The Good Phight: FanShots

Phillies project to be 5th best team in MLB in 2012

2012-02-13T02:55:37Z

Phillies project to be 5th best team in MLB in 2012

Look at run differential - the Phillies are just under 100. They are fifth in run differential. Fortunately, teams 1 - 4 are in the AL, and three of those are in the AL East: NYY, BOS, TAM, TEX.

I think the projections oversell teams at the bottom and undersell the ones at the top -- the teams that are at the bottom of the standings tend to dump players at the end of the year and start younger bodies (see: Astros, Houston) resulting in underperformance with respect to projections made at the start of the year. The Astros would have won more games in 2011 had they no traded Bourn and Pence, for instance.

That said, I think the Phillies will exceed 92 wins, but I haven't projected them myself yet -- I will probably sit on that till mid-March.

Billy Beane Says '93 Phillies Inspired Moneyball

2012-02-12T15:49:34Z

Billy Beane Says '93 Phillies Inspired Moneyball

"I was right here in Philadelphia watching the World Series [which the Phils lost to Toronto]," said Beane, who was part of a panel discussing "Moneyball's Impact on Business and Sports." "Those '93 Phillies took a ton of pitches, walked a ton, and scored a ton of runs. That's when it hit me."

The Yankees do it with their monetary muscle and the Phillies with their sellout crowds and the...

2012-02-12T02:31:57Z

The Yankees do it with their monetary muscle and the Phillies with their sellout crowds and the promise of a TV-rights bonanza come 2015.

Jeff Passan, discussing having 3 $20 million players

Alaska Airlines now offers nonstop service, Seattle to Philadelphia!

2012-02-10T21:47:54Z

Alaska Airlines now offers nonstop service, Seattle to Philadelphia!

Hooray! Two nonstops, Fairbanks to Seattle, Seattle to Philly, and I'm there. No more messing around with Chicago or JFK!

Inaugural sales are pretty good, too. Might be worth a trip this summer.

Phillies Pitchers exceeded 30 WAR in 2011

2012-02-09T20:51:53Z

Phillies Pitchers exceeded 30 WAR in 2011

I don't know if I followed up on this yet since my post in May about the dominance of the Phillies' pitching in 2011, but they ended up with over 30 WAR for the year (per the baseball-reference.com link above). That's better than many of the well-known "great staffs" of the past, like the 20 win Orioles, the 97 Braves, the 66 Dodgers, the 69 Mets, etc.

I know I did post a "the Phillies resembled the..." follow-up, where it turned out that the Phillies most resembled the 1997 Braves, but I don't recall putting the WAR into perspective.

Here's the link to my early season item fromthe yeat that summarizes things through a good chunk of May.

Some salient points for followers of recent Phillies baseball

2012-02-09T16:44:59Z

Some salient points for followers of recent Phillies baseball

The article is about the Patriots, but many observations apply to the Phillies, or rather, to being a fan of the Phillies.

@jaysonst: #Phillies have called around to see if it's possible to move Joe Blanton to open payroll...

2012-02-08T22:20:53Z

@jaysonst: #Phillies have called around to see if it's possible to move Joe Blanton to open payroll space for Roy Oswalt. . . .

Jayson Stark, Twitter

Q & A with Ed Wade

2012-02-08T19:07:07Z

Q & A with Ed Wade

Marshall Harris and Jim Salisbury conducted the interview on CSN's Phillies Hot Stove. His answer regarding trades he made with the Phillies as GM of the Astros will be especially interesting to regular TGP readers, given the coverage the topic has received on this site.