No Offense, No Win

Okay, okay, so we scored 5 runs. Big deal. Four of those runs came from the NL MVP Jimmy Rollins.

Yesterday's problem was the top 4... and I give them all the credit in the world for stepping up today.

Rollins was 2 for 5, with a run and 4 RBIs.
Utley got 2 late inning hits, though I would trade both for a more timely one.
And Howard had 2 hits including a homerun, though he did leave 3 men on base.
Finally, Victorino came through in a PH role and produced a run with a single and a SB/E-2. He was eventually knocked in by a Rollins ground out.

So the "superstars" kind of answered the call today. But the offense stopped there.

Nobody Hits, woohoo!

If you combine the totals from the rest of the team you'll see the numbers are pathetic. Excluding the aforementioned Rollins, Utley, Howard and Victorino, the team was 2 for 20. Burrell, Helms, Werth and Iguchi all managed walks, but that was it.

I'm not saying the offense is the only thing to blame for this loss. Our bullpen is exposed, though they've been exposed all year. But I am saying that our offense is not clicking on all cylinders which can lead to a laugher like this one.

The decision to pull Kendrick in the 4th with the bases loaded is easy to criticize because Lohse was beat deep by Matsui who is not a homerun hitter. Had he gotten him out, it would be a different ball game. Now I'm not a genius, but Matsui, being a contact hitter enjoys balls low and probably can't catch up to the high fastballs, otherwise he'd have more homers. So instead of pitching him up, Lohse gives him a low strike to hit. I'm just sayin'...

And then there's Mesa. Enough said... the ball game was over when Mesa came in and starting walking guys and giving up doubles, that's never a good sign.

We've a tough road ahead having to pull off 3 in a row... It's not impossible, but it sure is daunting.

I'll leave you wall with a song. Sung to the tune Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry", hopefully this will bring back some recollection of what we used to have and bring us some good karma from this regular season.

"No, Offense, No Win"

Said - said - said: I remember when we used to score
At Citizen's Bank Park in Philly,
Ob - observing the hot sticks
As they would mesh with the good defense we'd play.
Good games we won, oh, good games we've lost
Along the way.
In this great game, you cant forget your bats;
So dry your tears, I say.

No, offense, no win;
No, offense, no win.
Oh, little Phils fan, don't shed no tears:
No, offense, no win.

PS - I like our chances with Jaime Moyer. It takes a crafty, veteran with off-speed stuff to slow down hot bats. We'll just need to sacrifice a chicken to get our going.

Phils Superstars are Superduds in Game 1

When the top 4 players in your lineup go a combined 0 for 15 with 9 strikeouts, you're not going to win many games.

The bottom line is, that the triumvirate of Rollins, Utley and Howard, who make up arguably the best infield in the league, did not perform. We'll let Victorino off the hook for now, because he has been out for some time, and let's face it...he's not on the same level as the other three.

There is no doubt that Rollins, Utley and Howard were the 3 biggest reasons we made the playoffs in the first place, but when you get there they have to perform. I'm not mad at them, I'm just analyzing the game and their failure this afternoon is the biggest reason for the loss.

Consider these numbers:

Rollins: 0 for 3, 1K

Victorino: 0 for 4, 1K

Utley: 0 for 4, 4Ks (ouch!)

Howard: 0 for 4, 3Ks

Total: 0 for 15, 9 Ks

If you have any other reason for losing that game... you're wrong!

On the pitching side, thanks to his long sleeve shirt, Hamels had one bad inning and then was lights out, retiring 15 of the last 16 batters he faced. He pitched well enough to win. Too often it seems like Hamels falters for an inning early in the game and then settles down, only to have that early inning haunt him. Maybe he doesn't warm-up enough in the pen before the game. Maybe he needs some of the pressure of pitching perfectly taken off his shoulder. I don't know. He pitches well enough in all the other innings to warrant his praise. He's pretty damn good.

It's not a good thing when you lose a game at home in a shortened series. Now we have to win 3 out of 4... for some reason, even with the Phillies late season push, it seems daunting. It will seem a lot easier if we can get the first one under our belt. It won't be as hard as Uncle Charlie trying to get all his fat under his belt...

Tomorrow's match up brings together two rookies. Kyle Kendrick vs. Franklin Morales. Of the 2 Kendrick has a lot more experience. Morales has only pitched in 8 games this year for a combined 39.1 innings of major league experience. Another stat in our favor is that Kendrick is 7-1 at home with a 3.76 ERA. It will be a contest of who will blink first, my guess is Morales. Kendrick is consistently credited with being calm and even-keeled regardless of the situation, and after a few first inning playoff jitters, I've no reason to believe that tomorrow will be any different. We'll jump on Morales early, wake up our superstars and win one handily.

Phils Sweep the Mets

When something is described on the radio as being the most exciting game in Citizen's Bank Park history, then it must have been good.

If you're like me and you work for a living, chances are you didn't catch any of this game. And you were probably just as pleased as I was commuting home to learn that the Fightin' Phils continued their fight and swept the Mets to come within 2 games of the division lead.

Once again Pat Burrell has come up big. I think he just has the confidence to do whatever he wants. This is the Pat Burrell that warranted the $13 million/year. And what can you say about Chase Utley except, MVP.

To see all the highlights you missed while working for a living, click this link.

Time to Fry the Fish!

Did the White Sox Do Us a Favor?: Welcome "Gooch"

I'm impressed in the quick turnaround in finding a replacement for the injured Chase Utley. I'm impressed that it is a legitimate major league starter and not a glorified minor leaguer. We have, Tadahito Iguchi, who is suitable. Obviously, you can't replace Chase Utley. Unless ofcourse, we get Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan or Jeff Kent in his prime.

But I can't help but think that the Whitesox were doing us a favor.

The story goes that the Sox were looking to give a young rook more playing time and looking to dump salary. But I don't buy it. I really think the Sox felt a little guilty about the Freddy Garcia deal. They knowingly pulled a fast one on us in dealing a less-than-perfect Garcia, not to mention the lopsided deal we gave them in the Thome deal when we needed to make room for Howard. Granted we did get Aaron Rowan in the deal, but lets face it... Thome for a bunch of guys was like trading Charles Barkley for Jeff Hornacek, some scrubs and guy named West.

The bottom line is the Phillies proved that they don't want to die. They replaced Utley with someone who could help us. We're still going to give it a shot. That says something. Though I have a feeling this is the biggest deal we'll see as the deadline approaches.

UTLEY UPDATE - The Utley injury doesn't seem as gruesome as it once did. What was once 6-8 weeks has now turned into a possilbe 4 week stint. All the doctors on the radio are saying that a bone takes about 3 weeks to heal. From there, you have to take into account grip strenth, pain tolerance, and how well the bone has healed. Utley had surgery yesterday. Given his good health and his high tolerance for pain, he might just pull a Terrell Owens and be ready weeks before the Average Joe. I think we all know Utley is not the Average Joe. So send your get well cards to the Philliies c/o Chase Utley, and hope that Kendrick and Durbin are man enough to step up and perform.

PS - Last year Iguchi hit .281 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs, in 138 games. They are not Utley numbers, but serviceable nonetheless.

Phillies Lose Utley; Playoff Hopes are Dim

Is it just coincidence that a day after the virtual ending of the Phillies season, marked by the loss of Chase Utley to a broken hand, starts the beginning of the Eagles' season?

We can now take our focus away from the guys in red and concentrate on our men in green. Sure we can still check the box score, or watch Comcast sports night to see how far Howard's latest bomb went, or even tune in for the entire game when "The Man" Cole Hamels is pitching... but we won't have to allocate 100% of our passion on the Phils anymore. Their season is done. They've lost their most consistent player in Chase Utley who was putting up MVP type of numbers.

We can now turn our attention the Eagles training camp which starts tomorrow. Tune into my Eagles Blog, to see all of my thoughts on the Birds.

One thing that is going to upset me about Chase Utley's injury... is not the fact that I'm thinking about what could have been. Or not that Chase could have set a record for RBI's as a second basemen, or was on pace for an amazing 60 doubles. But what will upset me the most is now, when the Phillies don't make the playoffs, the Phillies management will use the Chase Utley injury as an excuse. Another excuse as to why the team failed and that our team was good enough. But let's face it. As well as we've been playing lately, and as much as we know in recent years that this is a second half team, we realists can understand the Phillies are a tease and were not going to make the playoffs.

This will now serve as another excuse to leave Charlie Manuel around. Another excuse for Dave Montgomery to use when he's asked about not spending money. And another excuse that Pat Gillick will use about not having the tools to work with.

PS - I don't know what you've heard... and I didn't see the game. But I don't think the kid Hannan was intentionally trying to hit Utley or Howard. He had Utley down 0-2, and was still in a winnable ball game making his major league debut. Howard was hit on the first pitch. But immediately after hitting Utley, why would you then throw at Howard? I can't imagine Ryan Howard showboating after a homerun, or doing anything that would warrant a bean ball. And I can't blame the Nats manager for getting tossed for defending his pitcher. Good work.

Congratulations to our Phillies' All-Stars!

The 2007 season was one that started with a lot of optimism. Not since the signing of Jim Thome has the city been so excited about the boys in red and white. And for good reason.

The end of the 2006 season brought many positives to the franchise. The Bobby Abreu trade seemed to bring new life to the Phillies as they nearly played their way into a playoff spot.

The offensive prowess of the middle infielders (Utley and Jimmy Rollins), and the amazing play of the National League MVP Ryan Howard was enough to give you goosebumps... but wait... there's more.

The off season brought in 17 game winner Freddy Garcia... we resigned veteran Jaime Moyer who helped lead us in August and September. The Phils added proven starter Adam Eaton and seem to have a logjam in the starting rotation... so much that many were calling to trade some of the excess.

Cole Hamels' rookie performance was good enough to impress even the most fair weather of all Phillies fans.

We were "the team to beat" in the National League... or so Jimmy Rollins would have us believe.

Unfortunately, things happen. Injuries happen. Slumps happen. Bad trades happen. Barajas happens. And when things happen, it throws plans out of whack... this is the story of the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies...

But... let's look at the bright side. We have 3 All-Stars. Congratulations to Chase Utley, Aaron Rowand and Cole Hamels. With a nod to Jimmy Rollins, you all deserve to be there. I have no doubt that Utley, Howard and Hamels, will not be making All-Star break vacation plans for years to come. And Jimmy will make his appearances now and then....we're privileged to have all for of these guys on our side...

3 All-Stars is a good showing.... 4 would have been nice... but 3 is great.

Remember the days when the Phillies would have the obligatory, All-Star players? You know, because every team must be represented? That is when we had something to complain about.... when Kevin Gross and his efus pitch was our All-Star.

To make us feel a little better about our recent slide... let's remember some of those obligatory All-Stars... at least from my generation.... because I have no idea who Ken Raffensberger is!

1996 - Ricky Botallico

1990 - Lenny Dykstra

2003 - Randy Wolf

1997 - 1998 - and although well deserving.. Schilling was our lone representative.

1991 - John Kruk

2000 - Mike Lieberthal

Let's be thankful that we have a handful of perennial all-stars on our team and hope that the front office will surround this core with solid role players to do something with....

Congratulations to Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and Aaron Rowand.

The Phillies' Fab Four

When you think of the Philadelphia Phillies, the first names that pop into your head are probably Howard, Utley and Rollins. Add to that, the best pitcher in the National League Cole Hamels.. and you've got yourself a pretty good core of great young players.

Today, The Fab Four forged forward flattening San Francisco, 5-2.

Hamels contributed greatly with a 5 hit, complete game posting his NL leading 8th victory. Rollins respectfully scored a run and recorded an RBI. Utley scored twice, and Howard hit in the clutch driving in 2.

Previously I mentioned that we would be saying the words Howard and Hamels an awful lot in the coming years. Today was no exception. Howard and Hamels helped hand homerun boy and his hackless teammates a big L.

But, Howard and Hamels.... need some help.

Tom Gordon Ruined My Blog!

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley came up big last night. Rollins' NL leading 9th homerun tied the game in the 8th.

Two batters later.... Utley connects on a solo shot extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Meanwhile, Rowand homored earlier in the game to record a hit in a league leading 15th straight game.

It appears to be turning into one of those stretches where there is a new hero every night.

On another note, Wes Helms, who is yet to go yard in pinstripes had an impressive 14 pitch at-bat in the 7th inning. It was a signal that the Phillies were not going to go down lightly. Here is the pitch sequence.

1. Foul
2. ball in the dirt
3. called strike high in the zone
4. foul
5. foul
6. foul
7. foul
8. foul
9. ball inside
10. ball high and inside
11. foul
12. foul
13. foul
14. in play, SINGLE to left field

An impressive sequence of pitches...

Wait.... Tom Gordon just ruined my blog entry... he just allowed the tying run to score on a double to left... Gordon now has 3 blown saves in 6 opportunities. Not good. I have a 7 AM flight tomorrow and I'd like to get some sleep... but now I have to stay up and will this team to win...

Bourn is leading off the 9th. He was used as a pinch runner for Burrell.

Bourn has walked, and now our hottest hitter, Aaron Rowand is at the plate. Let's sit back and see how Manuel plays small ball. Do you bunt a hot hitter? I would....

Base hit, Aaron Rowand!!! His 4th hit of the night puts the winning run at 2nd. NOW!!! Would be a good time to bunt.

Helms has a conference with Steve Smith, 3rd base coach. I'd bunt them over in this situation. Helms shows bunt and takes a ball.

Helms bunts the second pitch and the pitcher had no play. Bases loaded, nobody out. Carlos Ruiz, who has hit well this season, simply needs to lift it to the outfield.

Infield Single for Carlos Ruiz!!! Put this one in the win column for the Fightin' Phils!!!

Tom Gordon gets an undeserved win. He's got to go. We need to find relief. Good night.

You are the Weakest Link... Goodbye!

It appears as if our reigning National League MVP is our weakest player. Our $900,000 baby is not holding up his end of the bargain. The new face of Major League Baseball is getting a lot of time to watch his friends run around the bases...

To date, Ryan Howard is the weakest of our eight everyday position player starters. His .213 average is nearly 70 points lower than our next worst starter.

Howard has to uncross his bats, to take off the hex... but I'm sure he knows that.

All in all, that's pretty impressive.

Granted, Chase Utley's 5 for 5 game tonight raised his average nearly 50 points, but it is still encouraging to look at our 7 starters without an MVP trophy and smile at their current averages.

Rollins - .295

Victorino - .282

Utley - .296

Burrell - .344

Helms - .290

Rowand - .365

Ruiz - .296

That kind of production is going to score some runs. It doesn't matter if we're hitting singles, doubles or homeruns, this offense is going to score runs.

This offense has finally woken up and is no longer relying on Jimmy Rollins to provide the pop. Burrell is still hitting. Rowand has a 13 game hitting streak. Utley has finally woken up, and Helms, Victorino and Ruiz are doing there jobs very well.

Now if we can just wake up our sleeping giant, Ryan Howard, we'll be in good shape and we'll be tough to beat. At this point though Ryan Howard is the least of our worries. He seems to be hitting a homerun now and then (he hit his 3rd tonight), he's still getting on base via the walk and is still finding ways to drive in runs... he's got 12 to date.

On another note....

Another strong outing by a Phillies starter. Lieber pitched well tonight. 6 innings (that's half a dozen, Jon), 2ER, 5Ks, 0 BBs and a victory.

Tomorrow night is Cole Hamels. This guy is a stud. Hamels is coming off a 15K performance and has pitched solid in every outing. His opponent, Shawn Hill has not let up more than 2 earned runs in any of his 4 previous starts. It should be a great game tomorrow. Two young arms. I'm looking forward to a pitcher's duel.

Skeeter at Driven to Center believes we'll continue our winning ways and end April at 13-12... it is definitely doable.

That's More Like it...

I think we can all release a sigh of relief. The Phillies know how to win. They've proven they can win two in a row. In fact, in their last 10 games the Phillies are starting to be respectable...

5-5 in their last 10... 3-1 in their last 4.... and 2-0 in their last two... they've finally won 2 in a row.

Tucked within the nuances of these latest games, the Phillies have begun to show signs of life...

Cole Hamels has proven that he's a stud... 15 Ks is impressive...at any time. (He leads the Majors in Strikeouts)

Garcia got one of those things we've been waiting for him to get... a win.

Ryan Howard is finally starting to produce... he had 3 RBIs today. And Utley appears to have found his stroke, as his average is slowly rising... and he has quietly produced 10 doubles.

We're not that bad after all...

Pitchers and Catchers Report!

On this grand day when 3 very special words mean so much... there are still some where 4 words mean even more than those 3.

Pitchers and Catchers Report!

See the full report on the Phillies Web site.

But wait there's more... Utley, Burrell and Rowand have all reported as well. How about that? They're eager to start the season... they're eager to play. Just as we're eager to see them play.

Aaron Rowand, Chase Utley, Scott Mathieson, Jamie Moyer, Pat Burrell, Ryan Madson and Geoff Geary, filed in over the past week. Early!

Chase, who is fresh off signing a well deserved $75 million dollar contract and is a newly wed, says that "It's important to start early, You can get the soreness out that much quicker."

It will be our first time to see Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton, Rod Barajas and Antonio Alfonseca. It's reason enough to pick up the Inquirer or The Patriot News and read about the Phils with your morning coffee.

Ladies and Gentlemen...The Baseball Season is upon us...

Philly's #1 Draft Picks

Freddie Mitchell interviews Chase Utley.

There are some funny moments in the video. The VH1 Pop-video like bubbles are pretty informative and entertaining.


For more on Freddie Mitchell visit my EaglesBlog.

Chronology of my Phavorite Phillies

Growing up as a kid in suburban Philadelphia I longed for Sunday afternoons when I could watch my favorite professional sports team on TV.

In those days, the Phillies were pretty bad. It was the lean years of the mid-1980s. Phillies stars included Mike Schmidt, Juan Samuel, Von Hayes, Don Carmen, Shane Rawley, Steve Bedrosian, Lance Parrish, Greg Gross, Luis Aquayo and of course Lefty Carlton. I don't remember actually having a favorite Philly at that time, but I'm sure I liked Mike Schmidt because I knew he was pretty good.

As I grew older and a little more savvy about the game, I suddenly realized that our Phillies teams weren't that good. More names during this era in my life that come to mind are Ron Jones, Rick Schu, Ricky Jordan, Tommy Herr, Pat Combs, the infamous Joe Cowley, Kevin Gross, Steve Jeltz, Chris James and so on... It was about this time, in middle school when I started to realize that the Phillies were destined to be bad every year. I didn't know the business of baseball and just took the heartbreak lightly every year, because it was always assumed that the Phillies would not compete. And as a fan, it was pretty tough.

Then 1993 came. There is nothing better to a 10th grade kid then to see his beloved hometown boys of summer finally put together a squad. It goes without saying that the makeup of that club, combined with the passion of a 15/16 year old mind, makes for my favorite Phillies team and favorite Phillies player of all time. No matter what, there will never be another team that will bring me more joy than the motley crew of the '93 Season.

The season was unexpected, and greatly appreciated. It ended with heartbreak, but hey, we're Philadelphia, and we're going on 24 years of heartbreak. From this team was born my favorite Philly of all time.... Lenny Dykstra.

A true Philly type of player, his clutch hits, and all-out play will never be topped by anyone in my book. So my first official favorite player was "The Dude".

Of course, the success of the '93 team didn't carry over to the strike year or any year after that. Our boys of '93 got old, and started to fall by the wayside. But there was some hope on the horizon. We still had Curt Schilling, who I didn't learn to truly appreciate until college, circa 1996, and Scott Rolen. These two who legitimate stars on teams Philled with Phil-ins like Ron Gant and Gregg Jefferies. Scott Rolen emerged as the stand out, hustler who plays the game like it should be played. And to this day he still does. So during Rolen's tenure, he was my favorite player.

I recall the resigning of Mickey Morandini for one year after his stint with the Expos being an excellent move. He filled in at 2nd base for the year 2000 because Marlon Anderson wasn't the answer. I appreciated that, and loved the Mick for a year too.

By this time I was out of college, working in West Chester and living in Warminster. I had the Sunday season ticket package and enjoyed my Sunday outings. First with my friend Vince for a few years at the vet, and then with my sister Kristy at Citizen's bank park. I eventually passed on the tickets, for other obligations. My sister still has them. During these years, Terry Francona was at the helm and we'd often have to put up with Terry's resting of Rolen on Sundays. No matter, another of our favorites Tomas Perez would fill in... but he wasn't a true favorite, but we loved watching him in the dugout and on the field because you knew he loved playing baseball. Also, I did get to witness Kevin Millwood's no hitter, and though he was never on my radar of likable Phillies, I did enjoy that moment. It was electric.

I'm a true student of the game, I've played baseball at the college level and currently coach at the high school level, so I thoroughly enjoy guys who play the game with great fundamentals. This era of being at the game every Sunday led me to truly appreciate that play of Placido Polanco. While on standing on second base as a runner, Placido was the only player I saw who would check to see where the outfielders were, to get a better jump on the ball when trying to score on a single. He played solid defense. He would always hustle to first, and make a hard turn, and he would rarely strike out. He does not have a weakness. For many years Placido was my favorite Phillie and for a while was the only reason to watch the game. Jimmy was fun to watch too, but Placido is more my type of player. As we know Placido was

And then came Utley. Win or lose, you know that Chase Utley is going to give it his all. We always knew he could hit, but his work ethic has truly turned him into a very well rounded player. He'll be my favorite for years to come. Should Aaron Rowand stick around and keep playing the way he does, he could definitely be in the 1(A) slot.

Below is a list of my favorites in chronological order.

• Mike Schmidt
• Lenny Dykstra
• Scott Rolen (Curt Schilling, Honorable Mention)
• Placido Polanco
• Chase Utley
  
  

Phillies Secure Utley

The Phillies have just given Chase Utley a well deserved raise. His deal is reportedly worth $85 million over 7 years. In a few years, this will be a bargain. Chase is one of, if not the best 2nd baseman in the league.

The trade-off for Utley is that he sacrifices some earning potential for
the security against injuries or a decline in production. Had he maintained his
production level over the next three years, he likely would've earned more than
this deal's annual value, but it also could have gone the other way. He'll be 35
at the end of this contract. (from Phillies.com)

I couldn't have said it better myself. Signing guys to long term contracts is good for situations like this and a situation like Donovan McNabb, where if they continue their pace are a bargain. It backfires on guys like Pat Burrell.

I can't think of a player who personifies the philly spirit more than Chase. The Phillies need more guys like Utley and Aaron Rowand. Guys that are going to get dirty and get the fans behind them. A new era of Phillies baseball is upon us... the Pat Gillick era.

I for one and glad to have Utley in a Phils uniform for years to come. Kudos to Gillick for getting the job done. Congratulations to Utley!

PS -- 24 days until pitchers and catchers report.