Philadelphia Phillies Regain Their Rightful Position Atop the NL East

We all knew it would come. Now it’s that time.

Like a man on death row, you just sit and wait—you wait on your sentence and hope, something, somehow, could change your fate.

Then the inevitable day comes, and all of a sudden…you’ve lost first place.

Those Phightin’s, I don’t know how they do it, but, they live up to that name of their’s year after year.

If you haven’t been keeping up, or you fell asleep within the game last night, I’m here to tell you, those Phils have done it again. They are back in first place and they are ready to finish the last two and a half weeks off of this season in style—as they have in the last five years, or so.

With a very important series coming up in under two weeks, the Phils wasted no more time taking over the top spot, beating the Florida Marlins last night 8-7 after a scary crash by the Phillies bullpen. The bats, however, were able to come alive enough to bail Joe Blanton out.

The pitching shouldn’t be a problem down the stretch, being that the Phils have made due without such a dynamic force before.

Even if Blanton and Kyle Kendrick were to bomb every game in the playoffs, it will still be hard to beat three aces in a seven game series—and that’s without pitching some on short rest.

Amidst what seemed to be a flop by the Phillies in July and August, they have once again, stepped up to the challenge, leaving some who unnecessarily doubted them, to look back on their foolishness.

But the season is not over by any means. The Braves are still right there.

Speaking of which, we can understand the excitement of Braves fans, and the like, but, it’s clear that everyone knows, the Phils are a marathon team, who finishes strong down the stretch.

Despite ‘great debates’ of the sort the Phils and their fans know all along, there is no need to panic.

In a poll conducted by Phillies Featured Columnist, Vincent Heck, and Braves Featured Columnist, Evan Walker, a few days ago, we asked our fans who would win the NL East.

With the Phillies behind the Braves one game, the public came to an decisive conclusion–after 2,000 readers, 520 people voted, and 80% thought that the Phils would come out on top.

Quick math—that’s 416 voters for the Phils.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind what the outcome will be, and there should be none in your mind either.

Despite injuries, despite a stretch of cold bats, the Phils and their front office will take care of business the way they know how.

It’s September the 8th, 2010, and the two time National League Champions are in first place again. If the Braves can knock off the team at this stage, much credit should be given to them.

Despite statistically being better than the Phils “across the board” we’ve got to recognize the fact that, there are some very important factors that are just as important, if not, more important than statistics that tell the real story. Those factors should most certainly be considered.

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Terrell Owens Part Two: Is Jayson Werth The Trouble?

Jayson Werth, reportedly, may have dropped his agent, Jeff Boris, and is on the hunt for a new one. In Craig Calcaterra’s article he expressed some suspicions that Werth may sign with, Scott Boras.

With clients and former clients with names like Alex Rodrigez and Manny Ramirez, you probably wouldn’t get an argument from most if you were to say Boras is MLB‘s version of Drew Rosenhaus.

Rosenhaus and his client, the then, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens teamed up in 2005, for what proved to be one of the messiest exits in Philadelphia sports. Owens announced that he had hired a new agent, in April of that same year, Drew Rosenhaus, and hinted at the fact that he would seek to have his contract with the Eagles renegotiated.

Owens made $9 million in 2004, but it’s noteworthy to mention that most of that was bonus money. His base salary was only $660,000. Owens, also was to make $4.5 million in 2005. Out of dissatisfaction, Owens, along with his new agent continued to lobby for a new contract.

After no agreement was met, Owens threatened to hold out of training camp until a deal was reached. He did, however, report to camp on time.

It probably won’t get that ugly. But as stated in Calcaterra’s article, the partnership of Werth and Boras almost makes Werth’s departure certain.

You might notice, that I correlate the Eagles and the Phillies often. It’s representative of the many years Philly felt the pain of the not-quite-good-enough club and have been on the brunt of unfortunate bad sporting fortune.

 

With that being said, despite it appearing as if we’re facing another case of DeJa Vu, don’t be alarmed. Even though this is similar, I’m here to assure you the Phils will be just fine.

Ruben Amaro, Jr. The man who just let Cliff Lee go on a “business decision,” certainly will not put all of his eggs in a basket for Jayson Werth. He’ll make moves, as he has in the past already. Why do you think Dominic Brown is up this year?

You can rest assured that the Phillies front office has their plan lined up and will sufficiently fill the holes, as they have with the departure of Aaron Rowand, one of my favorites at the time, Pat Burrell, and Cliff Lee. They’ve got it together.

While we thank Werth for what he’s done here for us, it wouldn’t be worth it to do back flips to keep him—and they just won’t—nor should they.

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Jayson Werth May Hire Scott Boras

Via Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk:

On Friday, Jerry Crasnick tweeted that Jayson Werth has parted ways with agent Jeff Borris.  Werth was cagey about it when asked over the weekend, denying that he has left Borris and Beverly Hills Sports council.  That’s likely a matter of semantics, however, because Crasnick’s source says Werth is “shopping” for new representation. I’m hearing the same thing.

What else I’m hearing: the front-runner is Scott Boras, with whom Werth is “way down the road,” according to my sources, and it’s looking like he will sign with him.

This is bad news for Yankee fans hoping that they sign Werth this off-season. The Yankees do have a history of signing Boras clients, but that was more back in the day when The Boss was in charge.

Lately, Brian Cashman and company have not have as much success when dealing with Boras. It started when Alex Rodriguez opted out of his last contract with the Yankees, and of course there was last off-season and the whole Johnny Damon debacle.

Dealing with Boras also means that the Yankees would have to pay top dollar for Werth’s services. It was certainly possible the Yankees would have tried to go after Werth this off-season, but not if he’s likely to demand upwards of $20 million per season ,and will probably ask for at least seven years.

Many of you might be saying, so what, it’s only money and the Yankees have an unlimited supply. Even if that were true, it isn’t, they still have an attractive option in Brett Gardner at a much cheaper price.

If Werth signs on with Boras, it all but closes the door on the possibility that he will end up in pinstripes.

Related Stories

• March 28, 2010—Best of the Week from the Yankees Blogosphere
• March 27, 2010—Hit and Run: Jayson Werth, Another Cut, Rings, and Feds
• February 28, 2010—Best from Around the Yankees Blogosphere
• January 28, 2010—Damon and the Yankees: A Timeline

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Philadelphia Phillies Vs Atlanta Braves: The Great Debate

There is something to be said about great rivalries in sports. They change, they go cold at times, and then there are times the rivalry will heat back up like never before.

This year, the Atlanta Braves have put their bid in to be the king of the NL East again as they seek to knock off the new beast in the east, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Packed with superstars, two World Series appearances, and a myriad of household names, the Phillies charge into this rivalry no different then they’ve had any other.

They’ve finished the Mets, knocking them off the map. They’ve sought vengeance against the Colorado Rockies, they ruined “the team that showed promise” in the Los Angeles Dodgers—twice, and they defeated the team of the future, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Now, the New York Yankees are in their sights. The Phillies seek to prove that they are beyond the level of even them.

Who stands in their way? The Atlanta Braves.

This wily team could be a pest. They will certainly put their bids in to win the NL East race, and it could happen. But, the playoffs are a different story. The Braves have young players who may be star struck at the fact that they are on the big stage, as did the Phillies in 2007.

It’s a completely different atmosphere, there’s more at stake. To beat a team four times out of seven…well, that is quite the task.

Can the Braves pull that off against the Philadelphia Phillies? Well, that will be decided. In the meantime YOU place your vote.

Bleacher Report’s Philadelphia Phillies’ Columnist, Vincent Heck, goes head to head with Atlanta Braves’ Featured Columnist, Evan Walker, in a war of words to decide who would win.

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Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Atlanta Braves: Who Is the Team To Beat?

Since May 31st, the Atlanta Braves have been all alone in first place atop the NL East.

The Braves have seen their lead rise to as much as seven games this season, but now they find themselves only one game ahead of Philadelphia with just two weeks left to play in the regular season.

With that said, who is really the team to beat in the National League East?

Is it Bobby Cox’s Braves in the legendary manager’s final season or the reigning champions of the National League?

We asked Phillies Featured Columnist Vincent Heck and Braves Featured Columnist Evan Walker to make their cases for their respective team.

 

Vincent Heck: 

I’m a man of faith and I know that, anytime you lack faith or doubt something great and powerful, you are sorely mistaken. The Philadelphia Phillies are powerful, on the road to great. Even if greatness does fail, it still doesn’t justify your reasoning as to why you doubted most of the time.

If you doubted the New England Patriots would win the Super Bowl in their infamous 18-1 season, you were unjustified in your doubts—period.

A great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, even beating the teams they are not supposed to beat—that’s greatness.

The Phillies are special in that they got their stardom as a humble, underdog, wild card team. They know how to win against hearsay—they’ve done it before.

They have since, proved, that they have risen to “powerhouse” status, considered by most to be on the brink of greatness.

The Phils’ mission hasn’t changed at all: Win another World Series.

The road, however, has definitely changed. This year, the charming Atlanta Braves stand in the path of a team who has always been determined to win and have always succeeded to a degree.

We all know the Braves can’t meet the Phillies in the World Series, so, something’s gotta give.

We know the firepower that the Phillies contain, there’s no need for me to run down statistics. You know Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.

Those men speak for themselves.

Those aren’t the men, on Monday the 20th through Wednesday the 22nd, that the Braves should be concerned with. It’s these men:

Monday: Cole Hamels
Tuesday: Roy Halladay
Wednesday: Roy Oswalt

The Atlanta Braves, a superb team, a relentless team, a talented team, have to contend with an offense known to put up nine run comebacks a couple times each season. And bat against three bona fide aces.

Now, as I said before, I am a man of faith, but men of faith don’t choose who they put their faith in frivolously. No—if you’re going to put faith in something, make sure it’s proven and tested.

That my friends is the Philadelphia Phillies, who have the same core from 2008 and 2009, with upgrades.

I like the Braves, but the truth is, their best chance in beating Philadelphia is as a wild card. Then, possibly, they may catch the Phillies “smelling themselves” too much.

But if the Braves win the division, there is no doubt in my mind the Phillies will take it to them in the NLCS.

Because a great team overcomes adversity, does the unexpected, and beats the teams they are not supposed to beat—the Phils are “not,” necessarily supposed to beat the New York Yankees—I’m not quite sure I’m ready to throw the Braves in that discussion yet.

 

Evan Walker:

The Philadelphia Phillies are a good team.

Last year, they were great. The year before, they were great, but I am not convinced that the Phillies are the same team from 2008 and 2009. They’ll need to be that team and more to avoid the tomahawk in 2010.

As we all know, this year will be the last year of the Bobby Cox dynasty and if their anchor Chipper Jones departs, it will be the end of the “Team of the 90s.”

Welcome to the team of the 2010s.

Only one word can describe the most walk-off wins in baseball, the transformation of a talented rookie into a keeper of the flame that ignited baseball’s postseason for 15 seasons, and incredible pitching in a year certain to be remembered for incredible pitching

Magical.

The Braves need no superstars. They have no Howards and they have no Utleys.

Instead of a team full of Subway commercials stars, the Braves have a team of 40 different baseball players, any of whom can don the hero’s cape on any given night.

The big three pitchers in Philly are dangerous, but three pitchers do not make a pitching staff.

You need at least four pitchers to be successful in the playoffs.

Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick both have ERA around five, so although Hamels, Halladay, and Oswalt are almost guaranteed great performances, Kendrick (4.72 ERA) and Blanton (5.25 ERA) make the rotation questionable with a 3.70 combined ERA.

Cy Young candidate, Tim Hudson anchors the Braves rotation along with Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurjens, Derek Lowe, and Mike Minor. All of them combined have a 3.53 ERA and none of them have an ERA above 4.50.

The Braves are statistically the better team in just about every category, but the reason that they have been in front of Philadelphia for the majority of this season is not about statistics.

This season is about giving a legendary manager a deserving high note to end his Hall of Fame career.

This season is about the stewardship of a baseball legacy and the beginning of a new baseball dynasty.

No matter who wins the division or who wins the wild card, the Braves and Phillies will meet in the postseason and it won’t be pretty.  But it will be great baseball.

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Cole Hamels Pitching Elite After the All Star Break

In the beginning of the season we all witnessed some shaky and inconsistent outings from our former 2008 World Series MVP, Cole Hamels.

We panicked, thought of the worst, and thought he would never be back to his old self.

Well, he clearly proved us wrong.

Since his first start after the All-Star break, Cole Hamels has been one of the most dominate pitchers in baseball. After doing a little math, he has averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings since then.

He’s averaging almost one strikeout every inning he’s on the mound and has gone really deep into games. In eight out of his 10 starts since All-Star weekend, Hamels has pitched more than seven innings each time (three of which were shutouts), doing his best impression of a workhorse.

In the month of August, Cole Hamels posted a very solid 2.79 ERA. His 1-3 record that month isn’t what it shows considering in two of those losses he gave up just one run. 

In his second start after the All-Star break, King Cole pitched an eight-inning, one-hitter, but was unfortunately given a no-decision due to poor run support, something the Phillies have struggled with all year, especially with Cole Hamels.

Another scenario he pitched a seven-inning, one earned run, and 11 strikeout game against the Mets. The Phillies lost the game 1-0.

As a matter of fact, this season Cole Hamels has pitched six, one-run games, and only two of them were wins. Two.

All he needs is two runs and he can win you game. That’s how good he really is. He’s a reliable pitcher, who gives you the same thing every time he steps foot on the mound.

Dominance.

When taking a deeper look into everything, Cole Hamels has easily been one of the most dominate, elite pitchers in baseball after the All-Star break.

He has came back to his 2008 postseason form, striking out batters, going deep into games, and being a reliable pitcher the Phillies can always count on when things aren’t going their way. 

King Cole has regained his confidence when he’s out on the mound and is looking to give playoff teams a run for their money and help lead the Phillies to another run at the World Series.

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The Sports Mac: The Daily Fives For September 5, 2010

Top Five Stories From Yesterday

1.    The first big Saturday of college football gets underway with No. 6 Texas Christian and No. 24 Louisiana State winning big non-conference match-ups.

2.    A myriad of NFL cuts on Saturday as teams trim their rosters before the season starts. The biggest move was made by the Cardinals, who released former first-round pick Matt Leinart.

3.    The gap in the NL West gets closer as the Padres drop their ninth game in a row, which allows the Giants to get within two games of the lead after rallying to beat the Dodgers.

4.    Roy Halladay gives up four home runs in a game for the first time, but the Phillies win again. and stay one game behind Atlanta in the tight race in the NL East.

5.    Sources report that Albert Haynesworth will not start in the Redskins opener vs. the Cowboys in Week 1.

Top Five Games From Yesterday

1.    CFB: Jacksonville State 49, Mississippi 48, 2OT: The Gamecocks rally from a 21-point halftime deficit to come back and stun the Rebels with a two-point conversion in the second OT.

2.    MLB: Giants 5, Dodgers 4: Juan Uribe hits a game-winning two-run homer in the top of the ninth as San Francisco rallies from four runs down to defeat LA and get within two games of the division lead.

3.    CFB: Kansas State 31, UCLA 22: The Wildcats get a 35-yard TD run from Daniel Thomas with under a minute remaining to seal the season-opening victory over the Bruins.

4.    CFB: No. 7 Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24: The Sooners have to hold off a pesky Aggie team, getting a interception in the last five minutes to hang on for the win.

5.    CFB: Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 21: The Wildcats hold on for a season-opening road win by stopping a Commodore two-point conversion attempt with under 2:30 remaining to play.

Top Five Performances From Yesterday

1.    T.J. Yates, North Carolina QB: 28-for-46 for 412 yards and three TDs in North Carolina’s 30-24 loss to LSU.

2.    Jim Thome, Twins DH: 2-for-2 with two homers and four RBI in MIN’s 12-4 win over TEX.

3.    Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State RB: 21 carries for 257 yards and four TDs in Oklahoma State’s 65-17 win over Washington State.

4.    Jair Jurrjens, Braves SP: Zero runs on three hits with seven K’s over seven innings, and the victory in ATL’s 2-0 win over FLA.

5.    Jheranie Boyd, North Carolina WR: Six catches for 221 yards and a TD in North Carolina’s 30-24 loss to LSU.

Five Performances That Weren’t So Good From Yesterday

1.    New Mexico Lobos: Out-gained 720 to 107, and committed five turnovers in their 72-0 loss to No. 11 Oregon.

2.    C.J. Lewis, Rangers SP: Nine runs on eight hits over 3.2 IP in TEX’s 12-4 loss to MIN.

3.    Memphis Tigers:  Out-gained 569 to 237, and committed two turnovers in their 49-7 loss to Mississippi State.

4.    Jonathon Broxton, Dodgers RP: Two runs on three hits in one inning in LAD’s 5-4 loss to SF.

5.    Kansas Jayhawks: Commit three turnovers and manage just 293 yards, and three points on offense in their 6-3 loss to FCS North Dakota State.

Top Five Events To Follow Today

1.    NCAA CFB: Tulsa (0-0) at East Carolina (0-0), 2:00 PM, ESPN: Big conference game for the season opener for two Conference USA favorites.

2.    MLB: Reds (79-56) at Cardinals (70-63), 2:00 PM: St. Louis tries for the series win and creeps a little closer in the division; (Bailey (CIN) vs. Carpenter (STL))

3.    MLB: Rangers (75-60) at Twins (79-57), 2:00 PM: Minnesota looks for the series sweep; (Wilson (TEX) vs. Blackburn (MIN))

4.    NCAA CFB: Texas Tech (0-0) at Southern Methodist (0-0), 3:30 PM, ESPN: Tommy Tuberville’s first game as Red Raider coach will be an intriguing affair against an improving Mustang squad.

5.    MLB: Giants (75-61) at Dodgers (69-67), 8:00 PM, ESPN: San Francisco looks to continue its march to the top of the NL West; (Good match-up: Sanchez (SF) vs. Kuroda (LAD))

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Roy Halladay: The True Cy Young Award Candidate

The 2010 baseball season has clearly been the year of the pitcher.

Six no-hitters, three perfect games (I’m including Armando Galarraga’s), fifteen no hit bids broken up in the seventh, and four no hit bids broken up within the 8th inning or later. One would be so cruel not to call it the year of the pitcher.

September has strolled upon us and teams are making their pitch for a playoff spot, a few prestigious players are making a run for the Triple Crown, and the Cy Young award talk begins.

The deserving winner is definitely Roy Halladay.

Pitchers such as Chris Carpenter, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, and Adam Wainwright all make good cases, but not as good as Roy Halladay.

Taking a quick look at statistics, Halladay has posted a 17-10 record, 2.33 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and leads the majors in strikeouts with 196, innings pitched with 221, and complete games with 8. Halladay ranks in the top 3 in every statistic besides ERA where he ranks fourth, just .08 points behind first place, Matt Latos.

Voters are alarmed by his 10 losses, however not all are deserved.

In six of those ten losses, Roy Halladay has given up three runs or less (three times giving up three, twice giving up two, and once giving up one).

Had those quality starts been rewarded with wins, Halladay’s record would transform from 17-10 to a beautiful Cy Young worthy 23-4. Given the poor run support, he has done incredible by racking up 17 wins. 

The Phillies have a powerhouse lineup of Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino, and Carlos Ruiz.  You expect that squad to score at least four runs every night.  For some reason, when Roy is on the mound, they don’t like to do it.

I can’t see anyone else getting more than 13 wins with this type of support.

Roy Halladay won six games in which he was given no more than 3 runs. That shows that in those six outings, the Phillies were relying on Doc to pull them through.

Throughout the 2010 season, Roy Halladay has shown he can go deep into games. Out of 29 starts this season, just four of them have lasted less than 7 innings and has thrown a perfect game—the hardest accomplishment for a pitcher. A workhorse, I tell you!

Leading the majors in innings pitched and putting up 8 complete games is a Cy Young to me.  Someone who can go deep into games and dominate opposing batters with his nasty stuff and puts them away with his strikeouts. This season his opponents are hitting just .245 against him.

The wins haven’t fallen Roy Halladay’s way this year.

Hopefully the writers can get this one right, and look beyond the wins and losses, because sometimes the record isn’t always what it shows.

 

 

 

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Philadelphia Phillies Starting to Hit Their Stride During Playoff Push

Over the past few weeks, the Phillies have been winning in a variety of ways. Whether it’s a big win, a late comeback, a close pitchers’ duel, or just a game won on smart baseball like the one they played Saturday night against the Brewers, they’re getting the job done.

That’s what we’re used to seeing from the Phillies, but it had been a rarity for a lot of the 2010 season. This didn’t look like a championship-quality team only a month or so ago, but now they look like a group that could definitely make a push.

As the Phillies usually do under Charlie Manuel, they’ve begun hitting their stride in the final month or so of the season and are now poised to undo all the mistakes they made early on in the season and overtake the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.

All they need is for the Braves to trip up just once. But to the Braves’ credit, they’re holding strong when they need to and keep fending off what must seem like an incredibly pesky Phillies team.

But, the Phils know all they can do is keep winning and hope for the best, and that’s exactly what they did Saturday night.

Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard each had a solo home run, and Jimmy Rollins scored a run, but the best play came on a Placido Polanco sac fly in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With the bases loaded, Polanco hit a fly ball about midway into left field. Carlos Ruiz was on third and, needless to say, he’s not the fastest guy on the team. But he decided from the get-go he was going to test Ryan Braun’s arm and took off.

The throw came in from Braun, it looked to be on line, but bounced behind Ruiz and right past Jonathan Lucroy to the backstop. Ruiz slid over home plate and scored. The Brewers’ pitcher, Zach Braddock, was lined up on the first base side of the plate and had to hustle to the ball, which had hit the backstop on the third base side.

Wilson Valdez, who had tagged up from second and moved to third, immediately took for home plate as soon as he saw the ball hit the backstop. It was a close play, but Valdez was safe at home and put the Phils up for good.

They went on to win 5-4, keep a three-game advantage in the wild card standings, and stay only one game behind the Braves in the division.

Smart plays like the one made by Valdez can be the difference between a playoff team and a World Series champion.

The Phils now seem to be making those plays more often than not, and could parlay some good late-season baseball into another late-October appearance.

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Philadelphia Phillies Bring in the Halladay with a Promise: The National League

On the fourth day of September, our true love gave to us,
four games unbeaten,
three aces pitching,
two straight World Series,
and a game back the NL East.

It feels like a holiday doesn’t it? So I figured a song would be appropriate.

It literally is a holiday weekend, with a Halladay on the mound, and don’t look now, but those guys we voted to be less confident in, even writing them off at one point, are making that surge we knew, deep down, would come.

Of course the polls have switched now, because the Phillies are showing us signs that they are still every bit as resilient as they have ever been.

Four games into the September push, the Phils will not take no for an answer. Heck, they won’t even accept a maybe. They are gunning for the top spot.

They may, in fact, have their eyes set on No. 1 overall in the NL. They’re only a game and a half back, and they’re the hottest team in the National League right now with five consecutive wins.

What we’re seeing here is a beautiful compliment of pitchers and hitters. When the bats were down, the pitchers held down the fort. With Halladay in line to lose his third straight start on September 4, 2010, the bats exploded.

The Phils rallied again, to win another close game against the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday evening 5-4.

The Phillies seem to love the tight games, boasting a 24-14 record in one-run games. They show us a healthy mixture of long balls like we’ve seen on Thursday night to the small ball comebacks we’ve seen today. This is what the Phillies possessed all of these seasons.

Now on top of that, they’ve got three aces. Is it now apparent yet? These guys have a knack for winning, and it won’t stop until they break up or get too old.

After September 5 2010, the rest of the season is in house—all NL East folks.

I’m going to go ahead and make a bold statement: by time October arrives, the Philadelphia Phillies will be the No. 1 seed in the National League.

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