Roy Halladay’s Perfect Game: Marlins Offering Tickets to Baseball History

Are you a Roy Halladay fan?

Would you like a ticket to his perfect game?

Well, you are in luck, ’cause the Marlins organization is selling the remaining tickets.

Earlier today, the Fighting Fish announced that they were going to be selling the remaining tickets that were left from Halladay’s historic performance.

How many tickets are left, you may ask?

Just over 25,000 fans showed up Saturday, but many were not necessarily there to see baseball. You see, since the Marlins are not overly popular in South Florida, the organization has come up with the “Super Saturday” gimmick.

Every Saturday home game, they hire a band and shoot off fireworks, in order to draw a crowd to an often-empty Sun Life Stadium. This week, I do believe it was the band O.A.R., which is an upgrade to the Orange Bowl halftime show I saw in the same stadium (K.C. and the Sunshine Band).

Either way, now there is a total of just over 15,000 tickets left for sale. The team says it will continue to sell them until they are gone. As of last check at around 7 p.m. Eastern time, they had sold more tickets from this game, mainly to Phillies’ fans, than tickets to Monday’s Memorial Day win over the Brewers.

So, how do you go about buying your ticket, and how much will it cost? All you have to do is pay full price, as long as they are available, and head on over to the Marlins’ website.

On a side note, I attended my first game there in 2007. It was a Friday night matchup against the Braves for which me and my buddy had not bought tickets in advance. A scalper offered us two “fish tank” seats, otherwise known as outfield seats, for $5 each.

The joke, you ask? The parking was $10.

What are your thoughts on what the Marlins’ organization is doing? Is it good for fans and collectors? Should they be allowed to sell you tickets to games that you never even attended? Would you pay $45 for an infield box seat to a game you didn’t attend.

If only I had gone and bought a $5 fish tank seat…

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Chase Utley: More Than a Phillie

Baseball has taken many hits in recent years; Steroids,  HGH, and the strike of 94′ that, no doubt is in the back of everyone’s mind.

It is rare when the good in sports get the front page.

More often than not, it is a suspension, or a press conference, for a reason other than a former All-Star retiring after the end of a brilliant career.

Chase Utley, the four-time All-Star second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, has teamed with Citizens Bank, once again launching the Helping Hands glove donation program. The program is meant to assist children who play in the Philadelphia Phillies Jr. RBI League.

According to “The Mercury” , new or used gloves will be collected throughout the 2010 season at Citizens Bank kiosk in “Ashburn Alley” (Citizens Bank Park) to benefit participants in the RBI League that are 12 and under.

“Citizens Bank has been supporting the Phillies Jr. RBI League since 2002 and we believe the partnership plays a vital role in helping inner-city children who want to play baseball,” said Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, Citizens Bank president and CEO for Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

This is not the only “extracurricular” activity that Utley has taken part in.

If you visit the official Chase Utley website , you can catch a glimpse of Chase Utley, the person, in action.

Utley is not only a part of the RBI Program but is supporter of Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Couple that with his involvement in the Philadelphia Futures, a mentoring program for inner city high school students, that has raised nearly $300,000 in the past couple of seasons, proves that Utley can use his celebrity for the greater good so to speak.

Being a lifelong Atlanta Braves fans, the Phillies are on my list of teams I dislike. This time I will give you a pass!

Kudos to you Mr. Utley for being one of the good guys.

This article can also be found on The GM’s Perspective

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Braves surge past Phillies to overtake National League East

Oh, how the tables have turned.

The Braves extended their season-high winning streak to six games and moved into first place in the National League East with a 9-3 spanking of division rival Philadelphia at Turner Field on Memorial Day.

Chipper Jones homered for the first time this season from the left side and snapped his six-week long homerless drought with a two-run blast in the first inning, staking the Braves to an early lead that they would not relinquish.

An even more encouraging sign that Jones is finding his stroke is the single he hit in the bottom of the seventh while batting right, showing an increased comfort from both sides of the plate.

Troy Glaus capped the Atlanta onslaught with a three-run homer off Philadelphia reliever Chad Durbin to put the final nail in the Phillies coffin.

With his latest blast, Glaus tacked three more RBIs on his astounding and unexpected total of 28 for the month of May, which led the National League.

Atlanta’s good fortune comes just one month after a nine-game losing streak had them dwelling in the cellar of the NL East, staring up at these same Phillies.

Just as the Braves began to hit their stride, the Phillies fell into a slump of their own.

Since the last time these two teams played, the Braves have gone 16-4 and erased a six-game deficit in the NL East standings to overtake the sputtering Phillies, who have gone 9-10 during that stretch and have dropped out of first place for the first time since May 1st.

Ironically, the offensive woes that hampered the Braves in their last meeting with the Phillies, have seemingly been solved and now take up residence in Philadelphia.

The Phils have dropped seven of their past nine games, having been shut out five times during that span.

As a whole, they’ve hit a dismal .187 with a .264 on base percentage, a .257 slugging percentage and just one home run.

This is a serious concern for a club that supposedly boasts one of the most feared offensive units in the game. The Phillies ongoing struggles with the bat have been a far cry from the explosive power the team had come to enjoy.

For Atlanta, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

The nine runs the Braves scored on Monday were two more than they’d scored in each of their first two series losses to the Phillies.

While Atlanta’s offense was befuddling to watch in the early going this season, the turnaround of Troy Glaus is a big reason why the Braves have been able to right the ship.

No one had been more critical of and frustrated by Glaus than me, but I will give credit where credit is due.

Glaus’ red-hot May where he has hit. 330 with three doubles, six home runs, and 28 RBI in 28 games is one of the greatest single months ever enjoyed by a player.

Since May 14 when Bobby Cox permanently moved Martin Prado to the leadoff spot and Jason Heyward into the No. 2 hole ahead of Jones, Glaus has been a run-producing machine.

As a result, he has driven in 14 runs in 17 games with four home runs.

Also interestingly to note, as I suggested in my last blog , having continuity in a lineup that had so many struggling hitters, could prove to breed successful results.

That has been the case for Atlanta. As the roles in the Braves lineup have become solidified, the proof is in the numbers.

The rest of Atlanta’s hitters have found a newfound comfort and confidence that has now transcended onto the field and in the standings.

But, there is no time for complacency.

The next two games against the Phillies loom as large as ever as the Braves look to not only stay in first place but to build upon their lead.

With a good chunk of the season left, it is awfully early to gauge how the season may end. But, the Braves may have history on their side.

The last time Atlanta was in first place on June 1 was in 2005, which just so happens to be the last year they made the playoffs.

Also, 66% of the teams that are atop their division on the first of June, have made it into postseason play.

Will the same ring true for the 2010 Atlanta Braves?

Only time will tell.

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Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Takin’ a T/O with BT: Roy Halladay’s Well-Deserved Moment in the Sun

I wasn’t around for the first out, but I wouldn’t miss the last three for anything in the world.

In fact, I was prepared to put up with a digital, pitch-by-pitch re-enactment until the Phillies’ website went to live video of it for free.

Not bad for today’s “make you pay” society. The only thing it cost me was the long distance charges to call home and give my dad the play-by-play.

It had been nearly 12 years since you had carried something with that many zeros that late into a ball game successfully. Back in 1998, Bobby Higginson was the only thing that stood between you and baseball immortality.

That day Higginson won, but now you’re getting the last laugh. And with more zeros too.

But, while I was a heart-broken little kid at that baseball game, over a decade later it just looks like the baseball Gods were making you wait for your finest moment—that instead of being another one-off or one-hit-wonder to throw a no-hitter, they wanted to make sure you were worthy of your place in history.

And boy, are you.

You rebuilt yourself from the lowest of the low, re-energized yourself, re-discovered your style, and built a stronger body and mind. While others flail about on the mound with an outward fire, you’ve got the most devastating stuff in the league, and in a uniform change you’d be mistaken for a mailman.

A really serious mailman that never smiles, but a mailman nonetheless.

For years, you were the best-kept secret.

You were Canada’s adopted son when one was over in Colorado, another was trying to revitalize the “Big Red Machine”, and another was coming up for just a handful of games with the Minnesota Twins.

The saying went “Chicks dig the long ball.” Canadians dug pitching. Good pitching. The best.

For a few years the Toronto Blue Jays tried to do everything they could to help you compete. They bought you your No. 2 starter, but instead of him helping you, you molded him in your image, helping him to become a World Champion.

They tried to give you more offense, they kept some of your oldest friends around, and they even tried to find you a shortstop. But nothing worked for the Jays. They still couldn’t get over the hump.

You didn’t say anything. You just kept pitching. Complete games day in, day out. Doing your job and helping this team win one game (often the only game) at a time.

It took JP Ricciardi coming out publicly with your feelings to know that we might not lose you to free agency—that a trade was a real possibility. A possibility that was in your best interest.

In a hockey-crazed city, you were the storyline. In arrival, in assumed departure, in actual departure, and even know, your name is still one of the most popular in this country.

You were nice, loyal and consistent. Because of that, we just want you to succeed.

The Perfect Game was karma.

It was the universe saying “This is for all of those years, where you were what every professional athlete should be. Where you were a savior to a franchise that didn’t deserve you because they couldn’t get you what you go to spring training three weeks early for.

“This is for giving back to the community constantly and being the perfect teammate. This is for that full page letter you wrote to the City of Toronto and the Jays in thanks.”

And this….well it may only be the beginning. You may finally get that ring one day.

Imagine if that happened this year. How’s that for karmic retribution?

 

Follow BT on Twitter @BryanThiel_88 . You can also e-mail Bryan at bryanthiel74@hotmail.com. Be sure to check out his other, hockey-related work at Hockey54.com—The Face of the Game !

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Jamie Moyer: Law of Averages Catching Up to Phillies’ Ageless Wonder

Jamie Moyer is still an effective major league pitcher.

And it’s still perfectly clear that National League lineups aren’t even close to catching up to the 47-year-old craftsman.

But over Moyer’s past three starts, it seems that the law of averages certainly has…

Jamie is suddenly losing games that he has pitched well enough to win. The incredible, coincidental run support that Moyer has received every fifth day from August 2006 through mid-May 2010 in Philadelphia simply isn’t there anymore.

The Phils have been shut out in each of Moyer’s past three games.

In Moyer’s three starts between May 2 and May 14, the Phillies scored a ridiculous 26 runs in his 21 innings on the mound (Moyer won each of those starts). Now, the Phillies haven’t scored in his last 21 innings.

But Jamie’s not the only Phillies pitcher dealing with a lack of offensive support these days. For example, Roy Halladay has received just two runs in his last 24 innings (and one of those runs was unearned).

It’s logical to think that receiving run support has come naturally for all Phillies pitchers over the past several seasons—that, in the long run, all pitchers receive roughly the same offensive backing.

However, the numbers seem to indicate that Moyer has been granted way more than his fair share of support since joining the club in 2006.

For example, Moyer has a 52-36 record with a 4.49 ERA in 113 games as a Phillie. Yet, teammate Cole Hamels has an almost identical 53-37 record and a 3.68 ERA with the Phillies in 126 games.

Hamels has virtually the same Phillies career record as Moyer despite an ERA that is over three-quarters of a run lower.

Moyer is still virtually the same pitcher he was back in 2004, except he’s pitching for a much, much better team. In his 90 starts for the Seattle Mariners between ’04 and ’06, Jamie had a 4.64 ERA and a sub-.500 record of just 26-32.

Yet, Moyer is 16 games over .500 with the Phillies, despite a very similar ERA of 4.49.  

Another comparison of Moyer and Hamels’ statistics reveals more of the same. In seven of his 32 starts in 2009, Hamels gave up three runs or fewer but did not get a win. Moyer had only two such games during his 25 starts last season.

In ’08, Hamels pitched a remarkable 10 games where he gave up two earned runs or fewer and DID NOT get a win. Yet his record was still 14-10.

In 2010, the Phillies have scored seven or more runs in all five of Moyer’s wins. Again, the Phillies have scored just two runs or fewer in three of Halladay’s seven wins.

Of course, the usually dependable run support for Jamie Moyer has been nowhere to be found in his past three starts. The lefty has pitched very well over that span but has seen his record fall to 5-5.

Bummer…

Guess all good things really do come to an end.

 

***Below is a list of the winningest pitchers since the start of 2007 (complete through May 31, 2010). Moyer is the only pitcher on this list to have an ERA above 4.00. His ERA is over 4.50. Jamie’s in some pretty good company…

Roy Halladay               60-31   2.96

C.C. Sabathia             59-28   3.18

Justin Verlander          53-37   3.93

Adam Wainwright        51-26   3.04

Dan Haren                  50-31   3.40

Josh Beckett               50-24   3.97

Johan Santana            48-31   2.98

Derek Lowe                48-39   4.00

John Lackey               47-25   3.61

A.J. Burnett                47-29   3.90

Jamie Moyer             47-34   4.51

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MLB Power Rankings Week Nine: Another Perfect One

Roy Halladay threw the 19th regular-season perfect game in major-league history on Saturday in a 1-0 win over the Marlins. It was only the sixth of those perfect games thrown on the road.

A-Rod almost knocked David Huff’s head off. A walk off grand slam by the Angels Kendry Morales’ results in a broken leg.

And we have a 10-game winner who is on pace for 32 wins. Juuuust another week on the diamond.

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