Random thoughts as the Phillies begin making reservations for tee times in October....
If I were Jimmy Rollins or Pat Burrell I might consider upping my accident insurance. They are the only two starters who haven't gone down so far this year. Kyle Kendrick is the latest to suffer an injury when he took a lined shot off his knee last night. Moments before he had surrendered a 3-run homer to Matt Hollilday, the Rockies magnificent left fielder. It was Holliday's fourth home run of the series. In fairness to Kendrick, he got squeezed not once but twice on the two preceding batters.
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The Yankees and Red Sox play a big three-game series this weekend in Boston. Normally the media over-hype these meetings, assuming that the rest of the nation gives a damn about them. Chris Berman-like hyperventilating notwithstanding, this one should be good with the Sox leading the Yankees by five games. Boston has fifteen games left; the Yankees have 17 games remaining on their schedule. All of the games will be televised nationally either by ESPN or FOX, so get ready for Joe Morgan, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver...if that's possible. My recommendation would be to make sure the volume control on your HD-TV is in good working order, especially the arrow that points south.
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The Tigers fell apart in the second half of the season and pitching was the culprit. All of those Phillies fans who still yearn for Jim Leyland might take note of the fact that he can't throw the ball for the Tigers either.
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The Baltimore Orioles have sunk like a stone, losing at both a prodigious rate over time and per game. The have suffered the indignity of a 30-run loss along the way but they routinely give up huge numbers of runs in bunches. The franchise has hit rock bottom. Only new ownership could restore some of its glory and that doesn't seem imminent or likely.
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In his piece in the Inquirer this morning, Jim Salisbury asks whether the end is near for the Phillies or is the current series with the Rockies a detour. Neither, Jim. The end is not near, it's far, having come in Atlanta and Florida a few weeks ago. As for detours, consider the Rockies series a detour only if the Phillies were on their way to Cincinnati via Bermuda.
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Speaking of Colorado, that is one helluva an offense they throw out there. If they get pitching they will be dangerous in the future. Of course the Rockies will always have a lot of trouble attracting established free agent pitchers to Coors Field despite the humidor used to temper the flight of baseballs. They are going to have to acquire pitching via trades or the draft. They came into Philadelphia and threw a lot of young and inexperienced pitchers at the Phils, who naturally responded by treating these neophytes like Cy Young clones.
3 comments:
I still say the Phillies would be better off if they finally sunk like a stone one of these years instead of deluding themselves with the Wild Card carrot. It's the only way we'd ever see real changes. (Although I don't know if that's the case with Baltimore.)
The Orioles have been sinking like stones for years now and no amount of retooling, in the front office, in the manager's office nor in the clubhouse has stopped the downward momentum. Sometimes one person really is responsible for the mess and in the O's case it is clearly Peter Angelos. The Phillies with their silent partners, vocal partners and managing partners have just enough cooks to spoil the broth without having to toss it out altogether. Frankly, I think the Phillies have had bad GM's for too long. One need only look at Oakland or Atlanta to see what intelligent general management is capable of doing.
Not that I've been one to defend Gillick (or Wade), but I believe the problems here lie far more deeply with the men at the very top who run this franchise like it plays in a circus tent and not a ballpark.
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