With first place back on the line we’re gearing up for the final game of the two-game set. Here’s predicting that Cholly won’t get Hamels, tomorrow’s starter, up tonight.
Snide comments and reports from every fight we can see, ATJ
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Pregame
Clay Condrey, Ryan Madson, and (probably) J.C. Romero are all unavailable for the Phillies tonight.
When asked how he didn’t get thrown out last night Charlie responded “I was thinking about it” but wasn’t totally sure that the ball was fair when it hit the runner
Some clown Mets fan was rocking a Robin Ventura replica jersey. This, of course, allows me to post his finest moment
If Ryan Howard hit .280 - or almost 35 points lower than he did in 2006 - he’d win the MVP every year.
I should probably mention that he is hitting .280 with men in scoring position
for the second strait inning Kendrick allows a single to the leadoff guy, then lets him steal second. Probably not a good habit to get into.
If Santana has a weakness it’s the longball. 3-1 Phils.
Even with the lead the fans seem hesitant - our city has no idea how to frontrun
Kendrick’s pitch count - on a day the Phils need him to go deep; with nobody out in the 3rd - is at 48. Looks like we’re headed towards Andrew Carpenter time (the Phils called him up today)
Big, big catch and throw my Shane Victorino. All season long he has come to play.
After a game like last night everyone makes a big deal about momentum and emotion. On one hand this makes sense: the Phils had to be excited after the game, and the Mets had to be reminded of last season’s defeat - it doesn’t hurt that “did the Phillies break the mets?” is a fun topic to talk about, especially in Philly.
Unfortunately, I think that might be getting a little too much play. I asked a couple of the players about this today and some of them seemed to be relieved to be able to admit it.
“That stuff is all bullshit” admitted Victorino, “It’s game to game, whoever is better on any given night.”
“Last night’s game has no effect against Santana tonight” added Coste.
Basically momentum can shift so much through the course of a game that it is really hard to have anything carry over night to night. When push comes to shove, a couple nice hits against Schoenewies doesn’t help you hours later when you’re facing Johan.
We’ll see whose right tonight; I suppose, but it seems to be something at least worth considering amidst so much “The Phils murked the New York’s spirit” talk.
The Birds backups gear up to take on Brett Favre’s backups
and the second string New York Jets. Most
people don’t care about the forth preseason game (for obvious reasons) but it’s
always been my favorite. All the backups
go full tilt trying to stay on the team through final cuts, and they’ve played
with each other enough that organized, albeit vanilla, plays can be run.
UPDATE: none of that is true, it is not Thursday, despite how much like Thursday it feels. Oh well, live and learn (and expect to read that blurb again tomorrow)
*
But no one cares about that game, of course, because Kyle
Kendrick (11-7, 4.87) and the Phillies are trying to hold first place against
Johan Santana (12-7, 2.64) and the Mets. At first glance this seems like a pitching
mismatch, but first glance doesn’t remember that Kendrick has defeated former
Cy Youngs Greg Maddux and John Smoltz over the last year, or that when Pedro
hands the ball off, he has to give it to these clowns.
Two reasons why the Phillies are going to win:
Santana is coming off an outing where he threw a career
high 121 pitches
Kendrick’s ERA against the Mets (2.40) is actually
better than Santana’s against the Phils (2.60), so logic would dictate that, if
both pitchers go the distance, the Phillies will win (2.6 to 2.4)
Two reasons they won’t
The Phillies won the first game of the last two sets
against the Mets in epic fashion as well. It was the Good Guys who had a letdown the
next day
Santana is a strikeout pitcher and the Phillies aren’t
contact hitters. As games become bigger
and both sides start holding on a little tighter, that doesn’t bode well for
the bats
Whatever. Look for Pedro Feliciano to do something amazing
for the Phils and the Home Team to take another game from the ‘tropolitans. They’re due for their 22nd (!) blown save of the year.
I don’t know how I haven’t pieced this together yet, but Craig Robinson, the current future first brother-in-law (Michelle’s brother), is Craig Robinson - a former 76er draft pick.
After Robinson starred at Princeton the Sixers made him the last pick in the 4th round of the 1983 NBA draft. He went off the board before future Sixers Manute Bol and Sedele Threatt.
Robinson is now the head basketball coach at Oregon State, and is presumably voting for Barry.
Samuel Dalembert, apparently financially unscathed from his speed racing adventures, recently copped this Boca Raton home for a cool $4 mil. The asking price was $4.9, so either housing market in BR is struggs or Sammy is more shrewd of a negotiator than we’re giving him credit for.
I suppose we could make an issue out of the Haitian-born Canadian citizen living so far away from Philly, but who wants that?
Alright team, here’s the deal: some how, some way I deleted my entire game notes from the Mets/Phils game and there is no way I can recreate them until BH saved most of them. This sucks for you, (they were epic) and for me (it’s like someone murdered a loved one, which is especially bad for me because I hate murder). Anyway, if by some off chance you have a live link to what I posted (it was in real time) please send it my way and I’ll promise to love you forever. I’ve got pregame notes saved, so enjoy reading nothing about the actual game ATJ.
Not content with judging the local media in the morning, we
here at the Sports Complex have
decided to start the newest piece of daily furniture: the Afternoon Rounds. In the AR we’ll take a look at who is saying
what in the Philadelphia
blogosphere. In general I’ll try to
highlight five posts that I think should be paid attention to or talked about.
It’s a big internet out there, so feel free and email with posts I might have missed.
In his latest update AI2 talks shop, contracts, and his
hobbies. He also drops this gem:
One of my favorite shows right now is the HBO series Hard Knocks
Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys. It gives fans a sense of what
training camp is like and how tough it is to be a professional athlete.
Just watching the show gets my adrenaline going and I’m anxiously
waiting for training camp to start for us. I have been a huge T.O. fan
since his days with the 49ers because of his hard work and discipline
he brings to the game.
Um, dude, you just whined about how tough professional
athletes have it then admitted your man-crush on T.O. Those are two things that generally don’t
play in these parts.
Throughout my time with the Sports Complex I think I’ve
said mostly nice things when I comment about national columnists. Some of
this is selective - I generally won’t comment if I’m disinterested in the
comments of a national writer - but most of it is earned. I write nice
things because I see that there is a real reason why some of them have gotten
to where they are, and moreso than not, it’s a legitimate reason.
I bring this up to point out that when I criticize a writer
I at least try not to do it glibly, or at random. That said, Greg Doyel of CBS Sportsline is a fantastic douche. He
doesn’t seem to understand sports, fans, or Philadelphia, and has penned an article that
seems meant only to elicit a response. I’m
embarrassed to take the bait, but I can’t let his article stand on its own.
Elegy (R)
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