Some Phillies Links for You, October 19, 2010: Gritty Giants, Beards in San Fran, Phillies Fan Dan

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 19, 2010 7:54 AM EDT

Giants could use Rowand in lineup against former team
But I was getting used to this Torres fellow!

San Francisco Giants notebook: Edgar Renteria still expected to play shortstop despite a torn biceps tendon
Ow. The Giants are clearly upping the grittiness quotient. And with Fat Panda at third, time to test that left side of the infield.

Crashburn Alley: Is Ben Francisco invisible?
Anytime someone mentions "defensive replacements," "Phillies left fielder" and "NLCS," I get an automatic e-mail alert. It came free with my SBN moniker!

Phillies-Giants: Numbers to consider
Cody Ross, everyone!

Phillies Notebook: Giants' Cody Ross commanding respect
I said, Cody Ross, everyone! Wonder if anyone else has noticed this before. Oh wait.

Bill Conlin: Shades of Philly in San Francisco
The Chair man with a San Fran field guide.

Fear my beard? Jayson Werth scoffs
Well of course he does, silly.

The Fightins: Phillies fans make some signs for Tim Lincecum
The ne plus ultra, perhaps, on the dugout sign meme. The No Santa sign ought to be a giveaway item.

McCovey Chronicles: Prelude to a Third Game
The esteemed Grant with the Giant fan perspective. On our side, the thinking is more: All we'll see if we lose is the Retrosheet box scores that had Aubrey Huff at 1B and Cody Ross in the OF, and we'll think, how the hell did the Phillies miss? (We'll conveniently overlook the tremendous starting pitching.)

Baseball Prospectus: Tuesday LCS Pitching Matchups
Our own Matt Swartz breaks it down NEW SCHOOL, sub req'd.

Baseball Prospectus: LCS Day 3 Recap
Christina Kahrl again, sub req'd again, but I'm just such a fan of her writing. To wit:

getting a top OBP source up in the order and counting on Polanco's ability to get balls in play behind Utley is a canny exploitation of the gifts of the players in the lineup. It perhaps also reflected that balls in play against this Giants defense, especially when tasked with baserunners, might lead to all sorts of friction, Clausewitz-style.

NY Times: Yankees Put Up a Big Number, but Put It in the Wrong Column
Cliff Lee once again joyfully listens to the lamentations of the Yankees' wimminz.

Phillies Fan Dan
This was passed along to us by Dan's brother Will, who wrote, "I think you'll agree you don't have to even like baseball for him to put a smile on your face." My nephew has Aspberger's and pervasive developmental delay, and this video really speaks to the pure joy of watching the game this time of year. More about Dan and Will here.

Hardball Times: Red Sox buy Reds
No, not those Reds, silly. The Red Sox ownership group is now setting up a global network of the rivals to the most famous teams in every sports league.

Tweet Comment 31 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Oh no, please don’t put Rowand in the lineup, Bochy! /brer rabbit

by taco pal on Oct 19, 2010 8:16 AM EDT reply actions

So Vic, Chutley and Polly are gonna start the game with 3 bunts?

"Call me dumb, call me stupid, whatever. I block shots."

by boknows71 on Oct 19, 2010 9:16 AM EDT reply actions

Panda is still quick so maybe Shane, but Utley and placido I don’t think have the speed.

Overplayed memes:
EASTCOAST BIAS
2002 WS CANCELED
Blue Jays want all our player that we don't utilize correctly

by say hey nation on Oct 19, 2010 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Ryan Howard might try one. With the shift, it might go for a triple.

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 19, 2010 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

http://books.google.com/books?id=KhApWFQw2LYC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=willie+mccovey+bunt&source=bl&ots=8nqE0z6VBu&sig=MmtxUKC5cydoKqAQsMH6WvefsYY&hl=en&ei=1am9TKHAHsL68AbTh5X9Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Go done one page and read the first indented quote.

Overplayed memes:
EASTCOAST BIAS
2002 WS CANCELED
Blue Jays want all our player that we don't utilize correctly

by say hey nation on Oct 19, 2010 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

ha, that’s great. The shift has really been helped out by the virtual elimination of artificial turf.

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 19, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

panda

What happened to this?

by taco pal on Oct 19, 2010 10:02 AM EDT reply actions

He like his mom’s cooking to much.

Honestly, I think he got cocky. He had such a great season last year that he thought he could continue the same old and get the same results. But don’t think he is statue at third. He is league average and has a strong arm.

Overplayed memes:
EASTCOAST BIAS
2002 WS CANCELED
Blue Jays want all our player that we don't utilize correctly

by say hey nation on Oct 19, 2010 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions

My understanding was that the team wanted him to lose weight not just for the player he is now, but to try to keep him healthy and mobile in the future (think the reasons the Phillies wanted Ryan Howard to lose weight).

by dannijd on Oct 19, 2010 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

He tried to lose weight, and apparently lost some, but still reported to Spring Training approximately twelve pounds heavier than the team wanted him to be.

by dannijd on Oct 19, 2010 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions

610 Update

I listen so you don’t have to:

1. Michael Vick Late Story/Non-Story. Reid is to blame

2. Unfunny Cole Hamels call from Conklin. Cole is ‘soft’. I find Conklin amusing a lot of the time, but not today.

3. Cataldi: Cole can’t play day games. Hughes finds SSS data from 2010 saying he can.

4. Cliff Lee. You already know what was said.

That took the better part of an hour with commercials. I would listen to music, but it makes me too sleepy on the turnpike.

"Ninety percent of this game is half mental" - Yogi Berra (SI, May 14, 1979)

by bandwagonesque on Oct 19, 2010 10:08 AM EDT reply actions

I feel you on the music and driving. Although it is a delicate line you have to walk, between falling asleep and punching yourself in the face.

Overplayed memes:
EASTCOAST BIAS
2002 WS CANCELED
Blue Jays want all our player that we don't utilize correctly

by say hey nation on Oct 19, 2010 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Hamels and day games

Hamels seemed to be truly awful in day games in 2009, going 0-6 in 9 starts with a 5.44 ERA. he seemed to get a reputation in certain quarters as a guy who couldn’t pitch during the day. but his K rate and walk rate were in line with his night games, and he had a .397 (!) BABIP.

this year he started more day games than in any other season and pitched more or less the same as he did in night games; slightly worse, but I don’t think any more than you’d see from random chance.

by perfectdepth on Oct 19, 2010 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions

I went all zzzz with the seventh-grade boys’ schtick talking about Barbara Billingsley and “the beaver.” See, it’s funny because “beaver” is slang for “armpit.”

Or so I’m told. I could be misinformed.

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 19, 2010 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh, I left that part out! My frontal lobes mercifully edited that disaster by the time I got to posting. The divorce rate amongst 60s and 70s sitcom actresses was discussed, culminating with a squeaky Conklin/Edith Bunker call when I hit the parking lot.

But really – there’s a lot to talk about before this game. Sandoval. The Franciso/Ibanez debate. Chase/Polly in the lineup. I have no idea why they dialed up that comedic trainwreck. Cataldi – I hereby criticize your playcalling!

"Ninety percent of this game is half mental" - Yogi Berra (SI, May 14, 1979)

by bandwagonesque on Oct 19, 2010 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Cataldi – I hereby criticize your playcalling!

In Soviet Russia, ....

☸ Do not take the finger for the moon. ☸

by RememberthePhitans on Oct 19, 2010 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions

cody f***ing ross

4 HR in 30 AB against Hamels. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T GIVE HIM ANYTHING TO HIT.

by perfectdepth on Oct 19, 2010 10:20 AM EDT reply actions

If it’s any consolation, we now move to a black hole of a stadium.

"I remember being three and I wanted to be a baseball player, that's all I ever really wanted to be. That and Spider Man." -Raul Ibanez

by Jose and the Contrarians on Oct 19, 2010 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

He had never homered off of either Halladay or Oswalt before this weekend. I think this means this is “Opposite NLCS” and therefore we can be confident that Hamels will own him.

by taco pal on Oct 19, 2010 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

inescapable logic!

heh.

by perfectdepth on Oct 19, 2010 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions

I was going with the law of diminishing returns...

He got 2 home runs in game 1, but only one home run in game 2. Maybe today he gets none?

by dannijd on Oct 19, 2010 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Or maybe just a double.

by Phrozen on Oct 19, 2010 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Baseball Prospectus

Finally subscribed yesterday. Could…not….resist….

☸ Do not take the finger for the moon. ☸

by RememberthePhitans on Oct 19, 2010 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

I just added Matt Swartz’s story that wasn’t up when I did the original post this morning. Between him and David S. Cohen’s preview, we dun gotcha all preview’d up today, folkzes.

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 19, 2010 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions

it’s not a complete preview without a hot Heidi pic…

by Boundforbeach on Oct 19, 2010 11:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Or white-dog-in-a-backpack.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Oct 19, 2010 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Braves release Melky Cabrera

http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/10/braves_release_melky_cabrera.html

now, granted Javy Vazquez has been kind of a disaster for the Yankees. but still: LOLBRAVES

by perfectdepth on Oct 19, 2010 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

Whoa. I’m actually surprised, as much as he may suck.

by taco pal on Oct 19, 2010 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m assuming they would’ve had to give him a raise in arbitration over the $3.1M he made this year. and while he’s a useful enough fourth outfielder, I doubt he’s worth $4M or $5M…

by perfectdepth on Oct 19, 2010 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks to our friends at McCovey Chronicles

They posted a great piece on the shortcomings of the Sports Guy. Worth a look:
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2010/10/18/1760394/an-open-letter-to-the-sports-guy

by phillyinportland on Oct 19, 2010 2:33 PM EDT reply actions

That’s good work.

But I suspect that if someone actually pinned Simmons down and made him respond to these accusations, he would just freely admit them. “You’re right. I no longer think your game is a very good sport. Deal with it.”

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

by taco pal on Oct 19, 2010 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions