Ah, I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear those words! This is awesome. Welcome to the Phils, Doogs.
Lidge Hits the DL
As the Phils get ready for a big series with the Mets, they did make a move on Brad Lidge, placing him on the 15-day DL with a sprained knee. It’s become fashionable for teams to “create” an injury when a veteran is struggling, but here’s 
hoping (in a weird way) that there is actually something wrong with Lidge’s knee and that he can come back as good as ever in 2 or 3 weeks.
In a somewhat perplexing move, the Phils called up journeyman backup catcher Paul Bako to take Lidge’s spot on the roster. Now, they were carrying an extra pitcher, so it’s not surprising that they would replace Lidge with a position player, but why a third catcher on the roster? Plus, Bako bats lefty and the Phils could obviously use another right-handed bat off the bench. I guess the thinking is that having Bako frees up Chris Coste to pinch-hit, but you would think Charlie would appreciate a little more flexibility with his bench than he’ll have with two catchers sitting there. In any event, I don’t think Bako will be around for too long. The existence of this website doesn’t bode well for the Paul Bako era in Philadelphia.
We get Johan tonight. A win would be HUGE.
Tagged brad lidge, chris coste, MLB, paul bako, phillies
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Let’s See What You Can Do, Rook
Now, we all know that I can be a bit reactionary (I would argue that baseball fans have to be because of the length of the season), so I am not going to pretend that I am not being so today.
That being said, I believe that tonight’s start by Antonio Bastardo–the second of his Major League career–may be one of those games that we look to at the end of the season as being worth significantly more than 1/162nd of the regular season. So, it is all on you, Mr. Bastardo.
The Phils swept three from the lowly Nationals last weekend, went straight to sunny San Diego and took three more from the Pads (who has a 10-game home winning streak before the sweep), and then got an incredibly pitching performance from their ace to win the first game of a 4-game set in LA Thursday night. That 7-game winning streak would be a 9-game winning streak today if Brad Lidge were still perfect. But, Lidge blew back-to-back saves, with Andre Ethier hitting a walkoff double and a walkoff homer in two nights and now the Phils need a win in a random June game.
The baseball season is a marathon–we all know this–and the good teams will probably still be alive in one race or another come September, so the season will be judged by how you play then. But, there are also significant ebbs and flows that can, in the end, but a subtle difference between a playoff berth and a “wait til next year.” This game could be the flower or the ebber of this part of the season.
A win tonight for the Phils (hopefully, with a Lidge save) will give them a split in LA–a pretty decent result, considering the Dodgers have the best record in baseball. But, it will also give them confidence because they should have won all 4. But, a loss will be a series loss and will probably bring back up the questions about whether or not the Phillies are true contenders or just merciless brutes who destroy bad teams, but can’t beat good teams. And, all of this will fester on a Monday off day and a cross-country flight, to prepare for a three-game set with…
The Mets. That is right. The Phils get a three-game tilt with the arch-rivals from the north Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So, this game is even bigger because this week could be huge in the NL East standings. The Mets are beat up. Delgado is probably done for the year (and has not yet been replaced by Nick Johnson); Ryan Church is out for a while; Reyes is questionable for the series; and, surprisingly, the 40+ year old Sheffield is banged up, as well. This is the time for the Phils to take some momentum into this series, win the series convincingly, and put some distance between them and the rest of the division.
But, that momentum must start with tonight’s game and, more appropriately, it starts with tonight’s starter, Antonio Bastardo. With a World Series MVP, a 250-game winner, a veteran, and a highly-touted prospect in the other four positions of the rotation, it should not come down to a one-pitch marginal prospect making his second ML start on June 7th to throw a “big game.”
But, it has…
Tagged andre ethier, antonio bastardo, dodgers, mets, MLB, phillies
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Question of the Day
Is it time to remove Brad Lidge from the closer role, either by putting him in a set-up role or “finding” an injury and putting him on the DL for a couple weeks?
Who Would Have Guessed These Four?
The Final Four at the French. He who protests to have predicted these four is he who lies.
The Top Half:
SEMIFINAL FRIDAY – #12 Gonzalez vs. #23 Soderling
Robin Soderling, the giant killer who slayed Nadal, went into the quarters as the underdog again, but he sure didn’t look like it. He absolutely smoked 10th-seeded Nikolai Davydenko, winning the first set in 23 minutes and only losing 5 games in three dominant sets. Soderling is hitting right through the clay (which is playing VERY fast this year) with a powerful, hardcourt-like game. His court coverage is good, but it is his baseline groundstrokes that have carried him to the semifinals.
12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez has also pounded his way to the semifinals. He did finally drop a set–the second set–against 3rd-seeded Andy Murray, but pounced back with a bagel in the third and a 6-4 win in the fourth to get him to the semis. Though his game seems best suited for the hardcourts (and it probably is), he did grow up in Chile playing on clay courts, so he is very comfortable on the dirt. He looks incredibly good and is playing with immense confidence. He looked like the top-3 player and Murray looked like the guy trying to pull off an upset (complaining about his racket and such) on Tuesday. Gonzalez is going to be a very, VERY tough out.
BSB’s PICK: Gonzalez in 4. Yes, it is very difficult to pick against Soderling right now, but it seems viable. They both have very similar games, which means that Soderling will not be able to take advantage of matchup issues, like he did in his past two upsets. Gonzalez is more than happy to sit at the baseline and exchange forehands. Gonzalez is just better on the ground. Soderling’s one big advantage might be his service game, but we think that Gonzalez’s ground game will be enough to get him to the finals…at least.
The Bottom Half:
SEMIFINAL FRIDAY – #2 Federer vs. #5 Del Potro
Juan-Martin Del Potro–the BSB-proclaimed favorite to win this tournament–has rolled through pretty much every match so far. The only set he lost was a tiebreak to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and he came right back and won the following set 6-1. He made short work of experienced, solid clay courter, Tommy Robredo in the semis, in straight sets and just over two hours. He is probably the best player in the world that no one has ever heard of and this is his best surface.
Roger Federer, as we expected here at BSB, put it all together and is seeming to grasp the moment now that Nadal is out. He has said himself, “I don’t have a clay court problem; I have a Rafael Nadal problem.” Now, that that “problem” has been solved, he is a man on a mission to tie Pete Sampras in all-time Grand Slams and end all arguments as to who is the G.O.A.T. Federer knocked off Gael Monfils, who pushed him to the brink in last year’s semis, with complete ease on Wednesday, with a straight set quarterfinal victory. Federer now has an absolutely AMAZING streak of TWENTY consecutive semifinal appearances in Grand Slam events. That means every Grand Slam for 5 consecutive years has included Roger Federer. To put that into some perspective, the second longest such streak is 10. He has DOUBLED the longest Grand Slam semi streak…DOUBLED!
BSB’s PICK: Del Potro in 4. It may be blasphemy, but we here at BSB are consistent. Nothing has changed our mind about thinking that Juan-Martin Del Potro is going to win this tournament, so we are going to have to go with him again. And, we have to do it in 4 not because we think it won’t be a close, hard-fought match, but just because if it goes five, Federer will probably find a way to pull it out. Del Potro must win the first set. Federer is most vulnerable at the beginning of matches and is the easily the best front-runner that has ever played. Don’t believe me? Ask Monfils what happened after he dropped the first set in a tough tiebreak. But, if Del Potro can win the first set (and I think he will), I believe he can win two of the next three and avoid that pressure-cooker of a fifth set. Either way, BSB has a “vested interest” in both Del Potro (+450) and Gonzalez (+450) to win this tournament.
Posted in tennis
Tagged 2009 french open, fernando gonzalez, juan-martin del potro, robin soderling, roger federer
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Jake Who?
Who needs Jake Peavy, when we have Antonio Bastardo?
Not only did the Phils knock around the oft-coveted Jake Peavy, but the guy they called up “to fill the gap before they acquire a veteran” was fantastic last night.
6 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 5 K’s. He had a shutout going into the 6th, when he gave up a home run to ML leader Adrian Gonzalez, but that was it. Yes, his nerves were probably helped a lot by the Phils offense, which spotted him 4 runs in the first and 10 runs total, thanks in main part to the birthday boy, Raul Ibanez. Ibanez went 3-5 with 2 HRs, 3 runs scored and 5 RBIs
The Phils have now won 5 in a row, are a ML best 18-6 on the road, and lead the Mets by 2.5 games in the East.
Tagged antonio bastardo, MLB, phillies, raul ibanez
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Quarterfinals – The Second Half
Continuing from yesterday’s post, here is the rest of the Quarterfinal preview at the 2009 French Open.
The Djokovic (4) Quadrant:
QUARTERFINAL WEDNESDAY – #5 Del Potro vs. #16 Robredo
The top half of this quadrant showed continued dominance by the one guy that I think is WAY too far under the radar right now–5th seed, Juan Martin Del Potro. After two easy matches in the first two rounds, Del Potro then discarded 25th-seeded Igor Andreev in straight sets to enter the Round of 16. Meanwhile, the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 9th-seed, after struggling through two rounds, also blasted his third round opponent, Christophe Rochus, in straight sets: 6-2 6-2 6-2.
That set up a nice Round of 16 match between Del Potro and Tsonga, where a lot of people believed Tsonga might roll, I thought the other way around. It turns out neither were correct, as the match did go 4 sets, but it was still a pretty convincing win for the Argentine, whom I believe to be the favorite to win this whole thing right now.
The bottom half of this quadrant looked like it was going to produce a nice Round of 16 match between the World’s #4 Novak Djokovic and the accomplished clay tactician, Tommy Robredo. Robredo held up his end of the bargain, though he struggled through splitting the first two sets, he recovered to smoke the young Maximo Gonzalez, 6-1 and 6-0 in the 3rd and 4th sets to advance to the Round of 16. However, Djokovic laid an egg against German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Third Round. Not that Kohlschreiber doesn’t have the game to beat Djokovic, but he clearly doesn’t have the game to beat him in straight sets in a Grand Slam event. Djokovic looked distracted and distant. Kohlschreiber took advantage.
Kohlschreiber continued his excellent effort in this Grand Slam by really pushing Robredo in the Round of 16, but he just didn’t have enough at the end on a surface that greatly favored his opponent. Robredo eventually won in 4, moving on to the Quarterfinals for the fourth time here are Roland Garros (every odd year since 2003).
BSB’s PICK – Del Potro in 4. BSB’s current favorite to win the whole tournament, Juan Martin Del Potro should be able to handle Robredo. It is more likely to go 3 than 5, but we believe that Robredo can take a set from the red-hot Argentine.
The Federer (2) Quadrant:
QUARTERFINAL WEDNESDAY – #2 Federer vs. #11 Monfils
The top half of this bracket was a good story for two countries that have been starved for male tennis stars recently. The lone American to get out of the first round was 6th-seeded Andy Roddick, who swept through the first two rounds in 6 sets and got another straight set win in the Third Round against Marc Gicquel. France is going to other direction with its male tennis stars. They are up-and-coming, and 11th-seeded Gael Monfils might be the most exciting of a bunch that had three top-11 seeds in this draw. Monfils had no trouble in his first two rounds. He did drop a set in the Third Round match against 24th-seeded Jurgen Melzer, but looked pretty good in an unthreatening 4-set victory.
That all set up an American-French clash in the Round of 16. The most anticipated (at least by me) of the 8 matches in this round actually turned out to be a blowout. Monfils made short work of Roddick, in a straight set 1 hour, 51 minute domination. Monfils was just too mobile and flat-out too good for Roddick on this day and cruises into the Quarterfinals after a Semifinals performance last year.
The bottom half of this quadrant opened with the only Third Round match between two unseeded players, as Tommy Haas knocked off 22-year old French prodigy Jeremy Chardy in four tough sets. Then there was the bottom part of this quadrant–where all the eyes have turned since the Nadal loss. 2nd-seeded Roger Federer (only missing this tournament for the career grand slam and an argument for the greatest of all-time) had struggled a bit, but gotten through the first two rounds. His Third Round match was against veteran Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, playing in his 8th French Open. Federer, as has been more common recently, came out slow and dropped the first set before stepping it up and beating Mathieu in 4 to set up a date with Tommy Haas in the Round of 16.
Haas has been around the block, so to speak, so he was not intimidated by Federer, winning the opening set in a tiebreak and then the second set, 7-5. Federer, who watched the defeat of the one man who has stood in his way at this tournament yesterday, was now staring at a 2-set deficit, himself. He hit a big forehand down 3-4 and 30-40 to spark a rally to win a hard-fought third set, 6-4, before hitting the switch and steamrolling Haas, 6-0 (in 21 minutes) and 6-2 in the final two sets. A truly impressive performance by The Federer, but how much did it take out of him? Though it was a 5-set match on clay, it didn’t even reach the three-hour mark because of the two big servers and the quick holds, so he should be, at least a little rested when he takes on hometown hero, Gael Monfils in the Quarters.
BSB’s PICK – Federer in 5. If Nadal were still in this tournament, this might be different, but there has to be even more incentive for Roger now that he sees a clear path to a record-tying 14th Grand Slam and the completion of the career Slam, which only 5 players have ever done. He probably let up a little with Haas in those first two sets after watching Rafa go down, but he realized what was at stake and turned it on when he needed it. Oh, by the way, this is a pretty awesome rematch of an epic Semifinal from last year’s French Open, in which Federer was lucky to survive in 4 sets. John McEnroe actually believes that Monfils is the favorite in this match, but I am going to pick Federer. Experience and, dare I say it, destiny may be in play here for The Federer. Either way, it’s going to be great!
Posted in tennis
Tagged 2009 french open, andy roddick, christophe rochus, gael monfils, igor andreev, jo-wilfried tsonga, juan-martin del potro, jurgen melzer, marc gicquel, maximo gonzalez, novak djokovic, paul-henri mathieu, philipp kohlschreiber, roger federer, tommy haas, tommy robredo
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More Ridiculous Stats
There are a lot of them today…
1). Jamie Moyer won his 250th game the other night, making him the 44th pitcher to ever reach the mark–and just the 11th left-hander. That means that there have only been 10 left-handed pitchers in the HISTORY OF BASEBALL to have more wins than Jamie Moyer. That’s ridiculous. What is even more ridiculous is to think that one more win and he will be tied with…..BOB GIBSON! What?!? Would anyone believe that Bob Gibson and Jamie Moyer would have the same number of wins?
2). The Padres had a recent 10-game hitting streak, in which they hit .197. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they won the first 7 games without getting more than 7 hits in any one of those games–no team had ever done that before.
3). All 10 of the Padres wins in the winning streak came at home. Ironically, they had a simultaneous 10-game road LOSING streak. That’s ridiculous that one team can have simulataneous 10-game winning and losing streaks and home and away.
4). The Yankees just played their 18th consecutive errorless game last night–a new Major League record. Not coincidentally, they are 14-4 in that stretch. I think a lot of the credit for the defensive turnaround has to go to Mark Teixiera. That guy is AMAZING at first base. Speaking from a former shortstop, a good defensive firstbaseman makes everything easier for the other infielders (thanks, Bonz). Throwing the ball across the diamond is as mental as it is physical and if you do not feel like you have to hit the guy in the chest every time, everything is more relaxed and you actually hit him in the chest more often–if that makes any sense.
5). The Dodgers have averaged more runs per game WITHOUT Manny Ramirez than they had with him in the lineup. They have EIGHT guys with 20 RBIs already. A lot of it has to do with Juan Pierre, who is hitting like .420 in Manny’s stead.
6). Rick Porcello became the first pitcher in 25 years to win 5 consecutive starts before he was legally allowed to drink. The last one to do it? Doc Gooden. Porcello is, already, a bonafied Major League pitcher and probably the #2 guy, behind Verlander, on a legit contender in Detroit.
7). Joe Mauer, in 28 games, has 11 home runs–just two shy of his career high FOR A SEASON. This guy was a stud before he started hitting for power, but now he is literally one of the game’s three or four best players. And, I am very glad he is having this power surge after the Steroid Era because, as I opined earlier, he is my #1 least likely guy in the majors to be on the juice.
8). Ivo Karlovic’s 55 aces in his first round loss to Lleyton Hewitt were, as of last round, still enough for him to lead the French Open without playing another match. I know, I know, you are all probably sick of hearing me talk about tennis, but I don’t really care. I think this goes to show you three things: (1) Karlovic is one of the best servers on tour, (2) Karlovic has one of the worst all-around games on tour because he can get 55 aces on clay and still lose the match, and (3) Lleyton Hewitt, formerly one of the game’s all-time best at returning serve, may be staring at the end of his great, great career.
Posted in Ridiculous Statistics, tennis
Tagged 2009 french open, bob gibson, dodgers, ivo karlovic, jamie moyer, joe mauer, lleyton hewitt, MLB, padres, rick porcello, yankees
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And, It Just Got Interesting
For the casual tennis fan, the appeal of the French Open took a serious hit, if not was eliminated altogether, on Sunday when 4-time defending champion, Rafael Nadal lost to big-hitting Swede, Robin Soderling. To the serious tennis fan (all 7 of us), the tournament just got very, very interesting. There is something to be said for a 127 of the most talented tennis players in the world all trying to do what has never been done, but, I think, there is even more to be said for a wide-open field that includes some title-hungry competitors, including one that could be chasing the G.O.A.T. title.
When we last left you, we had two rounds complete and the original field of 128 had shrunk to 32. With two more rounds in the books, we have now reached the quarterfinals–eight dreamers remain for the 2009 French Open title. And, honestly, any one of the eight could take this title. To look at this, we’ll break it down to quadrants.
The Nadal (1) Quadrant:
QUARTERFINAL TUESDAY – #23 Soderling vs. #10 Davydenko
The third round in the top half of this quadrant was rather cruel to BSB. Bry’s two favorite players in the world, Lleyton Hewitt and David Ferrer, both went down in the third round. Hewitt got smoked by top-seeded Rafa, while Ferrer was beaten in 4 sets by the aforementioned 23rd-seed Robin Soderling.
Then, as everyone probably has heard, Soderling beat Nadal in 4 sets in the Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals–a full two rounds better than his previous best Grand Slam performance. Soderling has really seemed to come into his own in this tournament. Always the big hitter, Soderling played the match of his life (obviously) on Sunday. He flat-out beat Nadal. Rafa did not beat himself, he got beat. Soderling overpowered him. But, most impressive of all was the fact that Soderling (a guy who had never reached the Round of 16 in a Grand Slam event) did not seem fazed at all, throughout the match, with the possible exception of a loose tiebreaker in the second set. He was on the cusp of doing something that had never been done, yet he did not seem affected at all, in his play. No tight points, no loose serves. Soderling pulled off what John McEnroe has called “the biggest upset in French Open history,” and he did so without one nervous mistake?!? Incredible!
In the third round in the other half of this quadrant, Nikolai Davydenko played a strong match against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, winning 6-2 in the fourth. Below that, the red-hot Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, continued to cruise through this tournament, by sweeping by countryman Nicolas Almagro.
But, something happened to Verdasco–who has been playing with the most confidence of his career–in the Round of 16 match with the savvy vet Davydenko. It seemed like his serve (the former Achilles’ heel in his game) betrayed him again. He only made 59% of his first serves, and they weren’t effective when they did go in–only winning 55% of points on his first serve. Overall, Davydenko won 47% of receiving points and was 5-for-9 in break points, winning in straight sets in less than 2 hours.
Davydenko, having eliminated one Spaniard, may have caught a big break not having to face the other Spaniard–Nadal. Davydenko versus Soderling? Who would have predicted that quarterfinal matchup?!? This was supposed to be when the best friend Spaniards do battle again on their preferred surface, but neither of them have made it here. I really want to pick Soderling to continue this run, but it has to be so hard to come back from the biggest win of your career.
BSB’s PICK – Davydenko in 5. I think Davydenko comes out and wins the first set quickly, then Soderling catches his breath, wins two of the next three, but runs out of gas against a much more experienced player. Take Davydenko 6-3 in the fifth.
The Murray (3) Quadrant:
QUARTERFINAL TUESDAY – #3 Murray vs. #12 Gonzalez
The third round of the top half of this quadrant was rather devoid of drama. Janko Tipsarevic, one of the more eccentric characters on tour, had many, many opportunities to take the first set from 3rd-seeded Andy Murray, but blew every one. Then, after losing the second set, the relatively unstable Tipsarevic decided that he’d had enough and retired. Radek Stepanek gave an effort, but just did not have the firepower to deal with up-and-coming star, Marin Cilic, the 13th seed.
Well, it is a good thing that we did not post our predictions for the Round of 16 because I am sure that I would have picked Cilic to upset Murray and move to the quarters. I was dead wrong. Murray handled Cilic with ease, winning in straight sets, continuing just an incredible turn in a career. When Murray was bounced in the Third Round of last year’s French Open, it looked like his career would be take the same frustrating path of Tim Henman–a lot of promise, but just not quite enough talent to live up to the large British expectations. But, since then, Murray has been absolutely incredible, including a quarterfinal finish at Wimbledon, a runner-up at the US Open, a Round of 16 in Australia, and now another quarterfinal (at least) here in Paris. Murray is on his way to being one of the more dominant players of the era.
The bottom half of this quadrant has played out very well for one guy–Fernando Gonzalez. Gonzalez, the 12-seed, swept through two qualifiers in the first two rounds. Then, in the Third Round, not only did he get to face unseeded Josselin Ouanna instead of 20th seed Marat Safin, but he got Ouanna less than 48 hours after he had to win an 18-game 5th set against Safin. So, he cruised through the exhausted, satisfied Frenchman into the Round of 16. He then avoided the very talented Frenchman, Gilles Simon, because he somehow got smoked by 30th-seeded Victor Hanescu. This is a very disappointing result for the highest-seeded Frenchman in the draw. There is no reason for Simon to come out so flat in the Third Round of his home country’s tournament. Very disappointing.
So, Gonzalez, instead of facing #7 Simon, a Frenchman in France, he got #30 Hanescu, a Romanian in France. Gonzalez, a natural on this surface, cruised past Hanescu 6-2 6-4 6-2, to set up the quarterfinal date with Murray.
As the only two players left that have not lost a set, Gonzalez and Murray are both well-rested and highly confident. Gonzalez is probably more comfortable on clay, but Murray is the better all-around player. This might be the best match of the quarterfinals, and it really is the toughest for me to pick.
BSB’s PICK: Murray in 4. I think if it goes 5, Gonzalez will win. But, I also think that Murray can take care of this match in 4. Yes, I am the one that would have picked against Murray in the Cilic match had I had the dedication to make a post, but I kind of think that, in some strange way, the Nadal loss may have given Murray even more incentive. As a guy who should win multiple Grand Slam events, this might be his best shot at a French Open title (hey, it’s EVERYONE’S best shot at a French Open title, so this is a highly-coveted trophy right now). I think it will be a fantastic match, but one in which the young Scot will prevail.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 2009 french open, andy murray, david ferrer, fernando gonzalez, fernando verdasco, gilles simon, janko tipsarevic, josselin ouanna, lleyton hewitt, marin cilic, nicolas almagro, nikolai davydenko, radek stepanek, rafael nadal, robin soderling, stanislas wawrinka, victor hanescu
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Tell Me I’m Crazy
Doogan, I like your thinking because I think going to get a pitcher should be the number one priority for the Phils right now, but tell me I’m crazy that I don’t want Jake Peavy–for several reasons. (For the record, I would love to acquire Roy Oswalt and I would back up the truck for Roy Halladay).
1). He has played his whole career in pitcher-friendly San Diego. He throws a lot of pitches and might struggle outside of that huge park
2). He makes a TON of money and will make even more if he gets traded because he’ll demand his options picked up through 2014, I believe. That goes against everything the Phillies believe in when it comes to pitchers and not giving them more than 3 years.
3). He would cost more than money–he would probably cost a combination of Marson, Carrasco, and Happ, if not all three. Right now, I think that one of the best offseason moves the Phillies have made was NOT trading Happ. He is making the minimum and under team control for 5 years–and, he looks Major League ready, if I’ve ever seen it.
4). And, this is most important and multi-faceted: I am VERY put off by how he is handling this whole thing, and I really struggle believing that this guy is the type of person you want on the mound in October, with the season on the line. Bear with me on this:
- He only wants to play in the National League. He says he loves to hit, but we all know that that is crap. He is a career .181 hitter. It seems obvious that he just doesn’t want to face 9-man lineups. I don’t want my “ace” scared of anything.
- He wants to avoid a “Big Market.” Again, scared of criticism? Do we want another Scott Rolen? I sure don’t.
- He is terrified of a hitter’s park. He even said this about our own Bank: “That new Philadelphia park might be the worst in baseball.” And, he went on to accentuate that statement by ripping one of our own Phillies: “Look at Shane Victorino. I love Vic to death. He’s a great baseball player. He’s got 11 or 12 home runs [already]. He’s not a 20-homer guy.” Now, whether or not you agree with Jake on this or not (I personally don’t), isn’t there something to be said for a guy who doesn’t care about the park and just goes to get guys out? That’s what I want.
- Finally–and trust me, I TOTALLY understand the family thing–don’t you question a guy who has a shot at contending and doesn’t do it to stay with a bad team? I mean what are you playing for, Jake? What kind of professional competitor would veto a trade to a potential World Series team to stay in sunny San Diego and lose 100 games? Jake, you can stay there, for all I care. I hope the weather is nice.
Go ahead, tell me I’m crazy.
