Myers Won't Be Back
The part of me that remembers he's a person says "good riddance." The cold-blooded GM wannabe, though, wonders if a low base, make-good deal to bring him back as a fifth starter might not have been a better way to go. Remember that the most likely alternative in-house options are Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick.
about 18 hours ago
dajafi
84 comments
0 recs
Phillies Pick Up Cliff Lee's Option
Shocking, just shocking news! Full Zolecki tweet: "Phillies pick up Cliff Lee's option. Haven't decided on Pedro Feliz. Have until Monday to make that decision." We've got to hope Ruben Amaro Jr. makes the right call on Feliz and dumps him.
The 2009 World Series: The Boring One
by David S. Cohen on Nov 6, 2009 11:00 AM EST
38 comments
We're now on our second day post-World Series, and I can't fight off this nagging feeling that the championship series I just watched was, well, pretty damn boring.
Yes, it was a World Series, and with the Phillies' long record of futility, there's really no ground for complaining when the team just makes it to the post-season, let alone to the World Series. But, in the context of a best-of-7 match for the best team in baseball, it's hard to say that this Series had much going for it.
Sure, this was the first World Series to go past 6 games since 2003. And the Yankees won their first championship in their new stadium. And Chase Utley tied the record for most home runs in a World Series. And Hideki Matsui was dominant. And Mariano Rivera was, well, Mariano Rivera. But all of those things added in with the rest of the Series just didn't add up to anything exciting or memorable.
The best way to capture this sentiment is the following: over the course of the six games, there were 2 lead changes. That's it. Even worse is that both of them occurred in drabs over the course of the middle innings. Otherwise, once a team took the lead in this series, the other team never got ahead. Of course, this doesn't mean that it wasn't good baseball, but it does mean that from a fan's perspective, this isn't particularly exciting baseball.
The overall series momentum also didn't provide much excitement. The Phillies took the early 1-0 lead, but then the Yankees won 3 in a row. Had the Phillies won their second in Game 4 instead of Game 5, the Series would have taken on a new level of excitement. But, that's not what happened, and by the time the Phillies had 2 wins, the Yankees were heading home looking for one to clinch. Momentum really didn't shift, and the Series ended as it seemed it would without any real surprise.
Looking at the particulars of each game confirms this, as only Game 4 had much real excitement. Yet, even that excitement lasted only a very short period of time. Here are each of the games re-capped, along with the mostly uni-directional win probability graphs. I've also given each game an excitement ranking on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being Joe-Carter-Game-6-in-1993 exciting and 1 being a mid-August Pirates/Padres 6-2 snooze-fest:
38 comments | 0 recs |
WANTED: A photo of the blue 2009 National League pennant flag... like this one, except the blue League Championship one. REWARD: Gratitude, and possible prominent placement on this site for the next 12 months or so.
1 day ago
WholeCamels
16 comments
0 recs
Phillies Breakfast Links, November 6, 2009: Aloha, Phillies!
by WholeCamels on Nov 6, 2009 8:04 AM EST
110 comments
I'm taking the Breakfast Links back to couple-times-a-week status for now, although that might change during the Winter Meetings and whatnot. Thanks to Wet Luzinski for handling probably the toughest day so far (I assure you I wasn't doing anything fun that morning). And thanks to everyone else for reading. We'll be here all offseason.
Phillies may try to sign Cliff Lee to extension this off-season
The article discusses Sabathia money... I don't know if it'll be that much, but it'll be a lot. And they'll either have to cut spending in other areas (bye Werth?) or increase payroll quite a bit.
10 questions facing the Phillies
I love Pedro Martinez, but I don't think he has a place on this team going forward. Thanks for everything.
Frank: Next year, Phillies could use help from ace, closer
Cole Hamels will be fine. Trust me. And even if he's not, that ring in 2008? His.
110 comments | 0 recs |
How Did They Do That?
by dajafi on Nov 5, 2009 11:02 PM EST
6 comments
Not quite 24 hours after the Phillies saw their season come to an end one day and two wins before we hoped it would, my disappointment at the conclusion is starting to give way to something like amazement that they got as close as they did. Of arguably the six most important Phillies pitchers from the 2008 championship run--starters Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and Jamie Moyer, and relievers Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and J.C. Romero--a stunning five saw their contributions plummet in the season that just ended.
By contrast, consider the last NL team to win back-to-back pennants: the Atlanta Braves of the mid-1990s. The world champion 1995 Braves boasted a rotation led by future Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, who combined for 47 wins and 601 innings that season. Their bullpen was anchored by closer Mark Wohlers (204 ERA+) and setup men Greg McMichael (153) and Brad Clontz (117). The '96 Braves, who also lost their repeat bid to the Yankees in six games, had a pitching staff led by... Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Wohlers, McMichael and Clontz. The three starters combined for 54 wins and an amazing 724 innings; Wohlers (ERA+ 145) and McMichael (136) were strong again, though Clontz (77) was much less effective. To sum up, the top five pitchers powered the Atlanta pennant-winners in both years.
Which brings us to the 2008-2009 Phillies.
6 comments | 0 recs |
Not Philly Enough
by pompomflipflop on Nov 5, 2009 3:50 PM EST
28 comments
Promoted from FanPosts, some laughs on an otherwise gloomy day... WC
This week, the Inqy's Frank Fitzpatrick wrote an article claiming that there was simply "not enough Philly" in Cole Hamels, and that this would eventually get to him. I realized that this impenetrable logic also spells doom for many other Phillies, who just may not be Philly enough to make it in this town.
1. Jimmy Rollins
He's too busy doing Red Bull endorsements and bowling for charity to really get his head in the game. And he loves Jay-Z, who's from NY. What kind of Philadelphian listens to Jay-Z?? Or hip-hop, for that matter-- god knows it's not blue-collar enough, always talking about champagne, bling, and whips that couldn't even haul a half-ton of gravel.
2. Shane Victorino
He's from Hawaii (if that IS his real birth certificate). Plus, he replaced Aaron Rowand: the greatest Philadelphia athlete of all time. Shane runs too fast and plays too well to ever have to run into a wall to make a catch, and that's not how we get it done in Philly.
3. Chase Utley
Much like his Hollywood pal, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley is just another slicked-back Cali pretty boy. And he never smiles during games, which just shows that he doesn't have the heart or love of the game that great players need to succeed.
4. Ryan Howard
The man does ads for Subway cheesesteaks. Nothing he could do on the field can make up for that.
5. Jayson Werth
Ok, I want to give it to him because he really does have the facial hair to be Philly enough. But who the hell spells a nice normal name like Jason with a Y? Way too fancy, if you ask me. And he almost looks like he's having TOO much fun. He should take a page from Chase Utley's handbook, and get more serious about the game.
6. Raúl Ibáñez
Seriously, what Philly fan wants a jersey with that many accents on it?
7. Pedro Feliz
No one likes him anyway. Also, Geno's wouldn't even serve him a steak.
8. Carlos Ruiz
He's from Panama. Isn't that where Abreu was from? And we all know how THAT worked out.
9. Cliff Lee
Did you hear him the other day when he said he wasn't nervous before the WS? That just shows he doesn't take the game seriously enough. Everyone knows Happ should've started Game 1 instead.
10. Brad Lidge
He's not performing as well as he used to, but gosh darn it does he try hard! He's got a great face of hair. Despite us being the defending champions, he makes us look and feel like underdogs. And if there's one thing Philly loves, it's an underdog. There you have it-- Brad Lidge is the Philliest Phillie we've got.
28 comments | 12 recs
Phillies Breakfast Links, November 5, 2009: Too Depressed to Eat Breakfast, Ma Edition
by Wet Luzinski on Nov 5, 2009 8:04 AM EST
178 comments
My last few playoff fill-ins on Breakfast Links were wonderful opportunities, for which I remain grateful. This morning, however, I have been passed a bitter cup: Skipper has tapped me to take one for the team on the morning after losing the World Series. Per Skip: Post some links and get out of there. Get on with the offseason while the Blog Lords get a head start cleaning out their lockers. But it breaks my heart. Just hard to watch. Just, just...Hurt.
So I tried to give the Yankees props. I'll even cop to the notion that they were the better team, and think that Matsui being the first Japanese player to win Series MVP is a great story, way better than this one, even though it came at the expense of Chase Utley. And if you thought last night sucked for you, imagine if you were this guy. Even, to a lesser degree, this guy.
178 comments | 0 recs
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NL East Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia
|
93 | 69 | .574 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
Florida
|
87 | 75 | .537 | 6 | Lost 1 |
|
Atlanta
|
86 | 76 | .530 | 7 | Lost 6 |
|
New York
|
70 | 92 | .432 | 23 | Won 3 |
|
Washington
|
59 | 103 | .364 | 34 | Won 7 |
(updated 11.7.2009 at 5:58 AM EST)
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by WholeCamels 5 days ago
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