Phillies Sign Geoff Jenkins

The Phillies signed the 33 year old to a 2 year deal for $13 million with an option for a 3rd described below.

They also signed 30 year old pitcher Chad Durbin."Durbin, 30, has a 25-37 career record in parts of eight seasons with Kansas City, Cleveland, Arizona and Detroit. He went 8-7 with a 4.72 ERA for the Tigers last season."

So the Phillies added some pitching depth and outfield depth, I like it. The only thing I don't like is the fact that Jenkins is basically an older, crappier Pat Burrell. O well, good luck to him, don't suck at the beginning or else Philly will hate you.

Merry Christmas everyone.

ESPN - Former Brewers outfielder Jenkins agrees with Phils - MLB: "If Jenkins makes a total of 925 plate appearances in the 2008-2009 seasons or 525 plate appearances in 2009, it would trigger a $7.5 million vesting option for 2010. If the agreement fails to vest, he and the Phillies have a mutual option for the third year."

Phillies Offer Arbitration to CF Aaron Rowand

The Official Site of Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News: "The procedural move guarantees Philadelphia the first-round Draft pick of the team that signs him, plus a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds. If Rowand signs with a team that finished with one of the 15 worst records last season, the Phillies will receive that team's sandwich pick."
"If Rowand accepts arbitration by Dec. 7, his 2008 salary would be determined by an arbitrator. He and the Phillies could still work out a multiyear deal by the hearing date -- which would occur in early February -- but his return to Philadelphia would be assured. The team wouldn't mind if Rowand accepted, though that is unlikely given the five-year, $90 million deal Torii Hunter signed and the high demand for Rowand."

This is a good move by the Phillies because well if he accepts then the Phillies are spending their money on him. I like him and its not my money being spent. If he goes elsewhere then they get some nice draft picks in return and god knows we need those. I wonder why the waited until the last second to offer it to him though, that seems unnecessary.

Sports Betting for Free - Win Real Money!

Now as much as this may appear as if I am trying to do an infomercial for this website, it's not.
The site is CentSports.com and the deal is that you sign up and you get 10 cents ($0.10) for free and you can bet with that dime until it gets up to all sorts of high amounts. Its a pretty new site so its still all in the works and not a lot of people are using, but it is legit. If you want to watch an ad after you make your bet then you can get 25% more if your bet ends up winning. You don't have to watch an ad unless you want to, you don't have to click any ads unless you want to, just take your penny and do whatever you want with it.
You can bet with any amount of money you want, no minimums. It's pretty popular is seems for people to raise a little bit of a money and then make a bunch of 5-game parlays trying to hit it big, do whatever you want. The only thing is that you have to have at least $10 before you can cash out, which isn't a big deal. The only thing I ask is that you click this link so that when you sign up and win money I get a bonus because of your winnings. If you sign up then you should do the same and try to get your friends to sign up as well.
Here's the link:
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PS. I got a $1.23 on there right now and I love betting with money that isn't mine, but is still real money.

Brad Lidge to the Phillies

It is way too late at night for me to comment on this, but the Phillies have acquired Brad Lidge from the Astros. The two players that you know that they gave up were Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary.

So I guess Brett Myers is back in the rotation? Or is Lidge going to set up?

More to come later.

The Official Site of Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News

NFL TV Distribution Maps

NFL TV Distribution Maps

Just making sure everyone has seen this site, it's great so you can plan out your sunday afternoons and what you'll be able to watch.

Expert Picks - Let's See Who is Picking Who

Phillies VS Rockies - 2007 NLDS

I've collected expert picks from all over the internet and I'll give you the rundown (links given for people you probably don't know or articles about the game).

Jayson Stark: Phillies 3-2.
Buster Olney: Phillies 3-2.
Steve Phillips: Rockies 3-2.
Tim Kurkjian: Phillies 3-2.
Howard Bryant: Phillies 3-2.
Jerry Crasnick: Phillies 3-2.
Peter Gammons: Phillies 3-2.
Amy Nelson (a woman): Rockies 3-2.
Jim Caple: Rockies 3-1.
Pedro Gomez: Rockies 3-1.
Jonah Keri: Phillies 3-0.
Deadspin: Phillies 3-1.
Jeff Pearlman: Phillies 3-2.
Will Carroll: Rockies 3-1.
AJ Daulerio: Phillies 3-1.
Ken Rosenthal: Rockies 3-2.
ESPNsportsnation (vote here): 59% say Phillies win series (as of 21,707 votes)

So not counting sportsnation that adds up to 10 people for the Phillies and 6 for the Rockies.

Phillies 2007 NLDS Roster

First Up: The Phillies have left off Adam Eaton. I'm going to go down the whole roster.

Starting Pitchers
Cole Hamels
Kyle Kendrick
Kyle Lohse
Jamie Moyer

Bullpen Pitchers
Brett Myers
Tom Gordon
J.C. Romero
Antonio Alfonseca
Clay Condrey
Jose Mesa

Catchers
Carlos Ruiz
Rod Barajas
Chris Coste

Infielders
Ryan Howard
Chase Utley
Jimmy Rollins
Wes Helms
Gregg Dobbs
Tadahito Iguchi
Abraham Nunez

Outfielders
Pat Burrell
Aaron Rowand
Shane Victorino
Michael Bourn
Jayson Werth


Carlos Ruiz is day-to-day after getting hit by a pitch on sunday, part of the reason for 3 catchers in this first series.
Chris Roberson would probably be the first positional player added to the roster if something added to someone.
Geoff Geary is injured but may return if Phils advance.

Final Rosters aren't due until 10am tomorrow so it's still possible something may change, but it's unlikely.

ESPN - Phillies leave righty Eaton off postseason roster - MLB

Gotta Like the Marlins

"It was a big game for us, one of the biggest games in club history besides the playoffs because there was a lot riding on today," pitcher Dontrelle Willis said.

I like the Marlins style. If they couldn't make the playoffs they were going to do their best to keep a team they don't like out of the playoffs.

"I'm happy for (the Phillies). I have a very close friend of mine that I grew up with on that team," Willis said, referring to Jimmy Rollins. "I'm sure he's thanking me right now."

Dontrelle Willis and Jimmy Rollins are childhood friends, I didn't know that - interesting.

Ross said the win was extra satisfying for Marlins players who remember last September when they lost to the Mets and watched them celebrate the division-clinching victory on the field.

I was actually watching the Nationals broadcast of Sunday's game and the announcers made it sound like they enjoyed what they were seeing because the Nationals look up to the Phillies in terms of their new stadium and having die-hard fans like Philly.

Marlins revel in ruining Mets' season: "But Sunday's victory in front of 54,453 at Shea might rank as their biggest in New York since Josh Beckett's shutout of the Yankees clinched the 2003 World Series at Yankee Stadium."

Phils Win! Phils Win!

What to do with the 756 ball?

23 Years Without A Championship

One of my non-Philly friends sent me this YouTube video of Philly sports for over the last 23 years to try to make me feel bad. Yea, it's a depressing video, but there are still some sweet highlights from the good times and it's a well made video so enjoy.

Phils fall to Braves; Gordon is ailing

The Phils lost. Freddy Garcia sucks. He can't run the bases, no one on the Phils can. Who said we'll miss Abreu's arm in RF? Too bad we couldn't score another run to make that play really matter. Tom Gordon is hurt and has been all season, Manuel just now telling the truth about it. Brett Myers your Philadelphia Phillies' closer. Ryan Howard hit a bomb. Those are my thoughts on the game (that was nicely televised on ESPN for those of us not in Philly) and they are summed up nicely in Jim Salisbury's article that will appear in the Inquirer in the morning. Freddy Garcia is an ace!?
Phils fall to Braves; Gordon is ailing | Inquirer | 05/02/2007

Page 2 Jokes About Jamie Moyer

Maybe someday the old lefty Jamie Moyer will actually make the Hall of Fame. Regardless of that ESPN.com Page 2 writer Jim Caple took the time to make up a humorous fake plaque for Moyer in the HoF.
ESPN.com: Page 2 : The Hall of Fame ballad of Jamie Moyer

April is Over

So this post may be a day late, but last season come September everyone was blaming April as the reason the Phillies didn't make the playoffs - a few more wins in April would have meant playing ball in October. Well, how'd did the Phils fare this time around? Last April they were 10-14, this April they were 11-14. Not much difference. On Tuesday the Phillies sat at 4th in the NL East - 5 games back of the leading Braves. The one good thing would have to be the fact that the Phillies have begun to play better and things seem to be getting better. With the win last night the Phils are at 12-14 and sit at 4 games behind the Braves. One of the good signs would have be that the Phillies are 7-3 in their last 10 games, while only the Marlins are just as good as that in their last 10. There are no major injuries affecting the team right now (unlike say the Yankees and Mets). Most of the lineup is doing well, Ryan Howard will come around eventually, at least we all hope so. Cole Hamels is our future ace, hopefully the rest of the pitchers follow his and Jamie Moyer's lead. Brett Myers is about to become our closer of the future. Tom Gordon's arm hasn't fallen off. Charlie Manuel got ejected from the game last night, always like to see that. All in all the season ain't over, they need to win more games yes, but it is still early and let's see them at least get to .500 first. Only 2 more wins for that.

From No-No to out 4-6 weeks

A nice win by the Phillies tonight, but there was another game that I have to point out to everyone. Phil Hughes made his 2nd major league start tonight against the Rangers. The Rangers have already been no-hit this season. Hughes carried a no hitter into the 7th inning when he tweaked his hamstring on a pitch in the 7th inning. He was forced to leave the game and may miss up to 6 weeks with the injury. I'm not one to ever ever feel bad for the Yankees, but I do kind of feel bad for this poor kid. A no-hitter! That's gotta hurt, a little bit during the next 6 weeks of rehabbing.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

Villanova's Benn to transfer to Niagara

Villanova's Benn to transfer to Niagara | Daily News | 05/01/2007

Not really a big tragedy, but worthy to note that sophomore Villanova guard Bilal Benn is transferring out of Villanova. It doesn't look like he'd get more playing time next year with all the new guards coming in, so it's probably a good move for Benn. He's transferring to Niagara and will have to sit out next season.

Scottie Reynolds invited to try out for national team

Scottie Reynolds was invited to play for the USA National team in the under-19 world championships which are going to be held July 12-22 in Serbia. At first glance I thought it meant Team USA, like the NBA players, but I realized that was crazy. I'm assuming this team is made up of all amateur players who are under the age of 19. It's still quite a compliment to be named one of the best players in America who won't be going to the draft. It's good to hear for Reynolds. Hopefully he plays great and doesn't get hurt and hopefully that team does better than the older guys team did.
'Nova's Reynolds invited to try out for national team | Inquirer | 04/26/2007

MLS team in Philly - You got $30 million?

In order for soccer to increase in popularity throughout America, more teams are needed and the MLS realizes that. Philadelphia would probably really like an MLS team, depending on where they played and other such things.

Major League Soccer is hopeful an agreement can be finalized within the next four or five months to bring a team to Philadelphia, commissioner Don Garber said today.

I'd like to see Philly have a team, I'd go watch them if they have had a nearby decent place to play at. Don't know if I'd go watch them play at Rowan University like was the plan last year, granted I don't even know where Rowan actually is.

Philadelphia has long been on MLS' radar, but Garber acknowledged the league might have to look elsewhere if a deal cannot be reached soon.
Among the criteria for a franchise is a $30 million league fee.

They should play at the Linc, they would probably fill more seats than the Temple football team.

MLS remains eager for Philly team | Daily News | 04/26/2007

Schilling Dares You to Test His Blood

I thought it was a hilarious story to begin with - the idea that Curt Schilling would put fake blood on his sock during a World Series game. Now I believe that the blood is real, but I almost want it to be fake because that would just be hilarious.
Apparently the way this worked out was that Gary Thorne overheard Doug Mirabelli joke around and say the blood was fake, Mirabelli wasn't talking directly to him about it. Or at least thats how I think it went down. Some poor reporting by an apparently crappy play-by-play guy, but it's funny how blown up the story got.
Schilling really goes off on a long tirade in his blog and I suggest reading through it some here.

"I'll wager one million dollars to the charity of anyone's choice, versus the same amount to ALS. If the blood on the sock is fake, I'll donate a million dollars to that person's charity; if not, they donate that amount to ALS. Any takers?"

ESPN.com - MLB - Schilling blasts media, makes $1M dare: "'It was blood. You can choose to believe whatever you need to, but facts are facts,' he wrote. 'The 25 guys that were in that locker room, the coaches, they all know it. In the end nothing else really matters. The people that need to believe otherwise are people with their own insecurities and issues.'"

Top 16 NBA Crimes of the Year

Yes the link is stolen from Deadspin, but I thoroughly enjoyed this post so much that I had to share it with my readers. So check it out, it's a rundown of the Top 16 Crimes of the Year committed by NBA players. The sad thing is I don't think any of it is made up. Click it, enjoy it, and be happy the Sixers don't have any of those guys.
I *Heart* Celtics.com - Top 16 NBA Crimes

Imagine Hitting Into A Triple Play

I was thinking about the Phillies awesome triple play the other day and I browsing around the SABR website when I came to a section called the Triple Plays Database. In there they had a page that contained every player that has it into a triple play and the number of times that they have done so. Deacon McGuire did it 3 times, but the winner of the most times is Brooks Robinson, who did it 4 times! Dean McGuire played from 1884 - 1912, playing for Philadelphia from 1886-1888. 26 seasons and 6290 at bats, I guess 3 triple plays isn't that bad, maybe they were better at turning them back in those days. He was mostly a catcher and stole only 117 in his career so he must not have been too fast. Brooks Robinson on the other hand is a famous Hall of Fame player. He played 23 seasons, all for Baltimore, from 1955-1977. He only averaged 2 stolen bases a year for his career, so he must not have been too fast. It's not a big deal because well he did still have an amazing career, won a World Series, and made the Hall of Fame, but I can't imagine he's too fond of remembering that he batted into 4 triple plays. I hope some of his HoF buddies give him some crap for that one.

Edit: Just now at baseball-almanac.com I found a page of quotes from Brooks Robinson, where he had this to say :"I wouldn't mind seeing someone erase my record of hitting into four triple plays." I guess people have joked with him about it.

No reason at all for this post, just pointing a cool site with some cool statistics and also because I'm thinking of buying their new book, check out and tell me if you like it.

Baseball's Triple Plays - Batted Into

5 Straight for the Phils

Not much to say about this game besides the fact that it was awesome for the Phillies. 9 runs scored and only 3 given up. A good start from Jon Lieber who wished he could have pitched more than 6 innings. A fine 8th inning from Brett Myers. Chase Utley went 5-5. Ryan Howard hit a home run - thats always good to hear. Jimmy Rollins hit another home run and is leading the National League in that category. Poor John Patterson who is now 0-4 on the season. He's a good pitcher, but he's not ready to be the ace of any staff. He'd be much better with less pressure. Hopefully the pressure will subside for him once the Nationals are seemingly out of contention.
All in all a good win for the Phils and I can't wait until I'm back home to finally catch a game.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

DJ Gallo jokes about Philadelphia in the AM Jump

I like to read the AM Jump on ESPN.com's Page 2 site. It's quite entertaining as is Page 2 on the whole. DJ Gallo is one of the funniest authors on the site and he is a common author of the AM Jump, available every morning here. As everyone knows the Sixers gave up two of their big veterans this season - Chris Webber and Allen Iverson. Also of note, the Sixers didn't make the playoffs. So just check out the AM Jump from Monday morning.

The Nuggets pulled off the first upset of the day Sunday, taking down the Spurs, 95-89, as Allen Iverson led all scorers with 31 points. And not to overstate the win, but Denver could be a real title contender. I'd love to see Iverson's Nuggets take on Chris Webber's Pistons in the Finals. Philadelphia sports radio would be full of incomprehensible rage and drunken profanities. Even more than it is now.

AM Jump - Monday April 23rd - Page 2

Phillies Win Again With 8th Inning Rally

To start the 8th inning with the game tied at 3 Chase Utley got hit by a pitch, Ryan Howard struck out, and Pat Burrell walked. Wes Helms came up next and hit a slow bloop single to center that allowed Utley to score. On the play Burrell went for 3rd base and the throw to the 3rd got past 3B Ryan Zimmerman and went into the dugout, forcing Burrell home as well. Carlos Ruiz then came up and singled in Helms to make it a 6-3 game, which was enough for the Phils tonight.
The other runs were scored by a double by Burrell in the 6th that scored Utley, an Aaron Rowand double in the 2nd that scored Helms, and also a solo homer by Rowand in the 7th.
Alfonseca got the win in relief and Tom Gordon got his 4th save of the season.
Ryan Howard had another hitless day-bringing his average down to .207.
Moyer pitched rather well, going 6 innings and giving up 3 runs.
The Phillies have won 4 straight and 5 of their last 6 bringing their record to 8-11

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

Howard might need MRI on sore leg

If you are already fed up with the Phillies and don't know how they are going to get any better I wouldn't suggest you click the following link, you may cause severe damage to yourself or objects and people around you when you learn the following news.

The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News: "Howard was apparently injured when raced to first base to beat out a double play in the 10th inning of a 5-4, 13-inning loss to Nationals. He stretched hard on the final step, and hunched over for a few moments while he composed himself."

Green and Hibbert Could Still Return

Asked what his chances of returning to Georgetown were Jeff Green said 70% chance that he could come back. Since neither Green nor Hibbert has a hired an agent they both could still return. Hibbert said his odds were 50% chance of returning. This is good news for Georgetown fans. It seems that Hibbert will likely go pro because he most definately will be a top15 pick. As for Green I'm not quite sure where he is predicted to be drafted and once he figures that out he'll probably decide if he wants to come back or not.

Green puts chances of returning to Georgetown at 70 percent | Daily News | 04/18/2007

Phillies Getting Frustrated

I don't think I have to highlight the fact that Manuel wanted to fight Howard Eskin, many places are going to highlight that. And it will be fun to see how that turns out and what Eskin says today on his show. Plenty of places are going to keep you updated on that feud so I won't go into it too much. Basically the Phillies start winning and the reporters won't give you crap Charlie. I hate Howard Eskin just as much as the next guy, but come on Charlie the Phils are really sucking it up.

Hate nothing more than to see the Phillies lose to the Mets and I just got a few notes from following the gamecast last night. I didn't follow the whole thing, I decided there were better things I could do with my night than watch the Phillies lose again - I hate that I thought that.
-Howard continued his struggles with an ugly double play to start off the game.
-The Mets' offseason acquisition, Moises Alou, destroyed our offseason acquisition, Freddy Garcia. Kind of ironic isn't it.
-Pat Burrell had a nice clutch groundout in the 3rd.
-In that big top 5th for the Mets, the Phillies let the pitcher, Tom Glavine, get a hit. Why do the Phillies always let the pitcher get on base and it always comes back to haunt them.
-In the Phils' half of the 5th the inning started off well with a nice double by JRoll and a Victorino walk, but then 2 K's (Utley and Howard) and a foul pop out (Burrell) the inning was over.

Basically the Phillies can't get runners home, they are getting on base but no one is knocking them in. A nice outing by Freddy, no one wonder the White Sox gave him to us. Hopefully it is just a case of the Garcia being 'rusty' as Phillies.com calls it.

Phillies manager's frustrations boil over after loss - ESPN.com
Manuel confronts reporter after loss - Phillies.com
Charlie Manuel Challenges Howard Eskin To Fight - the700level.com
"I'll Be Waitin' On Ya" - Balls, Sticks, & Stuff
Video of the confrontation - NBC10.com

Which celebrity do you drink like?

Two of the greatest things in life are alcohol and sports. This post over at deadlyhippos.com asks what athlete do you drink like? Complete with full bios on each athlete/type of drinker, this is a very fun article if you like sports and alcohol. I'm pretty sure that's a large crowd of people that like those two things. So enjoy and let me know which athlete you drink like and then I'll decide whether I ever want to drink with you.

DeadlyHippos.com - Which celebrity do you drink like?

Georgetown's Green, Hibbert to enter NBA draft

If anyone is a fan of Georgetown like I am, then you will be disappointed (but not surprised) to hear that both Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert will be going to the NBA. They both had a great tournament. Green proved that he was a legitimate first round pick with size, scoring ability, and all around great basketball awareness. Hibbert is well 7-2, so lots of NBA teams would like him. They could still pull out of the draft if they don't hire an agent or any of that other stuff that would prohibit them from entering the draft. As for Georgetown hopefully these two guys have gotten them back on the map and more good kids will continue to go there for years to come.
ESPN.com - NBA/DRAFT2007 - Georgetown's Green, Hibbert to enter NBA draft

Phillies Even Up the Season Series

The Phils won tonight, 5 - 2, in what appeared to be a pretty good game. They took advantage of a poor outing by the Met's Perez and took the lead. Adam Eaton did what he's being paid to do and allowed only 2 runs in 7 innings work. Alfonseca and Tom Gordon did the 8th and 9th innings perfectly, Gordon earning his first save of the season. It's nice to see Rollins do well against the Mets so he doesn't feel too bad about the comments he made. Still the Phillies left too many runners on base and probably should have scored more runs. But I won't dwell on that, overall it was a solid win and let's hope the team keeps it up with those. Sleep well tonight for two reasons, the Phils are tied 1-1 with the Mets in the season series and they aren't in last place (Thank you Nationals).

Eaton impressive, devours Mets [Phillies.com]
Eaton's pitching, Mets wildness help Phils get win [ESPN.com]
MLB Standings [ESPN.com]

Speedskating Star Nicole Begg Poses Naked

I saw this article posted on Ballhype and here is the original blog that found it.
Nicole Begg, from New Zealand, (Yea, I had never heard of her either) has decided to pose naked in an effort to "lift her international profile and that of her sport." Well, I noticed. She's the one in the middle in the picture.

3 pictures were contained in the article. NWS.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3

Skater hopes racy pics are noticed

Eagles 2007 Schedule Released

Eagles.com schedule page.
The NFL schedules were released today.
Preseason:
The Eagles play at the Ravens, the Panthers, at the Steelers, and the Jets.
Regular Season:
The Eagles have their bye week in week 5 - weekend of Oct. 7th.

Week 1: @ Redskins
Week 2: Redskins (Monday Night)
Week 3: Detroit
Week 4: @ Giants
Week 5: bye
Week 6: @ Jets
Week 7: Bears
Week 8: @ Vikings
Week 9: Cowgirls
Week 10: @ Redskins
Week 11: Dolphins
Week 12: @ Patriots
Week 13: Seahawks (MNF)
Week 14: Giants
Week 15: @ Cowgirls
Week 16: @ Saints
Week 17: Bills

So 2 home Monday Night Football games. That's pretty good for the team and the city, hopefully we do well in those games.

Here is a link to the entire schedule for the entire league.

From John Clayton's 10 great matchups for the season.

4. Philadelphia vs. Dallas (at Eagles Nov. 4, at Cowboys Dec. 16): Until Joe Gibbs proves he has turned the Redskins around, this is as close to being the best divisional matchup in the less-dramatic NFC. Although the series lost some of its luster with the retirement of Bill Parcells, it still features Terrell Owens going against the Eagles team he betrayed. Owens is coming off major finger surgery, but he's still a major irritant to Donovan McNabb, Andy Reid and many of the Eagles he left behind. The Eagles, who have been the class of the competitive NFC East since the start of millennium, regained the edge on the Cowboys with last season's sweep. The key for the Eagles is keeping McNabb healthy the entire season, although it had to rile the Cowboys losing the division to an Eagles team led by Jeff Garcia.

Phillies in need of relief help

The site MLB Trade Rumors picked up on Sam Donnellon's article about Gillick's spot on the hot seat. In the article Charlie Manuel is quoted as saying "We've got to fix our 'pen." Manuel could and probably will be fired if the bullpen doesn't get fixed because this team will not be a playoff contender with the current situation. MLB Trade Rumors has a nice summary of relievers that the Phils could be going after right this second.
Some highlights:
- Byung-Hyun Kim.
- Scott Linebrink - spent March and April trying to get him so it seems unlikely.
- Salomon Torres - would probably only be dealt when the Pirates start losing and give up on their season.
- Chad Cordero - Not common to deal within the division but the Nationals don't have a shot and might look to get rid of him.
There a few others, hopefully Gillick gets someone who didn't spend last year on the DL or in the minor leagues.


Sam Donnellon | Gillick earns spot on hot seat
MLB Trade Rumors: The Relief Market

Howard Definately Makes Mets Pay

Yea, it definitely showed today by the final score how much Howard made the Mets today by not walking him. I know Phillies.com is trying to be positive and all, but the Phillies got embarrassed by the Mets today and the post an article about how Howard made the Mets pay, I don't think that's how the day ended up.
Making them pay would have been an 8-run home run later in the game.
I guess it is nice that Hamels pitched well and Howard did hit his first home run of the year.
All I have to say though is I'll be very disappointed if the season record against the Mets is less than .500 this season. I expect them to beat the Mets more than not, anything less and I'll be disappointed, and we should all be as well.
The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News

The Rivalry Doesn't Start Out Well

I didn't watch the game today, but judging from the box score and the recap, it was not pretty to watch. Again it seems the Phillies were outhit and doomed by poor defense.
-"Delgado led off the second with a bunt single against an overshifted infield." - That's ridiculous that they could let that happen, how do you not see that he would be able to lay a bunt down if you overshift too much.
-"Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: A Nunez 3, P Burrell 2
Team LOB: 9" - Again leaving people on base is really killing us.
-Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell, and Ruiz all struck out twice today. If you strikeout there's no chance for a ball to make it through the infield or for a fielder to make an error. A strikeout is a wasted atbat and our 2-6 hitters each had 2 today.
-Why was ol' Abe Nunez playing - he left 5 on base. I guess Helms isn't doing that well which is true.

All of this I noticed from the box score and a quick glance at the recap. Sad stuff. Hopefully the rest of the series doesn't go like this.
ESPN.com - MLB - Recap

Phils Sign Free Agent RHP Rick Bauer

From today's press pass for the game:

Free agent righthander Rick Bauer agreed to a minor league contract with the Phillies, pending a physical. Bauer, 30, went 3-1 with 2 saves and a 3.55 ERA in 58 games for Texas last season. He was designated for assignment by Texas on March 26th and released on March 28th.

Here is his ESPN.com page. I don't know anything about him or if he'll even make it to the majors, but I like the fact that the Phils are stockpiling some bullpen arms, they might all suck now, but maybe one of them will turn out to be decent. We can only hope.

Some other notes from the Press Pass today

- According to Elias Sports Bureau, in two of the Phillies' last five division-winning seasons (1977 & 1983) the club got off to 0-3 starts.

- Pat Burrell is the longest-tenured active Phillies. Rollins also has played for 8 seasons but Burrell debuted 4 months prior to him.

- 13 members of the current 25-man roster were originally drafted or signed by the club.

- Charlie Manuel has been ejected 11 times as a manager for the Phils (5 times in '05 and 6 times in '06).

- Pat Burrell needs 12 HR for 200 career HR, Ryan Howard needs 18 HR for 100.

- The last time Jamie Moyer faced the Marlins the Phils won 14-2 on 9/29/2006.

- The Phils are 21-9 in the last 30 games with the Fish.

O well cheer up everyone. 3 games in Florida and then 3 games in New York. Let's hope they have a nice little roadtrip.

Have a nice Easter weekend just in case I don't post over the weekend. I'm heading home for some nice family time.

HGH May Be Useless

Came across this very interesting post about the effects of HGH on athletes and the results might surprise you. I'm not going to try to steal his thunder because his article is very well researched and well written so I suggest you click the link at the bottom and check it out. Basically baseball needs to stop worrying about testing for HGH because baseball players shouldn't bother taking HGH since it does almost nothing good for a players muscles and can have more harmful side effects. Sounds like a bad deal to me, I wonder who convinced these players to take it.

I Don’t Worry about HGH in Baseball, and Neither Should You

Phils Acquire Bullpen help

The Phillies acquired RHP Francisco Rosario to help out in the bullpen. Rosario is a hard throwing 26 year old reliever playing in his second major league season. The Phillies news release quotes Gillick as saying "If he can be consistent, he has a chance to be pretty good." Who knows what that means, but hopefully the Phillies bullpen gets better because it can only get better after these first 3 games. He is from the Dominican Republican. Not much else that I know about him.
The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News

The Braves are getting out the brooms

Well it has just started snowing in Philadelphia and the Phillies are about to get swept by the Braves. Pat Burrell wonders why Phillies fans hate him and the bottom of the 7th is one reason. 2 men on base, 2 outs, full count and the crowd on their feet and Burrell strikes out swinging and it looked ugly. Then again now as I'm typing this in the top of the 8th he misplays a windy foul ball and doesn't catch it. Granted it's very windy, but still Pat. Pat if you can't hit the ball you are useless. Burrell can't chase down anything in left field so you know he's not out there for defensive purposes. Get one clutch hit. A home run would have made it a 3 run game with 2 innings left.

And my cable just went out, so I'm going to get some dinner and hope the Phillies somehow pull out a win.

The Sandlot 300

I hope that everyone has seen The Sandlot. It's a great movie, that everyone should enjoy. Now also my favorite new movie would have to be 300, if you like those kinds of movies I highly recommend seeing it. Now this video is what you would get if you mixed the two.
Now I know this has nothing to do with anything, but this where the Beyond part of Philly and Beyond comes in and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Pain And Suffering Scale

ESPN.com: Page 2 : 99 years on the wall ...
ESPN.com Page 2 came up with their formula to figure out which sports franchises have gone through the most suffering. The formula is explained in the article, but basically it puts emphasis on the last 25 years of sucking. Teams who have won a championship in the last 25 years don't get factored in.
The #1 team is the Buffalo Bills and that is pretty deserved if you think about it.

Coming in at#3:

3. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Last title: 1975 Seasons: 30 Playoffs: 25 Winning seasons: 24 Finals losses: 5 (3)

Legion of doom: Since the Broad Street Bullies won back-to-back titles, the Flyers rank high for consistent excellence playoff appearances (marred only by a five-season playoff-less streak in the early '90s) and frustrating playoff flameouts. They've topped 100 points 15 times with no titles.

Soul-sucking moment: Goalie Pelle Lindbergh's death in a car accident early in the '85-86 season. The season before, he had won the Vezina Trophy and led the Flyers to the Cup finals.

P & S rating: 5.07 (10 Eric Lindroses)

And then coming in at #4:

4. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Last title: 1980 Seasons: 26 Playoffs: 3 Winning seasons: 10 Finals losses: 2 (2)

Why the Joe Carter home run wasn't a soul-sucking moment: (1) Given Mitch Williams' postseason performance that season -- 16 baserunners in 8 innings as Carter dug in -- it was entirely predictable something bad would happen to the Phillies; (2) Teams that play with fire don't deserve sympathy; (3) Even if the Phillies had won that game, they still needed to win Game 7.

Why the Joe Carter home was a soul-sucking moment: (1) The Phillies are the only team to lose the clinching game of a World Series on come-from-behind home runs; (2) A dream season ended at the guillotine; (3) Playing with fire clogs your arteries.

Winner: Soul-sucking moment!

P & S rating: 4.69 (nine Mitch Williamses)

And then way down at #32:

32. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Last title: 1960 Seasons: 46 Playoffs: 16 Winning seasons: 19 Finals losses: 2 (1)

What's wrong with your rankings?!?!?! Are you morons communists? We haven't won a championship since 1960! We've lost Super Bowls! We lost three straight NFC championships! We suffered through the Marion Campbell era! We drafted Mike Mamula in the first round! Don't you know our pain? Bobby Hoying was our QB one year! We can boo Santa Claus and we sure can boo Page 2 as well!

P & S rating: 2.98 (six Terrell Owenses)

Basically I think it proves that Philadelphia is the city that is going through the most suffering and pain right now. I know all of you would agree.

Joakim Noah is a douche

And then PTI makes fun of him.

Opening Day Genesis: A Poem

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Opening Day Genesis.
This was posted yesterday at Hardball Times, but I thought I'd share it with you today. It's this pretty cool poem about the opening day of baseball, read the whole thing it's very good. And then go check out this guy's page at the link up at the top.

In the big inning, God created Heaven on Earth. And it was without form, and void. God separated the dirt from the grass. He called the grass Outfield and the dirt He called Infield. God made the Infield a 90-foot square and the Outfield not less than 400 feet to center and 320 feet down the lines. He declared this Fair Territory. All other territory, God then declared, was Foul.

And God divided the players into two teams of nine players each, under direction of a manager, to play The Game on His field. God called some of these players Pitchers and some of them Hitters. He placed a Pitcher precisely 60 feet 6 inches from a Hitter. Then God commanded that it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the ol' Ballgame.

And God granted jurisdiction of The Game to lesser Gods, whom He called Umpires. God said the Umpires are infallible, blessed with Heavenly authority, whose judgment is not to be questioned under penalty of expulsion from The Game. And God looked at his creation and He was pleased. Then God created the Infield Fly Rule to confuse nonbelievers.

And God said, Let there be light beer, and there was. And, God said, let there be peanuts and hot dogs and overpriced souvenirs and let there be frosty chocolate malts with little wooden spoons that you can buy nowhere else except at this Heaven, which God called a Ballpark, and there was. God looked at His creation and it was good.

And the Lord God formed, from the dust, a collection of elite players in His own image. The Lord God then breathed the breath of life into His creation. God called this creation the National League.

And God said, It is not good for the National League to be alone. The Lord God shall make it a mate. And thus, while the National League slept, God took several of its top players and created the American League.

And God blessed The Game, saying, Be fruitful and multiply. Put teams in every city with deserving fans, God added, even if this occurs at the expense of starting-pitching depth.

From time to time, God understood, The Game would be corrupted by the Serpent. The Serpent was more cunning than any other beast and he would take many wicked forms: the Black Sox, segregation, the Designated Hitter, the Reserve Clause, dead balls, juiced balls, spit balls, corked bats, George Steinbrenner, AstroTurf, the 1981 strike, collusion, lockouts, Pete Rose, the 1994 strike, greenies, cocaine, HGH, Andro, steroids, $20 parking, corporate mallparks, Scott Boras, Donald Fehr, and Bud Selig.

But, God said, the goodness in The Game shall always prevail. As needed, the Lord shall bestow upon The Game a Savior. And the Savior, like the Serpent, can take many forms. The Savior shall remind Fans how blessed The Game truly is. The Savior shall be called by many names, including Cy, Matty, Honus, Big Train, the Babe, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Lou Gehrig, Branch Rickey, Jackie Robinson, Buck O'Neil, Hank Greenberg, Red Barber, Harry Carey, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, Satchel Paige, Bill Veeck, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Hammerin' Hank, Cool Papa, Dizzy, Lefty, Whitey, Stan the Man, Big Klu, the Say Hey Kid, Campy, Duke, the Mick, the Splendid Splinter, the Gas House Gang, the Big Red Machine, the Damn Yankees, Pudge Fisk, Pudge Rodriguez, Yaz, Pops, the Wizard of Oz, Fernando, George Brett, Moonlight Graham, Roy Hobbs, Wild Thing Vaughn, Bingo Long, the Ryan Express, Donnie Baseball, Rickey, Eck, the Big Unit, the Cactus League, Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Camden Yards, Rotisserie Drafts, Web Gems, Derek Jeter, Dontrelle Willis, Vlad Guerrero, and, from the Far East, Ichiro. And, God guaranteed, there are many more to come.

God looked upon His creation and He was very pleased. And God spoke, yelling, PLAY BALL!

Well if the Phillies miss the playoffs by 1 game

70 degrees, 44,742 optimistic Philly fans, an extra innings game, the only thing missing was a win. Edgar Renteria ruined the party and Phillies fans had to experience another season opening loss. Brett Myers was one pitch away from a brilliant 8 inning 2 earned runs outing, but instead Renteria took him yard with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the top of the 8th. Chase Utley missed out on a great oppurtunity to score some runs in the 7th inning.
Ryan Howard batted 3rd and Utley batted 4th. I don't really like it, but it's going to have to work until someone steps up and can bat behind Howard. The Braves were forced to pitch to Howard for at least 2 pitches in the 9th inning because of Utley behind Howard.

The Good Signs
-The Phillies scored some runs with 2 outs. All 3 runs were scored with 2 outs actually.
-Pat Burrell got a hit and scored a run.
-Jimmy Rollins hit a home run.
-Ryan Howard is batting .500.
-Brett Myers had 3 earned runs in 7 2/3 innings.
-Tom Gordon isn't injured.

The Bad Signs
-The Phillies only scored 3 runs off of John Smoltz, who they will be seeing a lot this year.
-Pat Burrell only got one hit, struck out twice, didn't have any RBIs, and should have caught that flyball single late in the game - he just didn't even try to run after it.
-Jimmy Rollins struck out 3 times.
-Ryan Howard struck out on a great oppurtunity to score some runs.
-Brett Myers gave up a dead center home run one pitch away from a great start.
-Ryan Madson gave up a two run homer in the 10th inning to a guy that already had one homerun in the game.

Okay yes, I over-analyzed the game, but it's not nice to see everyone's prediction that the bullpen would end up killing us actually come true in the first game.
Take note, Pat Gillick.

Buster Olney: Howard turns on the power switch

A nice long ESPN The Magazine article about Ryan Howard by Buster Olney reprinted online for your enjoyment if you are not a subscriber. It talks about how he is always working towards making his swing better and how frustrated Howard has been this spring. It talks about the holes he used to have in his swing in the minors and how much that hurt him. It's a good read, thats why I'm passing it on to you.
On a side note, Philly and Beyond will be returning with more postings once the season starts, I haven't had much to say because I didn't really want to get into the whole thing of whether spring training actually means anything or not.
ESPN.com - MLB/PREVIEW07 - Olney: Howard turns on the power switch: "Relationship trouble. Howard and his swing are not getting along at the moment."

Mets reliever Sanchez out until August

ESPN.com - MLB/SPRING2007 - Mets reliever Sanchez out until August: "When told Sanchez is out til August, closer Billy Wagner turned to Aaron Heilman, who will likely assume role of primary setup man, and said: 'guess that means Aaron you've got three innings and I've got one.'"

It's funny to see how confident Wagner is in his team's starters since he says that the bullpen will have to cover 4 inninngs. Just passing along some NL East to everyone. The Phillies' bullpen isn't looking as bad now.

Villanova’s Reynolds staying

Source: Villanova’s Reynolds staying | Daily News | 03/21/2007:

According to the Daily News a source has told them that Scottie Reynolds has decided to not test the draft waters. It is a wise decision and seems to be pretty obvious, but after last year with Lowry leaving early it's good to see Reynolds staying. With all the players forced to go college this year the draft is looking to be pretty stacked since all those guys have gotten a year better along with the college kids. Villanova should be great next year with the freshmen guards they got coming in, let's hope they get some dominant bigmen somehow so they won't have to play a 5 guard scheme.

Rest In Peace Vuk

Remembering John Vukovich
Phillies.com

Profile in courage: Vukovich, No. 18
Phillies coach was an all-around wonderful friend and teacher
Phillies.com

Longtime Phillies coach Vukovich dies
Daily News

Phils coach John Vukovich dies
Inquirer

Vukovich dies at 59
ESPN.com

And here is Jayson Stark's comments he made in his blog, normally the blog is "Insider Only", but not for this article, so check it out. It's a very personal article from a person that has covered the Phillies for a long time as many of us know, here's one good piece from it:

John Vukovich should have managed someone's baseball team. As recently as six months ago, his friend and mentor, Dallas Green, stopped me in the Phillies' press room to ask me, please, to get this guy's name out there last winter, to connect him with somebody's managerial vacancy.

But by November, our friend's health was already beginning to worsen. So he couldn't have taken one of those jobs even if he'd been offered one.

All I got to say that it's very sad to hear of the passing of John Vukovich. He was a connection back to the 1980 team and through all the years of bad coaches and new coaches he was a coach that no one ever bad-mouthed and everyone liked.

Spring Training Pictures

There are plenty of places out there to give you the highlights and happenings of the Phil's spring training games and I am not one of those places. There are a couple good reasons for that: I'm pretty busy with work these days and it's hurting my blogging, there's not much news to report on (come in it's early even for spring training), and I can't even see these Phillies games since I'm not in Philly to watch comcast (if only comcast baltimore were the same as comcast philadelphia). One thing I can do is download the pictures of spring training that I've found and share them with you in a web album. I can't get the pictures off of Philly.com cause they have theirs in a flash slideshow so if anyone knows where else I can get those pictures that'd be great.
Otherwise check out the album on the right there and browse the pics.

Marlins unhappy Lieber got help

Apparently last year the reason that Jon Lieber turned his season around, lost 35 lbs, and almost won the Cy Young award (OK I'm kidding). Jokes aside apparently last year after the Marlins beat up on Lieber during one of his starts he got some tips from then-manager of the Marlins, Joe Girardi. Now the fact is the Girardi, a catcher, played with Lieber in Chicago so they are good friends. That part makes it reasonable that Girardi gave him some tips. The problem is that Girardi apparently gave him these tips during the season while he was coaching the Marlins, who in case you didn't know are in the same division as the Phils and were fighting against them for the Wild Card.
Girardi ended up getting fired anyway for different reasons so nothing will come of this besides Florida management and fans (are there any?) hating Girardi more.
Hopefully Girardi gave Lieber some offseason tips so he'll have a good start this year.

Philadelphia Daily News | 02/28/2007 | Marlins unhappy Lieber got help: "Florida general manager Larry Beinfest declined to comment yesterday, but another team official said the front office was angry about the matter. The official requested anonymity because Beinfest wouldn't comment."

edit: here's an article about it from a Miami newspaper


PS. I'm going to post the html of pictures now myself instead of using Blogger's thing, hopefully I'll be able to make them show up better, let me know if anything looks fucked up.

Would You Do...?

This is probably wrong in many ways, but it is still great. So check it out. Who will be the #1 female sports reporter that you would do?

Click on the picture to check out the bracket.

Introducing the "Would you do..." Tournament

The Big Picture

No. 1 Erin Andrews vs. No. 16 Andrea Kremer

How Many Home Runs Would You Have in Fenway

I don't know if I have mentioned the website hardballtimes here, but I just finished reading a great article from there. The hardballtimes has many great articles a day. Most are stat-heavy, analytical findings that shine light on different aspects of the game.

For example this article is about how many more home runs would a player have in a season if he played for Boston rather than the Nationals, since the Monster at Fenway is much closer than the deep wall in RFK. He uses data about where fly ball outs landed that players hit. What it basically comes down to is that he looked to see from the data he had if some of the fly ball outs would be hits had they been hit in Fenway. Obviously the Green Monster allows for many more doubles and home runs. Similarly, the short porch in Houston causes the same effect.
The interesting thing about this is that J.D. Drew, a big offseason signing by the Red Sox (can't say the biggest because of Dice-K), has a lot of hits to deep left field and a lot of outs that may be hits at home in Boston, which would help the Red Sox out a lot this season.
He does finally come up with a number for the amount of outs that would be hits in Fenway and ranks players based on how many more hits they would get from the change in venue. Topping the list is Chipper Jones. J.D. Drew is in the top 15 of the list and interestingly enough Pat Burell is in the top 25 of the list. There's really nothing useful about that stat besides maybe the Phillies shouldn't have moved the wall back.
On that note, I'm curious as to what the final count of fly ball outs that would have been home runs the year before. Did the Phillies ever release an "official guess" amount?

The HardBall Times

Enough of This Stuff Already

A nice New York Times article that was pointed out.
Murray Chass lists the things he wants to be talked about anymore and I agree with what he says, namely:
-Roger Clemens and when or if he is coming back
-Players declaring that they will not resign with their team at the end of the year
-Players saying they have to be signed before the season starts because they don't want to worry about it during the season. On that note, I'm pretty sure your agent does most of the negotiating and why would you rule that out if perhaps you have a great first half and the team offers you something nice. Why say something dumb like that that may keep the team from offering you money.
-A-Rod and Jeter. I do kind of hate the Yankees so I guess this is obvious, but we know they don't get along, who cares, they don't need to in order to win.

As Season Approaches, Some Topics Should Be Off Limits - New York Times: "If players think their threats are going to panic their teams into giving them the contract extensions they want, they haven’t been paying attention."

Stephen A. Apparently Knows Baseball

Nothing great in this article by Stephen besides talking about what Jimmy Rollins has said. I'm pretty sure there has been about 100 articles about the Rollins quote, but I guess Stephen A had to chime in or this article is on the front of the sunday's sports page, I don't know because I'm just reading it online.

If the Phillies are going to do something, the time is now. All the parts are in place. In this town, you stake a claim, you must deliver.Chances are the Phillies aren't happy about this at all. Somebody probably went to Rollins and wanted to smack him in the mouth, no doubt electing to roll his eyes and choose a different path instead.
After all, this franchise doesn't like pressure. Mainly because it doesn't come without expectations.

I just highlight this article because I think it's funny that Stephen A. Smith, the huge baseball fan, is laying down the law for the Phils this season.

Philadelphia Inquirer | 02/25/2007 | Stephen A. Smith | Rollins voiced what we all should expect: "The Phillies are usually fine in May, before the baseball equivalent of a sneeze jump-starts their June. A cough in July and August progresses to bronchitis by September. Right around the time fall officially arrives is when full-blown pneumonia kicks in, when baseball in Philadelphia is sent to bed, giving the Phillies months to come up with the latest pathetic excuse for why they've been spectating since 1993 - and counting."

Who was at the game on Sept. 28th, 2006 down in DC?

I got my first spring training baseball magazine yesterday (Athlon Sports). I haven't gotten to the rankings and everything, but there is a little column on the game last season between the Phillies and Nationals that didn't start until 11:30 pm. The game was at RFK stadium and there were probably only about a max of 500 people there, all of them Phillies fans. I went to that game and an amazing time, despite the fact that the Phillies couldn't will themselves into the playoffs with any hits.
If anyone was at that game, I was the kid right at the end of the Nationals dugout with his shirt off screaming at every non-Phillies player and fan and cheering for everyone Phillies related.
Here is the article just because I like to think it was written about me. haha.

How Late Was It?
So late that the RFK Stadium cleaning crew began sweeping the upper deck before te game started. So late that the ushers went home. So late the concession stands closed 90 minutes prior to the first pitch. So late that the last out was seen by only a few hundred fans. For four hours, 27 minutes, the Nationals and Phillies waited to start their game on Spet. 28 - 28 minutes before Sept. 29 actually - their persistence owing to its import to the wild card chase. By the time the Nats eked out a 3-1 win, it was 2:07 am. The tiny crowd that stuck it out consisted mostly of rowdies visiting from Philly who provided as much entertainment as the game itself. Clustered in the front rows were the hardcores (some shirtless despite 50-degree temps), easily heard in the empty stadium cussing Nats players, booing 10-foot tall Thomas Jefferson who took a spectacular fall in the fourth-inning "President's Race," chanting "Harry Kallas" at the PA announcer and taunting the Washington mascot. Even Nats president Stan Kasten got in the spirit of things, sitting behind home plate holding a sign that read "Ball Game Today." "I don't know if we'll ever experience that kind of atmosphere again," waxed catcher Brian Schneider. And oh by the way, the two teams had played a 14-inning marathon the night before that had last just short of five hours.

I'm not going to remember the fact that the Phils basically ended their season with that loss or that that game should not have been postponed, what I'm going to remember is how much fun it was to be there and be a part of that excitement even if it came to nothing. Hopefully this year we can wrap up a playoff berth before the final weekend, that would be real nice.

Don't forget Griffey ... the best of his generation

Just reading some ESPN articles and I thought I would pass this Page 2 article onto everyone. Jeff Pearlman writes about Ken Griffey Jr. Remember him? That energetic, athletic, home-run-hitting, amazing center fielder. He went from being touted as the guy that would break Aaron's record and everyone loved him for it, to now being consistently injured and out of the spotlight. Pearlman says that we should remember and love Griffey because of the great years he did have and the fact that he never chose to cheat and use steroids. He may not be in limelight because of it, but it was the right decision.

Following the 1998 season, during which Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa launched the Home Run Chase that Really Wasn't, Griffey and Bonds -- near-lifelong acquaintances -- met up in Florida. Bonds confided in Griffey that he was about to start taking some "hard-core stuff" to keep up with the big boys.

Griffey nodded, but knew all along it wasn't for him.

I always liked Griffey, I was such a fan of his amazing center field abilities and everyone always tried to swing like him when they were playing around, even though his swing doesn't work for anyone, but him.

I don't want to spend the season hating on Barry Bonds as he approaches Aaron's record. I just want him to get injured and retire and end it like that. You won't see too many Bonds articles from me, but I like this article. It highlights a great player in Griffey and does a good job of bashing Bonds.

With 569 career home runs, Griffey sits comfortably in 10th place, a mere 26 away from leapfrogging Sosa into fifth. But whether he does so hardly matters. Griffey is a baseball legend -- perhaps not the best player of his generation, but undeniably the best clean one. He can sleep at night and never worry about federal agents or a grand jury or a tarnished legacy.

ESPN.com: Page 2 : Don't forget Griffey ... the best of his generation: "Though the ritual is now as much a part of spring training as freshly cut grass and Bengay in the rookie's jock, I continue to find it equal parts perplexing and annoying."

Brett Myers hates the Mets

Brett Myers wants to do to the Mets what he did to his wife last summer, except without the apologizing and making up.

"I hate the Mets," said Brett Myers, who made it clear it was more about the uniform than individual players. "I want to beat them more than anyone else. What we need to do is make sure none of their fans get in our building. We shouldn't sell tickets to Mets fans."

I like the attitude, it may be a bit overboard but we should expect that from Myers. And I agree there's nothing more than I hate than Mets fans at the Phillies games. Rather than not sell tickets to Mets fans, Phillies fans should try buying tickets. That'd be a great idea, come on out to those games this year. I know I won't be living back in PA this summer but you can be sure I'll go to plenty of games.
Link to the article where this quote comes from is below.
CourierPostOnline - South Jersey's Web Site

The Third Base Job is up for grabs

Off of the Phillies.com website there is a story about the fight at 3B this spring between Abraham Nunez and Wes Helms, both battling for the starting job.
Many people assumed that when Helms was signed to 2year $5.45 million deal that he was going to be given the starting job. Word out of Clearwater is that the job is up for grabs.
That is a fair stance for Manuel to take considering what Nunez did for the team last year. He played well defensively and had a batting average of .242 as a starter. I'm not saying he was great, I didn't really like seeing him out there either, but at least Manuel is stirring some competition to get each of them to work hard.
The issue comes down to the question of do the Phils want a better defensive or offensive 3B. Nunez is the proven better defensive player (it would be tough to bat .211 in a season and still have a job if you didn't play defense well). While Helms is the likely better hitter since he batted .329 with 10 homers last year in 240 at-bats. Those are pretty decent numbers in only 240 at-bats. Now the Phils upon signing him this offseason hope that those at-bats carry over with relative numbers in a full season's worth of at-bats. That is rather tough to predict. Was last year a fluke for Helms? Is he able to bat like that every day?
One idea that Mandel in the article gives is that the two would platoon. It would be a defensive platoon though, with Nunez playing when the Phillies have a lefty starting (Hamels and Moyer) because a lefty pitcher would cause the other lineup to have more right handed hitters (right handed hitters can rip the ball down the third base line much easier than lefties).
It would be an interesting move that I don't think Manuel would go with, but we shall see. Hopefully we get some answers on the two 3B during spring training.

The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: News: Philadelphia Phillies News: "'I've never had a stretch that bad,' Nunez said. 'It's not how you go through it, but how you come out of it.
Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, it's a wakeup call.'"

Phillies on the front page of ESPN.com MLB page

Well they've made it. The Phillies are on the front page of ESPN.com MLB page. I know, don't get too excited, it's not that big of a deal. It's basically just because Jimmy Rollins has a big mouth.
Here is their caption to the headline you see you at the top:

Let's get this straight. The Phillies, who finished 12 games out of first last season, are the team to beat in the NL East? Jimmy Rollins' words have inspired the Phillies -- and their foes.

Yup, the team to beat. The article is written by Jayson Stark, the ex-Inquirer writer so maybe it is a little biased.
First let me tell you what is inside the insider fantasy preview article by Tristan H. Cockcroft.

But is 2007 the year the Phillies finally snap their 13-season playoff drought? If the team's superstar infield has anything to say about it, they might. First baseman Ryan Howard, age 27, is coming off an astonishing 58-homer, 149-RBI breakout year that landed him the MVP, and now he's considered one of the game's premier sluggers. Second baseman Chase Utley, 28, has managed back-to-back years with at least a .291 batting average, 28 home runs, 102 RBI and 15 stolen bases, and is now the hands-down top fantasy player at his position. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, 28, is coming off a year in which he set career highs in homers (25), RBI (83), runs scored (127) and OPS (.812), vaulting him into fantasy's top-five at his position. All three are in their prime, occupy three of the top four lineup spots and are early-round fantasy picks, which on its own would be enough to make a team a top-10 offense. And that doesn't even consider the fourth infielder, new third baseman Wes Helms, who batted a remarkable .329 with a .965 OPS as a part-timer in Florida last year.

Sounds pretty optimistic to me. Chase Utley is going to be a very sought after 2nd basemen in fantasy leagues especially with Soriano leaving the position. If only Rollins got steals he would be a great fantasy pick-up. Wait did I just say that, yea Jimmy Rollins needs to steal some more bases this year and not just for fantasy reasons.
And just a quick Burrell comment from that article, I didn't want to put it in, but I had to.

OVERRATED: If you live anywhere near Philadelphia or are a Phillies fan, you probably won't come close to overrating Pat Burrell in a fantasy draft. But people in other areas of the country might not be aware of how maddening a player he can be to watch, or own in a fantasy league. Burrell led the majors in called third strikes (63), and batted .169 with 131 K's in 254 at-bats in two-strike counts, .222 with runners in scoring position and .167 with runners in scoring position and two outs. Whether you believe in the notion of "clutch" hitters, Burrell was -- statistically speaking -- anti-clutch in 2006.

Michael Bourn, a player the Phils are very big on, but he hasn't quite lived up to any hype yet. In this section Cockcroft says,

OF Michael Bourn: The organization's steals champion three years straight, Bourn is a left-handed hitting leadoff type, a sort of "lite" Juan Pierre. If Aaron Rowand is traded at any point, Bourn could take over and be a .280-hitting, 40-steal man right away.

I think that may be a bit too optimistic, but hey this is spring training the time when we are all happy, optimistic, and every player could be a star.

---

Now onto the Jayson Stark article on the Phillies.
Just for your information 16 of the current Phillies players weren't even born the last time the Phils won the World Series (me too). Over the last 23 seasons the Phils have been in the playoffs less times than the Cubs (thank you 1993 for our only time in those years).
Here are some quotes from the article that different people had in response to Rollins' quote of winning the division:

From Rollins' double-play partner, Chase Utley:"In order to be successful, I think you have to expect it. You have to set the standards pretty high."

Very high class comment by Chase.

From GM Pat Gillick: "Even though those statements kind of put the bull's-eye on you, when they come from players, I like to hear that. It means they feel good about themselves and they feel good about their teammates. So I like to hear those kinds of positive comments."

It's about the right attitude.

And from the most enthusiastic endorser of Rollins' predictive powers, closer Tom Gordon: "I never read the article where he said that or heard anything about it until now. But why not? Why not us? Everybody pencils in the Mets. Everybody pencils in the Braves because they've done it every year. But why can't the Phillies win this year and next year and the following year, and be one of those teams? This team has had an opportunity to see every year what the Braves have done. So now why can't we do just what they've done, if not better? I mean, why not?"

Yea, why can't the Phils win 11 straight divisions, that would be a lot of fun.

It's an intriguing question, all right -- not to mention an intriguing opportunity for some shrewd South Philadelphia entrepreneur to print up about 100,000 "WHY NOT?" T-shirts.

Can anyone tell me where I can get one of these shirts?

Speaking for the Mets' defense counsel, here's David Wright, in a recent interview with WFAN: "I read in the paper that Jimmy Rollins thinks nobody else has a chance. … When you read that, it irks you a bit and makes you want to go out there and beat them that much more."

It's good to know that Wright misquoted him wrong and there will be some nice rivalry games this year.

What this race is liable to come down to, in the simplest terms, is whether the Mets' biggest worry (starting pitching) will turn out to be less of a liability than the Phillies' biggest worry (bullpen).

Ahhh, the bullpen, I really hope the bullpen doesn't ruin us. It's such a crappy aspect of the team that when it's great no one notices, but when it's bad it really hurts and everyone gets upset.

"We still need work in our bullpen," Gillick said, unequivocally. "We need to get better back there."

It's good that Gillick admits that, go spend the owners money Gillick, do it for the sake of Philadelphia.

Drexel Dragons had a good weekend

The most surprising college team in Philadelphia this winter would definately have to be the Drexel Dragons. Their men's basketball team is having a spectacular winter, beating Villanova earlier in the season. So it shouldn't come as too much of a surpise, but it still is that Drexel beat Creighton yesterday in a terrific come from behind road win. The game was shown on ESPN and called a "Bracket Busters" game. Drexel isn't in first place in their league, but they have shown the ability to win on the road (12 road wins - best in Division 1) which should come in handy come conference tournament time. In case we forgot the surprise team of last year's March Madness - George Mason - is from the same conference as Drexel.
It would definately be a crazy March if Drexel made it farther than any Big 5 team. We shall see.
Drexel pulls off stunner, beats Creighton on road

In some more surprising college news the Drexel men's lacrosse team beat #1 Virginia to open the season. Virginia won the championship last year and was also the home team for this game. It was a come from behind win for Drexel who scored the winning goal with 10 seconds left in the game. The score was 11-10 and it was the first time in Drexel sports history that any team beat the top ranked team in any sport.
Drexel tops No. 1 Va. in men's lacrosse

Goosebumps

The Phillies have come out with their ad campaign for the spring and it is - Goosebumps. Yup, "Goosebumps." I'm not kidding with you. If you are from the Greater Philadelphia area you have probably seen them otherwise follow the link at the bottom to watch all the commercials.
Now all the fan segments were obviously filmed last year during the season which got me wondering did they tell the fans to mention goosebumps and shiver like that or did they realize this winter that they had a whole bunch of videos of fans doing that so it would be a good advertising gimmick. I don't really know.
I'm more of a fan of the "You Gotta Believe" ads and these are a little bit weird, like when Manuel mentions pantyhose, but hey if they get fans to the park that's all that matters.

The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: Fan Forum: Phillies Commercials

Dunk Contest Live Blog

I figured I'm sitting here watching the dunk contest, why don't I do a live blog of it.
Sure, why not.
Newer posts will be at the bottom. I don't feel like putting a timestamp on each update.

-Michael Jordan is the toughest judge so far. After the first round Gerald Green had a 48 and Nate Robinson had a 45. Green has a real cool original dunk where his teammate and him ran up the baseline and his teammate tossed the ball off the side of the backboard and he caught it and dunked.

- Tyrus Thomas had a nice dunk where he jumped over Ben Gordon and slammed it with one hand. He also managed to rip the net off of the rim on the dunk so now we have a delay while the put up a new a net.

-The net is fixed. Dwight Howard put a sticker on the top of the backboard during his dunk. That's crazy. He caught the ball from his teammate under the net and slammed it with his right hand while he slammed a sticker on the top of the backboard with his left hand.

-It's a conspiracy for Nate Robinson to win again this year. He just grabbed the ball from his teammate holding the ball up and did a 180 and slammed it in. It was not better than Howard's dunk, but the judges scored it higher because Nate is the little guy.

-Now Nate is standing in the lane ready to be jumped over. That was a sweet dunk, Green just dunked over Nate Robinson.

-A pretty cool dramatic commercial where the guy dunks at the end of the game to win it. I think it was for the new Lebron shoe. It was like the Space Jam winning dunk where Mike dunked over all the aliens, except without the arm extending part.

-Gerald Green and Nate Robinson are the top dunkers to advance. Dwight Howard got robbed. I don't think Howard made it and that's just because he's 7feet tall and they wanted more from him. Nate is going to win it just cause he's the little guy, also because if you ask me there's a knicks conspiracy (just kidding, i think).

-A pretty generic dunk by Nate, grabbed the rim then dunked it with the other hand.

-Green caught the ball passed to him from behind the backboard and dunked it with two hands. The timing is very tough for a dunk like that.
Now puts the pressure on Nate to really do something.

-Nate is trying to throw it off the backboard catch it and do a 360 dunk. 4 tries and he hasn't done it yet.

-He is tired. He finally got it on his 10th try. Green only needs a 40 to win.

-Green jumped from about two steps in front of the foul line over a box and slammed it. He is the winner.

-That's it for the dunk contest. The first round with all 4 dunkers was better. I wanted to say that they should have more dunkers in the contest but watching this final round I see that these dunks can be really tiring cause they seemed pretty tired. I wish they could make it longer so we could see more dunks.
Another thing is that it's important that you score a lot of points on every dunk. You should be able to get one good dunk to be a good base and then in the next round go for a crazy dunk that no one has ever done. The dunkers have to be kind of smart about each of their dunks to make sure they get enough points each time.