Name that Phillie...

I'd like to continuously find pictures of obscure or not so obscure Phillies, to see if any of the Fightin' Faithful can name them... let's start with an easy one.

Try not to peak. If you'd like to comment, please do and include your guess, but if you really want to play don't look at the other comments and submit your guess.

Name this Phillie...

No hints...

Pete Incaviglia In the Hall of Fame?

In the midst of yet another disappointing Phillies loss, I've once again found something we Phillies fans can smile about. How about a reference to our favorite faction of Phightin' Phils, the crude and crass crew of 1993?

Our very own Pete Incaviglia, "Inky" to most, has been elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame, and rightfully so...

Incaviglia was perhaps the most imposing power hitter in college baseball
history, setting the NCAA career records for home runs (100) and slugging
percentage (.915) from 1983-85. In 1985, he set NCAA single-season records for
home runs (48), RBIs (143), total bases (285) and slugging percentage (1.140) _
marks that still stand. (courtesy of the AP and www.SI.com)

These numbers were good enough for Inky to make the jump from college directly to the majors, hitting 206 homers in 12 seasons. Here's a link to his career stats.

The only line we really care about is this one...

.274, 24 HRs 89 RBIs, .530 Slugging %, in 368 ABs.

Pretty good considering he split time... The platoon in left field that year with Papa Milt Thompson was awesome. Not to mention the platoon in right with Eisenreich and Wes Chamberlain. Heck.. that whole team was awesome.

Other former major leaguers amongst the class of 2007 include Jim Abbott (Michigan), Fredd Lynn (Southern Cal) and John Olerud (Washington State).

Here's the article where I found this tidbit... it's mostly about Jim Abbott.

Congratulations Inky... Thanks for the 93 Season...

Game Log: Phillies Win Over Mets, April 11

In Game Thoughts

First inning, uneventful.. Victorino stung the ball but to no avail, he was robbed of a hit.

Top of the 2nd Inning

7:36 - After two walks in a row to Burrell and Helms, somehow Aaron Rowand managed to strike out. Putz.

7:39 - Rod Barajas just drew a walk to load the bases and more importantly turn over the lineup to try and get the top of our order an opportunity to bat with men in scoring position. This makes Rowands walk look even more suspicious.

7:40 - Eaton Strikes out, to end the inning. Phillies Leave 'em loaded. First threat is dead.

I'm disappointed Rowand couldn't put his bat on the ball to move the runners... how about a bunt in that situation, to put men at 2nd and 3rd? Does Elmer understand how to use the bunt?

Bottom of the 2nd
Momentum is going our way. After loading the bases, a quick inning by Eaton is a good sign for the momentum of this game. 1-2-3 inning. Without scoring any runs, we won that inning.

Top of the 3rd
7:50 - Victorino grounds out to short. Victorino has hit the ball hard twice... good sign that he's progressing. He'll get a hit today.

This pitch progression thing with MLB Gameday is pretty cool. You can go to past at bats and watch the pitch progression.

7:54 - Perez's 4th walk in two innings. 26 balls, 26 strikes after 52 pitches. Another scoring opportunity with a runner in scoring position and our best hitter, Burrell is up. (please don't strike out with that long, slow swing...)

7:56 - Burrell works the count to the 3-0. Takes a strike on the outer half of the plate. Burrell is a Met killer, remember all those homeruns he used to hit against this team... let's repeat history Pat?

7:58 - The 3-2 pitch to Burrell... High. Ball 4. Bases loaded again... Momentum is definitely wearing a grey and red jersey.

7:59 - Ball one to Helms. He should take 2. He does. Two balls, no strikes. Low, ball 3. Take all the way. Let's draw first blood... The 3-0 pitch... is low, ball 4.

The Phils take a 1-0 lead. Great discipline by Helms and Burrell not to swing at ball out of the zone.

8:00 - After walking 3 in a row... what is Aaron Rowand doing swinging at the first pitch... somebody tell this guy how to bat... and now he's down in the count 2-2 because he swung at another pitch out of the zone... Does he watch the game?

8:03 - Rowand walks and brings in another run. 2-0 Phillies. Lucky, what a stupid at bat. To follow his other stupid at bat.

Aaron Sele is warming up for the Mets.

8:05 - Rod Barajas is hit by a pitch to bring in another run. Pitching change. How often do you see a pitching change right before the pitcher's spot in the batting order.

3-0 Phillies. Eaton has some breathing room.

Bottom 3 - Eaton walks a guy but puts down the Mets easily. Phils lead 3-0, after 3.

Top 4
8:23 -- Victorino is robbed again... he can't buy a hit today. He's hit the ball hard 3 times with nothing to show for it.

Bottom 4
Beltran leads off with a double. Let's see how Eaton battles through adversity here with Delgado, Wright and Alou due to bat.

After a good battle, with a few 3-2 foul balls, Eaton loses Delgado. The Mets have men at 1st and 2nd. Now's a good time for a double play. Eaton gets ahead 0-2. Don't get beat here... (see Brett Myers, 8th inning game one...) Damn! Eaton hits Wright to load the bases...

Nice... Alou hits into a 4-6-3 double play... Beltran score on the play but now we've got 2 down and the damage will be minimized. Green flies out to left to retire the side.

That double play is bigger than most think... to get out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam with allowing only 1 run is a good thing.

After five, the Phillies hold a 3-1 advantage.

Top 5
8:39 - Two balls no strikes to Howard, a hitter's pitch.. good time to look fastball... Howard gets a fastball but flies out to center.

8:41 - Infield single for Helms. Good to stay away from the 1-2-3 innings.
8:42 - Rowand gets an infield hit too....
8:43 - Barajas flies out, ending the threat.

I'm satisfied with that inning because it brings the top of our order up again. Even though we didn't capitalize on the back to back hits, and Eaton is leading off, we'll get to our big guns sooner.

Bottom 5
8-9-1 due up for the Mets. Should be an easy inning.

8:47 - 8:51 - Infield hit for Valentin. Sele bunts him over to second, and Reyes singles to bring in the run. Mets cut the lead to 1.

1 out, man on first, not a good time to lose the lead. Reyes is a burner and might be looking to run. Phillies are keeping Reyes close with snap throws from Barajas and Eaton. Good baseball.

Phillies pitch out and nail Reyes at 2nd. Great call. Good execution. Elmer Fudd did something right. Good job. I wonder if Elmer called that one?

8:54 - LoDuca flies out to center and the threat is stopped.

After 5, the Phillies hold on to a 3-2 lead.

Top 6
8:59 - Triple by Rollins. Larry Anderson is so unexciting on the radio... I saw the triple on the Game Day feature before the delayed audio, and I expected to hear some exciting commentary, but it wasn't... it was uneventful slop. He sure doesn't give me goosebumps.

9:00 - SAC Fly by Victorino. Phils take a 4-2 lead. Just desserts for Victorino getting an RBI there after hitting the ball hard 3 times.

Bottom 6
Eaton enters this inning with 79 pitches. If he can get a quick inning, no reason he doesn't pitch the 7th too. (47 strikes, 34 balls)

Eaton strikes out Beltran. And gets Delgado on a lazy fly. Two quick outs. If anything, this start is very encouraging as to what we can expect from Adam Eaton. He's not overpowering but he seems to be smart and makes good pitches.

A big, 13 pitch 1-2-3 inning for Adam Eaton. He's got 92 pitches, there
s a slight chance we'll see him start the 7th. If Eaton doesn't bat this inning, I'm betting we'll see him go one more.

Top 7
Sele's done a pretty good job of keeping the Phils in check. Let's see how he does with our 4-5-6 hitters.

David Wright is playing a good 3rd base. Though I can't see it down here in Atlanta, I can hear it, and this is at least the 3rd time he's gone to his right, backhanded a ball and made a play. He just robbed Burrell of a hit... though Howard, who walked, did advance to second. Burrell's 7 game hitting streak might be in jeopardy.

9:18 - Madson is warming up.

Aaron Rowand has justified his two stupid at bats with a big 2 out double to score Howard. With first base open, the Mets intentionally walk Barajas to get to the pitcher's spot. Manuel decides to stick with Eaton and allow him to bat with a 5-2 lead. Interesting choice. Considering all the trouble the Phillies have had with their bullpen this is a good decision. Eaton subsequently pops out to end the inning.

Bottom 7
This is where Adam Eaton, with 92 pitches, needs to bear down and keep that bullpen off the field as long as possible. He needs to finish this inning. Madson is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. Gordon has a 9.00 ERA also...

Eaton gets Shawn green to fly out for the second out on his 99th pitch. Eaton then proceeds to walk Valentin on 4 pitches. But he comes back to get pinch hitter Newhan.

That should do it for Eaton.
7 IP, 2 ER, 5 Ks, 3 BBs

A solid outing by Eaton. He's put us in a position to win the game. My fingers are crossed that our bullpen can hold 'em in check.

Top 8
9:32 - Alfonseco is now loosening up in the bullpen. Alfonseco has a 2.70 ERA... whew!

Rollins finally gets to Wright. E-5, Rollins on at first. It would be great to manufacture a run here. I'd expect a bunt from Victorino. He squared on the first pitch.. but not on the second. Maybe he was bunting on his own... How about a hit and run... Victorino's been hitting the ball solidly... and it can't hurt to be agressive. I wonder if Elmer is even thinking right now. Does he know what a hit and run is?

9:36 - Wow... A hit and run. Rollins was running and Victorino fouled it back. Elmer is thinking!!
9:39 - A balk by Feliciano has put Rollins in scoring position. Let's take advantage of this gentlemen!

9:42 - Utley is hit by a Phantom pitch... Utley had a check swing and got back in the box... the home plate umpire awarded Utley first base saying he got hit. Clearly, Utley thought he fouled it because he got back in the box...

Two men on for Ryan Howard, who has homered in 5 straight games vs. the Mets. Nope. Strike out. The slump continues. The Phils are 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position tonight.

Bourn, a defensive replacement for Burrell is having a pretty good at bat. He was agressive early in the count, fouled off a pitch. And then took 3 balls to fight back to 3-2. He's fouled off 2 straight 3-2 pitches. He's putting himself in a good position to succeed. Another fould ball. Outside ball 4... an 11 pitch walk. Great job by Bourn. That at bat impressed me. Good discipline and good protection. He loaded the bases and the Mets go to the pen to bring in pitcher #5.

The Mets bring in RHP Joe Smith. Manuel decides to stay with Helms and the righty vs. righty matchup. He has the lefthanded bat of Dobbs on the bench, who also happens to play 3rd base. If he's not confident with Dobbs' glove, we've still got Nunez. Plus we'd still have Werth and Carlos Ruiz to pat for the pitchers later. Let's use our resources Elmer. Helms pops out.

The Phils go to the bottom of the 8th leading 5-2.

Bottom 8
6 Fingered Alfonseca is on the mound. He makes a statement with a 9 pitch, 1-2-3 inning.

Top 9
Rowand walks to lead off the 9th. The Phillies have walked 11 times tonight and two batters have been hit by pitches. That is 13 extra baserunners. It goes without saying that the Phils have left 13 men on base.

The Phils lead the league with 51 walks thus far. We just can't seem to bring them home.

10:07 - The Phils go down quietly in the 9th, leaving Rowand stranded and increasing men left on base to 14.

Bottom 9
Flash Gordon, is on in relief in the 9th. Gordon is looking for the save. I'm of the school that always believes the first batter is the most important in these situations. Get him out and you've got 'em.

Gordon K's Delgado for out #1. That should do it. The Mets' fans our heading to the exits.

10:14 - Mets have some life. David Wright singles to center. "Hey Sal, c'mon back, Wright just got on." Some of the Metropolitan faithful are once again interested and borrow some seats closer to the exits. But not for long...

Gordon strikes out Alous and the Mets fans once again file out of Schea.

10:16 - Shawn Green grounds to Howard for the final out.

The Phils snap a 3 game losing streak and get a much needed win. A strong outing by Eaton will be the big story. And the Phils will be criticized for leaving 14 guys on base. Also, I'd like to highlight the two stupid at bats by Aaron Rowand. And kudos to the bullpen for doing their job... no wait.. that's what you're supposed to do...nevermind.

Phils win 5-2, with 5 hits and no errors. Player of the Game Adam Eaton.

Here's To You Mr. Robinson

On this date, April 10, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player to sign a major league contract.

Like the good businessman he turned out to be, Robinson signed a one-year contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dodger's general manager Branch Rickey personally recruited Robinson from the Negro Leagues to play with his ballclub. Robinson left baseball early, after 10 years of service to pursue other endeavors. He became the Vice President for Chock Full o' Nuts and then tried his hand in politics.

On April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson's entry into Major League Baseball, Commissioner Bud Selig announced that Robinson's #42 would be retired throughout baseball and would never again be issued to on-field personnel. (players currently wearing the number were grandfathered in and allowed to wear the number until retirement)

This year, to mark Robinson's 60th Anniversary, Major League Baseball will honor Robinson once again by allowing players to wear his retired #42 jersey. The idea apparently came as a result of a phone call that Reds' right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. made to baseball commissioner Bud Selig, requesting permission to wear it on the anniversary.

Each of the 15 games throughout Major League Baseball on April 15th will feature festivities to honor Mr. Robinson. The national celebration of Jackie Robinson Day will take place at Dodger Stadium with many VIPs, an on-field ceremony before the game Among those participating in the festivities will be Rachel Robinson, Jackie's wife and founder of The Jackie Robinson Foundation; their daughter, author Sharon Robinson; several of Jackie's former teammates; baseball executives and civic and industry leaders; Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars; and winners of the Breaking Barriers Essay Contest. (info. courtesy of http://www.mlb.com/)

In his rookie season of 1947, Robinson won Rookie of the Year. He as the league's Most Valuable Player in 1949, and led the Dodgers to 6 pennants in his 10 seasons. For more information visit the Baseball Almanac for all of Jackie Robinson's Career Stats.

More than a great ball player, Robinson personifies courage, determination and perseverance. He, like so many black ball players after him had to endure a lot of hardship to play the game they loved. I applaud Jackie Robinson not only for his athletic prowess, but for his courage to be the first to step foot on a major league ball field. He could have said no, and left the name calling and death threats to someone else. But he didn't.

Like Robinson, I've all the respect in the world for Hank Aaron as well. He too received death threats and threats to his family if he dared to break the great Babe Ruth's home run record. Well, he dared. And he succeeded.

American history is perseverance. American history is courage. American history is baseball. American history is Jackie Robinson.


PS:

Here is a PDF link to the 7th-12th Grade Winning Essay

For historians, researchers, baseball fans and curious minds, check out ABNER, the National Baseball Hall of Fame Online Library Catalog...

Jimmy Rollins Makes Us Smile

The Phillies have not been doing much to make us happy so far. But at least J-Roll is doing okay. He's got 3 homers, 7 runs, 6 RBIs and a big mouth. That mouth haunted him today in New York when he made a key error in the 8th. The Mets fans let him have it.. Rollins' miscue led to a 7 run 8th inning by the Mets allowing them to cruise to an 11-5 victory.

Some reasons the Phillies are 1-6;
As a team, the Phillies are hitting .188 (13-for-69) with runners in scoring position.

And today was the first day where both Utley and Howard had an extra base hit in the same game. We can't afford to have that happen once every 7 games.

For now, let's enjoy Jimmy's inside the parker. Notice how he's sprinting out of the box, he doesn't score otherwise.

What has 5 Heads, 10 Arms and a 5.89 ERA?

No it is not Alfonseca... though he does have 11 fingers, see the picture on the right...

Here are some quick calculations after Sunday's Loss...

Phillies' Starters Statistics:

Record: 1-3
K/BB Ratio: 2.58 to 1 (31 Ks, 12 walks)
Innings Pitched: 35.1
Earned Runs: 23
ERA: 5.89
8 Homeruns allowed... 1 every 4.4 innings.

They are averaging about 5.85 innings per outing with a K/BB ratio of 2.6 to 1. So what is the problem?

1 and 3 with a 5.89 ERA. Something is wrong here. This was supposed to be one of the deepest rotations in the league...

To date Cole Hamels and Jaime Moyer have done their job. Maybe we need more lefties... We need Garcia and Lieber to come back... fast.

Patience... I will show some patience. But hurry up and get good guys.. the Mets are pulling away.

What is the reason for the Phillies Slow Start?

Wouldn't it be nice to have Larry Bowa right now? Is this not a time when some of the Phillies need a kick in the pants or a good chewing out? Is our starting pitching not what we thought? Are our relievers to blame? Is it Utley and Howard?

What do you think is the biggest reason for the Phillies' 1-4 start?

You decide... Please cast your vote on the right side.