heart surgery while wide awake.”
”Today, I saw on ESPN a poll about which Western Conference
teams would not make the playoffs,” Costas said. “Well, 46 percent said
the Denver Nuggets, which has zero percent influence on anything. […]
A) Voting in an online poll != Blogging.
B) Welcome to the world of voting, Bob! Your vote has never had any
influence on anything meaningful, ever. Voting is an illusion of
democracy.
[…]Who has the time or the inclination to do this, even if you’re sitting on your computer? Why would you weigh in on it?”
There are many reasons why you’d vote in an online poll:
It’s easy.
You’re bored.
You’re feeling mischievous and you vote 12,000 times for the most
ridiculous answer to the question “Who will win the NBA championship?”
You actually believe that your vote will have a meaningful impact.
‘But it’s one thing if somebody just sets up a blog from
their mother’s basement in Albuquerque and they are who they are, and
they’re a pathetic get-a-life loser[…]
Oh, boy. First, I’ll focus on the obvious: not all bloggers live in
their mothers’ basements (talk to the elbow ’cause the hand is on
vacation).
Not all bloggers are “pathetic get-a-life losers,” either. Many
simply blog as an activity. Bloggers can just as easily be
neurosurgeons as they can be fry cooks at Wendy’s. That’s the beauty of
it, actually. The internet provides a true democracy of opinion.
Dictators like Costas, however, would prefer the power rest in the
hands of the elite, the haughty sports journalists. Don’t you know,
sports journalists can do stuff that regular people just can’t do!
Let’s see, sports journalists…
Watch games, and record important events from those games.
Talk to integral people involved with those games.
Write a narrative about the event using quotes from the people spoken to.
That’s stuff that even Harvard-graduated neurosurgeons can’t fathom. “I know how to send electromagnetic signals to the thalamus*,
but I just can’t put into words what occurred during the Blue
Jays-Twins game! And I have no idea what Ron Gardenhire is saying: ‘The
ump blew a few calls.’ What?”
* I have no idea if this is even necessary, much less possible.
[…] but now that pathetic get-a-life loser can piggyback
onto someone who actually has some level of professional accountability
and they can be comment No. 17 on Dan Le Batard’s column or Bernie Miklasz’ column
in St. Louis. That, in most cases, grants a forum to somebody who has
no particular insight or responsibility. Most of it is a combination of
ignorance or invective.”
How can a blogger “piggyback” onto someone? I’m not following this
one (I realize it’s metaphorical). Is commenting on an article
“piggybacking”? Is blogging about an article (as I am doing here)
“piggybacking”? My understanding of the term is that you actually have
to have some kind of tangible gain from someone else’s work.
The Celtics don’t get to be the best team in the
East because they have three superstars and play exceptional defense,
which seems obvious enough. They’re great because of the ”chemistry”
and ”determination” and ”leadership” of those three great players, but
might yet lose to the ”unity” and ”experience” and ”clutchness” of
Detroit, a team with, um, four great players.
Truth is, at the top of the sports food chain, the difference
between the most talented teams — and the most important of the
intangibles — is often dumb luck. You, too, can beat the clutchness of
Tom Brady and genius of Bill Belichick and desire of Wes Welker if
David Tyree happens to catch the ball off the top of his helmet after
Eli Manning magically becomes Vince Young.
Back to the subject, why just flat assume that those commenting have
“no particular insight”? I’m a cynic of the highest degree, but that is
just too cynical even for my tastes, and it reeks of elitism.
Costas seems to think that his degree in journalism somehow gave him the power to understand everything sports-related.
Internet and talk radio commentary that “confuses simple
mean-spiritedness and stupidity with edginess. Just because I can call
someone a name doesn’t mean I’m insightful or tough and edgy. It means
I’m an ####.”
So, Costas has a problem with people on the Internet calling each other names. The pot calls the kettle black. Let’s recap:
Bloggers set up blogs from their mom’s basement in Albuquerque.
These bloggers are pathetic get-a-life losers.
People who comment on articles have no insight and are ignorant.
It’s true: people are more likely to act immaturely since they are
protected by the anonymity the Internet provides. Let’s not throw the
baby out with the bath water, however.
Lastly, I’d be offended if I was from Albuquerque. What does that have to do with loserdom?
“It’s just a high-tech place for idiots to do what they used
to do on bar stools or in school yards, if they were school yard
bullies, or on men’s room walls in gas stations. That doesn’t mean that
anyone with half a brain should respect it.”
So, blogging about how David Wright > Jimmy Rollins for ‘07 NL
MVP, for instance, is something I’d do while sitting in a bar? Sure. So
is pontificating about U.S. foreign policy, asking for cheap
one-liners, and begging for my car keys after my 9th beer.
I don’t see how being a school bully has anything to do with
blogging. Is this a Freudian slip? Bob… is there something you’d like
to talk about? Is it not the bloggers who are wedgie-prone, but you?
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen someone write on a men’s
room wall, “David Wright > Jimmy Rollins for ‘07 NL MVP because he
has a higher OBP/SLG, plays better defense, and has comparable
base-stealing ability.”
Most bloggers do a great job in adding to the dialogue in a broad
array of subjects. I get more of my sports information from bloggers (I
have five blogs with RSS buttons in my browser, still more in my
favorites; none on both counts for newspaper and magazine websites,
including ESPN). I think it’s the same way for most Web surfers.
If we can infer one thing from Costas’ unnecessary, immature,
factless rant, it’s that his displeasure over bloggers and the people
who read and comment on them is based on the fact that they are
competition for his job. Bloggers do for free what elitists like Costas
do for six-figure incomes, and many do it at a comparable level and are
more entertaining in the process.
Focusing on those who comment on articles is fallacious. It’s what a
statistics-inclined person would describe as a “small sample size.”
Making a judgment based on two sentences is awfully flawed. It’s
absolutely true that more than just a few people who leave comments do
so to start flame wars, to spam, or to simply make a (usually) unfunny
joke that adds nothing to the intellectual level of the conversation.
The next step up for Costas is calling for comment Eugenics. “Want
to leave a comment on a Bob Costas article? Take the 30-minute IQ test.
If you score 110 or higher, your comment will be held in moderation for
approval by Mr. Robert Quinlan Costas himself.”
Even worse is imagining how he’d handle blogging. “So, you wish to
start a blog about the Cincinnati Reds? Answer the following question:
Do you have a degree in journalism?”
If you answer no, your computer immediately shuts down and you
become unable to access the Internet through a browser the next time
you turn it on. If you answer yes, you are instead redirected to a Google image search for “Bob Costas.”
It’s the end of February and exhibition games are hours away. A new
baseball season is on the horizon, full of new wonders for our great
sportswriters to opine about. Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman instead wants to focus on last year’s NL MVP award and attack people who use Sabermetrics.
Things must be lonely around the office because Heyman is clearly
angling to get linked to and talked about on the Internets. Being the
generous person I am, I’m going to give him just that. Fire Joe Morgan already dissected it
with humor, but I’m going to dissect it with a fine-tooth comb and
really give him the type of editing he deserves, and clearly lacks at
Sports Illustrated.
As always, his words are in bold, my comments will follow in regular typeface.
Let’s start off with the header.
Sorry VORPies, Rollins was the right choice
Seriously. This is a grown man working for a worldwide-renowned
sports publication… insulting proponents of an ideology that differs
from his. Further, he chooses to do this in February, more than four
months removed from the end of the World Series, and right on the cusp
of a brand new baseball season.
Rollins acknowledged that his brash “team to beat”
prediction probably helped him win the MVP. Of course, it didn’t hurt
that he hit 30 home runs, scored 139 runs and slugged .534 while
batting leadoff and playing a superb shortstop for a division champion.
No, it didn’t hurt that his counting statistics were inflated by a
record number of plate appearances (and, subsequently, at-bats).
Jon, did you notice where Rollins was in the Phillies’ batting
order? He was a lead-off hitter. What is the job of a lead-off hitter?
You are correct: to get on base.
Isn’t a shame that Rollins not only had a below-average on-base
percentage (.344 to the league average .349), but he etched his name in
pseudo-history when he tied for 18th place in total outs made in a
single season (527)?
That’s the problem with counting statistics: you’ve got to keep
plate appearances and at-bats in mind, otherwise, you don’t have a
scale off of which to base your perception. Rollins’ 30 HR are
impressive, but his rate is about one HR every 24 AB, which is mediocre.
The Rockies’ great slugger, Matt Holliday, finished second, but even a Rockies person told me in the playoffs last October that Rollins deserved the MVP […]
“A Rockies person”? Who could this be? The clubhouse janitor? Clint
Hurdle? The guy selling hot dogs at the concession stand behind home
plate at Coors Field? Garrett Atkins?
Even if “a Rockies person” is someone whose opinion we should value,
it doesn’t somehow add credence to the claim that Rollins deserved the
MVP. For every “Rockies person” backing Rollins, there is a “Phillies
person” backing David Wright and a “Mets person” backing Matt Holliday.
That person believed that great offense combined with
stellar shortstop play should have been enough to take the awards, not
a bad thought at all.
What about great offense combined with stellar third base play?
Rollins isn’t “stellar” at shortstop defensively anyway. He ranked 9th out of 14 qualified NL SS in RZR. David Wright ranked 5th out of 12 qualified NL 3B in RZR.
Add to that Wright’s offensive prowess over Rollins, and it’s not even close between the two.
Seriously, Wright has better power, gets on base at a much, much
better clip, has comparable speed (34-of-39 stolen bases), knows how to
draw a walk, and fields his position at an above-average level.
The only reason it’s a debate between Rollins and Wright is because
so many people don’t understand the concept of rates. Heyman is one of
them.
Even so, I wasn’t shocked that stats people have taken issue with Rollins winning the MVP award.
This tells me that he knows something has been statistically proven
to be true, yet he will still believe something else because he wants
to regardless of what the facts say.
There are numbers crunchers out there — including a firejoemorgan.com author who wrote a guest piece in Sports Illustrated last week — who believe baseball writers rank somewhere between morons and idiots for voting Rollins as MVP over David Wright, who had a higher VORP.
Not just VORP. There are a plethora of statistics out there that
show Wright as a better candidate than Rollins. Almost all defensive
metrics will put Wright over Rollins. Offensively, the
meat-and-potatoes of baseball — OBP and SLG — easily make the case with
Wright.
Really the only thing Rollins has over Wright is the ability to hit triples.
The stat people seem to believe VORP — a Baseball Prospectus
statistic that stands for Value Over Replacement Player — defines a
player, but why haven’t many of them championed last year’s VORP leader
(Hanley Ramirez) as MVP instead?
Before I took a look at defensive metrics, I thought Hanley Ramirez
was the NL MVP as well. He is horrendous defensively, however: -8
fielding runs above average.
Secondly, Heyman makes a strawman argument by saying that those who
use Sabermetrics think that VORP “defines a player.” One statistic does
not and can not define a player and you will not find any educated user
of Sabermetrics advocating this.
And thirdly, VORP isn’t just a Baseball Prospectus statistic.
Certainly it’s the most widely regarded because of BP’s popularity, but
others have it as well. To quote a commenter on Baseball Think Factory,
“that’s like saying that batting average is a TSN statistic.”
I assume the stats guys favor Wright because he played for a
contending team. I guess the rule is this: Highest VORP wins unless the
VORP champion is playing for a loser.
Uh… no. “The stats guys” favor Wright because he was the best when
you factor in both offense and defense. Rollins, really, doesn’t come
close.
There is no universal agreement among those who use Sabermetrics
that a candidate’s team’s contention should have any factor.
Personally, I don’t think it should. You shouldn’t punish a player for
having a bad supporting cast.
If Wright’s offensive stats were slightly better than
Rollins’, and I will accept that they were, especially considering the
respective ballparks they play in (VORP accounts for ballparks),
shouldn’t Rollins get points for playing a superb shortstop compared to
Wright’s slightly-above average third base?
1. Wright’s statistics weren’t “slightly better” than Rollins’. It’s a landslide in Wright’s favor.
2. Rollins doesn’t play a superb shortstop, as proven above.
And shouldn’t Rollins get credit for showing extraordinary initiative and leadership?
If you have the privilege of voting for the MVP award, you can use
whatever criteria you wish. If you want to account for intangibles, go
right ahead.
Personally, I don’t think any MVP candidate should have intangibles
taken into account. They’re highly subjective and thus highly prone to
human biases and flawed perceptions. The analysis, I believe, is more
accurate when you don’t account for intangibles.
For helping his team barrel into the playoffs from seven
games back with 17 to go, as opposed to Wright’s team, which
perpetrated a historic choke?
It’s not Wright’s fault his team couldn’t win a game at the end of September.
And if we’re going to take September performance into account…
Though the Mets’ collapse was no fault of Wright’s, for the
MVP to come off the all-time choke team, he’d better have a greater
advantage in stats […]
To the stat guys, walking is more thrilling and much more valuable than actually winning the pennant.
Heyman really has an obsession with the success or failure of the
candidates’ teams. For what it’s worth, the Phillies did nothing in the
post-season — they were promptly swept in three games by the Colorado
Rockies. It’s as if they never even made the post-season.
There you go Jon: Not only did I read and respond to your article, I
even linked to it as well. You got the attention that you wanted.
You didn’t hear it here, but… Pat Gillick is good at acquiring
damaged goods. Before last season, Gillick traded for Freddy Garcia and
sent failed project Gavin Floyd and prized left-hander and strikeout
artist Gio Gonzalez to the White Sox. Garcia’s tenure with the Phillies
was most unimpressive: 11 starts, 58 innings, 5.90 ERA, and a 1.6 WHIP.
His season was shut down on June 8 after a chronic shoulder problem
could be hidden no longer.
General manager Pat Gillick insisted Garcia wasn’t
“damaged goods” when the team acquired him. Even though some reports
said Garcia’s velocity was down toward the end of last season, the
Phillies didn’t make the trade contingent upon him passing a physical.
“We didn’t think a physical was necessary,” Gillick said. “Our
doctors spoke to their doctors and our training staff spoke to theirs
and we were satisfied his health was good. Our scouts saw him pitch in
September. They thought he was healthy.”
Breathe easy — the Phillies did, in fact, require Lidge to pass a
physical before completing the trade with the Houston Astros and new GM
Ed Wade.
The flame-throwing right-hander threw one pitch on Saturday and
ended up re-injuring his right knee. Lidge had surgery on the knee in
October and the Phillies required him to have surgery once again, a
partial medial menisectomy. It was successful:
“The other side of the knee is fine,” Phillies
trainer Scott Sheridan told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark on Monday. Sheridan
called Lidge’s injury and the subsequent successful surgery “the
best-case scenario” for the Phillies.
[…]
“Right now, if we had to do this during the season, then
obviously you’re missing a big chunk of the season,” Lidge said. “I
definitely need a few bullpen sessions, but I feel like my arm is ahead
of schedule so after a week I should be able to throw again.”
Tom Gordon will take over as closer in the meantime, and Brett Myers will not be returning to the bullpen.
The Lidge injury has to make you wonder about Gillick, though. He’s
acquired a few who have had some kind of injury risk come to fruition.
Adam Eaton and Tom Gordon are a couple that come to mind besides Garcia
and Lidge.
Lohse said he would still welcome a return to
Philadelphia, but the Phillies didn’t like his salary demands after
they were shunned in what was believed to have been an offer in the
three-year, $20-million range. Of course, that could change if Brad
Lidge’s right knee is serious, and Brett Myers shifts back to the
bullpen.
I never thought I’d say this about any league-average starting
pitcher, but the Phillies need Kyle Lohse. He would bump the
injury-prone and highly unimpressive Adam Eaton from the rotation and
give the Phillies league-average production from the #5 spot, an
offering most teams would love to have (which makes Lohse’s continued
unemployment all the more perplexing).
The Phillies are correct in being offended at Lohse’s high demands,
but three years, $20 million is also insulting to Lohse based on the
current market.
It would be insulting to me, as a Phillies fan, if I was to find out
that Gillick or Amaro have stopped talking to Lohse after he rejected
that three-year offer. The Phillies need a reliable starting rotation
like a diabetic needs insulin [insert laugh track].
Scott Rolen would have waived his no-trade clause to return to Philadelphia had the chance presented itself this winter.
I will let the numbers speak for themselves.
Scott Rolen avg. WARP with Cardinals (2003-07): 7.86 (excludes ‘02 when he was traded from the Phillies and includes his injury-plagued ‘05 season).
Pedro Feliz avg. WARP with Giants since getting regular playing time: 4.10.
Of course, their contracts have to be taken into account as well (information per Cot’s Contracts).
Rolen: $11 million in each of ‘08, ‘09, and ‘10 with an extra $4 million bonus due in ‘10; full no-trade clause.
Feliz: $3 million in ‘08, $5 million in ‘09, and a $5 million club option in ‘10 with a $500,000 buyout.
If the Phillies had acquired Rolen instead of Feliz, they’d be
paying an extra $8 million this season and $6 million in ‘09 for about
three and a half extra wins. And the Phillies would have had to have
sent something of value to the Jays.
The problem with Rolen, of course, is his injury propensity. After
getting 400+ AB in every season from 1997-2004, he failed to cross that
plateau in 2005 (196 AB) and ‘07 (392 AB). Feliz has no nagging injury
problems.
As for the poor relationship between the Phillies’ front office and Rolen:
“We felt if he came in and played well, all that
other stuff would be water under the bridge,” [Phillies Assistant GM
Mike] Arbuckle said. “But if we guessed wrong on the shoulder, we
didn’t think we’d be in a position to absorb another injury that would
limit our flexibility to fill other needs.”
Rolen definitely would’ve been a better acquisition, but given his
salary, it may have hindered the ability for the Phillies to sign
anyone else, like Kyle Lohse. Of course, if the Phillies fail to pick
up another pitcher, it will all be moot…
There’s a lot of Rowand to quote from that article, so I won’t do it
here, but to paraphrase, he’s offended that Pat Gillick considered him
an injury risk and that the Phillies didn’t see him as part of their
“core.”
“I’ve been on the DL twice in my life, not just in my
professional career. That includes college, high school. And it was
both in ‘06. [Gillick] saw me play for 2 years and I was on the DL
twice. But, knock on wood, I’ve been lucky. I’d be lying to you if I
said that didn’t bother me.”
Rowand took a five-year, $60 million deal from a last place team.
Obviously, money is his #1 priority, especially since he’s already won
a World Series and he has a mainstream following. Giving $12 million a
year to a player who puts his own safety at risk (link — go to May 11) and his teammates’ as well,
is not smart. Add to that he’s a slightly better than average center
fielder both offensively and defensively, and it’s just not smart to
lock him up long-term, especially at an average of $12 million per
season.
One can’t fault Rowand, however, for chasing the bigger contract.
Just don’t feel sorry for him when the Giants hit 70 wins two weeks
away from the end of September, while the Phillies are in the thick of
a race for the NL East crown.
Rollins doesn’t have much to be angry about. He’s
the reigning National League MVP and seems to have a lot of fun with
this stuff. But according to a report by ESPN’s Jayson Stark, a few of
Rollins’ Philly teammates have been privately fuming about Beltran’s
comments and even suggested to Stark that “there will be a brawl this
year.”
Brawls, of course, are awesome because you get to watch around 75
grown men pretend they know how to fight. Most times, these brawls just
result in a little pushing and shoving with no punches thrown. However,
a couple one-on-one match-ups would be interesting:
Pat Burrell vs. Billy Wagner: Their verbal
sparring boiling over into a physical confrontation would almost be too
entertaining for cable TV. Burrell, of course, called Wagner a “rat”
after he left the Phillies for the Mets. In 2007, Burrell victimized
Billy Wagner twice:
June 7: Burrell ties the game up at 3 apiece with a solo home run to left-center.
August 30:
Burrell hits a solo home run to left field to bring the Phillies one
run behind the Mets at 10-9. The next inning, Jayson Werth singled and
stole both second and third base (Wagner is awful at holding runners).
He was promptly driven in by Tadahito Iguchi to tie the game at 10
apiece.
Brett Myers vs. Anna Benson: It’s unlikely these
two would come to blows, even though Anna is a woman and Brett loves
hitting women. Should there be a bench-clearing brawl, it is highly
likely Mrs. Benson has sequestered a young lad in the pits of Citizens Bank Park for, I don’t know, a talk?
Shane Victorino vs. Jose Reyes: This duel would
not be settled via fisticuffs; rather, the two would engage in a
footrace to settle the question, “Who is the fastest player in Major
League Baseball?”
Visit my new website -- Crashburn Alley!>
Crashburn Alley is a fusion of the phrase "crash and burn" with Ashburn Alley, which is beyond the center field fence at Citizens Bank Park. You can read more about Crashburn Alley here.>
I'm a diehard Phillies fan who is still reeling from the 1993 World Series and Joe Carter's three-run homerun in Game 6.
The
Phillies’ strengths last season — offense and defense — seemed to be
their 2008 Achilles’ Heel. Nothing was going right and all of the
bounces favored their opponents. Suddenly, in the bottom of the sixth
inning, batted balls that were being caught previously were finding
holes and dropping in front of fielders. They scored six runs in an
impressive rally that consisted of no extra-base hits; rather, eight
singles, a hit batter, and a wild pitch. Nine straight Phillies batters
reached base before Chase Utley hit into a 3-2-3 double play to end the
inning. A recap of the carnage:
