Well, it is finally here, the month we have all been waiting for. October is starting this weekend and so are the Major League Baseball playoffs. The Phillies have finally reached the first weekend of the postseason and they did so in a fashion we all knew they would/could/should. I had to alter my original thoughts after the most incredible night of baseball in my lifetime last night. The night included some of the most insane/ridiculous/amazing endings I have ever witnessed.
The Rays scored 7 runs in the last two innings, and eventually pulled out a walkoff homerun victory courtesy of Evan Longoria’s second home run of the night. This win clinched the wild card for the Rays because the Red Sox and closer Jonathan Paplebon managed to blow a one run lead against the lowly Orioles in the 9th inning. The Red Sox had been 76-0 this season when entering the 9th inning with the lead. In the National League plenty of drama played out as well, directly involving the “playing for not much reason at all” Phillies and the division rival Atlanta Braves. The Braves, like the Red Sox, entered the final game of the season tied with a team (the Cardinals) that they led by more than 9 games at the beginning of the month. After rookie sensation closer Craig Kimbrel failed to reach the strike zone enough times in the 9th inning the Phils tied the score in the 9th on a bases loaded Chase Utley sac fly. Bam! Kimbrel blows the save and the scene in Atlanta resembled air getting let out of a balloon, but uglier. Like kids crying and grown men staring in disbelief ugly. Hunter Pence managed to fist an RBI single between first and second in the 13th inning and that’s all she wrote for the 2011 Atlanta Braves. This win gave the Phillies 102-60 record - the best record in the 129 year history of the team! It also moved Charlie Manuel past the not-so-fondly-remembered Gene Mauch into the number one position on the all-time wins list for Phillies managers (Manuel did it in 195 less games 646-488 compared to Gene Mauch’s 645-684 career record, no big deal). If the Houston Astros managed to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals Wednesday night the Braves could have gotten rolled on one more time in a one-game-playoff Thursday night, but Chris Carpenter and the Cards won 8-0. DING DING DING!! Tell them what they’ve won! A first round date with the best team in baseball starting at 5:07 EST at Citizen’s Bank Park Saturday afternoon. Roy Halladay will take on Jamie (pronounced Hi Me) Garcia.
There are a few things I need to address before we delve into the playoff preview, so let’s get them out of the way. Almost all summer I thought about writing a piece about what it would be like if the Phillies do not win the World Series this year. I know it is an ugly prospect for me, but I cannot imagine how my father would deal with it. He was beside himself last night watching the Phils struggle to score in the final game, which technically meant nothing. In so many ways the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies were built to win in the postseason, and we have known that since December when the Phillies managed to win the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. We knew this team would be the favorite to win in spring training, and in April, and at the All-Star Game, and certainly heading into the postseason. I do not believe there was one point during that time where we felt bad about what the Phils were doing on the field (I’ll get to the losing streak..). They grabbed first place early and then they took control of the best record in baseball by the time summer started and never relinquished. There was a period in June and July where they did not lose back-to-back games for over 50 days. When you have three starters on your squad that comprise half of the top 6 in ERA in the National League , you are bound to win 100 games.
The Phils have faced every challenge they have met head-on and stomped out the competition. In the beginning of September the Phils had built up a solid lead in the division but had still not clinched when they entered into a stretch against the two teams closest to them in the standings, Atlanta and Milwaukee. In games that mattered, they shredded these two teams. They swept the Braves at home outscoring them 18-5 in three games. They then traveled to Milwaukee where the Brewers boasted the best home record in the majors and took three out of four from the team that was supposed to be able to give them fits. They outscored Milwaukee 17-9 in those four games and lost a one-run game in the series finale that prevented the sweep. For all the talk about Milwaukee’s vaunted offense that features the best three-four combination (Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder) since Chase Utley and Ryan Howard (2006-2009); they certainly did not make much noise with their bats in that series, barely averaging over two runs per game. This was the greatest Phillies season on record and has provided us diehard baseball fans with our favorite television show for at least 3 hours every night. If we do not win the World Series, there is no doubt that the disappointment will rival that of the Eagles losing to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX. I have some fond memories from that season though, and as long as this season does not end with a called third strike I will try to look at the season in a positive way (ultimately it is an empty feeling). Having said that, I am confident that the Phillies can win the 2011 World Series if the bats produce like they are cabable of producing.
I would not be doing my job if I did not address that minor stumble in the Phillies march to a second championship in four years. After they clinched the division on Saturday September 17th, the Phils managed to lose eight F%#*ING games in a row! Were you panicking? I have to say that I was very frustrated, but I was not panicking. It is hard to imagine that we continued to throw Halladay, Lee, and Hamels out there during that stretch and still managed to lose that many games in a row. I feel that there is a simple explanation for it though. The core group of these guys, Howard, Utley, Rollins, and to a lesser extent Ruiz and Victorino, had not played in a meaningless game in, let me think here? I would say it has been since late 2004 that a Phillies game meant absolutely nothing (In 2005 and 2006 they stayed in the wild card hunt until the last weekends of the season). It has to be a weird feeling for these guys to get up and go to the ballpark and realize that it does not matter whether they win or lose the game that night. Imagine you have been going to work everyday for the last 6 years and at the end of each day your boss kept a score for how you did that day. If you did well, you got a small bonus, if you did poorly, the bonus was taken away. After a set amount of time, if your bonuses add up enough you were rewarded with something, most likely a pay raise. Also, this was not your every day run of the mill job. Your job employs the very best 750 people in the world at your profession and everybody is competing to be the best, because when you are that good at your profession, you need to know these things. If your bonuses did not add up and you did not produce you were most likely fired.
Then one day you come in to work and your boss says, “Hey Johnson, it does not matter how you perform the next two weeks, you have been that good for the past 6 months!”
How would you react to that situation? I might sit a few plays out.. And that is exactly what Charlie Manuel let these guys do, especially the ones that are banged up. During those eight games only one of the Phillies seven every day players (Rollins, Victorino, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Pence, and Ruiz being the seven) played all eight games, and that was the struggling Shane Victorino. The Phillies were putrid offensively during this eight game run, and you can look at Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence playing in one and four games, respectively, for your answer as to why it happened. When Ross Gload, Mike Martinez, Pete Orr, and Wilson Valdez are starting almost every day you cannot expect wins every day. Admittedly, eight losses in a row was tough to take, but once the lineup was back intact for the last four games of the season we saw what the Phils are cable of, especially with Jimmy Rollins racking up hits in the leadoff spot.
The Cardinals are following the blueprint they made for their World Series winning 2006 season (although they do have a better record than they did that year) by getting hot at the end of the season and riding that momentum to a wild card berth. It is a different game now that it was then though. Take a look at all these stats they are coming out with now that the season is officially over: Teams averaged 4.28 runs per game this year, lowest since 1992. Teams averaged .94 home runs a game this year (each team), also lowest since 1992. The major league batting average was .255, the lowest since 1989. The major league ERA was 3.94, once again lowest since 1992. In other words, nobody is taking steroids any more and pitchers are ahead of hitters on this whole learning curve, crazy technology side of baseball. ESPN Baseball writer Jayson Stark wrote a very detailed article about how the iPad was revolutionizing the game. It gives hitters and pitchers so much detailed information via videos, graphs, and spreadsheets that can be sorted every which way it is like Moneyball 2.0 these days.
This technology phenomenon baffles me a bit though. When you take a look at these numbers that pitchers are throwing up you have to assume they have the advantage of knowing how to get players out. But why is that the case if hitters have the same exact information? Bare with me on this and understand my thought process on my favorite player, Ryan Howard. Think about how much you think about why Ryan Howard struggles to make contact at the plate. Then think about how much he must think about it. You know it has to be absolutely killing him to strike out/ground into the shift as much as he does, but for some reason there is a disconnect in his brain when it comes to breaking balls. I’m not going to speculate on why he struggles with them, just know that he does. If he knows that he is going to see breaking ball, after breaking ball, after breaking ball because he can look at reports like this, why does he keep swinging? I am not sure, just know I put way too much thought into it. So, offensive numbers are down this year, significantly. Although it is a rather arbitrary comparison, let’s take a look at the numbers for Howard and the Cardinals super duper star Albert Pujols, in 2006 (The year Pujols led the Cardinals to their most recent World Series title) and 2011.
Ryan Howard
2006: .313 AVG / .425 OBP / .659 SLG / 1.084 OPS / 58 HR / 149 RBI / 108 BB / 104 R / 181 K
2011: .253 AVG / .356 OBP / .488 SLG / .834 OPS / 33 HR / 116 RBI / 75 BB / 81 R / 172 K
Albert Pujols
2006: .331 AVG / .421 OBP / .609 SLG / 1.101 OPS / 49 HR / 137 RBI / 92 BB / 119 R / 50 K
2011: .299 AVG / .366 OBP / .541 SLG / .907 OPS / 37 HR / 99 RBI / 61 BB / 105 R / 58K
Yikes, from the looks of these stats both these guys are falling off quite a bit. Good thing for Ryan Howard (maybe not necessarily the Phillies in some people’s opinion) he already got paid. I believe Albert turned down something in the $250 million range at the beginning of this season. Good luck having that work out after setting career lows in such notable categories as hits, doubles, triples, RBI, BB, Batting Average, On base percentage, slugging, and OPS (OPS goes without saying when on base and slugging are both career lows, but I wanted to throw that on there too). I assume, no I actually know, that most people I interact with are very scared about a Ryan Howard decline. How do people in St. Louis feel about giving Pujols 200+ million after a season like that? Before you call me out by saying that Pujols spent time on the DL this season I will point out that Pujols did not set a career low this year in games. He played in 147 games this year compared to 143 in 2006. Wow, 49 home runs in 143 games that year, not bad!
So offense is down, we’ve gone over it, ad nauseam. The Phillies pitching staff contributed quite a bit to those believe-it-or-not offensive numbers mentioned earlier. The combination of Roy Halladay, and Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt starting the first four games of this series is a daunting prospect for the National League’s best offensive team. The combination of Albert Pujols, and Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman is also not something I am looking forward to, but the Phils faced the best offensive team in the National League last year in the first round and most of us can remember how that series went. If not, I can refresh your memory.
The first game of the series looks to be a pitcher’s duel. Roy Halladay will be pitching on extra rest in game one against Jamie Garcia, like I mentioned earlier. Halladay went 0-1 with a 3.14 ERA in 14 innings pitched against the Cardinals this year and is 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 4 career starts. Jamie Garcia has had an impressive run in his career against the Phils. This year he did not receive a decision but posted a .60 ERA in 15 innings, and during his career Garcia is 2-1 in 6 games (4 starts) with a 1.20 ERA over 30 innings. Garcia is left-handed and does not have any postseason experience.
I would love to go into more detail on all of this and take a look the other pitching matchups but the Cardinals have not announced who will start games two and three at this point. It will most likely be Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter but not necessarily in that order. Cliff Lee will take the mound Sunday night for the Phils and Cole Hamels will toe the rubber Tuesday night in St. Louis.
I hope to get a review of the two weekend games out in between games two and three. My prediction is the Phillies in 4. Until next time… Go Phils!
*** My good friend Dusty just pointed out some breaking news for game 1. The Cardinals have decided to throw Kyle Lohse (14-8 3.39 ERA) in game 1. Lohse went 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA in 15.1 innings against the Phils this year. Lohse is a former Phllie who pitched in the 2007 NLDS sweep at the hands of the Rockies. He does not strike fear into the Phils batters quite the way Garcia has and he does not have dominating stuff. This matchup just tipped much heavier into the Phillies favor in my opinion. ***
A blog chronicling the trials and tribulations of the Philadelphia Phillies and other moderately interesting musings.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The Vanimal
I have gotten several requests from my readers to write an entry about the Phillies fifth starter, Vance “The Vanimal” Worley. After last night’s rain drenched victory, I have finally decided to relent.
Where do you start with this guy? Well, we can start at the beginning of the season when he was not on my, or really anybody else’s radar for that matter. Save probably Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel. Do you get the feeling that those two may be the smartest baseball guys in the room at all times? Just figure that Worley, and moves like playing John Mayberry Jr. during his recent hot streak, while still giving Raul Ibanez enough at bats are not things to be taken lightly. These guys have a plan, and they are executing it.
Needless to say, the plan at the beginning of the season did not involve a bespectacled mohawked rookie running rampant all over the National League. The guy is rocking the 2010s version of Kurt Rambis rec specs, and yet, manages to pull it off. The Phillies looked to be set at starting pitcher with the obvious big four, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt. Joe Blanton would be the fifth starter and Kyle Kendrick (all he does is win games, 42-30 career record) would be insurance if they needed it. A myriad of injuries to the bullpen, as well as Oswalt and Blanton, thrust Worley into the rotation a month into the season.
Worley made his Major League debut April 29th against the New York Mets in Philadelphia. He went six innings of scoreless ball, gave up two hits (two hits!?!?), four walks (tied for the most he has given up all year), struck out five and picked up the win in a 10-3 victory over the queens from Queens. He picked up three more wins in May, one as a starter, and two in relief.
In mid-May Roy Oswalt returned from his first stint on the disabled list so Worley was sent back down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to continue starting games. Oswalt’s return to the able list was short-lived and Worley found himself back with the big club within a week or so. He had a tough start against Cincinnati on May 24th, when he gave up three runs in five innings and received a no-decision in a Phillies loss. Another rough start followed, his second worst of the season. He gave up five runs in just three innings to the Mets in a 9-5 loss. His record dropped to 2-1 for the season. That game was played on May 29th. Since that game, Vance Worley has made fourteen starts for the Phillies. The Phillies record in those games: 14-0. I have to blink a few times whenever I read that somewhere else, so I hope you are doing the same.
Let’s list some records shall we? No team has won 14 consecutive games started by a rookie since Cincinnati did it for Joe Simpson in 1970. The Phillies have not won this many consecutive starts for any pitcher since a guy named Steve Carlton won 15 straight for the hapless 1972 Phillies. Those are triple-take stats. At this point in the season, Worley is 11-1 with a 2.85 ERA.
Obviously, on the surface Worley has been an outstanding pitcher this season, but it is also the way he has gone about it that makes him unique in my mind. He was born in 1987 and will celebrate his 24th birthday later this month. He stepped into a rotation that already had two Cy Young winners (Halladay, Lee), an NLCS/WS MVP (Hamels), and the guy who leads the National League in wins over the last ten years (Oswalt). I haven’t even seen Vance flinch under that kind of intimidating presence. Obviously, I am not in the clubhouse with these guys, but I have to figure that the veteran staff has taken Worley under their wings and made him one of their own. He is always smiling in the dugout with his hat not quite on all the way, chewing on sunflower seeds, and most likely scoping chicks in the crowd with Shane Victorino. If you’re 23 and killing it for the Phillies, wouldn’t that be what you were doing if you only played once every five days?
On the mound, Worley is all business. This is one of the most impressive pages I have seen on espn.com. He picked up three straight inter-league wins in June. The Phllies have historically been between not-good and awful in inter-league play so this was pretty good. The way he did it was borderline unbelievable. He picked up the only win the Phillies got in a three game series in Seattle, a 5-1 victory in which he went five innings and gave up just the one run. In his next start against Oakland, he went six innings and gave up a goose egg in a 1-0 Phillies victory. The Phillies offense was not exactly clicking during this part of the season so the pitchers knew there was little margin for error. This obviously did not faze The Vanimal. His third and final start in June was against the perennial AL East power Boston Red Sox. What did he do against the best offense in baseball you ask? He went seven innings, gave up one measly run and struck out five in a 2-1 Phillies victory.
Turn the page on the calendar to July and things really just got better for this young man from Sacramento. Worley went 4-0 in five July starts. He pitched 35.1 innings, struck out 29, and recorded a 2.04 ERA. The highlights of these starts included a marvelous eight innings of one run ball in the most oppressive heat of the year in Chicago. This was the series that Roy Halladay finally snapped his streak of pitching at least six innings in road starts that spanned over 50 starts due to heat frustration. Worley shrugged off the day game 100 + degree weather and went to work. I remember tweeting after the Cubs series “Vance Worley was better than Halladay and Lee in this series.” That is pretty much the highest praise you can get in baseball. His next start, against the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants was his best of the season. He pitched a complete game in San Francisco while giving up two runs and striking out five and improved his record to 7-1. I kept texting my friend Bob before every Worley start. “I know he cannot keep this going. He is going to get blown up.” Bob agreed, but for some reason it just has not happened. Even in his worst start of the year, a day game in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in which Worley gave up six runs in four innings, the Phillies rallied behind him and came back to win 9-8.
After this many impressive starts, Worley can no longer really be considered a fluke. If he had enough starts to qualify for the league leaders only eight starters that are not on his team have a better ERA than he does. Unfortunately for Vance, the Rookie of the Year race is out of control this year. The Braves have a pair of guys, in first baseman Freddie Freeman (.291/ 18 HRs / 64 RBI) and closer Craig Kimbrel (rookie saves record at 42 and counting – tops in the NL) who are possibly more deserving of the award than he is.
Having said all this about Worley, it is crazy to think about just how good the Phillies pitching staff is. There is little to no chance, despite all of the numbers and wins he has racked up, that Worley will get a start in a playoff game for the Phillies. It is a testament to the pitching staff that they can afford to leave a guy who is pitching this well out of the rotation. The big three of Doc, Lee, and Hamels will certainly start the first three games of every playoff series, and with a ton of postseason and big game experience, Roy Oswalt will almost certainly get the nod for a game four start in the playoffs. It will be nice to know that we have Vance waiting in the bullpen, ready to go if a starter is having an off night, or if the Phils have to go through some god-awful rain delay that would force a starter from the game. Confidence is the key out there, we know Vance has it, and as a fan base we should have it in him.
Where do you start with this guy? Well, we can start at the beginning of the season when he was not on my, or really anybody else’s radar for that matter. Save probably Ruben Amaro and Charlie Manuel. Do you get the feeling that those two may be the smartest baseball guys in the room at all times? Just figure that Worley, and moves like playing John Mayberry Jr. during his recent hot streak, while still giving Raul Ibanez enough at bats are not things to be taken lightly. These guys have a plan, and they are executing it.
Needless to say, the plan at the beginning of the season did not involve a bespectacled mohawked rookie running rampant all over the National League. The guy is rocking the 2010s version of Kurt Rambis rec specs, and yet, manages to pull it off. The Phillies looked to be set at starting pitcher with the obvious big four, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt. Joe Blanton would be the fifth starter and Kyle Kendrick (all he does is win games, 42-30 career record) would be insurance if they needed it. A myriad of injuries to the bullpen, as well as Oswalt and Blanton, thrust Worley into the rotation a month into the season.
Worley made his Major League debut April 29th against the New York Mets in Philadelphia. He went six innings of scoreless ball, gave up two hits (two hits!?!?), four walks (tied for the most he has given up all year), struck out five and picked up the win in a 10-3 victory over the queens from Queens. He picked up three more wins in May, one as a starter, and two in relief.
In mid-May Roy Oswalt returned from his first stint on the disabled list so Worley was sent back down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to continue starting games. Oswalt’s return to the able list was short-lived and Worley found himself back with the big club within a week or so. He had a tough start against Cincinnati on May 24th, when he gave up three runs in five innings and received a no-decision in a Phillies loss. Another rough start followed, his second worst of the season. He gave up five runs in just three innings to the Mets in a 9-5 loss. His record dropped to 2-1 for the season. That game was played on May 29th. Since that game, Vance Worley has made fourteen starts for the Phillies. The Phillies record in those games: 14-0. I have to blink a few times whenever I read that somewhere else, so I hope you are doing the same.
Let’s list some records shall we? No team has won 14 consecutive games started by a rookie since Cincinnati did it for Joe Simpson in 1970. The Phillies have not won this many consecutive starts for any pitcher since a guy named Steve Carlton won 15 straight for the hapless 1972 Phillies. Those are triple-take stats. At this point in the season, Worley is 11-1 with a 2.85 ERA.
Obviously, on the surface Worley has been an outstanding pitcher this season, but it is also the way he has gone about it that makes him unique in my mind. He was born in 1987 and will celebrate his 24th birthday later this month. He stepped into a rotation that already had two Cy Young winners (Halladay, Lee), an NLCS/WS MVP (Hamels), and the guy who leads the National League in wins over the last ten years (Oswalt). I haven’t even seen Vance flinch under that kind of intimidating presence. Obviously, I am not in the clubhouse with these guys, but I have to figure that the veteran staff has taken Worley under their wings and made him one of their own. He is always smiling in the dugout with his hat not quite on all the way, chewing on sunflower seeds, and most likely scoping chicks in the crowd with Shane Victorino. If you’re 23 and killing it for the Phillies, wouldn’t that be what you were doing if you only played once every five days?
On the mound, Worley is all business. This is one of the most impressive pages I have seen on espn.com. He picked up three straight inter-league wins in June. The Phllies have historically been between not-good and awful in inter-league play so this was pretty good. The way he did it was borderline unbelievable. He picked up the only win the Phillies got in a three game series in Seattle, a 5-1 victory in which he went five innings and gave up just the one run. In his next start against Oakland, he went six innings and gave up a goose egg in a 1-0 Phillies victory. The Phillies offense was not exactly clicking during this part of the season so the pitchers knew there was little margin for error. This obviously did not faze The Vanimal. His third and final start in June was against the perennial AL East power Boston Red Sox. What did he do against the best offense in baseball you ask? He went seven innings, gave up one measly run and struck out five in a 2-1 Phillies victory.
Turn the page on the calendar to July and things really just got better for this young man from Sacramento. Worley went 4-0 in five July starts. He pitched 35.1 innings, struck out 29, and recorded a 2.04 ERA. The highlights of these starts included a marvelous eight innings of one run ball in the most oppressive heat of the year in Chicago. This was the series that Roy Halladay finally snapped his streak of pitching at least six innings in road starts that spanned over 50 starts due to heat frustration. Worley shrugged off the day game 100 + degree weather and went to work. I remember tweeting after the Cubs series “Vance Worley was better than Halladay and Lee in this series.” That is pretty much the highest praise you can get in baseball. His next start, against the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants was his best of the season. He pitched a complete game in San Francisco while giving up two runs and striking out five and improved his record to 7-1. I kept texting my friend Bob before every Worley start. “I know he cannot keep this going. He is going to get blown up.” Bob agreed, but for some reason it just has not happened. Even in his worst start of the year, a day game in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in which Worley gave up six runs in four innings, the Phillies rallied behind him and came back to win 9-8.
After this many impressive starts, Worley can no longer really be considered a fluke. If he had enough starts to qualify for the league leaders only eight starters that are not on his team have a better ERA than he does. Unfortunately for Vance, the Rookie of the Year race is out of control this year. The Braves have a pair of guys, in first baseman Freddie Freeman (.291/ 18 HRs / 64 RBI) and closer Craig Kimbrel (rookie saves record at 42 and counting – tops in the NL) who are possibly more deserving of the award than he is.
Having said all this about Worley, it is crazy to think about just how good the Phillies pitching staff is. There is little to no chance, despite all of the numbers and wins he has racked up, that Worley will get a start in a playoff game for the Phillies. It is a testament to the pitching staff that they can afford to leave a guy who is pitching this well out of the rotation. The big three of Doc, Lee, and Hamels will certainly start the first three games of every playoff series, and with a ton of postseason and big game experience, Roy Oswalt will almost certainly get the nod for a game four start in the playoffs. It will be nice to know that we have Vance waiting in the bullpen, ready to go if a starter is having an off night, or if the Phils have to go through some god-awful rain delay that would force a starter from the game. Confidence is the key out there, we know Vance has it, and as a fan base we should have it in him.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tiger Did What?!?
Today marked the start of the first Major golf tournament Tiger Woods played in since April’s Masters. His long lay off from knee, calf, achillies, sex, and caddy issues ended last week in a lackluster performance at the WGC Firestone Invitational. Woods had won that event 7 times prior to last week and has won over $9 million at that tournament alone. I shrugged off his above par (can’t use subpar to mean bad in golf) performance as rust. I knew he probably did not have a great shot at winning this week at “Glory’s Last Shot” aka the season’s final major, but I still thought he would compete.
I woke up to a text from my father that said Tiger tees off at 8:30 am and the coverage does not start until 1 pm. He is on vacation this week and able to watch a lot more than usual, so he was rather frustrated by the timing of things. Luckily for him, there was great online coverage that was solely following Tiger’s group of seemingly over-the-hill stars of the PGA tour. Woods was playing with former major winners Davis Love 3rd and Paddy Harrington. Tiger’s round started like any other major that he played (circa 2000) and he rolled in a 20 footer for birdie on the 10th hole, his first of the day. A par followed, and then another birdie and he was looking good at 2 under through 3 holes. Woods then made mince meat out of the par 4 14th hole and stuck his approach to 5 feet on his way to his third birdie in 5 holes and, believe it or not, he had a brief share of the lead at that point. Man, I looked at his scorecard at that point and I had the same feeling I have when Ryan Howard hits a home run. It is excitement coupled with the fact that your favorite player is doing what you want him to do. If you’re a big sports fan, it does not get much better than this feeling. So, from the highest of highs at this juncture in the round, Tiger Woods fell, and fell quickly. I could come up with any cliche in the book to explain what happened to Woods from that point on, especially for a man who was once indestructible. So I’ll let this clip do the talking. America was collectively playing the David Spade role in that scenario. Woods D-RAILED after his hot start.
He had to have been feeling good standing on the 15th tee at 3 under par and swinging the club well. The 15th is a ridiculously long par 3, 260 yards (longest in major championship history, to be exact) with water right and trouble left. For a long time I have been a firm proponent that a real man does not hit a wood off a par 3 tee (much to the chagrin of my distance challenged father), but even I may have made an exception on this one. Woods did not, and his tee shot on this hole was the beginning of a very ugly end. I assume he hit a 2 iron, if he carries one, if not it was a 3, but he flared it out to the right and it found the water hazard. He then had a 100 yard shot and a chance to get up and down to save bogey. He yanked that 15 feet left of the pin and then left his bogey putt a foot short. I’m not sure if you are aware, but 90% of putts left short don’t go in. It was just as much a mental mistake for Woods to leave that putt short as it was physical. Nevertheless, he had the hot start so he was still 1 under par and not out of anything. Woods found a fairway bunker with his next drive which led to another bogey and dropped him to even par for the tournament. No big deal, it’s Tiger Woods, he’ll right the ship. Well, from there he actually wronged the ship. He made par at 17 and then, brace yourself, he went double bogey at 18, bogey at 1, and another bogey at 2. That is a 6 hole stretch played in 7 over par, and he wasn’t done yet. After a par on the third hole, he bogeyed 4, and then he made a nice birdie at the par 5 5th to get him to +4 through 14 holes and hopefully give him some momentum. Unfortunately, he blocked his umpteenth drive of the day right into a bunker and did a nice job of catching his approach fat and letting it land a good 20 yards short of the green in the water. Another. Double. Bogey. He managed to make pars at 7 and 8, but for good measure he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on 9 and made bogey for an opening round 7 over 77, that’s an avalanche of strokes. Take a look at this scorecard, to borrow a phrase from the Rolling Stones, she’s like a rainbow. If only he could have thrown an eagle in there we would have seen the entire color spectrum on that card. Sheesh. 3 doubles, 5 bogeys, and 4 birdies do not make for a happy Tiger.
I made it home for lunch when the television coverage started at 1 pm and they were showing the high, I mean lowlights of his round. I was shocked by his body language. I was expecting Happy Gilmore, or at least Tiger Woods like outbursts and temper tantrums, but he was for the most part stoic while hitting shit shot after shit shot. Not Tiger’s style. I don’t assume to know what goes through Tiger Woods’ head, but when he was winning once every three or four starts and apparently sleeping with any woman who gave him a second look, he had to have been thinking about a lot out there right? Woods had to have been really good at compartmentalizing everything that was going on in his life. He was obviously juggling a wife (who figured out what he was doing eventually), two kids, an endless string of extramarital affairs, and oh yeah, being the best damn golfer who ever lived. Now, what’s going on in his life? He fired his caddy. Charles Barkley has publicly called him out for not being a good friend. He fired his swing coach. He has been hurt, or sort of hurt, for three years, and he has not won a tournament for two. The only things he has to worry about now are his kids and his game. I am not in any way recommending doing what Tiger Woods did off the course, but you have to wonder if the thrill and excitement of all the play he was getting while sneaking around kept him sharp on the course. Because right now, he ain’t crisp.
Reader Participation - Take another look at the picture at the top of the blog. At that point in the round he is riding high at 3 under par, and although he probably did not know it, he briefly held the lead for a few minutes. In the comment section, give me your best caption for this picture.
I woke up to a text from my father that said Tiger tees off at 8:30 am and the coverage does not start until 1 pm. He is on vacation this week and able to watch a lot more than usual, so he was rather frustrated by the timing of things. Luckily for him, there was great online coverage that was solely following Tiger’s group of seemingly over-the-hill stars of the PGA tour. Woods was playing with former major winners Davis Love 3rd and Paddy Harrington. Tiger’s round started like any other major that he played (circa 2000) and he rolled in a 20 footer for birdie on the 10th hole, his first of the day. A par followed, and then another birdie and he was looking good at 2 under through 3 holes. Woods then made mince meat out of the par 4 14th hole and stuck his approach to 5 feet on his way to his third birdie in 5 holes and, believe it or not, he had a brief share of the lead at that point. Man, I looked at his scorecard at that point and I had the same feeling I have when Ryan Howard hits a home run. It is excitement coupled with the fact that your favorite player is doing what you want him to do. If you’re a big sports fan, it does not get much better than this feeling. So, from the highest of highs at this juncture in the round, Tiger Woods fell, and fell quickly. I could come up with any cliche in the book to explain what happened to Woods from that point on, especially for a man who was once indestructible. So I’ll let this clip do the talking. America was collectively playing the David Spade role in that scenario. Woods D-RAILED after his hot start.
He had to have been feeling good standing on the 15th tee at 3 under par and swinging the club well. The 15th is a ridiculously long par 3, 260 yards (longest in major championship history, to be exact) with water right and trouble left. For a long time I have been a firm proponent that a real man does not hit a wood off a par 3 tee (much to the chagrin of my distance challenged father), but even I may have made an exception on this one. Woods did not, and his tee shot on this hole was the beginning of a very ugly end. I assume he hit a 2 iron, if he carries one, if not it was a 3, but he flared it out to the right and it found the water hazard. He then had a 100 yard shot and a chance to get up and down to save bogey. He yanked that 15 feet left of the pin and then left his bogey putt a foot short. I’m not sure if you are aware, but 90% of putts left short don’t go in. It was just as much a mental mistake for Woods to leave that putt short as it was physical. Nevertheless, he had the hot start so he was still 1 under par and not out of anything. Woods found a fairway bunker with his next drive which led to another bogey and dropped him to even par for the tournament. No big deal, it’s Tiger Woods, he’ll right the ship. Well, from there he actually wronged the ship. He made par at 17 and then, brace yourself, he went double bogey at 18, bogey at 1, and another bogey at 2. That is a 6 hole stretch played in 7 over par, and he wasn’t done yet. After a par on the third hole, he bogeyed 4, and then he made a nice birdie at the par 5 5th to get him to +4 through 14 holes and hopefully give him some momentum. Unfortunately, he blocked his umpteenth drive of the day right into a bunker and did a nice job of catching his approach fat and letting it land a good 20 yards short of the green in the water. Another. Double. Bogey. He managed to make pars at 7 and 8, but for good measure he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on 9 and made bogey for an opening round 7 over 77, that’s an avalanche of strokes. Take a look at this scorecard, to borrow a phrase from the Rolling Stones, she’s like a rainbow. If only he could have thrown an eagle in there we would have seen the entire color spectrum on that card. Sheesh. 3 doubles, 5 bogeys, and 4 birdies do not make for a happy Tiger.
I made it home for lunch when the television coverage started at 1 pm and they were showing the high, I mean lowlights of his round. I was shocked by his body language. I was expecting Happy Gilmore, or at least Tiger Woods like outbursts and temper tantrums, but he was for the most part stoic while hitting shit shot after shit shot. Not Tiger’s style. I don’t assume to know what goes through Tiger Woods’ head, but when he was winning once every three or four starts and apparently sleeping with any woman who gave him a second look, he had to have been thinking about a lot out there right? Woods had to have been really good at compartmentalizing everything that was going on in his life. He was obviously juggling a wife (who figured out what he was doing eventually), two kids, an endless string of extramarital affairs, and oh yeah, being the best damn golfer who ever lived. Now, what’s going on in his life? He fired his caddy. Charles Barkley has publicly called him out for not being a good friend. He fired his swing coach. He has been hurt, or sort of hurt, for three years, and he has not won a tournament for two. The only things he has to worry about now are his kids and his game. I am not in any way recommending doing what Tiger Woods did off the course, but you have to wonder if the thrill and excitement of all the play he was getting while sneaking around kept him sharp on the course. Because right now, he ain’t crisp.
Reader Participation - Take another look at the picture at the top of the blog. At that point in the round he is riding high at 3 under par, and although he probably did not know it, he briefly held the lead for a few minutes. In the comment section, give me your best caption for this picture.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
It's Hunting Season
For the first time in recent memory I did not think the Phillies needed to add anybody to their roster in a trade deadline deal. The Phils have had the best record in baseball for almost the entire season and they did that without getting much of anything from one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Roy Oswalt. Oswalt will be back in the rotation starting this week after missing the last two months with back issues. Phillies GMs have had busy Julys for the last five plus years, if my memory serves me correctly, the Phils added Jamie Moyer in 2006, Kyle Loshe in 2007, “Fat” Joe Blanton in 2008, a washed up but wily Pedro Martinez in 2009, and of course Roy Oswalt in 2010. I’m not sure of the exact number, but that is probably something like 500 combined wins from those pitchers in their careers. Each year I was excited by the moves, to varying degrees, I mean how excited could you be when you get a chubby guy from Oakland who was 4-12 with a 5+ ERA at the time (Blanton), or some guy who made his first ever start against Steve Carlton (Moyer), but nevertheless I thought all of the moves were justified and would help us. With the exception of the stink bomb Pedro threw up in the deciding game six of the 09 World Series, and a shaky start from Loshe in the 2007 sweep at the hands of the Rockies, these guys came through. Hell, Blanton hit a World Series home run. But this year I thought was different. All five of those acquired players were pitchers, and as the saying goes you can never have enough pitching, but the Phillies are as close as you can be to proving that saying wrong. I know the offense has struggled at times, but I did not want to give up on Dom Brown despite the fact that he catches every fly ball like he is scared that he is going to completely miss it and it could hit him in the head. Have you seen his move where he will catch a ball that is on the left side of his body with his lanky right arm reaching all the way across his even lankier frame as if he couldn’t possibly get underneath the damn thing? What’s he thinkin there?!? His penchant for popping up foul to the third baseman with some sort of back-elbow-dipping loopy swing was freaking me out as well, but I digresse. I also thought the emergence of Vance Worley was too much of a good thing to give up on immediately even though there is a large likelihood that his stock is as high as it will ever be. So, whenever anybody asked me, “Who do you want to see us get?” or “What do you think we need?” I told them all that I think we should stand pat because if we can’t win with this team, we can’t win. Period.
Quick tangent. Can anybody believe the Yankees did not make a move at the deadline? Their GM’s name is CASH(!)man. I just hope they know starting CC in three out of five games in the ALDS could be detrimental to his health.
Everybody knows that the bearded flight of Jayson Werth to Citizen’s Bank Park South, erruhh Nationals Park left a sizeable void in the fifth spot in the Phillies lineup. If a righty starts against the Phillies, the lineup is chock full of left-handed bats. Most notably their run producing, All-Star combo of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Their spots as the number three and four hitters respectively are non-negotiable in the batting order when they are healthy. Werth created the ideal situation as a protector of these two, a right-handed power bat who worked counts and struck a solid amount of fear into opposing pitchers. It was a huge bonus to know that if a manager brought in a lefty to face Utley and Howard, he would have to make another trip out if Utley and Howard did any damage because that manager would not want to give Werth the opportunity to hit a southpaw. Werth provided possibly the most important asset this offense needs: protection for The Big Piece. If you watch the game, it is clear that Ryan Howard would much rather hit fastballs off the face of the bricks out in center than flail away helplessly because some goofy looking dude sprinted in from the bullpen and threw him Frisbee like breaking balls down and away. Have you seen that happen? So Charlie has used a lot of different guys in the five hole this year, mostly Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez. They did a decent enough job, but the lineup certainly did not have the same feel as it did the past few years with the Utley, Howard, Werth trio penciled in at 3, 4, and 5. I did not think that this mattered though because of the studs we had on the hill each night.
The two biggest names being bandied about as July wore on were the Mets’ rightfielder and consummate under-achiever Carlos Beltran and the “tweaker” as my friends lovingly refer to as Hunter Pence. Beltran is a proven commodity and brings five tools to the table but is only under contract for the rest of the season and an acquisition of him would basically equate to a 2 (to 3) month rental. Also, Beltran signed a giant contract and had solid years for the Mets but you never felt like he was playing up to what he was capable of, save his first year as a Met, and the first half of this season. Other than his contract status, the main knock on Beltran was that he was a Met. And that’s all I have to say about that. Hunter Pence was a guy that I feared in Houston. I knew he looked, threw, and ran in an unorthodox manner but I also knew he was a .300 hitter with power who could also steal some bases. Nevertheless, I was standing firm in my assertion that we were fine as is.
Then, while we were in the midst of a three game series against the San Francisco Giants, the team that beat us in the NLCS last year and went on to win the World Series, the team that boasted nobody with more than nine home runs at the time of the trade, the team that had enough pitching despite their putrid (if you think the Phillies are frustrating on offense you would not want to live in San Fran, as I write this the Giants have scored 384 runs compared to the Phillies 471) offense to sit atop the NL West, yeah, that team, went out and picked up Carlos Beltran. He immediately became their leader or second best player in every meaningful offensive category; batting average, home runs, RBIs, on base %, OPS, you name it (oh yeah, he leads the NL in doubles). Needless to say, this was a big time acquisition for the only team the Phillies have a right to not feel absolutely great about facing in the playoffs. This move forced Phils’ GM Ruben Amaro’s hand. To use another gratuitous poker reference, the Phils are pot committed on this season and it would be alright for them to mortgage a bit of their future in order to win it all this season. The same is true for the next two seasons. Too much money is invested on players that are nearing the end of their primes for the Phils to not lay it all on the line each season. Although I did not necessarily want to get rid of Vance Worley or Domonic Brown, for the reasons above I knew I would grit and bare it if they had to go in order to get Pence. Luckily, Ruben Amaro appears to be one of these, and we landed what is possibly the best possible fit for our offense in Hunter Pence without giving up any Major League players. Maybe Ed Wade is just one of these though, either way I’ll take it (Ed Wade is former Phillies GM and current Houston Astros GM). So, the Phils acquired Hunter Pence on Friday night and he was in uniform for Saturday night’s game against the Pirates. The Phils are 4-0 with Pence in the lineup and he got to play in two come-from-behind extra inning wins on Sunday and Monday. What must be going through that kid’s head? He went from the worst team in baseball to the best team in baseball. The Phils last two wins are the kind of wins they will talk about on the 2011 season DVD. Right now the Phils are finding ways to win. One 2-run homer at a time.
Update - Howard has obviously benefitted from Hunter Pence's presence behind him in the lineup. Since Pence joined the team, Howard has gone 9-22 with 4 home runs, 4 doubles, and 9 RBIs. The Phils have won six straight, sweeping both the Pirates and the Rockies, and Pence has yet to lose a game as a Phillie.
Quick tangent. Can anybody believe the Yankees did not make a move at the deadline? Their GM’s name is CASH(!)man. I just hope they know starting CC in three out of five games in the ALDS could be detrimental to his health.
Everybody knows that the bearded flight of Jayson Werth to Citizen’s Bank Park South, erruhh Nationals Park left a sizeable void in the fifth spot in the Phillies lineup. If a righty starts against the Phillies, the lineup is chock full of left-handed bats. Most notably their run producing, All-Star combo of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Their spots as the number three and four hitters respectively are non-negotiable in the batting order when they are healthy. Werth created the ideal situation as a protector of these two, a right-handed power bat who worked counts and struck a solid amount of fear into opposing pitchers. It was a huge bonus to know that if a manager brought in a lefty to face Utley and Howard, he would have to make another trip out if Utley and Howard did any damage because that manager would not want to give Werth the opportunity to hit a southpaw. Werth provided possibly the most important asset this offense needs: protection for The Big Piece. If you watch the game, it is clear that Ryan Howard would much rather hit fastballs off the face of the bricks out in center than flail away helplessly because some goofy looking dude sprinted in from the bullpen and threw him Frisbee like breaking balls down and away. Have you seen that happen? So Charlie has used a lot of different guys in the five hole this year, mostly Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez. They did a decent enough job, but the lineup certainly did not have the same feel as it did the past few years with the Utley, Howard, Werth trio penciled in at 3, 4, and 5. I did not think that this mattered though because of the studs we had on the hill each night.
The two biggest names being bandied about as July wore on were the Mets’ rightfielder and consummate under-achiever Carlos Beltran and the “tweaker” as my friends lovingly refer to as Hunter Pence. Beltran is a proven commodity and brings five tools to the table but is only under contract for the rest of the season and an acquisition of him would basically equate to a 2 (to 3) month rental. Also, Beltran signed a giant contract and had solid years for the Mets but you never felt like he was playing up to what he was capable of, save his first year as a Met, and the first half of this season. Other than his contract status, the main knock on Beltran was that he was a Met. And that’s all I have to say about that. Hunter Pence was a guy that I feared in Houston. I knew he looked, threw, and ran in an unorthodox manner but I also knew he was a .300 hitter with power who could also steal some bases. Nevertheless, I was standing firm in my assertion that we were fine as is.
Then, while we were in the midst of a three game series against the San Francisco Giants, the team that beat us in the NLCS last year and went on to win the World Series, the team that boasted nobody with more than nine home runs at the time of the trade, the team that had enough pitching despite their putrid (if you think the Phillies are frustrating on offense you would not want to live in San Fran, as I write this the Giants have scored 384 runs compared to the Phillies 471) offense to sit atop the NL West, yeah, that team, went out and picked up Carlos Beltran. He immediately became their leader or second best player in every meaningful offensive category; batting average, home runs, RBIs, on base %, OPS, you name it (oh yeah, he leads the NL in doubles). Needless to say, this was a big time acquisition for the only team the Phillies have a right to not feel absolutely great about facing in the playoffs. This move forced Phils’ GM Ruben Amaro’s hand. To use another gratuitous poker reference, the Phils are pot committed on this season and it would be alright for them to mortgage a bit of their future in order to win it all this season. The same is true for the next two seasons. Too much money is invested on players that are nearing the end of their primes for the Phils to not lay it all on the line each season. Although I did not necessarily want to get rid of Vance Worley or Domonic Brown, for the reasons above I knew I would grit and bare it if they had to go in order to get Pence. Luckily, Ruben Amaro appears to be one of these, and we landed what is possibly the best possible fit for our offense in Hunter Pence without giving up any Major League players. Maybe Ed Wade is just one of these though, either way I’ll take it (Ed Wade is former Phillies GM and current Houston Astros GM). So, the Phils acquired Hunter Pence on Friday night and he was in uniform for Saturday night’s game against the Pirates. The Phils are 4-0 with Pence in the lineup and he got to play in two come-from-behind extra inning wins on Sunday and Monday. What must be going through that kid’s head? He went from the worst team in baseball to the best team in baseball. The Phils last two wins are the kind of wins they will talk about on the 2011 season DVD. Right now the Phils are finding ways to win. One 2-run homer at a time.
Update - Howard has obviously benefitted from Hunter Pence's presence behind him in the lineup. Since Pence joined the team, Howard has gone 9-22 with 4 home runs, 4 doubles, and 9 RBIs. The Phils have won six straight, sweeping both the Pirates and the Rockies, and Pence has yet to lose a game as a Phillie.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The 2011 Philadelphia Phillies - At the Break
Editor’s Note: This post was written over the course of several days during the All-Star break.
At the official midpoint of the season (81 games), the Phillies were the only team in Major League Baseball with 50 wins. There were 50-31. Now that we are at the unofficial midpoint of the season, the annual midsummer classic that is the All-Star game, the Phils still have the best record in all of baseball at 57-34. They have won 6 straight series 2-1. Although they could not break through with a long winning streak in the last 21 games, they lost two in a row only once (to the Mariners 7 series ago). They won the first game of each of the last 6 series. When you do that, you have a good chance to take two of three and a .667 winning percentage would translate to 108 wins. Two teams in Phillies history have won 100 games and this team seems poised to do just that despite the following.
Number one closer Brad Lidge has yet to pitch in the Majors this season.
Jose Contrares was named as the closer at the start of the season but soon landed on the DL.
Ryan Madson took over the closer’s role and was doing an admirable job until he landed on the DL a few weeks ago.
Fourth ace Roy Oswalt has only made 13 starts and was not overly effective when he did pitch, 4-6 with a 3.79 era. He has landed on the DL as well with back issues and his commitment to the team has been questioned.
Fifth wheel starter Joe Blanton has only made 6 starts and has been sidelined for almost all of the season with elbow issues.
Chase Utley missed the first two months of the season with knee tendinitis and has played 41 of a possible 91 games. He just recently started playing every single day and his production has gone up.
The Phillies have 5 all-stars this season; none of them are named Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, or Chase Utley. (Thanks Bob)
Despite their best two offensive games occurring in the last week (18 hits and 14 runs vs. the Marlins, and in the rubber match of the three game series against the division rival Braves they threw up 14 runs and 20 hits) the Phils are still hitting only .250, good enough for 10th out of 16 teams in the NL. They are 9th in home runs (78), 9th in slugging percentage (.382), and 8th in OPS – on base percentage + slugging percentage (.705). They were first or second in these categories from 2006-2009. They are averaging 4.2 runs per game, down more than half a run from their offensive glory years.
Of their five all-stars, the only position players that made the squad were voted in by fans rather than peers. Placido Polanco was voted to become the starter at third base but will not play due to injury, and Shane Victorino won the final All-Star vote and became the fifth Phillie to join the team.
So far I have gone through only discouraging aspects of the season. We all know why the Phillies can S the B as bad as they have on offense and still toy with the National League like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did to the NBA in the 90s (Quick NBA tangent. Did you realize the Bulls went 25-1 in playoff series in the 90s when Jordan played? Trivia Question: Who was the only team to beat a Jordan/Pippen led Bulls’ squad in the 1990s? – Answer at the end) The Phillies have amassed the best array of starting pitching on the planet, and boy has it paid off. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels all earned their way on to the All-Star team through beyond stellar play. Each player seems to bring a different aspect of cool to the table. While being dominant, they all have unique personalities, but one common trait; a serious desire to win. If you would describe each pitcher and their style in one word, each would be: Halladay – Grinding! Lee – Smooth! Hamels – Sunshine.. Okay, maybe the Hamels one was a stretch, but he is from California and has a much better disposition compared to years past while on the mound.
Roy Halladay is the number one person you can thank for the attitudes the Phillies pitchers carry. He leads by example. Have you seen his demeanor on gameday? He looks more serious than this guy. But, instead of stalking Sarah Connor, he’s stalking the World Series ring his All-Star teammate, Cole Hamels, already has. Players like Halladay and Chase Utley set the tone for greatness with their intensity. Why do you think you see Dom Brown busting down the line on every measly ground ball these days? Because he dogged it a month ago and got a stare like this from everybody in the clubhouse, and to top it off, Charlie Manuel set him down the next day. There is no room for complacency on this squad and this veteran experienced group lets it be known.
So with a three-headed-monster leading the way for the second half this season, let’s give each pertinent Phillie a grade and a breakdown for the first 91 games of the season. The grades will be more based on opinion than stat. Out of the 91 games I would venture to guess that I have watched the majority of 70 of these games. I live with these guys. I see their body language. I see how they react when things go well and when things don’t go well. You cannot look at a stat sheet and think you know everything about a ballplayer’s season. Having said that, Jayson Werth is hitting .215 with a .319 on base percentage, 31 RBI, 10 home runs, 70 hits, and 87 strikeouts in 88 games. No comment.
Roy Halladay – A
What can you say about Doc? We’ll get to the stats… When you wake up in the morning and you know Doc is pitching that day it puts a smile on your face. You know the other team is pretty much screwed if Doc isn’t way off. He is going to give up three runs in seven innings on a bad day, and if the Phils can push across a run or two, three even(!), that they are going to win the game. If he is on? Forget about it. He will break at least four bats and throw cutters that literally saw you off. He goes into the dugout, fresh trim on the red beard, sweating non-stop, throws one arm into the sleeve of his Phils’ jacket, and nobody even thinks about talking to him. The bull likes to finish what he starts. Charlie has gone to the mound two separate times in the ninth inning this season after Halladay allowed baserunners in a tight game and some how Roy stayed on the mound. Charlie knows better than to pull Roy when he still feels good. He lost two straight complete games on the road because the Phils couldn’t score for him, he could easily have 14 wins. As it is, he is tied for second in the NL with 11 (Jair Jurrjens, having a career year, has 12). What else for his stats you ask? Well, they are better than good. He is 1st in innings pitched (143.1), 2nd in strikeouts (138), 1st in complete games (6), 3rd in WHIP – walks and hits per inning pitched, (1.02), and 4th in ERA at 2.45. He is certainly in line to earn back-to-back Cy Young Awards, although he does face some stiff competition in…
Cole Hamels – A+
Man, how far have we come with Cole Hamels? I’d like to see a graph of the Phillies fan’s attitudes on Hamels over the past 5 years. It’s been going up and down more than this guy. He started with an unreal amount of hype and quickly broke his pitching hand in a barfight while in the minors (2006). He had a meteoric rise to the top of the baseball world while winning NLCS and World Series MVPs in 2008. He fell apart by the end of the 2009 postseason and fans labeled him as a head case, but he regained his form in the second half of the 2010 season and threw a complete game shut out to finish off the Reds in the 2010 NLDS. So far this season, he has rode that momentum into the best stretch of his career and he is about to get paid son! Right now Hamels is not worried about the money (but he knows he has plenty of it coming his way). Cole looks like a different person on the mound than he did in prior years. He has finally learned that he cannot control everything in a game, so he concentrates on the things he can control. Namely throwing first pitch strikes and making batters look stupid as they wave at his baffling changeup. As for his numbers, they give the defending Cy Young winner a run for his money. By the way, Halladay is making 20 this year while Hamels is pulling in 9.5, mmmmiilllllliiooonnnnn dddolllllaaarrrrssss . Hamels’ numbers: 2nd in wins (11), 3rd in innings pitched (132), 5th in strikeouts (121), 1st in WHIP (.93), 2nd in ERA (2.32). Yikes! Those are some numbers. Hamels may have been the most consistent lefthander in the NL so far this season, but this guy may have the highest ceiling of everybody in the league.
Cliff Lee – A
Despite the fact that Lee has dazzled more than any other pitcher in the Majors has for a stretch this season, he still has been shaky during more than a couple of starts. Lee had one of the most dominant months a pitcher can have when he went 5-0 in June and threw three straight complete game shut outs and did not allow a run for 34 innings. In the game the streak was broken, at Toronto, Lee gave up three monster home runs in the 8th inning and took the loss. His bad outings like that one, have been more than made up for with the Phillies second longest scoreless innings streak ever and a career high 16 strikeouts in a May game against the Braves (In 7 innings and he took the loss no less). Lee is a strike thrower, first and foremost, and when he misses his spots he can get hit hard and it generally happens quickly. Lee also has impressed at the plate this season. During that stretch in June he had given up zero runs in three straight starts and had 2 RBI. Read that sentence again. Just this past weekend he was the first ace to break through with a home run, sadly it was the only run the Phils scored in their lost to the Braves Saturday. Lee’s stats, like the other two, are impressive. 7th in wins (9), 2nd in innings pitched (137.1, if you’re counting, we have the top three in this category), 3rd in strikeouts (137), 2nd in complete games (4), 5th in WHIP (1.06), and 7th in ERA (2.82).
Flabbergasting – is the only word I can come up with for the numbers these guys put up in the first half. It feels good to have them out there.
Jimmy Rollins – B
Every time you think Jimmy may have lost it he makes “an-unbelievable-no-way-he-can-get-him-deep-in-the-hole-backhand-plant-and-fire-play” and you know.. that Jimmy Rollins can still do the things he has for the past 10 years in Philadelphia. Don’t get me wrong, Jimmy has lost a step, but his defense is still well above average and for some reason, I can’t quite explain it, but I feel good when he is up in clutch situations. There might not be another guy I want up there with the game on the line. All of the Phillies have come through with their share of clutch/game-winning hits, we wouldn’t be the kind of team we are if we did not have everybody contributing, but I like Jimmy’s “sense of the moment” mentality more than the rest of the guys. Utley approaches all at-bats the same it seems, Victorino is too nuts to feel the gravity of big time situations, and Howard is not quite a good enough hitter average wise, although he comes through even when you think he won’t, doesn’t he? Back to Jimmy, like I said in my season preview, we know that he likes to swing at the first pitch after the pitcher walked the last two guys on 9 pitches. We know he swings for the fences a bit and does not work counts enough, but when he is on we are tough to beat. Jimmy has put up a tad below average numbers, but going into this season we had no clue what to expect after he played in only 88 games last year (he has played in 87 games this year) and his production had dipped a bit. As it stands right now, Jimmy is projected to have approximately 90 runs, 170 hits, 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 60 rbis, and 35 steals if he finishes the season playing every day. I would take that in a heartbeat. He is currently hitting .268 after riding his hottest streak of the season into the break, hopefully he can continue it on to a big second half. He earns a B because his ceiling is obviously higher, but he could be playing much worse or not at all if he continued to get injured.
Shane Victorino – B+
Do you get the feeling that Shane is the guy that non-Phillies fans dislike the most on the Phils? I could see where some of Shane’s antics would get annoying to fans of other teams, but that is what I like about him. He gets under your skin, just ask Dodger fans. It helps that he has backed up his swagger with gold glove caliber defense. The only reason he does not have an A is the fact that he has landed on the DL twice so far this season and has only played 68 games. We need him healthy, he adds more danger to the lineup. He leads the Phils in batting average (.303), on base percentage (.376), slugging percentage (.524), and OPS (.900). Yes, he is ahead of Ryan Howard in all of these categories.
Ryan Howard – B –
Ryan Howard, the Fat Man (not really anymore), the Big Piece, is the most important part of the Phillies offense. He is not without faults (too many strikeouts, can’t figure out how to beat the shift, too many strikeouts, shaky at times defense, and of course too many strikeouts) but he makes up for them with what he brings to the table. One new thing he has added to his defensive arsenal is the ability to throw the ball to second base. In years past, Jimmy was lucky to keep his throws from going to leftfield but this year the throws have been on the money, which is nice. Although, he may not be feared as much as he was from 2006 to 2009, he is still the most feared batter in the lineup hands down. It is interesting to see how he reacts to the strikeouts in big situations. You can tell he is beyond frustrated with the fact that he can’t pick up the spin on a breaking ball and continues to swing over top of it again and again. I know that he cares, and I respect that especially having to go through the reactions of Travis Lee when he struck out with the game on the line. His batting average is only .257 while he has knocked out 18 home runs. His .317 batting average with runners in scoring position has helped him accumulate 72 RBIs, good enough to tie him for first in the NL with Prince Fielder and he is on pace to have 130. The fact is that Howard put up A-Rod on the sauce type numbers for the first four seasons of his career. Only Albert Pujols has ever set such a ridiculous pace at the beginning of a career and kept his foot on the throttle in recent memory (Home Runs for Pujols since 2006: 225 and for Howard: 247). For all the Howard haters out there, believe me we have a great player at first base for the next how-ever-many years and it could be a lot worse. You will never question his effort, and when he gets hot during the second half of this season, like he always does, don’t be surprised if he makes a run at his second MVP if he can hike that batting average up somewhere north of .270. He gets the B – because he hasn’t hit home runs in back to back games since April 27th and 29th when he hit one against the Dbacks and two against the Mets. It is time to get hot Ryan…
The rest of the team obviously has had an impact on their record, most notably the young bullpen duo of Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes, but seeing I am nearing 3000 words on this entry I will spare you the details on the rest of the team and just give a much more brief synopsis and letter grade for the players that remain.
Chase Utley – B Chase has not played enough yet this season to have a significant impact on the team, but just having him in the lineup everyday is a pleasure to see.
Placido Polanco – B Polanco was voted into the All-Star game but after a torrid start in April he has fallen off tremendously, possibly due to a bulging disk in his back that has sidelined him for the past week.
Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz – B+ Chooch is an invaluable member of the ball club and what he does for the pitching staff is his key contribution. His offense has been intermittent and it would be nice to see a little more consistency from his bat.
Antonio Bastardo – A+ This Bastard(o) has come out of nowhere to be the most impressive member of the bullpen this season. Opponents are hitting (I couldn’t find the
stat) but I believe it is in the neighborhood of .120 off of him (He has given up 11 hits in
33 innings of work) and is ERA is a miniscule 0.82.
Domonic Brown – C+ Brown was on the DL to begin the season with a broken wrist but Ben Francisco could not take the starting rightfielder job from him. Brown has a ton of hype but his swing and his outfield play have been far from smooth. He has showed speed and potential, but not much else.
Ryan Madson – B + Madson was nearly unhittable in the closers roles mixing a mid-90s fastball with a changeup that leaves hitters clueless. He was 15 for 16 in save opportunities and has a B + only because of his recent DL stint.
Other players that have filled in and done serviceable to terrific work are from most important to least important, Michael Stutes, Wilson Valdez, John Mayberry, Michael Martinez, Brian Schneider, and Pete Orr. Ross Gload has done a nice job as the primary pinch-hitter. If David Herndon or Danys Baez are on the hill, close your eyes.
The second half of the season is generally when the weather and the Phillies get hot. If it has averaged just about 90 for the past two weeks in the Philadelphia area and the Phils already have the largest division lead in baseball at the break, what can we expect for this second half?
Trivia Answer: The Orlando Magic beat the Chicago Bulls in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Shaq and Penny handed it to Mike and Scottie.
You might want to take a look at this, just for fun.
At the official midpoint of the season (81 games), the Phillies were the only team in Major League Baseball with 50 wins. There were 50-31. Now that we are at the unofficial midpoint of the season, the annual midsummer classic that is the All-Star game, the Phils still have the best record in all of baseball at 57-34. They have won 6 straight series 2-1. Although they could not break through with a long winning streak in the last 21 games, they lost two in a row only once (to the Mariners 7 series ago). They won the first game of each of the last 6 series. When you do that, you have a good chance to take two of three and a .667 winning percentage would translate to 108 wins. Two teams in Phillies history have won 100 games and this team seems poised to do just that despite the following.
Number one closer Brad Lidge has yet to pitch in the Majors this season.
Jose Contrares was named as the closer at the start of the season but soon landed on the DL.
Ryan Madson took over the closer’s role and was doing an admirable job until he landed on the DL a few weeks ago.
Fourth ace Roy Oswalt has only made 13 starts and was not overly effective when he did pitch, 4-6 with a 3.79 era. He has landed on the DL as well with back issues and his commitment to the team has been questioned.
Fifth wheel starter Joe Blanton has only made 6 starts and has been sidelined for almost all of the season with elbow issues.
Chase Utley missed the first two months of the season with knee tendinitis and has played 41 of a possible 91 games. He just recently started playing every single day and his production has gone up.
The Phillies have 5 all-stars this season; none of them are named Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, or Chase Utley. (Thanks Bob)
Despite their best two offensive games occurring in the last week (18 hits and 14 runs vs. the Marlins, and in the rubber match of the three game series against the division rival Braves they threw up 14 runs and 20 hits) the Phils are still hitting only .250, good enough for 10th out of 16 teams in the NL. They are 9th in home runs (78), 9th in slugging percentage (.382), and 8th in OPS – on base percentage + slugging percentage (.705). They were first or second in these categories from 2006-2009. They are averaging 4.2 runs per game, down more than half a run from their offensive glory years.
Of their five all-stars, the only position players that made the squad were voted in by fans rather than peers. Placido Polanco was voted to become the starter at third base but will not play due to injury, and Shane Victorino won the final All-Star vote and became the fifth Phillie to join the team.
So far I have gone through only discouraging aspects of the season. We all know why the Phillies can S the B as bad as they have on offense and still toy with the National League like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did to the NBA in the 90s (Quick NBA tangent. Did you realize the Bulls went 25-1 in playoff series in the 90s when Jordan played? Trivia Question: Who was the only team to beat a Jordan/Pippen led Bulls’ squad in the 1990s? – Answer at the end) The Phillies have amassed the best array of starting pitching on the planet, and boy has it paid off. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels all earned their way on to the All-Star team through beyond stellar play. Each player seems to bring a different aspect of cool to the table. While being dominant, they all have unique personalities, but one common trait; a serious desire to win. If you would describe each pitcher and their style in one word, each would be: Halladay – Grinding! Lee – Smooth! Hamels – Sunshine.. Okay, maybe the Hamels one was a stretch, but he is from California and has a much better disposition compared to years past while on the mound.
Roy Halladay is the number one person you can thank for the attitudes the Phillies pitchers carry. He leads by example. Have you seen his demeanor on gameday? He looks more serious than this guy. But, instead of stalking Sarah Connor, he’s stalking the World Series ring his All-Star teammate, Cole Hamels, already has. Players like Halladay and Chase Utley set the tone for greatness with their intensity. Why do you think you see Dom Brown busting down the line on every measly ground ball these days? Because he dogged it a month ago and got a stare like this from everybody in the clubhouse, and to top it off, Charlie Manuel set him down the next day. There is no room for complacency on this squad and this veteran experienced group lets it be known.
So with a three-headed-monster leading the way for the second half this season, let’s give each pertinent Phillie a grade and a breakdown for the first 91 games of the season. The grades will be more based on opinion than stat. Out of the 91 games I would venture to guess that I have watched the majority of 70 of these games. I live with these guys. I see their body language. I see how they react when things go well and when things don’t go well. You cannot look at a stat sheet and think you know everything about a ballplayer’s season. Having said that, Jayson Werth is hitting .215 with a .319 on base percentage, 31 RBI, 10 home runs, 70 hits, and 87 strikeouts in 88 games. No comment.
Roy Halladay – A
What can you say about Doc? We’ll get to the stats… When you wake up in the morning and you know Doc is pitching that day it puts a smile on your face. You know the other team is pretty much screwed if Doc isn’t way off. He is going to give up three runs in seven innings on a bad day, and if the Phils can push across a run or two, three even(!), that they are going to win the game. If he is on? Forget about it. He will break at least four bats and throw cutters that literally saw you off. He goes into the dugout, fresh trim on the red beard, sweating non-stop, throws one arm into the sleeve of his Phils’ jacket, and nobody even thinks about talking to him. The bull likes to finish what he starts. Charlie has gone to the mound two separate times in the ninth inning this season after Halladay allowed baserunners in a tight game and some how Roy stayed on the mound. Charlie knows better than to pull Roy when he still feels good. He lost two straight complete games on the road because the Phils couldn’t score for him, he could easily have 14 wins. As it is, he is tied for second in the NL with 11 (Jair Jurrjens, having a career year, has 12). What else for his stats you ask? Well, they are better than good. He is 1st in innings pitched (143.1), 2nd in strikeouts (138), 1st in complete games (6), 3rd in WHIP – walks and hits per inning pitched, (1.02), and 4th in ERA at 2.45. He is certainly in line to earn back-to-back Cy Young Awards, although he does face some stiff competition in…
Cole Hamels – A+
Man, how far have we come with Cole Hamels? I’d like to see a graph of the Phillies fan’s attitudes on Hamels over the past 5 years. It’s been going up and down more than this guy. He started with an unreal amount of hype and quickly broke his pitching hand in a barfight while in the minors (2006). He had a meteoric rise to the top of the baseball world while winning NLCS and World Series MVPs in 2008. He fell apart by the end of the 2009 postseason and fans labeled him as a head case, but he regained his form in the second half of the 2010 season and threw a complete game shut out to finish off the Reds in the 2010 NLDS. So far this season, he has rode that momentum into the best stretch of his career and he is about to get paid son! Right now Hamels is not worried about the money (but he knows he has plenty of it coming his way). Cole looks like a different person on the mound than he did in prior years. He has finally learned that he cannot control everything in a game, so he concentrates on the things he can control. Namely throwing first pitch strikes and making batters look stupid as they wave at his baffling changeup. As for his numbers, they give the defending Cy Young winner a run for his money. By the way, Halladay is making 20 this year while Hamels is pulling in 9.5, mmmmiilllllliiooonnnnn dddolllllaaarrrrssss . Hamels’ numbers: 2nd in wins (11), 3rd in innings pitched (132), 5th in strikeouts (121), 1st in WHIP (.93), 2nd in ERA (2.32). Yikes! Those are some numbers. Hamels may have been the most consistent lefthander in the NL so far this season, but this guy may have the highest ceiling of everybody in the league.
Cliff Lee – A
Despite the fact that Lee has dazzled more than any other pitcher in the Majors has for a stretch this season, he still has been shaky during more than a couple of starts. Lee had one of the most dominant months a pitcher can have when he went 5-0 in June and threw three straight complete game shut outs and did not allow a run for 34 innings. In the game the streak was broken, at Toronto, Lee gave up three monster home runs in the 8th inning and took the loss. His bad outings like that one, have been more than made up for with the Phillies second longest scoreless innings streak ever and a career high 16 strikeouts in a May game against the Braves (In 7 innings and he took the loss no less). Lee is a strike thrower, first and foremost, and when he misses his spots he can get hit hard and it generally happens quickly. Lee also has impressed at the plate this season. During that stretch in June he had given up zero runs in three straight starts and had 2 RBI. Read that sentence again. Just this past weekend he was the first ace to break through with a home run, sadly it was the only run the Phils scored in their lost to the Braves Saturday. Lee’s stats, like the other two, are impressive. 7th in wins (9), 2nd in innings pitched (137.1, if you’re counting, we have the top three in this category), 3rd in strikeouts (137), 2nd in complete games (4), 5th in WHIP (1.06), and 7th in ERA (2.82).
Flabbergasting – is the only word I can come up with for the numbers these guys put up in the first half. It feels good to have them out there.
Jimmy Rollins – B
Every time you think Jimmy may have lost it he makes “an-unbelievable-no-way-he-can-get-him-deep-in-the-hole-backhand-plant-and-fire-play” and you know.. that Jimmy Rollins can still do the things he has for the past 10 years in Philadelphia. Don’t get me wrong, Jimmy has lost a step, but his defense is still well above average and for some reason, I can’t quite explain it, but I feel good when he is up in clutch situations. There might not be another guy I want up there with the game on the line. All of the Phillies have come through with their share of clutch/game-winning hits, we wouldn’t be the kind of team we are if we did not have everybody contributing, but I like Jimmy’s “sense of the moment” mentality more than the rest of the guys. Utley approaches all at-bats the same it seems, Victorino is too nuts to feel the gravity of big time situations, and Howard is not quite a good enough hitter average wise, although he comes through even when you think he won’t, doesn’t he? Back to Jimmy, like I said in my season preview, we know that he likes to swing at the first pitch after the pitcher walked the last two guys on 9 pitches. We know he swings for the fences a bit and does not work counts enough, but when he is on we are tough to beat. Jimmy has put up a tad below average numbers, but going into this season we had no clue what to expect after he played in only 88 games last year (he has played in 87 games this year) and his production had dipped a bit. As it stands right now, Jimmy is projected to have approximately 90 runs, 170 hits, 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 60 rbis, and 35 steals if he finishes the season playing every day. I would take that in a heartbeat. He is currently hitting .268 after riding his hottest streak of the season into the break, hopefully he can continue it on to a big second half. He earns a B because his ceiling is obviously higher, but he could be playing much worse or not at all if he continued to get injured.
Shane Victorino – B+
Do you get the feeling that Shane is the guy that non-Phillies fans dislike the most on the Phils? I could see where some of Shane’s antics would get annoying to fans of other teams, but that is what I like about him. He gets under your skin, just ask Dodger fans. It helps that he has backed up his swagger with gold glove caliber defense. The only reason he does not have an A is the fact that he has landed on the DL twice so far this season and has only played 68 games. We need him healthy, he adds more danger to the lineup. He leads the Phils in batting average (.303), on base percentage (.376), slugging percentage (.524), and OPS (.900). Yes, he is ahead of Ryan Howard in all of these categories.
Ryan Howard – B –
Ryan Howard, the Fat Man (not really anymore), the Big Piece, is the most important part of the Phillies offense. He is not without faults (too many strikeouts, can’t figure out how to beat the shift, too many strikeouts, shaky at times defense, and of course too many strikeouts) but he makes up for them with what he brings to the table. One new thing he has added to his defensive arsenal is the ability to throw the ball to second base. In years past, Jimmy was lucky to keep his throws from going to leftfield but this year the throws have been on the money, which is nice. Although, he may not be feared as much as he was from 2006 to 2009, he is still the most feared batter in the lineup hands down. It is interesting to see how he reacts to the strikeouts in big situations. You can tell he is beyond frustrated with the fact that he can’t pick up the spin on a breaking ball and continues to swing over top of it again and again. I know that he cares, and I respect that especially having to go through the reactions of Travis Lee when he struck out with the game on the line. His batting average is only .257 while he has knocked out 18 home runs. His .317 batting average with runners in scoring position has helped him accumulate 72 RBIs, good enough to tie him for first in the NL with Prince Fielder and he is on pace to have 130. The fact is that Howard put up A-Rod on the sauce type numbers for the first four seasons of his career. Only Albert Pujols has ever set such a ridiculous pace at the beginning of a career and kept his foot on the throttle in recent memory (Home Runs for Pujols since 2006: 225 and for Howard: 247). For all the Howard haters out there, believe me we have a great player at first base for the next how-ever-many years and it could be a lot worse. You will never question his effort, and when he gets hot during the second half of this season, like he always does, don’t be surprised if he makes a run at his second MVP if he can hike that batting average up somewhere north of .270. He gets the B – because he hasn’t hit home runs in back to back games since April 27th and 29th when he hit one against the Dbacks and two against the Mets. It is time to get hot Ryan…
The rest of the team obviously has had an impact on their record, most notably the young bullpen duo of Antonio Bastardo and Michael Stutes, but seeing I am nearing 3000 words on this entry I will spare you the details on the rest of the team and just give a much more brief synopsis and letter grade for the players that remain.
Chase Utley – B Chase has not played enough yet this season to have a significant impact on the team, but just having him in the lineup everyday is a pleasure to see.
Placido Polanco – B Polanco was voted into the All-Star game but after a torrid start in April he has fallen off tremendously, possibly due to a bulging disk in his back that has sidelined him for the past week.
Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz – B+ Chooch is an invaluable member of the ball club and what he does for the pitching staff is his key contribution. His offense has been intermittent and it would be nice to see a little more consistency from his bat.
Antonio Bastardo – A+ This Bastard(o) has come out of nowhere to be the most impressive member of the bullpen this season. Opponents are hitting (I couldn’t find the
stat) but I believe it is in the neighborhood of .120 off of him (He has given up 11 hits in
33 innings of work) and is ERA is a miniscule 0.82.
Domonic Brown – C+ Brown was on the DL to begin the season with a broken wrist but Ben Francisco could not take the starting rightfielder job from him. Brown has a ton of hype but his swing and his outfield play have been far from smooth. He has showed speed and potential, but not much else.
Ryan Madson – B + Madson was nearly unhittable in the closers roles mixing a mid-90s fastball with a changeup that leaves hitters clueless. He was 15 for 16 in save opportunities and has a B + only because of his recent DL stint.
Other players that have filled in and done serviceable to terrific work are from most important to least important, Michael Stutes, Wilson Valdez, John Mayberry, Michael Martinez, Brian Schneider, and Pete Orr. Ross Gload has done a nice job as the primary pinch-hitter. If David Herndon or Danys Baez are on the hill, close your eyes.
The second half of the season is generally when the weather and the Phillies get hot. If it has averaged just about 90 for the past two weeks in the Philadelphia area and the Phils already have the largest division lead in baseball at the break, what can we expect for this second half?
Trivia Answer: The Orlando Magic beat the Chicago Bulls in the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Shaq and Penny handed it to Mike and Scottie.
You might want to take a look at this, just for fun.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Frustrating Phillies
It has been a while since I have had anything to say about the Phillies. That is not to say that I have been following them any less or more, but the ups and downs of a team with the best record in baseball are certainly quite remarkable considering, well, that they are the team with the best record in baseball (45-28). Normally, when a team has the largest lead in any division in baseball (4.5 up on the Braves) and one of the best starting pitching staffs ever assembled, there should not be much of a complaint about what they are doing on the field. But as a diehard Phillies fan, avid standings/statistics checker, and writer of this blog, I have to wonder… Are the 2011 Phillies a frustrating team to watch?
What do your conversations consist of with your friends when the Phillies are brought up? What are you texting your buddy in the 7th of another low scoring game? Are you surprised when the Phillies don’t score, or is it expected? Are these questions you normally ask about a team that is on pace to win 100 games?
My texts generally consist of things like this:
“What the _ _ _ k was Howard swinging at there?”
“Great at bat Jimmy”
“Man, Hamels is dealing”
“Would it kill them to get a hit with runners in scoring position?”
“Does Wheels ever shut up?”
And so far fifteen times this season.. “The FAT MAN!!”
Regardless of what happens from April to September, this season and this team that Ruben Amaro and former Phils’ General Manager Pat Gillick have put together will be looked at as a failure if it does not end with the second parade down Broad Street in four years. If that is the case, shouldn’t we be enjoying this regular season a bit more than we are? I know it is nice to see that once Kyle Kendrick takes his turn in the rotation that we will almost certainly be the favored team for the next four games. It is a good feeling when you wake up on Tuesday morning and know Doc Halladay is taking the mound, but do you find yourself worrying about who the starter will be for the other team? In 2007, I could care less whom the other starter was, frankly, I did not think it mattered. We were going to score runs off of whoever took the mound (I preferred right handers just because that gave Ryan Howard a better shot at a home run) but I knew we would score. I worried about the bullpen holding our lead, but I did not worry about Jimmy getting on base, or wondering if Chase still had it. Right now, every game seems to be a worry as to whether they will score enough runs to win.
Take this past weekend for instance, the Phils rolled into Seattle (When I was a kid, I always wanted to see the Phils play Griffey and as soon as interleague play came around he bolted for Cincinnati and was never the same) on a serious high. They were the winners of seven straight, including four in a 45 hour stretch against the Marlins, and were coupled with the Red Sox as the hottest team in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, the Phils managed to scrape seven runs together in three games and lost two of three to the Mariners. Believe it or not, their win did come against reigning Cy Young winner “King Felix” Hernandez, but they were shut out on Sunday wasting yet another stellar performance from Cole Hamels. Shutouts or getting one to two runs have become commonplace for a team that still features Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the middle of the lineup.
How many times this season have you looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:10 PM and the game was already in the bottom of the 5th inning and scoreless? You were probably flipping channels and waiting for Howard’s at bat and watching Cliff Lee breeze through the lineup. The Phillies pitchers work fast and they are some of the best at what they do. It is obvious when they are in a groove, innings fly by, strikeouts and zeroes pile up on the scoreboard. But then you look at who is pitching for the other team. You realize it is a journeymen, it may be somebody you have heard of, but it might not be, yet it seems as if they are matching the Phils Cy Young award winners pitch for pitch. You think, actually, I am not going to print what you think, but how can this be happening? Why do Oswalt, Hamels, Lee, and Halladay constantly have to walk on eggshells while they are out on the mound? You do not assume any of them are going to blow the game, but when the other team is constantly one pitch away from tying the game, or taking the lead, it is inevitable that losses can and will occur.
Obviously, at 45-28 the Phils have done a good enough job on the offensive end to take command in the NL East, but I just wish I was more ecstatic about the state of the team. Aside from Oswalt being a little shaky, you cannot ask for more from Halladay, Lee, and Hamels. Do yourself a favor and check out the main pitching categories (wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP) and you will find all three in the top five or top 10 of every one of those categories. Their statistics are mind boggling. Hamels has to be the front runner for the Cy Young award at this point, and he finally seems to have figured out he cannot control everything in a game and has become unflappable on the mound. Halladay is Halladay and on a bad day he is going to give you seven innings and three earned runs. On a good day, he cannot be touched(Sorry Major League Baseball is really cool and does not allow copyrighted material on youtube, get a clue Bud Selig?). Lee may have the highest ceiling of them all. He has had his share of shaky outings this season, but when he is on, he is absolutely lights out. He struck out 17 in seven innings earlier this season, and took the loss.
The Phils will most likely ride this pitching staff to their fifth consecutive NL East Division championship (only 9 more to match what the Braves did from 1991 to 2005) but what happens when we go up against another dominant pitching staff (read Atlanta or San Francisco again)? Will we put up enough runs to ride the pitching staff into the sunset and down Broad Street? Only time will tell, but for now I just hope the offense catches fire and I stop worrying about who the third starter is when we play the Brewers.
Werth Watch
For the first time this season, the play of the Washington Nationals as a team is a bigger story than the signing of the bearded one. The Nats had reeled off eight straight wins before losing last night to the Orioles. Jayson Werth has not been the catalyst for this, but his move to the leadoff position ($126 million for a leadoff guy?) has coincided with this current streak. During the eight game win streak, Werth managed six hits and seven strikeouts. Yikes. He is hitting .232 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.
What do your conversations consist of with your friends when the Phillies are brought up? What are you texting your buddy in the 7th of another low scoring game? Are you surprised when the Phillies don’t score, or is it expected? Are these questions you normally ask about a team that is on pace to win 100 games?
My texts generally consist of things like this:
“What the _ _ _ k was Howard swinging at there?”
“Great at bat Jimmy”
“Man, Hamels is dealing”
“Would it kill them to get a hit with runners in scoring position?”
“Does Wheels ever shut up?”
And so far fifteen times this season.. “The FAT MAN!!”
Regardless of what happens from April to September, this season and this team that Ruben Amaro and former Phils’ General Manager Pat Gillick have put together will be looked at as a failure if it does not end with the second parade down Broad Street in four years. If that is the case, shouldn’t we be enjoying this regular season a bit more than we are? I know it is nice to see that once Kyle Kendrick takes his turn in the rotation that we will almost certainly be the favored team for the next four games. It is a good feeling when you wake up on Tuesday morning and know Doc Halladay is taking the mound, but do you find yourself worrying about who the starter will be for the other team? In 2007, I could care less whom the other starter was, frankly, I did not think it mattered. We were going to score runs off of whoever took the mound (I preferred right handers just because that gave Ryan Howard a better shot at a home run) but I knew we would score. I worried about the bullpen holding our lead, but I did not worry about Jimmy getting on base, or wondering if Chase still had it. Right now, every game seems to be a worry as to whether they will score enough runs to win.
Take this past weekend for instance, the Phils rolled into Seattle (When I was a kid, I always wanted to see the Phils play Griffey and as soon as interleague play came around he bolted for Cincinnati and was never the same) on a serious high. They were the winners of seven straight, including four in a 45 hour stretch against the Marlins, and were coupled with the Red Sox as the hottest team in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, the Phils managed to scrape seven runs together in three games and lost two of three to the Mariners. Believe it or not, their win did come against reigning Cy Young winner “King Felix” Hernandez, but they were shut out on Sunday wasting yet another stellar performance from Cole Hamels. Shutouts or getting one to two runs have become commonplace for a team that still features Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the middle of the lineup.
How many times this season have you looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:10 PM and the game was already in the bottom of the 5th inning and scoreless? You were probably flipping channels and waiting for Howard’s at bat and watching Cliff Lee breeze through the lineup. The Phillies pitchers work fast and they are some of the best at what they do. It is obvious when they are in a groove, innings fly by, strikeouts and zeroes pile up on the scoreboard. But then you look at who is pitching for the other team. You realize it is a journeymen, it may be somebody you have heard of, but it might not be, yet it seems as if they are matching the Phils Cy Young award winners pitch for pitch. You think, actually, I am not going to print what you think, but how can this be happening? Why do Oswalt, Hamels, Lee, and Halladay constantly have to walk on eggshells while they are out on the mound? You do not assume any of them are going to blow the game, but when the other team is constantly one pitch away from tying the game, or taking the lead, it is inevitable that losses can and will occur.
Obviously, at 45-28 the Phils have done a good enough job on the offensive end to take command in the NL East, but I just wish I was more ecstatic about the state of the team. Aside from Oswalt being a little shaky, you cannot ask for more from Halladay, Lee, and Hamels. Do yourself a favor and check out the main pitching categories (wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP) and you will find all three in the top five or top 10 of every one of those categories. Their statistics are mind boggling. Hamels has to be the front runner for the Cy Young award at this point, and he finally seems to have figured out he cannot control everything in a game and has become unflappable on the mound. Halladay is Halladay and on a bad day he is going to give you seven innings and three earned runs. On a good day, he cannot be touched(Sorry Major League Baseball is really cool and does not allow copyrighted material on youtube, get a clue Bud Selig?). Lee may have the highest ceiling of them all. He has had his share of shaky outings this season, but when he is on, he is absolutely lights out. He struck out 17 in seven innings earlier this season, and took the loss.
The Phils will most likely ride this pitching staff to their fifth consecutive NL East Division championship (only 9 more to match what the Braves did from 1991 to 2005) but what happens when we go up against another dominant pitching staff (read Atlanta or San Francisco again)? Will we put up enough runs to ride the pitching staff into the sunset and down Broad Street? Only time will tell, but for now I just hope the offense catches fire and I stop worrying about who the third starter is when we play the Brewers.
Werth Watch
For the first time this season, the play of the Washington Nationals as a team is a bigger story than the signing of the bearded one. The Nats had reeled off eight straight wins before losing last night to the Orioles. Jayson Werth has not been the catalyst for this, but his move to the leadoff position ($126 million for a leadoff guy?) has coincided with this current streak. During the eight game win streak, Werth managed six hits and seven strikeouts. Yikes. He is hitting .232 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Game 5 2011 NBA Finals Running Diary
Hello and welcome to the second ever running diary for the Hitter's Count Blog. This is the first time we will chronicle a basketball game.
The stage has been set for a pivotal game 5 between the Dallas Mavericks with their shaggy, sharp-shooting, German Dirk Nowitzki and his much maligned group of veterans to take on the Big 3 of the Miami Heat. The series is tied at two and a win tonight in Dallas will go a long way in deciding who will take home one of the most significant NBA Finals in recent memory.
The Heat's big three has shrunken to the big one. The one being the irrepressible Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh has played decent but has not done anything spectacular or out of the ordinary for the former VelociRaptor, excuse me Toronto Raptor. The real question that is on everybody's mind heading into game five is - What Can We Expect Out of Lebron James?? After eviscerating the competition in the first three rounds (won all three series in 5 games a piece), including some of the most inspired all-around basketball ever played in the deciding games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron James has pulled a Lebron James. Of course, I may be taking liberties with referring to his disappearing act thus far as a Lebron James, but I was glued to the television in May 2010 when he was doing the same thing against the Celtics when he played for Cleveland. That night he took his talents back to the locker room and probably cried about it. Right now, his talents have either been repossesed by the aliens from Space Jam, or he put money on the Mavericks for game four. The lack of interest, aggression, and sense of the THE MOMENT, have escaped Lebron and everybody knows it. Nowitzki has basically been the exact opposite, leading come from behind wins in games 2 and 4, including the game winning shots in both games. We are one patent Dirk turnaround jumper from the foul line in game three from this series possibly being 3-1 Mavericks.
It is time for Lebron to join Wade and showcase his talents. He has yet to do that in the Finals. Dirk willed his team to a win with a 102 degree fever and flu like symptoms in game 4, but it was Lebron who played like he was sick.
Check back for more when the game begins...
8:38 PM EST - Pregame has just started. Lebron is calling this the biggest game of his life. He is right, if that is the case why am I wondering if he is going to try hard tonight? Have you ever felt that way about a transcendent athlete in his prime before? I haven't.
8:44: PM EST - A few predictions from my roommate Rolletto. He has some interesting rather specific goals he is setting for LBJ. He envisions a stat line that includes 26 pts 9 rebs 8 asts 2 blks 3 stls. He thinks that this will also be more points than Wade will score and that the Heat will win by 5. Just for kicks he also has Dirk at 14-16 at the line. Dirk has been automatic from the line all playoffs long and is an incredbile 163-174 for the duration of the playoffs. We'll see about these predictions, and ball bust as quickly as possible.
8:49 PM EST - Phils update - Jimmy Rollins blasted a two out three run home run to give the Phillies the lead 3-0 before rain delayed the game in the third. It was nice to see Jimmy back in the lineup and he gave the Phils a boost on offense. I think the last time they scored 3 runs on one hit Lebron knew how to hold on to the ball for more than 2 seconds at a time in the fourth quarter.
8:53 PM EST - From the interesting stats you should see more of on television department...
2006 Dirk Playoffs - 23 G / 43 mins / 27 pts / 47 % FG / 12 rebs / 3 asts / 34 % 3 pt / 205-229 FT 90%
2011 Dirk Playoffs - 19 G / 39 mins / 28 pts / 50 % FG / 8 rebs / 3 asts / 50 % 3 pt / 163-174 FT 94%
9:00 PM EST - Mark Cuban really pulled out all of the stops for the National Anthem - The Acoustics. I tried to link the name of the group to a picture of them but google could not come up with anything that looked like who I just saw sing the National Anthem. Mark, come on son! You are better than that.
9:08 PM EST - Two serious bricks from Nowitzki and Bosh to start the game. JJ Barea is in the starting lineup tonight.
9:09 PM EST - Jason Kidd makes a breakaway layup. He is on the board. I was hoping Kidd could go back to back 35+ minute games without scoring. It would have been a challenge, but Jason is on the board tonight after not scoring despite playing 39 minutes in game 4.
9:13 PM EST - Nowitzki strokes two straight jumpers from the same spot after missing his first two shots. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson then try to force as many chicken soup jokes into one discussion on how Dirk recovered from his flu.
9:19 PM EST - Lebron is 1-4 early. He has missed all three of his jump shots and has a dunk on a fastbreak outlet pass. He seems lively on offense and just made a terrific block on a Shawn Marion layup. A pulse has been detected, let's see if he can get his offense going. Dallas leads 17-10 with just over 4 minutes left in the 1st.
9:24 PM EST - We have a Brian Cardinal sighting in Dallas. The token bald slow white guy just nailed a three for his first points of the seas-- series.
9:31 PM EST - Dwyane Wade exited the game after getting shaken up driving to the basket and ramming into who else? Brian Cardinal. He is probably just getting a late first quarter rest but the announcers seemed to think it could be more serious.
9:35 PM EST - The lone remaining member of the Fab 5 Juwan Howard is making his presence felt. First he threw Brian Cardinal to the ground on a made basket by the Heat and then made two baskets in a row.
9:37 PM EST - Mario Chalmers drains a running 30 footer as the first quarter ends. Those could prove to be huge points in close game late. The score is 31-30 Miami at the end of one. They just showed a replay of Wade reacting to the hit he took from Cardinal. He looked to be in serious pain and is in the locker room at the quarter break.
9:44 PM EST - Wade is back on the bench with a left hip contusion and is "questionable" to return. Questionable my ass, unless he consults Jay Cutler in the next few minutes I expect to see him back out there.
9:48 PM EST - Jackson and Van Gundy agreed with my assessment of the Wade injury. Needless to say, D-Wade is back on the floor in a one point game, 40-39 Miami.
9:51 PM EST - Wade makes a running bank shot in the lane showing no ill effects of the injury. Hhhmmppphhh DWade!
9:53 PM EST - "Eddie House lost his job when the Heat acquired Mike Bibby who happens to be his brother-in-law" is something you don't hear too often about NBA guards. Is there animosity between the two, or are they good friends? These are the things I'd like to know, but just for the season DVD, not for the Finals' commentary.
9:57 PM EST - 48-44 Heat with just under 6 minutes to play in the second quarter. These teams do not seem to be as stingy on the defensive end as they have been throughout the series. Both teams are consistently knocking down their open looks including plenty of three pointers and a parade to the line by DWade 7/8 FTs.
10:01 PM EST - As much as I enjoyed Hitch and the occasional King of Queens, I have to say Kevin James has not impressed me since. Paul Blart Mall Cup featured this guy from Wedding Crashers as the bad guy so how could you take that seriously? And I just saw a preview for Zookeeper. It looked like Dr. DooLittle but more ridiculous. What's goin on man?!?
10:07 PM EST - I love the hyperbole from Van Gundy. "There isn't a better DVD out there than Dirk shooting. That would be a my Christmas gift." Jeff is generally on point and plays foil to Jackson's opinions quite well.
10:10 PM EST - Shawn Marion just got T'd up for reacting to a call. The NBA instituted the quick fuse technical this year as a way to keep every NBA fan from seeing this face 25 times a game. I contest, and he will most likely agree with me, that Tim Duncan has never committed a foul.
10:15 PM EST - The first half ends with a mini Mavs run that has them leading 60-57. Dirk hit a pull up jumper with 10 or so seconds left to give him 16 in the first half on 6-9 shooting. Wade sauntered off the court with a noticeable limp and uncomfortable stride. His hip contusion was all a fake he met with David Stern in the locker room who told him to play up the injured angle to add to the drama. You have to love that wily David Stern, always pulling strings!
10:19 PM EST - First half news and notes- Lebron went 4-10 with 9 points and did not make a shot outside of a layup/dunk. Mario Chalmers hit four three pointers and is tied with Wade for the team lead with 13 points. Jason Terry shot 4-6 and has 9 points. The Mavericks shot a jaw dropping 23-35 66% while the Heat were not too shabby either at 20-39 51 %.
10:23 PM EST - Both teams can take some positives from the first half but I think Miami should probably be feeling better. The Mavericks shot 66% and the Heat trail by just three with pedestrian first halves for their electrifying duo. The Heat played a little sloppy and committed 7 turnovers. Looking forward to a make-or-break second half.
10:37 PM EST - The teams have traded three point baskets to open the second half and Wade is in the locker room to begin it. Does that mean Lebron time? He makes his first shot of the second half, a leaner in the lane.
10:41 PM EST - The degree of difficulty on Nowitzki's shots is unexplainable. One possession he makes a turnaround jumper from 15 feet on the baseline with Bosh draped all over him and kept a hand in his face. Two possessions later he hits a 3 from the top of the key that literally brought rain. It was a beautiful rainbow swish but if you want to see the best rainbow shot ever take a look.
10:44 PM EST - JJ Barea has made both his three point attempts this half and Lebron answered back with a driving layup. The pace of the game has picked up considerably and shots are finding the bottom of the net. 73-69 Mavs midway through the 3rd quarter and still no DWade.
10:48 PM EST - The screen splits and shows Wade emerge from the locker room. The screen stays split much too long and becomes awkward and annoying as they follow Wade to the bench. He will be re-entering the game, but why don't producers understand that we want to watch the full screen of the game as much as possible? I don't need split screens of talking heads or walking Dwyane Wades when the game is going on.
10:50 PM EST - The Mavs are going off from 3 point range as Jason Kidd has now joined the party. They are 9-13 from 3 pt land and lead by 7. Shooting this well you would think the Heat would get blown out of the water but they are hanging around at this point.
10:58 PM EST - Jason Terry took Dirk's advice and has started making some more clutch shots in the finals. He has hit both his jumpers in the third quarter and the Mavs lead 84-77. Terry is 6 for 9 with 13 points.
11:02 PM EST - The third quarter has come to a close and you really cannot ask for more. The fans are going wild as the Mavs hold an 84-79 lead. Both teams are trading body blow after body blow and the Mavs have landed a few more three pointers which has them in the lead. As of now a few of Rolletto's predictions are looking decent for LBJ. He has 15 pts 7 rebs 6 asts and a block. The next quarter has the potential to define the careers of either Nowitzki or James. Yeah a little dramatic, but come on, this is a big one.
11:06 PM EST - Just look at this time stamp. Why do these games have to be on so late? It is a school night. Is that sour grapes or am I right that half the country is in bed by now?
11:09 PM EST - JJ Barea looks impossibly small on the floor amongst the trees but he has been a difference maker tonight. He has 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting including three 3s. It inspires hope for all those 5 foot 7 guys out there, but then they realize they aren't lightning quick and can't make a layup...
11:12 PM EST - Lebron has yet to take a shot in the fourth quarter, just two and a half minutes in, but he does have 2 boards to go along with two assists. A triple double seems imminent. Only LBJ can pull of a triple double while making it look like he is not fully engaged in the game. Is that a backhanded compliment? I don't know but sometimes I'd rather see him go for 43 7 and and 7 instead of 20 14 and 12, but that's just me.
11:16 PM EST - Wade just managed to shuffle his pivot foot at least three times. I actually lost count and he may have never even established a pivot foot. It was more of a fox trot. No call was made.
11:20 PM EST - Mavs lead 95-90 with 6:48 to go in the game. Barea is providing the spark the Mavs need and Nowitzki is 8-8 from the line to give him 25 points.
Phillies update - Ryan Madson has blown his first save of the season.
11:24 PM EST - James and Wade in transition are something to see. They are getting to the rack, and they are getting to the rack quicker than you are. LBJ assists on two straight baskets to give him a triple double. 15 10 and 10 and the Heat are scoring with ease at the rim. 96-95 Miami after a quick 6-0 run that included 3 uncontested dunks/layups. Are you kidding me Dallas? This is not the time to start missing assignments on pick and rolls.
11:29 PM EST - "Lebron James messed around and got a triple double" Mark Jackson quoting Ice Cube. Something tells me Dirk is about to get going.. Let's see we are now under 5 minutes.
11:31 PM EST - Seven seconds left on the shot clock and Lebron gets the pass. What do you do here Lebron? Well he decided that the ball was much too hot to hold and made a quick pass that got deflected and led to a turnover. 99-97 Heat with 3:38 to play. LBJ showing no aggression. He's playing like Jason Kidd would play but taking less 3 pointers, it is almost as if he forgot that he is Lebron James.
11:33 PM EST - Jason Terry nails a wide open monster 3 to tie the score at 100 followed by a missed jumper from Lebron he clearly settled on rather than taking his man off the dribble.
11:35 PM EST - Lebron misses badly on a wide open 3 pointer. The crowd was going wild as the Mavs brought the ball back down the court but that was before Jason Kidd blew the lid off the building with a knock down wide open three point shot. Mavs take a 5 point lead 105-100 with a minute twenty-six to play. Timeout Miami.
11:39 PM EST - Seriously physical defense is being played on Lebron. Fouls could have easily been called on his advance to the basket but he managed somehow to get a pass off to Bosh who then drew a foul. Bosh predictably made 1 of 2 and cut the lead to four.
11:40 PM EST - Wow! With the shot clock winding down Jason Terry answers the bell. He drained a contested ice in his veins 3 with 33 seconds left to all but ice the game. 108-101 Mavs. Dirk gets to say that his calling out of Terry for not scoring in the crunch was great motivation. Guarantee that.
11:43 PM EST - Lebron finally gets his first 4th quarter points since game 3 but it will almost certainly be too little too late as Jason Kidd makes two free throws to make the score 110-103. How can Lebron live with his effort? The going down with the ship mentality does not exist for this man quite obviously. It seems as if he would rather rely on his teammates rather than himself to win the game. Albeit, one of those teammates is Dwyane Wade, but come on Lebron. Where is your pride??
11:46 PM EST - A standard Dirk stat line with 29 points and 6 boards but it was Jason Terry who hit the big shots down the stretch to clinch the 112-103 game 5 win. In the postgame interview, Terry made sure to thank God first and foremost for his success. Lebron will probably not mention him.
The series heads back to Miami where the Heat have lost 1 game in the playoffs. Oh yeah, it was to the Mavericks in game 2.
Thanks for reading guys. Had a good time covering the game.
The stage has been set for a pivotal game 5 between the Dallas Mavericks with their shaggy, sharp-shooting, German Dirk Nowitzki and his much maligned group of veterans to take on the Big 3 of the Miami Heat. The series is tied at two and a win tonight in Dallas will go a long way in deciding who will take home one of the most significant NBA Finals in recent memory.
The Heat's big three has shrunken to the big one. The one being the irrepressible Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh has played decent but has not done anything spectacular or out of the ordinary for the former VelociRaptor, excuse me Toronto Raptor. The real question that is on everybody's mind heading into game five is - What Can We Expect Out of Lebron James?? After eviscerating the competition in the first three rounds (won all three series in 5 games a piece), including some of the most inspired all-around basketball ever played in the deciding games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron James has pulled a Lebron James. Of course, I may be taking liberties with referring to his disappearing act thus far as a Lebron James, but I was glued to the television in May 2010 when he was doing the same thing against the Celtics when he played for Cleveland. That night he took his talents back to the locker room and probably cried about it. Right now, his talents have either been repossesed by the aliens from Space Jam, or he put money on the Mavericks for game four. The lack of interest, aggression, and sense of the THE MOMENT, have escaped Lebron and everybody knows it. Nowitzki has basically been the exact opposite, leading come from behind wins in games 2 and 4, including the game winning shots in both games. We are one patent Dirk turnaround jumper from the foul line in game three from this series possibly being 3-1 Mavericks.
It is time for Lebron to join Wade and showcase his talents. He has yet to do that in the Finals. Dirk willed his team to a win with a 102 degree fever and flu like symptoms in game 4, but it was Lebron who played like he was sick.
Check back for more when the game begins...
8:38 PM EST - Pregame has just started. Lebron is calling this the biggest game of his life. He is right, if that is the case why am I wondering if he is going to try hard tonight? Have you ever felt that way about a transcendent athlete in his prime before? I haven't.
8:44: PM EST - A few predictions from my roommate Rolletto. He has some interesting rather specific goals he is setting for LBJ. He envisions a stat line that includes 26 pts 9 rebs 8 asts 2 blks 3 stls. He thinks that this will also be more points than Wade will score and that the Heat will win by 5. Just for kicks he also has Dirk at 14-16 at the line. Dirk has been automatic from the line all playoffs long and is an incredbile 163-174 for the duration of the playoffs. We'll see about these predictions, and ball bust as quickly as possible.
8:49 PM EST - Phils update - Jimmy Rollins blasted a two out three run home run to give the Phillies the lead 3-0 before rain delayed the game in the third. It was nice to see Jimmy back in the lineup and he gave the Phils a boost on offense. I think the last time they scored 3 runs on one hit Lebron knew how to hold on to the ball for more than 2 seconds at a time in the fourth quarter.
8:53 PM EST - From the interesting stats you should see more of on television department...
2006 Dirk Playoffs - 23 G / 43 mins / 27 pts / 47 % FG / 12 rebs / 3 asts / 34 % 3 pt / 205-229 FT 90%
2011 Dirk Playoffs - 19 G / 39 mins / 28 pts / 50 % FG / 8 rebs / 3 asts / 50 % 3 pt / 163-174 FT 94%
9:00 PM EST - Mark Cuban really pulled out all of the stops for the National Anthem - The Acoustics. I tried to link the name of the group to a picture of them but google could not come up with anything that looked like who I just saw sing the National Anthem. Mark, come on son! You are better than that.
9:08 PM EST - Two serious bricks from Nowitzki and Bosh to start the game. JJ Barea is in the starting lineup tonight.
9:09 PM EST - Jason Kidd makes a breakaway layup. He is on the board. I was hoping Kidd could go back to back 35+ minute games without scoring. It would have been a challenge, but Jason is on the board tonight after not scoring despite playing 39 minutes in game 4.
9:13 PM EST - Nowitzki strokes two straight jumpers from the same spot after missing his first two shots. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson then try to force as many chicken soup jokes into one discussion on how Dirk recovered from his flu.
9:19 PM EST - Lebron is 1-4 early. He has missed all three of his jump shots and has a dunk on a fastbreak outlet pass. He seems lively on offense and just made a terrific block on a Shawn Marion layup. A pulse has been detected, let's see if he can get his offense going. Dallas leads 17-10 with just over 4 minutes left in the 1st.
9:24 PM EST - We have a Brian Cardinal sighting in Dallas. The token bald slow white guy just nailed a three for his first points of the seas-- series.
9:31 PM EST - Dwyane Wade exited the game after getting shaken up driving to the basket and ramming into who else? Brian Cardinal. He is probably just getting a late first quarter rest but the announcers seemed to think it could be more serious.
9:35 PM EST - The lone remaining member of the Fab 5 Juwan Howard is making his presence felt. First he threw Brian Cardinal to the ground on a made basket by the Heat and then made two baskets in a row.
9:37 PM EST - Mario Chalmers drains a running 30 footer as the first quarter ends. Those could prove to be huge points in close game late. The score is 31-30 Miami at the end of one. They just showed a replay of Wade reacting to the hit he took from Cardinal. He looked to be in serious pain and is in the locker room at the quarter break.
9:44 PM EST - Wade is back on the bench with a left hip contusion and is "questionable" to return. Questionable my ass, unless he consults Jay Cutler in the next few minutes I expect to see him back out there.
9:48 PM EST - Jackson and Van Gundy agreed with my assessment of the Wade injury. Needless to say, D-Wade is back on the floor in a one point game, 40-39 Miami.
9:51 PM EST - Wade makes a running bank shot in the lane showing no ill effects of the injury. Hhhmmppphhh DWade!
9:53 PM EST - "Eddie House lost his job when the Heat acquired Mike Bibby who happens to be his brother-in-law" is something you don't hear too often about NBA guards. Is there animosity between the two, or are they good friends? These are the things I'd like to know, but just for the season DVD, not for the Finals' commentary.
9:57 PM EST - 48-44 Heat with just under 6 minutes to play in the second quarter. These teams do not seem to be as stingy on the defensive end as they have been throughout the series. Both teams are consistently knocking down their open looks including plenty of three pointers and a parade to the line by DWade 7/8 FTs.
10:01 PM EST - As much as I enjoyed Hitch and the occasional King of Queens, I have to say Kevin James has not impressed me since. Paul Blart Mall Cup featured this guy from Wedding Crashers as the bad guy so how could you take that seriously? And I just saw a preview for Zookeeper. It looked like Dr. DooLittle but more ridiculous. What's goin on man?!?
10:07 PM EST - I love the hyperbole from Van Gundy. "There isn't a better DVD out there than Dirk shooting. That would be a my Christmas gift." Jeff is generally on point and plays foil to Jackson's opinions quite well.
10:10 PM EST - Shawn Marion just got T'd up for reacting to a call. The NBA instituted the quick fuse technical this year as a way to keep every NBA fan from seeing this face 25 times a game. I contest, and he will most likely agree with me, that Tim Duncan has never committed a foul.
10:15 PM EST - The first half ends with a mini Mavs run that has them leading 60-57. Dirk hit a pull up jumper with 10 or so seconds left to give him 16 in the first half on 6-9 shooting. Wade sauntered off the court with a noticeable limp and uncomfortable stride. His hip contusion was all a fake he met with David Stern in the locker room who told him to play up the injured angle to add to the drama. You have to love that wily David Stern, always pulling strings!
10:19 PM EST - First half news and notes- Lebron went 4-10 with 9 points and did not make a shot outside of a layup/dunk. Mario Chalmers hit four three pointers and is tied with Wade for the team lead with 13 points. Jason Terry shot 4-6 and has 9 points. The Mavericks shot a jaw dropping 23-35 66% while the Heat were not too shabby either at 20-39 51 %.
10:23 PM EST - Both teams can take some positives from the first half but I think Miami should probably be feeling better. The Mavericks shot 66% and the Heat trail by just three with pedestrian first halves for their electrifying duo. The Heat played a little sloppy and committed 7 turnovers. Looking forward to a make-or-break second half.
10:37 PM EST - The teams have traded three point baskets to open the second half and Wade is in the locker room to begin it. Does that mean Lebron time? He makes his first shot of the second half, a leaner in the lane.
10:41 PM EST - The degree of difficulty on Nowitzki's shots is unexplainable. One possession he makes a turnaround jumper from 15 feet on the baseline with Bosh draped all over him and kept a hand in his face. Two possessions later he hits a 3 from the top of the key that literally brought rain. It was a beautiful rainbow swish but if you want to see the best rainbow shot ever take a look.
10:44 PM EST - JJ Barea has made both his three point attempts this half and Lebron answered back with a driving layup. The pace of the game has picked up considerably and shots are finding the bottom of the net. 73-69 Mavs midway through the 3rd quarter and still no DWade.
10:48 PM EST - The screen splits and shows Wade emerge from the locker room. The screen stays split much too long and becomes awkward and annoying as they follow Wade to the bench. He will be re-entering the game, but why don't producers understand that we want to watch the full screen of the game as much as possible? I don't need split screens of talking heads or walking Dwyane Wades when the game is going on.
10:50 PM EST - The Mavs are going off from 3 point range as Jason Kidd has now joined the party. They are 9-13 from 3 pt land and lead by 7. Shooting this well you would think the Heat would get blown out of the water but they are hanging around at this point.
10:58 PM EST - Jason Terry took Dirk's advice and has started making some more clutch shots in the finals. He has hit both his jumpers in the third quarter and the Mavs lead 84-77. Terry is 6 for 9 with 13 points.
11:02 PM EST - The third quarter has come to a close and you really cannot ask for more. The fans are going wild as the Mavs hold an 84-79 lead. Both teams are trading body blow after body blow and the Mavs have landed a few more three pointers which has them in the lead. As of now a few of Rolletto's predictions are looking decent for LBJ. He has 15 pts 7 rebs 6 asts and a block. The next quarter has the potential to define the careers of either Nowitzki or James. Yeah a little dramatic, but come on, this is a big one.
11:06 PM EST - Just look at this time stamp. Why do these games have to be on so late? It is a school night. Is that sour grapes or am I right that half the country is in bed by now?
11:09 PM EST - JJ Barea looks impossibly small on the floor amongst the trees but he has been a difference maker tonight. He has 15 points on 5 of 9 shooting including three 3s. It inspires hope for all those 5 foot 7 guys out there, but then they realize they aren't lightning quick and can't make a layup...
11:12 PM EST - Lebron has yet to take a shot in the fourth quarter, just two and a half minutes in, but he does have 2 boards to go along with two assists. A triple double seems imminent. Only LBJ can pull of a triple double while making it look like he is not fully engaged in the game. Is that a backhanded compliment? I don't know but sometimes I'd rather see him go for 43 7 and and 7 instead of 20 14 and 12, but that's just me.
11:16 PM EST - Wade just managed to shuffle his pivot foot at least three times. I actually lost count and he may have never even established a pivot foot. It was more of a fox trot. No call was made.
11:20 PM EST - Mavs lead 95-90 with 6:48 to go in the game. Barea is providing the spark the Mavs need and Nowitzki is 8-8 from the line to give him 25 points.
Phillies update - Ryan Madson has blown his first save of the season.
11:24 PM EST - James and Wade in transition are something to see. They are getting to the rack, and they are getting to the rack quicker than you are. LBJ assists on two straight baskets to give him a triple double. 15 10 and 10 and the Heat are scoring with ease at the rim. 96-95 Miami after a quick 6-0 run that included 3 uncontested dunks/layups. Are you kidding me Dallas? This is not the time to start missing assignments on pick and rolls.
11:29 PM EST - "Lebron James messed around and got a triple double" Mark Jackson quoting Ice Cube. Something tells me Dirk is about to get going.. Let's see we are now under 5 minutes.
11:31 PM EST - Seven seconds left on the shot clock and Lebron gets the pass. What do you do here Lebron? Well he decided that the ball was much too hot to hold and made a quick pass that got deflected and led to a turnover. 99-97 Heat with 3:38 to play. LBJ showing no aggression. He's playing like Jason Kidd would play but taking less 3 pointers, it is almost as if he forgot that he is Lebron James.
11:33 PM EST - Jason Terry nails a wide open monster 3 to tie the score at 100 followed by a missed jumper from Lebron he clearly settled on rather than taking his man off the dribble.
11:35 PM EST - Lebron misses badly on a wide open 3 pointer. The crowd was going wild as the Mavs brought the ball back down the court but that was before Jason Kidd blew the lid off the building with a knock down wide open three point shot. Mavs take a 5 point lead 105-100 with a minute twenty-six to play. Timeout Miami.
11:39 PM EST - Seriously physical defense is being played on Lebron. Fouls could have easily been called on his advance to the basket but he managed somehow to get a pass off to Bosh who then drew a foul. Bosh predictably made 1 of 2 and cut the lead to four.
11:40 PM EST - Wow! With the shot clock winding down Jason Terry answers the bell. He drained a contested ice in his veins 3 with 33 seconds left to all but ice the game. 108-101 Mavs. Dirk gets to say that his calling out of Terry for not scoring in the crunch was great motivation. Guarantee that.
11:43 PM EST - Lebron finally gets his first 4th quarter points since game 3 but it will almost certainly be too little too late as Jason Kidd makes two free throws to make the score 110-103. How can Lebron live with his effort? The going down with the ship mentality does not exist for this man quite obviously. It seems as if he would rather rely on his teammates rather than himself to win the game. Albeit, one of those teammates is Dwyane Wade, but come on Lebron. Where is your pride??
11:46 PM EST - A standard Dirk stat line with 29 points and 6 boards but it was Jason Terry who hit the big shots down the stretch to clinch the 112-103 game 5 win. In the postgame interview, Terry made sure to thank God first and foremost for his success. Lebron will probably not mention him.
The series heads back to Miami where the Heat have lost 1 game in the playoffs. Oh yeah, it was to the Mavericks in game 2.
Thanks for reading guys. Had a good time covering the game.
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