SBNation.com User Blog: dannijd

Welcome Back Roy! Halladay activated, Sanches Optioned

dannijd — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:03:14 -0000

Welcome Back Roy! Halladay activated, Sanches Optioned

News we already knew: Doc is back!
And in news we did not know Brian Sanches has been outrighted to AAA.

The Gang's (almost) All Back, let the celebration begin!

Fish Food: Marlins 5, Phillies 4

dannijd — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 03:39:02 -0000

This was one of those games where everything started out promising. The weather was gorgeous, with Mother Nature atoning for her misbehavior the prior day, and the Phillies were getting timely situational hitting off of a pitcher who often confused them. Three runs had been scored on a Chooch-y ground out, a Rollins infield hit, and a Hunter Pence home run. And the Marlins had been held to a couple of singles (and most importantly off of the score board)... it was a third of the way through the game, and for Phillies fans, it could not get much better. But there were still six innings left... time for the fish to feed, and the Phillies bats to go quiet... and well, you know how that turns out.

In the top of the fourth, suddenly Hamels's pitches became Fish Food. First he fed a first pitch fastball to Hanley Ramirez, that Ramirez was more than happy to let a front row fan reel in, over the objections of Shane Victorino. Then, after frustrating Giancarlo Stanton, and giving up a single to Logan Morrison, Justin Ruggiano bit on another fastball, and while this ball stayed in the yard, Morrison scored and the game stood at 3-2.

Then came the top of the sixth. Omar Infante started the inning off by nibbling off an infield single. Then up came Hanley Ramirez, who, hungry for more runs, hit his second home run of the day to left field, putting the fish up 5-4. Hamels then managed three outs, including a pair of K's to end the inning, but it was too late. The lead had slipped away. The Marlins, still hungry for more, managed to tack on a vital insurance run in the seventh when, after Hamels fed a walk to the struggling Chris Coghlan, Jose Reyes feasted on Cole's final offering of the night, a cutter that he shot into the left field corner for a double. Marlins 5, Phillies 3.

At this point, the bullpennery began, and the Fish Feast ended. Chad Qualls came out and managed to induce a ground out from Omar Infante to end the Sixth. Schwimmer and Valdes would work an uneventful eighth and ninth for the obviously sated Marlins

Offensively, the Phillies worke up from their slumber in the eighth and ninth. After throwing only 77 pitches through seven, Nolasco gave up a triple to Jimmy Rollins to start off the seventh inning, then walked Juan Pierre before departing in favor of Steve Cicheck, whose day started out by facing Hunter Pence. After Juan Pierre stole second, Pence was up there with a pair of runners in scoring position, no outs, with shadows, and a difficult to see sidearm pitcher dogging his chances. Surprisingly, Pence managed to knock Rollins in on a Sac fly, moving the tying run to third with one out. Unfortunately, this is still the Phillies offense, and predictably, knocking one run in from third with less than 2 outs was the best they were going to do. Chooch struck out, flailing at a slider outside, and after Victorino worked a walk, Ty Wigginton flailed at a high slider.

And so they went to the bottom of the ninth. Polanco led it off with a single, and was replaced by pinch runner Mike Fontonot. Following a ~~bunt single~~ sacrifice bunt by Freddy Galvis, Brian Schneider and Jimmy Rollins came up to the plate, and both popped up, ending the game.

Something to Ponder

dannijd — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:43:05 -0000

While watching the Phillies the past couple of weeks has been painful, perhaps these trials are a lesson that will make thmem stronger, and (other than the 2009 Yankees), the World Series has been won by teams that have fought tough battles to get there- last year's Cardinals won the wild card on a wild final day of the season, the 2010 Giants won the West on the season's last day after chasing down the Padres,and the Phillies clinched the East in 2008 in the last weekend of the season. Maybe living through the tough stuff and finding ways to succeed gives these teams an edge that lets them face adversity when it happens in the post season knowing they can rise to the challengs. The Phillies teams that made it to the World Series were both .500 at this point after starting the season sub .500. This team will be fine!

Sixteen games have been played this season. At this time last season, Cleveland was leading the Central, while Detroit was two games below .500. The Reds would have won the Central, while the Cardinals were barely .500. And the Colorado Rockies were running away with the NL West. In fact, Had the season ended after the Phillies 16th game last season, the NLDS matchups would have been Rockies vs. Marlins and Phillies vs. Reds. Three of those teams finished sub-.500 last year. The AL matchups would have been been murkier (but closer to reality), with Cleveland winning the Central, either Anaheim or Texas taking the West (with a wildcard battle between the west loser and Kansas City), and the Yankees winning the East. While watching the Phillies the past couple of weeks has been painful, perhaps these trials are a lesson that will make thmem stronger, and (other than the 2009 Yankees), the World Series has been won by teams that have fought tough battles to get there- last year's Cardinals won the wild card on a wild final day of the season, the 2010 Giants won the West on the season's last day after chasing down the Padres,and the Phillies clinched the East in 2008 in the last weekend of the season. Maybe living through the tough stuff and finding ways to succeed gives these teams an edge that lets them face adversity when it happens in the post season knowing they can rise to the challengs. The Phillies teams that made it to the World Series were both .500 at this point after starting the season sub .500. This team will be fine!

More Sorta Baseball- Phillies @ Tigers

dannijd — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:05:42 -0000

More Sorta Baseball- Phillies @ Tigers

Discuss the game here!

A Game of Feet (and ankles)?!?

dannijd — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:48:20 -0000

It is often said that football is a game of inches... but I think in this NFL playoff's it has really been a game of feet (and ankles)...

The Broncos beat the Steelers in part because Ben Roethlisberger was less than fully effective due to a high ankle sprain.
The Ravens beat the Texans in part because they were facing T.J. Yates instead of Matt Schaub, whose season was lost to a Lisfranc Sprain in his right foot. Heck- the Patriots in some ways owe home field advantage to this injury!
The Patriots beat the Ravens because a ball off of the right foot of Billy Cundiff sailed wide of the mark.
The Patriots lost to the Giants in part because old "friend" Bernard Pollard continued his march of destruction and sprained Rob Gronkowski's ankle.
In good news, at least the Patriots conducted themselves with pride and did not put any feet in their mouth this year!

It is often said that football is a game of inches... but I think in this NFL playoff's it has really been a game of feet (and ankles)...

The Broncos beat the Steelers in part because Ben Roethlisberger was less than fully effective due to a high ankle sprain.
The Ravens beat the Texans in part because they were facing T.J. Yates instead of Matt Schaub, whose season was lost to a Lisfranc Sprain in his right foot. Heck- the Patriots in some ways owe home field advantage to this injury!
The Patriots beat the Ravens because a ball off of the right foot of Billy Cundiff sailed wide of the mark.
The Patriots lost to the Giants in part because old "friend" Bernard Pollard continued his march of destruction and sprained Rob Gronkowski's ankle.
In good news, at least the Patriots conducted themselves with pride and did not put any feet in their mouth this year!

Trade Brady?

dannijd — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:30:27 -0000

It has been suggested by some that it is time for Brady to go. After all, he is getting older, and his playoff performances of recent have not been what they used to be. Emotionally, this move just feels wrong. He is the face of the franchise, and of the NFL- like Peyton Manning in Indy, it is hard to see him in another team's uniform. But sentimentality and emotions do not win championships, and as every one of us has learned at one time or another, this organization is far from sentimental. So perhaps it is time for a bit of rationality- is it time for this franchise to embrace a re-build- offensively as well as defensively?

So I decided to look at numbers, as they are perhaps the easiest way to notice if perhaps Brady is losing his edge, either overall or against the league. With thanks to football reference, the below are Brady's vital statistics.

Brady through the years (rank among other starters in parenthesis):

Year	Comp.	Attempts	Completion Percentage	Yards	TDs	Int.'s	Rating	Sacks
2001	264	413	63.9% (4th)	2843 (22nd)	18 (13th)	12 (23rd)	86.5 (6th)	41 (6th)
2002	373	601	62.1% (8th)	3764 (6th)	28 (1st)	14 (17th)	85.7 (9th)	31 (12th)
2003	317	527	60.2% (13th)	3620 (6th)	23 (10th)	12 (23rd)	85.9 (10th)	32 (10th)
2004	288	474	60.8% (17th)	3692 (10th)	28 (6th)	14 (12th)	92.6 (9th)	26 (19th)
2005	334	530	63.0% (8th)	4110 (1st)	26 (3rd)	14 (7th)	92.3 (6th)	26 (16th)
2006	319	516	61.8% (13th)	3529 (7th)	24 (5th)	12 (19th)	87.9 (9th)	26 (15th)
2007	398	578	68.9% (1st)	4806 (1st)	50 (1st)	8 (28th)	117.2 (1st)	21 (19th)
2009	371	565	65.7% (7th)	4395 (5th)	28 (6th)	13 (15th)	96.2 (9th)	16 (32nd)
2010	324	492	65.9% (4th)	3900 (8th)	36 (1st)	4 (40th)	111.0 (1st)	25 (20th)
2011	401	611	65.6% (3rd)	5235 (2nd)	39 (4th)	12 (18th)	105.6 (3rd)	32 (13th)

Interesting among these numbers are that Brady's completion percentage, yardage totals, and touchdowns show that he is still essentially the same quarterback he has been since 2007, and is actually a BETTER quarterback than he was during the Super Bowl years. He is NOT yet showing signs of decline. The only number that is a bit concerning is the sack rate, which has been creeping back up from it's low of 16 in 2009. However, perhaps this uptick, while dangerous in the sense that he is getting hit more is actually a GOOD thing, as it shows that Brady is not intimidated by standing back there, and thus is letting the play develop and using his feet to an extent to allow him to extend the play. He will never be particularly mobile, but he wasn't that in the Super Bowl years (or even before- he actually holds a record for the slowest 40 ever at the combine for a quarterback!).

While others have suggested that Brady is no longer as good in the clutch, that the old, ice water in the veins that he used to have is no longer there, this argument does not truly hold water. Football is far too much of a team sport to blame any one player alone for a team's failures. And statistics "in the clutch" always rely on such small sample sizes as to be statistically irrelevant.

And so we come back to the question at the start of this article- is it time to trade Tom Brady? The answer is almost unilaterally no. While Ryan Mallet may be the future, this is not the situation that the Patriots had in 2002, where Brady had shown in 18 starts that he had stomething- we have never seen Mallet in a regular season game situation and there is nothing in his past history to suggest that he is going to turn out to be the better quarterback, and the team is not spending a meaningful amount of money on him. Further, the amount of value the Patriots would get back if they traded him is highly unlikely to give them back what they would lose in giving him up.

Championships are difficult to get to, let alone win- heck, once you get a ticket to the dance, the any given Sunday rule applies, and all that you can hope for is that the ball bounces your way that day. As much as Brady had a hand in the loss, he also still very much has an opportunity to play a part in a bright future for this team. To trade him now (absent an absolute king's ransom that would never be offered) would be foolish and short sighted.

Moneyball Book Club

dannijd — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:53:06 -0000

With the baseball season ended far sooner than any of us would have liked, the time has come for off season pursuits. For me, that includes reading. With the recent release of the movie Moneyball, my desire to read the book has been piqued (I generally try to read the book before watching the movie.) I have done online book clubs in the past, and loved the opportunity to discuss what I was reading with others. I was wondering if anyone else would like to do a book club to read Moneyball. If you are interested, please post in the comments. I hope to see a lot of you there!

Football Book Help

dannijd — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:39:21 -0000

Good Afternoon all- I have a bunch of Borders Gift Cards from Christmas that I need to use before Borders liquidates, but for once my booklist is incredibly short (read almost empty), so I would like to know- what football books have you read and loved, or want to read? They can be about the Patriots, or football in general- not very picky here! Alternately, are there any books on other topics that you have read and just loved? Thanks in advance for helping!

Baseball Book Reccomendations?

dannijd — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:29:28 -0000

Good Afternoon all- I have a bunch of Borders Gift Cards from Christmas that I need to use before Borders liquidates, but for once my booklist is incredibly short (read almost empty), so I would like to know- what baseball books have you read and loved, or want to read? They can be about the Phillies, specific players, or the sport in general. Alternately, are there any books that you have read and just loved? Thanks in advance for helping!

kERA revisited- Phillies Starters and Volatility.

dannijd — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 21:49:23 -0000

Just a little bit volatile... via media.trb.com

This afternoon, Cliff Lee started July with a performance that was as ugly as his June was beautiful. When Lee imploded in the eighth, it was sudden and traumatic- 4 runs went on the board in the blink of an eye, turning a narrow lead into an almost sure defeat. This got me thinking about just how volatile Lee is- when he is good, he is amazing (as he was in June) when he is off, he falls apart just as spectacularly. He is in many ways the pitching equivalent of the little girl with the curl right on the center of her forehead.

Last June, David S. Cohen created the kERA, or Kendrick ERA stat in response to Kyle Kendrick's volatility- to that point in the season, he had been either very bad, or very good, with almost no in between. He developed this stat by taking the difference between the pitcher's ERA in the best half of his starts, and his ERA in the bottom half of his starts. At the time, the group thought was that the better the starter, the more a smaller kERA would be desireable, as for lesser pitchers, the volatility would make it so that some of their starts would still be very winnable.

With that in mind, I looked at the Phillies starters to see how their ERAs, kERAs, and win-loss records fit together. For the purposes of this writing, I looked at every Phillies pitcher to start a game (with the obvious small sample size warnings for pitchers not named Hamels, Halladay or Lee). The results are after the jump.

Just a little bit volatile... via media.trb.com

Pitcher	Starts	Overall ERA	Good Starts	Bad Starts	kERA	Record	Team Record in his starts
Roy Halladay	18	2.44	1.03	3.92	2.89	11-3	15-3
Cliff Lee	18	2.92	0.50	5.86	5.36	9-6	11-7
Cole Hamels	17	2.41	0.70	4.42	3.71	9-4	11-6
Roy Oswalt	13	3.79	1.85	6.40	4.55	4-6	5-8
Vance Worley	7	2.29 (2.61)*	0.61	5.34	4.73	3-1	5-2
Joe Blanton	6	5.50	2.45	8.80	6.35	1-2	3-3
Kyle Kendrick	6	3.81 (4.80)*	0.60	9.00	8.40	2-2	3-3

* Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick's overall ERAs include relief innings. Their ERAs as starters are indicated in parenthesis.

Unsurprisingly, Cliff Lee had the largest kERA among the four aces, almost a run higher than Roy Oswalt's. At his best, he has been the best pitcher on the team in terms of runs allowed, allowing half as many as Roy Halladay. But taking only his worst starts into account, his 5.63 ERA would tie him with J.A. Happ at 61st of 62 NL qualifiers.

More amazing, however, was Roy Halladay- while he has not had the eye-popping games Lee has (no complete game shutouts, and a higher average for his good starts), his bad starts still average up to be only slightly below league average. This is what makes him the ace of this team- his dependability. He was only truly awful once (and that was aided by a stellar relief performance by David Herndon).

While evaluating the three aces on this team is a very small sample size, it seems that for aces, unlike their lower in the rotation counterparts, consistency brings better results.

Shane Victorino Activated, John Mayberry Jr. optioned

dannijd — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:00:53 -0000

Shane Victorino Activated, John Mayberry Jr. optioned

Per the Phillies Twitterbeat: The Phillies have activated Center Fielder Shane Victorino. To make room, John Mayberry Jr. Has been optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley. Rant below.

Mike Zagurski Recalled

dannijd — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:25:09 -0000

Mike Zagurski Recalled

Per the Phillies beat writers. The Phillies have recalled left handed reliever Mike Zagurski to take Vance Worley's spot on the Phillies roster. No word yet on who will be taking Blanton's spot in the rotation.

Vance Worley Optioned to Lehigh Valley

dannijd — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:37:39 -0000

Vance Worley Optioned to Lehigh Valley

Per CNN Philly and Todd Zolecki. The Phillies optioned RHP Vance Worley to Lehigh Valley following today's game against the Nationals. This came one day after Worley allowed thirteen hits and eight runs (five earned) in only three innings. The move is intended to allow Worley to gain endurance and work on a secondary pitch. A corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow.

With Worley back in Lehigh, the Phillies have a couple of options for a fifth starter. They could go with spot starts from Kyle Kendrick out of the bullpen or they could use the off days to go without a fifth starter until June 8 against the Dodgers.

Happy Pete Signs with the Camden Riversharks

dannijd — Fri, 13 May 2011 22:57:32 -0000

Happy Pete Signs with the Camden Riversharks

Former Phillies Third Baseman Pedro Feliz has signed a contract with the Camden Riversharks. The 36 year old Feliz played last year for the Astros and Cardinals. He signed with the Royals last off season but was released when it became clear he would not make the team.

Welcome Back Chooch!!!!!

dannijd — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:39:56 -0000

Welcome Back Chooch!!!!!

The Phillies have activated Starting catcher Carlos Ruiz from the disabled list. He has been replaced on the DL by back up catcher Brian Schneider.

He's Alive- Chase Utley to rehab at Class A Clearwater

dannijd — Tue, 10 May 2011 17:00:00 -0000

He's Alive- Chase Utley to rehab at Class A Clearwater

Per Matt Gelb and the Phillies beatwriters, Chase Utley has been assigned to rehab at Class A Clearwater, beginning today. This officially starts the clock for Utley's return, which must be made within 20 days of beginning a rehab assignment.

Romero Activated from DL, Herndon Optioned to Lehigh

dannijd — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:56:03 -0000

Romero Activated from DL, Herndon Optioned to Lehigh

The Phillies have activated lefty reliever J.C. Romero from the 15 day disabled list. To make room, struggling reliever David Herndon has been optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley.

Joe Blanton to DL, Worley to Start tomorrow

dannijd — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 22:00:36 -0000

Joe Blanton to DL, Worley to Start tomorrow

Per Todd Zolecki, Joe Blanton has been placed on the disabled list with a "right medial impingement of the right elbow". Vance Worley has been recalled and will start in his place.

Two Games for the Price of 1! Phillies vs. Tigers AND Phillies @ Jays 3/26/11

dannijd — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:24:43 -0000

Two Games for the Price of 1! Phillies vs. Tigers AND Phillies @ Jays 3/26/11

On this final Saturday of Spring Training, we join a pair of games in the first inning. It is scoreless behind Fierabend @ home, with Wilson Valdez leading off. Meanwhile in Dunedin, Kendrick and most of the regulars have already given up a run. Let's go Phillies!

Trade Chase Utley?!?

dannijd — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:44:27 -0000

Trade Chase Utley?!?

This morning's Metro suggests that it is time for the Phillies to trade Chase Utley before his value slips any further (considering that he is already a corpse, I guess they are concerned about rotting)...

Their trade suggestions were these gems:
Chase Utley, Joe Blanton, and Shane Victorino to the Rangers for Nelson Cruz, Michael Young (the rumor that never dies!), and cash (Polanco plays Second base).

Chase Utley to the Cardinals for our favorite former Supreme Court Justice and Trevor Miller.

And the most ludicrous of them all

Chase Utley to Kansas City for prospects.

Should the Phillies trade Chase Utley? If so, what could they hope to get back in such a deal?

News of the Undead- Polanco out at least two more days.

dannijd — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:35:23 -0000

News of the Undead- Polanco out at least two more days.

So maybe those reports of Peanuthead's demise were not so off target. He has yet to take batting practice since hyperextending his elbow on Tuesday and will not be playing in games for at least the next two days. Pete Orr will start in his place. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Fund for Cerebellar Research.

Pats still being punished for SpyGate?? Greg Easterbrook thinks so!

dannijd — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:49:16 -0000

Pats still being punished for SpyGate?? Greg Easterbrook thinks so!

I broke my "no reading about football" fast to peek at Tuesday Morning Quarterback today and found that the Pats were the leading story in Easterbrook's column. I know that it is a little far fetched to believe that some godly/ karmic force punishes for prior behavior (misunderstanding or not), but what does everyone think?

Phillies Release Spring Training Schedule

dannijd — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:49:02 -0000

Phillies Release Spring Training Schedule

The Philadelphia Phillies have released their Spring Training schedule, featuring a month of games beginning against the New York Yankees in Tampa and ending with two games in Philadelphia against the Pirates. The first Spring Training Game is February 26, 2011... only 114 days away!

Roy Halladay Wins Player's Choice Award!

dannijd — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:55:00 -0000

Roy Halladay Wins Player's Choice Award!

Award season has started early for Roy Halladay as he was named the National League winner of the Player's Choice Award for top hurler. Halladay won this award in the American League in 2003, the year that he won his Cy Young. May this be a sign of great things to come!

Polanco to Have Surgery Friday

dannijd — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:04:11 -0000

Polanco to Have Surgery Friday

Third Baseman Placido Polanco is scheduled to have surgery Friday to remove bone chips and repair the extensor tendon in his elbow. Typical recovery takes 8-10 weeks and Polanco is expected to be fully recovered in time for Spring Training.

Thanks for the Ride!

dannijd — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:42:13 -0000

via www.blogcdn.com

Sitting here today with the World Series tonight, and the Phillies not going for the first time in three years, I got to thinking back to all of the moments that made up this season, some were happy, others not so much, but all in all, a ride that I am glad that I got to take with all of you!

via www.blogcdn.com

This year as phans, we survived:

The trade of Cliff Lee
Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, and J.C. Romero starting the season on the disabled list.
Bad Kyle appearing early and often (although the offense did sometimes give him a bail out plan).
Jimmy Rollins straining his calf just prior to the home opener.
Over 100 starts by Juan Castro and Wilson Valdez
J.A. Happ joining the DL bandwagon.
Ryan Madson losing a fight with a metal chair (can I suggest steel toed cleets??)
Tasers
Slumpmas
Being one hit (more than once)
Being shutout swept by the Mets
Being swept by the Braves (while falling from first to third in the Division)
The monster under second base/ the mound/ the plate
Carlos Ruiz going on the DL
Chase Utley and Placido Polanco going on the DL in one fell swoop.
Cerberezhttp://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/497209/cerberus_medium.jpg
Offense, offense, where are you?
Over half a season with at least one member of the bullpen on the DL
Getting to know Paul Hoover and Dane Sardinha far better than anyone would want.
Going 2-6 to start the second half
Goodbye Moyer (is it forever?)
Cole Hamels getting no run support
Good-bye Happ :(
Ryan Howard completing the infield sweep of the disabled list.
Being swept by the Astros
Going the entire season without the starting pitching rotation planned for in Spring Training.
152 games without the opening day starting lineup on the field.
Danys Baez
The big bats coming up small far too many times.
Getting shut out waaaaay too many times.
Losing the home finale.
A Juan Uribe sac fly heartbreak loss
A season ending K

But all of this was worth it for all of the wonderful moments the team gave us this year:

Roy Halladay joining the team with a contract that will keep him here for the next three years.
So many Phillies phans at Nationals Park for opening day that it became Citizen's Bank Park South.
Placido Polanco's opening day grand slam.
Sweeping the Astros in Houston (and beating a future teammate in Halladay's first complete game of the year).
Complete game shutouts, particularly one by Jamie Moyer v. the Braves, the oldest pitcher ever to pitch one.
Good Kyle's appearances
A welcome back walk off home run for Jimmy Rollins.
A first major league home run for Dane Sardinha
A nail biter sweep of the Reds that included:
- Welcoming back Ryan Madson with a blown save, followed by Brad Lidge blowing a save.
- Brian Schneider going from goat to hero as he atoned for a run scoring passed ball with a walkoff home run.
- A six run ninth inning featuring multi-run home runs for two Phillies reserves. Ryan Howard (who had told Manuel when they were down by five in the sixth that they could win it if the bullpen held) walked off with a two run home run in the tenth.
- Welcoming back Carlos Ruiz with a perfecto breaking double, followed by scoring the winning run in extras.
- Cole Hamels managing to work his way out of a bases loaded, no out mess without giving up a run.
A one hitter by Hamels and the bullpen leading to a win that turned the season around. Placido Polanco broke up the zero-zero tie with a home run. It was his first in over a month and his last of the year.
1-0 wins (who needs offense- pitching, we gots it!)
Following up losing six of seven with winning eight in a row.
Your 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, now with 100% more Roy.
Welcome Mike Sweeney and thanks for the hugs!
Welcoming back Shane Victorino with a pinch hit walk!
Jonathan Broxton is owned by Carlos Ruiz.
Welcome back Chase!
Welcome back Ryan- our in field is back together!
Roy Oswalt, left fielder- his joyful attitude and willingness to do what it takes to help the team won over fans... and helped to take some of the sting out of a 16 inning loss.
A six win seven game west coast swing that featured
- A Jimmy Rollins matrix slide to beat the Padres in extras.
- A Mike Sweeney homer (Hugs!)
- Cole FINALLY getting a win!
- More Broxton p'ownage.
- A Chase Utley grand slam providing the margin of victory over the Rockies
Phinally back in Phirst as Madson saves the game!
Sweeping the Nationals as Werth walks off!
Sweeping the Braves at home.
The season coming full circle with the Phillies clinching at Washington with Roy Halladay on the mound on a rainy September night and enough Phillies phans in the audience to turn Nationals Park into Citizens Bank Park South.
A two homer night for Ben Francisco.
Celebrating Bobby Cox Day in Atlanta by beating the Braves!
For the first time in Phillies history, the best record in baseball.
Halladay's no hit wonder of a playoff debut- not only would Roy register the second no-hitter in post season history, but he would beat the Reds by himself in hits, runs, and RBIs.
A Cole Hamels complete game shutout gem to give the Phillies their first ever post season sweep.
Oswalt's NLCS slide into the plate.
Halladay's gritty game five performance.

Share your favorite, and least favorite memories from the season here!

via media.lehighvalleylive.com

Can an Injury be an Asset?

dannijd — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:53:05 -0000

via www.csnphilly.com

Roy Halladay, for all of his talent had never beaten the Giants. While he had not seen them often, the team tended to hit him hard, and going into Game Five of the NLCS, had never allowed less than four runs in any start against them. In two games this year, his line was as follows:

14 IP 18 H 9 R 9 ER 0 BB 12 K 3 HR

In the first inning of Game 6, Halladay looked to be in for more of the same. Halladay had allowed a walk and a single, along with an RBI ground out. His pitching was so off that there was a first inning coaching visit to the mound. Over the course of the game, though, the Giants were not able to hit him hard. No home runs were scored that night, with the hardest hit balls being a pair of back to back doubles in the fourth. Watching from home, Halladay did not look like his usual crisp self, and it later came out that he had pulled his groin in the second inning of the game (ironically trying to strike out Cody Ross). Unable to launch off of his plant foot as he normally would, his pitch selection was forced to change. Gone was his sinking fastball, as Halladay was forced to stick to breaking pitches- beating the Giants with a combination of curve balls, cutters, and change ups. He gutted it out through six clearly labored innings before being lifted, giving up only one more run, and getting the Phillies what they needed- a Game Five win. The natural thinking is to believe that this injury was a hinderance, and to wonder what type of game he would have put together had he not been hurt. But could this actually go the other way? Could pitching without a fastball actually have given him an advantage?

via www.csnphilly.com

14 IP 18 H 9 R 9 ER 0 BB 12 K 3 HR

The Regular Season Meeting

The first time Halladay faced the Giants, thirty-eight percent (40 of 105) of his pitches were fastballs, either four (24) or two seam (16). The remaining pitches were 22 change ups, 18 curveballs, and 19 cutters. These pitches pounded the strike zone, as shown here:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

More important than just the mix of pitches, however, was how those pitches were handled by the Giants batters. Of the pitches that Giants batters hit, 60% were off of fast balls. These hits included one homerun, two doubles and two singles. The remaining hits came off of cutters (two singles and a double) and one single off of a curveball.

NLCS Game One

This trend continued itself in Game One of the NLCS. Halladay threw fastballs thirty-six percent of the time (38 fastballs- 14 four seam and 24 two seam), along with nine change ups, nineteen curveballs, and thirty-nine cutters. While he favored the cutter over other breaking pitches, the Giants saw about the same percentage of fastballs. These pitches again pounded the strike zone, as shown here:

via www.brooksbaseball.net

The hits showed a striking trend, though- all came off of fastballs or cutters, with all of the power hitting (two home runs and two doubles) coming off of the fastball.

NLCS Game Five:

The pitch choices and locations changed significantly in Game 5 of the NLCS, Of 108 pitches thrown that night, only 17% (18 pitches- 6 four seam and 12 2 seam) were fastballs. In lieu of fastballs, Halladay threw 49 cutters, 22 change ups, and 22 curveballs. Further complicating things, only half of his fastballs landed in for strikes. His strike zone plot for the evening was more spread out, and he walked the lead off batter twice, a very unfamiliar occurrence for him.

via www.brooksbaseball.net

However, the proportionality of the pitches is important here. Six of Halladay's fastballs came in the first inning, with four of them being called balls. The first inning hit, a single, came on a cutter, with the RBI fielder's choice coming on a fastball. In the second inning, where the injury occurred, Halladay threw only one fastball, which was fouled off by Pablo Sandoval. Fastballs were almost his undoing in the fourth, when he pitched three of them to Pat Burrell and Cody Ross, leading to a pair of doubles, scoring one run. The remaining hits, all singles and mostly on the ground came on cutters, changeups, and curves.

This leads to an interesting potential conclusion- against this team, he may have fared better because he could not throw his fastball consistently for strikes. Without the fastball, and with more pitches falling outside of the zone, the Giants made far weaker contact, and mostly on the ground, reducing both the total number and strength of the hits. Thus, while an injury is the last thing you ever want to see happen, it may have actually been an asset here- forcing different pitches to be chosen and preventing Halladay from pounding the strike zone in the way that he usually does, allowing him to win in a new and unexpected way.

Quick Request

dannijd — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 21:15:22 -0000

After last night's game, I am trying to find a way to look at games pitch by pitch- specifically the pitch type (and result) for each pitch thrown by a pitcher in a given night. I know that it is possible to do this by going into Game Day on a regular computer, but I do a lot of my research on my iPhone while travelling, and full scale Game Day is flash enabled, making it a no go. Any help that y'all can give me would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

The Last At Bat

dannijd — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 04:03:09 -0000

via isportacus.com

After Saturday night's game, phrozen asked in the post game threads whether Shane Victorino had made the last out in a high number of games. I thought that Werth had a lot of these final outs, as I remembered him striking out to end the game a number of times earlier this year. That got me thinking, so I looked through this season to find out who had the most last outs, and whether it was possible that either recent, or more memorable (read close) games somehow skewed perception. So who made the largest number of final outs for the Phillies this year. The answer is not who you think, as you will see after the break

via isportacus.com

So who made the most final outs? To determine this, I looked at every game the Phillies have played in the 2010 regular and post season to date, both wins and losses. I also broke out two specific circumstances- losses where the Phillies had the tying or go ahead run on base or at the plate at the time of the last out (memorable) and games since September first (recency). The results surprised me:

Player	Final Outs	Close Losses	Since September 1
Raul Ibanez	21	1	2
Shane Victorino	19	5	4
Jayson Werth	16	3	3
Placido Polanco	15	1	7
Ryan Howard	13	2	1
Chase Utley	12	0	4
Carlos Ruiz	10	2	3
Jimmy Rollins	9	1	2
Wilson Valdez	9	0	2
Greg Dobbs	7	1	1
Ross Gload	5	0	2
Juan Castro	5	0	0
Ben Francisco	4	1	0
Dane Sardinha	3	0	0
Domonic Brown	2	2	0
Brian Bocock	2	0	2
Cody Ransom	2	0	0
Roy Oswalt	1	1	0
Cole Hamels	1	0	0
Ryan Madson	1	0	0
Brian Schneider	1	0	0
Mike Sweeney	1	0	0

As you can see, both phrozen and I were wrong, but selection bias, combined with the small difference between memory and actuality (particularly for Victorino) explains the fault in our memory. While Ibanez has the most final outs, he was only the final out in one close game and only a pair of games since September 1, causing his final outs to be far less memorable.

When writing this, I had expected most of the first outs to come from batters in the top half of the order, and was thus a little surprised to see Ibanez with the lead. But upon further review, the presence of Ibanez, Victorino, and Werth at the top of the list makes sense- the three of them had the most starts of anyone on the team this year, thus giving them more opportunities to make the final out.

Welcome Back Chase! Pictures from Tuesday's Game

dannijd — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 04:40:32 -0000

Welcome Back Chase! Pictures from Tuesday's Game

My flickr stream from Tuesday night's game- The Phillies won, Chase was back, and I had a blast!