Is Burrell's Problem Eyesight?

Philadelphia Daily News | 01/29/2007 | More suggestions for Burrell

This article in yesterday's Daily News by Paul Hagen speculates that Burrell's hitting may have something to do with poor eyesight. In order to hit the ball you have to be able to see it and see it very well at that. So any decrease in visibility would lead to poor hitting.

It would also help explain why Burrell (who has declined all interview requests this offseasaon) has led the majors in taking called third strikes in each of the last two seasons (68 times in 2005 and 63 last year) while frequently swinging at pitches far out of the strike zone.

Back when I still playing baseball and had to start wearing glasses it made a huge difference to my batting so I know exactly what he is talking about.

Arbuckle doesn't think its so much in his eyes, but more in his swing.

"A lot of it is that he comes off the pitch so much that he loses track of the ball when it gets out over the plate," Arbuckle noted. "We all see the same thing in his approach. His swing gets real long.

"So, yes, I'm not sure how much he sees the ball, but I think it's more because of his body position."

Burrell's swings almost never looked real pretty last year and often times looked like he was trying too hard and swinging for the fences.

I think Manuel has the best comments for Burrell, though Manuel was the manager of Burrell last year I hope he said these things to him during the season as it was obvious he was struggling.

"So what you have to do is focus on the ball from the moment it leaves the pitcher's hand. The key to his success is to concentrate and relax."

All I have to say is good luck, Pat. Right now you are still our starting left fielder and if you start to perform like you can then Philly will love you again.

Rest in Peace Barbaro

Goodnight, Sweet Prince - Deadspin

That loveable Kentucky Derby winning, Triple Crown almost winning horse, Barbaro was euthanized today.
In recent days his condition grew worse and things weren't looking good.
It is said that his last words were, "Remember me for all the good I did."

We will never forget, Barbaro.

Phillies Sring Training Roster Roundup: Hitters

All the starting spots of the hitters on the Phillies are about wrapped up, but the bench spots will be up for grabs this spring training. Listed next to every player will be their age.
Projected starters:
1B - Ryan Howard - 27
2B - Chase Utley - 28 - The $85 million man
SS - Jimmy Rollins - 28
3B - Wes Helms - 30
LF - Pat Burrell - 30 - hey, just give it a chance
CF - Aaron Rowand - 29 - doesn't he seem older?
RF - Shane Victorino - 26
Catcher - ???
Catcher is an interesting position because the starting spot is up for grabs between 3 guys:
Rod Barajas - 31 - The aged veteran
Carlos Ruiz - 28 - The young-ish farm system product
Chris Coste - 33 - The aged sophomore
From what Charlie Manuel has said it seems that the job is Coste's to lose. Barajas is back-up material and Ruiz has yet to live up to his expectations.

Now for the bench guys currently on the roster (listed with age and bat):
Abraham Nunez - 30 - S - Veteran infielder who will be ready to play 3B if Helms falters at all. In reality he wasn't a bad short term replacement for David Bell, but his bat is just not good enough.
Danny Sandoval - 27 - S - The young infielder who should fill in at SS, 2B, and even 1B when those guys need a break.
Chris Roberson - 27 - S - Outfield sub, needs to play better
Michael Bourn - 24 - L - Outfield sub, young, but still needs to play better
Jason Werth - 27 - R - Outfield, signed this offseason, missed all of 2006 with a wrist injury
Gregg Dobbs - 28 - L - 1B, 3B, outfield?, acquired this offseason

Now for the 'non-roster' invitees. I got these names from the Phillies official site.
Randall Simon - 31 - L - The big ol' power hitter that's not really a power hitter, he could see time as a pinch hitter, probably not in the field
Brent Abernathy - 29 - R - 2B, he last played for the Twins in '05, spent '06 in AAA for the Brewers (useless fact: he was on the gold medal olympic team in sydney in 2000)
Andrew Beattie - 28 - S - OF, listed as from Philadelphia though went to high school down in Clearwater, spent the last year in AAA for the A's and Brewers
Brennan King - 26 - R - 3B, spent last year in Scranton, has yet to see the majors
Ron Calloway - 30 - L - OF, saw some time in the pros with the Expos in '03 and '04, spent last year in AAA for the Red Sox
Lou Collier - 33 - R - OF, he's been around for a long time

There also 5 catchers invited, who I didn't bother looking up because they aren't going to be making the time most likely, but here are their names anyway:
Tim Gradoville - 26
Jason Hill - 29
Dusty Wathan - 33, his picture has an scary resemblance to Chris Coste
Jason Jaramillo - 24, spent most of last year in AA, I think the Phils really like him
Lou Marson - 20, spent last year in A (Lakewood), still very young so could see big leagues some day

Also, don't let me forget the outfielder recently signed by the Phils:
Karim Garcia - 31 - L - he has been around for quite some time, he signed a minor league contract, but has an outside shot of making the roster, he's at least been invited to spring training.

That's it for the hitters. 13 or 14 of these guys will be on the opening day roster. The rest of them hopefully end up on our minor league teams which were just rated as the 2nd to worst in the league, that's great.
Hopefully later this week I'll do the pitchers, that's going to be a little harder I think, we'll see if I'm up to it.

If anyone has anything to add, correct, comment, etc leave a comment or e-mail me. Start getting your hopes up Phillies fans, now is the time to be optimistic.

Ryan Howard: When is his payday?

It's getting to be baseball time. Over the winter I became busy with some things and such, but basically I have found that baseball is the main thing I like writing about on this site. So as baseball approaches my posts here should increase. Just going to be trying to pass along any interesting news to anyone that stops by.
The big news for the Phillies has been the nice big contract extension Chase Utley signed - 7 years and 85 million dollars. He does deserve it though it is surprising to see the Phillies actually give out a contract like that. Hopefully it keeps him happy and playing well.
Ryan Howard, the other young great star of the Phillies, is still under his same contract and that contract is not done yet. Jayson Stark writes in this article that Howard does definitely deserve to get a big pay day, but the Phillies have no reason to pay him yet. He is still under contract and he is not arbitration eligible. So he has no leverage to use against the Phillies. Unless of course he wants to start talking out and complaining, but Philly has seen no signs of that from Howard. He seems like a genuinely like able happy guy.
I think the Phillies will give him an extension during the season, Stark writes that the Phillies can get away with waiting until next winter and they will face no consequence. No matter how it goes down I just Howard to be happy and to still be hitting those home runs in Citizens Bank Park, whatever takes for that to happen for many years is fine by me.

Monday Morning Thoughts

Well that was a fun game last night. The entire 4th quarter it felt like the Eagles had the game wrapped up, even though they were only up by 7. So what happens, the Giants tie the game and Brian Westbrook has to run all the way down the field to set up an Akers field goal kick to win the game with time expiring.
Now it's time to bring on those magical Saints down in New Orleans.
Also nice for Philly fans is the fact that Dallas lost Saturday night, so there will be no T.O. rematch in the playoffs. Rather we can laugh at Tony Romo and all the problems they have. Could be quite some changes on that team before next year starts.
Peyton Manning advanced as did the Patriots. 4 very good teams left in the AFC (Ravens, Colts, Chargers, Patriots), don't know if can say that about the NFC (Seahawks, Bears, Saints, Eagles).
A little piece of information for anyone that might be into sports gambling - Bodog Live is nearly impossible to win with. I had to go out yesterday before the 2nd half because I couldn't be near my computer where I would lose all my money on Bodog live.
The weekend might technically be over, but tonight is the much anticipated college football championship. I'm not really rooting for anyone in particular, although as Penn State fan I want to see Ohio State lose so I'll root for Florida. I would just like to see a good game tonight, even though there's no way this years game can be any better than last year's championship game - Vince Young just wins football games.

Eagles Game Live Blog

Well that does it for me. I liked the whole liveblogging thing, but I think I'm going to catch the 2nd half at a place where I can watch it on high def TV. So enjoy your evening and Go Eagles!

6:14: That does it for the first half. The Eagles lead 17-10 and things are looking good. The Eagles can't just rest yet though because if we can remember September 17th - the last time Giants came to town, things got bad at the end.

6:13: That was a poor punt return. Let's see if Reid tries to do anything here.

6:12: Stopped the Giants at the 25, they definately could take a shot or two at the end zone or a field goal in these last few seconds.

6:11: Some nice clock management by Reid there, that was dumb. Eagles could definately get into field goal territory in 30 seconds.

6:08: Touchdown! Garcia connects with Stallworth on a nice 28 yd TD toss. 17-10 with 1:01 left in the half.

6:05: 3rd and 5, somehow that ball got past the linebackers and Reggie Brown caught it. That was great.

5:57: That was fun. Don't mess with Jon Runyan. He got two cheap shots in and no harm done. Offsetting fouls is nice, if only the Giants guy didn't fight back the Eagles would have been really hurt by that.

5:46: I hate Shockey as does every non-Giant fan. He is passionate I'll give him that.

5:42: At least we got a field goal I suppose.
I'd just like to say that the new Ford Edge car commercial is probably the commercial I hate the most. I can't think of a commercial I've ever hated more. And watching all these games, that commercial has been on every time.

5:32: Confidence and fun, that's what the defense has found and now they are looking good.
PICKED OFF!!! A beautiful pick by I believe Sheldon Brown. It's time for Garcia to lead us to a lead. The stadium must be going crazy right now. The only downside right now is that my bets on bodog live aren't doing very well today.

5:28: Westbrook! 49 yards, who said he can't run? Philadelphia is pumped. He just made that happen, he wanted the endzone and he got it. 14 minutes left in the 2nd quarter and a 7-7 game.

5:23: Garcia runs better than McNabb did, that was a very clutch first down. That's the end of the first quarter and the Eagles should be happy its only 7-0. This game is still wide-open.

5:22: Woo! First down! Garcia is supposed to real safe with the ball, but some of the passes have been real close to interceoptions.

5:19: The defense did do it again, amazing. Well done defense. O wow Shockey looks pretty hurt, thats great for us. I'm glad that showed huge limp he has.

5:16: That was a horrible pass and another horrible drive by the Eagles, and again NY gets great field position. Can't keep relying on the defense to bail you out.

5:11: Cutbacks on the run just kill the Eagles.

5:06: That was a bad 3rd down play, what happened? Did Garcia want to run the whole time?

5:02: Okay, this drive is starting at the 19, better than the 9. Lead us to the promised land, Jeff Garcia.

5:01: Penalties could really work in Philly's favor. Big 3rd down here.
Great series of downs by the defense. The Giants got to start the drive at midfield, but didn't get anywhere.

4:57: A great first drive for the Eagles, the offense doesn't look to fired up to go out and get some points back.

4:50: Touchdown Plaxico, he's so dangerous. We need a good drive here, no 3 and out. Can't give the Giants too much momentum.

4:48: 285 lb QB, damn that guy is big.
Tiki is running all over the Eagles to start things off.

4:44: Plaxico is just too tall, hopefully the Giants are smart enough to keep doing that.

4:34: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman for the game today.
That was an interesting entrance by Dawkins. Get pumped.


My blog has fallen apart over the last few weeks as I was too busy to take care of it, but I'm back, taking it easy with the laptop while watching this game so I think I'm going to try this liveblog. So chime if you want or send me an instant message at aim: iwantfunk.
Go Eagles