Skip to main content

I Got Phive On It!

Philadelphia Magazine published an article this week all about our Phantom Phive...the ownership group of the Phillies. The author, Richard Rys, even compared the ownership group's popularity in Philadelphia to that of Mumia Abu-Jamal at a police function. He also claimed that the famous ball field saying, "play ball", has been replaced in the front office with "play it safe." Comedic zings and punchlines aside, while stories like this are a good read, all they do is put me in a Phoul mood.

With the Flyers' loss in the 2008 playoffs, Philadelphia has just completed its 100th consecutive major pro sports season (counting the big 4 teams) without winning a championship. Yes, 25 years times 4 teams= one hundred seasons without a championship. Quotes from the face of the Phillies ownership group, Dave Montgomery, like, "I just believe the organization needs an image that’s not directly tied to wins and losses", completely makes me want to violate that man's rear quarters with my size 12 New Balances. Rys fires back with the right rebuttal, pointing out phans' needs for championships. Good for him, but the Phartin' Phive won't take heed. If the Phillies win a World Series, it may very well be in spite of the owners and their lack of focus and help.

The Phillies' payroll is 13th highest in the major leagues this season. They currently have the 13th best record in the major leagues. 8 teams make the post season, so 13th best doesn't quite cut it.

Here's the web address for the PhillyMag article. Have a look.

http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the_phantom_five/page1



A very fine Phillies message board, known as BackSheGoes, has a poll going asking members who will be the Phillies 5th starter at the all star break. Kris Benson leads the voting with 37%. Check out the site for that topic as well as many others.

http://www.backshegoes.com/bsg/viewforum.php?f=1



Smooth-Roll walks watch-
After calling out Jimmy Rollins for not walking enough, in my last post here, his on-base percentage quickly went up about 70 points in the following 10 days. I'll take all the props for that. No doubt.

"#1" slump watch-
The Phillies have now lost 6 straight games that Brett Myers has started. The team has a .273 winning % in games he starts. No recovery in sight for Brett.


Stats to ponder...
2 time ML promotion deserver TJ Bohn has a .162 batting average in 32 triple A games this season, while Greg Golson is hitting .317 and Jason Donald is hitting .302 (both at double A). Eric Bruntlett and Greg Dobbs both dabble in the OF, so it's not like Bohn's a necessary addition due to positional scarcity.

Colbert Hamels vs. Houston...4 games, 3-0 record, 3.14 ERA, .215 batting avg against.
Christopher Sampson vs. Philadelphia...4 games, 0-2 record, 6.19 ERA, .357 batting avg against.
Prediction- Phillies earn a series split on Sunday.


Alright, gang. Until next time...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...

Yankees Fans Misled By Pepsi Promotion

**** Today, New York Yankees fans attended a Pepsi promotion in Times Square hoping for chances to win opening day tickets to the new stadium, but the tickets, which were difficult to track down due to poor organization on Pepsi's part, were actually for a game in June. Furthermore, the 250 pairs that were promised were actually only 100 pairs. The fans, who were made to sprint through traffic over multiple city blocks when locations for the promotion changed, quickly turned against the soda brand by pooring out their beverages and chanting anti-Pepsi phrases. Yankees fans are even threatening a boycott of Pepsi. An appearance by Yankee great Goose Gossage could not even settle the angry mob, as he had to be whisked away, as a precaution, according to the Daily News . Ooo , I'd hate to see what "the worst fans in sports" (Philadelphia fans) would have done to their free Pepsi cans and beloved reliever in that situation. Because this happened in a non-Philly city, th...

5th spot, Wall, Old timers, Links

The race for the Phillies' fifth starter spot is still on. While it's not fully fair to compare Grapefruit League stats, when some of the pitchers have had "B game" and scrimmage outings mixed in, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco look to be falling behind Chan Ho Park and "Jay" Happ. Happ added to his solid Grapefruit League stats (2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP in 4 games) today against the Rays. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had been displeased with Kendrick even before he surrendered 8 earned runs in 3 innings of work yesterday against the Braves. Park has been working on improving his change up, with (Coach) Jamie Moyer. Park noticed Moyer's location control on his change, so he sought out Moyer to teach him the grip and positioning of the ball. Moyer, of course, feels good about helping anyone on the Phils' staff. Park has been coached by greats like Nolan Ryan with the Rangers and Sandy Koufax with the Dodgers, so Moyer is in great company. Park is working h...