The List of the Departed Continues to Grow

Another key piece to the Phillies' run of four straight National League East titles will be moving onward. According to CSNPhilly.com's Jim Salisbury, Phillies first base coach Davey Lopes will not be returning for the 2011 season. Lopes and the Phillies are far apart in a dispute over compensation, according to Lopes.

"We just had a difference of opinion on what I felt my worth was. That's all," Lopes told Salisbury. "It was a really tough decision because I loved my time in Philadelphia, I loved working for [manager] Charlie Manuel, and I have the utmost respect for everyone in that organization."

Lopes, widely considered a base stealing guru, helped the Phillies excel on the base paths during his four-year tenure coaching first base with the team. In each season with Lopes guiding their runners, the Phillies led the National League in stolen base percentage.

Lopes led the NL in stolen bases twice during his playing days in Los Angeles, in 1975 and 1976 and swiped 557 bags during his regular season Major League career. Lopes ranks second in Dodgers history in stolen bases, behind only Maury Wills.

Lopes, who lives in California says he will seek work with a team on the west
coast.

"I’m hoping something pops up. If I’m not in uniform next year, it
won’t be much fun," Lopes said.

Other 2010 Phillies who will be parting ways with the club, as they
approach free agency five days after the World Series ends, are JC Romero, who had his 2011 club option declined last week, Jamie Moyer, whose contract was through the 2010 season, Greg Dobbs, who elected for free agency last week, and of course Jayson Werth, who will be one of the hottest free agents on the market this off-season.

__________________________________________________________

Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Comments

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

Jason Knapp Q&A

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

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...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog