Jun

30

Tired Of The Off Days - And The Excuses

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I have not had, in all of my 37 years, a team tell the press that it’s “Good that we have an off day coming up” as much as this year’s Phillies team.

This team has to get its collective head on straight.

Utley said he thinks the day off today will help the Phils, but maybe the familiarity of the National League will help them the most.

“It’s always nice to face guys that you’ve seen before,” Utley said. “But the last few weeks are in the past. We’ve got to focus on the future right now.”

Yeah, this team is still in first place. However, think where this team would be if they could have just managed mediocre baseball against AL teams that outplayed dominated them - cruising into the All Star Break.

Nope. Not gonna happen with this team. Just like with the so many slow starts, the Phillies have no sense of urgency. Now you’ve got a team with no fear of being overcome in the standings when they are losing two of three every time out, because no team is capable of taking first place away from them?

The want does not seem to be there. Perhaps the Phillies are looking to get to the break and then hunker down for a playoff run.

Are they banking on a terrific second half simply because they’ve done it the last few seasons? I really hope not because finishing second to the Mets would be disastrous.

Jun

29

Myers Set For Bullpen?

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Brett Myers could soon be out of the Phillies’ starting rotation and back in the bullpen.

The Associated Press is reporting that Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee talked to Myers before the game Saturday night in Texas, a night after Myers gave up five runs and was pulled without recording an out in the third inning of an 8-7 loss to the Rangers.

Since winning consecutive decisions in mid-April, Myers (3-9, 5.84 ERA in 17 starts) is 1-8 in his last 13 starts. The NL East-leading Phillies have won only two of those games.

There is no doubt that the Phillies need production out of this starter’s spot and clearly are not getting it from Myers. A trade may be the best option for this guy as we all know he can close and love the pressure of closing.

Closing here is not an option for Myers as we have arguably the best in the business in Brad Lidge (thanks Ed Wade) owning the back of our bullpen.

UPDATE

Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said on the team’s pregame radio show Saturday that they would make an “adjustment” to the rotation this week. Phils pitching coach Rich Dubee also said Saturday that skipping Myers is a definite possibility.

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Jun

28

Photo Of The Day

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[Marisa Miller at Spike TV "Guys Choice Awards"]

Damn. That beer looks good.

Jun

27

Subscribe To The Podcast

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As a Philly SportsCast user you are missing something if you are not listening to Dave and I freaking out about something - and not only Philadelphia sports. So, if you’ve got a copy of iTunes on your machine, have each weekly podcast pushed to you.

1. Run iTunes
2. Choose Advanced | Subscribe to Podcast
3. Paste in this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/phillysportscast

That’s it. Enjoy.

Jun

27

Photo Of The Day

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click for larger

[Eddie Collins, Philadelphia, AL (1911)]

Jun

27

Sixers Draft Florida’s Speights

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The 76ers drafted forward Marreese Speights with the 16th pick in the NBA draft last night.

Speights, 6-foot-10, 245 pounds, averaged 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds last season as a sophomore at Florida. The Sixers hope he can play both power forward and center.

“We don’t see him as a major impact this year; we hope next year he’ll be able to get more playing time,” Sixers assistant general manager Tony DiLeo told the Associated Press. “We’re hoping by next year he can play major minutes.”

That is a shame - as the Sixers, while a surprise playoff team, seemed not to be able to handle the playoff grind. There is no doubt that another quality big man could really help this team and with $11 million to play with under the salary cap, GM Ed Stafanski may be able to get someone in there who can help immediately.

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Jun

26

Benson Set For Triple-A Start

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The Phillies have sent rehabbing pitcher Kris Benson to Triple-A Lehigh Valley for his June 29 start.

The right-hander had gone 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in two outings for the Single A Clearwater Threshers. He fared much better in his second outing, allowing one run on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, while walking one and striking out three.

He’ll face Syracuse, the Triple-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.

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Jun

26

Every Phillies Phan’s Dream

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I did not know Latrell Sprewell could play baseball.  Well, if it wasn’t Latrell in Houston, Shawn Chacon did his best Sprewell impersonation when he chocked-slammed GM Ed Wade.

I am not condoning violence, but I think every Phillies phan wanted to knock Ed upside the head during many of his trade deadline deals (or non-deals).

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UPDATE

Randy Miller at PhillyBurbs writes:

Wade’s temper is legendary. Billy Wagner used to tell me stories of Wade flipping out on the team. When I wrote about Wade’s temper after his firing in October 2005, several team employees emailed me to tell me their stories of Wade’s in-office tantrums on employees.

Again, Chacon is at fault there. He was asked to meet with Wade and the manager, but refused because he was going to be demoted from starter to reliever. And when Wade became angry telling him to “bleeping look in the mirror,” Chacon definitely was in the wrong throwing Wade to the ground.

But knowing Wade like I do and knowing how players respected him in Philadelphia, all I can say is I’m not surprised one bit.

Jun

26

Phillies Stealing Signs?

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The Boston Globe is reporting that the Phillies stole certain signs during the team’s recent home series with the Boston Red Sox.

Give me an ever-loving break - the Phils lost two of three in that series, badly.

Charlie on this whole mess:

We’re getting our butts kicked, and we’re stealing signs?” Manuel said Thursday as the Phillies prepared to face the Athletics in the finale of a three-game series at McAfee Coliseum. “We didn’t. Maybe they were the ones who were stealing signs.” via Yahoo!

Major League Baseball has not received a specific complaint about the Red Sox being victims of sign stealing, but the Phillies have been investigated for this in the past.

Read via SportsCade.

Jun

26

Wishes Do Come True [podcast]

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Philly SportsCast #138 - June 25, 2008

A couple of weeks ago the Phillies could do no wrong, now we get a six-game losing streak and lots of worried looks at the plate for a team that can hit the junk out of the ball pretty much any time it wants.

Well that came to an end last night - thanks in no small part to Charlie Manuel’s lineup shuffles. Well, the losing is over - time for the winning.

Enjoy the podcast.

 
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