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

World Series Preview: Phillies vs. Astros

The Fall Classic is set to get underway on Friday with the Phillies opening on the road to take on the Astros in a best-of-seven series. This year marks 75 years since the first time a World Series was televised and this year each game will be broadcast on the FOX television network.  ESPN will have the radio broadcast and that feed can be streamed by using this link . Game 1 Friday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Houston.  RHP Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA).  In 16 road starts during the regular season this year, Nola notched a 5-9 record with a 3.00 ERA.  Nola has struck out 18 and walked three in 17 1/3 innings pitched this postseason.  Earlier this month, Nola tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Houston.  In 15 home starts during the regular season, Verlander sported a 10-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP.  Verlander has a 5.68 ERA and has not recorded a win in seven career World Series starts.  Verlander has...

PhoulBallz Interview: RHP Ben Brown talks TJ recovery, O'Hoppe, cancelled season

Image- MiLB.com Out of action since last May when it was determined he required Tommy John surgery, righty pitching prospect Ben Brown is using the downtime of the pandemic hiatus to continue his physical recovery.  A 33rd round draft selection of the Phillies back in 2017, Brown made his professional debut that same year, posting a 2.57 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 10 appearances in the rookie level Gulf Coast League.  The following season, Brown began to make a name for himself in the GCL, striking out 16 batters in one July appearance.  He would post a 3.12 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts) before earning a promotion and finishing the season with a pair of outings with Class A short-season Williamsport. Brown, a Long Island, NY native, opened last year with Class A Lakewood.  In four appearances with the BlueClaws, he struck out 20, walked four and allowed no runs in 13 2/3 innings and looked well on his way to making an impact on betting odds and avai...

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R...