Mike Lieberthal will retire as a Phillie on June 1

This guy was a class act. More details here.

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Victorino to play in Reading tonight

Phillies CF Shane Victorino continues his rehab assignment tonight in Reading. Victorino was placed on the disabled list April 12 with a strained right calf. The first 2,000 adults also get the goofiest looking bobblehead in human history:

Uniforms galore

Lots of Phillies (and Philly A's) uniform stuff on today's Uni Watch blog post. Check it out.

Laforest released

The Phillies have released catcher Pete Laforest. The backup receiver was 1-for-15 with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Tim Gradoville, who was serving as a coach with the Reading Phillies, has been activated and placed with Lehigh Valley to fill Laforest's spot on the roster.

Darin Erstad Talking Points

When Darin Estad came up to pinch hit in Tuesday's game, I had a pavlovian response, thanks to my love of FJM. But surely the Phillies announcers would avoid this overused and misleading depiction of the former #1 draft pick.

Nope.

Chris Wheeler went right to the Darin Erstad talking points and noted that, "this guy is some competitor, he played college football at Nebraska." To which I responded, to no one in particular, "yes, as a punter."

Erstad promptely grounded out weakly to third. But in a Cornhusker football way.

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IronPigs win!

It had to happen eventually! The Lehigh Valley IronPigs notched their first win of their inaugural season last night, beating the Richmond Braves, 3-1. The team (at 1-11) is now a mere seven games back in the International League North Divison.

DNL - Week in Review - 4/7 to 4/11

Despite the legitimate excitement generated by both the Flyers and Sixers making the playoffs, the Phillies talk did not disappoint:

April 7th

Regarding the torrid start of Pat Burrell, Rich Hoffman said:

At a certain point everybody will begin to say, "well, it's a contract year." Now I don't know that that's it or not. His history is great one month, and really, really awful, tough to look at the next month."

True. Contract year or not, we should be encouraged that Burrell seems to be picking up where he left off in the second half of last season. Unless you're Les Bowen, who said:

What scares me about him is he doesn't ever seem to have much insight into why things are going well or why they are going poorly. You ask him what he did to turn things around, he has no idea. So he could just as easily start looking at inside strikes over and over again as hitting them out like he is doing right now. There is nothing to criticize right now.

But I've got three or four really good columns ripping him to shreds ready to go the moment there is, he added. Maybe they should have spent a little less time on Burrell and a little more time on the $10 million dollar man.


April 9th

On the issue of Jimmy Rollins' ankle, Bob Cooney said:

DL . . . This time of year, something like that . . . DL . . . If you don't DL him, you could go through the whole year without having [Jimmy at 100%] . . . If you DL him you are guaranteed only no having [him] for two weeks or so . . . if this thing lingers and lingers that first to third thing goes away - oh, Jimmy has to pull up at second because the ankle is still bothering him a little bit . . . can't have that.

Eddie Moran agreed:

Soft cast him and shut him down right now. There are 152 games left, get it out of the way and fix it right now.

Lacking the first-hand knowledge that can only come with being on the Phillies medical staff, I must agree with them. I suppose we will know more when we see the starting line-ups Tuesday night.


April 10th

John Marzano preaches to the choir:

It made me more angry and more frustrated the other day when I watched Kyle Lohse go out and throw seven and two-thirds innings, shutout baseball. For $4.25 million, solidify your starting rotation, give you the #3 starter that you need - we talked about before, you have a #1, a #2, and three #5s, we mentioned that before - if you get that #3 starter, you put him in the rotation, the whole team is going to feel better about themselves, I can't understand for the life of me why, for $4.25 million, the Phillies wouldn't go for that.

Paul Hagen asked, "But John, who, in your mind, didn't go for it?"

JM: You hear things, you don't know how true it is . . . the truth that I heard was that, "well, we hit rock bottom when we signed the third baseman, we gave him the three year contract, we didn't have any more to spend."

PH: So you don't blame the general manager necessarily?

JM: I blame the organization . . . I'm not finger pointing at Charlie, I'm not finger pointing at anyone. But I'm like, come on! This is Philadelphia! If you want to have a chance to just be competitive, yeah, that's fine, go to Kansas City. If you want a chance to be a World Series champion, loosen up the purse strings every once and a while. I'm not saying the Phillies don't spend money. We've been around these people all the time. I think they're wonderful people but . . . Do you really believe the Philadelphia Phillies are committed to winning a World Series Championship?

An excellent question, one I asked here... And I couldn't agree more regarding Kyle Lohse, as I noted here... All I can say is, preach on Brother John!

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More Uni Watch stuff

As you may have noticed, I really enjoy the Uni Watch blog. Today, they have a big Philly-centric posting, which you might want to check out.

It pains me to post this image from Uni Watch, as I despise the Eagles, but it's pretty cool anyway.

Shuffling the lineup: First draft

We all know the Phillies are capable of scoring a lot of runs because they have a potent offense. However, the team is not producing a lot early on. I think this can be remedied by shuffling the batting order.

I anticipate we will have a lot of discussion on this topic and we'll certainly revisit it again and again throughout the season as the Phils' on-field performance changes. Here's my first crack at rethinking the Phillies' batting order:

1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Pat Burrell, LF
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Geoff Jenkins, RF
6. Shane Victorino, CF
7. Pedro Feliz, 3B
8. Carlos Ruiz, C
9. Pitcher

Rollins is going to lead off -- that's all there is to it. Last season, the other Mike and I discussed and agreed that he might be better suited elsewhere in the lineup, but it is simply not going to happen.

I dropped Victorino out of the number two hole for a couple of reasons: 1) He is not getting on base enough; and 2) I don't see the logic of having two "speedsters" grouped together. More on Victorino when I get to his proposed spot in the lineup. I put Utley at #2 because he is almost guaranteed to reach base (.486 OBP) right now. Sure, he potentially has fewer runs to drive in, but Victorino isn't getting on base anyway.

Burrell should bat third for several reasons: 1) He is on fire right now; 2) It breaks up the lefties; and 3) It keeps the bat in Ryan Howard's hands when Charlie makes his ill-advised, late-game defensive substitutions. In the first inning, assuming Utley knocks Rollins home with a double, Pat can either clear the bases with a home run or reach base with a walk, putting two guys on for Howard. By breaking up the lefties, opposing teams will have to go through more relievers in the middle innings or they'll have to go with match-ups that don't particularly favor their pitchers.

Howard can stay in the cleanup spot, where he'll either strike out or do some serious damage with three solid hitters/pitch-workers ahead of him.

Geoff Jenkins still seems to be settling into his new uniform. I put him fifth to provide protection for Howard. It creates back-to-back lefties, but you can't avoid that all the time.

Victorino fits in nicely in the sixth slot. He's a switch-hitter, and he's got speed to create runs. "Manufacturing" runs is important near the bottom of the order because the guys below Victorino aren't expected to hit home runs (though they certainly are capable). By batting ahead of Feliz and Ruiz, Victorino can score from first on base hits by the seventh and eighth hitters.

Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz kind of fall in place at the bottom of the order.

I'm sure the other Mike will have some great insight into this, and I really look forward to it. In the meantime, what do you think?

Feliciano's travel troubles

The alliterative title to this post proves how journalistically gifted I am.

I was a bit distracted while following yesterday's game, so I may have missed the discussion of this, but I seem to recall the radio guys anticipating that Mets' reliever Pedro Feliciano would come out of the bullpen to face specific hitters in the late innings. As Anthony DiComo reports on MLB.com:

Feliciano had traveled home to Puerto Rico on Monday to deal with what he called "family issues," and a canceled flight prevented him from making it back to Queens on time to pitch in the middle innings. Feliciano arrived at Shea Stadium during the seventh, right when manager Willie Randolph made a seemingly questionable move to keep lefty Scott Schoeneweis on the mound.

Feliciano is presumably ready to go tonight.

Credit where credit is due

As I have noted in the recent past, I am concerned about Tom Gordon appearing in the 8th or 9th innings of games. While I still feel this concern is justified, that does not mean I shouldn't give him credit when he pitches well (most notably his last three appearances). To wit:

3/31
0.1 IP, 5 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 20 pitches (135.00 ERA)

4/3
1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 34 pitches (33.75)

4/5
0.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 5 pitches (27.00)

4/7
1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 9 pitches (16.88)

4/8
1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 11 pitches (12.27) - Save

If Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero, Chad Durbin, and the April Gordon can all stay healthy, it seems obvious that this bullpen will be lethal. Plus, as I've said before, the way this offense scores runs late, they will win a lot of ball games in the 7th/8th/9th innings.

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Phillies fans cry alone

"The whole nation cries for the Red Sox and Cubs. Phillies fans cry alone."
- Mitch Nathanson, Author, The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team's Collapse Sank a City's Spirit

According to this, during the whole Bartman/Boone/Bambino/Billy Goat postseason of 2003, Mr. Nathanson, an associate professor of legal writing at Villanova's School of Law, got an idea for a book. As the title makes clear, he focuses on the 1977 team, their heartbreaking dismissal from the playoffs, and the impact on Philadelphia.

As I read this, I recalled painful memories of the 1976 team (featuring Mike Schmidt on the Sports Illustrated cover above), which was just as good and suffered an even worse humiliation in the playoffs. More than three decades later, I still cannot shake the memory of a lone Phillies player (Dick Allen I think, possibly Tony Taylor), head bowed, bat on his lap, sitting silently in the dugout after the Big Red Machine completed the three-game sweep sending them to the World Series where they swept the Yankees for their second consecutive championship.

I know, I know, with so much to choose from in terms of Phillies suffering, it's a case of to-may-to/to-mah-to. Nevertheless, Mr. Nathanson appears to have put together an in-depth look at a city and its baseball team. Here's hoping his book - and the Phillies - both enjoy great success this year.

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A column to forget

As I take my lunch break from TerMime-X to check out the first few innings of the Phillies-Mets game, please enjoy this little gem:


Perhaps in the future I will give a pass to the folks over at The Evening Bulletin, but as long as Sandy Penner insists on writing crap like this, I will be forced to make fun of him.


It started out like any other Friday night. My wife was out to dinner with some friends and I was responsible for the kids. My oldest daughter had a birthday party to go to and then I was taking my youngest out for a bite to eat. After we ate, I then had to pick up my oldest daughter from her party and finally head home.

As fate would have it, I also had a number of chores to take care of on Friday. I did my laundry, visited the dry cleaner, and got my haircut. It was rough too, because I had to get all that done and be back in time for the Orkin man. After that, I picked up my daughter from day care and we played outside until dinner.

Bored? Yeah me too. So Sandy, is there a point to this gibberish?


I forgot to mention that this was a night I'd rather have been planted on the couch.

Oh. You poor thing. Yeah being a dad is great and all, but not when those damn kids get in the way of the television.


The Flyers, Sixers and Phillies were all playing and I was doing thumb exercises throughout the day to ready myself for the clicker madness that would take place later in the evening. With all of this going on, I had to carefully plan my daughter-daddy activities to make the most of what was to be a big night for the teams I live and die for.

Uh, okay. Look Sandy, I love sports, I really do. But I live and die for my family. In fact, one of the things we like to do as a family is enjoy sports. The two aren't mutually exclusive. And I don't want to know what type of thumb exercises you were doing. That's just gross.


Little did I know how big it would really become.

That's what she said.


As I drove around listening to the Flyers game, while being informed the Phillies were in a rain delay, I needed to speed up the proceedings so that I could be planted horizontally in my living room when the moment was right. I know that might sound like a cheesy Viagra commercial, but I was sensing this was going to become an unforgettable Friday.

It also reads like bad writing. And "unforgettable Friday" - are you serious?


I arrived at the athletic club early to pick up my daughter and headed right for the TV. It's important to note that the TV's [sic] are located in the workout room, right above some of the cardio machines.

Locker room is down that hall. Clean towels are available in every room. Juice bar is right over there. Thanks for the tour Sandy, but trust me, I refuse to join any club that has you as a member.


None of the sets on the bank of TV's [sic] in the front of the room had the Flyers game on, which is another story for another column.

One that no doubt would be even worse than this one. And why does he continue to make "TV" possessive instead of plural? No matter, we soldier on.


When I finally got home, I was able to see the Flyers put away the Devils with a superb effort. I actually learned the Flyers made the playoffs (with a Carolina loss to Florida) while watching the Sixers game. Marc Zumoff made the announcement, screaming as a man should do only when his wife tells him it's OK to play cards with his buddies five nights a week.

Wow. You have more than two days to write this and that's the analogy you come up with? Plus why does he insist on typing "TV" instead of "television" and "OK" instead of "okay" like the rest of the journalistic world writes it? Can this get any worse?


The Sixers then put the stamp on their own playoff spot by beating the Hawks in Atlanta. Two teams, two playoff spots, one night, and I was spent.

Apparently, it can. You were spent? It's not like you impersonated Deion Sanders and played for both teams that night. You picked up your daughter from a birthday party. That was the extent of your physical activity for the night. Your involvement in these proceedings was non-existent. By your own admission, you were barely a spectator. Plus you can't write.


Still in a state of euphoria, I had to give the Phils my undivided attention as they completed what can only be described as "Fabulous Friday" by beating the Reds.

Aspiring authors abuse alliteration. And I could describe it as a coincidence - a "freaky" Friday if you prefer.


It was a great night of women, wine and song, which we, as bedraggled Philadelphia fans, deserve. I will tell old war stories at family reunions putting "Fabulous Friday" up there on a somewhat barren mantle of big Philadelphia sports moments.

And your family will ignore you or, if necessary, medicate you.


While slugging down some tasty 12-year-old single malt scotch, I will recall chapter and verse the events of April 4, 2008. While hopefully not slurring my words, I will end the grand address by simply and succinctly stating.

"Boy, I hope I see another championship before I die."

Not sure why he chose to put a period after "stating" and then put what he was stating in quotes in an entirely different paragraph. I would have gone the standard route of using a comma and continuing the quote. Perhaps he wanted the quote to stand out. In that case he should have used a colon after the word "stating" - either way, the way he wrote it was wrong.

Which sums up the whole column nicely I think.

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My first FJM-style post!

And it's not that great. But here goes!

Special thanks to Jeff Wallner, a freelancer who covers the Reds for MLB.com, for working so hard. In this recap of yesterday's game, Wallner informs us:

Rollins led off Monday's game with his third home run of the season on a 3-2 pitch from Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (0-1). It was his 27th career leadoff home run, his first since Sept. 27, 2006.

Back here in the real world, where writers can do simple research on the Internets, we discover that:

Rollins led off Monday’s game with his second home run of the season on a 3-2 pitch from Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (0-1). It was his 27th career leadoff home run, his first since Sept. 25, 2007, which was his last home run of the year (and, therefore, only two home runs ago). And if you don’t count home runs leading off the bottom of the first inning as “leadoff home runs” (which you do when you calculate that he has hit 27), it was his first since Sept. 1, 2007 – still not that long ago.

Thanks anyway, Jeff.

Going green

A small item from Uni Watch:

Word I’m hearing is that the Phillies may wear green BP jerseys for Earth Day. As you may recall, the Astros have already announced that they’ll be wearing green caps that day.

Affiliates Roundup

MiLB.com is running a nice feature: a daily roundup of each franchise's minor-league results. Check it out here.

FYI, the IronPigs (0-5) are still searching for their first victory, while the R-Phils (4-1) are off to a great start.

A stopped clock is right twice a day

Bill Conlin is a grumpy old man. I could probably end this post right here and the three or four people who read this will agree. But I feel compelled to offer some evidence and - in true Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids fashion - we might even learn something along the way. So I offer Exhibit A from last week, which demonstrates that a stopped clock is still right twice a day and, apparently, Mr. Conlin thinks it's good to be the king.


When I'm King of the World . . .

I'm already annoyed.


Cole Hamels will run for Phillies player representative on the platform of a chicken in every pot and two chiropractors in every clubhouse . . . Now that the Phils have added Dr. Michael Weinik to the biggest medical staff this side of the lovable "Grey's Anatomy" gang at Seattle Grace Hospital, isn't it time for somebody to step forward and admit that Tom Gordon's right shoulder is cooked?

That's textbook writing there boys and girls. Toss a bone to the old folks and give a shout out to the young hip crowd and then get right your point. By the way, "chicken in every pot" is at least 70 years old. That's just inexcusable. But Mr. Conlin does take the Phillies to task with regard to last week's interim closer. So things could be looking up.


The 19-year veteran, whose lack of stuff and command was tragically exposed in a ninth-inning, Opening Day meltdown, has pitched the past two seasons with a torn labrum. I got this e-mail yesterday from an orthopedic doctor friend who used to pitch and understands the slippery slope Gordon is trying to climb: "Why would the Phillies continue to believe that an aging reliever with a known labral injury could stay healthy for any length of time without surgery? Bad shoulders do not get healthier with age and work without getting fixed."

The use of "stuff" and a friend's e-mail notwithstanding, this is a reasonable and rational argument. Perhaps this Conlin column will be informative, interesting and - dare I dream? - coherent.


Astros general manager Ed Wade must have felt right at home when Mitchell Report star Miguel Tejada was a dead duck at second trying to stretch a leadoff single with Houston trailing, 4-0. Gee, where has the Wadester seen that kind of baseball before?

I guess not. And I swear, while I do edit items like this for length, these two sentences are the only ones on this topic in the entire column. More insanity follows.


When I'm King of the World

Please stop.


The Bank sound system will greet Phillies relievers with a stirring excerpt from the spiritual classic, "Dry Bones."

This stirring excerpt:

Your hip bone connected to your back bone,

Your back bone connected to your shoulder bone,

Now hear the word of the Lord!

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones

Now hear the word of the Lord!

Uh Mr. Conlin, are you feeling okay? Have you taken your medication? Maybe you should lie down. And how did we go from Ed Wade to the Phillies bullpen?


Hey, they have the sausage race in Milwaukee and the presidents race in Washington. Why not dress four contestants as an ulna, a labrum, an ACL and a rotator cuff?

Okay, so you sang the bone song because you're not done talking about Gordon and the bullpen. So why the detour through Houston? Wait. Forget I asked.


When I'm King of the World

Seriously, stop that. And apparently now we're done talking about Gordon and the bullpen.


After the Penn State trustees toss a butterfly net over Joe Paterno, the man who has been coaching since Mount Nittany was a hill will be the spokesman for Godfather's Pizza. Hey, can't a guy eat his lunch around here? You writers talkin' to me? No, then who you talkin' to? (Chomp, chomp.) Look, the day I have to worry about not having a contract, I'm in the wrong place. (Which is starting to become more and more obvious.)

Hello kettle? This is the pot. You're black. I guess it takes one grumpy old man to recognize another grumpy old man. But why is he talking about Joe Paterno in a baseball column? Why is that last sentence in parenthesis? And why cannot I not shake the mental image of Bill Conlin standing at the bow of the Titanic proclaiming, "I'm the King of the World!!!"?

Three excellent questions that may never be answered.

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It only happens when you're here

The Uni Watch blog has directed me to two gems on YouTube:

Phillies TV commercials, 1986

A look at Phillies jerseys of the past

Daily News Live - Week in Review - 3/31 to 4/4

Comcast Sportsnet's Daily News Live is a staple of my television diet during baseball season. The panel of sports journalists - which changes daily - engages in lively discussions focusing mainly on Philadelphia teams and their comments range from insightful and educational to insane and inane. With any luck, I'll share some of the previous week's highlights - or lowlights, depending on your point of view - every weekend. Enjoy.


April 1st

During a daily feature called the Quick Six - six questions in three minutes - the day after this, host Michael Barkann asked Rich Hoffman, "Phillies fans: Justified to overreact or just one game?"

Hoffman responded, "Justified to overreact? Justified? No... Justified to overreact... What does that... How can you be justified to overreact?"

Kudos to Mr. Hoffman because, as I'm sure he knows, overreact means "to react or respond more strongly than is necessary or appropriate."As a result, it would be difficult to justify an overreaction. Poorly worded question notwithstanding, Mr. Hoffman soldiered on:

"The fans were predictable. They booed Adam Eaton on the way in... and they booed Tom Gordon on the way out. [panel laughter] They are entirely predictable... which means the sky is falling."

Hard to argue with that. Although I don't think either Mike or I am near "sky is falling" status yet. Just for the record, I am not even near "the wheels have come off" status which precedes "sky is falling" by at least two levels.

The next question went to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, "Should J.C. Romero have pitched the 9th?"

Murphy replied, "Hindsight is 20-20... Yeah, of course, now... But if you know Flash Gordon is going to give up five runs, yeah, I mean I should have pitched the 9th. But no, J.C. Romero is just not a two inning guy. He's just not."

Mr. Murphy went an entirely different direction with that question than I would have. In 2007, Romero only pitched two innings once - on the final day of the regular season. So while Mr. Murphy is correct factually, we really don't know whether or not Romero could have pitched two innings on that day, especially with a day off Tuesday. Personally, my first reaction to that question was yes. No doubt about it. Although to be fair, I meant that in terms of the order the fellas came out of the bullpen as I described here. But even given the more literal interpretation of the question, the answer is still yes.

Lastly, Mr. Barkann turned to Marcus Hayes, a man who often makes me want to throw things at my tv when he answers a question about a team - Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, Flyers - with, "They are what they are." The question was, "Moving Brett Myers back to the rotation will [blank]."

Marcus held a long thoughtful look on his face as his time ran down. Then he said, "I don't know. It will be a bone of contention for the rest of the season. And it's not a move that I agree with. I think that Brett Myers is your closer for the next 10 years... I don't think he's your stop-gap starter for the last two years of his contract. I never agreed with it. I liked the move when it happened, moving him to the bullpen. I hate the move, moving him back to the rotation."

Consider this fair warning. Marcus Hayes and I agreeing on something may very well be a Vatican-sanctioned sign of the impending apocalypse. Well argued Marcus. Yikes, my hands nearly cramped typing that. Better move on quickly...


April 2nd

Another Quick Six question, this time to Stan Hochman, "Cole Hamels needs to [blank]."

"Be satisfied with this particular chiropractor that the Phillies have hired. The first guy that asks for a psychiatrist, that's the guy that makes history on this team. Cole Hamels needs to stay healthy and he will win 19 games this year."

Mr. Hochman, you are a curmudgeony old man, but you make me laugh. And well done with that reasonable prediction for Mr. Hamels. Now if we can just get Bill Conlin to take the same medication you are, this will be a great season.

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With the Flyers and Sixers battling for their playoff lives, there was very little Phillies conversation by comparison. But if this season is any like the last few, there will be some good stuff coming out of the DNL shows as the season progresses.

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Wes Helms traded to the Marlins

Yes, as Mike noted here, he was already technically off the team. But as explained here, a trade is better for the Phillies, even if it just saves them some money. And after losing the Howard arbitration, I suppose they need to save their pennies anywhere they can.

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Phillies @ Reds: Live blogging

2:14 p.m.: Adam Eaton is proving that even I could get by as a Major-League pitcher. His pitches look horrible; notwithstanding, he has only given up two runs in four innings. Mark my words: he will implode in the next two innings.

I also think the Phils have been the beneficiaries of at least three blown calls so far, including Brandon Phillips being caught stealing in the fourth frame.

Special thanks to Sarge for his lecture on the history of the Underground Tunnel, where the trains of the Underground Railroad ran.

2:31 p.m.: Chase Utley is amazing. He is now hitting .438.

Congratulations to the IronPigs, who just blew their first lead.

2:35 p.m.: Pat the Bat!

2:38 p.m.: "I like that Dick Pole"... heheheh...

2:45 p.m.: I should make bold predictions about Phillies' failures more often... Congratulations to Adam Eaton for amazingly pitching a quality start. Didn't his pitches look like they were just hanging over the plate to anyone else?

Also, Griffey seems determined to get HR #594 this weekend.

Now it's time for me to make my bold managerial decision... I'd say you bring Eaton back for the seventh, but have somebody ready to come in at the first sign of danger.

Looks like Eaton is staying, as he is now up to bat.

2:54 p.m.: Didn't the answer to the Dodge Stump the Fans trivia question feature prominently in a radio spot last season? I think it may have been a Turkey Hill Graham Slam ice cream ad or a Herr's chips ad. I definitely knew the answer because of some radio commercial.

I cannot believe Eaton has pitched seven innings.

Speaking of advertisements, I love that MW Tux commercial.

3:00 p.m.: Ryno!!!

Please, Charlie: No Tom Gordon.

3:02 p.m.: Ugh. A one-run lead is not sufficient to take Pat Burrell out of the game. And I'm not feeling too good about Eaton coming back out for the eighth.

3:06 p.m.: Good God. Now warming in the bullpen: Number 45!

3:13 p.m.: ...

3:17 p.m.: Whew.

3:40 p.m.: You just can't beat a guy wearing high red socks.

Can't really blame Chad Durbin for the loss. He couldn't buy a strike.

Not sure what Rollins was thinking...

I was really hoping the Phils would get above .500, but this isn't a terrible loss. I think it was a definite confidence builder for Eaton and Gordon. Let's hope Myers has a better start tomorrow than he had Monday.

Baseball Nation

I came across this very cool map of MLB teams' fan bases. It seems to be a product of Nike, meaning it could be entirely made up or it could be based on sales of Nike merchandise.



It got me to thinking that this is something I would like to see studied scientifically. It shouldn't be too hard: Call random phone numbers, have the person on the other end state his or her favorite MLB team and his or her ZIP code, and compile the data into a map. Then I discovered that someone is doing pretty much just that, via the Internets. If you contribute, make sure you click on "Yes, I'm a sports fan" after entering your geographic data.

Opening Day in the minor leagues

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (0-1) got off to a great start last night, waiting until the seventh inning to get their one and only hit of the game: a single by OF Brandon Watson. The Pigs lost to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 4-0, in Moosic, Pa. (batter-by-batter recap - box score). Starter J.A. Happ gave up three runs on five hits over four innings. Happ walked one and struck out four. Next game: Tonight @ SWB, 7:00 (listen).

Things went better for the Reading Phillies (1-0), who defeated the Altoona Curve, 8-3, on the road (recap - box). Righty Andrew Carpenter, who impressed the Phils' with four shutout innings against the Yankees in spring training, went five-plus frames, allowing two runs on eight hits and striking out two. OF Jeremy Slayden led the way offensively with three hits, including a triple, in five at-bats. IF Jason Donald collected two hits, including a double. IF Juan Tejeda homered and singled. C Lou Marson also had two hits. Next game: Tonight @ Altoona, 6:35 (listen).

Scores of other Phillies' affiliates:

Class A Advanced
Dunedin Blue Jays (1-0) 2, Clearwater Threshers (0-1) 1 (recap - box)

Class A
Lake County Captains (1-0) 4, Lakewood BlueClaws (0-1) 0 (recap - box)

Let's just go on the record...

...as being opposed to bringing in Tom Gordon in the ninth inning before he has even started warming up.

Frustrating loss

The worst kind of loss is a 1-0 loss. When a team has this much potential offense, there is no excuse for zero runs and one hit. On the bright side, great job from the mound tonight... although I don't think Hamels has found his groove yet. If the wind weren't a factor, the margin of defeat would have been larger.

Times Harry referred to Ronnie Belliard as "Rafael": 3

Times Wheels made the same mistake: 1

Excruciating at-bats of Sarge's play-by-play: 1

Not bullish on this bullpen (or the starters)

As I sit here fuming at the Harrisburg CW affiliate for not televising tonight's game, it gives me the perfect opportunity to share my thoughts on the Phillies bullpen, as promised here more than five weeks ago.

Come with me now on a trip back to November 2007 - a simple time when the Patriots were still undefeated, Rudy Giuliani was still the frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination, and I was still trying to get in shape for basketball season.

Not long after the Phillies completed the trade for closer Brad Lidge (commentary on what we gave away to follow another time), I explained my concerns to Mike. Hopefully, he will confirm that what follows is a close approximation of what I said back then:

I am a little annoyed about this trade. Unless the Phillies plan to re-sign Kyle Lohse and keep Brett Myers as their closer - which appears unlikely - I just don't like it. But consider what that staff would look like:

Starters: Cole Hamels, Lohse, Jamie Moyer, Kyle Kendrick, and Adam Eaton - of course, a priority would need to be made to juggle the rotation to maximize Eaton's starts against the Mets, plus as the #5 starter, they can and should skip his start whenever they can if it keeps the others on their normal pitching days (unless they need the rest).

The bullpen would see Myers (9th), Lidge (8th), J.C. Romero (7th), and Tom Gordon and Ryan Madson sharing duty when needed in the 6th. That would give the Phillies one of the best bullpens in the majors. If the starters can get through five or - praise the lord - six innings, Romero/Lidge/Myers would be a frightening prospect for opponents. Clay Condrey and J.D. Durbin can be those inning eaters in games where the Phils are either winning big or losing big. Either one of them could also be used as spot starters as necessary.

I realize the thinking is that picking up Lidge is like adding a quality starter (Myers), but I'm not buying what they're selling. Myers liked being the closer. Myers excelled as the closer. It suited him and his temperament. Why move him back to the rotation? He barely has the attention span to get through a two inning save - don't get me started on two inning saves - and he has shown time and time again that he cannot maintain his concentration for five, six, or seven innings without losing his temper on the mound and having it impact his pitching. With this in mind, trading for a closer when the team already has an above average one is a bad move - unless, like I said, they keep Lohse.

Only time will tell, but right now, I'm calling it a bad move.

More than five months later, I will concede that so far, I do like the upgrade from J.D. Durbin to Chad Durbin. In fact, depending on how Lidge performs, I could be convinced to feel good about Lidge (9th), Romero (8th), Durbin (7th), and Gordon/Madson sharing the 6th (in case you missed it, my feelings on Gordon are documented in the comment section here).

But I still think keeping Lohse would have been a good idea. His contract demands - or his agent's, depending on who you believe - in both dollars and years were in a free fall before he finally signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals in mid-March for $4.25 million. He also pitched well in his first start against, ironically, the Colorado Rockies, throwing five shutout innings (with three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts), before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.

Given the addition of Chad Durbin to the bullpen, the Phillies could have still moved Myers back to the rotation. Imagine how formidable it would have looked then: Myers/Hamels/Lohse/Moyer/Kendrick. Regardless of what happens with this pitching staff as the season progresses, management's failure (or refusal) to find a way to make it work with Lohse could turn out to be the missed opportunity that defines whether or not this team makes the playoffs.

Your thoughts?

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Finally... Helms is gone

The Phillies have designated 3B Wes Helms for assignment. By doing so, they have made room for right-handed reliever Rudy Seanez, who was released by the Dodgers near the end of spring training and signed by the Phillies this week.

Pot Luck - Game 1

I enjoy being an amateur media ombudsman. For that reason, while I cannot guarantee I will do this after every game, I think it would be fun to put together a grab bag of quotes and comments ranging from the stupid to the bizarre that appear in the media's recounting of the game. I shall call it, "Pot Luck" - please enjoy:


Tom Gordon said there is "only one pitch I am missing right now (fastball). You definitely don't want to start the season off that way."

I've never thrown one pitch in professional baseball. But I'm pretty sure the most important pitch to have - especially for a closer - is the fastball. Unless this quote is used out of context, shame on Charlie Manual for putting Gordon in when he is "missing" his fastball. Shame on Gordon for trying to pitch without it. And shame on the reporter for failing to ask any follow up questions on this. Inexcusable.



Gordon also said, "I've had my ups and downs. I feel good. I just want to keep going out there and trying to help this team. It's nothing I haven't been through before."

Yes, we know you've been through this before. That's why we're unhappy.




MVKrum responded to Sam Donnellon's column about missing Aaron Rowand with "The only way they will miss him is if he was going to be a set-up guy in the bullpen."

You took the words right out of my mouth.


Then there was "Sure, it was windy. Sure, it was cold."

Hmm... where have I read that before? In his defense, if that is the sportswriting equivalent of "It was a dark and stormy night," then I shouldn't have used it either. But I don't think it is.




Finally, before I take your leave, allow me to introduce to you the Washington National's version of Mike. Mike's game reviews are not as verbose, but this guy has pics. So, after one game, it's a toss-up.

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Photos from Opening Day

I took 78 photos on Opening Day, but fine websites like Flickr frown on uploading more than 100 MB per month, so I have chosen a select few to share with you. Check out my photojournalism skills here.

Game review: Phillies vs. Nationals, Game 1

As reported yesterday, I was on location for yesterday's season opener between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals. Of course, the Phillies' pitching staff could not hold on to leads or ties, and the Phils lost, 11-6.

What we hope to do here at Mike & Mike's Phillies blog is offer you, the reader, some thought-provoking insight into what's wrong (or right) in Phillies World. The task of opening up this round of discussion has fallen to me.

The Phillies offense did its job yesterday. Sure, there were some individual disappointments, like the Phillies debuts of 3B Pedro Feliz (0-for-4, 2K), RF/PH Geoff Jenkins (0-for-1, K), and OF/PH So Taguchi (0-for-1). CF Shane Victorino (0-for-3) and late-game 3B Greg Dobbs (0-for-1, K) were also hitless. But the season is 162 games long, and it is far too early to say that these guys will be a bust in 2008.

SS Jimmy Rollins (2-for-4, double, two-run HR) was poised at the plate, not automatically swinging at the first pitch. As he showed last year, when Rollins is patient, good things will happen.

2B Chase Utley (2-for-3, solo HR, sac-fly RBI) offered the first salvos of his latest MVP campaign. 1B Ryan Howard (1-for-4, 1K) looked solid, and LF Pat Burrell (1-for-3, RBI, BB, K) reached base in half of his plate appearances. RF Jayson Werth (1-for-3, double, BB, K) showed he was worthy of his spot in the Opening Day lineup, and C Carlos Ruiz (1-for-4, double) also made good contact.

Unfortunately, some early-season rust (Rollins' fielding error), a catcher who may be trying too hard (Ruiz's throwing error), and some atrocious pitching doomed the Phils' efforts.

Starting pitcher Brett Myers seemed to start out strong, but by his own admission, he was getting lucky on bad pitches, which eventually caught up with him.

When reliever Ryan Madson took the mound, Phillies fans' minds inevitably flashed back to last year's opener, when Madson gave up a two-run home run in the Phils' loss. True to form, Madson soon turned and watched a Lastings Milledge two-run homer sail over the Citizens' Bank Park fence. Madson needs to prove he belongs in a Major League bullpen this year, because I don't feel he has done it yet. The Phillies hailed his return from the disabled list, but I'm not sold on the added value he offers over any other Minor Leaguer.

Righty Chad Durbin pitched a solid seventh inning, but had to be lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh because the Phillies were rallying.

Tied 6-6 heading into the 8th, lefty J.C. Romero trotted out to the mound. After Romero pitched a scoreless frame, manager Charlie Manuel's stubborn adherence to his self-imposed pitching "rules" took over. Manuel showed last year that he will insist on pitching his setup man in the eighth and his closer in the ninth even if the Phillies do not have the lead. But with an 11-pitcher roster, Charlie had to know he was hemmed in. Despite the prospect of extra innings and despite Romero pitching a scoreless inning, Charlie stuck to his stubborn ways and lifted Romero for interim closer Tom Gordon in the ninth.

Charlie surely didn't play matchups by putting Gordon in. Lastings Milledge, Ryan Zimmerman, and Nick Johnson are all hitless in their careers versus Romero. (Granted, the sample size is small.) I believe the evidence is there that Charlie went to Gordon because that is just how he operates. And he paid for it.

Of course, Gordon gave up five runs in the ninth, and the Phillies could not recover. The fundamental question here is: Should Charlie have gone to Gordon in the ninth? Obviously, I say no. So what should he have done instead?

I believe he should have stayed with Romero for another inning. His only other bullpen option was new acquisition and rookie Tim Lahey, so that didn't seem to be a serviceable option. By keeping Romero in, there would still be two pitchers available for potential extra innings.

(Incidentally, from the moment it was announced, I have thought going with 11 pitchers on the active roster is an inexcusable mistake. Just release Helms already. Eat the money.)

But the bigger problem is that it has become apparent that Tom Gordon cannot be relied on to pitch in high-pressure situations anymore. I take nothing away from his achievements earlier in his career, but there comes a point where everyone loses their abilities. By now, Charlie has to see the writing on the wall. Gordon cannot handle the ninth inning.

I realize that if Romero had pitched the ninth and the game had gone to extra innings, Gordon would have had to come in eventually. But the longer that option can be delayed, the better for this team.

Do you agree? Can Tom Gordon still pitch the ninth inning? What can Charlie do instead? Will Brad Lidge be any better? Is Gordon even capable of being Lidge's setup man? Am I the only one who opposes Charlie's stubborn "rules for pitchers"?

The Other Mike's Question of the Day: More disturbing - Myers' 5th or Gordon's 9th?

Question: In the long run, which single "inning" performance was more disturbing, Myers' 5th or Gordon's 9th?

Let's review:

Myers' 5th Inning
Threw 29 pitches/21 for strikes - seven in play
Faced nine batters: L-4, Single, Single, HBP, SF-9, Walk, Double, E-6, F-4
Result: Four runs (three earned) in one inning

Gordon's 9th Inning
Threw 20 pitches/nine for strikes - four in play
Faced six batters: Infield Single, L-9, Double, Walk, Double
Result: Five runs (all earned) in 1/3 of an inning

See the comment section for my thoughts and hopefully Mike and the two or three other people who read this blog will add their own.

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