2008 08 21 Nationals @ Phillies Series Summary

Phils take 2 of 3 versus the lowly Nationals. This is the second series the Phils have won, but these are 6 games against Washington and San Diego, both of which are poor teams at best.

Plus - Brett Myers is allowed to complete a game and puts up a shutout. Phils get contributions from the bottom of the order to help score some runs. Pedro Feliz returns.

Minus - Rollins hits the ball hard but fails to break out, 1-12 in the series no walks - thats fine lead-off work. Phils waste another good outing by Jamie Moyer.

Meh - It appears that Jayson Werth may have taken over full time duty in right as he is now getting multiple starts versus right-handed pitching.

BlogBlogBlog - West Virginia Cards has come up with an interesting idea for card-forwarding and trading - look it up if your interested in trading cards.

BlahBlahBlah - Taking a look at Rollins numbers....In my opinion J-Roll 08 is the real model and the 2007 MVP Rollins is the anomaly. This year is a lot closer statistically (.261/.326/.421) to his career averages (.276/.331/.440) than last year (.296/.344/.531). Presently his BA OBP and SLG combine to be 39 points off of his career numbers - 2007 is the anomaly when he was 100 points his career numbers. one oddity to note, with all the talk about the Phils striking out to often, Rollins may be striking out to rarely. His BB/K ratio is by far the best of his career (39/42). Maybe 2008 is a growing year for Rollins where he tries to cut down his Ks at the expense of some power - Perhaps this will yield some dividends in the future.

Around the League - The Mets have gone off and swept the injury depleted Braves, So despite winning a series the Phils fall a game further behind New York in the East and are now 2.5 games out of the lead.

On Deck - Los Dodgers come to town for a 4 game set. The phils will get a look at Manny Ramirez for the 2nd time this season. Team Phungo is trying to get down to the ballpark for a game this weekend but not so sure how the ticket sales will go.

2008 07 27 Braves @ Phillies - Another Victorino

Phils take 2 of 3 crazy games from the Braves. All the games were tight late - The Braves scored 7 in the top of the 9th on Friday to blow open what was a 1-0 nailbiter. But Phils put together a pair of big comebacks on Saturday and Sunday to win the series.

Plus - Two comeback wins. The offense finally shows up.

Minus - The Phils defense lets down Cole Hamels as he throws in a clunker, giving up 9 runs over 3 2/3 innings. Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that Chase Utley has a nagging hip injury.

Meh - Philadelphia Soul win the Arena Bowl.

On Deck - The woeful Washington Nationals. The Nats seem to always play the Phils tough, regardless it's time for the Phils to rack up some wins against the bottom of the Division. Team Phungo will be paying a visit to Nationals Stadium on Thursday for the 3rd game of the set.

Scoop - Phillies Nation is reporting that J A Happ was removed in the 3rd inning of Sunday game. Sounds like he may be a trade chip.

Phungo Commentary - The Shane Victorino/Brian McCann collision perks my interest into Davey Lopes and his style of play. Lopes influence on the Phils success has been immense. Prior to Lopes the Phils could steal bases but not at the success rate they do currently. In 2006 (pre-Lopes) the Phils SB/CS numbers were 92/25 (79%, +67) then the Phils brought in Lopes to coach first and the numbers for 2007 were an incredible 138/19 (87%, +119) - This year that trend continues 87/13 (87%, + 74)

Lopes has made Shane Victorino into a great base-stealer. When Victorino first came to the Phils (a two time rule 5) he was pretty raw and didn't know how to use his speed - now he is a constant threat and rarely gets caught.

2008 07 24 Phillies @ Mets - Rollins Me Me Me

The Phils- Mets duel for first place ends with the Mets on top and the 2007 NL MVP not wanting to play baseball.

Plus - Once again Jamie Moyer - not just for his fine outing Thursday, but also for being the one guy in the clubhouse to mention that maybe the players should be accountable and responsible.

Minus - Take away the big 9th inning on Tuesday night and the Phils scored 6 runs in the series. Chase Utley OPS last two weeks is .658 (.750 is an accepted ML avg). Joe Blanton comes up small in Phils debut.

Shenanigans - Does Jimmy Rollins want out of Philadelphia?

BlogBlogBlog - Wax Heavan has a great post regarding players and autograph seekers at last sundays Phils @ Marlins game.

Off the Diamond - The University of Texas is retiring the jersey number of Kevin Durant (#35). As great a college player as Durant was, how ridiculous is it to retire the number of a player that spent 1 year at the school.

On Deck - Phils come home for the first time since the break and host the Atlanta Braves. The Phungo team may trekking down to the ballpark for the game.

2008 07 20 Phillies @ Marlins - More J-Roll Hustle

Phils drop 2 of 3 to the Marlins including losing the rubber match in extras. In the 7th inning Jimmy Rollins was on first with two outs and failed to score on a Shane Victorino double. Rollins definitely was not running when the ball was hit and it's questionable that he would have scored - but you have to be running when that ball is hit and give yourself a chance to score. This is the second time this has happened to Rollins this year, and yes it happens to other players but....Rollins is 1) to good a player to let it happen to him and 2) an important leader on the Phillies team and the Phillies need him to display leadership qualities.

Plus - Way back on Friday night Jamie Moyer came out of the break with another good outing. Ryan Howard has picked up where he left off before the break, and continues to hit well.


Minus - J-Roll - read paragraph 1. Geoff Jenkins can't even break a bat right - he had to be removed from the game on Sunday as he injured himself by getting hit by his own broken bat swing. Phils waste yet another good outing by Cole Hamels.



Blahblahblah - Interesting article on Jamie Moyer and Mike Mussina over @ dugoutcentral



Around the League - Extra Innings is offering it's mid-season free preview. We are not offered the package on my FiOS service, but I was fortunate enough to be in a pub that carried a couple of games Saturday night. The O's hosted the Tigers in a pretty crazy game while the D-Backs held off the Dodgers preserving a W for my newest fantasy pitcher Dan Haren.



Off the field - The Philadelphia Flyers Schedule came out this week. The schedule starts off with a nice match up v the Rangers. Both the Pens and Caps bring in there superstars on Saturday nights in December and There is a Home and Home with the Hurricanes over Thanksgiving - of which the back-end is a day gm on the Friday of the wkend. Those are some of the highlights of the early season. For those interesting in good winter travel the Flyers head to southern California to play the Ducks and Kings right after New Years.

Oh and congrats to Greg Norman - may not have been a W on Sunday, but he showed that there is such a thing as golf without Tiger - just like there will be foorball without Brett.

Scoop - Ran into some family of Marlins minor league prospect Sean West over the weekend. I didn't know anything about West but did look up his info via Baseball America. He is a big Lefty (6'8") playing at AA. Sean's aunt and uncle were very nice folks and I hope for the best for him...just not against the Phils. They said they would like to see him get a shot at playing in the majors this September.

On Deck - Meet the Mets. Mets were just getting hot when they were in town a couple of weeks ago, now the Phils get to face the red hot Mets for 3 games with first place on the line. Monday Night Joe Blanton will get his first career Phils start v Mets Ace Johan Santana.

2008 07 10 Cardinals @ Phillies - Back on Track

Phils take the series from the Cardinals 2-1 behind strong pitching and enough hitting. If my count is accurate the Phils have won series vs teams with winning records - Cubs early in the year, Marlins, and now the Cards.

Plus - Great pitching from the Ace, the Rookie, and the Veteran. Ryan Howard is starting to come around - most likely since I just traded him off my fantasy squad.

Minus - Rest of the offense continues to be extremely quiet. Jimmy Rollins has reaverted to the non-base machine that he was a few years ago. So much so one has to wonder if 2007 was the exception.

Shenanigans - Pat Burrell - Is there any other player with 240 home runs at the age of 31 to not make a single all star game?

BlogBlogBlog - Recently became a Steve Wynn fan - Insterested to find out more about this album.

Off the Diamond - Had Jury duty this past week, as part of your compensation they pay you mileage of 17 cents per mile - What the F year is that from. just to break even you need to get like 30 mi/gallon. And how comes the courthouse has fancy flatscreen TVs and I don't?

On Deck - Arizona D-Backs. Randy Johson comes to Philadelphia for possibly the last time - marquis Webb-Hamels matchup on Sunday. D-Backs have fared poorly on the road (-9). Hopefully that continues. Like the Phils, Arizona has struggled in the last month.

Yahtzee - Last week I was fortunate enough to win a contest sponsered by the Cardboard Junkie crew. The cards came in on Thursday and Dayf was also good enough to thow in some Phils cards as a bonus. Look for a posting on this in the near future.

2008 07 07 - Mets @ Philllies

Phils and Mets square off in a four game series over the Midsummer July 4th holiday. The Phils steal the first game as rookie J A Happ pitches well in his 2nd career start as the Phils defeat two time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana. After that the Phils drop 3 in a row propelling the Mets back into the NL East race.

Plus - Phils show some fight on Monday night, getting back into a gm they were losing 10-1. Phils get a W v Santana.

Minus - During the 4 game series the Phils only led for 1/3 of an inning - The only led in game 1 when they won the game. In the first five innings they scored a combined 4 runs in the 4 games. Phils have now lost 7 of 8 series dating back to 6/10 series v Marlin. .

Shenanigans - I thought the over-ruling on Howard's Homer Mon night was incorrect. It appeared to me that the ball would fall in play had there been no interference. However, on Baseball Tonight, I caught the angle from the Mets feed and from that angle it looked like there was a case for the HR. The crew on ESPN agreed with the call.

BlahBlahBlah - 3 of the four games were tight and either went extras or came down to the final at-bat. Phils have won a lot of these games this year, perhaps this series just catching up with them.

Useless Info - Phils have sold out 13 games in a row. I would think it likely that the streak will end tonight.

On Deck - Cardinals @ Phils, 3 game series. Phillies scored 20 in first of a 3 game set v Red Birds last month, then dropped the final game of the series. The Phungo crew will be at the Tuesday 6/8 game - Pineiro v Hamels.

2008 07 03 - Phillies @ Braves

Phils return to Atlanta and sweep the Braves on the road for the second time this season.

Plus - Phils back on track? Utley and Howard appear to be hitting better, No Brett Myers to kick around for a little while. Could the Braves be in panic mode?

Minus - No Brett Myers to kick around for a little while

BlahBlahBlah - Something going on with Brett Favre?

Around the League - The Obvious Story is the Devil-Rs - watched them stick it to the Bosox in the 7th on Wednesday night. Hopefully the Tampa fans get on the bandwagon down there.

Off the Diamond - Happy Independence Day

On Deck - Those Hated Mets - The Phungo Crew will be covering Sunday game - Hopefully the Fireworks all belong to the home team this weekend. This is a great opportunity for the Phils to go out and make a statement - If the Phils can take this series I think it could go a long towards sending the Mets back into free-fall. Go Fightins

2008 06 29 Phillies @ Rangers

Phils lose sixth series in a row giving them a 5-13 record over the last 18 games. 5-13 is how the team has started the last couple of seasons. They have absorbed those bad stretches and had relatively decent years. Now we will have to find out how they recover from having a crummy stretch in the middle of the season.

There has been talk of skipping Brett Myers start this week. I don't think you can really skip his turn- Phils play 13 days in a row starting Tuesday (7/1) and running through the AS break. You could flip Hamels and Myers. This would mean that Hamels would get 3 starts between now and the break, and Myers would only get two. That is a change worth making. Also it would break up the starts by back to back lefthanders in the rotation, which is potentially beneficial.

Plus - Phils done with Interleague play.

Minus - Phils still struggle to score runs.

Shenanigans - How comes a pitcher gets credit for a complete game if he is on the losing side of a game and pitches 8 innings, but he cannot get a no-hitter if he doesn't give up any hits in that loss. Seems like a contradiction to me.

Meh - Am I having having hallucinations or was UEFA cup Soccer being covered by ABC??

Around the League - The Rosters for the Futures Game have been announced. Several Phillies made the Roster including Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Greg Golson. Carrasco will play for the World team, The rest of the players will be featured on the US team.

Off the Diamond - Locally was at the improved Victory Brew Pub this weekend. Much Bigger, Good Grub, Great Beer.

On Deck - Los Bravos in Atlanta again. Time to get back on the right track against some NL East Foes.

Phils Report 2008 06 28

Phils out on the coast this week, and since I have to go to stupid work for a living I don't get to see much of these games. In the interim, I have consented to spend some time watching chick-flicks, oh the Horror.

Plus - Kendrick come up with a brilliant outing. Although during the Phils recent slump, pitching really hasn't been a big part of the problem.

Minus – Since the Phils dropped 20 on the Cardinals 2 Fridays ago, They have scored 31 runs in 11 games, and eight of those were in a single game v Boston. In 7 of the 11 games they have scored 2 runs or less. The Phils are designed to hit, if they can’t hit they lose.

Shenanigans - MLB has discontinued the annual Hall of Fame game. The last game was scheduled to be played June 16^th but was rained out. I never got the chance to go to the HOF game, but I am sad to see it go. It would be nice to see it come back as a minor league all-star game of some sort. The Baseball HOF is a great museum and Cooperstown is a beautiful town - It would be nice if some sort of HOF game tradition could be continued. For more save the HOF game info: http://www.savethefamegame.com/

BlahBlahBlah - Hearing names like Kendrick, Victorino, and Werth on the trading block. be tough to lose those guys but if you want to get something back, that is the type of talent the Phils will need to part with.

Around the League - NCAA league that is - Congratulations to the Fresno St Bulldogs on winning the 2008 edition of the College World Series. As with most years I didn't get to see as much of this as I would have liked, but what little I saw, I enjoyed. The Phils drafted one of the FSU OFs, Steve Susdorf who was 5 for 11 scoring 6 runs and knocking in 5 during the 3 game championship series.

Turns out Shawn Chacon is a Phillies fan - or at least he got to live out the dream of many a Phils Fan.

Anybody noticed there are Stubhub has gobs of reasonably priced tix available for this weekends Subway Series in New York.

Off the Diamond – NBA Draft this week – check this out in the NBA the teams can actually trade their draft picks. Hint Hint MLB.

Also Good to See Don Imus defending PacAdam Jones, Somebody has to.

Useless Info - Oakland's McAfee stadium or whatever it is called is on the Phungo been there list but not for baseball. I went there for a meaningless Titans-Raiders game whch ended up being pretty entertaining. The Raiders won the scorefest 40-35. Bobby Volek and Kerry Collins combined for 800 yards in the air. .

On Deck - Tejas, They are like Phils AL. They can hit, and I know they can't pitch because they got a couple of former Phils in their rotation.