FRANCHISE RECORD 102 WINS! CONGRATULATIONS PHILLIES 2011 CLUB!

NOW MAKE IT COUNT PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Oh 1976, oh how I do remember you. The emergence of the Mike Schmidt/Lefty Carlton powerhouse team that won 101 games and rolled into the NL Playoffs. Only to get rolled by the Reds in 3 games!

Oh 1977, oh how I do remember you. The reemergence of the Schmitty/Carlton team that won 101 games and rolled into the NL Playoffs. Only to get rolled by the Dodgers 3 games to 1!

So here we are in 2011, granted with probably a better team on paper, certainly the best starting rotation this city has ever been close to seeing and we are watching a team with 102 wins and a hungry and capable St Louis Cardinals team ready to knock them out! I guess we will see what happens starting Saturday.

AND WHO ISN’T JACKED FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!? And yes there are some of us who, being from the Philadelphia area are a little jittery that a collapse is possible if not looming. But let’s face it this team has the potential to pull a Big Red Machine style romp if everything falls  into place and the boys tap out their potential. They are that good and all the teams remaining know it.

Game 162, better known as win 102 was pretty eventful too. First of all it featured a Joe Blanton start which let’s be honest we all chuckle a little whenever Joe Dough takes the mound. And give the man credit he wants to pitch in the Post Season. Which may not be a bad thing even if it does gives us heartburn. He too is capable of good stuff. “There I said it Joe, are you happy now?”

It also featured the first time Cole Hamels appeared in relief. Obviously to give him just enough work to stay in a rhythm. Ironically he pitched the worst of all 9,000, well actually it was 9 Phillies pitchers. All in all I have to applaud the Phillies for managing the staff but also going for the win in the spirit of baseball.

Congrats to Justin DeFratus for his first MLB WIN! A historic one at that!

Blanton had 4 K’s in 2 innings and Worley looked comfortable out of the pen. Aside from the 2 walks that is. Lidge, Madson, and Stutes looked fine. Heck even Schwimer, DeFratus, and Herndon looked good as the 9 combined for 15 Braves whiffs! Talk about a tomahawk chop!

Offensive wise it was not a stellar night but it was a playoff atmosphere and they scratched and clawed and did not concede defeat despite not coming through on most of their opportunities. And sometimes that is what you have to do to win.

WOOD REPORT:

• 11 Hits

• 9 Walks

• 2 for 12 with men in scoring position was where they struggled the most. That is their weak link most of the time.

• Rollins who has had like 8 hits in 3 games was hitless on Wednesday with a walk

• Utley who has suddenly warmed up a bit in the #2 hole had 2 hits, a sac fly RBI, and 2 walks

• Pence finshed strong also with 2 hits, 3 walks, and the game winning RBI. His 97th RBI of the year! Jayson who?

• Howard had a big RBI double to start the game and another hit before an early exit

• Mayberry played center and finished strong at 1st and had a hit and a walk

• Ibanez doubled and scored

• Ruiz had an RBI but no hits

• okay now for the pinch/fill in players – Martinez was 0 for 3

• Orr scored

• Valdez was 1 for 2

• Dom Brown sighting! 0 for 1

• Brandon Moss who I had hoped would do a little something was 0 for 1

• Victorino was 0 for 1

• Francisco walked

DEFENSE:

While this is apparently debated anyone who watches this team knows they play very good defense. Yes despite having had many games with role players filling in. Weds was a great example.

1. Chooch nails Michael Bourne at third trying to steal although he might have been safe. Regardless Chooch is money. He is playing Pudge Rodriguez level now.

2. Pence nails Uggla at home as all the outfielders have had some big time assists all year

3. Mayberry turns a big time DP from first to end the game with Rollins finishing it off to Mayberry

Even the pitchers have all made some stellar plays with the leather all season. Overall whether you trust the #1 rating or not this team is among the best in defensive play. Some argue that the stats do not show plays that the fielders simply do not reach but what the stats do show is that you make the routine play consistently and that you must make an occasional great play also. You really are looking for an argument if you question the fielding percentage. No it does not mean everyone is Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson or Ozzie Smith but it is a mark of reliability and consistency. It puts you in the top of the class. At some point whether you are the best or not is a moot point. A good defense is a good defense. At the point the Phillies are the reality is the pitching staff is very very confident in letting opponents put the ball into play knowing their defenders will probably make a play.

POST SEASON:

We will certainly go over that as well as dissect an amazing year!

St Louis blues? Seriously? If you win 102 games and have this kind of team anchored with this kind of rotation, who you play should not matter one iota. In fact you should welcome the best because in reality you have the ability to roll over anyone out there in the known universe. I mean do you think the Big Red Machine of the mid ’70′s cared who they played? Do you think the Yankees of the late ’90′s care you they played?

The fear comes in if you think that this team is more like the Braves of the ’90′s. All pitching and no offense. And the pitching numbers were padded by regular season opponents. In the Post Season Greg Maddux (11 – 14) was not that great in the Post Season nor was Tom Glavine (14 – 16). Smoltz (15 – 4) was money but he could not carry the team.

The Phillies horses thus far: Halladay (2 -1) has thrown a no hitter in the Post season. Cliff Lee (7 – 2) has been to back to back World Series. Cole Hamels (6 – 4) World Series MVP in 2008. Roy Oswalt (5 – 1) when healthy is one of the best Sept/Oct pitchers ever!

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!

I AM PROBABLY ALONE ON THIS BUT I AM APPALLED AT HOW SPORTS MEDIA, PHILLY MEDIA INCLUDED, RUNS NFL STORIES BEFORE MLB STORIES!

THURSDAY MORNING MY AORTA LITERALLY EXPLODED WHEN COMCAST SPORTSNET RAN THE EAGLES GETTING READY FOR THEIR FIRST IRRELEVANT GAME OVER THE PHILLIES AWESOME COMEBACK WIN ON WEDNESDAY!

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Look I reluctantly accept that the NFL is head and shoulders more popular than all other sports. I understand that the Eagles rule Philadelphia in a city where we are rabid fans to begin with. BUT WE PASSIONATELY LOVE OUR PHILLIES!

Especially this rendition of them! Especially after THEY WON FOR US! During the Super Bowl era the Phillies have 2 rings  and 5 World Series appearances compared to the Eagles 2 Super Bowl appearances and empty ring finger! That better count for something!

We can complain about both franchises for stupidity and lack of dedication at times but the Phillies have changed all that over the last decade. In fact I would dare say it is the Phillies “all in” management since say 2005 and the subsequent results that have pushed the Eagles ownership to step it up. They should get some extra love for that!

And seriously how bass ackwards are these decisions to air Eagles stories ahead of the Phillies? I mean it is a pre-season game that means absolutely nothing compared to an amazing comeback in an August baseball game that counts!

And on top of that do they really think that Eagles fans would have been offended that they had to sit through 2 minutes of an amazing Phillies story to wait for their Eagles fix? PA-LEEEEEEEEEEZE?

I personally am still seething that the Phillies got snubbed! In fact I am on a Comcast boycott! Sorry Burkey and crew! Whoever made this call just lost a loyal watcher. Yes you have done this before and I have begrudgingly tolerated it. But that stunt was the last straw. I admit I might miss Lisa Hillary or Amy Fadool and maybe Ricky BO but I will not sit for this deliberate dis of my team! The team that matters right now!

I will continue to support my man Barkann though! Daily News Live is exempt from my hunger strike!

The Eagles will still be here in November and hey if the moves are what they are being billed as they will matter then! In the meantime I am preparing for a World Series Parade and I could not care any less about the NFL right now. This is my NFL lock out you can say.

The only thing that would be better is if all of you joined me and turned a deaf ear to Sportsnet/Sportsnite for a while to send them a little message. It’s not like you can’t get your fill of all things NFL elsewhere, like ESPN for example who also puts the NFL first and foremost.

Okay so it may sound hypocritical but it is one thing to snub the MLB for the NFL it’s another thing to disrespect your own Championship baseball team that is in season for your own NFL team that hasn’t done a darn thing!

Well that’s my rant and again I realize that most of you disagree. Of course I suggest that you Bird Lovers seek treatment in rehab but that is another story! LOL

To yell at me andynatalie@yahoo.com

SECOND STRAIGHT NIGHT PHILLIES PILE UP A WHOPPING 4 HITS AND LIKE THE 5TH STRAIGHT START THEY IMPLODE AND HIBERNATE FOR COLE HAMELS

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LAST YEAR MILT THOMPSON GOT THE BOOT AS HITTING COACH FOR THIS GARBAGE IT’S TIME FOR GREG GROSS TO HIT THE ROAD NOW.

Hey it’s hard to blame a hitting coach but aside from pointing out fundamental flaws or issues the hitting coaches biggest job is motivation and getting professional hitters to be honest about their approach. Getting them to learn to be more disciplined and get their pitch. Getting them to use all fields and move runners ahead of looking for the monster hit.

Case in point. It was the 5th inning and the Phillies are down 2 to 1. Chase Utley was on first with 2 outs. Ryan Howard has a 3 and O count. The question was raised does he have the green light? My question was “why would you swing in this situation?” Seriously I know what Howard is capable of. But another base runner would put more pressure on the pitcher. He will be just as dangerous with a 3 and 1 count!

Now if your down 4 or 5 to 1 so be it …….

THE PHILLIES ARE IN ONE OF THEIR SCORING FRENZIES AS THEY TOUCH UP THE REDS FOR 10 RUNS IN THE BOOKEND GAMES OF THE 4 GAME SERIES!

UTLEY HITS HIS FIRST HR AND LEE HAS 3 RBI’S IN A 10 TO 4 GOOD BUDDY ROUTE!

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Last Thursday versus the Rockies we all chastised Charlie for pinch hitting Cliff Lee in an early exit for Kyle Kendrick. And little did we know that Cliff Lee is an RBI machine! Lee went 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI’s yesterday and he did a little nifty base running on top of it all!

Oh and he pitched a solid game too! Speaking of it was nice of him to go 8 innings and it was equally as cool that the Phillies had the timing of bringing a fresh arm in Contreras in to finish. After Wednesday’s 19 inning adventure none of the other arms were exactly fresh. And you don’t want to use Valdez too much since he is the “ace in the hole” secret weapon!

It is also appropriate to mention that Slumpdog Millionaire Raul “Burrell” Ibanez has been caliente as of late! I take full credit for that. Yes for ever since I have dubbed him Slumpdog Millionaire he has been sizzling. He homered again yesterday. Ironically off of a guy named Homer! Figure that one out.

So I am working on some kick in the butt nicknames for the other sloths in the line up. The Francisco Kid/The Francisco Treat being my first project! Clearly my calling him those names over his time here has not turned into results!

Little M&M aka Michael Martinez had a nice day speaking of hitters in the Slumpdog house. He is finally hitting .200! OOOOOOOOOH ALERT THE MEDIA! He needs a nickname! Dom Brown has a grace period. Mayberry is clearly not digging the Big John moniker! And I have called him RFD but that doesn’t even make that much sense other than the obvious connection. But maybe I will use it more and see what happens.

Now I am not saying that any of my “clever” quirky attempts at humor and word art is any good but I have to throw it out there and see what results from it right? At the end of the day I just love sharing my passion for baseball and hope you enjoy reading it!

Back to the game:

• 13 hits and 6 walks

• Martinez led off and went 2 for 4 with a double, 2 RBI’S, and he scored a run

• Dom Brown is seemingly getting comfy at the plate. He went 2 for 4 with a double, a walk, and a rub scored

• Utley struggled some but he did club his first HR

• Howard was 1 for 3 with a double, an RBI, 2 walks, and he scored

• Rauuuuuul aka Slumpdog, went 2 for 5 with a 3 run HR

• Mayberry had a hit, a walk, and he scored twice

• Ace Valdez went 1 for 5 and scored

• Sardinha was 1 for 2, with 2 walks, and he scored twice

• Cliff Lee was 2 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI’S

• A strong 6 for 14 with men in scoring position

• 6 RBI’s with 2 outs

SOME STATS: as of the end of games May 26, 2011

• RBI’S: 38 RBI’s for Ryan Howard makes him #2 in the NL,  Polanco is 20th with 27 RBI’s,  Ibanez has climbed to 26th with Ibanez, Francisco is 33rd with 23 ribbies

• HR’S: Howard has 11 for 4th place. The Leader has 14.  Ibanez, Victorino, and Francisco all have 6

• AVERAGE: Polanco is 5th with a .323 average

• OVERALL TEAM HITTING: Phillies are mired in 16th place with 204 runs and a team average of .248 – Ironically the Reds lead MLB hitting .260 and having scored 254 runs!

• Team ON BASE % = Phillies a not so impressive .316 – MLB leading Cards .357 – MLB average = .319

• PITCHING: Phillies #3 in ERA at 3.04

• Pitching wins: Halladay and Hamels among leaders with 6, LEE has 4, Oswalt has 3 and missed some starts

• Halladay ERA = 2.35 good for #6 in the NL, Hamels #14 with a 3.06 ERA, Lee #22 with a 3.50 ERA, Oswalt 2.77 but less starts

• Phillies have a +41 run differential – Yankees, Cardinals, and Indians have +51 to +53

NEXT STOP? CITI FIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On paper it does not look so bad but if you are watching you want to hurl at times!

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The Philadelphia Phillies are ranked 13th in all of Major League Baseball as an offense. They have scored 121 runs and are batting .250 as a team. The #1 offense is the Cardinals who have scored 154 runs and are hitting a sizzling .294 as a team.

The Phillies are 18 and 9 and the Cardinals are 16 and 13 however. Now one word of caution is the Phillies have played mostly garbage teams in this early 2011 campaign. Which also explains some of the 8 to 10 run games. However the Cardinals have not exactly played the Yankees and the Red Sox every week either.

The Phillies are a +31 in scoring runs as to the runs they have allowed. The Cardinals are a +36. Now it is a little surpising that the team ERA’s are not that much different. The Phillies staff has a team ERA of 3.07 and ranked #3 in all of MLB. The Cardinals are a suprising #7 with a 3.36 ERA!

In fact Philadelphia, Florida, Atlanta, and Washington are all in the TOP 10 of team ERA’s! Honestly the trend so far is pretty much no one is hitting the leather of the ball except the Cardinals. Not sure what to make of that however. Nor do I truly care at this point. My main concern is our Phillies and the games left.

Ultimately it is about the W’s. But there is always a concern when you enter the post season if you can’t score. WHY? Well you are now facing quality opponents everyday. And regardless of if you are pitching shut outs and 2 run games if you are not scoring the other team is also always in the game. Just look at 2010. The Giants won because the Phillies did not put them away. And the Giants scored enough to bite the Phillies in their rear end!

On the Sunday night game they showed the Phillies team decline in run production. They are averaging 4.6 runs a game. From years they averaged 5 or more not so long ago. But it is worse.

Last year they averaged 4.8 runs a game. But like this year these numbers are somewhat deceiving. The fact is they are a feast or famine offense. They will paste a few 10 run games up and then crawl into a hole for a 3 weeks scoring 1 to 3 runs a game. This has already been the case this year.

Now what the answer is no one really knows. A new hitting coach? Perhaps. A return of Utley? Time will tell. Better at bats? Definitely!

I know one thing for certain, each man to the individual needs to take personal responsibility for themselves and help one another as a line up. This means being stingy, working counts, hitting balls to all fields, running more, walking more, making contact and not swinging for the fences.

FOR NOW? Just beat up the NL EAST opponents you are facing one by one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For now you are relying on your staff which obviously is your strength but frankly that is what all teams rely on. And if you are not hitting you are negating the advantage you have to some degree. How’s that?

Well if Halladay pitches with is low 2 plus ERA and you gak it against the opposing pitcher, he too will post a low ERA against you! So in reality the game is a toss up at that point. The Phillies are making other teams pitching look as good as theirs!

Look you are not going to post 10 runs a game and you don’t have too. But you need to be around 5 runs a game and make sure that is more of an accurate average than the one extreme to the other routine.

ALERT THE MEDIA THE PHILLIES HIT 3 BOMBS AND SCORED 8 RUNS!

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Seriously though folks it was nice to see Cole Hamels get rewarded with some offensive support and the Phillies get a nice win.

Aside from Cole solid outing it was also nice to see J-Roll assert his presence and hit the ball hard. That reminds me sometimes I don’t understand why when switch hitters are having major difficulties with their swing from one side, why they don’t temporarily at times go ahead and hit on their dominant side to build some confidence why they tweak their weak side?

Back to Wednesday’s game. Which reminds me why do we spell Wednesday like this?

• 12 hits / 4 walks

• 8 Runs – 3 HR’S

• Victorino was a nice lead off like 2 for 5, an RBI, and scored twice – Shane got the scoring off right out of the gate, He also not a HR. Oh this one left the park!

• Polanco was down right sizzling going 4 for 5, with a double and he scored 3 times!

• Rollins had a coming out party of sorts, or at least we hope so. J-Roll goes 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s. Jimmy had a big double in the first and a HR in the 5th!

• Howard did not have a great day but popped a monster HR

• Francisco had 2 RBI’s from his double

• Mayberry started in left and was 1 for 3 with 2 walks

• Ruiz was 0 for 1 and left with some back troubles

• Schneider came in and went 0 for 3 with an RBI

• Valdez has seen his BA continue to dive as he went O for

• Hamels had a hit

• Ibanez whiffed as a pinch hitter

• 3 for 9 with men in scoring position is anemic again

SOME RANDOM TALK:

1. D-Backs starter Joe Saunders was a down right joke. He continually and repeatedly offered batting practice pitches and missing up and in on right handed hitting. Not to take away from the boys getting the job done but I was truly flabbergasted that the Diamondbacks sat there and watched him do this without any observable objections.

2. Polanco is a perfect 2 hole hitter and should give many a youngster out there plenty of inspiration and some practical lesson of hitting. Polly takes pitches and takes the hits available. He does not try and park everything or pull everything. He is a consummate pro! A very good 3rd baseman too for the same fundamental reasons. Frankly even some MLB hitters could learn from Polly.

3. I have no idea what Mayberry has in him but I am all for letting him play for Ibanez more. At least let him have lefties and Ibanez righties for now. If Raul gets hot you can adjust.

4. Phillies are 9 and 0 this season in daytime games

5. Hamels has been lights out on the road and forget about the day numbers, they are insane. HE should pitch everyday game! LOL

6. So far the Phillies have won every final game of the series

7. Bastardo gives up his first Earned run, a mistake that became a mammoth HR by D-Backs Chris Young

SIDE NEWS:

WE all hope that Roy Oswalt finds his family and community safe after the disastrous weather and subsequent tornado’s back in his home town!

This was delayed due to technical problems ………………

DOC HALLADAY: THE MAN FLAT OUT GETS IT. GUESS WHAT FOLKS HE IS NOT THE MOST GIFTED ATHLETE OR PITCHER. WHAT HE IS IS DEDICATED TO DOMINANCE AND TO GETTING THE JOB DONE NO MATTER WHAT!

SEE COMMENTS FOR FRIDAY BELOW ………………….

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Thursdays performance by Roy Halladay sums up many of my posts and my views toward playing sports. Effort must be infused with execution to truly be successful. For Halladay he claims his early failures and being sent down while in the Blue Jays organization put a taste in his of mouth. He swore to himself that would never happen again. He realized you only get 1 legacy and he was not going to waste on pitch or one moment. He even takes hitting seriously.

Yesterday he proved what I trying to explain in my “it’s all mental rants”. Look everyone makes mistakes when trying to repeat the same challenges over and over. Cy Young made mistakes. Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Greg Maddux, as well as Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Albert Pujols, and on and on. Yes the old “nobody is perfect” while overstated can also be used too much as an excuse. And Halladay proves this.

A great pitcher does not whine about not having his stuff nor does he complain about umpires not giving them calls they think they deserve. They do not get frustrated with anyone but themselves. And when things go bad they simple shrug off mistakes or failure as a mere setback and immediately re-group.

Take Thursday for example. He got into trouble here and there. But what does he do when he gets into trouble? He gathers himself and says to himself “this is going to stop here!” And 85% of the time it does. But 100% of the time he focuses on the task at hand and works with whatever pitches he has and trusts his catcher and challenges the hitter to hit “HIS STUFF”! You beat him, you beat him but he goes for the juggler and is not satisfied with just trying. For guys like Halladay effort is assumed, execution is what is the goal.

Too many other professionals still don’t get this. They simply work hard and try, and what happens simply happens in their mind. But in sports you have more of the outcome in your hands than you often admit or realize. That is why the great ones are better than them.

Another awesome aspect of having a Halladay is he also takes a personal responsibility in giving the bullpen a needed break. That is huge! And speaking of bullpen I must once again take this post to give Dang-us Baez his props! Yes Danys is in a groove right now. Early in the year it is but hey the man is looking good. I pray for the love of all that is good that he turns this into a big year! Of course you hope it is not just a matter of this being a contract year but hey if that is what it takes I’ve always been a believer in “1 year at a time”!

I mean some guys you know what you have but when it comes to role players you just got to take what you get and hope it is huge for that season or that moment. Remember Matt Stairs? In the end he was not that good but we got what we needed in the last couple months of 2008. Especially one awesome night in Los Angeles as his monster swat into the night made a historic moment!

And so now we hope Ben Francisco, Wilson Valdez, Mike Martinez, and John Mayberry take the opportunity they have to also put their name on the map or put their stamp on this team. As well as you hope Bastardo is ready now for prime time and Contreras can assume the closer role.

So far it is all working.

THURSDAY OFFENSE:

• 11 runs and 16 hits

• All starters get a hit

• Victorino, Polanco, Rollins all had 2 hits!

• Victorino adds an RBI

• Polanco has 4 RBI’s!

• Howard and Francisco both have hits

• Ibanez and Ruiz have one hit each and an RBI each

• Ibanez smacks a HR

• Valdez was the top “money earner” with 4 hits! 2 Doubles and 3 RBI’s!

• Halladay has a hit and is hitting .333 so far!

• Mayberry gets another pinch hit!

• 6 for 14 with men in scoring position

• Lead off man gets on in all 9 innings! THAT IS ENORMOUS!

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LEE DOESN”T HAVE AND NEVER GETS IT ……………………………..

Not much to say about the Friday lost other than it started off good.

Cliff Lee simply struggled all night and despite his determination he could not get his location under control. The damage was not as bad as it seemed but Charlie mercifully took him out.

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Lee (L, 1-1)	3.1	10	6	6	1	3	0	73-51	7.84
K Kendrick	1.2	1	0	0	1	0	0	23-14	1.80
A Bastardo	2.0	1	0	0	0	6	0	35-25	0.00
J Romero	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	19-11	3.00

All in all it was just a bad night for the Phillies. Part of the problem also was a misplayed ball by Victorino that was not deemed and error but was a ball that Shane catches 9 out of 10 times. Another problem was going 1 for 11 with men in scoring position!

Hey you could wonder if playing into the evening and then hopping on a plane adds to fatigue and a flat night but all in all this was a winnable game and the execution was just not there.

Some highlights:

• 2 hits by Victorinoand an RBI

• Polanco with a hit

• Howard drives in an early run

• Francisco with a 2 for 3 night and an RBI

• Ruiz has 2 hits

• Rollins, Victorino, and Francisco all get a steal

• Rollins actually helped an early run by beginning a steal of third on Francisco’s first AB. This pulled Chipper Jones to cover third and Ben used the empty space from Jones to turn it into a hit and run RBI! Kudos to J-Roll and Ben!

• Bullpen had a solid/very good night overall! Kendrick, Bastardo, and Romero kept the Phillies within the 3 runs for 4 and 2/3 innings!

Should we worry about the  4 ACE attack? Probably. The fact is our expectations are likely exaggerated. Maybe the gap on paper appears far more than it is!

Hey but we will still take it! It’s early people, it’s early!

THE WORST PART IS BLANTON HAS THE TALENT TO PITCH BETTER. BUT THE OFFENSE SAVES HIS BACON!

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PHILLIES offense came out of the gate and pounced on Pelfrey for 7 runs! Only to have Blanton to relinquish all 7 of them!

However the positive message was the O-FFENSE:

• 10 runs off 16 hits

• Victorino went 2 for 5 with a double and a triple. He scored twice and knocked in a run

• Polanco went a scorching 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s and a run scored

• J-ROLL had a cold night with an 0-for and a walk

• Howard continued his “Stick of Fire” routine going 4 for 4 with a walk and 2 RIBBIE’S. He scored 2 also. Oh yeah he had 2 doubles and a HR!

• Ibanez was solid with an RBI and going 2 for 5 while scoring a run

• The Ben Francisco Treat clobbered a HR, had an RBI, and a walk as he scored twice

• Pete Orr was a sizzling 2 for 3 and scored twice! Must be something about playing 2nd base!

• Brian Schneider was an 0-for

• Valdez came in for a couple at bats and went 0 for 2

• Mayberry had a pinch hit

• Joe Blanton was 1 for 1 and had 2 RBI’s  – that was the least he could do after blowing a 7 run lead!

• Gload was 0 for 1 pinch hitting

Pitching wise things got a lot brighter after the dim light of Blanton brought everyone down into the depths of despair.

It was nice to see actually after the Mets had stormed back into the game the bullpen clean up the mess that Blah Blah Blanton had made. Bastardo was especially sharp throwing 20 pitches and 17 of them strikes! Romero threw 7 strikes on 8 pitches and Madson threw 7 strikes on 10 pitches. Contreras notched his first save but he did have some control issues. But hey he got the job done clean.

Blanton continues to repeat the same bad habits he has had his entire career.  As I have said before I personally feel he does not condition himself for pitching. After 50 pitches his ball steadily rises and begins to flat line. Which is extra problematic for a guy who is a North to South thrower. For Blanton to be successful he needs to have his pitches go on a downward angle with occasional variations.

The Attendance continues to rock as the Phillies are like averaging 45,000 plus for every game!

THE CARDINAL SINS OR AS WE SAY THE COMMANDMENTS OF PITCHING ARE VERY SIMPLE:

• THOU SHALT NOT ALLOWETH LEAD OFF MAN ON!

• THOU SHALT NOT WALKETH THINE BATTER! [Except for the occasional strategic intentional walk]

• THOU MUST THROWETH STRIKES!

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And so it goes with the cream of the crop pitchers compared to the sputtering journeymen and bottom feeders of a staff. The great ones and above average ones obey the Commandments of Pitching!

Think about it. The reality is even Cy Young gave up his share of hits and HR’s. But if you don’t walk batters or put lead off men on the ERA is not going to explode. Face it the Joe Blanton’s of the pitching world usually get killed by an inning or two of breaking the Commandments. That is the biggest difference between a Blanton and a Halladay. No, really.

Look Halladay will give up hits and some HR’s but he will rarely get into trouble by shooting himself in the foot. Same with any big name pitcher you can name. For example Nolan Ryan had some years where his ERA was a little high because he had control issues. But the years where he threw strikes and his walks were down, he was premier. The reality is the great ones and the above average ones pound the strike zone!

Now it is true they also have precision and work the in/out and up/down of the strike zone and don’t groove the fat part of the plate with a sacrificial lamb pitch but that goes without saying doesn’t it? Any body that does that consistently is not going to make it in the MLB.

The bold reality if the matter is though big league hitters are going to get hits and pitchers are going to make mistakes. The worst thing a pitcher can do is make it easy for them or even worse give them a free pass!

Think about this. While many hate Barry Bonds let’s just consider an amazing part of his years of terror. Whether you think they were genuine or not aside. For all the HR’s and the gaudy average he often killed teams more by his walks. Look at the amount of times teams chose to walk him and got it shoved down there throat by the next batter or two! This is true of any player who walks a lot. Look at the runs scored by guys who draw many walks. They are usually not that far behind the lead off and 2 hole guy who are generally your run scorers!

And so if the Phillies staff can duplicate what they have done in the first 3 games we are in for an amazing year. 27 innings pitched and 3 walks! 1 of them intentional! Only one walk by the starters! The starters have actually beaned one more batter than walked, which by the way hitting a batter is not good but is collateral damage. It happens.

Now the fact that Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt did not walk hardly anybody is not a shock for it is consistent with their career. But if the bullpen can duplicate or follow their lead then the boys of relief will dramatically improve their chances of being a very good bullpen. For example many blown saves are significantly helped by walks or letting lead off guys to get on.

Now all of this may sound simple but evidently it is not that easy or not enough emphasis is placed on these principles because way too pitchers get too cute and show far more respect for hitters than needed. Look a great hitter goes 3 for 10 so why not use the odds advantage in your favor? Challenge the man with quality pitches. Use the outside portion of the plate, the full spectrum of the strike zone and get guys to chase the close ones.

Another major pitching tool is the mix or variance of pitch speed. What makes a 99 MPH effective? Having a 89 MPH curve ball and 85 MPH change up! Yes a lot of these young guys throw like 92 to 96 MPH fastballs and then throw 89 – 90 MPH off speed stuff. That is not enough of a variance. Movement helps but most of all what screws up a major league hitter is pitch location and messing up their timing.

And so there we have it. That is the secret recipe for great pitching and as a result it will result in less runs for the opponent and likely more wins for your team. And realistically I expect this from at least 3 of the 5 and a good chance from #4 Hamels as well as he matures. Blanton? That is why he drives us all crazy. He is talented enough to be a better pitcher but does not appear to have the mental fortitude to be disciplined enough to be precise nor does he appear to maintain the physical stamina needed to not be fatigued as the innings pile up.

BATTER UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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OUCH TOUGH BREAK FOR KYLE KENDRICK!

It was reported that his home in Washington state I believe was broken into and many items were stolen. Among them was some serious mementos of his career including his 2008 World Series ring and 2009 NL Championship ring. Other keepsakes related to his career like game jerseys and game balls. Hey they may be simple items but a lot of memories went with that stuff.

Hopefully someone will have a heart and somehow return the personal items.

OLD CHARLIE STOLE THE HANDLE AND THE TRAIN IT WON’T STOP GOING -

NO WAY TO SLOW DOWN ………………………

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YES IN THE SHUFFLING MADNESS RUBEN AND THE PHILLIES BRASS EXTEND MANUEL 2 MORE YEARS.

Anyone surprised? Other than the Charlie detractors I doubt it. I was pretty certain this would get done before the season began. Why would you not extend him? All the players like him and at the moment it is working regardless of whether you think he is a good manager or not.

Personally I have been on record as saying he is a solid to good manager. My only concern recently is that he is getting a little too HR dependent. Even Michael Jack Schmidt in a Spring training interview stated the Phillies do need to use “small ball”. They have the speed to do so. The knock is whether they have the situational hitting or hitters to do so. I think they do with Polanco, Ruiz, and even Utley and Howard.

OF NOTE:

• This Spring so far Ben Francisco was making the loudest noise in stating the “I want to play” agenda. Recently it has been John Mayberry. Ironically if both these guys could somehow rise to the occasion life would be grand!

• We all assume that Wilson Valdez is penciled in to play for the ailing Utley. And pencil is the key word. Josh Barfield has been getting a little time to showcase whether he could be considered. He has pedigree being the son of former MLB player Jesse Barfield but his playing time never materialized after some opportunity in San Diego. But who knows?

• With the Utley situation still unstable the search for who will bat 3rd and 5th continues to be a mystery to the rest of us.

• Speaking of contracts the upper management is working on an extension with Ruben Amaro.

• After some reflection of the Spring and the hand injury, Dom Brown decided he is no longer going to adjust his hand position. Originally it was intended to help him get a shorter swing and avoid some of the troubles swinging over balls inside. That is very important to left handed hitters who often get jammed inside. Frankly though he could move back in the box some when he returns to his old form to give himself a little bit of a head start. It might not seem like much but at this level a fraction of a second can be the difference hitting and missing.