In fairness to Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee (why didn’t they yank him after Pujols led-off the barage with a monster shot?), Kendrick had been pretty good against St. Louis. His previous 5 starts against the Cardinals produced a 4-0, 1.67 ERA.
No matter. The Kyle Kendrick experiment is getting tired and it should be clear to everyone that he isn’t starter material on this team. Going into the season, I called for Kendrick to be the 5th starter over Jamie Moyer, a stance that looks pretty dumb right about now.
Jayson Stark at espn.com has a good piece today about baseball players with winning mentalities. He focuses on three guys: Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Chase Utley. Stark writes at length about Utley’s intensity and his correct approach to the game. For good measure, Charlie Manuel weighs in on the topic of Utley’s play. Not sure what else to say about the article, so read it yourself.
The NFL combine’s utter non-importance (it’s happening today) is similar to the first few days of spring training in the sense that nothing interesting is happening. That’s why you’re reading about Mike Zagurski. Charlie Manuel summed up this feeling of boredom and ennui well with this uber-nondynamic quote about Zagurski: “you watch him right now, he’s throwing real good.”
It turns out Charlie Manuel would have liked Cliff Lee to stay in Philadelphia. Just like in the case of his wife’s decision to buy expensive furniture, however, Charlie was powerless to stop the front office from shitting its pants. This isn’t exactly a shocking revelation but the fact that he said so publicly is a refreshing piece of honesty, regardless of how obvious that honesty is. It’s like the opposite of the lying nonsense put forth by Manuel’s boss, Ruben Amaro, on the matter. Yes, Ruben, we believe you that given the choice between “replenishing the farm system” and having the N.L.’s best rotation headlined by 2 Yankee killers, the former was a hotter priority. Or that the $9 million they saved by letting Lee go is being put to better use in the form of Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton.
Sure, the manager always wants to keep the star player because that makes his job easier. Charlie doesn’t have to worry about contracts or free agents; he just needs to fill out the lineup card and pat his guys on their butts (and even a circus clown knows that Cliff Lee’s services should have been retained). I would have liked Lee to be back but oh well, I guess I’ll have to settle for Jose Contreras.
And finally, news broke today that Matt Stairs is no longer a Phil. He’s signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, meaning that he’s now played for 11 major league teams in 18 seasons. Stairs’ departure means nothing to the Phillies from a performance perspective but he’s one of those guys fans love, precisely because of quotes like this one: “when you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys-there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”
The Phillies have released their promotional schedule for the upcoming season. The first dollar dog night will be May 3 against the Cardinals (it’s also Asian Pacific Celebration). Subsequent DDNs will be May 17 against the Pirates, June 7 against the Padres, July 5 against the Braves, September 6 against the Marlins and September 20 against the Braves.
Interestingly enough, Schedule Magnet Day will be September 26 against the Mets. That seems like a promotion that should take place earlier in the season than the last week. Other awesome giveaways are the Ryan Howard collectible tin on April 17 against the Marlins and IBEW Local 98 t-shirt day on September 5 against the Brewers.
It may seem hypocritical that we’re promoting hot dog eating and the Phillies on the same day as we celebrate Charlie Manuel’s weight loss but man, $1 for a full meal is hard to pass up.
Wing Bowl IX is just around the corner. This year’s orgy will celebrate fatness, drunkenness and the eternal desire to hang out in a strip club at 10 o’clock in the morning. Naturally, we’ll be doing something special for the event, probably on the order of having a tea party where we dine on finger sandwiches filled with speck and black trumpet mushrooms.
Wing Bowl gives us pause to think about the great tradition of obesity in this town. We’ve got cheesesteaks, pretzels, Tasty Kakes, temples of beer, the schmitter and Andy Reid. News is emerging, however, that at least one prominent Philadelphia sports icon, Charlie Manuel, is bucking the trend.
Thanks to a sensible diet, light exercise and a desire to remain alive, Manuel has dropped 59 pounds. The difference is amazing. The only down side is that his visits to the mound won’t be quite as entertaining but the trade-off seems to be worth it. Just when we thought we couldn’t like Uncle Chollie any more, he goes and does this. Kudos, Chas.
The only bird on the field yesterday at McAfee Stadium that flew with any pride was that pesky pidgeon. And as fans know by now, the Eagles being shown up by a flying rat is a slap in the face. Philadelphia fans got some good news later in the day when the real team in this town took a 2-1 series lead on the Dodgers with an 11-0 drubbing. For many Eagles fans that’s never enough to assuage their sorrows; adding insult to injury is having to watch their team lose to a fan base in Oakland so obnoxious that Eagles fans can, for once, not feel so bad about being morons.
The Eagles have done nothing this year to inspire any reasonable person to have confidence in them. The one good team they played, the Saints, smoked them by more than 3 touchdowns at the Linc. As for their other four games, the combined record of their opponents is 5-18. And one of those wins belongs to the Raiders after embarrassing the Eagles yesterday.
JaMarcus Russell, the league’s worst quarterback, had a better passer rating yesterday than Donovan McNabb. Justin Fargas ran for 20 more yards than the entire Eagles team, who could only amass 67 yards on the ground. The Eagles managed to punt 8 times in the game which (as bad as that is) was even more than the offensively-inept Raiders. But the good news is that David Akers helped those who have him in fantasy as he scored all 9 of the Eagles’ points. That, of course, while missing two field goals as well.
The Eagles have done nothing this year. Nothing. They were humiliated at home against the one good team they played and yesterday’s loss to Oakland shows they lack either the coaching, focus or personnel to compete for a title. Their comically-easy schedule in the first half of the season is keeping them alive for the time being (and they have another gift next week against Washington who, in my opinion, is the worst team in the NFL). But starting in Week 8, they’ll play consecutive division games against the Giants and Cowboys and then go on the road to face San Diego and Chicago.
Considering the fact that they’re a laughing stock right now, imagine how much worse things will be if they fail to beat a winning team this year. The pathetic joke that they are right now inspire zero confidence. Andy Reid and his smartest-guy-in-the-room act looks like an incompetent clown next to the aw-shucks Charlie Manuel and his #1 team in Philadelphia. The Eagles smell of rotten egg. Thank god we’ve got a real team in this town to enjoy so we can ignore the odious trainwreck known as the Eagles. They stink.
Growing up in Buffalo, I’ve seen my share of snow. That’s why I always get a kick out of the hysteria that grips the Delaware Valley when more than one millimeter of snow is forecast. It amuses me to see people stocking their nuclear fallout shelters when there’s an inch of accumulation. It’s funny.
Suffice it to say the good people of Denver are not snow-averse. In fact, there must really be some wintery stuff in the works for the Mile High City for MLB to have cancelled tonight’s scheduled 2:17 a.m. start. I’m kidding, of course, about the start time. There is a strong possibility nonetheless that we could be awake at that hour on Monday morning if Game 3 goes extra innings. Not to be outdone by their decision to have World Series games spill into November, MLB took it a step further by scheduling a game at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night. Holiday or not Monday, that’s just too late for sober, red-blooded Americans to be expected to follow their team.
Of course, the postponement of today’s game due to snow is good news for the Phillies as it gives all the starting pitchers another day’s rest. As they were all inserted into Game 2 in various capacities (with the exception of Pedro; which tells us whom Charlie Manuel had already decided was going to start Game 3 before Game 2 began, though he has since reconsidered, as JA Happ is now scheduled to start Sunday night), this means they’ll have an extra day to chill out. Ha!
Cliff Lee will start Game One tomorrow against the Rockies, Charlie Manual announced today. And Cole Hamels will pitch Game Two. Of course, locals will be up in arms because of their attachment to Hamels and his great postseason last year. In reality, assuming both pitch well it won’t really matter either way. Don’t forget, in Lee’s debut in a Phillies uniform he pitched exceedingly well against the Rockies going 7 innings and giving up 1 earned run.
Manuel refused to disclose his starters for Games 3 and 4 and will announce his roster this afternoon after meeting with players. This won’ be a series won by lineups and strategy; it’ll be determined by execution. If the Phillies play to their strengths and do what they’re capable of, they win. They’re a better team and if they play like that we’ll see them in the NLDS.
The twittersphere and livingphillysports.com are reporting that the Phillies have optioned Kyle Kendrick to the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. In his place, Andrew Carpenter will be called up to the big club. After last night’s 5-run 5th inning debacle, this comes as no surprise. The Cardinals hit 3 dingers off Kendrick in the inning and Randy Winn’s shot in the 6th off Chad Durbin capped a 4-homer spree in six Cardinals’ at-bats.
Wing Bowl IX is just around the corner. This year’s orgy will celebrate fatness, drunkenness and the eternal desire to hang out in a strip club at 10 o’clock in the morning. Naturally, we’ll be doing something special for the event, probably on the order of having a tea party where we dine on finger sandwiches filled with speck and black trumpet mushrooms.
