Skip to main content

What the Duck?

By
I am sure the news that Brandon Duckworth has signed a minor league contract with the Phillies has reached all you phans by now. When I first heard of the impending acquisition last week, I decided to treat it as non-news. The simple fact that Duckworth was not invited to big league spring training makes his signing as low impact as the Phillies could get. However, some phans still remember the former top Phillies pitching prospect fondly and are excited to hear the news.

Simply put, Duckworth is not good. With Omaha, the triple A affiliate for the Royals, last season, Duckworth had a 3-6 record with a 5.31 ERA in 20 games. In 8 seasons in the Majors, Duckworth is 23-34 with a 5.28 ERA. This is not an arm worthy of the slightest bit of excitement.

In fact, I am so adamantly not interested in this Duckworth signing that I am going to list some guys I would rather the Phillies sign...
1- Steve Carlton, Phillies Hall of Famer. The guy has been retired since the 80's but could offer more to the organization than Brandon Duckworth.
2- Tay Zonday, the Chocolate Rain/YouTube guy. He's weird and corny, but at the same time far cooler than Duckworth.
3- Mike Krenek or Joe Giglio from the Shore Sports Report. Millennium Radio's afternoon co-hosts threw out ceremonial first pitches prior to a Lakewood BlueClaws game in 2009 and I heard good things.
4- Henry Rowengardner, the 12-year-old from the film Rookie of the Year. Daring baserunners to steal while on the mound, taunting the opposition from the base paths...it's all about the mind games with this kid. He's intelligent beyond his years and I'd prefer his skills over Duckworth's, even after Henry's magically healed arm has conked out.
5- Tomas Perez, the former Phillies infielder. I had some Twitter chatter with some fellow Phils phans today, in which I reminded some PhoulBallz readers that Tomas, famous for his clutch post-game shaving cream pie celebrations, once pitched 1/3 of an inning for our Phillies. I have a feeling that the pie man could perform better than Duckworth.

The fond memories that some phans have for Duckworth include him winning the two Paul Owens Awards given to the top pitcher in the Phils' minor league system annually...Duckworth lost just 2 of 11 starts in his rookie season in 2001 and he posted a 3.52 ERA in those 11 games...and Duckworth was dealt to the Astros in a package that got Billy Wagner in return in the 2003-2004 offseason...but tops on everyone's list was Brandon's phan group, the Duck Pond. If you happen to live in the Allentown area, home of the Triple A level IronPigs, and wish to see Duckworth in action this season for a quick sniff of nostalgia on the Pond, best wishes to you. If you reside in the Reading area, home of the Double A Phils, you may even get a chance to bring back the Duck Pond. However, if you are hoping to blow a duck whistle at Citizens Bank Park this year, you may have a better shot at getting blown by a duck there, as chances are slimmer of Duckworth making the big club than they are of Donald and Daffy performing sexy type favors for phans in attendance.

-----------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE !



BallHype: hype it up!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

By
On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball from
Post a Comment
Read more

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

By
Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he's taken at
1 comment
Read more

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

By
Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi
Post a Comment
Read more