The Whit: Which Moment in Sports History would You Change?

I had a small clip in this semester's final issue of the Whit. I want to thank Cody Crusciel for being my first sports editor and congratualtions to Kate Harman for taking his role for next year. Here is my clip. Enjoy:

1993 World Series
Philadelphia Phillies vs Toronto Blue Jays
By John Russo

After taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Curt Schilling stepped on
the mound for Philadelphia in game five and shut out the Blue Jays 2-0 to pull
Philadelphia within one game. Terry Mulholland took the mound for Philadelphia
and Dave Bush pitched for Toronto, after being down 5-1, Philadelphia scored
five runs in the top of the 7th.

It’s the bottom of the 9th of game six of the 1993 World Series and
Mitch Williams stands on the mound. The Philadelphia Phillies, trailing 3-2 in
the series, are leading the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in Toronto. All Williams needs
is three more outs and the Phillies take Toronto to game seven.

It’s now the 9th inning. Ricky Henderson steps in and is walked. Devon
White comes up to the plate next and hits a pop fly for out number one. Paul
Molitor then singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Joe Carter
steps up to the plate and has a 2-2 count on him. Carter has been ineffective
all series, and is looking to get a hit off of Williams.

Williams knows Carter is a dangerous hitter, despite his cold spell. He
also has Henderson standing on second, waiting to take third at any given
moment.

Carter steps in. The 2-2 pitch, and a swing and a miss! Williams
strikes out Carter to bring up John Olerud, who will ground out weakly to end
the game and the Phillies hold on to win game six, sending the series back to
Toronto for the final game of the World Series. Williams could potentially
become a hero in Philadelphia.

We all wish that was what happened that late October night in the
SkyDome. Instead, Carter infamously hit a three run home run and Williams was
practically run out of town.

Summary: April

As usual, the Phillies got off to a slow start in April but finished winning 5 of 6, including a sweep of the Marlins in Florida. On a positive note, they are going into May with a record of 11-9 and are only 1.5 games out of first to the Marlins. In this post, I will go into detail of the positives and negatives of the first month in baseball.

POSITIVES

-Utley's hip: He's fine everyone! He has been absolutely electric in his first month of play. Utley only played about 10 games of spring ball, a major concern for his effectiveness early in the season. Well worry no more. Utley is batting .342 with 7 homers and 20 RBI's, making him an early MVP candidate. Will he keep this up? Well barring a phantom hip injury like last year, he should keep up this pace and be in the MVP talks throughout the season.

-Pat who?: Just kidding, we still miss you Pat but all kidding aside, Raul Ibanez is no joke. If there were any doubts that the older and slower Ibanez would fill the hole left by Burrell, they are all gone now. He has been clutch all month, including his go ahead grand slam Friday night versus Washington in Philadelphia's 13-11 win. His numbers going into May: .379, 7 homers, 17 RBI's.

*side note: Burrell is currently batting .254 with 1 home run and 8 RBI's.

-Mad-dog: Ryan Madson has started out the season pitching really well. He even put some velocity on his fast ball as it has topped out at 97 a few times. He isn't doing anything spectacular but he is reliable and is filling the void left with Brad Lidge's injury.

-Ryno: Ryan Howard is batting much better to start the season than he has in the past. he's sitting at .288 with 4 homers and 15 RBI's. He usually heats up in May and is on fire in June-on. A good start will only mean a ridiculous ending.

-Matt Stairs: He's batting .308 with 2 pinch hit home runs in 13 AB's. He may very well be the Greg Dobbs of this year.

NEGATIVES

-Injury bug: Brad Lidge, Carlos Ruiz, and Cole Hamels have been battling injuries to start off the year. They aren't anything long term but it's frustrating.

-Cold Hamels: No it isn't a typo. Only Alex Rodriguez is unluckier than him right now. He's been hit by batted balls, sprained his ankle, and has pitched the exact opposite of his World Series MVP performance. Look at the bright side, he could have been embarrassed in a book, uncovered in steroid talks, and had embarrassing pictures of him leaked to the public. Way to go A-Rod.

-Home run champions: I'm talking about the starting pitching. They have given up at least one home run in 19 out of 20 games to start the season. Brett Myers is the champion here with 8 home runs in 5 starts (31.2 innings). The team? 40 homers in 20 games. Wow.

-Distractions: Ring ceremonies, rain outs, injuries, and the loss of the greatest broadcaster in Philadelphia history, Harry Kalas. Keep your heads up boys. The season will only get better.

OTHER STUFF

-Series won/lost/split: 3/3/1

-Sweeps: Marlins April 25-27

-Best offensive game: Ibanez 4/27 - 3-5, double, grand slam, 4 RBI's, 2 runs

-Best pitching start: Jamie Moyer 4/26 - 6 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 6 k's, 

-Three stars: Utley, Ibanez, Madson

Final Project Pitch

I plan on interviewing a bunch of Rowan Phillies fans, asking them opinionated questions regarding the Phillies from their World Series win up to April’s cold start. I will write a recap from game 5 until this weekend.

 

I will hope to interview atleast 5 people, asking them from 3-5 questions, depending on heir answers, and making sure not to repeat any questions among them. I’ll then use their quotes through out the story. Questions will include feelings toward the championship, off season acquisitions, prospects, Harry Kalas, and the slow start.

Phillies March Madenss: Finals

The best hitter of the 1980 World Champions team will go up against the best hitter of the 2008 World Series team: Mike Schmidt vs. Chase Utley. I went into details about the two superstars here. Here is the updated bracket so you can track to see how Mr. Utley and Michael Jack got here.

Change Is On Its Way...

As some of you may have known, this was a school project for since February. Well once this semester is over, I will NOT be shutting the blog down. Instead I will be changing it completely. I am unhappy with my decision to make it based off of the Rowan Phillies Fans. I know I could have done more and I will try and do more before the semester ends but when it does, I will go strictly to Phillies news, game stories, etc as a practice for my sports journalism endeavors.

Here is an outline for the last few weeks of the "Phillies Prof-ets" and a look at what will be in store for the future:

-I will throw out my pitch here for my final project by Tuesday. I don't know
what it will be yet but I hope it will actually gain the attention of a lot of
people.

-My goodbye post for the "Phillies Prof-ets" will include a reflection on the
old idea and the introduction of the new idea.

-I will be changing the
back ground, font, and lay out during the course of the summer to make the page
look better and less amateurish.

-And finally and most notably; I will
be changing the name to something more dynamic. Any ideas would be greatly
appreciated. Leave those as a comment or email them to me at spartanc63@yahoo.com and if I chose a
name sent to me, I will credit you in my introduction and elsewhere on the site.

Thank you and go Phils!

Another Whit link.

This didn't get run in the paper edition of the Whit but was posted online:
New York's New Homes

Phillies March Madness: Final Four

Here is your Philadelphia Phinal Phour

#1 Chase Utley vs #2 Curt Schilling

Why Utley: Mr. Utley was THE man for the Phillies since 2005. He has a .298 average going into the 2009 season and is one of the few guys producing offensively during the Phillies current slow start. Some of his career achievements in Philly include his grand slam in his MLB debut versus the Rockies and most recently his infamous pump fake to first - throw out at home during game 5 of the World Series which kept the game tied.

Career w/ Phillies: .298 AVG / 130 HR / 492 RBI / 60 SB

Why Schilling: He started his career in Baltimore and then was traded to Philadelphia. he quickly became their ace, most notably during the 1993 NL Pennant team. He posted great numbers throughout his career in Philly but got the 3 rings he owns somewhere else, one in 2001 with Arizona where he and Randy Johnson were one of the greatest pitching duos of all time and two in 2004 and 2007 with Boston. Sure he was successful elsewhere but he became the pitcher he was playing in Philly.

Career w/ Phillies: 16591.1 IP / 101-78 / 3.35 ERA / 1554 K

#1 Mike Schmidt vs #1 Richie Ashburn

Why Schmidt: Michael Jack Schmidt, as we affectionately remember Harry Kalas calling him that, is considered the greatest Phillie of all time and greatest third baseman in the history of baseball. He is the only Phillie on this list to play his entire career in Phillie (we hope guys like Utley, Ryam Howard, and Cole Hamels do so as well) and be great. I could go on for hours as to why the 9 time Gold Glover, 12 time All Star, 6 time Silver Slugger, and 1 time world champion is the best ever. His #20 is also retired in Philly and was inducted into the baseball Hall Of Fame in 1995. 

Career w/ Phillies: .267 AVG / 548 HR / 1,595 RBI / 174 SB

Why Ashburn: Whitey is considered more than just a player. He was also the 2nd half to the greatest broadcast team in Philadelphia history, Harry and Whitey. Ashburn was one of the greatest center fielders of all time and a member of the 1950's "Whiz Kids" team. He could hit, get on base and steal them. He is 3rd in Phillies history in runs scored. He is a 5 time All Star and has his #1 retired. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame with Schmidt in 1995

Career w/ Phillies: .311 AVG / 22 HR / 499 RBI / 199 SB

Harry Kalas Through the Years

Here is a video tribute by Comcast Sports Net:



Here is a timeline written by Ed Barkowitz and Kerith Gabriel of the Philadelphia Daily News on April 14:

March 26, 1936: Harold Norbert Kalas is born in Chicago. He grew up in the small town of Naperville, Ill., just outside Chicago.

1946: Attends a game at Comiskey Park as a 10-year-old and is befriended by Washington Senators first baseman Mickey Vernon after rain washed out batting practice. It is here Kalas develops his love of baseball.

1954: The caption beneath his Naperville High School senior picture touts Kalas as a "Future Sports Announcer."

1959: Graduates from the University of Iowa with a degree in speech, radio and television.

1959: Is drafted by the Army immediately out of college and serves in Hawaii for 2 years. Works in the Army information office. It's also where he becomes a broadcaster for the University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Islanders Triple A club in the Pacific Coast League.

April 12, 1965: Makes his major league debut as the lead announcer for the Houston Astros, newly rechristened from the Colt .45s. Coincidentally, the Astros lose to the Phillies, 1-0.

June 18, 1967: Calls Don Wilson's no-hitter, the first of six no-nos Kalas calls.

1971: Is brought to Philadelphia by Bill Giles and is an unpopular choice to replace Bill Campbell as the Phillies' lead announcer.

April 10, 1971: The opening of Veterans Stadium also yields Harry's first home-run call as a Phillies broadcaster, which comes when Don Money connected off Montreal's Bill Stoneman.

April 15, 1972: Calls the first of Steve Carlton's Phillies-record 241 wins.

Sept. 16, 1972: Calls the first of Mike Schmidt's Phillies-record 548 home runs.

Oct. 21, 1980: The Phillies win their first World Series, but a rule granting radio broadcast rights only to national partners - and not individual teams' flagship broadcasters - prohibits Kalas and his colleagues from calling the series. The groundswell from irate Phillies fans is so great that the policy is changed the following year.

October 1983: Calls Phillies' World Series loss to Orioles in five games.

April 18, 1987: Calls Schmidt's 500th career home run (off Pittsburgh's Don Robinson).

October 1993: Calls Phillies' World Series loss to Blue Jays in six games.

Sept. 9, 1997: Longtime friend and colleague Richie Ashburn dies in New York, where Phillies are in town for a series with the Mets.

February 1998: Falls while bicycling in Hawaii and breaks his left arm.

July 28, 2002: Is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame's broadcaster's wing.

Sept. 11, 2004: Calls Ryan Howard's first home run.

Oct. 29, 2008: Finally gets to call the final out of a winning World Series when Brad Lidge fans Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske in Game 5.

April 12, 2009: Calls his final home run - Matt Stairs' pinch-hit, ninth-inning blast in a 7-5 win at Colorado.

April 13, 2009: Passes away at age 73 in Washington, before a game against the Nationals.

Phillies March Madness Elite 8

Here is the match ups. Due to a lack of time since I am going to Florida, I couldn't go into detail on the matchups but I will for the Final 4. There were no upsets but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few #2's make the Final 4. I will post pictures and summaries of the Finall 4 contestants next week. Here are the matchups:

2008:
#1 Chase Utley vs #2 Ryan Howard

1993:
#1 Lenny Dykstra vs #2 Curt Schilling

1980:
#1 Mike Schmidt vs #2 Steve Carlton

Other Years:
#1 Richie Ashburn vs #2 Robin Roberts

Here is an updated bracket.

How Harry the K Affected the Hearts of Others

I have been reading about Harry Kalas all day. I know I posted my little thing on him but as I was reading the posts of others, the repressed feelings I had came out as they would voice pieces of the sentiments I felt deep inside. I want to post those other memoirs and tributes written in other blogs. 

Again I say: Thank you Harry for being the guiding voice through my 15 years as a Phillies fan. Your beautiful voice, that amazing home run call, and that warm feeling you gave me as I would watch my beloved Fightin's win or lose will be forever missed.

Harry Kalas... You are the man.

We Hate to Lose - Justin Evans

Phillies Nation - Tim Malcolm

Beer Leaguer - J. Weitzel

The Zo Zone - Todd Zolecki

Harry Kalas: 1936-2009

“Swing...and a long drive, watch this baby, outta here! Home run!”

For the past 38 seasons, that’s what you would hear after every Phillies home run from the mouth of the greatest voice in Philadelphia sports history.

Harry Kalas was more than just a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was “The Voice.”

That fateful call was said one more time on Sunday. In the top of the 9th, Matt Stairs stepped up to the plate and delivered the final shot Harry the K would ever call, a 2-run go ahead homer versus the Rockies.

Born Harold Norbert Kalas in Illinois in 1936, he began his announcing career for a Hawaiian minor league ball club. He made his major league debut in 1965 with the Houston Astros.

He was hired by the Phillies in 1971 to replace Bill Campbell. After the retirement of By Saam, Kalas was paired with Andy Musser and Hall of Fame Phillies great, Richie Ashburn. Kalas joined NFL Films and 1975 and has been working with them until his death.

Known as “Harry and Whitey,” the duo of Kalas and Ashburn would stay together for 27 years until Ashburn passed away in 1997. Kalas would still mourn the death of his best friend every day.

Kalas was best known for his amazing voice. He had such a warm presence about him with his deep and tender voice that would swell with excitement whenever game play would reach its peak. His home run calls were outstanding and his emotion shown painted the perfect picture for anyone and everyone listening.

Yet simple, it wasn’t just a home run call that people will forever miss.

“65,000 plus on their feet here at Veterans Stadium. The
Tugger needs one more...Swing and a miss! Yes, he struck him out! Yes, they did
it! The Phillies are World Champions!”

And 28 years later, he got to call the pitch that ended the Phillies 28-year drought and relieved a city that ached for a championship for 25 years.

“Fans on their feet; rally towels are being waved. Brad Lidge stretches. The 0-2
pitch… Swing and a miss, struck him out! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008
World Champions of baseball!”

His last call came Sunday when Chase Utley fielded the final out in the Phillies 7-5 win.

“Bouncing ball to Chase Utley, this should be the game, Chase throws him out and
that will be it as the Phil's win 2 out of 3 here at Coors Field, coming back to
take this one by a score of 7 to 5."

Some of his greatest achievements include calling two World Championships, the opening of both Veterans Stadium in 1971 and Citizens Bank Park in 2004, and being elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2002, also winning the Ford C. Frick Award.

Kalas also had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch April 8 before the Phillies World Series ring ceremony. Decked in a red sports coat, Kalas called his last home game later that day.

Kalas was the voice of Philadelphia. Now his voice will just me a memory as every time we see a Phillie hit the long ball, “It’s outta here,” will ring in our years forever.

BREAKING NEWS: Harry Kalas dead

Baseball Hall of Famer, Phillies announcer and NFL Films voice, Harry Kalas dies Monday afternoon. He was 73. ESPN, Philly.com, and numerous other sites have reported this already. It was heard first from Todd Zolecki's Twitter page.

Kalas was found unconscious in the broadcast booth at Nationals Stadium at 12:30 and died less than an hour later at the George Washington University Medical Center.

Kalas had an undisclosed surgery in February.

Some of his achievements as the voice of the Phillies since 1971 includes calling 2 World Series championships and a baseball Hall of Fame induction in 2002 as the recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award.

The cause of death is not yet known.

I'm deeply saddened by this. I've been crying a little for the past 15-20 minutes and it's just so heartbreaking. I just saw him last Wednesday at the Phillies/Braves game where he threw out the first pitch after the ring ceremony. That was also his last home game, an honor for me and I'm glad I saved that ticket stub.

Thank you Harry the K for everything and we will miss you. You can now join Whitey Ashburn in the great broadcast booth in the sky.

AL Preview Link

Here is the Whit publication on my AL preview.

Pictures 4/9/09

Phillies March Madness Round 3

Only one upset this week as #4 Ed Delehanty lost to #5 Chuck Klein. But this is where it will start to get really interesting. The 2008 bracket is basically a tossup for a an Elite Eight bid. The other three brackets look like the top 3 seeds can fight for an Elite Eight bid.

2008:
#1 Chase Utley vs #4 Jimmy Rollins
#3 Cole Hamels vs #2 Ryan Howard

1993:
#1 Lenny Dykstra vs #4 John Kruk
#3 Darren Daulton vs #2 Curt Schilling

1980:
#1 Mike Schmidt vs #4 Tug McGraw
#3 Pete Rose vs # 2 Steve Carlton

Other Years:
#1 Richie Ashburn vs #5 Chuck Klein
#3 Grover Alexander vs #2 Robin Roberts

Here is the link for the printable bracket. Email your picks to spartanc63@yahoo.com or leave them as a comment.

Phillies win first game of 2009

It was a series that absolutely blew for the first 24 1/2 innings. Then with the help of some timely hitting, patience, and a bull pen that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, the Phillies erupted to end the series on a high note. Going into Wednesday's game, the Phillies lost their first two games to the Atlanta Braves by a combined score of 8-1 and the starting pitching surrendered all 8 runs and a total of 5 home runs, the trend continued into the first 6 1/2 innings of Wednesday afternoon.

Joe Blanton got shelled, giving up 2 homers and 7 runs total and the bull pen surrendered 3 more to give the Braves a 10-3 lead. Now I am not going to make a habit of doing game stories but the story of the bottom of the 7th must me told in the eyes of someone who was there to witness it: me.

It was the 7th inning stretch and me and brother had to leave early so we walked downstairs to watch the Phillies bat one more time. They had the heart of the order coming up so I wanted to see them take one more stab at the Braves pitching. Shane Victorino led off with a ground out. Chase Utley then singled and Ryan Howard got hit high in the shoulder by a pitch. The crowd was absolutely livid at that pitch, especially for it hit one of the hometown heros. Jayson Werth drew a walk to load the bases and this is where the fun begins:

Braves 10 - Phillies 3 - bases are loaded with 1 out for Raul Ibanez.

10-4 - Ibanez hits an RBI single to score in Utley. Bases still loaded.

10-5 - Pedro Feliz hits another RBI single to drive in Howard. Bases still loaded.

10-6 - Matt Stairs pinch hits and walks in a run. Still loaded.

10-7 - Chris Coste pinch hits and walks in a run. Still loaded.

10-8 - Jimmy Rollins walks in a run. still loaded.

10-9 - Victorino singles to score Stairs. Still loaded.

10-10 - Utley walks to score in a run. Still loaded.

10-11 - Howard grounds out but drives in Rollins. Second and third with 2 outs and then Werth flew out to right to end the inning with the Phillies on top 11-10.

Yes people. that was an 8-run inning to come back from being down 10-3. Ryan Madson, also known as "The Bridge to Lidge," pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 8th. They added another run to go up 12-10 in the bottom half on a sacrifice fly by Eric Bruntlett. The Braves hit a solo home run off Brad Lidge to make it 12-11 in the top of the 9th. Mr. Perfect then held on to earn his first save of the year, striking out Garrett Anderson.

Pictures from the game will be posted later today. 

The Official Opening Day Roster

The Phillies are getting ready to kick off the 2009 MLB season tonight on ESPN2 versus the Atlanta Braves at 8PM. This is what we have all be waiting for, the Title Defense. In my previous post, I gave my prediction on my opening day roster and was wrong on a few spots. Here is the roster and in italics are the picks I got wrong with players in paranthesis as the wrong picks:

Catchers:
-Ruiz
-Coste (Paulino - traded to Giants for Taschner)

Infield:
-Howard
-Utley
-Rollins
-Feliz
-Dobbs
-Bruntlett
-Cairo (Ozuna - optioned to AAA)

Outfield:
-Ibanez
-Victorino
-Werth
-Stairs
(Jenkins - released)

Starting Pitchers:
-Hamels
-Myers
-Moyer
-Blanton
-Park

Bull Pen:
-Lidge (closer)
-Madson (set up)
-Eyre
-Condrey
-Durbin
-Taschner (Majewski - optioned to AAA)
-Happ

Phillies roster on Phillies.com

Me versus a Mets fan.

Oh the fun continues as I got bashed by a Mets fan for my Whit Article run in the this weeks issue. Well some wonderful Mets fan decided to post his wonderful opinions on why he thinks the Mets are a better baseball team than the Phillies. There may be more to come but this is the meat and potatoes of the argument.Here's a look at the growing debate:

mike says:
April 2,
2009 at 1:23 pm
First of all, their infield is good, but not even close
to the best. Howard is a terrible fielder, and you’re joking if you think Feliz
is a good hitter. The Mets infield is about as good as it gets, with Delgado,
Luis Castillo , Reyes and Wright, the last 2 of which are ranked in the top 4
players in fantasy baseball, meaning their offensive statistics are phenomenal
in all categories. Sure, Castillo isn’t the hitter he was with Florida, but he’s
still a very good fielder. And theres no way you can argue that the Phils
infield is better than the Yanks. I’d take Tiexiera, Cano, Jeter, and A-Rod any
day of the week.

Next off, Peflrey and Ollie Perez both have very promising upsides, and
you completely forgot to mention John Maine, who has the potential to be a great
#2 guy. I dont find much attractive about the Phillies staff beyond Hamels, and
he’s no guarantee at this point.

Continuing on, before I start refuting more of your points, I’d like to
say that any team with a very solid first 5 hitters in the line up has a shot at
going places. The Mets have that, so theres no reason you should even say that
they only have a shot at a wild card spot. In addition to the first five, Ryan
Church has the potential to be a top tier outfielder, in addition to Dave
Murphy, granted he gets playing time. No, Brian Schneider isnt much of a hitter
at all, but that leaves us with 7 quality hitters in our line up, not
5.

The Braves have a great shot, and should not be counted out whatsoever.
If they get hot at the right time, much like the Phils did last year, they can
easily take everyone by surprise too. The Marlins will likely be a streaky team,
but they cant be counted out either. They have a lot of talent in the middle of
the infield that could take them to the playoffs.
The rest of the National
League doesnt really matter, because I have no doubt that whatever team makes it
out of the East will be the NL’s World Series team. Before finishing the first
paragraph, I could easily tell how biased your opinion is about your favorite
team, and how quick you were to overlook everyone else in the division.


John Russo says:
April 2,
2009 at 1:38 pm
If I didn’t have a world limit, I would obviously go
into WAAAYY more detail as to why the Mets are (in my unbiased opion) a very
inferior team to the City of Brotherly Love.
Thanks for the comment, Mike,
and I wish the choke artists good luck this season. Please read my AL Preview
next week.


mike says:
April 2,
2009 at 3:02 pm
Inferior must mean better hitters, fielders, starters,
and closers. I wish somebody had told me about the change in meaning.
Choke
must have been redefined as well, in that a couple seasons of not making the
playoffs far outweighs a 2 for 125 history in attempts to Win a National
Championship/World Series.


John Russo says:
April 2,
2009 at 6:17 pm
OK Mr. Met, I think I have to let you know that history
is not a factor at all in this debate, especially when one team has been more
successful during our lifetimes (or when we knew what a baseball was) than the
other.


Since 1988, the Mets have been in 1 World Series, losing to the New
York Yankees and the Phillies have been in 2, winning a championship against a
very good Rays team, that will compete this year and only due to the offseasons
the Yankees and Sox had, will not make the playoffs.


Now back to our little debate. I’ll start with the catchers. Brian
Schneider is not good at all, especially as a hitter. Carlos Ruiz is no super
star either but I would definately take him over Schneider. Now let’s go to the
infield. You’re going to tell me that your cast of four is better than the
Phillies? Feliz doesn’t need to be a great hitter but he is clutch and is the
best fielding 3rd basemen in the league. Now you say Howard is bad? He only led
the league in HRs and RBIs and it doesn’t matter what your average is when you
put up power numbers like that. I will agree that Reyes and Wright are better
than J-Roll and Feliz but Utly is the best player in the division. Also Carlos
Delgado is pretty old, beat up, and not as good as the young Howard.
Now to
the outfield. Beltran is washed up and Church is ok. Victorino, Ibanez, and
Werth are all also ok players but I would rather have 3 solid/good outfielders
than 2. Daniel Murphy? Please. 131 ABs is not a good enough sample to deem a
player to be good.


Your pitching rotation is not good behind Santana. Perez and Pelfrey
good? Please, Mike. You don’t know a good pitcher if he struck you out. I’m glad
you think Perez’s 4.22 ERA last season was good to go with his 1.40 WHIP. and
Pelfrey’s 1.36 WHIP. Or do you even know what that is? How about the bull pen or
I suppose a closer who blew 7 saves is better than a pitcher who was perfect.
And don’t tell me he had more oppurtunities. The Phillies offense was so good
that it won games by more than 3 runs. The Angels’ offense is nothing compared
to Philadelphia’s. 100% is 100%. And stamima would not be a factor because Lidge
actually threw 1 more inning than K-Rod and posted an ERA .30 lower than
Rodriguez. Rodriguez also struck out 77 while Mr. Perfect rung up 92.


Michael, Michael, Michael. The Mets were inferior last year and still are
this year. I’ll be going to the Phillies game next Wednesday when they hand out
their shiny new World Series rings. It’s nice rooting for a championship team
while you watch your team drown in the wake of the S.S. WFC.

mike says:
April 2,
2009 at 8:25 pm
I cant argue against the fact that the Phils have won a
World Series, but I will say that they were lucky to play the Rays. You and I
both know that the Angels were the best team in the AL last year and choked
badly in the playoffs, and Boston would have easily beaten the Phils as
well.
If you took some time to read my argument, you would have seen that I
also bashed Schneider, so there’s no point of trying to argue against me, when
you agreed with me in the first place. However, I’d take Schneider .257 over
Ruiz’s .219 avg. last year.

Moving right along, lets talk about Feliz. Seems like more of the
same to me, where I only talked about his bad hitting, and said nothing about
his fielding, which I agree with you when you say it is very good. Just for
kicks, A-Rod started 25 more games than Feliz, and made only 2 more errors. And
how about Troy Glaus?? Oh, I guess it doesn’t matter to you if his fielding
percentage is .982, which by the way is 8 points higher than Feliz, who played a
third as much time, as long as he’s not playing in Philadelphia……

Again with the reading on Ryan Howard. I said his fielding was bad. You
cant argue with 48 home runs, which I did not argue against. And average
obviously does matter, because he’s hurting his team hitting that low. And go
figure you wouldn’t mention the 199 strike outs, 2 years in a row either. It’s
easy to hit home runs like he does when you’re that big and all you do is swing
for the fences.

Next of all, Utley is a phenomenal player, and I never argued against
that either. However, there is no question in my mind, nor should there be in
yours, that Hanley Ramirez is the best player in the division, NL, and MLB. The
guy hit as many homers as Utley out of the leadoff spot. He hit for a higher
average, stole more than twice the bases, scored more (with a much worse
lineup), walked more, and had a higher slugging percentage. Cant argue with
facts my friend.

Delgado is old, but it clearly isnt much of a factor as he hit 38
homers.

As for outfield, Beltran is clearly still good, unless 172 hits, 40
doubles, 27 homers, 112 RBI, and 25 SB are suddenly bad statistics… In addition,
you also failed to mention our 3rd starter, Fernando Tatis, who in 92 games with
the Mets, posted, if nothing else, at least as good stats as any Phils
outfielder last season.

Pitching follows the same common theme: you don’t read what I’ve
already posted. I said Perez and Pelfrey had promising upsides, not that both
were “good”. However, his 25 wins in the last 2 seasons as a starter are, wow
look at that, better than Brett Myers last 2 years as a starter.
Moreover, I
never argued against the bullpen either. I do think, however, with the additions
we made in the offseason, our bullpen is better off than yours. You can’t be
serious in arguing that one more inning is truly a significant statistic.

Clearly the Mets benefited from the offseason much more than the
Phillies. If I remember correctly, the Mets were the best team in the NL East
for 150 games last year, which is significantly more than the remaining 12
games. I’m glad you’re still stuck on last year though. It’ll definitely help
you out in 2009. If you need more proof, please look up ESPN magazine’s World
Series pick for ‘09. There you can see a completely unbiased editorial about the
2009 season, which is the only season that matters at this point.

John Russo says:
April 2,
2009 at 10:23 pm
Lucky to play the Rays? The Rays were bested Boston. You
can’t get anymore higher than that. The Angels were a very good team but the
best team last year was the team who played the Phillies in the World Series.
Despite a team BA less than .280, they knew how to win games and that is why
they will again compete this year. See winning isn’t about stats or who has the
bigger names. It’s about how well these guys play together and both WS
combatants were the most deserving in the league last year despite not being the
house-hold names.

One of the big keys to maintaining a winning formula is to keep that
formula intact. Yes the Phillies only real loss was Pat Burrell but they added
Raul Ibanez, who despite being another left-handed, strike out machine and
fielding liability, is still a good pick up and will fill most of the hole Pat
left.

I never said Feliz is a good hitter but he has come through numerous
times for Philly in the clutch, both behind the plate and in the field. And the
main reason I attacked your criticism of Howard is you can’t argue against an
infield when you focus on the only 2 weaknesses in the group: Howard’s glove and
Feliz’s bat.

When I made the Utley statement, I had to think about it because Hanley
is in the same league as Utley. If it wasn’t for Delgado’s late surge, those
numbers wouldn’t be inflated.

As far as pitcing. Remember Kyle Kendrick? Everyone said he had
“promising upside.” That doesn’t mean a thing because with these young pitchers,
the best they pitch is what they do when they come out because no one has seen
them before. Once they get film on them and know their stuff, they become
ineffective unless they are truly something special. With the K-Rod vs Lidge, I
was only using the 1 inning to eliminate any counter you would have to the
oppurtunities and breaking down, kinda like defending against any possible
argument.

You can’t predict a thing in baseball. This time last year, I wouldn’t
have thought my team would be champions. I also wouldn’t think the Rays would
own the AL Pennant. We shall see what this season brings.

An Interview with Anthony Medio

Anthony with his father at Game 5 of the World Series

Anthony Medio has been a friend of mine since last year. He's a sophomore here at Rowan. He, like me, is one of the biggest Phillies fans you will ever meet. He not only eats, sleeps, and breathes Phillies baseball but he knows his sh*t too. Here is a little interview I comprised up with him:

What playoff games did you go to?

Game 2 vs. the Brewers when (Shane)
Victorino hit the grand slam off of (C.C.) Sabathia. I also went to Game 2 of
the Championship Series when they f*cked up (Chad) Billingsley. And the first
half of Game 5 of the World Series.

Why the hell did you not go to the 2nd half?

Because I had a physics test. But see I had physics Monday/Wednesday and my test was on Monday and skipped to go to the game. The game got postponed until Wednesday and I couldn’t skip the testagain so I was f*cked and wound up going to Campus Crossings when they won it. But I went to the parade and sat in the stadium.
What was your reaction to Chase’s comment?

I was like ‘What!’ and I video-taped it with my phone. I was video-taping the whole thing and right after he said it the whole crowd just went into a roar and you couldn’t hear yourself think and I turned to my friend and said ‘Did he just say f*ck?’ It was unbelievable.

Which of the games was your favorite to attend?

The best playoff game I went to was the Brewers game. The crowd was intensifying when Victorino hit the grand slam but then when Myers kept making Sabathia pitch, the crowd started chanting ‘C.C.’ and it pissed him off. We pissed him off so much and it was so great. But I do have a better game than that.

What game was that?

It was the last game of the 2007 season, the season clinching game that won the division. It was great because every time Florida scored (on the out of town scoreboard) the place went nuts. And finally when Florida won, the place would not stop yelling. Oh and the fireworks at the end when they won were incredible. And just seeing the ‘2007 Champions’ on the billboard was so incredible. It took 14 years for them to get to the playoffs. He (Myers) struck out Wily Mo Pena.

How long have you been attending Phillies games?

My dad’s been buying us the Sunday package since 1994, which is every Sunday home game, but the first game I can remember going to was the 1996 All Star Game at The Vet.

What was the craziest game you have ever been to?

It was the one where Feliz won the whole game by himself. Basically bottom of the 9th, men on first and third, 2 outs and down by 1, Feliz hit a base hit up the middle to tie the game. Top of the 10th, bases loaded with no outs, and the Dodgers can take the lead. Manny (Ramirez) is on third. A sharp, ground ball was hit to Feliz who steps on third and throws Manny out at home. It basically went from bases loaded and no outs to first and second with two outs. Then he hits a 3 run walk off the next time he was up with 2 outs.

Did you go all out in buying World Series merchandise after they won?

My parents bought everything. They bought shirts, hoodies, hats, banners. For Christmas, on our fire place, we had World Series banners hanging. We’re going to opening day and willbe getting the 2008 championship banner.

What do you think the Eastern division standings will be?

Phillies, Mets, Marlins, Braves, Nationals. Watch out for the Marlins. Read ‘em and weep. This is off topic but the Kansas City Royals will have a winning season. They will have at least 81 wins.

Right now, who is your 2009 World Series champion and over who?

I think the Cubs are actually gonna go this year. They’re gonna lose to the Red Sox.

Do you think the Yankees will be back to form?

Yea they will win the Wild Card.

What are your NL and AL awards?

NL MVP will be Hanley Ramirez, the other Ramirez, and the AL MVP will be Mark Teixeira. Cy Young will be Ervin Santana. Watch out for him. And the NL Cy Young will be Aaron Harang from the Reds.

Any last words for all the Phillies fans out there?

In the words slightly altered by Joe DiMaggio, ‘I thank god everyday that I’m not a Mets fan.”

The Whit's NL Preview

As I stated earlier, I was going to post a link to my NL and AL Preview when they got run. Well the NL went up first and here is the link from the Whit. Next week will feature the AL Preview and I'll have a link up for that.

Read the comment. I already got one angry poster who is obviously a Mets fan. I guess he thinks the choke artists will pull it off again..... NOT!

Phillies March Madness Round 2

As you all may know, I started an NCAA-like bracket system to determine the greatest Phillie of all time.

After round one, only 3 upsets were made as #9 Pedro Feliz up-ended #8 Brett Myers and #10 Larry Bowa beat #7 Greg Luzinski in close battles while #11 Scott Rolen easily beat #6 Dick Allen. The 2008 bracket is becoming more and more heated in the second round as some of the featured match ups are #5 Brad Lidge vs #4 Jimmy Rollins and #6 Pat Burrell vs #3 Cole Hamels.

In other brackets, some interesting matchups include #5 Mitch Williams vs #4 John Kruk and #7 Pete Incaviglia vs #2 Curt Schilling. There are a few other close matchups but in the end, they shouldn't be any other upset oppurtunities until the Sweet Sixteen.

Here is this weeks matchups:

2008:
#1 Chase Utley vs #9 Pedro Feliz
#5 Brad Lidge vs #4 Jimmy Rollins
#6 Pat Burrell vs #3 Cole Hamels
#7 Shane Victorino vs #2 Ryan Howard

1993:
#1 Lenny Dykstra vs #8 Terry Mulholland
#5 Mitch Williams vs #4 John Kruk
#6 Tyler Greene vs #3 Darren Daulton
#7 Pete Incaviglia vs #2 Curt Schilling

1980:
#1 Mike Schmidt vs #8 Garry Maddox
#5 Bake McBirde vs #4 Tug McGraw
#6 Bob Boone vs #3 Pete Rose
#10 Larry Bowa vs # 2 Steve Carlton

Other Years:
#1 Richie Ashburn vs #8 Jim Bunning
#5 Chuck Klein vs #4 Ed Delehanty
#11 Scott Rolen vs #3 Grover Alexander
#7 Bobby Abreu vs #2 Robin Roberts

Here is the updated bracket. Send your results for round 2 to either this site as a comment or email them to spartanc63@yahoo.com.