"I'm not a home run hitter. I've just got good pop."

When we think of Ken Griffey, Jr., few things come to our minds before his impact and performances in the Home Run Derby over the years. In fact, when we think of the Home Run Derby, few people no one comes to mind before Junior.

 

So the basis here is simple: vote for Junior to put him in the Home Run Derby. Why? Four reasons.

1. Make the Derby more fun. While it will always be one of our favorite parts of All-Star Weekend, the Derby has recently lost a little of its luster. Every now and then, we get a Derby moment worth remembering (see: Hamilton, Josh), but we think that the average baseball fan would have a tough time listing off recent winners or performances. Also, after the first round, it's not uncommon to get bored of the Derby and just switch to a rerun of Seinfeld. If Griffey were in the Derby, there's no question that he would attract great fan interest and, for as long as he lasts, make the competition significantly more interesting.

2. Protect his place in Derby history. Griffey is the only guy to win the Derby more than once--and he did it three times (1994, '98, '99). Here's a list of total HRD home runs. Not sure we have much to worry about from several of these guys, but Ryan Howard (41) and Josh Hamilton (35) are definitely threats (and don't forget the immortal Bryce Harper!).

1. Ken Griffey, Jr. - 70
2. Jason Giambi - 67
3. Sammy Sosa - 65
4. Mark McGwire - 56
5. David Ortiz - 54
6. Albert Pujols - 50
7. Barry Bonds - 47
8. Bobby Abreu - 41
9. Ryan Howard - 41
10. Lance Berkman - 39

We realize that it's unlikely Griffey would smash 30+ bombs in the 2010 Derby. But we do think that, however many he hits, it will make his total significantly more out of reach from his competition.

3. Because no one else wants to be in it. Well, sort of.  It is no well-kept secret that many players are weary of competing in the Derby. Whether it is because of the extra fatigue, the effect of the Derby on their swings, or their hesitancy to risk embarrassing themselves--competing in the Home Run Derby is not something that all players seem to yearn for. This was perhaps best displayed in the 2009 Derby when it seemed as if almost every All-Star Game participant was given an open invitation to join the Derby (Mark Teixeira, Torii Hunter, and Justin Morneau were all known to have rejected invitations to join the competition).

4. Because he'd have a chance! Obviously, Griffey is not having a stellar season at the plate. While he certainly has other problems, chief among them may be his reduced bat speed. With a batting-practice pitcher out there, Junior would be able to regain his form and again, hit the long ball.  We think Grif has a good of a chance of any of the participants to win the Derby. We're tellin' you there's a chance!

So, as the MLB only allows for players in the All-Star Game to compete in the Home Run Derby, we think that you should vote for Junior to get him back home and into the Derby.

Vote for Junior

 

Hate being that guy who just re-posts his blog entries, but try to support the campaign and check out the blog at: http://vote24junior.blogspot.com/

"I'm not a home run hitter. I've just got good pop."

When we think of Ken Griffey, Jr., few things come to our minds before his impact and performances in the Home Run Derby over the years. In fact, when we think of the Home Run Derby, few people no one comes to mind before Junior.

 

So the basis here is simple: vote for Junior to put him in the Home Run Derby. Why? Four reasons.

1. Make the Derby more fun. While it will always be one of our favorite parts of All-Star Weekend, the Derby has recently lost a little of its luster. Every now and then, we get a Derby moment worth remembering (see: Hamilton, Josh), but we think that the average baseball fan would have a tough time listing off recent winners or performances. Also, after the first round, it's not uncommon to get bored of the Derby and just switch to a rerun of Seinfeld. If Griffey were in the Derby, there's no question that he would attract great fan interest and, for as long as he lasts, make the competition significantly more interesting.

2. Protect his place in Derby history. Griffey is the only guy to win the Derby more than once--and he did it three times (1994, '98, '99). Here's a list of total HRD home runs. Not sure we have much to worry about from several of these guys, but Ryan Howard (41) and Josh Hamilton (35) are definitely threats (and don't forget the immortal Bryce Harper!).

1. Ken Griffey, Jr. - 70
2. Jason Giambi - 67
3. Sammy Sosa - 65
4. Mark McGwire - 56
5. David Ortiz - 54
6. Albert Pujols - 50
7. Barry Bonds - 47
8. Bobby Abreu - 41
9. Ryan Howard - 41
10. Lance Berkman - 39

We realize that it's unlikely Griffey would smash 30+ bombs in the 2010 Derby. But we do think that, however many he hits, it will make his total significantly more out of reach from his competition.

3. Because no one else wants to be in it. Well, sort of.  It is no well-kept secret that many players are weary of competing in the Derby. Whether it is because of the extra fatigue, the effect of the Derby on their swings, or their hesitancy to risk embarrassing themselves--competing in the Home Run Derby is not something that all players seem to yearn for. This was perhaps best displayed in the 2009 Derby when it seemed as if almost every All-Star Game participant was given an open invitation to join the Derby (Mark Teixeira, Torii Hunter, and Justin Morneau were all known to have rejected invitations to join the competition).

4. Because he'd have a chance! Obviously, Griffey is not having a stellar season at the plate. While he certainly has other problems, chief among them may be his reduced bat speed. With a batting-practice pitcher out there, Junior would be able to regain his form and again, hit the long ball.  We think Grif has a good of a chance of any of the participants to win the Derby. We're tellin' you there's a chance!

So, as the MLB only allows for players in the All-Star Game to compete in the Home Run Derby, we think that you should vote for Junior to get him back home and into the Derby.

Vote for Junior

 

Hate being that guy who just re-posts his blog entries, but try to support the campaign and check out the blog at: http://vote24junior.blogspot.com/

[From the FanPosts: The earthquake was obviously a tragic event for everyone involved. As one of the blog managers for the only NBA team (I believe) to have a Haitian-born player I feel obligated to promote this to the front page. -ed.]

I think we all probably have a responsibility to help out a little, here.  Even if you can only give a little, please give.

Places you can give:

The Washington Post

Community Collection for Haiti

Dalembert Foundation

I also believe you can simply text the word 'Haiti' to the number 90999 and a 10 dollar charge will be added to your phone bill.

And here's a link to the Sportscenter interview with Sammy.

I realize that there isn't much left to say as most of us have already given our opinions on the ibanez/burrell situation.

but, I just wanted to note that even if the team was fully committed to getting Ibanez (as it looks like they were), it seems more and more likely that they still overpayed for him.  Even if he goes out, plays gold-glove defense, wins the MVP, and hits 50 homeruns, they still overpayed for him.  Even if he brings us another championship, they STILL overpayed for him.

 

It looks like abreu and the angels are closing in on a 1 year, 5.5ish contract.  i.e. half of what the phils are annually paying ibanez.

Here are the basic differences between Ibanez and Abreu:

-Abreu is a better defender

-Abreu has more speed

-Abreu is two years younger

 

Other than that, they are statistically REALLY similar.  I'm not saying that we should have signed bobby over ibanez (although, maybe we should have).  I'm just asking--if we were so set on getting Ibanez, why did we have to pay so much for him?

So obviously there are about 30,000 other reasons that we won, but I think the 30,001st might be how healthy we stayed this season.  I know we discussed this a little earlier in the season, but I feel like it's worth a mention now.

 

Just to warn you, this is highly unscientific.  Here is the list, in order, of how many players each ML team put on the DL (either the 15-day or the 60-day) this season.  I realize that this doesn't take into account how important the players were who got injured, how long they were out for, how much of a difference the injury made in their game while back on the field, and a lot of other stuff that is likely very important in analyzing this correctly.  BUT, I do think that it does a good job of representing how well this team stayed on the field.  I don't know how much I believe in chemistry or any of that stuff, but I do think that consistently having your best players in the game has got to help somewhere along the line.

Continue reading this post »

So if last night wasn't enough to convince you that Jamie Moyer should be enshrined in the Philadelphia-World-Series-Hall-of-Fame, there's more.  According to Ken Rosenthal (who talked to Ms. Jamie Moyer), throughout the game, J-Mo had a ridiculous virus that was causing some major sweating and diarrhea.

"It was so bad I had to change the sheets twice," Karen said. "He ruined two pillows. Our comforter is at the cleaners right now.

"I kept saying, 'Should we be calling the team? Should you maybe not be pitching? I don't know. It's only the game of your life."

Yes it was, and Karen said there was "never a doubt" that her husband would take the mound.

 

Anyway, here's to hoping Moyer is better in time for the parade.

 

here's the full story

I've thought about this for about 30 consecutive hours and still can't come up with anything that I'm happy about.  I know we discussed it a little bit in the comments section of an earlier post, but I thought I'd take another whack at it. 

I think 2 things about Moyer. 1) I really doubt that Cholly will take him out of the rotation. He's done so much good for the team this season, been really consistent, and has only had 2 bad (albeit terrible) starts in a row. 2) I'm not sure that this is such bad logic.

Two more things. 1) I really really really don't think we can start Cole on short rest. Now is not the time to experiment and I'm not sure we are that desperate (yet). 2) I understand that we could hypothetically start Myers 3 times, but I think that putting him in for game one means that Cole doesn't get to start again until game six.  And I don't like the idea of possibly not even seeing Cole two times in this series. Plus, more generally, I think we have to just plan on winning now--not later.

So here goes...

 

Gm 1 - Phillies @ American League - Wed, Oct 22 - HAMELS

Gm 2 - Phillies @ American League - Thu, Oct 23 - MYERS

Gm 3 - American League @ Phillies - Sat, Oct 25 - BLANTON

Gm 4 - American League @ Phillies - Sun, Oct 26 - MOYER

Gm 5 - American League @ Phillies - Mon, Oct 27 - HAMELS

Gm 6 - Phillies @ American League - Wed, Oct 29 - MYERS

Gm 7 - Phillies @ American League - Thu, Oct 30 - BLANTON

 

 

Yeah. Not too unexpected. Any better ideas, though?

I'm not sure whether or not he'll start tomorrow.  I imagine that he won't.  But, I think it would definitely be a step in the right direction for the offense.  With the exception of Ryno and Vic, the middle of our order is looking fairly pathetic this series.  I know sample size is small, and I know Coste hasn't been hitting well lately--but I also know that watching the Phils face CC Sabathia on Tuesday is the last thing that I want to do and we could use any kind of spark we could get.

So far this series:

Utley - 2/12 - 1bb
Howard - 2/8 - 4bb
Burrell - 0/8 - 2bb
Victorino - 4/10 - 1bb
Feliz - 2/12 - 1bb
Ruiz - 1/10 - 1bb

That's a line of:  .183/.286/.300

 

While not so much recently, Coste has also started a significant portion of Blanton's games, so I doubt the communication wouldn't be there.

 

So, my lineup for tomorrow would be:

Rollins, Werth, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Victorino, Coste, Feliz, Blanton

 

Something different, at least.

 

I'm really, really afraid of a game five.

Poll

Start Coste?

70%

Yes

12 votes

29%

No

5 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

 

As I'm sure you all know, The Bat got snubbed this year as an all-star.  However, there is still hope.  Vote for the final NL (and AL) spot!  Don't let David Wright get it! please!

Through Saturday:

Hart - .294/.333/.509 - 4 errors - 14 HR - 53 RBI - 43 Runs - 12 SB

Carlos Lee - .293/.341/.543 - 1 error - 19 HR - 66 RBI - 42 Runs - 4 SB

Rowand - .303/.367/.467 - 3 errors - 8 HR - 47 RBI - 40 Runs - 1 SB

Wright - .288/.385/.508  - 12 error - 16 HR - 66 RBI - 55 Runs - 9 SB

Burrell - .278/.411/.585 - 0 errors! - 21 HR - 53 RBI - 47 Runs - 0 SB

 

is this really even a debate?

VOTE:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080706&content_id=3076894&vkey=allstar2008&fext=.jsp

 

Continue reading this post »

okay okay okay... I'm just talking about fantasy baseball.  So, if that annoys you, please ignore.

 

I feel like there really isn't going to be a point this season where he has a higher fantasy value.  He's getting a lot of espn attention, people are excited about him (and hopefully that excitement would lead some people to believe he'll be a career .500 hitter), and he's putting up great numbers.

 

So, for someone lucky enough to draft him or pick him up off of the waiver wire, do you think it would be a good idea to deal him?  What would be a reasonable pull for him?  Do you think you could package him for a somewhat slumping super star (Cabrera, Howard...)?

 

Anyway, I really have no idea.  If anyone has thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

was it worth it?  I feel like there are five ways to look at this:

1) Lidge's worth as a closer

2) Myers' worth as a starter

3) Worth of Bruntlett

4) The cost of not having Bourn

5) Cost of not having Geary

 

So. 

Is  1+2+3 > 4+5?

 

 

I know its only 35 games in.  I know lidge has not had any opportunities to prove his worth in "clutch" situations.  I know that bourn is 25 and brad is 31.  I know that lidge is getting 6.4 mil and bourn is getting .4 mil.  Still though, it's hard not to love how this is turning out.

 

 

 

bonus question!

who has more hits, Ryan Howard or Micah Owings?

 

 

 

 

 

 

(okay, fine... but did you hesitate?)

 This is terrible news...  Seems like Jimmy could be out a lot longer than we originally thought.  Time to get used to Brunty? 

Is it unreasonable to ask Chase Utley to play both second AND short?  maybe we could work something out where he bats two times in the order, once from the left and once from the right side of the plate?  hmm...

that decision to use Rollins as a PH is just looking better and better...

 

 

Source: Jimmy Rollins Has Broken Bone in Ankle By Perry

A source has contacted OTR that Jimmy Rollins’ injury is more than just a sprained ankle. Jimmy Rollins actually has a broken bone in his ankle. On April 20th, Jimmy was placed on the 15 day DL for a sprained ankle, but he could stay on the DL longer than first anticipated.

The 2007 National League MVP has only played in 12 of the 21 games this year, but the Phillies have managed well without him. However, Rollins is a vital piece to this team if they have any chance of winning back-to-back National League East titles.

Continue reading this post »

Who knows if this will actually happen, but I think, at this point, if we get anything for Helms it would be a win.  By all accounts he seems like a good guy, so maybe a change of scenery would also do him well.

From SI.com

Dodgers-Phillies deal in works?

Posted: Sunday March 30, 2008 08:29AM ET

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti has been speaking to other clubs about possible trades, targeting players with short and inexpensive contracts for what they expect to be short-term replacement duty. They are believed to be interested in Philadelphia's Wes Helms. Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske is also reportedly on the market