Update [2007-8-27 12:38:36 by dajafi]: If you haven't seen it, check out this article about the wind currents at OFJOAB--the secret behind its baffling power to turn broken-bat popups into home runs.
For anyone who watched the game tonight, Padres outfielder Milton Bradley wasn't tossing his bat when he hit the three-run homer that turned around a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead and sparked an eventual 14-3 blowout win. Bradley threw his bat in disgust that he'd popped up a pitch he could have driven.
The ball just went out anyway, another home run thanks to OFJOAB--my new official acronym for Our F---ing Joke Of A Ballpark. Though this came to me during the game, based on Radano's blog I think Bradley himself would approve:
Bradley broke his bat on a home run to left. He threw his bat in disgust and then realized what a "(expletive deleted) joke" CBP is.
True or not - and I'm not picking a fight with swordsman like some other beat guys are rumored to have done - this Park has a bad reputation aroudn the league. The Phillies won't sign a pitcher at cost, but instead have to wildly overpay to get an arm (Read: Eaton). Whomever said fans come to see home runs didn't realize titles bring in fans and that pitching wins titles.
Read that again, Bill Giles and the rest of you imbeciles. Read it until it sinks in. Send for some coffee and maybe a change of clothes. Yes, the Phils get those cheap ones too. But they play half their games by, if not a different set of rules, a different set of conditions and strategies. And the evidence suggests they don't even play it very well--as in signing flyball pitchers like Eaton and Moyer in a park that's more likely to kill them because of the way they pitch.