SB Nation Blog: foos05

So... who's it gonna be???

foos05 — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:33:13 -0000

[Note by JasonB, 06/25/08 12:10 PM EDT ] promoted from fanposts

So, we’re in the darkest hour of the offseason here; where literally nothing is going on. I’m sure there’s some front office dealings that are happening behind closed doors, players are resting and working out (hopefully not being dragged through the streets of Vegas), and Andy and the staff are strategizing and trying to figure out what exactly they believe will yield the best results. But, for us, there’s really nothing going on right now. While OTAs are still fresh in our minds, and visions of approaching Training Camp surface, I thought it would be interesting to get some opinions of our offseason so far. Specifically, what offseason addition (draft, signing or trade) do you feel is going to fare the best? I’m going to leave how you evaluate your choice a little open ended. It could be the player you feel will compile the best stats, the player that you feel will revolutionize one of the three facets (offense, defense, or special teams), or the player that you feel is just an all around good pickup for how/where we got him, etc. I’ll make one request; don’t pick Asante. I say that simply because he is the obvious choice. My idea behind this is to get a real feel about what we think of the non-obvious choices here. (For argument’s sake, I will say that I feel Asante is the best answer here, as I’m sure most people do.)

An outsider's view...

foos05 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:16:47 -0000

I think the Mets organization is barking up the wrong tree here. Outside of a vew games, do you honestly think there would be a drastic differenece in your season if you started the year with somone else at the helm? I don't. Perhaps instead of just ousting the coaching staff, the Mets should review thier roster and see if they actually have the (healthy) talent that they THOUGHT they had. I'm going to say.... no. Out of the Mets entire roster, I'd take two guys. Wright and Santana... IMO everyone else is either often injured or a shadow of their former selves. I honestly think the Mets front office went into the season thinking that they had a better team than they actually did. How do you blame the Manager for players getting hurt, not hitting, loosing power, walking everyone, and blowing saves like it's going out of style. Are you telling me that if there was a different manager that they wouldn't have used Heilman, Wagner, Alou, Delgado, or Beltran the same way that Willie did (in most instances)? I doubt it. I know it's much easier to blame the manager when the right thing to do would be to open your eyes and see that maybe you just need better players... Good luck guys... Your next manager should last all of two months.

An old friend...

foos05 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:39:06 -0000

It seems that our old friend, light-hitting Nunez had his contract purchased my the Mets... Having a career year at AAA I see... .133 in 45 ABs. Good addition. Is it just me or is their roster slowly transforming into one of our old line-up cards... Chavez, Nunez, Anderson, Wagner... A few more pickups and they could have a starting 9. I'm sure Shawn Wooten and Marlon Byrd are running around somewhere.

A little off topic, but...

foos05 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:39:15 -0000

Well, we all know how much everyone (most people), that doesn't live in Mass., "loves" Boston's sports teams and their fans... I think I've definitely found a shining example of their fanbase and why everyone hates them. It involves the mound charge/ fight between the Red Sox and the Devil Rays last night. Sox & Dogs Now, the OP (and most of the commenters) put the fault on Coco Crisp for this melee (be still my heart), and rightfully so. But, scroll down and pay special attention starting at Comment 8. Wait for it... wait for it.... If "Random Hero" isn't a beacon of class, I don't know who is... You stay classy Boston. (and they say we're bad... pfft) No matter how poorly anyone on any of the Philly teams was doing, I would NOT revert to some display like that...

Also, have you guys heard of the letter that the may of LA sent to the mayor of Boston. Normally mayors make wagers over championships, like "If we win, you have to send us (local food item or whatever) and if you win we'll send you (one of our local food items or whatever)." Well the mayor of LA (and forgive me, I'm too lazy to look up names right now) sends a letter to Mayor Boston saying if Boston wins, LA will send them their best football team (the LA Avengers of the Arena League) and if LA wins, Boston has to send LA their best football team (the Pats). He concluded by telling Mayor Boston that if LA wins and they get the Pats, that Boston could keep the coach because they have one right down the street that still might even have some Pats gear he could wear... Now THAT'S funny.

Tough Road to ASB

foos05 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:56:06 -0000

I will have to preface this by saying I'm overjoyed that the Phils have spent more time in 1st place this year than they have pretty much in the past decade combined. That being said, we could have a tough road between now an the All Star Break. If we take a look at our schedule to this point and take into account the winning % of our opponents, we can get a weighted opponent's winning %, which is different than the overall opponent's winning % (out of 60 games, the more that are against worse teams, the easier the schedule), which gives us a kind of strenght of schedule to this point:

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	%	% Weighted by Games
Wash	6	24	35	0.407	2.441
NYM	6	29	28	0.509	3.053
Cin	6	28	31	0.475	2.847
Ari	4	32	27	0.542	2.169
Atl	3	31	28	0.525	1.576
Fla	3	31	26	0.544	1.632
Mil	2	31	28	0.525	1.051
SF	6	25	34	0.424	2.542
ChC	3	38	21	0.644	1.932
Hou	7	31	28	0.525	3.678
Pit	3	27	31	0.466	1.397
Col	5	21	38	0.356	1.780
SD	3	23	37	0.383	1.150
Tor	3	32	28	0.533	1.600
Total	60	403	420	0.490	28.848

		Opp. Weighted %			0.481

So, over our first 60 games (where we went 35 and 25), not only does our opposition have an overall record of .490, but they weighted % by the number of times we played them is slightly lower at .481, meaning we played the worst teams more often. So against a weighted schedule of .481, we were able to win about 58% of the time.

Now if we take a look at the remainder of the schedule between tonight's game against Cincy and the ASB, it's a little more difficult.

Team	Games	Wins	Losses	%	% Weighted by Games
Atl	6	31	28	0.525	3.153
StL	6	35	25	0.583	3.500
Bos	3	36	25	0.590	1.770
Fla	3	31	26	0.544	1.632
NYM	4	29	28	0.509	2.035
Tex	3	30	30	0.500	1.500
Ari	3	32	27	0.542	1.627
LAA	3	36	24	0.600	1.800
Oak	3	32	27	0.542	1.627
Cin	2	28	31	0.475	0.949
Total	36	320	271	0.541	19.593

		Opp. Weighted % Until ASB			0.544

So, if we take a look at the ramaining 36 games, our opponent's winning % has moved to .541 (a .051 increase), and a weighted % of .544 (a .063 increase). Notice over these 36 games, the weighted % is higher than just the total % (and we are playing the better teams more often so this makes sense).

It's a give that there are many other things that come into play (ie. injuries to key players like David Ortiz), but I'm just pointing out that the remainder of our schedule until the ASB will probably be much more difficult.

Oh Lord...

foos05 — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:10:33 -0000

Well you know GCobb had to get his .02 in about the whole Buzz vs. Bloggers stuff... Here you go... Okay, well the first few paragraphs are fine... Except there's nothing Earth-shattering in there, it's pretty much the same stuff every other blogger has been saying... Some of the criticism is legit, some isn't... He suggests that some of this is about jealousy... Yeah I can buy that... He also says alot of writers give the same kind of treatment to radio personalities... Eh, possibly... But let's see some of the highlights, eh?

I remember being in the Eagles lockeroom at the Vet and hearing the sportswriters go off about how there were too many erroneous reports.

You mean reporters don't like other reporters? Say it ain't so... Say it isn't so...

I hate to see somebody's reputation damaged by a fictitious story.

Should have said... "I hate to see somebody's reputation damaged by a fictitious story; especially mine."

For the most part, guys who are in the media are attention seekers and some don't like to share the attention.

Another revelation... Was your lead on this gem a burning bush by chance?

I do wish websites would just report and say ridiculous rumors. I try to develop sources with credibility and I'm not going to put something up that I know isn't true.

Ummm yeah well... I'm thinking the first part of this should say, "I do wish websites would just report and NOT say ridiculous rumors." I could be wrong though... And as for the second part... Which unattainable WR are we trading for this week buddy?

Thank you. Please drive through...

Pitching

foos05 — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:45:10 -0000

Well heading into last offseason, our major focus was pitching... So how'd we do overall? Closer - Lidge... hasn't blown a save or given up a earned run yet... sounds good to me. Bullpen in general - we're actually getting really good production out of our bullpen this year. Romero has performed well, Gordon continues to look sharp. Seanez is actually turning out to be a good pick up... Madson - ehhhh and Condrey not so much either... Hopefully along the lines we'll pull up another lefty and move Clay back down. Now, the starters... ugh... well let's just say it's not the best sign when Gordon and Romero have more wins than four of our starters. It's actually getting to the point where I'm comfortable in the 9th inning with a one run lead seeing Lidge come out, rather than, "Oh god please, let them hold on..." Also, my view used to be, "Well, if [insert starters' name] can go 6 or 7, hopefully we build up a decent lead and the bullpen only gives up a run or two and we hang on..." It's really getting to the point where my thinking is now, "Jesus, [starter], make it through 6, keep it close and give it to the pen. Let them actually stop the bleeding and let's get the bats going..."

I know this would look alot different if we were scoring earlier in the game, but we're not. I think overall, our starters need to shape up a little here... Any recent news on Benson?

Your next Dallas Cowgirl is....

foos05 — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:09:24 -0000

Chris Henry... well, I don't know it for sure, but I would put money on it. It seems that Mr. Henry went in front of a judge the other day to get permission to leave the state to meet with an undisclosed team. He needed to produce a letter from the team stating he was invited. The judge's reasoning was he is allowing him to travel to have the chance to find employement. Seriously, who else would be giving this clown a look? I think Jerry is building himself a compete set there... Tank, Pacman, and why not Henry... Jesus, throw TO in there and you have quite the character problem. Pretty soon, the Cowgirls are going to have the only team charter plane with bars on the friggin windows. I found the article at PFT....

Maybe Jerry should see if he can work out a way to spring Maruice Clarett from the pen... and once Vick gets released, 10 to 1 says he ends up on Jerry's doorstep; Day 1. Obviously he'd sign Satan if he could punt, pass, or catch.

Did I mention I hate GCobb???

foos05 — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:31:16 -0000

So between all of his bull shit in the past week and whining and now this article. He's pretty much not only given up on this season, but pretty much the franchise in all... what... an... ass.... before you start spouting off that this could be the end of an era in philly and blah blah blah blah... here's an idea... why don't we actually play some games this year eh? i know it's stupid to judge the team on small things such as, you know, the outcome of the season and all, but what do ya say, let's give it a shot! ass...

Click me

just for fun

foos05 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:28:02 -0000

Andy, and everyone else, is pretty much comparing Booker (who I like alot, I'm an FSU homer though), to B-West. Saying he can create the same type of matchup problems... anyone think of the possibility of having both him and b-west flank McNabb is shotgun, have Curtis, Brown and Jackson out wide, and then motion both Booker and B-West out, one to each side... good luck covering that shit...

just a thought