Phillies Breakfast Links, September 30, 2009: Vague Optimism Edition

by WholeCamels on Sep 30, 2009 8:36 AM EDT

Baseball Prospectus | Ahead in the Count: Pitcher BABIP by Count
The latest piece from our old friend Matt Swartz (sub. required).

Martinez expecting 'normal' start tonight
Hopefully "normal" doesn't mean "130 high stress pitches."

Plan in Place to Restore Planters Damaged by Phils Parade
Soon to be destroyed by another parade?!

Moyer exits game with left groin strain
The Mound of Death claimed two pitchers last night.

Sam Donnellon: There's no panic in Charlie Manuel
Love Charlie, even though his handling of the bullpen kind of put the team in a pickle...

Eagles, Phillies team up to fight breast cancer
I think it's a horrendous shirt, but it's for a good cause, so have at it.

Feliz's blast helps Phillies win
Happy Pete made this Pete happy.

The Fightins - The Most Animated Balk Call In The History Of Baseball
Video clip of Tim Tschida's awesome call of Yorman Bazardo's sixth inning balk the other night.

No more predictions coming from Rollins
I wish this whole thing would just die.

Catcher Sal Fasano plays for son who has heart condition
I apologize for ever making fun of you for being an awful baseball player, Sal.

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Comments

Fasano

To be fair, he’s only awful compared to other professionals.

by Pokey1228 on Sep 30, 2009 9:21 AM EDT reply actions

Planters

Says they’re going to wait until November to install the new ones. Good on them.

by taco pal on Sep 30, 2009 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

Well, the WS is still scheduled to end in November.

Even if they waited until after the hypothetical parade, it could be the cue the Eagles need to finally win a Super Bowl.

When you pause to think about it, Philadelphia would be a great town for an Ironic Angry Mob, which could celebrate by vandalizing the illegally parked cars in the middle of Broad Street and on the sidewalks around City Hall.

by Wet Luzinski on Sep 30, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Balk call

That balk call is AWESOME!

by David S. Cohen on Sep 30, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

Cholly

His statement about loving every part of the game, “getting slapped, getting knocked down and losing…” is very Zen.

Gotta like that.

by dajafi on Sep 30, 2009 11:35 AM EDT reply actions

You Gotta Have Wa is one of the very best baseball books I have read. No doubt Charlie-san’s time in Japan has had an influence.

by Wet Luzinski on Sep 30, 2009 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

They taught him discipline while he taught them how to loosen up and have fun. There was tension and misunderstanding at first but they soon realized how much they had in common and how much they had to learn from one another.

No wait, that was actually the plot of Mr. Baseball. Woops.

by taco pal on Sep 30, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I’d love to hear words like “dadgumit” in a Japanese accent.

by Wet Luzinski on Sep 30, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions

oh, and I thought this was the plot of the Karate Kid.

wax on, wax off

by Wet Luzinski on Sep 30, 2009 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I went to a Yomiuri Giants game while I was in Japan back in June. This reminds me that I never wrote about that for TGP (or anywhere else, for that matter). Maybe this winter—being there by myself, and being a big dork, I took a lot of notes and pictures.

by dajafi on Sep 30, 2009 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Didn’t know that Cholly was into getting slapped. Ewwww.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Sep 30, 2009 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Since I didn’t watch the game last night…who was the other pitcher the mound claimed?

by Bilzo on Sep 30, 2009 12:18 PM EDT reply actions

I think it was Chad Paronto.

by dajafi on Sep 30, 2009 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

http://www.cadillac-time.com/

Play with sound UP

by Sept.28.Oct.27.Dec.28.2008 on Sep 30, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions

playoff matchups

Is it too soon to be posting about this? I’m going to do it anyway.

So, I think Blanton should be the last starting pitcher to take a turn in the rotation in the regular season (on Friday vs. the Marlins). The next two scheduled starters are Hamels and Happ. Both should either be rested or put on very low pitch counts on Saturday and Sunday.

One thing I noticed about our potential playoff opponents is that both the Rockies and the Cardinals are weaker against both LH hitting and LH pitching. I suppose our lineup isn’t really as lefthanded as it seems – when LHP face us they get three LH hitters and when RHP face us they get three RH hitters. And Utley and Ibanez both have better numbers against LHP than RHP this year. But we certainly have the ability, at least, to load up our rotation with LHP, which could be pretty advantageous.

The Dodgers, in contrast, are weaker against RH hitting and RH pitching.

by taco pal on Sep 30, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

Re: the lefty-vulnerability question, I’d probably keep Happ in the rotation against Colorado and St. Louis, but swap him out for Pedro against the Dodgers.

by dajafi on Sep 30, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions