A Few Phillies Links for You, June 15, 2010: Breaking: Phils Stink, Blueclaws and Burrell Blast

I loved the mascot story… it reminded me of all of the things that I do not like about the Yankees. It also reminded me of trying to catch lightning in a bottle— the creative team who designed the Phanatic caught lightning in a bottle with him, and then when they went to do the same thing in New York, it did not work— the character was neither cute, nor loveable… although I gues that fit in perfectly for the evil empire.

The arrogance of their media astounds me. The worst part is when you call them on it they can’t even see the glibess of their words it’s become so second nature. I can’t decide whether it’s a chicken/egg thing. Do it merely reflect the attitude of team and its fanbase or does the media lead them on this charge at all or in part?

They gave the other reason: He is the best pitcher in baseball, don’t you know? (Frankly, I don’t know what they are afraid of— he has an almost 3 ERA against them, and almost 3 runs means they will beat us).

They are not the center of the universe?

Solipsism (n): a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also : extreme egocentrism

Considering that it is the Post, we should be thankful that none of our players are featured on the back cover in either a skirt or a diaper.

I just read the actual article, and if you get past the puns, in the title line, he makes good points. Sabathia’s pitching has not been up to its usual standard— even ESPN’s Sweet Spot blog made that point recently. While if I were the Yankees, I would not lose any sleep over playing the Phillies at this point, I can understand their worries with his pitching— while a pitcher’s performance is only poorly and vaguely represented by wins and losses, Sabathia’s ERA is also high, and he is not pitching as they hoped. I just hope that the Phillies can catch a little bit of luck and maybe another win tonight.

I’m conflicted only because the absence of the Post means some people would read nothing at all, which I generally feel is sad. But if you believe in the gateway/stepping stone model, I don’t believe the Post sets anyone up to read at a higher level. So it’s a null set.

Me too.

Although, I have to admit that he did not say anything that I was not already thinking— I think that this team right now is very lost. They have had two very good years, and last year spent all year in first place. Now they have the look of a team that has fallen and can not get up. That worries me— I know that the talent is there, but if they do not believe that they can win, and start playing with some confidence on the field, it is going to be a long season.

However, I disagreed with Smith to an extent on his analysis of the pitching. Yes, we got very bad performances from Moyer and Blanton over the weekend, and Kendrick did give up a lot of runs in his last start. However, to say that our pitching outside of Halladay and Hamels is bad disregards the good and great performances we have received from Kendrick and Moyer, even during this bad stretch. Is there room to improve pitching wise? Yes. Is it one of the Phillies biggest problems? No.

I tolerate his existence because I firmly believe he and Howard Eskin envision being trapped in a room with each other as their own personal hell.

Transactions list. It looks as if they already had a roster spot available from promoting John Suomi to Lehigh Valley on June 12. I’m assuming you don’t need to open up a spot for a major leaguer on a rehab assignment, but that could be wrong.

Ramirez has basically been what we expected, I’d say. Live arm, young, very raw.

I hope that he gets through this rehab stint well, is not rushed back before he is ready, and that he manages to enjoy more than 6 games of good health when he returns. I miss him, and more importantly, I think the Phillies miss him and need the breath of fresh air that he may be to that team.

Against F-Mart too. Even in the minors, it rankles a bit.

I’m trying to muster up some sympathy for the Yankees and their fans, but for some reason it eludes me.

Centaur free baseball tonight.

I personally don’t find the English football press to be that annoying. Much more annoying is the significant element of the American press that feels compelled to write the same idiotic “I don’t understand why people like soccer” column every World Cup.

More Red Sox like imho, as they’ve taken a backseat to the Argentina, Brazil, Italy and Germany for a few decades now. Other teams, like France, Portugal and Spain have sort of played the Tampa Bay Rays role.