Beast of the NL East: Hanley Ramirez or Chase Utley?

A few weeks back, respected columnist Joe Posnanski took his shot at projecting the 2010 Major League Baseball season. 

He called his projection system perfect, because it was flawed, pointless, and will quickly be forgotten about. 

Hey, that could all be true. 

For now, at least, we’ll remember. And we’ll talk about one pertinent subject in Posnanski’s article. 

No disagreements with Posnanski on his projection that the Phillies will win 96 games; that may even be a little generous. 

No harm saying Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels are the best one-two punch in the division, either. 

Attention caught on Posnanski’s claim that Florida‘s Hanley Ramirez is the best player in the division, though. 

While claiming Ramirez to be the division’s cream of the crop, he mentions Chase Utley, David Wright, Ryan Howard, and Ryan Zimmerman as the best of the rest in the NL East. 

This much is clear, however: Ramirez and Utley are the best this division, and maybe this league, has to offer. 

This argument won’t be an attempt to discover who could be better in the future, who would make a better fantasy pick, or who is better because they signed a more value-laden contract. This is about what player you would pick if you had one chance to build a new team and had to win the championship as fast as possible. 

So who is the true beast of the NL East? 

The model of consistency, Utley, 31, has produced four 100-RBI seasons in his first five years as a full-time starter. 

His career .295/.379/.523 slash line isn’t too bad, either. 

He’s already a four-time All-Star, and, yes, he does have a ring. 

He is seen as the Phillies’ undisputed leader in the clubhouse, even though there is no such thing as LORP (Leadership Over Replacement Player for those of you playing at home). 

On the field, Utley makes an impact that few players can claim to making. 

In the past three years, Utley has posted WAR seasons (Wins Above Replacement) of 8.0, 8.1, and 7.6. The past two seasons, that has put him behind only St. Louis’ Albert Pujols in the National League. 

Utley is also a magnificent defender, as the stats back him up.

According to UZR/150, which is zone rating per 150 games, Utley has been far above average at second base. In 2007, he had a UZR/150 of 21.0, followed by seasons of 21.4 and and 11.3 in 2008 and 2009 respectively. 

Defensively, he’s one of the best in baseball. 

It can also be easy to forget that Utley stole 23 bases last year, a high-water mark for his career, and is widely regarded as one of the best base runners in the game. 

According to John Dewan, author of many books on baseball, Utley has gained 96 bases over the average in the past five years, most of any player in the National League and behind only Grady Sizemore of the Cleveland Indians. 

Yet Utley still continues to be disrespected by some, especially in the MVP voting each year. 

Last year, his eighth-place finish in the balloting put him behind players like Andre Ethier, Pablo Sandoval, and Troy Tulowitzki. 

While they are all fine players, none of them have the impact to their team like Utley does. 

Flip him with Ryan Howard in the Phillies’ lineup, and his RBI total would probably go up by 25 or 30.

Present that to the mostly dense Baseball Writers Association of America and they’d have Utley rated higher every year. Sadly, few of the members of the BBWAA are delving deeper than the old BA, HR, and RBI debate held every year. If they could look a little harder, they’d know the truth about one of the best players of this generation. 

Ramirez is undoubtedly one of the best young players in the game. At 26 years of age, his impact on the Marlins’ roster has been significant.

He hit a career-high .342 last season, with 24 homers and and 106 RBI. 

Mark up second place in the MVP voting, please. 

It’s funny, because while posting a .948 OPS in 2007 and a .940 OPS in 2008, it took until 2009 to get him some serious recognition in the voting. 

Why? Maybe it’s because his RBI total went from 81 and 67 in 2007 and 2008 respectively to 101 in 2009. 

The argument about the lack of brain power of the BBWAA is another story for another day, though. 

Ramirez is getting better by the day, a scary proposition for Phillies fans and for the rest of the league.

He struck out 21 fewer times last year than he did in 2008, raised his OBP, and got slightly better defensively to the point where he no longer hurts his team. 

His defensive numbers are still less than stellar, however. His UZR/150 numbers from the last three years: -20.9, -0.6, -0.3. Eighty-two errors in the last four years will do that you. 

He’s going to have to be a little bit better at the plate patience-wise, as his walk percentage dipped to 9.4 last year after a decent 13.3 showing in 2008. 

If the balls aren’t falling in for Ramirez, he could go through spells where he scuffles to reach base. 

When he does reach base, he can be a threat to run. He had 27 steals last year, down from 35 in 2008 and 51 the two years prior. 

The dip in steals is likely the Marlins’ plan to protect their young superstar from potential injury on the bases, as he has struggled with hamstring and groin injuries early in his career. 

And for the record, Ramirez’s WAR numbers over the past three years can’t match Utley’s: 5.7, 7.3, 7.2 simply doesn’t compare to Utley’s 8.0, 8.1, and 7.6. 

While Ramirez has proven to be one of the best young players in the game, he still has a long way to go to be up to the caliber of someone like Utley. 

Utley hasn’t proven himself just to be the best player in the NL East. 

Besides Pujols, Utley has proven himself to be the best player in the National League. 

So, Joe, we appreciate the kindness in your 2010 projections. 

You just got one thing wrong. 

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Philadelphia Phillies Key No. 4: Will the Bullpen Sink Or Swim?

 

A big factor in the Philadelphia Phillies run to a World Series Championship in 2008 was their bullpen. Besides having a closer with an unblemished record when handed the ball to nail down a win, each member of the relief corps found success in a defined role.

 

As ardent followers, and even casual observers know, the Phillies 2009 bullpen was not quite the same well oiled machine. In fact, at times they conjured up the same type of white knuckle anxiety of a driver behind the wheel of a late model Toyota Camry in a Schuylkill Expressway rush hour.

 

Stated another way, neither the driver nor the passengers had a great deal of confidence that the ride was going to be smooth and uneventful at best—or smoking rubble at worst. Some days everything worked the way it was designed, but there was always troublesome lingering doubt. 

 

If the Phillies hope to have a successful season and ultimately repeat, a well functioning, consistently effective bullpen is a must.

 

Although the occupants of the bullpen will look quite different in 2010, it remains to be seen whether they will more resemble last year’s group or the 2008 crew?

 

Perhaps neither in terms of performance, but the plan for the set-up and closer roles heading into the season calls for a return to glory of the championship team.

 

After his well chronicled encore adventure, Brad Lidge went under the knife to correct elbow and knee problems that bothered him throughout the campaign. The team has placed a large stack of chips on the table in gambling that the off-season surgery will restore the pitcher to at least a close facsimile of the “Lights Out” version.  

 

Set-up responsibilities will be back in the hands of tall right hander Ryan Madson and lefty J.C. Romero. In the championship season, both pitchers played instrumental roles by shutting down opponents in the late innings as the “bridge to Lidge.”

 

Madson possesses closer stuff with a four seam fastball that often registers 95 mph and upwards, and a devastating change-up. He has turned in mixed results, though, when asked to take on the added pressure of closing out games. 

 

Romero is working his way back from a nightmarish 2009 season that started with a 50-game suspension and followed with a couple DL stints. Like Lidge, the hope is that off-season elbow surgery will allow him to regain the slider that ate up left handed hitters. 

 

With Ruben Amaro electing not to bring back Scott Eyre, he is betting that Romero will be able to resume the important lefty set-up man job. He is also banking on either Antonio Bastardo or Sergio Escalona to provide another left handed arm out of the pen.

 

Also gone from last year are middle relievers Chan Ho Park, Clay Condrey and Tyler Walker. Allowing them to walk represents somewhat of a risk, especially Park, who often showed the most poise and command of all the relievers as the season wore on. 

 

In their place will be free agent acquisitions Danys Baez and Jose Contreras. Neither is a “sure thing” by any means, but both have had periods of success in their careers.

 

Baez was an all-star six seasons ago, but fell on some hard times, including a season ending injury in 2007 that kept him out of action for over a year. He turned in a middle of the road performance with the Baltimore Orioles, but Amaro hopes that he will be stronger after a full year of recovery.

 

Contreras has been a starter for most of his career, including a couple strong seasons several years ago. At the end of last season, he seemed to flourish in a relief role when the Colorado Rockies moved him to the bullpen. He throws hard and Charlie Manuel likes that he has a reputation for taking the ball.

 

After a strong 2008 season, Chad Durbin experienced a significant drop-off. He struggled with his command most of the season, so a return to form would provide a big boost in the middle innings.

 

Condrey and Walker were effective when asked to keep the team in the game in the middle innings. Each of them may have their best days ahead of them, but Amaro decided his dollars were better spent elsewhere, perhaps looking for a little more heat. 

 

One wild card might be Scott Mathieson, the hard throwing rookie who is trying to rebound from a second Tommy John surgery. He has impressed the big club with his stuff in a couple major league stints and is considered to have the proverbial high ceiling if he can stay healthy.

 

All in all, the bullpen has the potential to be an asset once again—but also could turn out to be the team’s Achilles heel. Unlike the everyday line-up and 80 percent of the starting staff, the relievers are a collection of decent odds Vegas bets—some relatively small and some high stakes. 

 

With little Major League ready help available in the minors, or via trade with the prospect talent pool cupboard somewhat bare, the Phillies fortunes might be a matter of sink or swim with the current relief corps. Amaro and Charlie Manuel are looking to catch a nice wave in 2010— or the entire team could all be in for a cold, upstream swim. 

 

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Gut Check: Why Charlie Manuel Is An Even Bigger Winner By Losing

Lets begin Spring Training 2010 with a light news story.

A story made even lighter by Phillies‘ skipper Charlie Manuel.

Ok, so my jokes are about as cold as Ryan Howard’s bat is this time of year. But let’s turn our attention back to Mr. Manuel.

Anyway, as everyone knows, “Big Chuck” hasn’t done too much losing in his five seasons as manager. His 447 regular season wins are third most in franchise history. His 20 career playoff victories are over twice as many as any other Phillies’ manager (Dallas Green had nine in 1980-81).

But don’t be fooled. Charlie Manuel has done a lot of losing since autumn ’08. It’s just that, most all of it’s taken place outside the ballpark.

Manuel has lost 56 pounds since leading the Phillies to just their second world championship in the franchise’s 126-year history. From 286 pounds down to 230 in just 14 months.

56 pounds, in perspective, is the average weight of an eight-year-old boy in the U.S.

So don’t be surprised if he looks a lot leaner as he lumbers out of the dugout to make pitching changes during the 2010 season.

Manuel is a Type-2 diabetic who over the years has survived a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery, and cancer. But how did he lose so much weight so fast?

The one-word answer: Nutrisystem.

Most of us laugh a little when he see those Nutrisystem TV commercials with the likes of Dan Marino and Don Shula talking about how much weight they’ve lost while being on its diet. But Charlie Manuel took the Pennsylvania-based company’s message to heart.

“Some of them are actually pretty good,” Charlie told NBC Sports in mid-January when speaking about the quality of Nutrisystem meals.

Manuel stayed true to the Nutrisystem meal plan even while on the road last season. He has said he would heat up his food in a microwave and bring it to the Phillies’ pre or post-game meal. It was that simple. Thus, the man who once said he could never stop eating is now consuming less than 1,500 calories per day.

Clearly, Charlie Manuel is “winning” by “losing” in the type of battle that transcends the very sport that crowned him a world champion just two short falls ago.

Obesity and heart disease are still persistent epidemics in this country. And Charlie Manuel’s personal victory over his own once-ravenous appetite should serve as inspiration for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who face dietary health battles of their own.

It took Charlie Manuel four years, over 350 regular season victories, and one unforgettable World Series win to gain managerial respect in the “City of Brotherly Love.”

But hopefully, its only taken him one heavy-duty diet to gain the respect he deserves as a man.

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Jim Bunning’s Clutch Performances

In early December of 1963, the Philadelphia Phillies made one of the great trades of all time. 

They sent outfielder Don Demeter, a Dodgers reject, along with pitcher Jack Hamilton, who is remembered for throwing the pitch that ruined Tony Conigliaro’s career, to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for pitcher Jim Bunning and catcher Gus Triandos.

 

Two Masterpieces

Jim Bunning won 19 games each of his first three seasons with the Phillies, but in 1964, Jim pitched two masterpieces.  

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon at the Mets‘ new ballpark on Jun. 21st. It was also Father’s Day. 

The first-place Philadelphia Phillies were at Shea Stadium to meet the Mets in a doubleheader. The Phillies were starting Bunning in the first game against the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris’ 61st home run, Tracy Stallard.

 

Close Calls

In the Mets’ third, Amado Samuel hit a line drive over shortstop Cookie Rojas’ head, but the future Mets coach leaped to snare the line drive.

In the fourth, Ron Hunt, whom the Mets announcers had compared favorably to Pete Rose when both were rookies in 1963, hit a pop fly down the right field line, clearly out of the reach of right fielder Johnny Callison, who was shading Hunt toward right center field. 

The ball fell harmlessly about a foot foul.

Bunning had retired the first 13 Mets when, with one out in the fifth inning, Jesse Gonder hit a hard shot on the ground between second baseman Tony Taylor and first baseman John Herrnstein. 

Taylor knocked the ball down with a diving stop to his left, reached down, grabbed the ball, and fired to Herrnstein to throw out Gonder.

John Stephenson stuck out to end the game. 

Jim Bunning became the first National League pitcher in the modern era (1901) to pitch a perfect game. He also became the first pitcher to hurl a no-hitter in each league. On July 20, 1958, Jim had no-hit the hard-hitting Boston Red Sox.

 

A Must-Win Shutout

The Phillies were in a heated pennant race late in September. On the last day of the season, they trailed the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals by a single game. 

Manager Gene Mauch sent his ace Jim Bunning to face the Reds. If the Phillies won and the Mets, who had already beaten the Cardinals on Friday and Saturday, could beat St. Louis again, there would be a three-way tie for the pennant.

Bunning did his job. He hurled a masterful six-hit shutout to pull the Phillies even with the Reds, but in St. Louis, the gritty, gutsy Mets just couldn’t do it. 

Curt Simmons started for the Cards against Galen Cisco. 

The Mets were trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning when they scored two runs on a single by George Altman, a Cisco sacrifice, and consecutive doubles by Billy Klaus and Roy McMillan. 

The Cardinals were desperate. Johnny Keane brought in Bob Gibson, who had worked eight innings in a losing effort in the first game of the series.

Today, it would be, as Red Barber used to say, as rare as a hen’s tooth to bring in a starting pitcher who worked eight innings after only one day off, but the pennant was on the line, and the pitcher was Bob Gibson. 

The Mets did get to Gibson for a pair of runs in his four innings of work, but the Cardinals pounded Cisco and those who followed for an 11-5 win.

Jim Bunning did all he could do for his team. 

He was 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and a 132 ERA+. He pitched a perfect game, struck out 219 batters during the season, and pitched a shutout on the final day of the season when his team couldn’t afford to lose.

Bunning went on to record at least 200 strikeouts in 1965, and 1966, and led the league with 253 strikeouts in 1967. In 1996, then-Representative and future Senator Jim Bunning was elected to the Hall of Fame.

References

1964 Philadelphia Phillies

By GORDON S. WHITE Jr. (1964, June 22). Bunning Pitches a Perfect Game; Mets Are Perfect Victims, 6 to 0: Bunning Hurls Perfect Game Against Mets as Phils Take Twin Bill Here PITCHER FANS 10 IN A 6-0 TRIUMPH Perfect Game Is First Since 1880 in League — Mets Lose 2d Game, 8-2. New York Times (1923-Current file), 1. Retrieved March 4, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 106979528).

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2010 MLB Preview: NL East, 1. Philadelphia Phillies

This will begin my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch every team in the major leagues in installments by division. The lineups I provide will be what I predict will be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team’s lineup, rotation, bullpen, and bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

Teams will be addressed respective to their predicted finish in their division.

First up, the National League East.

1. Philadelphia Phillies

LINEUP: A

Jimmy Rollins – SS

Shane Victorino – CF

Chase Utley – 2B

Ryan Howard – 1B

Jason Werth – RF

Raul Ibanez – LF

Placido Polanco – 3B

Carlos Ruiz – C

OUTFIELD: The Phillies are deep in the outfield. The trade for Ben Francisco was a good one. They have four legitimate starters with him in the mix, so an injury won’t break the Phillies spirit. Ibanez and Werth are pretty good defenders, but Francisco and Victorino are very good. Offensively, the starting trio can all hit.

INFIELD: There aren’t many better infields overall in baseball —if any. Utley and Howard provide the long balls, Polanco is one of the best contact hitters in baseball, and Rollins does a little bit of everything. Hats off to Rollins last season for enduring a grueling slump in the first half to finish with a .250 avg. and score 100 runs.

If Victorino struggles in the no. 2 spot in the order, Charlie Manuel won’t hesitate to plug Polanco in there. In fact, Polanco may actually hit behind Ruiz in the no. 8 spot to serve as a quasi leadoff hitter. On the right side, Howard and Utley are average defensively, but on the left side, Polanco and Rollins will be sharp.

CATCHING: Carlos Ruiz is turning into a solid backstop. Brian Schneider hits left handed and has plenty of experience. They should be a nice platoon, with little difference in offensive production between the two.

ROTATION: A

Roy Halladay – R

Cole Hamels – L

Joe Blanton – R

J.A. Happ – L

Kyle Kendrick/Jamie Moyer – R/L

I feel that Moyer, aged 87, may really see his health decline this year (baseball-wise). Kendrick made a couple starts last year and posted a 3.42 ERA for Philly in limited action last season. He made 24 starts at Triple A and posted a 3.34 ERA there. It is time for him to take over as a major league starter.

The Phils have a great balance of righties and lefties and the one-two punch of Halladay-Hamels could prove devastating. Look for Hamels to bounce back this season with much of the pressure he had on his shoulders last year alleviated due to the presence of Halladay. Blanton and Happ are very good nos. 3 and 4 starters, respecively.

BULLPEN: B

Closer Brad Lidge has to put an end to the up-and-down seasons he’s been experiencing the last few years. But on that note, he is due to have an “up” year. If he can’t get it done in the 9th, Ryan Madson can handle the closer role adequately. J.C. Romero is coming back from injury, but is one of the best late-inning lefties in the game. Danys Baez and Chad Durbin are solid.

DEPTH/BENCH: B

Truthfully, the infield depth is lacking, but the outfield depth is fairly abundant. The only scenario I can picture is that the Phillies will retain Juan Castro as the middle infield backup and Greg Dobbs as a corner infield backup. Prime pinch hitter Ross Gload can back up in the outfield and first base. Retaining Dobbs would essentially force Philly to start Ryan Howard-clone, John Mayberry, at Triple A Lehigh Valley.

THOUGHTS: The Phillies quite simply have too potent a lineup and rotation to have their NL East throne usurped, though the inspired Braves will push them. Lidge has to get things straightened out and Romero has to return healthy or the bullpen could go from good to bad.

If the bullpen stinks up the place, it would put pressure on the Phils’ lineup to score compensatory runs. That will be no easy task against the Braves’ rotation. Fortuantely for the Phillies, the majority of their big boppers are left-handed hitters —the Braves rotation is all right-handed.

Thus, the Phillies will again win the NL East, barring major injury to the triumvirate of Rollins/Utley/Howard.

 

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The Philadelphia Phillies’ Seven Most Important Trades

After winning a second consecutive National League Pennant but falling short of its goal to repeat as World Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies were very active over the winter. Economics and Father Time served somewhat as a catalyst, but most of the activity was designed to better position the team for success in 2010 and beyond.

On the heels of winning MLB.com’s Executive of the Year Award, General Manager Ruben Amaro continued his bias towards action rather than take the safe route of standing pat. Most of the action was the ebb and flow of free agents that overhauled the bench and bullpen as well as changed the face of the team’s everyday third baseman.

The resigning of former Phillie Placido Polanco to step in for Pedro Feliz is expected to provide an offensive upgrade with only a slight drop-off in the field. The other changes are not devoid of impact, but are expected to be of less consequence.

Except those who were out of the country, or perhaps on the International Space Station, everyone knows the big news in Philadelphia and throughout the entire baseball world was the Phillies swap of aces at the top of its rotation. The tandem trades alternately welcomed Roy Halladay to Philly while bidding farewell to Cliff Lee on his one way trip to Seattle.

Those dual deals involving two of baseball’s biggest names sent considerable seismic waves through the team’s fanbase with many still feeling the after shocks.

Surely, fans are ecstatic to have arguably the best starting pitcher in all of baseball taking the ball every fifth day in a Phillies uniform. However, a good portion of that excitement is tempered by knowing that last year’s postseason hero Lee is now wearing Mariners attire.

In order to provide some backdrop to measure the magnitude of these two transactions, I have taken a look through the archives to find Phillies trades that may rival them in terms of importance.

Because the players involved in those December deals have yet to step across the white lines in a game that matters, it is too early to judge their import. So, although those blockbuster trades may prove to have the greatest impact—positively, negatively or cumulatively—it is premature to include them here.

It is interesting to note that throughout the Phillies team history, the club has more often come out on the short end when big name players have been involved—but that trend appears to be turning. I present to you the somewhat unlucky seven most important trades in Philadelphia Phillies history:

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Jim Bunning Was Not Up to the Task

At the end of play on Sept. 20, 1964, the Phillies led both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds by 6.5 games.

At the end of play on Sept. 27, the Reds led the second-place Phillies by a full game.

In the span of seven days, the Phillies lost a 6.5-game lead and were never again in first place.

Jim Bunning started against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 20 at Los Angeles. It was the last important game that future United States senator Bunning would win in 1964.

Jim Bunning to the Rescue?

When Bunning made his next start, the Phillies’ lead had been whittled to 3.5 games over the Reds and to five games over the Cardinals.

Facing the Milwaukee Braves, the 18-5 Phillies’ alleged ace found himself trailing, 3-0, after six innings. Bunning was taken out after yielding three runs in six innings.

The Braves won, 5-3, as Bunning had his personal six-game winning streak snapped. The Braves’ hitting hero was Joe Torre, who drove in three runs with a pair of triples.

The Cards won a doubleheader, the Reds were idle, and the Phillies’ lead was now only three games over the Reds and 3.5 games over the surging Cardinals.

A Quality Start

Today, some consider that a quality start, which is a measurement created by sportswriter John Lowe in an attempt to evaluate the performance of starting pitchers in terms other than the traditional values of ERA and wins and losses.

When Jim Bunning allowed the Braves three earned runs in six innings, his ERA was 4.50. In 1964, a 4.50 ERA belonged to pitchers who had trouble getting outs.

Up to Bunning to Stem the Tide

On Sept. 27, the Reds were only half a game behind the Phillies. It was up to Jim Bunning to stem the tide, but all Bunning could manage was to give a performance that ensured the Phillies’ offense didn’t stand a chance.

Felipe Alou led off the game by beating out a slow ground ball to second baseman Tony Taylor. Lee Maye doubled Alou to third, and Henry Aaron drove both home with another double.

After three hitters, Bunning trailed, 2-0.

Jim settled down until the fourth inning. The Phillies put Bunning ahead by scoring one run in the first and two more in the second.

Bunning went into his windup and fired a sidearm fastball to future Hall of Famer Joe Torre. The Braves’ slow-footed catcher hit a slow grounder to the left side of the infield.

Bunning, who often finished on his hands and knees after his follow-through, couldn’t get near the dribbler. Torre beat it out for a leadoff single.

Rico Carty singled Torre to third, and Denis Menke singled Carty to third, scoring Torre to tie the game. Ty Cline doubled, pitcher Tony Cloninger singled, and Bunning was through.

In three innings, Jim Bunning faced 18 batters. He gave up 10 hits, seven earned runs, and didn’t record a strikeout. The Cincinnati Reds were in first place.

A Game the Phillies Could Not Lose

On the last day of September, the Reds and Cardinals each were 1.5 games ahead of the Phils.

Jim Bunning started on two days’ rest for the second consecutive time, this time against Curt Simmons at St. Louis. It was a game that the Phillies, who now had a nine-game losing streak, could not lose.

Simmons no-hit the Phillies until Richie Allen singled with two outs in the seventh, but the game was really over as soon as Bunning, who retired the Cardinals in order in the first, took the mound for the second inning.

Dick Groat singled, and Tim McCarver, who became the announcer many fans love to hate, hit a home run. In the third, the Cardinals scored two more runs, one of which was unearned, to lead 4-0.

Bunning couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. He gave up one-out singles to Curt Flood and Lou Brock, and manager Gene Mauch removed Bunning. The final score was 8-5.

Five runs should be enough for a team’s top pitcher. During the waning days of the 1964 season, five runs were not enough for Jim Bunning.

A Shutout

On the last day of the season, the Phillies, who ended their 10-game losing streak, trailed the Reds and Cards by one game. Jim Bunning squared off against the Reds’ John Tsitouris.

Bunning pitched a six-hit shutout as the Phillies won, 10-0.

The Phillies had caught the Reds, but their problem was that in St. Louis, the Cardinals beat the Mets to win the pennant.

Jim Bunning pitched a shutout on the last day of the season, but the damage he had done in his previous three starts made it irrelevant and, even worse, almost regretful.

References

1964 Phillies at Retrosheet

Quality Start

BRAVES TRIUMPH ON 22-HIT ATTACK: Callison Hits 3 Home Runs, but Phils Fall From Lead First Time Since July 16. (1964, Sept. 28). New York Times (1923-Current file), p. 22. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 118537846).

Special to The New York Times. (1964, Oct. 1). PHILLIES DOWNED BY SIMMONS, 8 TO 5: 14-Hit Attack Sends Losers to 10th Straight Defeat—Bunning Is Routed. New York Times (1923-Current file), p. 40. Retrieved March 2, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2006). (Document ID: 97277528).

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Ruben Amaro, Jr. Proving to Be Tough Negotiator for Phillies

It was just a couple of days after the Phillies‘ 2008 World Series win when it was announced that Ruben Amaro, Jr. would be the team’s new general manager.

Pat Gillick left on top of the world, a ring on his finger and a wonderful story to ride off into the sunset with.

Amaro, now 45 years of age, had been the team’s assistant GM since 1998 and had been a part of both the Gillick and Ed Wade eras.

Hired after Gillick’s retirement, not many people knew what to expect from Amaro.

We knew he had been handling much of the dirty work, including contracts, arbitration, and the grunt work of trades and roster movement.

We might not have known, however, that Amaro would be a “my way or the highway” type of GM.

He’s a tough negotiator, as evidenced by the recent developments with Chan Ho Park.

In an article yesterday in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Park lamented the fact that he would not be returning to the team as part of the bullpen.

The bottom line is that Amaro did not allow Park to dictate the Phillies’ offseason.

The Phillies offered a one-year, $3 million deal to Park to return to the pen, but Park looked around the league for a starting job.

He didn’t find it, and that is Park’s fault and his fault only. He signed a one-year, $1.2 million deal last week with the Yankees, losing out on a lot of cash and an opportunity to come back to the team he truly wanted to play for.

Give credit to Amaro, though, for going out and replacing Park with Jose Contreras and Danys Baez, two players whom manager Charlie Manuel spoke highly of.

Manuel took veiled shots at Park in a press conference last month about the right-hander’s inability to pitch on back-to-back days, another quality the Phillies were looking for in their bullpen.

That being said, Park had his chance, and Amaro moved on.

When Cliff Lee and the Phillies opened talks this offseason, Amaro already saw where the discussions were going.

Lee wanted a long-term contract, likely in the neighborhood of $120 million over six or seven years.

Amaro moved quickly, acquiring Roy Halladay from Toronto and locking him up for three years at an average annual value of $20 million per year.

Lee was moved to Seattle, shocking many fans around the league, not to mention Lee himself.

At first, it was a lot to process. Now, however, the shock value has subsided. 

The team has established that they will rarely go above three years on a contract with a pitcher.

There was little chance Lee would accept a deal with terms that short, so Amaro was left with little choice.

He made the right moves and got what he wanted: an ace pitcher locked up in the long term.

It was after the 2008 World Series win that Amaro’s first test came: Offer arbitration to Pat Burrell and Jamie Moyer, risking payroll if they accepted?

Nope. Amaro declined to offer arbitration to either Moyer or Burrell even though they were both Type-A free agents.

The Phillies could have received draft pick compensation for both, but Amaro feared that both players would accept the arbitration and come back to the team on terms that would be decided by an outside source.

Amaro never wanted an arbiter to decide how much either would make. In the end, Moyer did come back to the team, but Burrell jettisoned his way to Tampa Bay.

Amaro then pounced on free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez, who had a stellar start to 2009 but tailed off in the second half of the season.

It’s become a trademark of Amaro’s tenure as GM. He is a wheeler and dealer, and he will not allow players to dictate his thoughts.

Many Phillies fans have taken to calling Amaro “smug.” It may be the best fit for him, his bravado and confidence always beaming.

Some may even argue he is bordering on cocky, but that’s alright. He’d have it no other way.

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Looks Like the Philadelphia Phillies Blew It with Chan Ho Park

Last week’s relatively quiet announcement that the New York Yankees had signed Chan Ho Park to a $1.2 million, one-year contract raised some eyebrows.

If Park was willing to sign for such a meager sum and accept a bullpen role, why didn’t the Phillies lock him up?

Throughout the offseason, indications had been that the pitcher was seeking an opportunity to be a starter and bigger dollars than the Phillies were willing to offer.

Perhaps that was true early on, but obviously neither of those desires was fulfilled with the Bronx Bombers.

Surely then, Park must have been unhappy in Philadelphia and/or preferred to play in Yankees pinstripes, right?

According to an article in yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer (Chan Ho Park wanted to stay with Phillies ), however, the Korean right-hander is very upset about trading in his red pinstripes. Park stated that his No. 1 choice was Philly and that he loved the fans and his teammates. 

Of course, there may be more to the story—but at this point, it sure looks like the Phillies blew it here.

The Park signing did not carry the fanfare of the Phillies’ deal with Placido Polanco, but it might have almost as much impact. After his early season failure as a starter, Park became a highly valuable and effective option out of the ‘pen, posting a 2.52 ERA and striking out more than one batter per inning.

In fact, as the season wore on, Park probably evoked the most confidence of all the team’s relievers when he was summoned into the game.

At times, Ryan Madson looked dominating, but he was also prone to some occasional meltdowns. Scott Eyre enjoyed a fine season in a left-handed specialist role, but he went deep into the count with most hitters and walked almost as many as he struck out.

But it was Park who went after hitters with nasty stuff.

On most nights, Park lit up the radar guns with a 95 mph fastball that also possessed great movement. He complemented that pitch with a hard breaking curveball that kept hitters guessing and at times was unhittable. He attacked the zone, yet worked both pitches on the edges. 

The bottom line is that Park may be sorely missed in Philadelphia this season. Both free agent acquisitions, Danys Baez and Jose Contreras, come with question marks. The former is five years removed from his last good season, and the latter looks to be a fanciful roll of the dice. 

Additionally, both players also signed for more money, especially Baez at $5.25 million for two years. For a team that just unloaded Cliff Lee at least partially for budget reasons, it seems odd that they left the cheapest and most viable option on the table. 

Perhaps there is some truth to the perception that Charlie Manuel was uncomfortable with Park’s willingness to pitch when less than 100 percent. Many read between the lines that Manuel was taking a shot at Park when he recently said that his two new relievers would take the ball and not use injury as an excuse not to pitch. 

So, again, maybe there is more to the story that only someone on the inner circle would know. But it is also dangerous to try to get inside players’ heads when it comes to injuries, especially considering that Park made a rapid return from what appeared to be a very severely pulled hamstring to pitch in the postseason. 

Perhaps human emotion and stubbornness got in the way. It will not be the first time or the last that contentious negotiations result in a lose-lose scenario, but that does not excuse the foolishness.

Lastly, adding insult to it all is the fact that Park is now wearing a Yankees uniform. If the Phillies hope to regain the “World Champions” moniker in 2010, the majority of baseball experts believe that the team will have to go through New York. 

Now, it will be Joe Girardi, not Manuel, who will have the opportunity to benefit from Park’s nasty repertoire of pitches—possibly against the pitcher’s former teammates—and at a bargain basement price.

It sure looks like the Phillies blew this one. 

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Philadelphia Phillies Key No. 3: Which Raul Ibanez Will Show Up This Season?

Last season, the Phillies‘ big offseason acquisition, Raul Ibanez, got off to a fast start in his new Philadelphia surroundings, turning heads and winning accolades from Phillies fans and teammates. By late May, full blown Raul-mania enveloped the “City of Brotherly Love” as Ibanez continued to tear up National League pitching.

A couple weeks into June, Raul found his name at the top of most key NL rankings. In just 60 games, he had already clubbed 22 HR’s, drove in 59 runs and was hitting a lofty .333. As a result, after a somewhat overlooked existence throughout his career, the left-handed slugger had now crept into the consciousness of the national media—even evoking unfair questions whether pharmaceuticals were aiding his performance. 

That ugly incident aside, life was good.  But, then it suddenly changed. 

In a Sunday afternoon game against the Boston Red Sox, Manager Charlie Manuel did not pencil Ibanez’s name into the lineup for the first time all season. When questioned later, word filtered around that his left fielder either had sore feet from new shoes or tenderness in his Achilles’ tendon.

The intrigue and concern elevated to higher levels when Ibanez appeared visibly hobbled and highly ineffective over the next two games. Much to his dismay, the team shut him down at that point by placing him on the “15-Day Disabled List” with what was then being described as a groin strain. 

What seemed to be minor and precautionary at the time, turned out to be of much greater import looking back retrospectively. Using this as a line of demarcation, the before and after pictures for Ibanez were a lot like an extreme makeover—in reverse. 

Besides never being able to shed traces of the telling limp throughout the remainder of the regular season and the course of the postseason, Ibanez’s productivity absolutely plummeted. (At season’s end, the mystery was solved when it was announced that he would have surgery to repair the ever popular new millennium “sports hernia” diagnosis.)

As exhilarating a ride it was during the “before” segment, the “after” segment was a blown transmission. The former was Dave Parker in his prime, the latter was the dark days of Dave Kingman. 

After his very auspicious start, Ibanez hit a paltry .218 over the balance of the season. And, home runs and RBI were more than twice as abundant prior to the injury. 

After rocking opposing pitchers with a home run every 11.6 plate appearances, his production nose dived to once every 25.1 strolls to the plate. Similarly, Ibanez plated a run every 4.3 appearances before versus 8.9 appearances after pulling up lame. 

The image of Ibanez whiffing or topping a ball to second and then hobbling down to first became all too familiar. Frequently, it was a rally killer leaving runners stranded or turning into a twin killing. 

Considering that he plays a position that requires covering some ground and will turn 38 during the upcoming season, another important key to the Phillies having a successful season will be which Ibanez shows up this year? The 2009 early season edition makes the Phillies line up down right scary, while the late year version brings them somewhat back to the pack. 

And, even if he regains his stroke, playing in the National League with the most prolific run producer in baseball stationed at first, his mobility will be a factor. There simply is not an option to hide him at first or DH other than a handful of inter-league games. 

With the team’s high profile swap of aces at the top of the rotation and substantial turnover on the bench and in the bullpen, attention has been shifted away from Ibanez throughout the winter. Perhaps this signals that “RAJ” and “Uncle Cholly” are confident that offseason surgery and physical therapy will restore his play to look a lot more like the early edition. 

To his credit, Raul avoided excuses at all costs and made a valiant attempt to play through a painful and limiting injury. However, sending a gimpy left fielder with Ibanez’s second half productivity out to play everyday is probably not the path to a fourth consecutive NL East title, let alone a World Championship. 

Philadelphia sports fans have also witnessed that such an injury can be tricky and sometimes recur. The team lost their best insurance policy with the trade of Michael Taylor in December, so the backup plan would appear to be Ben Francisco, Greg Dobbs, John Mayberry, and/or Ross Gload—a considerable drop down from what they envisioned when they signed Ibanez. 

Early reports from Clearwater are that Ibanez feels and looks good—and is poised for a big year.  Of course, under the warm Florida sun and in the relaxed setting of spring training, optimism usually flows. 

When the starter pistol is fired to begin the marathon that is a major baseball season, keeping a close watch on the Phillies left fielder will likely provide some important clues about the team’s 2010 fortunes. 

A healthy slugger striking fear once again into other team’s hearts will make a large impact in the middle of the Phillies batting order. Conversely, an aging, diminished player will  be cause for concern throughout the organization and have the team scrambling for options. 

Blockbuster trades over the past several months have left Ruben Amaro’s pile of bargaining chips a little low. So, although he is not quite “all in” on Ibanez as he plays his 2010 hand, Amaro has a good deal riding on the lefty slugger. The prospects for 2010 will surely be a lot brighter for the Phillies with Ibanez getting his groove thing back. 

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