Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, June 10th
Morning Roundup: "I heard them say it was all about the benjamins. Don’t believe it now. Didn’t believe it then …"
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| nba.com |
| The Lake Show tries to pick itself off the ground tonight in LA |
Three lines on the nation:
The NBA Finals move to LA, Ken Griffey Junior finally gets to 600, and Euro 2008 is getting serious.
Three lines on the world:
The Phillies gear up for a three-game set against Florida, continue to get rake in serious national press, and deal with celebrity at home.
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and celebrating the return of TV sports, after the jump
PHILLIES
After taking cares of Atlanta in Atlanta and getting a day off to travel, recharge, and line up their rotation the Phillies head to Dolphin Stadium in Miami tonight hoping to put some more distance in between themselves and the second place Marlins.
Phillies opening day starter Brett Myers (3-7, 5.13) takes on Marlins righty Ricky Nolasco (5-4, 5.05). In his last outing Myers took a no-no into the 7th but still took the loss.
The Phillies have been as hot as the weather and the Marlins are beginning to fall apart a bit – they have failed to win four consecutive series – so look for the Good Guys to jump out early in this one and set a tone.
Quick Notes
- The Phillies have outscored their opponents 158-98 in the sixth inning and later this season. The 60-run differential is nearly double that of the second-best team in the majors — the Chicago Cubs have a 36-run advantage in the sixth inning and later.
- Myers has dropped six of his last seven decisions – the one win coming May 30th against Florida
- Of course Ricky Nolasco salvaged the Marlins one win against the Phils in that same series
- The Marlins are coming off a 9-4 loss where they served up Ken Griffey Junior’s 600th home run ball
- The Marlins are the worst home draw in baseball, averaging only 14,840 fans a game. The Phillies, by comparison, average over 40,000 a game.
- Marlins’ SS Hanley Ramirez comes into the series red hot – he is hitting .310 with five home runs over the last week
- While Ramirez deservedly gets the headlines, this season it has been his double-play partner, 2B Dan Uggla, who has been leading the Marlins in nearly every offensive category. The 2B is hitting .304 with 18 home runs and 44 RBIs. Unless you’re Chase Utley those are pretty absurd totals for a second basemen at this point in the season.
Now, who said what …
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated writes that this years’ Phillies are even better than last year’s NL East champions. SKIP
Paul Hagan writes that Chase Utley’s on-the-field preparedness is what keeps him out of the gossip columns. READ
Not that he has to be out of those columns. Paul Vigna writes that women love themselves some Chase and are talking with their wallets. Not that they’re alone, also included here are quotes about Utley’s jersey being a top-seller outside of the local market. READ
Sam Donnellon compares the current Phillies team to the 1993 group – they asked Mitch Williams to make the same comparison on CSN’s Post Game Live last week and he came up with the same answer that Donnellon does – not much, which might not be the worst thing. READ
Todd Zolecki breaks down the Phillies off-season moves and said that they have spent wisely. READ
David Murphy writes that the Phils have been counting on Ryan Madson more and more. SKIP
Kevin Cooney says the NL East is scared in a way that should look familiar. READ
EAGLES
Les Bowen writes that Donovan McNabb’s shoulder is a non-issue. Am I crazy for assuming that giving an entrenched starter a few reps off when the team has a young backup quarterback isn’t a shocking idea? Also in here is Dan Klecko’s move back to DT and Brian Westbrook’s chat with reporters. SKIP
Ashley Fox says ‘Good Riddence’ to Michael Strahan. SKIP
Les Bowen lets Jon Runyon talk about recently retired rival. READ
Rich Hofmann looks back on LT and Strahan and comes to the conclusion that Osi Umenyiora’s time is now to terrorize the Eagles’ QBs. READ
Bob Brookover is excited. READ
In his notes Bob Brookover writes that Brian Westbrook wants a raise, likes the new offense and hates training camp. READ
SIXERS
Phil Jasner reports that the Sixers have re-upped some management-types. SKIP
FLYERS
Flyers and Flyer-types on the Flyers. READ
TODAY and MORE
For the Freakanomics crowd, Brian Cuban has an interesting piece on why athletes go broke.
Other than that we’ll be updating all day. As always, feel free to email me with any questions, suggestions, comments and complaints.
