And Your New Favorite Team is Denver

It's all but official, Iverson is going to Denver to join the Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson on the same team with George Karl as the coach. Now they might not be good for at least 15 games as Carmelo sits and thinks about the stupid punch he threw the other night. At first I liked Carmelo's punch. It was like "Fuck with my teammate I'm going to fuck with you." Which is great and all, but what you got to realize also is that you are your team's best player and if you make that move you know you are going to get punished for it. Your team might lose a few games and that could end up really hurting your team in terms of playoff position. Either way Carmelo probably does regret it a lot and he's learned from it.
January 20th is the first game he can come back for. Until then, its going to be the Iverson show in Denver. As it stands right now, Denver will have the 1st and 2nd highest scorer in the league. Hopefully the two of them can work together. I'm not used to rooting for non-Philly teams, but this is definately an exception. I'm rooting for Iverson, I'm not taking my Iverson poster down. I want to see him and the Nuggets beat everyone in the league. The fans still love Iverson and I bet Iverson still loves the fans. Tuesday, January 2nd, the Sixers travel to Denver. Too bad that game isn't in Philly. The Nuggets don't come to Philly anymore this season.
Maybe Comcast can start showing Denver games instead of the Sixers?


Eh, at least we are going to have 3 first round draft picks next year, right?
I'm also rooting for the Sixers to lose every game so we can get that top draft pick. And don't try and tell that I'm a bad fan for saying that. This is a certain circumstance where you can root for your team to lose.
Just to ruin the draft pick thing for you too, here's the all the first round draft picks the Sixers have had since Iverson in 1996:
Keith Van Horn, Larry Hughes, Speedy Claxton, Samuel Dalembert, John Salmons, and Andre Iguodala. Granted Iguodala could still become a great player, but he's not really capable of leading the team yet. I guess we do Chris Webber to lead the team now though, geeze doesn't that sound great. Or Andre Miller, it's all up for grabs.

Sixers, Nuggets reach agreement for Iverson - ESPN
Iverson goes to Nuggets - Inquirer
Iverson Finally Traded ... To The Nuggs! - Deadspin

Rumor Wrapup 12/7

I know it's only 8pm so there could still be more happening today, but here's what's gone down so far. In case you missed it, late last night the Phils went and made a pretty surprising trade and gave up 2 relievers for a 30 year old ace. Great move in my opinion.
Keith Law in his ESPN blog says how it's a good deal for the Phillies:

The Phillies desperately needed a starter like Freddy Garcia, a durable league-average starter to head the rotation and take some of the pressure off Brett Myers and wunderkind Cole Hamels. Garcia has thrown at least 200 innings in six straight seasons, and just posted the best walk rate of his career. Acquiring him allows the Phillies to trade Jon Lieber, whom they've recently criticized publicly for his lack of conditioning (perhaps not the best marketing strategy) and whose inability to get left-handed hitters out makes him a major liability when the team you're chasing has Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran all coming at you from the left side. Garcia's a free agent after 2007, assuming the Phils don't work out an extension with him, so this is a straight future-for-present deal for Philadelphia.

It could still turn out to be a good deal for the White Sox, Gonzalez could end up being good and maybe Floyd can live up to his potential with a nice change of scenery.

Now let's get to today's rumors, because as we know the Phillies still need relief help and another bat.
Check the Rumor Mill for any new rumors.
-Supposedly the Phillies might go after Vernon Wells. Since the Blue Jays won't be able to resign him after next season they are probably looking at their trade options.
-After getting Freddy Garcia, the Phils are probably out of the running for Jason Jennings.
-The Phillies are still being included right now in the Barry Zito talks, though that seems very unlikely. Bad for the Phils, the frontrunner for Zito appears to be the Mets.
-The Phillies have been thrown in as being interested in 28 year old center fielder, Ryan Church, of the Nationals. Church went .276 - 10 - 35 in 71 games last year after being called up from AAA. He may have some promise as a centerfielder, but I don't really think the Phils need a centerfielder. He may be a good major league ready bench pickup if the trade is right. I don't know what the Nationals are going to want.
-I don't know what the status of Aaron Rowand is since the Garcia trade with the White Sox went down without him. The Cubs are listed as another team interested him as well as the White Sox. Rowand had this to say after being asked about the Phils trying to trade him, "There is reason to speculate that I could be traded because [the Phillies] have a guy in Shane Victorino that can fill my spot and comes a lot cheaper than myself. And I know they wouldn't mind bringing in another pitcher to try and make the club better." It appears as if Rowand is safe for now unless same team wants him for the reliever or right handed big bat that we want.
-No one really knows whats going on with Manny Ramirez, but the Phils could possibly be in that mix, unlikely but possible.
-Ruben Amaro Jr. was asked why the Phils decided go after a SP when everyone knows the need a RP and a bat. He had this to say, "Most deals we were trying to do were pitching intensive. If you look at championship teams, it comes down to pitching. This is a bona fide Major League starter, innings eater and a guy who's won in the World Series."
-The Rangers, Pirates, and Brewers appear to be the teams that might take Jon Leiber from the Phils.
-With 6 starting pitchers What are the chances you'll have six starters by Christmas? Mike Arbuckle replied, "Probably not great. If we were to send out Christmas presents, we probably would only need to send five to starting pitchers. I don't know about this week, but probably sometime over the next 10 days to two weeks [a move will be made]."
-Most of the Phillies quotes have been taken from the newest Phillies.com post.
-This is my own speculation, but hopefully the Phils can move Jon Leiber straight up for a decent reliever. Maybe a Leiber and Rowand for a reliever and right handed bat kind of deal. I know I'm being a bit optimistic.

Some U.S. Soccer News - Klinsmann says No to US Job

After embarresing themselves in the World Cup this year U.S. soccer is looking to turn things around. The first thing they did was fire coach, Bruce Arena. Speculation was that they would bring the ex-German coach, Klinsmann, who lead the German team to an impressive finish this summer. Everyone in America (that cared) was really hoping the US team could get Klinsmann to pick this team up. That's not going to happen though, at least not yet. The U.S. team still needs to find a coach and the next World Cup may be a ways away, but I think they need to start preparing now. Stop the embarresment, let Americans root for their own country, give our team a chance. I'd like to see American soccer gain some ground and become popular, but I'm pretty sure our team needs to make it out of the group stage a few times for that to happen.

Klinsmann withdraws candidacy as U.S. coach

Freddy Garcia Will Be A Phillie

The Inquirer is reporting that the Phillies have traded for Freddy Garcia. The reported deal brings in Garcia from the White Sox in exchange for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.

Here's the story. Apparently the Phils have gotten him without giving up Aaron Rowand.

Here is Freddy Garcia's ESPN.com Player Profile.

This now currently makes the pitching rotation:

Brett Myers, Garcia, Jamie Moyer, Cole Hamels, and Adam Eaton

edit: Here is a Chicago Tribune article saying the trade happened late tonight, but they use the above Philly Inquirer article as their source.

edit 2: Here is a Seattle Post-Intelligencer that says the trade is the biggest of the winter meetings is the biggest of the winter meetings so far, that seems to be pretty right. They don't give their source at all. Probably posted there because Seattle is Freddy's ex-team.

edit 3: Ken Rosenthal is reporting this trade as well now, which all but makes it official. Now we just have to see the Phillies website say so.

I'm a fan of this trade. Many people had given up on Floyd and I think Gio is worth getting a solid starter in return for. We didn't give up Rowand and now we can get rid of Jon Lieber to get a nice bat for Ryan Howard.
Well enough for the news blitz, I'm pretty sure this trade has gone through, even though ESPN or Phillies.com hasn't reported it yet.

edit 4: I lied. Here's the ESPN article.

Also just like at the end of Darren Daulton's career, Mike Leiberthal has been signed by the Dodgers as a backup. It's sad to see him go because I loved him so much, but his time has come. I wish him luck with the Dodgers and I'll probably give him his own post at some point in the next few days if I have time.

Kevin Mench to Philly?

A number of rumors are circulating about a trade that would bring corner infielder Kevin Mench to Philadelphia. The sources on the rumors aren't that great so I won't even bother.
First rumor is that after the Phils get Garcia they will be willing to give up Leiber for Mench straight up in a trade. One source says that the Brewers would trade Mench and Jose Capellan for Leiber. It seems unlikely that anyone would give up 2 players for Jon Leiber, but hey we can hope.


I think the Phillies should make a deal for a starting pitcher relatively soon if they plan on doing so this offseason. As soon as Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt sign every other team is going to get pretty desperate in their attempts to get a starter. I have feeling that a lot of teams are already out of the running in the Zito-Scott Boras bidding war.

Aaron Rowand Might be Heading Back to Chicago

AL Buzz: Rowand return to White Sox still possible
The Phillies did have too many outfielders this season, but Delluci now gone and people wanting to get rid of Burrell that is now not the case. Rowand is a great and would be greatly missed, unless of course we got someone great in return.

According to multiple reports out of Philadelphia, Phillies GM Pat Gillick would be willing to deal Rowand and a pitcher - either reliever Ryan Madson or starter Gavin Floyd - to the White Sox in exchange for starting pitcher Freddy Garcia.

Garcia is a 30 year old Venezualan who 17-9 in 33 games with a 4.53 ERA for the White Sox last season. This year he made $9 million.
Ryan Madson would be a nice reliever to have to let go and Rowand is a very valuable outfielder. If they go do it for Floyd I'd be very happy. Garcia would be a nice starter to have in the rotation.

Ex-Eagle Violates Drug Policy

I really wanted to say 'Used Steroids.' But apparently defensive tackle Hollis Thomas currently of the Saints is suspended because of his asthma medicine. That's a low blow to the Saints for a seemingly important medicine that Thomas has to take. "Thomas is a 335-pound defensive tackle who has struggled to keep his weight down and doesn't have the body that normally would be linked to steroids." I guess Thomas is going to serve his suspension because it's obvious that he has taken a drug that is banned by the NFL. His fight is in saying that the drug shouldn't be banned when used in a case like his. Good luck to Thomas getting back on the field. Another reason he should start serving the suspension now would be because if for some reason his appeal doesn't go through he would end up missing a playoff game. Now he'll only miss the rest of the regular reason.

Saints' Thomas suspended four games for steroids

Dallas Green Backs Pat Burrell

"Dallas Green Backs Pat Burrell." When I say that I don't me like he doesn't think we shouldn't trade him, rather Burrell definately has the potential to become a great player. There is a nice article posted today on the Inquirer website, I don't know if that means the article was in the paper today or it will be in tomorrow's. Either way it seems that Green has come out to pump Burrell up. Give Burrell some confidnce. He says that Burrell may be a bit too much of a party animal and not concentrating on baseball. There have been rumors to this and he also said, "I've been out with him a couple times in Florida. We have a secret [watering] hole every now and then." The Philly fans would definately take Burrell back in if he started playing well and I think the article says that basically so that Burrell will hear it. We don't Pat Burrell out specifically. We just want bad players, who don't try hard, who look at lots of called 3rd strikes, and miss a lot of clutch off the team. Not you specifically Pat.

I did say some things along this line about a month ago in this post.

Jim Salisbury | Green challenges Burrell

P.S. In trying to find a picture for this article I have now learned there some emo singer named Dallas Green, so no that link you see when you search for Dallas Green isn't the myspace profile of the Philly Dallas Green.

LITO!

The Eagles did it, it was a great game, it came down to the wire and Lito came through with the big interception to end the game. Brian Westbrook is a god and Jeff Garcia played better than anyone expected him to. I didn't realize he had that kind of mobility. The defense was still kind of iffy, but at least they got the final turnover thanks to the Dawkins blitz and Lito catch. I know there will be plenty of analyzing by other blogs and by ESPN and by other newspapers, but I just wanted to say that this game was fun to watch and the Eagles aren't done.


I'd just like to thank Steve Young for believing in the Eagles, Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson both suck and won't admit they were wrong, but who cares. Irvin would obviously pick against the Eagles.

Fly, Eagles, fly, on the road to victory!
Fight, Eagles, fight, score a touchdown one-two-three!

Hit 'em low, hit 'em high, and watch our Eagles fly!
Fly, Eagles, fly, on the road to victory!

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

Don't Call Pujols Bonds Yet

Pujols wants to apologize specifically to Ryan Howard, saying what was in the newspapers is not what he meant.

"I feel so bad because I love Ryan Howard," Pujols told USA Today. "I never said he didn't deserve the MVP. He is deserving of that award. He earned it. That's why he got it. I'm not trying to defend myself; I just want to tell him that I'm sorry for all of this because he earned the MVP. The last thing I want to do is spoil this for him."

Regardless of that statement he still did say "I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP."

Pujols told USA Today he was hurt at how his comments were portrayed in the media.

Maybe it's a thing with spanish translation, if so someone please explain it for me. Otherwise I wouldn't call it a misunderstanding, I'd more call it Pujols realized everyone thought he was an asshole and he realized that he was an asshole. Is he sincere in his apology, not sure. Just thought I'd pass this story along in case it goes unnoticed.


Also, on a side note Sammy Sosa is 100% sure that a Major League team is going to want him for next season, let's see how that plays out.

Phillies DID want Joe Borowski

I say did with the capitals because apparently his physical wasn't too great. The "team doctor examined the results of the physical and advised against giving the pitcher a multiyear contract." Apparently his shouldered isn't perfect. The Phils could still sign him to a one year contract. He'll probably look for another team to sign him to a multi-year deal. He could be a good pick up as a setup man, we'll see if he still has any desire to sign with the Phillies now.


Phillies back out of deal with Borowski after physical

Is Pujols Trying to be an Asshole?

Albert Pujols, who finished 2nd to Ryan Howard for the 2006 NL MVP has come out to say that he believes the winner of the MVP should be from a playoff team. He's obviously saying this because he didn't win the award. Would he have still said it his team had missed the playoffs. I'd say definately not. Did he deserve the award? Sure, he had a great season and if he hadn't been injured he'd probably have had much better stats and actually won the award. The other important thing to note about this is that the Phillies won 2 more games than the Cardinals this year. The Cardinals nearly choked at the end of the season and almost didn't make the playoffs. If his team had actually missed the playoffs would Pujols then say that Beltran deserved the MVP or would he still take the award?
This ESPN article says that voting takes place before the postseason, which would mean that the fact that Pujols won the World Series had nothing to do with the voting. It probably hurt him more that his team almost fell apart at the end of the regular season.
It is a reasonable arguement to say the MVP should come from a playoff team, but after A-Rod won the award back on Texas everyone knew that's not how the writers felt. I have no problem with someone making this arguement. The thing that I don't like is that it appears that Albert Pujols is trying to become an asshole. Maybe he's been following Barry Bonds career too much. Maybe it's something in his personal life. Who knows. Bottom Line is he doesn't seem to be a real likable guy anymore. The Dominicans must love him, but besides that I think people are starting to notice he's become a cocky asshole.
I've noticed this, Bill Simmons said something along this line during the playoffs, and I imagine there will be a few articles about this following this statement by Pujols.
Let's just hope that a great talent like this doesn't become a hated player like Bonds by the end of his career.


P.S. Philly fans we need to remember this next year when the Cardinals come to town, so Pujols can hear about it and maybe give us the finger or do something bad.

Gillick Better Not Be Done

It's not even December yet and I'm already getting antsy for Gillick to get some solid stuff done on the Phillies. I don't know if anyone else feels that way. I think there is a pretty decent amount of action going on in the MLB world and the Phils don't seem to really be a part of that right now. They didn't win any of the rights for any of the Japanese players, I kind of would have liked to see a Japanese player come to the Phils, since apparently it is going to be part of the future of baseball. We don't want the Phillies to miss out on the addition of Japanese to the game like they were late on the addition of Blacks to baseball.
Wes Helms and Adam Eaton are the only additions so far this year.
Tim over at MLB Trade Rumors even feels bad for Phils fans.

- Phils sign Eaton. I read this and said aloud, "Eh." My wife looked at me funny for grunting at the computer. If I were a Phillies fan, I'd be kind of annoyed by this signing. It seems as if Pat Gillick couldn't find a way to spend the money he had earmarked for a big bat so he went with Eaton and Wes Helms. This is not exciting.

Hopefully we get some good news before Christmas, I'm still optimistic, I've added a countdown clock until Spring Training starts on the sidebar. I know we all can't wait.

edit: let me know if the counter doesn't work for you

Bye Bye Wolf and Dellucci, Hello Adam Eaton

A few transactions of note for the Phillies.

Eaton replaces Randy Wolf -- who is expected to join the Dodgers -- and fills out a starting rotation of Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jon Lieber and Jamie Moyer. Eaton is the third offseason signing for Philadelphia, who also retained Moyer and added infielder Wes Helms with a two-year, $5.45 million deal.

Phillies.com News

Dellucci would rather get a starting job on another team than ride our bench and who can blame him.

Promised Cleveland's starting job in left field, free agent David Dellucci has reached preliminary agreement on an $11.5 million, three-year contract with the Indians.

ESPN.com News

I don't know whether Randy Wolf wanted out of Philadelpha, the Phillies didn't want to give him a lot of money, or if the Phillies just didn't really want him back. Whichever, Wolf is gone to the Dodgers for only a one year contract with an option of 2 years. My own speculation believes that Wolf may have signed with the Dodgers because that is where he is from and lives. I think it's a bit cheap of him to go and ditch the Phillies after the paid him for all that time he was on the DL and they gave him a spot in the rotation this year. Let's say he pitches really way this year, the Phillies invested so much in him and then he's just going to up and leave.

The Dodgers and pitcher Randy Wolf have agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal

ESPN.com News

Why Preseason rankings are incorrect

Look who's #1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll this week, Ohio State. Yes, they may have the best class of freshmen in the nation. Ohio State only has 11 first place votes but more points than UCLA, who has 13 first place votes. They haven't really beaten anyone yet and they don't have their man, Greg Oden, yet. They have no reason to not be at the top spot since they started the season at 3, but they haven't really earned the top spot yet. Regardless, UNC should knock them off on Wednesday, that is going to be a great game. UCLA is a great team and they should be #1. UCLA beat both Kentucky and Georgia Tech last week to win the Maui Invitational. The next big game they have is 12/9 vs. Texas A&M, a team that is looking to have a real big year, should be a good game.

Quarterback Problems? Nope, Blame the Defense

Everyone thought that the Eagles problem would be deciding between Jeff Garcia and A.J. Feeley. Jeff Garcia played well considering. He even got the Eagles to within 10 points of the Colts towards the end of game. Instead of getting a 3 and out and getting the ball back the defense looked like a bunch of chumps and the pass-heavy Colts run all over them to run the clock out. Then a stupid fumble returned for a touchdown doesn't help things out too much either. So they went from a close 10 points with a possible comeback coming to a final score blowout out 45-21. Embarrassing. Everyone thinks the Eagles should suck because they don't have McNabb, it doesn't mean that they should just give up. The NFC is wide open, but it appears the Eagles don't quite have what they need to make it or just don't want to make it.

Who's on Your Hall of Fame Ballot

McGwire, Gwynn, Ripken headline first-timers on ballot
The list of players on the ballot for the Hall of Fame this year is pretty noteworthy. Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn should both easily get in on their first try. Paul O'Neill is also on the ballot for the first time this year, as is Bobby Bonilla. Jim Rice and Rich Gossage are the two leftovers that were closest to getting elected last year and it should be interesting to see if they pick up any votes this year. The most covered story will most likely be whether Jose Canseco and/or Mark McGwire deserve to get into the Hall of Fame. Canseco has admitted to using steroids and he says that McGwire used them with him. McGwire denies any wrongdoing. The baseball writers will have a big decision to decide whether they want to hold McGwire and Canseco accountable for their alleged steroid use or to look past it and vote them in for their home run achievements. Neither has really received any punishment yet besides having their reputation tarnished, this would greatly change that. If a player who uses steroids doesn't get into the Hall of Fame, it would be interesting how the players respond to that.

Anyways, here are the players on the ballot

• Harold Baines
• Albert Belle
• Dante Bichette
• Bert Blyleven
• Bobby Bonilla
• Scott Brosius
• Jay Buhner
• Ken Caminiti
• Jose Canseco
• Dave Concepcion
• Eric Davis
• Andre Dawson
• Tony Fernandez
• Steve Garvey
• Rich Gossage
• Tony Gwynn
• Orel Hershiser
• Tommy John
• Wally Joyner
• Don Mattingly
• Mark McGwire
• Jack Morris
• Dale Murphy
• Paul O'Neill
• Dave Parker
• Jim Rice
• Cal Ripken Jr.
• Bret Saberhagen
• Lee Smith
• Alan Trammell
• Devon White
• Bobby Witt

Bring on A.J. Feeley

The Eagles season isn't over like everyone thinks. The NFC is wide open. They could still definately make the playoffs. Jeff Garcia is not the answer to anyone's problem, but Garcia will be the starting QB this sunday against the Colts. I'm still excited for the game, a win against the Colts could definately energize the Eagles enough to make the playoffs. I hope Garcia plays badly though and Reid has to put in A.J. Feeley, what the hell, why not play him? In this ESPN.com article Sal Paolantonio says the Eagles aren't playing Feeley because if the Eagles happened to win with Feeley they don't want a QB controversy next season with Feeley and returning McNabb. Basically he makes it seem like a financial decision and refusal to look to the future after McNabb is done.

Feeley's success would force the Eagles to confront a question that it may not be ready for: Life after No. 5.

Garcia over Feeley stirring debate

For the Love of the Game

the700level.com found this article and I'm going to steal it. It's a great article by NBC sports about Chris Coste. It talks about his 12 years in the minors and how he almost called it quits as a player this past year, how happy he and his family was when they heard he made it to the majors, how he fought past getting no hits in his first 13 at bats to end up with a .328 average at the end of the year. I'll admit I was one of those people that booed him at around at bat number 12 with no hits. It looked stupid to have an old guy who couldn't hit take up a roster spot when a young player could be getting the opportunity. Coste fought past all of that though to basically take the starting catching job away from Mike Lebeirthal. Maybe it was because Lebeirthal was always hurt or maybe it's because Coste was the better player this year, I'll go with the latter. Well maybe some day there will be a nice movie about Coste and we'll be able to say we were there for that season, now only if the rest of the team had played their movie roles correctly and maybe they could have been in the postseason.

For the love of the game

Astros Sign Lee

Source: Astros sign Lee to six-year, $100M deal
Well, anyone who was concerned about the Phillies signing Lee don't have to worry, it appears the Astros in their desperation have signed him. He'll be making about the same amount per year as Soriano. He more than doubled his annual salary, he was only making $8.5 million last year. If he was Plan B, whats Plan C now for Gillick?

Lee = Bad Idea

Signing Carlos Lee or Manny Ramirez would be like bringing back Bobby Abreu, but paying more for him. They only good thing about Lee is that he's right handed to bat between Howard and Utley. That doesn't make him that worth it. Buster Olney gives his reasons on why the Phillies would look like idiots.

And now, four months later, they are on the verge of signing another player who is A) roughly the same age (Abreu is 32, Lee is 30); B) much worse defensively, considering his range and throwing arm; C) an inferior athlete -- Lee's thickening body greatly concerns some general managers; and D) much, much, much more expensive, with the team's financial obligation for an impact corner outfielder increasing by perhaps as much as $85 million, if the Phillies' bid takes them over $100 million.

It's very Philly-like to easily look like an idiot for the front offices of our teams, but let's hope they don't take that route.

Happy Thanksgiving and please no family fights over Pat Gillick, Andy Reid, Allen Iverson, or any Philly sports personalities.

Link to the Buster Olney Blog if you got ESPN Insider

The New Hero

The most popular professional athlete in Philadelphia was on the court at the 76ers game last night.

And it wasn't Iverson. This is a very good article by Bob Ford about the Old Greats of Philly might be disappearing. Iverson is growing old and the Sixers still haven't found the winning formula for him. McNabb just had a career changing injury and when he comes back he probably won't be the same. But the Phillies appear to be past the stage and already turning the new page into a new era with Ryan Howard. Howard appears to now be the most popular current athlete in Philadelphia, which I would agree with.

Bob Ford | Iverson's popularity baton passes to Howard

Ryan Howard 2006 National League MVP

It's now a fact. The speculation is over, Howard has won the 2006 NL MVP. He received 20 first place votes and 388 points, Pujols received 12 first place votes and 347 points. Lance Berkman was 3rd and Carlos Beltran was 4th.

Howard becomes the second player in Major League Baseball history to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards in consecutive seasons, following Cal Ripken in 1982 and 1983. Fred Lynn (1975) and Ichiro Suzuki (2001) have the even sweeter distinction of winning both awards in their first seasons.

Phillies.com article

Howard, the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year, had 58 homers and 149 RBI while batting .313. He had the most homers in the major leagues since Barry Bonds hit a record 73 in 2001.

He set Phillies records for home runs and RBI, producing the highest totals in those categories in big league history for a second-year player. Twenty-three of Howard's homers put the Phillies ahead and five tied games. The Phillies went 32-18 in games in which he homered.

ESPN.com article

Your Move Gillick

Let's see what Pat can do now after his most sought after prized possession has turned him down.
Inquirer article

Here's where Gillick needs to get creative. He has a pile of money that had been earmarked for Soriano. He should spend it on bringing back Randy Wolf as a No. 5 starter and getting the best relief pitching he can. Then he needs to trade for a righthanded bat to pair with Howard.
...
He can't let Ryan Howard or the Phillies down.

Let's see what he does, I'm definately feeling a trade or two considering there's not much available free agent wise.

Tortured Philly Fan

Balls, Sticks, & Stuff said it best today so basically just read his post here. The Phillies didn't get Soriano and the Eagles are looking like a lost cause right now. The only difference between myself and Ball, Sticks, & Stuff is that I'm younger and have never ever seen a Philly Championship. I'm still waiting for my first.

Let's see if Andy Reid even tries to continue with this season cause no McNabb probably means no playoffs. Maybe we should just lose the rest of our games and draft Calvin Johnson.
Let's see how Gillick does with the rest of this free agency period or if he justs reiterates his statement that the team will not compete in 2007.

I think there is going to be a lot of optimistic, happy Philly sports talk around the dinner table this holiday season.

Phillies Sign 3B Wes Helms

Wes Helms has been signed for apparently 2 years and $5.5 million. Wes Helms career stats and ESPN page here. Helms is 30 years old and a veteran of the Braves, Brewers, and Marlins last season. I like the move, he may not be awesome offensively or defensively, but he's gotta be an upgrade from Nunez and hopefully even David Bell.

The700level has all the other Philly news for the day. A very good post by him and it basically means I don't have to do too much researching to find out some good information.

The Phils Got the Ball Rolling

Phillies.com article

"They're in it," the source said. "They got the ball rolling."

The Phillies have apparently made what appears to be a 5 year offer today to Soriano. There are a number of other teams that are also in the mix for Soriano, but there it doesn't seem like there is any frontrunner that we know of. Gillick said that he doesn't expect to find pitching in the free-agent market, which hopefully means that any of that extra cash they have can go towards buying a new big bat.
Of the free agents that Gillick might go after the article had this to say:

Gillick told the paper the Phillies expressed interest in roughly 40 of the 180 or so players that filed for free agency. Those names include Joe Borowski, David Weathers, Miguel Batista, Chad Bradford, Tomo Ohka, Octavio Dotel on the pitching side, and Mark DeRosa, Wes Helms and Soriano on the hitting side.

40 players seems like a lot, but just 'expressing interest' doesn't mean much. I am glad to see Gillick doing something and not saying 'I think we can win with the team we got.'

That Japanese 3B doesn't appear to be coming to Philadelphia. Cleveland Plain Dealer.

It appears Tampa Bay has won the bidding right for Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura. The Devil Rays reportedly outbid the Indians, San Diego and Boston for the left-handed hitter. The Yakult Swallows, Iwamura's club, are expected to announce the winning bid Wednesday or Thursday.

ESPN.com says that Mark DeRosa signed a 3 year contract for $13 million.
That would leave Wes Helms as the only free agent 3B left that the Phillies are going after according to that one article.

Soriano Update

The Phillies are definately going after Soriano with at least a 5 year contract.
This site cites a supposed Daily News article that says the Phils offered him 5 years and $73 million. That just seems to be a misquotation though since that is the exact contract that Aramis Ramirez got.
Marcus Hayes in this article says the Phils are prepared to offer as much as $15 million a year for 6 years.
This Chicago Sun-Times article says that Soriano is expecting a 7 year deal for about $120 million. The article makes it seem as if Pinella really wants Soriano, it seems unlikely that the Cubs will be able to sign another big bat to a large multiyear contract, but who knows they might.
It appears on the outside that many people think the Angels will be willing and able to throw the largest contract at Soriano and that's basically all that matters to him.
This article says the Angels are ready to spend a lot of money to get back into the playoffs, even if that means paying too much to guarentee they get Soriano. That's not good news for the Phillies who are unlikely to just throw a huge, irrational contract right at Soriano.
This article today says the Phils have not made an offer yet, but they will meet with his reps tomorrow to discuss a deal.
Well stay tuned, I plan on updating often on any news I read about Soriano. Post your comments if you hear anything about Soriano or any other signings. I plan on knowing about the Soriano deal before the Phillies' site reports it. I'm that excited about getting him as everyone else should be.

Phillies Go Japanese?

I first saw this on The Good Phight. No, the Phils aren't going after that Japanese starting pitcher. They might have gone after Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura. He is a 27 year old that can play 3B, 2B, or any outfield spot. The bid is said to be larger than $300,000.

The Padres will find out next week if they outbid others from a group believed to include the Devil Rays, Red Sox and Phillies.

There hasn't been much news about this guy in Philadelphia which either means the Phils aren't serious about getting him or they are keeping their desire very quiet, possibly in an attempt to keep the bidding price low. The Phillies have been one of the few teams to not to catch baseball Yellow Fever in the last few offseasons. It'll be interesting if Pat Gillick changes that.

Padres Article about getting Iwamura.


Update: I was doing some searching trying to find a pic of this character for you guys and I stumbled upon what I guess is his own personal official site where he goes by the nickname of TOPGUN #1. I think I must be missing something in the translation because that would just be pretty funny if he called himself Topgun. Here's his homepage. And here's a picture of him.

Prepare for more BCS controversy

There were a few upsets of some top 10 BCS teams this Saturday. The debate begins on which one loss team deserves to be in the National Championship game. The first team will be the winner of the Ohio State - Michigan game this Saturday, that's a definite. The top of the list includes USC (3), Florida (4), Notre Dame (5), Rutgers (6), Arkansas (7), West Virginia (8).
USC got embarrassed by Oregon State, in terms of one loss they have the worst one. Florida lost to Auburn. Notre Dame lost to Michigan. Rutgers is undefeated obviously. Arkansas lost to USC. West Virginia lost to Louisville. Notre Dame and USC still have to play one another. Rutgers still has to play West Virginia. Arkansas still has to likely play Florida in the SEC championship game.
It doesn't make sense for USC to be ranked higher than Florida and Notre Dame since they have the ugly one loss. There is going to be a lot of BCS talk in all these news this week, but the bottom line is there is a lot of football to play. And it all may be for nothing and the Championship game could end up being a rematch of Michigan vs. Ohio State. Who knows what the computer is going to think.

BCS Standings on ESPN.com

Tigers get their big bat - Soriano speculation continues

Detroit Tigers got the big bat that they wanted in their lineup. Who knows how many more years Gary Sheffield has, but it looks like a great move for this season as the Tigers will try to get back to the World Series. Sheffield seems to be very happy about the trade. He won't have to play 1st base, he'll be back with a coach he likes, and he's got the money he wants.
The Yankees on the other hand are saying it's a good deal for them as well. They add 3 legitimate arms to their system in to help build a farm system that has been called very weak in terms of pitching.
I don't see the Yankees as a team that likes to build up starting pitchers from early on in their career so I'm think these 3 young kids might be good trade bait for some other deals. On the other hand maybe the Yanks are going to try to develop some of their own arms. They did get rid of Jaret Wright.

Jaret Wright was traded to Orioles for reliever Chris Britton. Hopefully fans in Baltimore don't think Wright is the savior for their team because he's not that good.

It appears as if the Red Sox have made the top bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka of Japan. That could be a huge signing for them and a big steal from the Yankees, whom everyone thought were the frontrunners.

Jeff Bagwell appears to be out of Houston for good. That is ashame that a great player like him can't finish out his career on the team that he has played for for so many years.

Most of the Phillies talk is centered around the Phillies trying to sign Alfonso Soriano.
First up though the Phils have a few soon to be free agents to deal with. They should bring back David Dellucci unless they are 100% sure they are going to get Soriano. They should let Mike Lieberthal go even though I do love him and had a great career for the Phillies. I know the Phils don't exactly have any great catchers to replace him, but Lieberthal should have recognized his downfall and retired before he started sucking it up. Aaron Fultz is a mediocre reliever they should let go. Arthur Rhodes might be worth re-signing if its financially smart. They should keep Randy Wolf at least for another year to see how he does coming off the surgery. Rick White is nothing special in the bullpen. Jose Hernandez is a nice veteran infielder that they should keep unless they have some young guys they want to give a bench spot to.
Bill Conlin has a nice article giving reasons not to sign Soriano. He has some valid reasons, but can he deny that a big bat like Soriano's wouldn't help the Phils. Who else is there to get? Amaris Ramirez is staying in Chicago, he would have been a great pickup.
Most importantly for the Phil's though is that they make some serious moves this offseason. The team for yet another year came up a few games short from making the playoffs. The fans won't to see the management make moves that show they want to make it to the next level.
There a few issues the Phils have to deal with this offseason. I'm not sure about the order, but this is they way I see it now.
1) Pitching - most importantly the bullpen needs some upgrades to be able last the whole season and perform well.
2) Sign Soriano - signing a big name like that would excite the city and get people excited for Phillies baseball instead of everyone just being pessimistic about the team like every other year.
3) Figure out the Burrell situation - he doesn't deserve to be talked about anymore.
4) Sign or trade for another 3rd basemen. Nunez isn't going to cut it.

What Goes Through Burrell's Head

Phillies hamstrung by Burrell's no-trade clause

I know most players say they aren't really fazed by the media and fans too much. But if Pat Burrell is reading a single sentence in the Philly papers or any national baseball news now he's got to be getting a little hurt by it. Maybe a little bit ready to wave that no-trade clause, maybe a lit bit pumped to hit a little better, maybe a little pumped to get healthy. I don't know hopefully he's thinking something. The last remains of Ed Wade's ruin on this team, Pat's huge contract with no-trade clause included, is big news this winter for the team. It hurts the Phillies because no one wants to see anymore no-trade clauses handed out which may hurt the Phil's chances with Soriano and also obviously there's no where for Burrell to go.

I'm getting tired of the Burrell talk - there's 3 things that could happen in my mind and I'm not sure which one is most likely. One, Burrell could get traded this offseason and the Phils would get basically nothing in return and have to pay a lot of his contract. Second, he continues to play horrible and constantly hears boos in Philadelphia until he loses his hearing and finally quits baseball altogether. Third, he stays in Philly because Gillick realizes it's better to have him on the bench instead of paying half his contract and getting a single A reliever in return and the slight chance that he actually figures his life and starts getting some clutch hits. Philly originally loved Pat Burrell and if he started to play well like he was projected to I think the Phans would take him back in. Now it won't take one or two good games from him for that to happen, but still I'm just saying him coming back isn't the end of the World for the Phillies.
I hope you read this article Burrell and you get your swing back and your bat off your shoulder and come back and become an All-Star, but at the same time remember that if you play like last I will continue to be one of those Passionate Philly Phans that will boo you for an entire 9 innings. So you pick which you want.

Go Rendell!

Swann's bid for governor intercepted

It was pretty obvious that this was going to happen, but this is good news for Philadelphia and I'm going to consider this Eagles news as well. Rendell for President? If only.

Inquirer Article

Weekend Wrapup

Well I needed to make a post since its been a few days and a lot of great sports happened this weekend. A few thoughts on the weekend to help me procrastinate from doing my work.

- The Eagles didn't play, which was definately good for them. At least Dallas lost, Giants are going to win the division easily at the rate they are going. Hopefully Eli is a bit like his brother though and chokes in the playoff in his young career. On that note, let me say this is Peyton's year. I knew the Colts were going to beat the Pats despite what everyone said about Tom Brady being so much better than Peyton Manning (see Bill Simmons). I think Peyton finally realized what he needs to do and this is his year to make things happen for the Colts. They have a solid enough time around him for that to happen as well. If Peyton does end up winning the AFC or even the Super Bowl, I'll say I told you so, but if he chokes again then well that pretty much will define his career.

- Penn State was supposed to be so much better this season then they turned out to be. Hopefully the defense is able to be good next year even though they will lose a bunch of guys. The offense isn't going to lose anyone except for Tony Hunt, who is a huge factor though and will be greatly missed. Poor JoePa and his broken leg, that's not going to help his side when he says he can still coach. I don't blame this season on him, I think he should be back next year at least.
- West Virginia had to go and lose to Louisville, they had the championship right there for the taking if they wanted it. Hopefully next year Pat White and Steve Slaton can improve even more at destroying defenses. I also hope that Rutgers beats Louisville because then that will be awesome to see the BCS try to turn away an undeafeted Rutgers team from the championship. Heads will roll on that one.

- The Phillies really want Alfonso Soriano. I don't know who's more serious about Soriano, Gillick or all the fans and media wanting Soriano, so I don't know how believable the stories about the Phillies going after him are. Gary Sheffield is being tossed around as possible player the Phils might acquire, he will be scary behind Howard, but I would much rather have the younger, more athletic Soriano. The Phils are also known to give Yankees more than they deserve in a trade and I wouldn't to see any of that happen in a deal for Sheffield. I'm thinking that there is about a 75% chance that Pat Burrell is not on the Phils roster starting next season, judging from all the articles about him. Apparently the Phils are willing to pay for a sizeable chunk of his paycheck. I don't whether I'd rather have play 3 days a week for us and get paid all that money or see him play for another team, do well, and pay a majority of his contract. As much as I want to get rid of Pat Burrell this has the lookings of a real crappy deal that does nothing for the Phils except get rid of Burrell.

- The Sixers are 3-0. I was all excited for this season to start and then I read all the preview articles and that got me pretty depressed about their chances, but look now they haven't lost a game yet. Playoff fever baby, ok maybe its a bit early for that.

- College basketball kicks off soon. I have a good feeling about underdog Philadelphia team Villanova doing well this season. Philly teams always do better when they are the underdog and unlike last year when everyone in the country knew about Nova, this team has the talent, but is pretty far from the national spotlight. I hope Florida starts off the year with a few losses, who actually likes that team? How are the rest of the Big 5 teams years looking? I haven't read much about them.

Well, I'm off to watch some Monday Night Football.
No, thats a joke, I don't think anyone is going to watch this game, the big game of the week was last night.
Tonight is the first round of Flag Football playoffs, thats where the action is tonight.

Wooo Sixers

I bring you more from ESPN. Bill Simmon's previewed the upcoming NBA season. I haven't cared for the NBA too much since the Sixers started sucking and it appears this year will also be like that.

The feel-bad Sixers
I have them penciled in for "worst team in the East" status, and not just because they'll be dealing Iverson within the next four months and everyone in Philly is more depressed than Robert Smith when he was writing the "Disintegration" album. Consider the following things ...

A. They're stuck paying Iverson and C-Webb a combined $81 million over the next two seasons.

B. They're paying $21 million in dead salary money this season to Todd MacCulloch, Jamal Mashburn and Greg Buckner.

C. They owe Sam Dalembert and Kyle Korver another $79 million over the next five seasons.

D. Their starting point guard is Kevin Ollie, the NBA equivalent of kicking off an NFL season with Sage Rosenfels and Aaron Brooks.

E. According to the Indy Star, Embattled GM Billy King (that's officially his name now) spent $1,600 to attend Coach K's leadership conference two weeks ago.

F. Points A-thru-D and point E are probably related.

G. Philly reader Rob B. sums everything up: "I'm a Sixers season-ticket holder, which probably tells you everything you need to know about my psyche. The Sixers send you an e-mail at some point each offseason where they lay out what their new ad campaign is this year. They've had doozies in the past, including one campaign that said 'This place is fun!' This year, the slogan is 'It's a Philly thing.' (Go to Sixers.com, it's plastered all over there. And you get to see Mo Cheeks say 'It's a Philly thing' in a really awkward manner.) My friends and I have been pondering for months now what exactly 'it' is? Losing? Mediocrity? Overpaying crappy players? Disappointment?"

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/part2/061101

So, um let's hope the Eagles pick it up or else the only news this winter is going to be which team won't take Pat Burrell.

Baseball Rumors - Phillies Included

It's very nice having the ESPN Insider subscription. So let me bring this good news to you from the Rumor Central department at ESPN.com.

Yanks definitely cooking up Sheff deal?

Oct 31 - The Yankees' auction of Gary Sheffield has progressed to the point that general manager Brian Cashman has a potential deal in place if he wishes to pull the trigger, an official from another American League team told Newsday.

But Cashman isn't quite ready to make a trade. A person familiar with the team's plans said "there is no urgency" to the process. The Yankees seem inclined to wait at least a little longer with the hope that the market for Sheffield improves.

The Cubs and Phillies are believed to be among the most aggressive teams in pursuit of Sheffield, who is set to make $13 million in the final season of his contract in 2007, with at least $4.5 million deferred. The Yankees have until Sunday night to officially pick up Sheffield's option, and they are expected to do so shortly after agreeing to a trade, according to the newspaper.

As long as the Phillies don't go signing him to huge deals that ruin the team in future years, like say Pat Burrell then I guess it might work out. We aren't exactly in need of an outfielder though. We do need protection for Burrell though so I guess thats what this is good for.

You Just Gotta See This

I know this post does not have anything to do with this site but this is a news article that is definately worth reading.

Black and white twins born by one in a million chance

Barry Bonds to be Free Agent

I don't really like to give this asshole news, but this is worth noting. Bonds plans to file for free agency since the Giants have realized that he is not really worth anything anymore to them. So some American League team, maybe the Angels, will the league's biggest distraction on their team. If a National League team signs them it will make no sense and probably piss a lot of people off.
It will be interesting to see the Giants without Barry Bonds.
Next season will be America rooting against Bonds breaking Aaron's record.

ESPN - Agent says Bonds will file for free agency quickly

P.S. According to this article Bonds will have already filed for free agency.

World Series is Over

The Cardinals have won, somehow in some unbelievable way. Basically the Tigers did help them out a lot and the Cards were pretty lucky. 5 games with at least one unearned run will kill your chances in the World Series. So you could blame Verlander's horrible throw last night that lost the game. I guess the Cardinals are going to want some sort of respect now. They probably deserve it. It's good for the National League at least that we won the World Series. So when the American League people say our League is crap we can just ask them who won the World Series.
Every team in the National League that won more games is really kicking themselves right now. The Phillies are one of those teams that had more wins than the Cardinals.

Jamie Moyer for 2 More Years

You're thinking we got this really good, experienced veteran who is 43 (will be 44 at start of season), let's keep him on the team. No, not just this season. Let's sign him to a two year deal for a pretty decent amount of money.

I don't know what the reaction to this is going to be since it was just announced this morning. I'm all for the Phillies spending money on pitching though. There's not many pitchers available out there right now to go for anyway. Moyer should be a pretty solid starter. Definately not a #1 or #2 starter or even #3, but still a good sign I think by the Phillies. It assures them of having a veteran in the staff as opposed to trying out a bunch rookies again. As long as he stays healthy this should be a good deal.

He made 8 starts for the Phillies and here they are:

DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	TBF	#Pit	Dec.	Rel.	ERA
9/29	@Fla	W 14-2	5.0	4	1	1	0	2	3	4	6	22	88	W(5-2)	--	4.03
9/24	Fla	W 10-7	6.0	8	5	5	3	2	3	11	6	26	97	W(4-2)	--	4.27
9/19	ChC	W 4-1	7.0	6	1	1	1	0	3	10	9	27	98	W(3-2)	--	3.79
9/14	@Atl	L 1-4	6.0	5	4	4	2	0	2	12	8	23	71	L(2-2)	--	4.32
9/8	@Fla	W 3-2	8.0	5	1	1	0	0	4	11	7	29	90	W(2-1)	--	3.95
9/3	Atl	W 8-7	7.1	6	3	3	2	2	3	13	5	28	103	--	--	5.12
8/28	@NYM	L 3-8	6.0	9	7	5	0	0	4	12	6	28	98	L(1-1)	--	6.00
8/22	@ChC	W 6-3	6.0	6	3	3	0	1	4	10	4	26	94	W(1-0)	--	4.50

Philies sign lefty Moyer, 43, to two-year extension

Cheer Up Eagles Fans

I got some YouTube Videos to cheer up all you Eagles fans. Look at it this way, this season is still looking bright and it's not 2005. We'll be alright.

This is definately one of the best YouTube videos out there and its a Brian Dawkins Career Highlight Mix with some very good effects and good music.


This one is a just a nice Eagles season get pumped video with the help of Rocky.


Remember that body slam Dawkins did. Here it is.


Why Not? Here's 4th and 26.


That's enough for now.

McNabb Puked

17-7 and about 11 minutes left in the game today and McNabbs pukes. Since I didn't watch the game I didn't see this, but here it is. Thanks to 700-Level for the quick YouTube find of it.

BCS Week 2

BCS Standings - October 22, 2006

Ohio State is #1 still, deservedly so.
The new #2 is Michigan.
Ohio State plays Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern before November 18th.
Michigan plays Northwestern, Ball State, and Indiana before November 18th.
November 18th these two teams meet. Looking at those schedules there is no reason these teams shouldn't still be ranked #1 and #2. It will be a great game that decides which teams goes to the BCS championship game.

#4 West Virginia (undefeated) takes on Big East rival #6 Lousiville (undefeated) on Thursday, November 2nd. Both teams have this week off so that game will decide which Big East team will have a chance to make it to the National Championship game.

Other Notable things in the BCS standings:
Notre Dame is #8, but still has to play USC (#3).
Rutgers is #7 in the computer rankings and #14 overall.
Boise State is #12 (computer) and #15 (overall).
Washington State is #25 in the BCS, but #37 in USA Today poll.

62 Yards!?

...and another last second field goal. The Eagles can't finish these games off. As Brian Westbrook said afterwards we got to get started earlier in games and finish off the games at the end. That's a lot to do really, but they are so close to being a great team this season. Westbrook heathly is one of the most dangerous players in the NFL. McNabb is having an amazing season. Hopefully we'll get Donte Stallworth back next week since he started practicing this week. The defense has room to improve. Andy also has to look at some of what he's doing.
All these are the impressions I got even though I couldn't watch the game.
Hopefully next week I'll be able to watch the Eagles mess up the Jaguars.

Flyers - WOW

Flyers GM Clarke resigns; coach Hitchcock fired

The Flyers have started off the season 1-6-1 and lost last week 9-1. Firings like this don't happen that often in Philadelphia and it sure is surprising to see Bob Clarke out of office. A shake up is probably a good thing for this team because not many people in Philly cared about hockey and 1-6-1 record wasn't helping that. But, now people will pay attention to see how the team does after this shake up.
Stanley Cup, here we come.

NFL TV Distribution Maps

www.gribblenation.net/nflmaps/

On this site, every week you get to see what part of the country will get to see what game on CBS and Fox. Very good for those of us that are living in the wrong part of the country.
Apparenlty Baltimore isn't going to get to see the Eagles this week, which sucks.

Lamar Thomas wants you to know "We Ready"

You probably already seen the fight, but skip forward to the 1:45 mark and you get to hear the great remarks of Lamar Thomas that got him fired and his part edited out of the tape.
Classic video here, I hope YouTube doesn't take it down, ever.



Back To You In The Booth, Lamar - Deadspin

New Coaches for the Phillies

Art Howe, Davey Lopes and Jimy Williams were added as coaches. All 3 have been managers and all 3 were signed to 1 year contracts. So after the 2007 season the contracts of all 3 of them along with Manuel will be up.
Howe will be the 3rd base coach - Art Howe Managerial Record.
Lopes will be the 1st base coach - Davey Lopes Managerial Record.
Williams will be the bench coach - Jimy Williams Managerial Record.

"This completes Manuel's 2007 staff. Pitching coach Rich Dubee, hitting coach Milt Thompson, bullpen coach Ramon Henderson and catching instructor Mick Billmeyer had already been retained."

Phillies News

Howe - Lopes - Williams

6-0? Nope 4-2

The Eagles after 6 weeks are 4-2. They could easily be 6-0. Their two losses were both close games. They blew a huge lead to the Giants in the 4th quarter and that was the first loss. Yesterday, Michael Lewis gave up a huge touchdown and the rest of the defense couldn't stop the Saints at all in the last 8 minutes and the Eagles ended up losing on a last second field goal. McNabb watched from the sideline with the rest of the offense unable to do anything in the final minutes of the game.

Carney's field goal at buzzer lifts 5-1 Saints over Eagles

One way to look at the 2 disappointing games is that its good the Eagles got the losses out of their system earlier in the year and they should be a stronger, more prepared team in the future because of it.

LCS Time - The Teams to Remember

Think back all those years of baseball playoffs that you have known, for some it hasn't been that many years, for others it's been a very long time. Since 1995 8 teams have made the playoffs total from both leagues. 8 teams isn't many compared to other sports, but it is still a lot to remember.

So after the years have gone by most people don't remember who was in each divisional series. People will remember this year the Yankees got knocked out depending on how much happens with the A-Rod situation, but no one is going to remember the Dodgers and Padres were in the Playoffs (except for their fans obviously). This is the stage of the playoffs were teams go down in immortality. Making it to the World Series is a ticket to always being remembered. Not only will every person in that team's hometown remember you, but people all around the country will remember that you played in the World Series.

In some years there are some pretty memorable teams that didn't make it to the World Series - Yankees (04), Atlanta (more than once), Cubs (03), Pirates (90,91,92), Baltimore (96).

Making it to the World Series lives on in history though. Making it to the World Series guarantees the memory will be lived on by the fans of that city. So the LCS does really decide who the best team in the league is that year. It might be who was the best team throughout the whole year in the league, but it does decide who was the best team in the league in October - and what else matters?

So do the Cardinals and Athletics both want to become known as the Braves of this decade because they sure as hell are trying to do that.

The Cardinals have made the playoffs every year since 2000 except for '03 and have only made the World Series once (in '04 where they got spanked by the destined Red Sox). They got some aging veterans and they need to take advantage of this team. That being said they are only down 1-0 in the series. I'm just anticipating more of the same from them. Maybe next year they could do everyone a favor and not waste a playoff spot on themselves.

The Athletics have had a consistenly good team that has been able to hang around in that AL West division. They are down 2-0 to the seemingly destined Tigers this year. If they can't turn the series around, it's going to hurt them next year not having Zito anymore.

The Mets and Tigers - the two best teams for a majority of the start of the season. They are both proving that it does not matter how you play in September, only that you make it to October.

The League Championship Series - which team wants to be remembered forever as being the AL/NL representative in the 2006 World Series. We shall see which team wants it more.




P.S. I apologize to all fans of teams that I may have misspoken about in this post. Yes, I am jealous that your team made it to the playoffs period. Yes, I am a Phillies fan. Yes, the last time they made it to the Playoffs was 1993.

76ers in Europe

The Sixers are in Europe for the start of training camp on this NBA world tour thing. It's nothing good for us really besides being able to hear about European teams beating up on the Sixers. Rodney Carney is blogging on NBA.com about the trip. Rodney Carney’s Europe Live Blog.
American players just love to complain about how Europeans play the game differently.

Obviously, free throws are something we need to work on. But their kind of game was not like the NBA. They drove and kick, and you're supposed to stop the ball. We'd rather give up a jump shot than a layup. They knocked down shots.

When we get to playing NBA teams, I think it will be a little different. We weren't really prepared for how they played.

Hopefully they are actually good this year, maybe people will follow them then.

The focus today was defense. We can run and we got scorers, but we need to defend better. Coach Cheeks made a point in our meeting earlier that our offense was seventh in the NBA last year, but our defense was like 23rd. And that's not good enough. That doesn't cut it.

Our offense is good enough. We just gotta fix a few things on the defensive side. We gotta help more and we gotta trust each other more. I can see the trust now. We just gotta get it down in these next few days of practice.

I just can't wait to get at it. The first day was fun. We're out here bonding. I can see it's going to be a much better team this year.

Fitting Sports into Your Time

So this is a super busy week for me in terms of work, but its also a great week in terms of sports.
Some interesting events taking place.
-I happily took a break and watched all of the Eagles game yesterday - that made me happy and made me $4.17 (welcome to the world of sports gambling).
-T.O. sucks and I wanted him to attack Drew Bledsoe, its only a matter of time. Dallas has a great team, but Bledsoe is doing everything to make them suck.
-Philly has two great 'Howards.' Darren Howard had an amazing game yesterday and Ryan Howard should be finding out about his MVP title soon (who knows when that comes out?).
-The Yankees love drama and there's going to be a lot of yankees talk for a while now.
-The Tigers - A's series will be great.
-The Mets should be able to handle the Cardinals as long as their offense scores runs.
-Who's going to hire which managers?


There probably more interesting stuff I'll think of, but now back to studying.

Buck O'Neil

Baseball lost a Negro League Legend last night.

Buck O’Neil, a star first baseman and manager in the Negro leagues and a pioneering scout and coach in the major leagues who devoted the final decade of his life to chronicling the lost world of black baseball, died last night in Kansas City, Mo. He was 94.
...
He professed no regret for his lost chance to play in the majors. “Waste no tears for me,” he said in his autobiography. “I didn’t come along too early. I was right on time. You see, I don’t have a bitter story. I truly believe I have been blessed.”
...
For O’Neil, baseball represented a lifelong joy. “Nowadays, whenever us Negro leaguers put on the old uniforms for autograph-signings and such, you can just see the years peel away,” he wrote in his memoirs. “I’ve seen men lose 50 years in just a few hours. Baseball is better than sex. It is better than music, although I do believe jazz comes in a close second. It does fill you up.”

New York Times

Buck wasn't bitter about the fact he never made it into the majors nor was he was bitter about the fact that he didn't get elected into the Hall of Fame.

He wasn't even mad when he came up one vote short to get into the baseball hall of fame this year.

God's been good to me. They didn't think Buck was good enough to be in the Hall of Fame. That's the way they thought about it and that's the way it is, so we're going to live with that. Now, if I'm a Hall of Famer for you, that's all right with me. Just keep loving old Buck. Don't weep for Buck. No, man, be happy, be thankful.

Deadspin

Now I know it's ashame when we begin to recognize the achievements and greatness of person when they die, but still from what I have read about Buck O'Neil is story is an amazing story. I haven't seen the documentary "Baseball" though I would really like to. Buck has some amazing stories in this short PBS interview.

...I did see something I admired just about as much, with Satchel Paige and Babe Ruth. This was in Chicago, after Ruth came out of the major leagues. He was barnstorming, playing with different teams, and he played us. Satchel was pitching and Ruth was hitting. Satchel threw Ruth the ball and Ruth hit the ball, must have been 500 feet, off of Satchel. Satchel looked at Ruth all the way around the bases and when Ruth got to home plate, you know who shook his hand? Satchel Paige shook Ruth's hand at home plate.

They stopped the game and waited, he and Satchel talking, until the kid went out, got the ball, brought it back and Satchel had Babe Ruth autograph that ball for him. That was some kind of moment.

...

But let me tell you about a part of Satchel that no one ever hears about. On the road once, we were going to Charleston, South Carolina, and when we got to Charleston the rooms weren't ready. So Satchel said to me, "Nancy, come with me." I said, "Okay." I had an idea where we were going. We went over to Drum Island. Drum Island is where they auctioned off the slaves. And they had a plaque saying what had happened there. And we stood there, he and I, maybe ten minutes, not saying a word, just thinking. And after about ten minutes he said, "You know what, Nancy?" I said, "What, Satchel?" He said, "Seems like I've been here before." I said, "Me, too." I know that my great grandfather could have been there. My great grandmother could have been auctioned off on that block. So this was Satchel — a little deeper than a lot of people thought.

Now one last page for you to read. These interviews with Buck are amazing, the stories he has about baseball should never be forgotten. Here's an old ESPN Page 2 interview.

See, steroids. That's different. When we came along, some guys had to have some gin. That's true. A guy would be at his best when he had a shot of gin in him. That's what would build him up. Another guy, scotch was his choice. For all athletes, it's always been something. For another guy, it was iced tea.

Now, you've gotten sophisticated. You've come up with a drug.

...

The best player I've ever seen. He had it all. Willie Mays was the best major league player I've ever seen. But Oscar Charleston would hit you 50 home runs, steal you 100 bases. And the old-timers would say that the closest thing to Oscar Charleston was Willie Mays.

And not only that, Oscar was tough. You'd say "Oscar Charleston" and you'd say "Ty Cobb" as far as meaness. I remember once, we're playing in Havana. A ball was hit in the infield and he was on third base. So he's scoring and he hit the catcher and knocked the shin guards off, knocked the chest protector off (the catcher). Then they jumped up. This (catcher) wanted to fight. And Oscar knocked him down.

The security in the ballpark in Cuba were soldiers. The soldiers rushed out on the field and they were going to get Oscar and take him down. Every time one of the soldiers comes up -- Boom! (slaps fist into his palm) Oscar would knock him down. After he knocked down about five of them, they wanted to gang-rush him and take him to jail.

The general was in the stands and he said, "Uh-uh. Any man that can do that, don't you touch him." That was Oscar Charleston.

Rest in Peace Buck O'Neil

T.O. is crazy

Let me first say thank you to the people at 700Level for this awesome video.

T.O. is crazy.

It's Over

Well the fat lady hasnt sang yet, but she's getting real close. The Phillies did what they always do, make it close towards the end, tease the city of Philadelphia with that horrible thought that we have a shot at the playoffs. Sure, now its Charlie Manuel and Pat Gillick, but its still the same shitty story - "Phils fall apart at the end." Now I do hate the Mets, but it may be a better course of action to finish in third place for years in a row (instead of second) and then finally put the pieces together for a great year (Securing a playoff spot in early September). Instead the Phils finish just out of the wild card for another. Another tease of a season. Another just a few games.
2005 - one game out of wild card (88 wins)
2004 - 6 games out of wild card and 10 games out of first place (86 wins)
2003 - third place in division - 5 games behind the Marlins (86 wins) (a season they truly fell apart)
2002 - only 80 wins
2001 - 2 games out of first place in east (86 wins)
2000 - last place in division (65 wins)
1999 - 77 wins

One could say maybe there's a trend of the team getting better. It's more of a trend of the team not getting the job done. You don't get paid to make it an exciting september, you get paid to make it to october. Pat Gillick and Charlie Manuel better not come out and tell me how it's pretty amazing we made it this far considering 'the season had been given up on.' That's not the point. The point of this team is that they were able to control their own destiny of making it to the playoffs. The Phillies WERE in FIRST place in the wild card a few days ago. Now they are two games back, that is their fault. Blame the streaking Dodgers all you want, but when the phillies lose to a Nationals team that isn't even playing Alfonso Soriano, they are basically losing to a AAA team.

I was at the game last night, I wanted to get down there to be able say I saw on the final phillies games in 06 when they made the playoffs, but nope, they don't want that. There were more of the same problems last night - jon lieber fucking up right on cue as normal and manuel thinking that he could somehow make it out of it this time (good thinking) - ryan howard slumping, getting called out on strikes twice (questionable maybe, but twice in a row?, get your shit together and deal with it when the team needs a hit not a K). Pat Burrell was the only person who played different than normal last night, even if he was 2 feet short on one flyball and 15 feet short on another at least he didn't strike out. The Phillies got one run on an ERROR, not a single RBI in the single most important game of the season - that's clutch.

Before the final out of the game it was exciting to be there. My friends and I were 4 of only about 500 people (our estimate) that sat through the 4 and half hour rain delay. More people came around game time when they must have heard the game was starting. It was exciting to be there - it was a home game for the Phils. In warmups every Nationals player got booed and every single phillies player got a cheer - even a chant started when the bullpen guys headed out to their spot. If the Phils any bit of the energy the fans had last night things would have been different. We froze our asses off, chanted M-V-P at every Howard sighting, yelled for Harry Kallas in between innings, booed 'Screech' the shitty mascot, yelled "Asshole" at the ump, chanted "JRoll" to the rythym of "olay, olay, olay" in response the Nationals employees chant of "Jose", stole a foulball basically from the hands of this bitchy, ugly, asian nationals fan, paid $3 for a ticket, paid $3 for hot chocolate, booed Jon Lieber, etc. I could go on and on - what do obnoxious phillies fans do. Was there any appreciation about the fact of what the fans did last night, all of us showing up to cheer on the team. There was basically no thanks from the players. I saw one quote from Chris Coste saying he was thankful for the fans and the ovation he got when he took the field. Besides that nothing. Show us some love Phillies.

Bottom Line - the Phil's disappointed for another year. Another tease of a season. All of it worthless. A bunch of August trades for nothing. All we'll get is a thanks from MLB and ESPN for making it exciting and giving them something to talk about.
I don't think I can watch the game tonight, so let me know how they do and when the players come out thanking us for all that we've been. Yea call me asshole and I know this is a long fucking rant, but if the Phillies do this shit again next year it's not going to be "Always Sunny in Philadelphia."