Phillies Halloween

Revisiting the WFC of 2008

2 years ago Phillies fans woke up on October 30th and were World Champions. I feel with much of that team now gone, it's appropriate to look back on the 25-man squad and their contributions.

The 25 Contributors (Post from 2 years ago on WSBGMs)

Gone but not forgotten: Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, JC Romero, Scott Eyre, Clay Condrey, JA Happ, Pat Burrell, Pedro Feliz, Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, Eric Bruntlett, Geoff Jenkins, Chris Coste, and So Taguchi. That's over half of the 2008 World Series champions absent from the roster.

Whole Lotta Phillies News

Free Agents:
Jamie "Grand Pappy" Moyer and Greg "Sideburns" Dobbs have joined JC Romero in search of a new employer. Each were tremendous contributors to the WFC team of 2008, but have been in a decline ever since.

Triple-A fallback catcher Paul Hoover has been removed from the 40-man roster, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him brought back again on a minor league deal.

Surgery:
Placido Polanco is set to go under the knife today in hopes of finally fixing his ailing right elbow. Thanks a lot Tim Hudson...dick. Polly is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for spring training.

Awards:
Roy Halladay still awaits the real trophy- NL Cy Young Award, but for now he'll settle for being voted MLB's Clutch Performer of the Year and being tabbed as the Players Choice for NL Outstanding Pitcher.


Platoon:
With the imminent departure of Jayson Werth creating an outfield void, Amaro has started cobbling together a plan of attack. Domonic Brown is the likely heir apparent to the throne, but the rookie might need a righthanded batting platoon partner. This player could come internally (Ben Francisco or John Mayberry) or from outside the organization. In 4 seasons The Ben Francisco Treat has hit lefties decently to the tune of .267/.806. Mayberry has limited MLB exposure against southpaws (.279/.923 in 43 ab), but has hit lefties well throughout the minors. When faced with the external options of Andruw Jones, Matt Diaz, Austin Kearns, Jeff Francoeur, and some others I'd rather just give the athleticism of Mayberry a chance and use Francisco at all 3 outfield positions for spot starts and save the money and use it on the bullpen.

Name That Phillie- Old Head Edition

This old-timer had a helluva rookie season, was a vital part of the Phillies 70's success, and in one season grounded into a buttload of double plays. Go ahead, name that Phillie...

Andy Martino Excellence In Journalism Award

I know I'm a day or so late on this, but I couldn't resist commenting and I definitely couldn't resist giving out another A-Mart Award.

The notoriously uninteresting Marcus Hayes did a live chat a few days ago and said some things that went well beyond his typical combination of baseless, unenlightened opinions and straight up idiocy. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of that too. He said Chase Utley is a bad fielder. He said prospects are worthless unless they are at least in AA. And then there was this gem.



Wow. .250+glove > .300/30/100. Under this theory, Marcus Hayes the baseball general manager would trade Derek Jeter in his prime for Pokey Reese, or Robinson Cano for Yuniesky Betencourt. The comment basically mocks itself so I won't spend much time because like I said, he took his comments past common stupidity and into the realm of...wait for it... race-baiting lunacy. Yeah!



Let me summarize Marcus' sentiments for you:
- Chase Utley is treated better than Rollins/Howard by the fans because he is white.
- If you criticize Rollins/Howard and not Utley you are likely a member of the KKK.
- Marcus Hayes can't be a racist because he is white and black.

Now my comments on each of these points.
- I completely disagree with this assertion. Of the three players mentioned above, Jimmy Rollins has taken the least amount of criticism since the NLCS. Mainly because less is expected of him. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, I guess. The argument that race plays a role is very possible, especially when talking about individuals. But difficult to prove, and hard to believe, that a very large collection of people is racist. Not only is it hard to prove that a large group is collectively racist, is a dangerous position to take. At least for some people. Remember this quote

"I don't think Mcnabb's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

This quote from Rush Limbaugh was deemed so "racist" that he was fired from ESPN. Any difference between that and what Hayes said, other than Limbaugh didn't call anyone a member of the KKK? Speaking of that...

- This is the point that an unnecessary race argument turned into vile, race-baiting by Marcus Hayes. Hayes took the opportunity to take the commenter's use of the term "plays hard" into accusing him of calling Rollins/Howard "lazy," which we know is used by actual racist as a negative stereotype for African Americans. The problem is, the perception of Utley around all of baseball is that he's the consummate hustler. Gives 110%, etc. etc. And Rollins was once benched for not running out a batted ball and for showing up late to a game, at which time many fans/media questioned his desire/hustle/leadership. "Playing hard" might not have been the best attribute to argue this case but the idea is rooted in real events and opinion, not just blunt racism as Marcus Hayes implies. He's been around. He knows this. But instead of acknowledging the facts, he took the cowardly despicable route of needlessly insulting the commenter. Also, do you know who's been criticized the most on the team in the past for being "lazy?" Cole Hamels, for sure. He took a beating for a year because of his perceived work ethic and he's pretty darn white.

- Now it gets stupid. I won't spend much time on this cause this isn't a blog that studies social trends or race relations, but to suggest that one's race precludes or excludes one from being a racist is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard/seen written. Not only is the notion stupid, but it's sad to see Hayes use this argument to defend his own bigotry.

My impressions of Marcus Hayes after this chat are that he knows very little about baseball, very little about Phillies fans, and very little about how to conduct oneself in a legitimate online public forum. His needless race-baiting was disappointing and his comments overall were a negative representation of both him and the Daily News. He's very much deserving of an Andy Martino Award for the failures of "mainstream" journalism.

Guess I Won't Be Needing This...

Oh, what could have been.

JC is Free Again

Remember the Free JC movement? Well, the Phillies are setting JC Romero free for real this time, as in free agency. The strikezone impaired lefty reliever had his $4.5M option declined yesterday and will receive a $250K payout instead. I recall WSBGMs not caring when Romero was signed to his 3 year $12M deal, and we remain indifferent.

The Phillies already have Romero's replacement in the form of Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo, like Romero, is small in stature for a pitcher, is lefthanded, is wild, and hails from somewhere of Spanish-speaking origin. Freakin' clone right?!

Anyway, JC's time here was both good and bad. Over the 4 years he posted a 6-6 record in 213 games spanning 148.2 innings with 2.60 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 105:123 BB:K ratio.

Personally, I'll never forget his run-in with a Flordia Marlins fan (yeah, I had to check that too, they actually exist). He also won WSBGMs fan vote for Phillie to be tattooed in order to replace the departed Brett Myers.

What's Next For WSBGMs

What a kick in the balls that NLCS was...

Just wanted to drop a short note here to all the loyal readers of our little blog to let both of you know what to expect this offseason.

The daily grind of blogging has taken it's toll on Carson and I. Combine that with the heartbreaking playoff loss and we're more than due for a short respite. And to be honest, there is basically zero Phillies news to report right now so it's a perfect time. So, don't expect much out of here for the next few days, but starting next week:

1) A daily (when I have time...) review/preview at each position, examining stats, salaries, options, expectations, etc. That will take us through the worst blogging month of the season.

2) December will focus on "Hot Stove" articles. We'll dish on the Winter meetings, free agent signings and trade rumors both real and absurdly false, because we can't/won't discriminate between the two.

3) Random stuff like off-topic posts (most likely about non-Phillies baseball, but you never know), posts about Sabermetrics and how I hate BABIP interpretation, song parodies, Cliff Lee trade analysis, Brett Favre dong shots, etc.

Basically, we'll hibernating for a week and we'll see you when we wake up.

Thanks for reading and just remember, pitchers and catchers report in a little over 3 months.

Death of a Season

Saturday Stuff

Never known for great timing, the GMs are heading out of town this weekend. No internet access for either of us and while I can’t speak for Carson, my getaway includes only three television stations, none of which happen to be FOX. So, I will be getting my sports news Saturday night the old fashioned way, via the 11:00 local news sports report. I feel like wearing British Knights sneakers and a Hypercolor shirt to complete the nostalgia. Here’s hoping for a Game 7 and a few thing to chew on before Game 6.

Can we stop the “Chase Utley is the greatest defensive second baseman in the league and deserves multiple Gold Gloves” bullshit for awhile? His defense this post season has been abysmal. His defense last post season was abysmal. He made 11 errors in only 115 games this season. Utley always has made a bunch of errors but the Sabermetricians don’t care about errors as long as his UZR is high. And his UZR is real good. So good in fact that Fangraphs.com had Utley has the best defensive player at any position over the last three years. It’s ludicrous.

Speaking of Utley, he’s checking in offensively too – to the tune of a .158 average and no extra base hits. Given Utley’s consistent career performance, I don’t think I’m going out on limb to believe his thumb injury is still troublesome.

So far the Phillies are hitting .209 this series. They hit .215 last series. As a comparison, Abraham Nunez is a career .242 hitter. He also hit .346 in 28 playoff at-bats. This team is individually and collectively worse than No-Hit Nuni.

Ryan Howard is hitting .285 this post season and yet he’s horrible. Zero RBIs. Fourteen Ks in 28 at-bats. Combine this post season with last year’s World Series and Howard has struck out 27 times in his last 51 playoff at-bats. Did I mention the zero RBIs?

Jayson Werth is now the Phillies leader in playoff home runs after hitting his 13th in Game 5. Chase Utley has 10 and should catch and pass Werth in the next few years since Werth will be playing elsewhere and the Phils WILL return to the post season next year.

Roy Oswalt has never lost a game at Citizens Bank Park.

If the Phils win the game tonight, start planning for a World Series because there is no way they would lose Game 7.

Finally, here is a picture that I took from thefightins.com of Roy Halladay staring at Pat the Bat. I though Roy looked pretty gangasta so I made him look a little more gangsta. I guess I would title this, "Roy Will Cut(ter) You." Very clever of me.


Go Phils.

American Badass

6 innings of 2-run ball with 6 hits and 2 walks allowed- not really what we've become accustomed to from Roy Halladay. His fastball dipped below 90 mph and his curveball wasn't crisp. He must be tired having pitched all those innings this season and this mediocre performance by his standards is a direct result of that. Not quite. Doc had a pulled right groin, the leg he uses to push off of. That's why he didn't run out his bunt (foul or fair), and that's why his control was inconsistent and his pitches lacking life. This American Badass gutted out 6 innings on a pulled groin. Lesser men would have packed it in for the playoffs. Respect the beast that is Roy Halladay.

NLCS Game 5

Halladay better be dealing and the bitches from San Francisco better fold or long winter of discontent could start tonight.

My Perspective of Game 4

Why I'm Worried...

1. The Offense-
Phillies offense is facing a very good pitching staff, one of the best in baseball, and after a season of inconsistency and record-setting swoons/slumps the big ball of bad has returned to rear its ugly head again in the playoffs. Through 6 games the Phils are batting .203/.299/.292 and averaging only 3.7 runs per game. All of their power has been zapped, but this comes as no surprise as everyone aside from Werth and Chooch saw a sharp decline in their slugging percentages this season. They have more strikeouts this postseason (43) than hits (39). Putrid.

2. Chase Utley's Defense-
Utley had a 2 error game in the NLDS and yesterday botched a play originally scored an error then later changed to a hit, but he grossly misplayed the ball. He also failed to knockdown Aubrey Huff's seeing-eye single that would have prevented a run from scoring. Giving runs away when the offense isn't scoring many runs to begin with is a major no-no. Disappointing.

3. Joe Blanton-
G.I. Joe is not a bad pitcher, in fact he had a strong 2nd half of the season (6-1 with a 3.48 ERA). However, he last saw real game action during a poor 1 inning 2 run relief appearance in the final game of the season the whole way back on October 3rd. It has been nearly 3 weeks since his last start (September 29th). Rusty?

4. Cody Ross-
Seems nearly every postseason some player of regular or little known status becomes a superstar on baseball's biggest stage (ie- David Eckstein, Sid Bream, rookies Francisco Rodriguez and Andruw Jones, Francisco Cabrera, Steve Yeager, Pat Borders, Scott Brosius, Larry Sherry, and Bobby Richardson just to name a few). Cody Ross is that guy in 2010. By every right he's a decent everyday player, but by no means is he a standout. In this year's postseason he has been though- .348/.423/.913, 5 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, and 7 RBI. Total terror.

So yeah, I'm worried. And you should be too.

I Should Have Been A Sports Writer...

It looks like the Phils are about to bite the dust. To go belly up. They have one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave.

But is it time to stick a fork in them? Are they done? I don’t think so. Because it ain’t over till it’s over. It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

Granted, it’s do or die time. Make or break time. Sink or swim time. It’s time to push all the chips to the middle of the table.

The Phils are standing on their last leg. They need to man up. They need to cowboy up.

When push comes to shove, the Phils will get the job done, because they have the heart of champions. They have a never say die attitude. They will come back from the brink. They will grab victory from jaws of defeat.

Let’s go Phils!

Fuqua + Quotes + Photoshop

"I'd say go for it. What the hell are we going to do, rope him? I'm not a cowboy. I may look like one and talk like one."


"He said, 'To be the best you've got to beat the best.' That's one of my slogans. That's Ric Flair. Going to Space Mountain - what the hell. You know, like what happens at Space Mountain, you've got to get there and conquer it. You've got to stay there. That's what we want to do."

Newest Ball Girl?

As Phillies fans we've become accustomed to cute ball girls flagging down foul balls along the left and right field baselines over the years. This lady's audition tape doesn't seem up to snuff.

You be the judge, do you think she'd fit in with these fine looking ladies?

Game from a Tainted View

I decided to blog while watching tonight's game. This is simply my ramblings and sometimes likely to be incoherent thoughts as they are happening.

Top 1st- Oswalt dominant. Step in, be had, sit down.

Bottom 1st- Victorino and Werth watch called third strikes and Ibanez strikes out too, at least he swung I guess. Personally, I would have started Francisco in favor of Raul against Sanchez, but what do I know, I'm just a hack blogger after all. Gift run due to botched play by some Frenchman and a missed call on a "ball 4" to Rollins. Bases were loaded with 1 out, but the Phillies did nothing to help themselves. Will to win? Hardly.

Top 2nd- Oswalt dominant. Step in, be had, sit down.

Bottom 2nd- 3 up, 3 down. Phillies still can't hit worth a squirt of piss. This offense has clout, but it's due to past success, certainly not what was done this season or postseason.

Top 3rd- Oswalt dominant. Step in, be had, sit down.

*Interjection*- Yikes! Oswalt is as filthy as a hourly rate motel bed. Dude looks unhittable.

Bottom 3rd- Yippie a hit. By Ryan Howard no less. Don't worry, no runs to be scored due to Werth's inability to make contact off Sanchez (14 at bats, 8 k's, ZERO hits).

Top 4th- Oswalt dominant. Step in, be had, sit down.

*Interjection*- I'm about to start cutting and pasting the top of each inning.

Bottom 4th- This Frenchman sucks for the Giants, where's that fat endangered species eucalyptus eating panda at? Ball was in the air for a full rotation on a sun dial for crying out loud! Another gift to Jimmy- base hit *cough*bullshit*cough*. Whatever, he never got further than 2nd base.

Top 5th- Cody Ross. Cody Ross? Cody Ross! Put one in his f'n earhole! Halladay and Oswalt are great pitchers, but those are some fat pitches they served to that effin' elf. Aside from that mistake, Oswalt has been fantastic tonight. Score 1-1.

Bottom 5th- Vic with a double. Life back into crowd. McCarver as annoying as ever. I'm hitting mute. Alright, back to baseball. Utley gets him over on deep fly, then Polanco sac fly. Phils back on top, 2-1. Howard with another hit against this tough lefty. What will Werth follow up with? Groundout. Werth sucks tonight, where's Dom Brown? Just kidding...sorta.

Top 6th- Torres 0-3 with 3 K's tonight. He will now fall into obscurity and become Oswalt's houseboy. Roy2 pitching very well tonight.

Bottom 6th- Ibanez is pitiful. I'm so harsh, but really, he just doesn't belong in the lineup against Sanchez. Phillies went down easier than a hooker. They both blow!

Top 7th- Oswalt dominant. Step in, be had, sit down.

7th Inning Stretch- time for a beer. Wait, I've got work tomorrow. Crap.

Bottom 7th- Oswalt with a line drive single and he chases Sanchez. Vic bunts him over. Utley intentionally walked. Polly with a single, Oswalt runs through the stop sign, and he scores! Love this dude. (Another pitching change and that awful Train song is playing on the commercial "hey, hey, hey"...why do people like that queer-ass song?) Alright, back to action, double steal, nice. Howard K's with the runners in scoring position though. Ugh. (Another pitching change, that'll be 4 this half inning. I hate those Old Navy mannequin commercials, I just don't get them.) On Facebook I predicted a J-Roll pop-up on pitch #2. What I really meant was bases clearing pop-up off the rightfield wall. 6-1 Phils.

Top 8th- Andres Torres now 0-4 with 4 K's against Oswalt tonight. I'd feel bad for him if I actually cared. Oswalt might be running outta gas though. Yep, here comes Charles Fuqua Manuel. Wait, Roy2 remains in the game. Situation- 2 outs, 2 on. He comes through, Huff lines out to Vic. Terrific effort by Oswalt. That's a competitor.

Bottom 8th- some terrorist-esque pitcher Sergio Romo takes care of the Phils, but they're sitting pretty for the W.

Top 9th- Ibanez robs Burrell of a hit. Nice play. Madson closes it out. Series tied 1-1. Good win. Good night.

Pure Awfulness

Ryan Howard has now struck out 52 times in 157 playoff plate appearances. That's 1/3 of the time. Awful.

Jimmy Rollins is 1-15 (.067) this postseason. Awful.

As a team the Phillies are batting .212/.300/.318 and have 27 strikeouts to only 28 hits. Awful.

Pat Burrell has scored 7 runs, hit 2 doubles, 3 homeruns, and knocked in 7 runs in 7 games against the Phils. Awful.

Cody Ross, he of only 86 career homeruns, has hit 13 regular season and 2 postseason bombs off of Phils pitching. Awful.

Tonight's starter, Jonathan Sanchez, has a 3-1 record with a 2.86 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 40 K's in 34.2 innings against the Phils. A .175 batting average and .591 OPS against the lefty doesn't bode well for the hapless offense. Awful.

Pure Joy

I honestly wish I got this much enjoyment and excited outta watching Phillies baseball.

The Howard- Playoff Edition

Josh Hamilton, he of past addictions and ginger ale celebrations, committed The Howard last night in Arlington. It's only the second ever playoff Howard since the stat's inception into the mainstream media (aka- basically just this blog and a few other places), as last year golden boy Derek Jeter broke the cherry. The tattooed, born again Christian Hamilton knocked in 3 runs, stole a base, drew a walk, struck out twice, hit a bomb, and committed an error. Quite the effort, but it came in a disheartening loss to Jeter's Yankees, as manager Ron Washington mishandled the bullpen to epic proportions which lead to a huge series opening failure. Hey Washington- lay off the nose candy and help our Canadian deafy snorting outfielder kick the habit too. Freakin' Tyson Gillies ain't a prospect, the only prospect he has is of serving a jail sentence and possibly doing a hilarious Rick James impersonation. Anyway, I'm rambling, game tonight, Halladay/Lincecum. Go Phils!

Battle of the Comcast SportsNets

Comcast SportsNet sent us this via email:
Officials from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, the cable television homes of the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies respectively, have made a wager to defend their hometown pride in the upcoming 2010 National League Championship Series.

Should the Giants win the National League Championship Series, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will send SUPERPRETZELS to the Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club at Hunters Point; a Giants banner will hang in the Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia newsroom for an entire week; and Brian Monihan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, will wear a Giants’ Tim Lincecum jersey and wig for a day.

If the Phillies are victors, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area will send San Francisco’s famous Ghirardelli Chocolate and classic sourdough bread to Philabundance; a Phillies banner will be displayed in the Comcast SportsNet Bay Area newsroom for a week; and Ted Griggs, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, will sport a Phillies Ryan Howard jersey for a day.

"As the Giants and Phillies prepare to take the field for the National League Championship, Comcast SportsNet personnel in San Francisco and Philadelphia will enjoy a lighthearted rivalry by betting on their own hometown team to win the series," said Griggs. "No matter which team wins, our good-natured competition will benefit a worthy charity in either San Francisco or Philadelphia, which will receive an ample supply of soft pretzels to help feed the people it serves. Naturally, we expect that the deserving kids at the Willie Mays Boys & Girls Club will enjoy the SUPERPRETZELS that will soon be shipped to the West Coast."

“Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia will be cheering on the Phillies loudly as they look to capture their third-straight National League title,” said Monihan. “We look forward to delivering Ghirardelli Chocolate and classic sourdough bread from the San Francisco area to our community partner Philabundance, which is the largest hunger relief organization fighting hunger and malnutrition in the Delaware Valley. Personally I hope the Phillies make a triumphant return to the World Series because I don’t think I will look good with long hair like Tim Lincecum.”

You Can't Hold My Candle !!!!

There are some really good baseball writers. Jayson Stark, for instance, is insightful, informative and entertaining. Zolecki does a good job on MLB.com. And I’m sure there are others. But I’m starting to think these guys are the exception and not the rule. The line between “baseball journalist” and “hack blogger” is getting closer every day. The most recent example is Yahoo.com writer David Brown who writes that “Cliff Lee Is Still The Coolest – And Best – Pitcher In The Playoffs.”

Wow. I’m the biggest Cliff Lee shill around, hell I spent 3 months in counseling after that God forsaken trade, but even I know that Roy Halladay is better than Cliff Lee. Some highlights from Mr. Brown’s article.

“It frosts me, just alittle bit, to hear all of this talk about Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum and CC Sabathia. Halladay’s no-hitter was awesome. It’s still just one postseason starts. Timmy’s 14 strikeout game was tubular. Just one game.”

Okay, so his argument is that because Halladay has only thrown one postseason game, he can’t be as good as Lee. Even though that game was a no-no. And even thought he's actually a better pitcher. That’s as stupid as a Dusty Baker press conference. And who, except for possibly the ever-objective NY/NJ sports media, is arguing that CC Sabathia is the best pitcher in the playoffs? It’s like he’s just picking starters arbitrarily. Why not add Joe Blanton to the list? He’s given up zero postseason runs…

“None of these guys can hold Cliff Lee’s candle.”

That’s because Roy is too busy burning up the competition with his flame thrower. Seriously though, “hold Cliff Lee’s candle.” First, that’s not even the correct saying. It’s “hold a candle to.” So David Brown is either a first rate moron or he’s into some weird new talk trash that I’m not familiar with. Call me crazy, but I doubt I’ll see Kenny Powers running off the mound screaming, “You can’t hold my candle!” any time soon. Yeah, not cool.



“He was the best pitcher in the junior circuit from opening day.”

Despite being on the DL, Cliff Lee was the best pitcher in the AL? Shit, if that’s true he must be awesome. Is this guy going to create a stat in Lee’s honor, Wins While On DL (WWODL)? But if he is so great, why does David Brown clarify that statement with “junior circuit?” Oh yeah, Roy Halladay, the actual best pitcher in baseball, was dominating the “senior circuit” from opening day. Literally.


So let me sum up David Brown’s article in one long, run-on sentence – Cliff Lee is the best pitcher in the playoffs, even though he’s not the best pitcher in baseball, even though that pitcher is in the playoffs and has already thrown a no-hitter, because that guy hasn’t pitched in the playoffs as often as Lee, so obviously Lee is better.

That is a theory worthy of a new award here at WSBGMs, “The Andy Martino Excellence in Journalism Award.” Plaque or trophy yet to be created…

Name Those Phillies- Double Dipper

Okay, so yesterday's Name That Phillie was apparently so easy that Helen Keller would have answered Marty Bystrom. Well, today's is a bit tougher. Each of these players had far less impact on the team during their time in Phillie. Must name both to get the win. But you get nothing for the win, except for bragging rights.

Have at it, name those Phillies...

In Case You're As Bored As I Am...

It's only Wednesday, stupid Wednesday. Why the hell do we have to wait until Saturday for the NLCS to start? I'm bored, and in case you're as bored as I am, I did a Google image search under "funny Phillies" and came up with some of these gems: A) to the right is what appears to be Mikey from Life cereal rocking some Phils gear, B) apparently a hot Jewish Phillies fan doing some sorta draft, C) Cole Hamels looking "manly" with a gun, and D) Kyle Kendrick cooking.

Name That Phillie- Playoff Edition

Had a sensational rookie season. That whiteboy 'fro is unforgettable. Go ahead, name that Phillie...

What To Do Until Saturday

The San Francisco Giants put an end to Bobby Cox's illustrious managing career and secured themselves a meeting with the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. But wait, and literally I mean WAIT, because the NLCS doesn't start until Saturday. C'mon, WTF are we supposed to do until then?

*Go squirrel hunting. Capping a half dozen gray critters will help relieve stress. Pan fry those bad boys in some butter and hot sauce and you would think you're eating hot wings.

*Catch up on missed television. Whether it's Dancing With The Stars or Grey's Anatomy, now is the perfect time to watch all that drama and action you'll be craving without hope of another Halladay no-hitter this work week.

*Say hello to your wife. See what she's been up to lately, she already knows what you've been doing- playoff baseball. Maybe take her out to dinner, catch a movie, play some Scrabble.

*Do some home brewing. Personally, I'm bottling a porter on Wednesday and starting a mint chocolate stout to be ready for the holidays.

*Fantasy football. Make sure you're not still starting Michael Vick or Clinton Portis.

*Yard work. It's autumn, meaning fall, meaning leaves are falling. Rake them you lazy S.O.B.

*Exercise. Watching baseball leads to snacking and usually adult beverage consumption...fatter. Get up and do something with you body before it turns against you or you go up 2 waist sizes.

*Read a book. Pick up a piece of fine literature and delve into it, whether it be Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, Tale of Two Cities, Kama Sutra, or Green Eggs and Ham.

Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

They Couldn't Touch This

Goodbye Cincinnati, thanks for coming. Next time bring your bats and gloves.

PS - Carlos Ruiz is not impressed with your Cuban fastballs.

The Birth of Cole

To be accurate, the title of this piece should be "The Re-birth of Cole," but since the original isn't the called the Re-Birth of Venus...

Cole's arrival to the post-season in 2007 was mediocre. He had one average start while the team got swept away by Colorado. The following year, a star was born. NLCS MVP. World Series MVP. Unfortunately, we all know how the next twelve months (apologies to the Sabermetricians who think he was just unlucky for an entire year...) and the following October went. Brutal.

Well, the star needs to be re-born this playoff season. Cole is lugging a whole lot of playoff baggage from last season into this start. Let's hope he pitches with confidence and not hanging change-ups.
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Some Other Stuff
I was offline for a while and didn't get to comment, but I actually think the debate of who's pitching performance was more dominant, Lincecum or Doc, is a valid one. I think Doc's was but it's because of how I view certain stats. Let me explain.

There's no debate that Doc's game was more special, more historical, more memorable, more traditionally important, etc. But as far as domination, the only thing that separated the two starts statistically was Lincecum with six more strike outs and Lincecum allowing two batted ball to be hits. And the stats guys will tell you that BABIP (batting average for balls in play) is almost entirely "luck." So if you are a stats guy, you would probably think Lincecum had the more dominant game and just got less luck than Halladay. Agree? Maybe not. But it's not a ridiculous idea.

File Under: "Karma's a Bitch"
Orlando Cabrera had to run his mouth. [See Carson's post from two days ago.] He had to besmirch His Greatness' no-hitter by complaining about the umpire and his big strike zone (while ignoring the fact that his pitcher couldn't make it to the 3rd inning because he couldn't find the zone.) Now what's Cabrera up to. Right, he was just arrested by the Karma police. He has an oblique strain and may not play tonight or the rest of the playoffs.

File Under: "Stupidest Thing I've Ever Heard. Ever."
Apparently Dusty Baker does more than ruin the arms of young pitchers. He also says really, really stupid stuff. Like this great one after Game 2, "In my mind, we outplayed them."

Exactly how did the Reds "outplay" the Phils. More walks. More HBP. More errors. Less hits. Just stop talking, Dusty, and go back to what you do best - high volume referrals to Dr. James Andrews.