June 30, 2004
the return of the doug
The worst thing about yesterday's whalloping of the Expos? Dog Glanville going 2-for-2. How much more playing time do you think this gets him?
Seriously, though, the real worst thing about yesterday could possibly be Pat Burrell going down with a tweaked groin (whatever that means). Let's hope this isn't serious, as the prospect of having to start Jason Michaels and Glanville in the outfiled is not going to be a good thing.
One more note about last night's game: did anyone notice Ryan Madson's 3 perfect innings of relief? Check out these numbers:
G IP IP/G H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2003 SWB 26 157.0 6.04 157 70 61 9 42 138 3.50 1.27 2004 Relief 29 45.1 1.56 39 9 6 1 9 36 1.19 1.06 2004 Starts 1 0.3 .67 6 6 6 3 1 0 81.01 10.50
Now, which of these do you think is most indicative of Madson's abilities? In the meantime, we're giving guys like Paul Abbott starts. Ugh.
June 28, 2004
book it
Hey, sorry about the brief posting hiatus, but I was spending the weekend with my girlfriend. Priorities, ya know? Anyway, I missed most of the series with the Red Sox, so I don't really have much to say about the games (other than this: Jim Freakin' Thome!). Instead, I'm going to write about the baseball books that I've been reading lately...
Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups (Rob Neyer) - The ultimate "bathroom book" because it's easy to pick up and read just a couple pages at a time (those of you who like to read in the crapper will know what I'm talking about here). Basically, the book runs down various "all-time line-ups" for every franchise (even the Devil Rays!) and some past franchises. It's definitely an interesting way to look at a team's history -- check out his ultimate Phillies lineup here. Of course, the book isn't just all-time greatest lineups, there are also "all-bust" (Mike Jackson, anyone?), "traded away" (Ryne Sandberg!), "gold glove", "iron glove", "used to be great" and a bunch of other lineups for each team. I'm guessing that most people will either find this painfully boring or totally intriguing -- you can probably guess which of those two camps I fit into.
Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox (Allan Wood) - What's great about this book is that it talks about Babe Ruth before he became the greatest thing since sliced bread. 1918 marked the end of two eras -- the Red Sox winning ways (they haven't won a World Series since, in case you haven't heard) and Babe Ruth's career as a pitcher. Throughout the season, he battled the team's manager, Ed Barrow, trying to get time in the field in addition to his starts as a pitcher because he loved hitting so much. Eventually Barrow started to give in and the rest, as they say, is history. Another interesting aspect of this book (which actually seemed sort of tacked-on at the end) was the supposition that the 1918 series was fixed. The case doesn't seem as clear-cut as what happened the next year with the fabled Black Sox, but it's interesting to read about nonetheless.
Saving the Pitcher: Preventing Pitching Injuries in Modern Baseball (Will Carroll) - For those who have yet to be exposed to the research on pitching injuries detailed in sources like Baseball Prospectus and Michael Lewis' Moneyball, this book is an excellent wake-up call (if not a call to arms, no pun intended). That said, the book seems like it's trying at once to be a simple overview and an in-depth analysis. Carroll glazes over many topics that I feel like, had I not been familiar with the source material, I may not have understood. But then I was completely lost in the chapters like the one dealing with the physical anatomy of pitchers (this muscle is connected to that tendon which is connected to...). I guess it seems like Carroll is trying to be everything to everyone but doesn't really succeed in either. That said, I did enjoy the book (be sure to check out his website too) and I think that in the right hands it can do a lot of good. I wonder if anyone's sent a copy to Dusty Baker yet...
The Neyer / James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches (Bill James and Rob Neyer) - I just got this one in the mail the other day, but I'm enjoying it already. Much like James' Win Shares, this is more like a reference book with a bunch of interesting related articles attached than it is a complete book about pitching, pitchers and pitches (say that three times fast). No big deal, I loved Win Shares and I'm sure I'll dig this as well.
June 24, 2004
life shifts up and down
In my last entry, I wondered who the short-term replacement for the recently injured Ricky Ledee would be. Well, it looks like they're going to need a long-term replacement, as they've put him on the 15-day DL. The logical choice here would probably to bring Marlon Byrd back up, but I guess he hasn't "learned his lessson" yet (or whatever asinine justification they had for sending him down), as the Phils recalled Chase Utley instead. Here's a look at Utley's minor league numbers so far this year:
AB AVG OBP SLG MjEQA 4/08 - 5/08 99 .263 .360 .475 .252 6/14 - 6/24 24 .375 .444 .667 .??? Total 123 .285 .376 .553 .254
(MjEQA = translated Major League EQA, as calculated by Baseball Prospectus)
Utley did pretty well in his brief stint with Scranton, so hopefully we'll see numbers that bear more resemblance to those he put up in May (.270/.299/.514 in 74 AB) than those he put up in June (.152/.176/.303 in 33 AB) with the Phils.
Of course, recalling Utley does next to nothing to solve the current situation in center field. Doug Glanville got the start today and put up a 0-for-4 performance that dropped his batting average below the Mendoza line (.197/.240/.239 in 71 AB). Oh, and in case you were curious, so far Byrd is 3/8 with 2 doubles and 2 walks in AAA.
Anyway, I guess having Utley back is good news, although I'm not sure who else the Phils could have recalled. If they put him in at DH and Michaels in CF this weekend in Boston, I won't complain too much, although something tells me we might be seeing Shawn Wooten (don't even get me started) and Glanville in those roles instead.
cuz you know i bring heat like june and july
A few random notes while I ponder why the hell I thought it would be a good idea to down half a pint of coffee ice cream right before i was planning on going to bed...
So, how long until Jim Thome starts getting the Barry Bonds treatment? After his homer tonight, he's hitting .343/.447/.841 in June. If Pat Burrell doesn't pull out of his current rut (his .190/.319/.310 this month is all too reminiscent of his season-long slump in 2003), I'm guessing we'll see more intentional walks issued to Thome -- he had one tonight in the 3rd with 2 out and Abreu on 2nd. Of course, Burrell followed it with a pop fly out.
OK, so everyone knew Thome had these kinds of numbers in him, but who would have guessed that Jimmy Rollins would be the team's other star performer this month? His .333/.385/.488 June has probably all but solidified his role as the team's leadoff hitter. Sure, that OBP isn't quite as high as some would like it, but it sure beats the team's alternatives.
Speaking of alternatives, it looks like the Phils picked the wrong time to send Marlon Byrd down to the minors, as Ricky Ledee has come down with a case of the 'roids (and we're not talking steroids). That leaves us with just Jason Michaels and Doug Freaking Glanville to play center. Michaels I don't have a problem with, as he's put up decent numbers so far this year (.265/.410/.469 in 49 ABs), but Doug Glanville is, well, Doug Glanville (.209/.254/.254 in 67 ABs -- one 0-for-3 performance away from the Mendoza line). Ugh.
So, who are the Phils going to trot out to DH this weekend in Boston? Here are their options:
AB AVG SLG OBP Thomas Perez 92 .250 .286 .457 Shawn Wooten 43 .163 .217 .233 Todd Pratt 54 .259 .359 .315
Plus one of the aforementioned Glanville/Michaels platoon. My guess is we'll see Glanville in center (for defensive reasons, and of course the dirty pictures of Dallas Green and Larry Bowa he's been using all season to blackmail playing time) and Michaels at DH, but who really knows with this team...
June 22, 2004
euphoria
Allow me to go slightly off topic here today. My current employer, the Imaging Research Center at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, is currently working on some computer animations and visualizations for a feature-length documentary film called The Euphoria Project. The movie talks about the various ways that people experience euphoria, focusing mostly on how to be "happy" by using positive means (as opposed to drugs -- yes, this is a mildly educational film, but in a very indirect, roundabout way). There's a great article on the film in the current issue of Markee Magazine (check out the link here, as I doubt any of you are going to go out and pick up a magazine about film postproduction) that describes the filmmakers' vision and talks a little about this whole concept of finding your own personal euphoria, so to speak. Here's a quote from Capella Fahoome, the film's producer:
"Finding individual meaning to life may be gained through something like collecting stamps or through hard work. You have to find out what's meaningful to you to be truly happy."
We've been doing work on the film for months at the IRC, but it wasn't until I read this article that I had an epiphany about how all of this relates to me. Cheesy as it sounds, I've got to say that baseball is my euphoria. It's that one thing that I can always turn to, and for most of my life have been able to turn to, to cheer me up. This has been a really tough year for me personally with the death of a close family member and being hospitalized with pneumonia, amongst other things. But baseball's been there for me, whether it's coming online and distracting myself with articles and websites, going to a game and spending some time with my dad, winding down after a stressful day by listening to the Phils on the computer, or turning on the TV to watch a game on a lazy Saturday afternoon and promptly falling asleep. In fact, it's that last activity (falling asleep to a game on TV) that I visualize when I'm feeling particularly down or stressed or whatever -- sort of like my zen, you know?
Maybe I sound like a fool here and I know that I'm not the best writer in the world, but chances are if you're reading this, you understand what I'm saying to some degree. Sure, sometimes we go a little overboard and pay a little too much attention to this game, but there are much worse things to be addicted to in life, right?
June 20, 2004
some of them want to be abused
Oops, meant to post this last night but I was too busy taking pictures of dead cicadas. Anyway, the Phils pulled out a win yesterday, mostly thanks to the pitching of unexpected ace Eric Milton -- 6 hits allowed, 3 walks and 6 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched. One thing that troubled me, though, was how Milton was left in to pitch the 8th with his pitch count already at 125. Considering the shakiness of the Phillies' bullpen lately, I can understand leaving him out there as long as possible, but when you're talking about a guy who missed most of last year because of injury (yes, it was a knee injury and not an arm injury, but still) and you've already got 2/5 of your starting rotation on the DL, it might be better to err on the side of caution. I was only listening to the game so I couldn't tell if Milton actually looked physically tired, but he wasn't too effective in the 8th, giving up two hits before being pulled. He finished the game with 134 pitches and, hopefully, no permanent damage done...
BTW, is anyone reading this in a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league? Are you having problems editing your lineup this morning? I can't seem to get through to the log in page so I can edit my team. Grr.
June 18, 2004
o i sleep
Damn it. I was going to post when tonight's game ended, but it's still going, thanks to a rain delay and a game-tying 9th inning home run by Brandon Inge (against Billy Wagner, no less) forcing the game into extra innings. Like most sane people, I've got to get up for work in a few hours, so I'm giving up for tonight. Oh well, at least we managed to take the first game today.
Crap, the Tigers just scored in the top of the 11th. That's it for me. Goodnight.
June 16, 2004
my apologies but...
Tonight's post has been postponed on account of inclement weather. It will be made up tomorrow night as the second part of a day-night doubleheader. Thank you.
June 13, 2004
hey, abbott!
Pardon my French, but whose dick does Ricky Ledee have to suck to get a starting job on this team? Ledee came through in the clutch again today, driving in one of the Phillies' two runs in a pinch-hit appearance. Some numbers for ya:
AB AVG OBP SLG Byrd 197 .228 .303 .315 Glanville 55 .218 .271 .273 Ledee 63 .349 .431 .635
Glanville and Byrd's combined OPS is barely above Ledee's (1162 vs. 1066). So guess who got the start today? Glanville of course. Thank God someone had the good sense to send in Ledee to pinch hit in the 7th with runners on first and second.
Anyway, despite the Phils' anemic offense, they picked up the win, mostly thanks to the work of the pitching staff. Devil Rays castoff Paul Abbott pitched 5 innings of 3-hit shutout ball (his best start this season since April 16th when he gave up no runs and 4 hits in 7 innings against the White Sox). The only Phillies pitcher to give up a run was, surprise surprise, Roberto Hernandez, who gave up a solo homer to Corey Koskie in the 6th. Hernandez is now sporting a 4.74 ERA, not to mention a 7.29 RA and -8.5 Adjusted Runs Prevented (a Baseball Prospectus stat that measures the number of runs a reliever prevented above average, given the situations in which he entered games -- in this case, a negative number means he allowed more runners to score than would be expected).
Anyway, we won, so maybe I shouldn't complain, eh?
Oh, by the way, the O's game was pretty fun last night, although I didn't get to see much Barry -- he reached on an error in the first and then was walked in his next 5 PAs (the last 4 of which were intentional). Click on the link below for a picture from one of his at-bats.
I didn't bring my super-nice zoom lens with me, so this was the best shot I could get from our seats. I took this during his first at-bat, back when they were still letting him swing at the ball.
June 12, 2004
showing me where it all began, eleven
Thanks to last night's rain, my chance to see Barry Bonds didn't happen. Of course, despite the fact that it had been raining all day, they waited until game time when everyone had paid for parking ($) and bought food ($$) and settled into their seats before calling the thing. Oh well, it's rescheduled for tonight and the weather will be much better, so I'm not complaining too much.
One side effect of the night was that I missed listening to the Phils put up an 11-spot against the Twins. 35 runs scored in their last 3 games, how nuts is that? Heck, the Eagles only scored 33 points in their first 3 games last season.
Anyway, the Fightin's take on former teammate Carlos Silva tonight, who's been surprisingly good since the Phils traded he and Nick Punto to Minnesota for Eric Milton, who's been a pleasant surprise as well. Here's a look at the two pitchers' lines so far this year:
W L ERA K BB HR WS $$$ Milton 8 1 4.28 55 31 13 3 9,000,000 Silva 6 3 4.26 28 12 7 5 340,000
That last column is the player's salary for 2004 -- this is essentially why the Twins traded Milton. The second-to-last column is Win Shares, taken from The Hardball Times. Kinda surprising that Silva would be more valuable than Milton, but I guess that goes to show you how hollow wins are as a comparative stat. One last note: it seems they docked Milton -0.9 Win Shares for his poor batting -- a disadvantage Silva doesn't have because he plays in the AL -- so the pitchers are a little closer in WS than it may appear.
June 11, 2004
bonds!
I'm about to head out to see a game at my favorite ballpark -- no, not Citizen's Bank Park (the Phils aren't at home tonight anyway). I've got tickets to see the Giants and the O's at Camden Yards. It's Barry Bonds' first ever appearance at Oriole Park and the big question is whether he'll hit the warehouse.
Bonds has homered in 31 different parks during his career -- in fact, the only parks he's visited that he hasn't gone deep in are the Kingdome in Seattle (don't think that's gonna happen), Hiram Birthorn Stadium in Puerto Rico, the new PETCO Park and Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field, where the Giants played earlier this week. The parks he's homered the most in? 3Com/Candlestick Park (140), Pacific Bell/SBC Park (116), Three Rivers stadium (80), Jack Murphy/Quallcomm Stadium (39), Cinergy Field/Riverfront Stadium (31), Olympic Stadium (29) and then our beloved Vet (26). He's yet to play at Citizen's Bank Park, so obviously he hasn't homered there yet either. Of course, that may change when the Giants play their only series at the Cit this season on August 13th-15th.
Just for shits and giggles, here's the full list of current major league parks that Bonds hasn't homered in:
Citizen's Bank Park (Philadelphia - 0 games played)
Comerica Park (Detroit - 0)
Fenway Park (Boston - 0)
Jacobs Field (Cleveland - 0)
The Metrodome (Minnesota - 0)
Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore - 0)
PETCO Park (San Diego - 3 games, 10AB, 3H, 4BB)
Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay - 2 games, 7AB, 2H, 2BB)
Hopefully, he'll reduce that list of 8 parks to 7 tonight, although the weather may have something to say about that...
June 10, 2004
i can't stand the rain
Slackers, all of you! Well, OK, most of you. I'm referring here to my fellow Phillies bloggers, many of whom seem to have less patience than Doug Glanville on a bad day. I know, I've been less-than-religious with my posting lately, but it is kinda hard to maintain your enthusiasm when your team is struggling to stay above .500 and half the team's on the DL. Seriously, though, we're Phillies fans -- we've been through much worse than this, right? I mean, our team has been so bad over the last 100 years there's a whole book about the subject.
OK, time for some public humiliation as I wait on this rain delay and run down my list of Phillies weblogs...
A Citizen's Blog - No complaints here, as "Law Student Extraordinaire" Michael Berquist has been more or less keeping up despite recently graduating from law school. Bonus points for the recent interest in the world of Moneyball and sabermetrics.
Broad & Pattison - a "Weekly Review" of Philadelphia Baseball that hasn't been updated since early May. Doesn't help that the Phils don't even play at the intersection of Broad St. and Pattison Avenue, either.
The Citizen's Report - writer Brian Kovacs had been slipping in the past couple weeks, but it looks like he's back to posting regularly. A note, however, for this blog and A Citizen's blog -- I keep getting you guys mixed up. Maybe it's the similarity in templates & colors, or perhaps that you both have "Citizen's" in your name. Anyway it's not a criticism, just an observation.
Fire Bowa - another site that hasn't been updated in about a month. Gotta love the name, though.
Phanatic Phollow Up - Formerly a once-weekly weblog, this site's been picking it up in the past couple weeks, updating every couple days or so. If I had one complaint about this site, though, it would have to be that its updates are usually mere "recaps" and seldom provide opinion or commentary.
Philliesblog.net - Now, if it's opinion you want, this site provides plenty, in addition to a daily "GameStar" award. Aside from Phillies Fan, the most frequently and regularly updated Phillies weblog.
Phillies Fan - Bill Liming's Phils site is pretty much the center of the Phillies "blogoverse" (don't you hate words like that?), providing daily updates and commentary on just about every piece of Phillies news. Great site, Bill, but do you ever leave the house? ;)
Phillies Foul Balls - This site started out strong, but it hasn't been posted to since May 19th. Hello?
Philing Station - This site had been falling by the wayside during the last couple weeks so now its author is "passing the torch", admitting he can't keep up with it anymore. It'll be interesting to see if any of the current Phillies bloggers take over or if the site goes with someone new.
Shallow Center - Apparently, things have gotten so bad with the Phillies that Tom has been posting about beer ads lately. Regardless, this site remains one of my favorites because I love the writing style. Pretty frequently updated, too.
View from the 700 Level - OK, so this site hasn't been updated since November of 2003, but it was the first Phillies weblog out there and probably the source of inspiration for many current Phils bloggers (myself included), so I'm keeping it on the list for the sake of nostalgia.
yuda.org: baseball - John Yuda has remained active commenting in a variety of other weblogs (I've seen him frequently on Will Carroll's Weblog and Baseball Musings, for instance), but it's been a week since he touched his own site.
Anyway, it sounds like this rain delay is gonna be a long one, assuming they play at all tonight. Oh well, I was kinda looking forward to another slugfest...
June 08, 2004
d'oh
Wel, that certainly didn't go as planned. Maybe I should look at the bright side of things? Like these three lines:
AB R H RBI BB HR Rollins 5 2 3 1 0 0 Thome 5 2 3 6 0 2 Abreu 3 2 2 1 2 0
The pitching, however, we won't mention...
June 07, 2004
flavor of the week
I think it's pretty safe to say that this is a pretty important week for the Phils. As Phillies Fan points out, the team is barely ahead of its pace for last season. Just like last year, we've been struggling against the NL East. Unlike last year, however, we've been faced with a number of injuries, especially in the infield and on the pitching staff.
- 1B: Jim Thome's hand problems, while not severe, have been nagging and have kept him out of the lineup occasionally.
- 2B: Placido Polanco's been sidelined for a month, although it can be argued that his replacement, Chase Utley, has outperformed him anyway (.223/.304/.313 for Polanco vs. Utley's .235/.265/.449)
- 3B: David Bell missed the weekend's games with a sore hip. Bell's got a dubious history of nagging injuries, so we'll have to see how this plays out.
- SP: Vicente Padilla is already on the DL with tendonitis and Randy Wolf's about to join him. Not good.
- RP: Billy Wagner, out nearly a month, is scheduled to come back Tuesday after a successful rehab stint in Reading.
The players the Phils have used to fill in for these injuries have ranged from pretty good (the aforementioned Utley, at least until his recent slump) to decent (Perez has batted .227/.320/.409 while playing 3B this season) to pretty bad (interim closer Tim Worrell has been hit-or-miss, but usually miss) to downright disastrous (see Josh Hancock's two spot starts). The biggest question mark of the season may be answered tomorrow, as phenom-in-the-making Ryan Madson makes his first major league start against the AL Central-leading White Sox. Let's hope we get a chance to see Wagner back in this one too.
June 05, 2004
they're back?
OK, that's more like it. You've gotta like 9 runs on 11 hits, with everyone in the starting lineup (except the pitcher) getting at least one hit. Maybe this means the slumping Phillies offense is back from their extended vacation? I hope so. A look at the Phils' starters' averages during the past week:
AB AVG OBP SLG Byrd 16 .125 .176 .125 Utley 28 .107 .107 .214 Abreu 23 .217 .333 .391 Thome 27 .259 .355 .519 Burrell 24 .250 .400 .417 Lieberthal 19 .211 .250 .421 Bell 22 .364 .417 .545 Rollins 22 .409 .458 .727
Not exactly impressive. You can see right away why until last night they haven't been scoring runs -- lack of production from just about everyone in the lineup (save for Bell, Rollins and Thome).
On the bright side, it looks like we're getting Billy Wagner back this Tuesday, although we may be losing David Bell. And Vicente Padilla's on the DL now too. Josh Hancock did a pretty craptastic job filling in for Padilla this past Thursday, but luckily with the off day Monday, they can bump everyone else up a day and skip his slot in the rotation Wednesday.
June 01, 2004
over and out
Bottom of the fifth, runner on third, one out, Doug Glanville at the plate, all he needs to do is hit a sac fly. So what happens? He grounds out on the second pitch. ARGH! WHY IS HE STARTING! Take a look at these stats:
AB AVG OPS Player A 46 .239 .584 Player B 24 .208 .492
OK, now guess which one is the starting center fielder and which one is tonight's starting pitcher. That's right, Glanville's OPS is a mere 92 points higher than the pitcher's. Ugh. At least he was able to drive in a run in the 7th.
---
As yuda.org points out, Rob Neyer's excellent ESPN.com column is moving over to ESPN Insider (meaning you'll have to pay for it) as of June 14th. I noticed this earlier today as well and I have to agree that it sucks. Neyer is pretty much the only reason I read ESPN.com anymore -- if I want general sports news, I'll usually check out Yahoo! Sports instead, as it isn't overlaoded with useless animations, advertisements and bonehead columnists. Well, OK, Yahoo has its token village idiot as well, but still, the overall site is much more tolerable.
---
So, did we really just lose two straight to the Mets? Unbelievable. Can we have Billy Wagner back now? Please?