Some Phillies Links For You, April 23, 2010 - WAR 'Pigs, Hey Joe, No Pirates Life for Me

by WholeCamels on Apr 23, 2010 7:48 AM EDT

An optical illusion, creating the appearance of Jamie Moyer moving at great speed. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Moyer delivers banged-up Phils past Braves
I'm kind of pleased that the starting pitching did so well after I forecasted it to be a huge problem in my Q&A over at Talking Chop.

R-Phils on deck - Blanton to pitch Friday
The loss of J.A. Happ will be softened quite a bit if Joe Blanton can come back healthy.

Duckworth wins first outing with IronPigs
No word on the status of Robert Person.

IronPigs tie club high hit mark
Brad Lidge hits 93 MPH

Strasburg scheduled to pitch against R-Phils on Monday
This effing guy again?!

Paul Hagen: Is it easier to pitch in NL than AL?
Help me out, did Hagen just write "LOL" in a printed word sports column?

Rays' Garza getting the job done
Matt Garza was probably the only player I can out of the 2008 World Series truly disliking.

Pirates' record 20-0 loss 'an embarrassment'
That escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast!

Phillies' Happ will take a seat, while Romero makes a return - The Delaware County Daily Times : Serving Delaware County, PA(DelcoTimes.com)
So we should pencil Happ in for some ligament replacement around about when?

Mets 5, Cubs 2: First Series Win, First Rodriguez Save - Amazin' Avenue
As a nation, let us celebrate K-Rud's first Save!

Apparently you really CAN'T win 'em all: Sweep attempt fails, Astros lose 5-1 - The Crawfish Boxes
Thanks, Astros (eyeroll)...

Jimenez and Olivo lead Rockies to 2-0 shutout of Nationals - Purple Row
Ubaldo Jimenez stymies yet another NL East club. I hope the Phillies don't have to deal with this guy, at least until October.

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Phils Starting Pitchers vs Atlanta

24 IP, 0 ER.

That’s pretty good stuff.

by Bilzo on Apr 23, 2010 7:51 AM EDT reply actions

The Lehigh Valley Rotation is really missing Omar Daal.

by phillies fan in bowie on Apr 23, 2010 8:16 AM EDT reply actions

I love sports writing:

“…Romero, who has pitched in one major-league game since July 19, proclaimed himself ready…”

What, is he the Holy Roman Emperor or something?

Remember the Phitans

by RememberthePhitans on Apr 23, 2010 8:21 AM EDT reply actions

The Pirates may be really, historically bad this year

“Instead, Milwaukee went above and beyond the usual damage in an epic three-game sweep: The Brewers outscored the Pirates, 36-1, and outhit them, 46-18, with 25 extra-base hits to the Pirates’ six, eight home runs to the Pirates’ zero. On the mound, the Brewers’ starters went 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, while the Pirates’ starters went 0-3 with a 15.82 ERA.”

RTFA for the run differential. They are headed on a road trip taking them to Milwaukee again, where the have lost 21 in a row. No kidding. Wow. If there is a way the Easter Seals or somebody can help the Pirates or something, they should do it. The curse of the Wet Luzinski? The Pirates have the curse of the Lame Bream or the the curse of the Francisco Cabrera, or something. Ouch. It’s been nearly two decades since they have had a winner.

Remember the Phitans

by RememberthePhitans on Apr 23, 2010 8:28 AM EDT reply actions

To be cursed at, say, left field or third starter is one thing. It’s true that The Curse of the Wet Luzinski, in full force, leaves you sad, cold, and wet. But the Curse of the Monongahela is a dam-buster that will drown you.

Now, just watch them go 4-2 against us this year.

by Wet Luzinski on Apr 23, 2010 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions

It would be a terrible time to be a Pirates fan (even worse than all the other recent terrible times to be a Pirates fan). I wonder if their game threads include suicide watches?

by Cormican on Apr 23, 2010 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions

I think when you’re the fan of a team like the pirates, or the royals, you change your expectations from the team in terms of wins and losses but how you watch as well. You don’t expect them to compete but maybe you wanna watch the prospects grow before they get traded. It’s how I make it through sixers seasons

by jemagee on Apr 23, 2010 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions

We’ve all been where Pirates fans are. The Eagles sucked for years, the Phillies have been historically bad, the Sixers own the worst single season NBA record of all time, the Flyers were terrible in the early 90’s.

by Cormican on Apr 23, 2010 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Well Yeah (though I am not sure i was alive for 9-73), but they had ownership that seemed to be willing to spend, they just spent stupidly…the pirates and royals have good prospects that will do well, give them hope and then leave until there are ownership overhauls.

by jemagee on Apr 23, 2010 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

The Pirates have had three different owners over the course of their current stretch of badness. No new owner is going to change the economic “facts on the ground.”

What a new owner can do is install the right management philosophy. This is what happened with the Brewers. Their current owner has done it the right way by (a) placing an appropriate emphasis on the long term, and (b) otherwise staying out of the way and not meddling. And they’ve done much better under since he took over. Their salaries have gone up, but again, that is more a result of good management than it is the cause of it.

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 11:31 AM EDT up reply actions

72-73 season?

Is when the 6ers went 9-73

by packimop on Apr 23, 2010 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions

the Phillies haven’t been this bad for this long since most of us have paid attention. I mean…there were bad years…but you never knew that they weren’t going to win anything for sure. With the Pirates…they honestly have no chance of winning until there’s a change of ownership.

by Bilzo on Apr 23, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Current owner only bought the team a couple of years ago, so that statement seems premature at best.

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions

even though you really couldn’t watch any of the games.

by packimop on Apr 23, 2010 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m old – i’m not that old

by jemagee on Apr 23, 2010 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

i say older

by j reed on Apr 23, 2010 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions

when responding to something like that

by j reed on Apr 23, 2010 7:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I would be furious if I were a Pirates fan. They are one of only a few teams that have never even made the expanded format playoffs. Given how old I am, their success in the 70s as well as the late 80s-early 90s would have been my major imprinting era. They are now working on a 20-year schnide of irrelevance. Furthermore divisional realignment really hurt them, then the oddest thing is a taxpayer-supported gem of a stadium that is usually one-third full.

Then again, all those Stanley Cups and Super Bowl trophies might be a mitigating factor that could help control my rage. Still, from a baseball perspective this is a pretty historically decent franchise that right now is being run into the ground.

by Wet Luzinski on Apr 23, 2010 5:23 PM EDT up reply actions

True, and I don’t think it’s fair to blame the owners. Even the Expos were occasionally competitive and their owners had very similar financial constraints. The young players they keep trading are good, but mostly not great. They aren’t the Expos selling off Pedro Martinez

by Cormican on Apr 23, 2010 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t mean to impugn the new owners. My comment was more about the Pirates gestalt over the last 20 years more than anything else. Also worth considering what this town would be like if the Phillies had the same record – a $600MM taxpayer boondoggle with those results would have had a different vibe entirely in Philadelphia, especially as Super Bowl trophies and Stanley Cups have also been scarce.

by Wet Luzinski on Apr 24, 2010 1:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Huntington has a pretty good reputation though, so I think they actually do have some hope for the future. I also think too much has been made of them trading McLouth, Sanchez, and Wilson. Those guys are OK players, but a small market team shouldn’t be spending market-rate prices on guys like that.

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Whatever his reputation there’s only so much one can do when ownership isn’t going to let you keep the guys you draft…his payroll restrictions are going to screw him over

by jemagee on Apr 23, 2010 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Not necessarily. The Rays became a good team with lower payrolls than the Pirates. (The Rays have a somewhat higher payroll now, but it didn’t rise until after they became good.)

I think the Pirates are hoping that becoming good will result in a rise in revenue, which will then allow them to make the same modest increases in salary that Tampa has made. It will difficult for them, but not impossible. They do have some position player talent at least.

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed on Huntington. He knew both the major league team and the farm system needed a major overhaul, so he got a bunch of quantity in prospects by dealing those guys. McCutchen, Alvarez, and Sanchez is a nice core to work with going forward, and I suspect Huntington will move to extract maximum value from guys like Zach Duke, Octavio Dotel, and the like.

Even when the Pirates were criticized for not taking the best player available in the draft last June (they grabbed Tony Sanchez instead), they did so for a good reason: to stretch their budget to sign some slot busters (like Zach Von Rosenberg, a Louisiana prep arm who was rated a touch better than our own Brody Colvin). Huntington’s thought process is sound; he was just operating from an awful position when he took over there, so it’ll take him quite some time.

For what it’s worth, I still think the Astros finish last in that division.

by PhillyFriar on Apr 23, 2010 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe the Astros will dump Oswalt and given Wade’s love for Phillies with limited skill sets, we can probably get him for Kendrick, Mayberry and Duckworth.

by Cormican on Apr 23, 2010 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Morning article roundup - thanks

I don’t recall seeing as much “other team” coverage in previous years’ daily link roundups. I like seeing those extra bits. It’s nice to have that sort of editorial service, if you will. Good job, and thank you.

Remember the Phitans

by RememberthePhitans on Apr 23, 2010 8:30 AM EDT reply actions

Man, those two strikeouts in the sixth were like works of art. It was like the Jedi mind s**t. Glaus’ and Heyward’s reactions immediately after getting rung up were priceless.

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 10:20 AM EDT reply actions

Heyward is way too new in this league to start acting up over a called third strike. Seriously, he should just STFU. I remember Utley getting called out on a QUESTIONABLE third strike (either last night or the night before), and he just calmly walked away.

by Boundforbeach on Apr 23, 2010 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Are you dare questoining the obvious heir apparent to the mantel of the derek?

by jemagee on Apr 23, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions

I really didn’t think there was a question about strike 3 to Heyward. Could have been frustration after getting a 3-0 start iirc.

by Wet Luzinski on Apr 23, 2010 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Was he complaining? The way I interpreted his reaction was “I can’t believe he outfoxed me.”

by taco pal on Apr 23, 2010 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions

agreed. I didn’t take his flinch/shrug as “what?? That was called a strike?!?!” I took it more as “what?? He threw that pitch there and I didn’t swing?? MerFer!”

by Bilzo on Apr 23, 2010 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions