Is Vance Worley the Unsung Hero In Philadelphia or Just Part of the Equation?

To any given Philadelphia Phillies’ fan, the contributions and accomplishments that Vance Worley has provided the Philadelphia faithful do not go unnoticed.

But to the average baseball fan, the name Vance Worley may have little recognition.

Vance Worley’s 2011 darling of a season began in June against a Mariners’ team that couldn’t hit the blind side of a barn if it was 10 feet in front of them, but despite Seattle’s hitting woes, Worley still gave up five hits and struck out only three.

Not bad, but not great.

Since then, the only team to really give Worley any sort of trouble was the Pittsburgh Pirates at the end of July—everything else has been birthday presents and celebrations.

After his last outing against the World Series champs, Worley now owns a stellar 8-1 record with an equally exquisite 1.79 ERA since coming back from the minors in June.

And here we are.

The Phillies are now flirting with the possibility of 105 wins or better, which could raise the argument of comparison to the 1975 Cincinnati Reds or the 1986 New York Mets, and the reason for that possible comparison is in fact Vance Worley.

But at the forefront are many other household names like Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard, etc.…with Worley still somewhat being that “oh, yeah he’s pretty good…’’ kind of guy.

An unsung hero is one who is defined by his contributions and accomplishments for the greater good that often go unnoticed.

In essence, Worley could be viewed as an unsung hero.

But does that really matter?  The fact is, Worley is doing exactly what the team expects him to do and then some and it has been a paramount addition to what this team has done all year long.

Furthermore, this team is a TEAM FIRST competitor in MLB sporting an all-time low in egos, controversies and independent player separation which other teams can’t seem to accomplish.

Basically this Phillies team is more like a family, not a collective payroll.

Each player on this team feeds off of each other and their undying collective faithful.

This is a team that on any given day will say “come get us” and when they are down in the seventh, turn around and say “now it’s our turn, are you ready?”

This is a team that is constructed on the idealism of everybody plays as a collective, and it is that collective that has risen above the cream of the crop.

They ARE the cream right now.

So when one takes an objective look at Worley, yes, you could suggest he is an unsung hero.

But to me, Worley is just another part of a larger equation; an equation that is soundly constructed, incredibly difficult to crack and unwavering in their march towards the inevitable.

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Placido Polanco Has Sports Hernia, Will It Affect Phillies’ Championship Run?

Just as things were looking nearly perfect after a series win over the Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies received some very troubling news last night. Placido Polanco has a sports hernia and it may require surgery. Polanco has not played since being removed from Saturday’s game against San Francisco.

Philly sports fans are all too familiar with the injury, having witnessed a sports hernia end franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb’s year with the Eagles back in the team’s disastrous 2005 season.

In this situation, Polanco’s injury will likely be far less catastrophic.

To begin the recovery process, the third baseman will receive an anti-inflammatory injection at some point today. Later this week, Polanco will be re-evaluated by team doctors to determine if he can play through the injury without surgery.

Playing through a sports hernia is a realistic scenario, especially in the game of baseball, where there is minimal contact. Raul Ibanez experienced a similar injury back in 2009, and he was able to push off surgery until after the World Series. But Ibañez saw a sharp decline in his play. It was a disappointing second half to what started as an MVP-caliber season.

Although Polanco’s MRI showed signs of built up scar tissue, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. remains hopeful that surgery can be eluded, adding that the injury appears less damaging than the one Ibanez suffered two years ago.

If surgery proves to be unavoidable, Polanco will take another trip to the disabled list. With a recovery time of three to four weeks he would be back with the team sometime in mid-September, just in time for postseason play.

Polanco is in the midst of a solid season both offensively and defensively. He is batting .275 and has a fielding percentage of .976, best in the NL among third baseman. However, he has not been the same player he was in the first half, possibly the result of the evolved state of his injury. It’s possible that surgery could supply Polanco with an improved and revived presence at the plate. Still, he’s not easily replaceable.

The Phillies will likely look in-house for an interim third baseman, with rookie Michael Martinez and 33-year-old utility-man Wilson Valdez the top candidates for the position. Martinez has a disappointing average of .222, and a poor on-base percentage of .265. Valdez hasn’t fared much better with a BA of .235 and an OBP of .284. Both are solid defensively but they are not desirable fill-ins because of their lack of offensive abilities. But with Amaro hoping for a quick return for Polanco, he says the team will opt for the Valdez-Martinez combination rather than resorting to outside help.     

Let’s face it: The Phils are no-doubt a postseason lock. There is virtually no competition from anyone in the National League to even come close to the Phillies record. With their dominant pitching staff, the lead should remain intact with or without Polanco. If he returns by the playoffsas predicted, he will likely provide a strong boost to an already inconsistent lineup. 

Having suffered several debilitating injuries over the past couple of years, the return of a fully-healthy Polanco is far from a guarantee. He may not be the most important piece to winning a World Series, but in a postseason where every game, every inning, every at-bat, and every pitch can define the line between champions and losers, the Phillies would greatly benefit having their All-Star third baseman back in the lineup.  

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Ranking the Playoff Contenders’ Starting Rotations

Now that the trading deadline has come and gone, it’s time to take a look at how the contenders stack up against one another.

In October the importance of strong starting pitching becomes even more significant, which makes it a good place to start,

The way that these rankings are compiled is a formula that gives the most importance to a team’s top guy, because that’s the guy that will see the most starts in a playoff series. Then the formula weighs the second and third guys before giving minimal value to a fourth starter.

Obviously a team with a strong top two guys will have rank high, but the highest ranked teams are going to be the most balanced throughout the rotation.

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Shane Victorino: Under the Radar National League MVP Candidate

Until Ryan Howard’s recent 3-for-17, 10-strikeout skid, there was talk, absurd as it is, about Howard’s claim for another possible MVP. But Phillies fans are forgetting the team’s most deserving MVP candidate, Shane Victorino.

Currently Shane Victorino is second among National League position players in Fangraphs’ WAR with 5.6, behind only Colorado Rockies‘ Troy Tulowitizki and tied with Jose Reyes. In Baseball-Reference’s WAR, Victorino is tied for fifth with 4.6 wins, behind only Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen and Michael Bourn.

The difference in the two measures comes from the difference in the defensive input they use in each. For example, Baseball-Reference grades out Kemp and Braun’s defense much better than Fangraphs. However, in each system, Victorino’s defense grades out well. In Baseball-Reference’s Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average, Victorino has saved five runs. In Fangraph’s Ultimate Zone Rating, he’s been even better, saving just over seven runs.

But everyone knows Victorino has been a great defensive center fielder for years now. What puts him into MVP contention now is his improved offensive game. After suffering some bad BABIP luck last year, he’s rebounded in a strong way, hitting .310/.387/.541. His .928 OPS is good for eighth in the National League. Showing an increase in power, with career highs in slugging and isolated slugging (.231), he’ll get near his career high in homers and is just one triple away from tying his career high in triples (13).

Tacking on stolen bases, his .407 wOBA is seventh in the league. Stolen bases aren’t the only byproduct of his terrific speed. Unlike the other sluggers who rate higher in the offensive categories, his baserunning has added 3.4 runs according to Fangraphs, good for fifth in the league.

His value lies in the under-the-radar and hard-to-measure facets of the game. Unfortunately for Victorino, he doesn’t have the gaudy baseball card stats that typically woo MVP voters, media and fans.

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Placido Polanco and the Most Underrated MLB Players of the 2000s by Position

Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, Chase Utley…

These are the players that come to mind when people are asked the best players by position. However there are others that are overlooked because of the performance by their peers. Some of these players are Hall of Fame worthy, some aren’t.

But the one thing these players have in common is that they are all valuable players for their respective ball clubs. Ladies and Gentlemen let the debate begin.

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Fantasy Baseball: Are Phillies’ Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge Worth Owning?

The Philadelphia Phillies have been reunited with pitchers Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge after stints on the disabled list, but should you play either of them in your fantasy baseball league?

Oswalt made his first start since coming back against the San Francisco Giants, allowing only three earned runs in six innings pitched. These aren’t great numbers, but he is still working his way back.

Lidge, on the other hand, has pitched in seven games since July 25, allowing only one earned run. He has an ERA of 1.67 and five strikeouts in his 5.1 innings pitched, which are great numbers.

Many fantasy owners are wondering whether or not they should take a chance on these two since they are still getting back into the swing of things.

Fantasy owners are certainly willing to add the two to their rosters, with Lidge being the No. 9 most added pitcher in the last week, being added in 9.2 percent of ESPN leagues, and Oswalt being No. 14, being added in 6.9 percent of leagues.

However, a closer look at the numbers for these two shows that neither is to be trusted when it comes down to it.

Oswalt may have only allowed three earned runs, but he allowed 12 hits and two walks in his six innings. Oswalt was consistently letting runners get on base, and his WHIP of 2.33 is alarming to say the least.

Oswalt only struck out four batters, which shows that he was allowing a lot of solid contact throughout the course of the game. While allowing contact to a team with a potent offense can be acceptable, he was facing the Giants, who have scored the fewest runs in the National League (399), and are one of only two teams to have fewer than 400 runs scored.

Oswalt used to be an ace, but he is getting older, and injury problems make him seem older than 33. Despite being owned in 95.6 percent of leagues, with his best days behind him, Oswalt needs to be avoided. Try to trade him immediately if he makes a good start over the next week.

Lidge has posted good numbers so far. As I mentioned before, his 1.67 ERA and five strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched is impressive, but it does not tell the whole story.

Lidge has allowed five walks in 5.1 innings pitched. Walks ended up hurting him in 2009 and 2010, after going a perfect 48-for-48 in save opportunities in 2008. Lidge needs to have good control if he wants to be effective, and he still needs to attain it this season.

Another factor that will hold Lidge back is his pitch count. Lidge needs to be well-rested to be effective, but he can’t do that while throwing 92 pitches in 5.1 innings. Lidge is averaging almost 18 pitches per inning, and that spells trouble.

Lidge could still have a good month left in him this season, but that’s only if he can improve his control and lower his pitch count. If you are going to hold onto either of these guys it should be Lidge, and he is available in 70.5 percent of leagues.

The Phillies have been joined by their pitchers once more, but you should not have your fantasy team be joined by them. Lidge may prove to be a viable option in a deeper league, but Oswalt should be avoided.

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John Mayberry Jr. to Become the Phillies Next Breakout Star?

In a time where huge payrolls and absurd contracts are becoming common place, teams across the league are always looking for cheap, controllable players that have a chance to become legitimate stars.

While each and every team clings to the idea that players they’ve drafted will someday contribute at the Major League level, there are some times where we’re forced to just face facts: It’s not going to work.

Jayson Werth is the prime example of a player with plenty of raw talent who just couldn’t put things together at the Major League level. Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles as a catcher, the team tried everything to milk the potential from his thunderous bat, before finally giving up and sending him to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Jays tried to do the same thing. They spent a few years tinkering with his stance and working on his coordination before finally deciding that the best path for their franchise would be to cash in on what value he had left as a prospect and send him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade.

After a very solid 2004 season, the Dodgers thought they were on to something. Werth broke out with 16 home runs, showing glimpses of all five of the “tools” scouts love to see: Power, speed, defense, arm strength and batting average.

The following season wasn’t kind to the promising young outfielder, however, as he suffered a wrist injury and the Dodgers feared that he would never be able to swing the bat the same way again. Unwilling to tender him a contract and give him a raise as a risky player, they cut him loose and the Phillies swooped in.

It’s important to remember now that the Phillies of 2007 were not the same as the National League beasts of 2011. They didn’t have a huge payroll and an ace to take the mound every day but a couple of promising, young rookies, solid veterans, and All-Star caliber players just finding their niche. In an attempt to find some cheap value, they took a chance on Werth as a bench player.

Charlie Manuel was very pleased with Werth’s production against left handed pitchers, eventually making his way into the lineup against lefties on a daily basis before taking Geoff Jenkins’ job for good.

The rest is history.

So after that brief recap of Werth’s career to date, it isn’t hard to see why outfielders who follow the same path draw similar reviews. In fact, way before the season started, I wrote about how Ben Francisco could be poised for a break-out season, and we see the results of 2011 are more broken than anything.

It’s hard to predict what kind of impact a player could have on his club, and for that reason alone, what I’m about to write should be taken with a grain of salt. Today, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports posted his daily column, and in it were a few interesting snippets about Phillies’ outfielder John Mayberry Jr.

In it, he notes that some scouts that he recently spoke to see Mayberry as a “potential late bloomer,” and compared him to Werth and Washington Nationals break-out player, Michael Morse—all of whom are tall, lanky right handed hitters with power.

While Mayberry has yet to realize his full potential, the path to the Major League taken by these three players is strikingly similar. Like Werth, the Nationals took a chance on Morse, a failed shortstop in the Seattle Mariners organization, and moved him to a position to better amplify his power. And the early results are promising.

The same could be said about Mayberry, whom the Phils decided to take a chance on following the 2008 season. Feeling as though they couldn’t get the production they desired out of draft pick and fellow outfielder Greg Golson, the Phils struck a deal with the Texas Rangers, swapping promising outfield prospects, Golson and Mayberry—both of whom were struggling with their current organizations and looking for a chance of scenery. 

The Phillies had high hopes for Mayberry’s tremendous power reserve, and they believed that the confines of Citizens’ Bank Park would play well to his swing. As it turned out, they felt as though he may never blossom into a Major League regular, despite being a first-round pick twice.

They sent him to the bench in need of a right-handed stroke, and when Francisco came to town at the 2009 trade deadline, Mayberry’s services were no longer needed, and he was sent back to the Minor League.

Mayberry’s problems were clear. First of all, he simply couldn’t hit right handed pitching. Albeit in brief stints with the Major League club, the Phillies saw a huge hitch in his swing that would keep him from being productive. The second knock was the incredible rate in which he was striking out. In both of his stints with the Phillies in 2009 and 2010, Mayberry struck out in more than 30 percent of his at-bats.

For the remainder of 2010 and the 2011 season, the Phillies’ coaching staff provided Mayberry with certain goals to work towards in the Minor League. Knowing that he could hit left-handed pitching, they told him to work on hitting right-handed pitchers, and most importantly, make contact with the ball.

The result was a minor tinkering with his stance, and in 2011, it seems like John Mayberry Jr. is finally putting things together.

After struggling early in the season, the outfielder went to AAA and worked on his problem areas, returning in July like a man who’s pants were on fire. To date, he has lowered his rate of strike outs by more than 10 percent, and his OPS of .793 vs. right-handed pitchers is surpassed by only Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard.

To measure his production, FanGraphs uses a statistic called “Weighted Runs Created,” (wRC+), which “attempts to quantify a player’s total offensive value and measure it by runs.” The stat is very self-explanatory. To understand the basics, all you need to know is that a wRC+ of 100 is average and anything north of that is better than league average. 

To date, through 67 games, Mayberry has registered a wRC+ of 124, bested only by Victorino, Utley and Hunter Pence, who’s extremely small sample size of 10 games makes him a misleading leader in this category.

Simply put, when he’s played, Mayberry has generated runs. And thanks to good base running and defense in the outfield, where he’s played all three positions, he’s generated more Wins Above Replacement (WAR) than Ryan Howard in 47 fewer games and at just a fraction of the cost.

With those numbers in mind, it isn’t hard to see that the improvements Mayberry has made over the last few seasons are helping him adjust to Major League pitching and to begin reaching his potential. Whether or not he’s able to become a break-out start like Werth and Morse remains to be seen, but with Raul Ibanez becoming a free agent at season’s end and Domonic Brown’s production at the Major League level a grey area, having a surging Mayberry in the fold for the foreseeable future is certainly not a bad idea.

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Philadelphia Philles: 5 Reasons They’re Destined to Win NL East

The Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in the MLB this season, and they seemed to be destined to win the NL East.

We knew that the Phillies would be good with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels pitching for them. We knew they’d be great when they threw Cliff Lee into the mix. However, we did not know just how good they would be with four aces but many vital injuries.

The Phillies have not disappointed expectations whatsoever, which is ridiculous because expectations were sky-high. The team is on pace for winning about 105 games this season despite having injuries to almost every important position player, several relievers and two starting pitchers.

Winning 110 games is not out of the question because the Phillies’ pitching is so deep, and their offense is starting to heat up.

The Phillies are going to win the NL East, and here’s why.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Should Phils Consider Bringing Arthur Rhodes Back?

Left-handed relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes was designated for assignment last week to create room on the Texas Rangers‘ roster for newly-acquired setup man Mike Adams. The 41-year-old Rhodes, who signed a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Rangers this past offseason, has also reportedly been placed on release waivers, meaning that he will most likely become a free agent on Wednesday.

Rhodes has been nothing short of a journeyman throughout his career. Among the oldest active players in baseball (and one of few still playing in the bigs who was born in the 1960s), he has played for eight teams in his 20-season career: the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners (twice), Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins, Cincinnati Reds, and the Rangers.

Over the span of his career, he’s posted an 87-69 record with a 4.08 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 881 games consisting of 81 starts. He’s also racked up 33 saves and has finished 160 games.

Rhodes has been an average player throughout his career, and this season has been a continuing trend of that: in 32 games this year, he’s posted a 3-3 record with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP in 24.1 innings pitched with one save and 10 games finished.

What’s attractive about him, though, is the fact that he is a left-handed relief pitcher, and he’s held left-handed hitters to batting just .216 against him this year. There are quite a few teams who could use him, such as the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, one team who could be a dark horse for his services could be one of his former clubs, the Phillies. The Phils, who have been short of a left-handed reliever since they released J.C. Romero, have since been looking for a replacement.

While they have tried out career minor-league pitcher Juan Perez, who hasn’t really added anything to the team this year, they recently sent him back down to the minors to make room for Roy Oswalt on Sunday, who was making his first start since coming off the DL due to bulging discs in his back.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Gelb also considered the idea of signing Rhodes through the rest of the season, and he would be dirt-cheap, coming at the major-league minimum of $414,000 for the remainder of the year due to his release, meaning the Rangers are on the hook for the deal they signed him to, not the Phillies, so signing him means he most likely wouldn’t push the team over the luxury tax threshold.

Rhodes previously came to Philly in a trade with the Indians that sent Jason Michaels to Cleveland in return. During his lone year here in Philadelphia in 2006, Rhodes was nothing short of awful: in 55 games and 45.2 innings pitched, Rhodes went 0-5 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. After the season Rhodes’ three-year contract ended, and the Phillies chose to let him walk, and for good reason, too.

However, Rhodes could be the kind of player who could turn out to be high-risk, high-reward. Aside from Antonio Bastardo, who has been phenomenal this year in the bullpen (5-0, 1.49 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, eight saves in 46 games, 42.1 innings pitched), the Phillies don’t have another southpaw to compliment Bastardo, let alone give him rest.

After all, he is only 25 years old, and wear and tear on a young arm like that of Bastardo can sometimes lead to disastrous results in the future (see Kerry Wood).

Since Bastardo is the only southpaw reliever currently on the team, he’s needed more than any other reliever, especially since the Phillies have had to use four relievers to close this season (Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, Jose Contreras, and Bastardo) due to injuries of the other three aforementioned pitchers. And it shows: of all relievers on the team, Bastardo leads in appearances with 46, with Ryan Madson in second with 39.

Rhodes could be an impact player down the stretch, including during the postseason, should the Phillies acquire him before the August 31 waiver trade deadline. It’s not like he doesn’t have postseason experience, either: he’s pitched in 21 games (17.1 IP) in the postseason, although he has a high 4.67 ERA and unsightly 1.50 WHIP.

But with all high-risk, high-reward players, sometimes it just takes a little something like a change of scenery of motivation of being with the best team in baseball for the remainder of the year. Not that the Rangers were bad, it’s just that the Phillies are better. Just ask Cliff Lee.

It’s shown in the past for Rhodes that he’s pitched well with age as well—in fact, during his time with the Reds from 2009-2010, when he was age 39 and 40, respectively, Rhodes went 5-5 with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over those two seasons, having averaged 68 games each season and just 54.0 innings pitched. Impressive.

Should the Phillies choose to pursue Rhodes and bring him back to Philadelphia, he could be a huge mistake, too. The guy’s 41 years old and he hasn’t looked as sharp this season as he did the two prior with Cincinnati. But he’s also the kind of guy who could come at a relatively low price for a couple of months and could make a difference both down the stretch and into the playoffs. Rhodes could be an extremely huge risk—but he could very well be worth it in the end.

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Phillies and Giants Brawl Shows Maturity of One Team, Immaturity of the Other

Biased as I may be, I came away from last night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants with even more respect for my hometown team of red and less for the defending world champions.

During the sixth inning of an 8-2 game and the score in the Phillies’ favor, Giants pitcher Ramon Ramirez decided to throw at the backside of batter Shane Victorino after Jimmy Rollins had stolen second base. What then transpired on the field could have easily been avoided; not just once, but twice. You can see the video here.

Where San Francisco went wrong was throwing at him in the first place. If it’s true that Ramirez did indeed decide to plunk Victorino in response to Rollins’ stealing of second base in an 8-2 game, you have to wonder just how confident they are in their own offense.

The “unwritten” rules of baseball suggest that in a blowout late in a game, the team with the lead should hold back from advancing runners on a steal. The same goes for other sports. The point is to play like gentlemen and to avoid humiliating the other team. But if the Giants saw an 8-2 game in the sixth inning a blowout, how confident are they in being able to battle back and score runs?

It’s no mystery to any audience that their offense is downright anemic, but you would at least think they would remain confident in their own abilities. A six-run deficit with four innings left is nowhere near insurmountable. The Giants could have plausibly come back to steal one away.

Once the festivities got underway, it became apparent that they had given up on winning. The Giants were simply out looking for a fight.

After Victorino was hit square in the small of his back, he dropped his bat and took a few steps toward the mound before stopping to glare are his combatant. Ramirez proceeded to go the other 50 feet, while his catcher Eli Whiteside jumped up and down like a prized champion boxer ready for a heavyweight bout.

From there, benches emptied as the situation only escalated.

Whiteside found the closest man in red to him, which turned out to be Placido Polanco who had come over from first base, and proceeded to latch onto his legs in an attempt to take him to the ground. He was unsuccessful as about eight other Phillies were there to hold Polanco up.

As the brawl went on, things seemed to die back down until Shane Victorino managed to escape the grasp of his hitting coach Greg Gross and floored his way back into the skirmish to body slam whoever he could get his grasp on. That man turned out to be one of the Giants’ coaches. Not the best move by Victorino.

It took the rest of Philly’s army to pry the Flyin’ Hawaiian off of his prey, as well as an Aubrey Huff headlock, but once the two were separated tempers died down. As the two teams moved back to their respective dugouts, the umpires decided to eject Whiteside, Ramirez and Victorino from the game and rightfully so.

Aside from Victorino, the rest of his teammates showed tremendous restraint and maturity throughout the entire situation. Shane is a high temper player with known Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who won’t back down until the job is finished. Intentionally hitting him in a totally uncalled for situation brought out his worst side.

To his credit, he showed restraint by simply taking a few steps to stare down Ramirez. Most players would have charged the mound immediately. He claims he had no intention of doing so, and frankly, I believe him.

The brawl could have been avoided at that point if Ramirez stayed on his mound and Whiteside hadn’t gone looking for a partner to dance with.

Even after the Giants’ catcher started the fight with his attempted tackle on Polanco, all of the Phillies’ efforts besides Victorino’s were focused on getting him out of there and ending the scrum. From what can be seen on video, not another Philadelphia player took to throwing punches or instigating. The same couldn’t be said for some Giants players, who seemed too eager to start this in the first place.

Maybe it was frustration over their recent offensive woes, or the fact that they had lost six of seven going into the night, but more Giants players seemed inclined to scuffle than Phillies.

Aside from the initial fire starters, a Giants player can be seen on video hopping around, just as Whiteside did looking for a target of his own. That target turned out to be Phillies first base coach Sam Perlozzo, who is 60 years old. Luckily, Perlozzo had been shielded by what looks to be pitcher Kyle Kendrick, so no shots were taken. When the player realized who he’d taken a peck at, he backed off and continued his search for someone else.

On top of that, Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval can be seen throwing elbows and a few kicks in the middle of the group. At one point, Sandoval punches Victorino on the ground before running back to a different part of the scuffle

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was also involved, but not as an instigator. He was stepped on, as well as had the back of his pants tugged on.

Towards the end, after Victorino bum rushed back into the center of things with a tackle, Giants reliever Guillermo Mota pulled the helmet off of his head. What effect that had, I’m not totally sure. That one’s just more humorous than anything.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to say that all Philadelphia players are innocent. Victorino charging back into the group and tackling an unsuspecting victim, as well as trying to move an umpire out of his way, will warrant suspension. Rollins was also seen shoving San Francisco bench coach Ron Wotus and exchanging a few words. There’s probably much more that we can’t see from the angles on television.

Both teams are always guilty in any situation like this. But in these circumstances, what happened could have easily been avoided, and it was San Francisco who decided to get things going.

If Ramirez sole intent was to hit Victorino and send a message, he would not have made most of the trip down to confront him. Whiteside’s antics didn’t help in calming things down, either. The Giants had given up on baseball and were looking to start a fight. They picked the right player to do so with Victorino.

Aside from Victorino, Philadelphia showed great restraint. On the other hand, San Francisco showed an eagerness to not only deliver a message, but get physical with it. The hit was intentional and uncalled for, as was what transpired.

The Giants took offense to Rollins stealing second base in the middle of a crucial game between two National League foes that was in no way out of reach. They gave up trying to play baseball and instead made a mockery of the game.

Simply sending a message and hitting Victorino would have been acceptable had it not been for Ramirez and Whiteside immediately going after Phillies players once he had been plunked. The intent was clearly there to start something more than just a war of words.

For Philadelphia, they came away not only looking like the better team but the more mature one, too. San Francisco instigated something that didn’t need to happen and escalated things from there. Victorino and the Phillies did what any player and team would do by standing up for themselves. As Manuel later put it, “Vic almost has to go unless he wants his teammates to call him chicken.”

The two teams square off again today at 4 PM ET in the third game of a four-game set. Cole Hamels will toe the rubber for the Phillies, with Matt Cain taking the mound for the Giants.

Hopefully, yesterday’s antics don’t bowl over into today’s game and baseball order can be restored. But one thing’s for sure: you won’t want to miss it.

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