In Defense of Manuel / Distraction

Pay close attention, the next screwed up double-switch Charlie Manuel does, it could be his last. That along with other great Manuel-isms, such as the bewildered stare from the dugout, the "air-batting" that occurs between he and Milt Thompson when somebody hits a homerun, and the always eloquent dialogue with Wheels during "The Charlie Manuel Show," could be gone very soon.

I have been a harsh critic of Manuel starting about mid-season '05, but as I watched him run to centerfield to check on an injured Shane Victorino during last nights loss to the Orioles, I felt sorry for the old hick. He's too old and probably too nice of guy to have to endure the crap-storm that is heading his way. Sure, I still think he's a horrible manager and will not relinquish that view, but I don't think he deserves the garbage that is going to fall on him in the aftermath of this disgusting season. He's not the reason this team is 7 games under .500. The real reason is this mismatched group of position players and inexperienced, minimally-talented pitching staff. To paraphrase that turkey-necked jackass Dick Jerardi: "Everyone keeps saying this team continues to underperform. Well, they aren't. This is how good they are."

Two months ago, fans raved about Manuel's attributes as a motivator and "player's manager" and discounted his lack of in-game managerial skill. Now, many of those people are placing a lot of blame on him for the continued losing. Manuel should be fired, but he should not be a martyr or a scapegoat. He has a role in the losing, but his piece in the great pie chart of misery is a lot smaller than most believe.
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At this point, there is nothing positve to write about the Phils or the Buccos. Instead, we have to think of things that distract us from the losing. Today's distraction: the theme to Mr Belvedere. Enjoy.



I wonder how Mr. Belvedere would do managing this team? A fruity, effeminate British nanny couldn't do any worse...

Corey

Rock Bottom

Just how bad is bad? That is a question for the ages my friend. The Pirates are currently in the midst of a nice and tidy 13 game losing streak. I personally hope it reaches somewhere around 20 games, because that's about the only way this team will get national exposure. By the way, the Pirates record for those who care is 26-53, damn close to worst in baseball. The Phillies are bad too, albeit with a better record of 35-42. However, the Phillies were expected to contend, unlike the Pirates, and the Phillies are an embarrassment to baseball right now with the Brett Myers situation, a manager that is a "retarded hick", and a bunch of overpaid pansies! So how bad is bad, well apparently it's pretty f'n bad! And believe me, it stands to get worse. Pennsylvania baseball is really taking it in the rear this season, and without even the courtesy of a lube...ouch!

Also, there seems to be no help on the way. Staff aces John Lieber and Oliver Perez flat-out suck. Perez has been demoted to bullpen duties and Lieber is struggling in rehab starts for Single A. Each farm system is void of positional prospects, and any pitching that comes up seems to fall flat on their faces...this is just so very bad, in fact rock bottom!

~Carson

Playing For Both Teams...

With the Phillies signing of ex-Bucco Rick White, the relief pitcher becomes one of a long line of players that have played for both squads. Those players, who have been Phillies and Buccos, are known as Phuccos.

Phuccos since 1995:
Rick White
Abraham Nunez
Jose Mesa
Jon Lieber
Mike Williams
Omar Olivares
Lou Collier
Nelson Figueroa
Andy Van Slyke
Kevin Elster
Benito Santiago
Mike Benjamin
Midre Cummings
Charlie Hayes
Mark Parent
Dan Plesac
Dale Sveum
Turner Ward
Roberto Hernandez

Quite an impressive list. Here's to the Keystone State Baseball Player Recycling Program, without which this list of Phuccos may not continue to grow.

Corey

Told You So!

I'm getting up on my soap box and telling everyone to kiss my booty! That's right, I was labeled a "downer", "drama queen", accused of throwing in the towel, told I was wrong on multiple occasions, and pretty much completely blasted on BeerLeaguer for expressing my thoughts about the state of Phillies baseball. Turned out I was dead on about Gavin Floyd...he sucks. I was absolutely without a doubt correct about Charlie Manuel...he is a bumbling moron that cannot manage a MLB team. I was right about Lidle, Lieber, J-Roll, Lieberthal, Bell, Nunez, Alex Gonzalez, the bullpen, your mom, about global warming, weapons of mass destruction in the Mddle East, and the fact that Chris Wheeler's testicles are two sizes too small! I was right about most things...you all suck! To those of you that did agree with me at the time I first made my comments, this rant is not directed to you, rather those dumbasses that only flip-flop their opinions when it's obvious they need to.

~Carson

Tip The Scales

Abraham Nunez is a very bad baseball player. As the Phillies utility infielder, his offensive stats are comparable to most starting pitchers in the National League. Earlier this year during a Phillies radio broadcast, this was the call from Larry Anderson and Scott Graham:

LA: Here comes Abraham Nunez to pop out.
SG: You mean pop out from the the dugout.
LA: No, I mean he's going to pop out.

But one average year in St. Louis, and he gets years and millions from the Phils. Despite his complete inability to hit, he still keeps his job. Why? Because they are paying him too much no play him. And I think that is bogus. Time to get rid of Awful Abe, and bring up AAA infielder Bobby Scales. Scales, seen in this picture during his college days at Michigan, is a 28 year old utility player that is hitting .349 with 5 homers for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons. Last year he hit .274 with the AAA Portland Beavers of the PCL. Go here and scoll 3/4 down to see Scales' career stats.

Is Scales a great player? Will he make a huge difference in Philadelphia? Will he ever even be a starter? No, no, and no. But is he better than Awful Abe? Probably. He deserves a shot, and we as fans deserve to never have to watch Awful Abe anymore.

Corey

Eric Junge Update

He's a Beaver. A Portland Beaver.

Ex-Philie, and more importantly to some on this blog, former Bucknell Bison pitcher Eric Junge is in the San Diego system, pitching for the aforementioned Beavers.

His stats are: 4 wins, 5 losses, 5.75 era in 13 starts.

Best of luck to Eric, looks like he may need some to get back to the show.

"A Sad Time" & "Here's to Jimmy Anderson"

Jimmy Buffett said it best during Margaritavile:

I don't know the reason,
I've been here all season,
Nothing to show but this brand new tattoo...

Well, I don't have a tattoo, unless you count the black and blue marks all over my soul...

Between the Phillies and the Pirates, this is turning out to be one of the worst seasons in recent PA baseball history. Both teams are underachieving, and considering expectations, that is quite an accomplishment.

I've seen 90% of the Phils games this year, and there is no doubt in my mind that they have gone USPS on us and are just mailing it in. The Brett Myers incident is proverbial straw, and my back just cracked on this season...

As for the Pirates, I can't see many of their games, so I can't comment on their play too much. I'm going off of stats, opinions of family members who do get Fox Sports Pittsburgh, and bucsdugout.com. And it doesn't look or sound good. A team going nowhere, who's only decent young players are being blocked by over-the-hill vets, undersperforming young starters, and the worst GM in baseball.
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Speaking of bucsdugout, they mentioned our good friend Jimmy Anderson and his horrendous 2001 season. I was big fan of the big southpaw. It seemed he pitched every time I went to a game between '00 and '02. My dad and I had a running joke that he couldn't make it past the 5th inning because the post-game spread was put out in the 6th and he wanted to be first in line. I swear he pitched a game in '01 with bar-b-q sauce stains on his jersey. He's been out of baseball since '04, compiling 25-47 record, but he is not forgotten. It is guys like Jimmy Anderson, a fat, out of shape, lazy, soft-throwing, lefty that will be in the hearts of Pirate fans forever...because we haven't had anyone good to remember since Jeff King left...

Corey

Reason number 1,134...

why the Phillies suck. By the way, flip 1,134 upside-down and backwards and it reads HELL, which is exactly what true Phillies fans are in right now.

Myers thanks for causing a distraction from this failure of a season. Pat Gillick thank you for having the balls to make a major move in obtaining Rick White (he's going to tear it up!). Gavin Floyd thanks for being the headcase you are and proving me right with a 5.68 ERA in Scranton. David Bell thanks for bringing the veteran playoff leadership to this organization and playing beyond expectations during the past 4 seasons. Charlie Manuel thank you for sticking to your guns and continuing with your strategy of leading by doing nothing. Ryan Franklin thank you for robbing the Phillies of 2.6 million dollars. Ryan Madson you deserve an extra vote of gratitude for pitching brilliantly in the rotation. Bobby Abreu thank you for not sacrificing your body and running into walls to make any type of above average catch, you are a true Gold Glover! Rollins thank you for showing the Majors what a true leadoff hitter should look like. Art Rhodes thanks for solidifying the back end of the bullpen. Abe "No Hit" Nunez thank you for absolutely destroying opposing pitchers, you obviously could be starting on most teams at 3rd, SS, or 2nd.

Ok, I think if you actually read this, you get the point...Screw the Phillies!

Thought: Bobby Scales is actually ripping up Triple AAA pitching with a .349 batting average and some pop. He can play corner outfield and infield positions...why isn't he getting a chance?

~Carson

Myers Gets Whacks In Despite DH

It took a trip to an American League park for Phillies pitchers to start hitting...

Brett Myers was arrested Friday in Boston and charged with hitting his wife while they were out on the town Thursday night. Reports can be found here or here or here.

We here at WSBGM's are taking a hard stand and will opposing domestic violence. That's right. We are NOT for it.

We, however, will be leaving our soapboxes, high horses, and pedestals in the attic. We're not going to judge Myers yet. We won't be sentencing Myers to some various form of capital punishment. We will not call for an immediate tar-and-feathering. We don't want Myers traded to KC either(although Pittsburgh might be nice...) It is way too early to jump the gun on things like this. It's like having a fight with your wife, there are things you want to say, and might mean, but you don't say them because some things can never be taken back. And incidents like this, right or wrong, tend to get "forgotten." There are guys who have been charged with the same thing, but it takes Google to remember who they were. And we here at WSBGM's aren't the type to call for a guys head now, then love him later. When we call for the axe, we mean it (here that Bell & Lieberthal?) So I think it is prudent to play the waiting game on this one. Yep, we are content at this point to see how the situation pans out and how Phillies handle things, and THEN criticize them unmercifully for it, because you know they are going to screw this one up royally.

As an aside, Brett Myers is 6'4"240 and was an amateur boxer. The police report said when police arrived his wife was crying and they took a picture of her swollen cheek but police were "still trying to determine if Myers hit his wife with an open or closed fist." Umm, that is some crack detective work. Might want to call in Scotland Yard to figure that one out...

Initial court date set for August 4th, with more to follow. Prediction: plea bargain=probation.

Of course, maybe it wasn't even his wife. Maybe it was just Joe Kerrigan in a wig!? If so, we can all sit back and have a laugh...

~Corey

So What's the Scenario?

Here we go yo, here we go yo, so what's the, so what's the scenario? Well, Bo knows this, and Bo knows that, but Bo don't know jack, because Bo can't rap...The scenario is this: The Phillies SUCK!
If I have to read one more "it's a long season", or "it's a marathon, not a sprint" comment about the current horrendous state of Phillies baseball, I'm going mail the bastard some anthrax in an unmarked envelope. Quit giving the Phillies excuses to suck. Chris Wheeler sits there all game long popping off at the mouth about how it's just a tough stretch, and they'll come out of it, and the players are getting frustrated, and that his testicles are two sizes too small....shut the F up! I'm angry, and dammit I'm allowed to be. I love the Phillies, and I love baseball. Corey and I weren't delusional going into this season, as we basically knew chances of the playoffs were slim to none. So is it that the Phillies are disappointing me? Sort of, but not really, my aggression is coming from lame-ass posters on other blogs pussy-footing around the truth about the Phillies. The Phillies are a big fat turd, sugar-coating that turd isn't going to make it taste any better going down!

One more thing, all you "Phans" that think you have a novel idea in firing Manuel...shut up! We've been saying that here, even during the 13 out of 14 stretch. Manuel is a bumbling moron, and simply should not be allowed to manage a MLB team. But it's convenient to now want to axe him because of the Phils losing ways...bite me!

~Carson

Because We Should Be GM's...

Changes in no particular order:
1. Fire Manuel. The man is not smart. May be a great person, but nice guys don't win championships! He's an idiot when it comes to managing, and his "handling" of players is obviously overrated.
2. Cut ties with Nunez. The man has appeared in 44 games with 73 at bats, and has only produced 4 runs scored and 1 rbi...no way does he belong on this team! About anyone could produce those #'s.
3. Start calling up "prospects" and getting them experience. Hamels is here and should keep learning. Mathieson is coming Saturday and will benefit from the experience. Gio Gonzalez and Haigwood should be summoned soon too.
4. Madson to bullpen forever! Weitzel put it best...just doesn't have the pitches for a starter.
5. Trade Floyd while on "hot streak" in Scranton.
6. Start trading bullpen arms for prospects. Cormier, Fultz, Rhodes, could all land some decent prospects for coming seasons.
7. See what Abreu or Burrell could bring us in a trade.
8. Work my ass off to get rid of Bell. In my opinion he is the poster child for what the Phillies are...CRAP! I can't stand Bell's wussy popups to infielders, lollipop throws to 1st, or that gay hop he does while fielding grounders!!!
9. Ryan Franklin- make him the club ace and watch him go on to win 10 in the 2nd half of the season...hahaha, just checking if you were reading.
10. Bat Abreu leadoff and drop Rollins in the order. Abreu just is not a power hitter anymore, in fact Rollins has 9 homeruns compared to Abreu's 8.
11. Speaking of Rollins, make his ass do pushups for every time he pops up, ala Willie Mays Hayes style from the movie Major League.
12. Get rid of the Phillie Phanactic as the team mascot and ask Warner Bro. permission to use Wile E. Coyote for the rest of this $hitty season!


~Carson

Why bother?

Well, there you have it. The accompanying pic says it all. The fricken Gnats took 3 out of 4 from the Phillies over the extended weekend series. Amazingly, the Phillies are still above .500, but the record is deceiving. Remember last month around this time, the Phillies were in the midst of an astonishing 13 out of 14 streak. Without that lucky run of baseball, this club would look horrible. Now, I don't actually believe the Phillies are horrible, because there are far worse teams out there (i.e. the Royals and the Scandinavia Sheep Shearers). However, the sucked about as bad as a team could suck yesterday afternoon. They banged out 3 hits against some no-name Washington pitcher. I swear, I have no talent in the pitching department, but that makes me a perfect candidate to come in and shut down the "potent" Phillies offense. Here's the deal, the Phillies will never catch the front-running Mets this season, and they have far too many holes to probably even contend for the wild card. The rotation is extremely weak, the offense doesn't produce enough, our manager is a doofus, we have Abe "No-hit" Nunez, and my Joe Carter Voodoo doll kicks my Phillies troll doll's ass.

Thoughts: *Enough of the heart warming Chris Coste story, there is an obvious reason the dude is a 33 year old rookie...he sucks! *Ryan Franklin is actually Pat Gillick's illegitimate son. *Brian Sanches is making a nice impression, but will be optioned back to Scranton no matter what because I heard Ruben Amaro Jr. dislikes him because he is a fake Hispanic (lack of the letter z at end of name). *Adam Bernero, a former Tiger prospect, and recently released Royal farmhand, will be the next trial starter and pitch a no-hitter. Ha!

~Carson

Am I Asking For Floyd???

I haven't see this many home runs given up since 1993, the year I lost all the sharp break off my curveball. I had a sore neck from watching my brother pummel wiffleballs over the left field fence (which was a combination of pylons and boards.) I blame Joe Kerrigan, he told me to throw it with the holes up...

Anyways, not much else to say about last night except: Phils don't have a fifth starter. Franklin shouldn't be an option. Brito is 0 for 2, and looking dreadful. The best minor league guys are in AA and the Phils don't want to use an option year for 1 or 2 experimental starts. The answer: Floyd???? If so, we are in trouble. Pray for Mojo...

Corey

Minor League Update

Randy Wolf - pitched two extended spring training games in Clearwater with success. Begins assignment with Single A Clearwater squad tomorrow.

Gavin Floyd - complete game, 7 hits, 1 ER, 9 K, 1 BB; 4 more of these and we could be thinking call up...

Corey

Phillies - Draft Day 1

might as well head over to Phillies Nation to check out the Phils through their first 19 picks.

the scouting videos over at mlb.com are great, here are some things that I noticed:
- Drabek looks like he has excellent RAW stuff. 12-6 curvball that drops off of the table. Fastball that reached 94 on the video. Control? Who cares at this point, because the kid has loads of work to do anyway. He's very upright in his delivery with a medium stide to home. Delivery does not seem to be consistent with variation in the upper body position and release point. Very little lower body in delivery, is what I call an "arm-thrower," which is often seen in young pitchers with cannons. Weaker-armed pitchers must rely on lower half to generate power. Kids like Drabek don't. If he can refine his delivery (big "IF" here) he has the potential to be a very hard thrower.
- #2 pick Adrian Cardenas (IF) looks like Jose Vidro at the plate. Video shows him taking warm-up grounders at short, which is totally useless. The best part about his video is him running to first base after he hits the ball. I don't know why, but I laughed out loud. Looks like he went to the Babe Ruth School of Running. I like it though, gives him character...
- #3 pick Andrew Carpenter (RP) polished, consistent, 3/4 delivery.
-#5 pick D'Arby Myers (OF) - they couldn't find a better video? Two weak throws from the outfield, a horrid swing at a pitch above his head, a pop-up and two walks. Makes Phillies Nation assessment of "likely going to USC" a bit relieving!
- #7 pick Daniel Brauer (LHP) - threw 3 "curveballs" in the video. None curved. None were close to the plate. Again, we can't get a better video!
- #11 Samuel Walls(RP) - elbow troubles in past...no kidding. Deliberate, slow start, then explodes to home with little help from lower body. Great relief pitcher delivery, little bit of deception that works one time through. Bad delivery if you're an elbow...

Corey

Draft Day 1 - Pirates

go here for an excellent review of the Pirates draft by WTM.

or I'll summarize for you:
- Round 1 - Brad Lincoln RHP U. of Houston - throws hard, good command.
- "overdrafting" between rounds 2 and 10
- two "tough-sign" high schoolers in rounds 11 and 13

my favorite quotes from WTM:
"The Pirates' scouting staff seems drawn to college pitchers who weren't especially good at getting hitters out, and so far there's no indication that the team's scouting staff can help these guys take a leap forward."
-"Negrych is part of a pattern the last two years of the Pirates selecting offense-oriented secondbasemen...[even though] that's exactly the sort of player they dislike at the major league level."
-"The Pirates took a number of pitchers in the 2006 draft who didn't perform all that well in college, presumably because their scouts think they're good projects. They did the same thing in 2005, with no results so far beyond leaving the team very weak in pitching at the lower levels of the farm system."

would you expect anythings else from the Buccos?

Corey

Wheels: Child Advocate

If the doesn't make you want to smack Chris Wheeler in the face...



Corey

Keystone Cup

Cup Standings:
Philadelphia 29-27
Pittsburgh 21-36 (8.5 GB)

Season Series:
Pittsburgh 2 - 1 Philadelphia

In Need of Savior

Too bad the man upstairs himself (Jesus) isn't available for such trivial things such as the Phillies 2006 season success. So, we'll just take what we can get in 2 washed-up "Hey-Zeuses" (Jose DeJesus, pitcher, and Ivan DeJesus, marginal short stop). In fact 2 out of the 3 DeJesuses have played for the Phillies, maybe they should go trade for David DeJesus, who is currently in the Hell known as the Royals organization. We need some divine intervention up in here!

Reasons we need help: *Ryan Franklin may be moved into the starting rotation. *We have 1 legit starting pitcher, Brett Myers. *We haven't been to the playoffs since '93. *Howard, Utley, Burrell, Abreu, and Rowand are all nice hitters, but we can't score runs. *Hey we're the Phillies, lift our fricken curse! *There are many more reason that we need the help of a higher being/entity, so please add to the list.

~Carson

I don't know.

That is the answer. The question: why is Jimmy Rollins batting lead-off?

With all the problems the Phils have had lately with their pitching staff, the call to get J-Roll out of the lead-off spot has waned. Well, not with this guy.

Rollins OBP after last game is .307 (dangerously close to the dipping below the "Rollins Line.") He has one walk in the last 9 games. He raised his average a week ago to .255, but is back down below the "quarter mark" at .248, so it's not like he's ripping the ball and wants to get as many swings as he can. As a lead-off hitter, this is unacceptable.


Yet, he continues in the spot. Why? Is Bobby Abreu reluctant to move their? Is Charlie Manuel reluctant to move him their? What about Chase Utley? Even Aaron Rowand would be better than J-Roll at this point. Honestly, I can't even pretend to make up answers to these questions.

What I do know is, you can't have a lead-off batter getting on at a .300 clip and Charlie Manuel has to make a change. This one is on him.

In the meantime, a few years ago Rollins spent some time in California with hitting guru and personal fav of mine, Tony Gwynn. Well, it's time for Rollins to back to Cali "(going going, back back , to Cali Cali" - Notorius BIG.) But not to see Gwynn. No, this time he needs to talk to the greatest. The Dali Lama of leadoff hitters. The man who set a table better than Mr. Belvedere...Rickey Henderson. All-time leader in steals and runs, 2nd all-time in walks. Career OBP of .401. If that doesn't work, nothing will...

Corey

Back in the day...

Some days, I sit and wish I were a kid again. That has to be what Gavin Floyd's thinking these days. Not so long ago he was a top-notch prospect and heralded by baseball aficionados. He was livin' large in the minors, scoffing at the lesser beings surrounding him. Now he is on MLB version of death row. He has be given his shot, a prolonged one at that, and completely failed. I personally do not want to see the Headcase Known as Gavin Floyd back with the Phillies until he pitches lights out for Scranton...so basically I'm saying I never want to see him pitch for the Phillies again, because I have ZERO confidence that he'll put numbers anywhere close to respectable in Triple AAA.

Carson's prediction for Floyd's next 10 starts at Scranton: 2-6 record, 53 ip, 26 bb, 28 k, 5.75 era, 1.75 whip. In laymen's terms: washed up prospect!

Corey's prediction: 4-3, 4.44 era, 1.54whip, 42k, 32bb [basically, this isn't going to get solved in the next ten games.]

Who Sucks Less?

Because of fellow bloggers Carson (who said "Phillies suck") and Smokin' Steve (who said "Pirates suck") I felt the need to take a look at both teams and decide "who sucks less?"

I'm breaking it down this way, comparing each squad in right NOW in the following: Starting Pitching, Relief Pitching, Defense, Hitting, Manager, GM, MInor Leagues, Ballpark, Uniforms, Opportunity.

Starting Pitching: The Phillies have a (legit?) number 1 starter in Brett Myers (4-2, 2.80). They have one of the top prospects in baseball emerging as we speak in Cole Hamels, but he's only started 2 games.. After that, they have an overweight over-the-hill soft-thrower (Lieber), an average 4th starter (Lidle), a joke (Floyd), and a reliever (Madson). Four of the 6 starters have ERAs over 5, Floyd leading with 7.29. The Pirates have 4 starters under the age of 25 (3 lefthanders) who in the last 2 weeks have been pitching well (see earlier blog Gotta Love Pirates for stats). Their 5th starter is a journeyman (Santos) who still has a better ERA than Madson, Lieber and Floyd. Advantage:Pirates

Relieft Pitching: Tom Gordon is lights out for the Phils. Frenchy is sizzling with an 0.98 ERA but has not been used in clutch spots, but rather the 6th inning, so his line is less impressive. Art Rhodes has been worrisome, Fultz/Geary adequate, and Franklin downright horrendous. They lose games in the set-upThe Pirates big three of Hernandez, Marte, and Gonzalez has been steady. Advantage: Pirates

Defense: Doesn't get much more equal: errors 39 to 38, fielding percentage tied at .981, SB against 32 to 31... Advantage: Push

Hitting: Pirates have 7 guys hitting over .300 (.265 team average.), .428slugging, 66 homeruns, 23SB. Phils are batting .260, slugging .438, with 68 homeruns and 28 steals. Given the "park factor" between the Cit and PNC, the Pirates numbers are better, and that's without factoring in average with RISP. The Phils seemingly have a better lineup with Rollins, Utley, Abreu, Burrell, Howard, Rowand...but the numbers haven't shown that. Wilson, Wilson, Castillo, Bay, Casey, Sanchez have put up similar numbers in a decidely pitcher's park. Even so... Advantage: Push

Manager: Are you kidding me? Advantage: No One.

GM: Dave Littlefield is disgusting. Pat Gillick has a reputation, although his first moves in Philly have been suspect (Nunez, Gonzales, Franklin.) Given the track record of both guys... Advantage: Phillies

Minor Leagues: The Pirates have little (Gorzellany, Burnett, Bayless, McCutchen, Boeve, Walker) because most of their young players are already up (Duke, Bautista, Maholm) but still have a few arms and a few bats. The Phils have no bats. None. But they do have pitching (Matheison, Gonzales, Haigwood, Segovia.) And pitching wins games. Advantage: Phillies

Ballpark: The Cit is nice. But if you've ever been to PNC, you'll know this isn't even a contest. Advantage: Pirates

Uniforms: Why? Because I like uniforms. And I DO NOT like the Phillies' interleague cap. Pirates use the old-school vest. Money. Advantage: Pirates

Momentum: The Buccos just swept the Brewers and have won 6 or 7. The Phils are 4-6 in their last 10 and dropping. Advantage:Pirates

Future: Phils have 13th highest payroll. Pirates have the 27th highest. Phils play in a bigger market and will always have higher revenue potential and higher payroll. They have the opportunity to fill holes in their team via free agency with legitamite players (Thome, Wagner, Gordon compared to Burnitz, Randa). Pirates relying heavily on developing their own draft picks and trading at the deadline for more minor leaguers. Advantage: Phillies

Analysis: Pirates take 5 categories (SP, RP, uniform, ballpark, momentum.) Phils take 3 categories (GM, minors, future.) Hitting and manager are pushed. Like I said, these are based on current situations and production, so they are subject to change, but as of right now, the Pirates suck less.

Corey

That Angry Empty Feeling

Why am I mad? Why am I feeling helplessly empty? The answer is blowin' in the wind. The Phricken Phillies Phlabergast me! The fact that The Headcase Known as Gavin Floyd is still in the rotation gets my blood boiling. The guy has just not pitched well in the MLB. In fact his ERA is near 7 for his career and +7 for this season with a WHIP around 2. How the hell do the Phillies plan to win with a knob-job like that on the mound?

I'm now going to get up on my soap box and pat myself on the back, or stab myself in the back. Back when the Phillies dropped those 2 1-run games to the Brewers back in mid-May following the infamous 13 out of 14 stretch, I said that these type of games kill the morale of a team and that it wouldn't bode well for the rest of the season. People shot my notion down as if I were a mongoloid. I've been saying for the past 1/2 month that this team is bad, and that they were only teasing fans there for a bit. Once again, I was labeled a downer and didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Well, guess what, even though this team is still above .500 for the time being, they suck. D-Train Willis is not going to make this team a playoff competitor, firing Manuel won't either...bottom line, they suck! I desperately wish I wasn't right of this occasion, but unfortunately I hit the nail on the head.

If you disagree with me, by all means form a rebuttal.

~Carson

Un-Happy Days

Sunday, Monday, unhappy days,
Tuesday, Wednesday, unhappy days,
Thursday, Friday, unhappy days,
Saturday, another day, losing all week with you.

Sit on it, Gavin Floyd!

Joanie might love Chachi, but we here at WSBGM's sure don't love Gavin or his 7.29 ERA.

I don't care what the options are (Potsie, Ralph Malph, Mrs. Cunningham) Floyd has to go. Floyd has become the 2006 Paul Abbott, because when he pitches you might as well start the bullpen in the third inning, mark down an 'L' by the 4th, and go to bed by the 5th.

Luckily, Hamels' rehab start went well in New Jersey yesterday, so he will likely take over for Floyd the next time his spot in the rotation rolls around. Or at least we can hope.

The grandiose hopes for this team are dwindling. As NY Jets coach Herm Edwards once said, "Playoffs? Playoffs!?" Only a few sensimilla-smoking die-hards are thinking playoffs now. Most of are thinking (hoping?) ".500." At 27-26, the Phils are on pace for 83 wins (and with 10 more road games to go, followed by 3 series' with NYY, NYM, and BOS, look for that pace to drop off faster than Mr. Cunningham in a 10K.)

other thoughts:
- David Bell only has 8 errors on the season, due mainly to the fact that he must be paying off the official scorer at ballparks around the country. I've never seen more missed backhand attempts ruled 1B or 2B in my life. Great effort last night, losing a ground-ball in the lights! But he does all the little things...
- Jimmy Rollins' OBP is down to .310. Are they waiting for it to dip below .300? If Mendoza owns the .200 BA, then the .300 OBP is now the "Rollins Line."
- Dodgers had 6 2-out RBIs last night, probably the same as the Phils season total. But with pitching like this, does it even matter?
- AAA Bullpen last night - Sanchez/Condrey 4 IP, 2H, OR
- The Phils have a 7.5 game lead on the Buccos for the Keystone Cup (trophy to be awarded here on WSBGM's); a once insurmountable lead is dwindling...
- Firing Charlie Manuel will not help the pitching staff, but they should do it anyway. Every day he gets closer to "lame-duck" status.
- What the hell is Rich Dubee writing all game long?

Corey

Gotta Love Pirates

Don't look now, but the Pirates have 2 teams between them and the worst record in baseball. KC can't even smell the Buccos who have 6 more wins than the Royals (13), and now the Fish (17 wins) are chasing dem Bucs (19 wins.)

How is this recent 5 or 6 winning streak happening? Power. For the first time in a long time, the Buccos are playing long-ball. Jason Bay had 6 homer in 6 games (12 for the month of May) and now Jose Castillo has 5 dingers in 6 games.

Jack Wilson, Jason Bay, Sean Casey, Freddy Sanchez, Ronny Paulino and Jose Castillo are all hitting over .300. Craig Wilson is at .276. The only spot that is not holding it's own is the CF spot, with Duffy, McLouth and Bautista being less than stellar.

The problem is, once they get done with the multitude of lefthanders that were thrown at them lately, Craig Wilson will most likely find his way back to the bench in place of Jer0-4my Burnitz and his .234 clip. And as for the injured Joe Randa, the best thing Dave Littlefield could is take a hammer to that bruised foot every 14 days, and allow Sanchez to continue to play third and hit.

On the pitching front, Ollie Perez has gone three straight allowing 2 runs or less (1 win, 2 ND.) Ian Snell has allowed 3 or less earned runs in 6 of his last 8 starts. Paul Maholm has allowed 3 or less in 5 of his last 6. Victor Santos has 12IP and 3 ER in his last 2 starts. Zach Duke, well...he's still getting hit.

The pitching is improving and the hitting is becoming more consistent. Watch out Cubbies, the Buccos are coming for 5th place!

Corey

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Well, I sure as hell do! But what do I have to do? I guess I could just follow the lead of Abe "No-Hit" Nunez, David "Fairy-Feet" Bell, and Ryan "Whiplash" Franklin, because they pretty much do nothing for their millions! I know Gillick didn't sign my whipping boy, Bell, but he got a 4 year deal and has played poorly during his tenure in Philly with very little production. I've heard comments about how Bell is an acceptable 7-hole hitter...what the hell do you want a 3rd basemen hitting 7th for? In the realm of reality, Bell is bad with the bat...plain and simple! He must lead the league in wussy pop-ups to infielders. I'm so dead set on this, that I even emailed Jayson Stark to see if he can find out for his Useless Information section on ESPN.com. I've ranted on here previously about Nunez's 2 year deal, so quick to the point: dude didn't deserve it. Now for Franklin, his #'s in Safeco were horrible and I doubt he should have received anything better than a 1 year $700,000 deal or better yet a minor league deal. However, Gillick decided to reward the American League's leader in loses with a +5 ERA a 1 year guaranteed 2.6 million dollar contract...hello, STUPID!!!

So in the words of the immortal Happy Gilmore, "The price is wrong bitch!"

~Carson