Rocky Mountain Climbing Back to .500?
My last
Phillies-related post was in the middle of game three, a game that the Braves
stretched into a 10-3 lead. Thanks to Atlanta’s relievers — who walked in four
runs and couldn’t even find the strike zone with a MapQuest search – the Phillies
led a game for the first time after 25 innings of play and earned their largest
comeback victory since 1990! You still have to be patient at the plate to draw
bases loaded walks. It is the little things that win ballgames. That’s why they’re
called the Fightin’ Phils!
An odd one
series road trip out west will have a rubber match tomorrow. The battle of the
previous two National League champions started off with a 10-3 Colorado Rockies
win and has Phillies fans worried about Cole Hamels’ left elbow. His velocity
remains down in the high 80′s instead of low 90′s. Even Charlie Manuel is
concerned and there is a possibility he will miss a start. The World Series MVP
was penciled in as the Opening Night starter before this setback and I’m
wondering if he was still rushed back too soon. I’m all for sitting Hamels all
of April if it means he will be the much-needed Ace from May-October.
Every team
goes through slumps during the course of the season. It just so happens that
the Phillies started the season off in one. Besides Chase Utley and Jayson
Werth, the rest of the lineup has been nonexistent offensively. Tonight every position
player got involved banging out 15 hits highlighted by Ryan Howard’s
bases-clearing double and Werth’s two RBI triple. Brett Myers was credited
with the W despite now giving up SIX homers in 13 innings. Fortunately, four of
them have been solo blasts.
Injury Bug: Carlos Ruiz was the first victim this
season, straining his right oblique Friday night and he will miss some time. Lou
Marson was called up from AAA Lehigh Valley and will make some starts behind
Chris Coste (who made a catch tonight similar to that of Bob Boone/Pete Rose in
the final inning of the 1980 World Series. He bobbled a pop-up in foul
territory and made a diving bare-handed snag.) Marson made his Major League
debut in the regular season finale last September.
Diehard Indians Fans: A shout out to the 500 or so fans who
remained at The Jake for the Tribe’s home opener Friday afternoon – which turned
into a late night before all was said and done. Thanks to a non-stop rain delay
totaling almost FOUR hours, the final out was recorded over seven hours after
the first pitch. The 0-5 Indians need to win a game for these diehards. This
game reminded me of the home opener I went to in Cleveland two years ago
against Seattle. The grounds crew did everything in their power to get the game
played, but white snowflakes don’t mix well with a white baseball. Paul Byrd
had a no hitter through 4.2 innings before former Indians manager Mike Hargrove
strategically convinced the umpires to pull the players off the field. The
entire four game series would be postponed and played at different times during
the season.
No More Unbeatens: Livan Hernandez, now with the Mets,
outdueled Ricky Nolasco to hand the Marlins their first loss of 2009. The
Indians and Nationals remain winless. And if the Nats don’t beat Atlanta
tomorrow – uh, oh – because they play their next three games versus the
Phillies!
Yovani Gallardo!: Congratulations, you became the first
pitcher to go yard off of the most intimidating pitcher of this era, The
Big Unit a.k.a Randy Johnson. It was a no-doubt-about-it homer, too.
All-Stars to Gather in the Desert: Chase Field, home of the Arizona
Diamondbacks, will host the game’s best for the Midsummer Classic in 2011. St.
Louis is this summer’s host, while the Angels do the honor in 2010. Veterans
Stadium was the choice in 1996 and I’m hopeful that CBP will get selected in
the near future. Pittsburgh’s PNC Park hosted just 12 years after Three Rivers
Stadium did. The problem is so many new ballparks have opened in the last
decade that there is a long wait in line.
Some people
from my dorm created an intramural softball team and our first game was a few
days ago. I pitched a complete game nine inning 32-hitter! I caught one line
drive in self-defense, but another one breezed by my head before I could react.
The reason I mention this is because later that same night I’m watching San
Francisco reliever Joe Martinez suffer a concussion after Milwaukee’s Mike
Cameron smoked one off his forehead. Baseball is far from becoming compared to
football in terms of danger, but there are certainly high risks.
Happy Masters
Sunday everyone! And Easter too, of course. 
Nick Adenhart, 22, Killed in Crash
(photo courtesy Los Angeles Times)
I’m not sure how to put this into words, but Los Angeles Angels
starting pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed shortly after midnight Pacific, along
with two others, by a car that ran a red light. The driver was caught after he
fled the scene and alcohol is suspected. Senseless…
Baseball is clearly on the backburner today. My prayers go out to
Adenhart’s family and the Angels organization. The Angels will hopefully
postpone their series finale against Oakland.
This really puts things in perspective. The 43,000+ that saw him pitch
six shutout innings at Angel Stadium last night went home thinking they had a talented
youngster. Now they are left to wonder, what if – both on and off the field?
We hardly knew you Nick, rest in peace 34.
Update: Adenhart went to high school in Maryland about an hour north or where I live in Virginia. Here’s a link to hear his coach reflecting on the tragedy.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/sports/2009/04/09/bts.mlb.pitcher.death.cnn
Bling, then Baseball
The
Phillies just put on a ring ceremony fans will never forget. Since the Rays don’t
play in Boston until tonight, Pat Burrell came back and received the loudest
standing ovation easily. The players were genuinely impressed by the 14 karat,
103 diamond-studded rings. It has the player’s name and number on one side and “PHI
4, TB 1″ on the other.
Question:
when should fans start growing frustrated with losses at the beginning of the
season? Games in April mean just as much, if not more, than those in August and
September. The major similarity in all three games? Atlanta starters Derek
Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, and Javier Vazquez have each had a 2-0 lead BEFORE they even
took the mound.
Last
night, the Phillies were hitting the ball hard, but right at guys. This
afternoon, Raul Ibanez hit his first homer as a Phillie and the team’s first
round-tripper on the year.
I’m going
to wait a few series before I overreact to a slow start. This start is
identical to 2007. Atlanta swept Philadelphia at CBP to open the year and the
Phillies got as bad as 1-6 and 4-11. Well, that was a division championship
season.
My
fantasy baseball team was in first place (out of 15 teams) after three days,
ha! Here’s the roster – hopefully they can keep it up.
C – John Baker,
FLA
C – Mike Napoli,
LAA
1B – Adrian
Gonzalez, SD
2B – Placido
Polanco, DET
3B – Aramis
Ramirez, CHC
SS – Jose
Reyes, NYM
OF – Nelson
Cruz, TEX
OF – Jack
Cust, OAK
OF – Cameron
Maybin, FLA
OF – Xavier
Nady, NYY
OF – Travis
Snyder, TOR
MI – Mike
Aviles, KC
CI – Conor
Jackson, ARI
UTIL – Travis
Hafner, CLE
P – Josh
Beckett, BOS
P – Scott
Downs, TOR
P – Brian
Fuentes, LAA
P – Jon
Garland, ARI
P – Kevin
Gregg, CHC
P – Dan
Haren, ARI
P – Andy
Pettite, NYY
P – Jered
Weaver, LAA
P – Chris
Young, SD
Bench – Jeremy
Bonderman, DET
Bench – Chris
Dickerson, CIN
Bench – Sean
Gallagher, OAK
Bench – Jerry
Hairston Jr., CIN
Bench – Jason
Kendall, MIL
Bench – Kevin
Millar, TOR
Bench – Jon
Rauch, ARI
Here’s to
a phantastic Phillies late-inning comeback!
Ceremonies, Not Game, Will Be Remembered
There goes the dream 162-0 season! That was a disappointing
start on the diamond Sunday night. Outside of those nine innings, however, the evening
was a final celebration of what happened last October. (Okay, the World Series rings are given out
tomorrow, so the ceremonies aren’t over yet.) Players aren’t used to entering
the game from through hoards of fans in Ashburn Alley behind centerfield, so
from the get-go you could tell this was not your ordinary game. The players
will tell you otherwise, but defending champions often do not fare well in
their first home game the following season because of all the distractions.
The 44,000 fans at CBP received “2008″ pennants and three
lucky fans had an opportunity to throw back souvenir home runs courtesy of
Brett Myers – before the third inning! Myers would go on to settle down, but
the damage was done since the Phillies bats made Derek Lowe look like Cy Young
in his Braves debut. The faithful fans didn’t have much to cheer about until
the 9th. After Jayson Werth drove in a run to break up the shutout
off closer Mike Gonzalez, Ryan Howard took strike three looking and Raul Ibanez
fanned in a opportunity to be a hero in his first game as a Phil. Slow starts
are nothing new as the Phillies have dropped four straight openers and six out
of eight.
4/6/09 MLB Highlight: Ken Griffey Jr. homering in his
second at bat during his return with the Mariners. How great would it be if he
had a phenomenal year?
Game 2 is underway and not starting off much better. Kelly
Johnson took Jamie Moyer yard on the FIRST pitch to leadoff the game and Chipper Jones scored on
an error by Chase Utley. It would be nice if I was able to watch the game
online, but mlb.tv has been having some technical difficulties to start the
season. (edit: problem fixed)
No class for me tomorrow and the Phillies play an afternoon
game! Sweeeet.
Opening Night at Citizens Bank Park! I Live For This.
Today is here! Today has
the feel of beginning like New Year’s, the feel of anxiousness that a kid has
on Christmas, and the feel of relief that a student has on the first day of
summer vacation. Today marks the start of meaningful baseball games for seven
straight months! Last season I was lucky enough to attend Opening Night, which
was the inaugural game at Nationals Park. From touring a brand new ballpark to
witnessing President Bush throw out the first pitch to Ryan Zimmerman delivering the first walk off
homer of the season, that night had it all. What will tonight bring? I can’t
wait to watch and find out.
What gets me pumped up
for baseball? Music. Recently, I discovered a song by Whiskey Falls called “Load Up The Bases.” If you like country music and baseball, this song is a
grand slam. The only drawback is the FSN affiliate in Atlanta selected it as
the theme song for Braves games!
While my blog has been
on hiatus, the Phillies personnel decisions have not. Here are the big
decisions GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has faced recently:
·
Geoff
Jenkins was released. While he did not live up to the $13 million over two
years, he will be forever remembered for leading off the bottom of the 6th
of game 5 of the World Series with a double, 46 hours after the top half of the
inning ended.
·
Chan
Ho Park beat out J.A. Happ to be the 5th starter. Will Park be the
starter come August or September? The odds have to be pretty high. He hasn’t
been a full-time starter since 2001 and the Phillies are his fifth team in five
years – not a good trend. Happ had an outstanding September last year and if he
can continue that, he will find himself back in the rotation. However, I wasn’t
too thrilled with his reaction following the demotion. He probably should’ve
requested not to speak to reporters immediately after hearing the news. Here’s
what Happ had to say:
“Regardless of what anybody says or what’s been
written, there’s no one that wanted this job more or worked harder to get it. I
busted my butt to try to get it. That was my goal. I thought I had a good
spring. With that being said, I did all those things to be a big leaguer. If I
can get a job in the bullpen, and if I can have some success there, I think an
opportunity will come where I can get back to a starting job. If I can get a
job on this club, it’s still a good thing.”
No one wanted this job more or even
equally as much? Chan Ho turned down an opportunity to pitch for South Korea in
the World Baseball Classic — a country in which he is beloved – in order to
give himself the best chance to become a starter. You’re still a big leaguer.
When the (very likely) opportunity comes when Charlie Manuel requests you to
pitch in some long relief after Park has been shelled in the 2nd
inning, prove your worth.
Look at Mo Vaughn’s shocked expression as Park is set to jump-kick Tim Belcher!
·
Lefty
specialist Jack Taschner was acquired from the San Francisco Giants for Ronny
Paulino. With J.C. Romero serving an undeserved 50 game suspension, Amaro was
smart to fill the gap at no cost. Paulino struggled during the spring and
backup Chris Coste brings underrated chemistry to the club. Just hours later,
Paulino would end up being traded to Florida.
·
The
Phillies were one of three teams seriously considering paying Gary Sheffield
$400k this season, but David Wright is apparently a better salesman than Jimmy
Rollins or Dusty Baker. The “Iron Sheff ” hasn’t played in the outfield
regularly in four years, but he would have provided some nice right-handed pop
off the bench.
Most Valuable Player
of Meaningless Spring Training Games, But Will Carry this Success Over to the
Regular Season: Ryan
Howard! Not only did he lead both the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues with 10
homers, he went 25-75, a cool .333 average.
Ultimate Highlight of
the Spring: If this
was the regular season it would have led off MLB Tonight on March 28th.
Two pitches after violently fouling a pitch off of Jenkins in the on-deck
circle, Big Howie takes Ian Snell over the batters-eye in straightaway center.
There was no official tape measurement, but all sources claim it was over 500
feet. Here is the video: notice Ryan apologize to Jenkins as
he crosses home plate!
Homecoming Gift: Joe Maddon batted Pat Burrell leadoff
in game 2 of On Deck Series at Citizens Bank. Burrell proceeded to send one
into orbit off of Cole Hamels. At first, I thought it was a gift to give the
fans an opportunity to cheer Pat…however, Cole continued to struggle in the
first, giving up a three-run shot to Carlos Pena.
To wrap this entry up, I’ll
throw out some fun predictions that will surely be 100% correct come October.
Disclaimer: No internal
bias added. My World Series champion does have 22 out of 25 players returning, the most of any championship team in the last 25 years.
American League Division
Winners
East: Boston
Central: White Sox
West: Angels
Wild Card: Yankees
Champion: Boston
MVP: Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young: Roy Halladay
National
League Division Winners
East: Philadelphia
Central: Cubs
West: Arizona
Wild Card: Mets
Champion: Philadelphia
MVP: Ryan Howard
Cy Young: Dan Haren
WORLD SERIES: Philadelphia over Boston
1st manager
fired: Bud Black, San Diego
Manny shaves his head
before the All-Star Break.
A losing record will win
the AL West.
One hour ’til first
pitch at CBP! It’s Sunday Night Baseball! I Live For This.
Japan Wins World Baseball Classic; Phillies Still World F’n Champions!
Japan has just
successfully defended their World Baseball Classic title by beating Korea 5-3
in extra innings after blowing a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Korea
beat itself by pitching to Ichiro with first base open. The thunder sticks were
out in full force at Dodger Stadium to provide a championship atmosphere. What
was more amazing were the 20-30,000 fanatics that packed a stadium in Seoul, South
Korea to cheer on their nation at 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. There is certainly
a difference in how much this international championship means to each country.
The average United States fan — from Los Angeles to St. Louis to Boston — is
probably aware of the WBC results, but is simply ready for Major League
Baseball to get underway. There was little emotion invested by Americans,
contrary to what supporters of the two Asian countries displayed tonight. My
thoughts? I enjoy competitive baseball regardless of who is playing, but the
WBC will never be the tournament it is capable of being. There are too many
flaws that don’t have a fix, mainly when the Classic should take place. The
Olympic Games (which South Korea won in Beijing) provide elite international
competition. I’m not sure why we need a separate event.
p.s. How about the Korean
who cracked open his helmet after a head-first slide into second after getting
kneed in the face? He stayed in the game.
More on Schilling’s
retirement tomorrow…and how he should go into Cooperstown wearing a Phillies
hat! 
That would be
phantastic!
A Brief Basketball Interruption
With March Madness about
to officially tip-off, I figured I’d go on the record with my Guaranteed Locks
to Win Your Office Pool! The championship game is April 6, which segues
perfectly into Opening Day for 26 of the 30 Major League Baseball clubs.
In junior high and high school, I set an impressive streak of six consecutive years of falling sick on the Thursday and Friday of the first round of the tournament. This year I was forced to pull an all-nighter studying for an 8 a.m. geology final exam. The pain of that poor grade can go away if I somehow manage to correctly predict, say, 28 of the 32
first round matchups in the next 36 hours. Onto the picks:
1st Round
Upsets:
12 Northern Iowa over 5
Purdue
12 Western Kentucky over
5 Illinois
11 Virginia Commonwealth
over 6 UCLA (sorry, Chase)
10 Maryland over 7
California
And the 8-9 matchups are
such toss-ups that no true prognosticator can consider them “upsets.” The tournament
has been a little saner in recent years, so a limited number of underdogs
advancing is the safe strategy. Picking 10+ upsets in round one is a surefire
way to have your bracket shredded come the weekend.
2nd Round
Surprises:
10 Maryland over 2
Memphis
7 Boston College over 2
Michigan State
Sweet 16 Slip-Ups:
10 Maryland over 3
Missouri
4 Xavier over 1
Pittsburgh
Obviously, the Terrapins
of College Park, Md. are the team I need to advance far. It worked for me last
year when I had 10 seed Davidson beating Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin on
their way to the Elite Eight. Hopefully, Greivis Vasquez can catch some of that magic that Stephen Curry displayed last year.
My Final 4 consists of
three #1′s (UNC, Louisville, and UConn) and a 3 seed, Villanova. Rick Pitino
and the Cardinals cut down the nets in Detroit over the Tar Heels.
Of course, the first
game to tip-off has LSU grabbing a quick 9-1 lead over Butler….I have Butler.
Have a phantastic
Phillies day! Here’s a photo of Richie Ashburn, who was born on this day in 1927. (courtesy phillies.com)
U-S-A! Providing a Reason to Root for David Wright in March
You don’t see this kind
of jubilation in Spring Training games. The United States just completed a
ninth inning rally to avoid elimination and instead send Puerto Rico packing.
Down 5-3 entering the bottom half, David Wright sliced a blooper into shallow
right field off the Red Sox’ Fernando Cabrera. The celebration that ensued in
the infield resembled something we are accustomed to seeing in October, not
March. Fans reigned down chants of “U-S-A!” at Dolphin Stadium. Games like this
are what will eventually make the World Baseball Classic a more respected
international competition resulting in tradition and sold out venues. The
victory also ensures the 2009 US squad will advance further than in 2006. They
are guaranteed a spot in the semifinals no matter the outcome of tomorrow night’s
result versus Venezuela.
That sound you just
heard? A big sigh of relief from Phillies Nation regarding the news of Cole
Hamels’ MRI in Philadelphia revealing that his elbow is fine. Unfortunately,
the ace of the staff is a “long shot” to take the mound on Opening Night
against Atlanta on ESPN, according to pitching coach Rich Dubee. As a fan, it
can be difficult to tone down the excitement of one game and realize the
baseball season is a marathon and sacrificing a start or two is the smart,
rational decision.
Why my university’s administration
scheduled exam week to coincide with the first weekend of the NCAA tournament
is beyond me! I haven’t taken more than a glance at the bracket, much less filled
one out. Luckily, I don’t have any exams during the actual games Thursday and I
strategically scheduled my flight home on Friday in the early A.M. so I can be
in front of a big screen for the 12:30 tip-offs. I hope to post some
predictions tomorrow night.
Have a phantastic
Phillies day!
*photo courtesy Yahoo! Sports
Phillies are a 1 Seed on this Selection Sunday
Over a week without
updating this? Not good – somehow I’ve let impending final exams top my
priority list. March also has some pretty high quality basketball being played
on the collegiate level, so that is time consuming. My Ohio Bobcats were
eliminated Thursday night (ending my dream for them to make the Big Dance and
become the first 16 seed to take down a 1 seed in NCAA tournament history), but
the agony of that defeat was healed by arguably the greatest basketball game of
all time. If you weren’t fortunate enough to have stayed up until 1:30 on the
East Coast, I recommend checking out Connecticut and Syracuse’s 70 minute
marathon on ESPN Classic….you won’t regret it.
Okay, on to baseball
with an assortment of thoughts on the recent happenings. We’ll call them “Hit
and Runs.” (The baseball term for running on contact, not the assault kind.)
1.
Pat
Burrell helped
the Philadelphia Daily News stay in business a little longer by paying for
an advertisement thanking the fans for their support over the last nine years. As
fans, we were admittedly hard on Pat (if you chase that low and away pitch for
strike three one more time!!), but fans connected with him the most during the
magical ride last October. So, thank you, Pat.
2.
Oh,
A-Rod. He really knows how to divert media attention from his steroid use. He’s
so desperate, he’ll try anything. For example, saying he wished Jose Reyes was
the leadoff man in the Bronx! It’s too easy to pick on Alex because of how
obvious it is he never attended or fell asleep during media training classes.
His
hip surgery should keep him out for most of April, so Yankees fans paying
outrageous ticket prices for Opening Day at the New Stadium will have to settle
for Cody Ransom or Angel Berroa at third base. I agree with Tim Kurkjian, who
hit it right on the head when he said the best thing A-Rod could have done was
come out of the box and start the season with 10 homers in April.
3.
A-Rod
plays a small role in this as well….of course he does. The World Baseball Classic
betting favorite Dominican Republic was ousted by the Netherlands. Would
Rodriguez have made a difference? Who knows, but that’s beside the point. I
couldn’t name a single player on the Netherlands roster and I recognized just
one. Big Papi David Ortiz did add some humor to a tough loss. “These guys, they
did it. They beat us. I tell you, the whole world is shocked now. Even in
Japan, they’re like ‘What the heck?’ in Japanese.”
4.
To
be honest, I was a little surprised Manny signed a contract and reported to
Spring Training. I thought he would holdout and begrudgingly accept the $45
million deal – the same deal that was offered to him in November – on April 4th.
Supposedly, Scott Boras had ManRam “freaking out” over the lack of clubs
interested. Obviously, Boras is one of the people who give agents a bad
reputation, but it must also be tough to have a serious conversation with this guy as ESPN’s Colleen
Dominguez found out.
5.
The
Phillies had eight representatives in the World Baseball Classic, but only
three remain. Here’s a quick statistical summary of those eliminated…
Carlos Ruiz of Panama: 2-5 BB
Matt Stairs of Canada: 0-6 BB
…and three minor leaguers from
Australia.
Brad Harman: 3-9…4 R…RBI…BB
Joel Naughton: 0-1
Drew Naylor: 0.1 IP…3 ER
Tonight, J.C. Romero’s Puerto Rican
squad slaughtered Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, and the United States 11-1 in seven innings. Thus far, Romero
has a win versus the Netherlands, while J-Roll and Shane have combined to go
6-19.
Have a phantastic Phillies day! Only
21 more until Opening Day at Citizens Bank!
Bartender…..Jack: Baseball is Back!
Yesterday had the potential to be a terrific day. I woke up at 10 a.m.
on a Sunday to get front row seats in hopes of getting on an ESPNU telecast.
Our Ohio University basketball seniors were playing their last home game and
blew a 10 point lead with three minutes left to lose to Buffalo. Getting on
television was no consolation – I would have traded it for a W in a heartbeat.
But baseball cures everything, so let’s blog rapid fire style.
1.
Shane Victorino was selected to join J-Roll on
Team USA’s World Baseball Classic roster, replacing Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore.
“The Flyin’ Hawaiian” might not lead the team statistically, but his mere presence
in the clubhouse is a boost that won’t show up in any newspaper’s box score.
Every day is April Fool’s Day if you’re a teammate of Shane’s – that means watch
out David Wright. Team USA opens play on Saturday against Canada at the Rogers
Centre in Toronto.
2.
Thanks to subscribing to MLB.tv, I was able to
catch my first glimpse of Phillies baseball in 2009 (along with a record
attendance of 10,270 at the Phillies’ Bright House Networks Field) and was the
wait ever worth it. I watched the game in bits and pieces, but was fortunate to
see all of the highlights. Ryan Howard, John Mayberry, and Miguel Cairo played
home run derby in the first inning, taking advantage of a generous wind blowing
out to left field. Cairo hasn’t gone yard in over 750 regular season at-bats
dating back to 2005. Seeing Howard round the bases never gets old and that had
me standing up and cheering in my empty dorm room. Jason Donald, a rookie
trying to make the team, gave me my first web gem of the year with a remarkable
dive into the shallow left field seats.
(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
3.
It was strange seeing Pat Burrell in a Rays
uniform. I am glad he switched leagues, so I can still root for him…unless the
unlikely scenario of another Phillies-Rays World Series unfolds. Pat the Bat
received a warm welcome by the fans in Clearwater and he will certainly be
showered with cheers when Tampa Bay plays two exhibition games at Citizens Bank
Park in early April. Philadelphia doesn’t often embrace players, so Burrell has
certainly earned the recognition.
Speaking of fan favorites, Philadelphia
football fans suffered a punch to the gut as free agency started with Brian
Dawkins bolting to Denver. If you’re not a football fan, Dawkins was Burrell
x1000. His leadership is irreplaceable and you can’t put a price tag on the
fear he put in wide receivers coming across the middle. Unfortunately, the
Eagles front office management never pays for aging veterans.
4.
Adam Eaton was expectedly released on Friday
after forcing Phillies fans to suffer every fifth day for a year and a half. He
was not embraced. Even after accepting a minor league assignment, Eaton managed
to go 0-5 with an ERA over 7! The Orioles extended Eaton an invitation to
spring training yesterday and he could potentially find a spot in their weak
rotation. If not, at least they are not on the hook for $9 million like the
Phillies. Pat Gillick made a LOT more smart acquisitions than not during his
tenure as general manager, but signing an injury-prone batting practice pitcher
to a three-year/$24 million deal was an exception.
5.
I was always a fan of Jim Bowden, but his list
of transgressions surely fueled the pressure on him to resign.
Have a phantastic Phillies day!
mlblogsphilliesperspective
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