Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, July 21st – gold is the new bronze
Morning Roundup:”it’s not my fault that you’re slow” – Danica Patrick
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| Pat Burrell sitting on a bench, presumably upset |
Three lines on their world:
- Paddy Harrington took home his second straight open championship
- The Redskins brought in Jason Taylor the reigning Defensive POY / dancing enthusiast
- and the Angles took down the Red Sox three times in a row
Three lines on ours:
- The Phillies lost again
- And are one loss away from third place because of it
- Pat Burrell went public with his complaints
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and no more pictures of the machine t-shirt, after the jump
PHILLIES
For the second time this season the Marlins beat the Phils with a bases loaded walk-off hit, exactly the type of play that last years’ Phillies team thrived on. On the plus side, even as the Home Team is stuck in an elongated slump while the Mets have caught fire and the Marlins have stayed consistent, the Phillies have a share of the NL East lead. Publicly they still remain calm, and in the grand scheme of things that is probably a good thing.
Still, it would be nice to see a little alarm.
Yesterday in Florida the Phils wasted an excellent pitching performance from Cole Hamels. Despite not having his best stuff Hollywood went eight strong innings, striking out seven and giving up just two solo home runs along the way. His 3.11 ERA and 1.01 WHIP deserves better than his 9-6 record.
The goats were the bottom of the lineup: Geoff Jenkins/Jayson Werth, Pedro Feliz, and Carlos Ruiz; the 5-8 hitters, combined to go just 1-14 for the day.
The team has a day off today before starting a three game set against the Mets in Shea. Newly acquired righthander Joe Blanton takes the mound against Johan Santana in the opener. If he loses, the Phillies will no longer be in first place.
Other Notes …
- The Phillies have lost 10 of their last 15 at Florida.
- Ryan Howard had two more RBI, giving him a league-leading 87
- Cole Hamels has pitched at least seven innings in his last nine starts
- he has four wins in those starts
- The Phillies left ten more men on base
- Geoff Jenkins left the game in the sixth inning after his bat broke at the handle and clubbed him on the right shoulder. It looked bad when it happened, but ended up being just a bruise.
- Jenkins grounded into a double play on the hit.
- Tom Gordon has begun long-tossing, but there is no timetable for his return
- After the game, the Phillies optioned INF Mike Cervenak to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalled opening day starter Brett Myers
- Myers finished his stint in the minors at 1-3, a 3.00 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 27 innings.
Now, who said what …
Jim Salisbury writes that Charlie Manuel is upset that the Phillies can’t do the little things. READ
Amidst his notes, David Murphy writes that Charlie isn’t too upset. READ both
In his notes, Salisbury reports that Hamels felt the extra day off hurt him, Jenkins is okay, and more. READ
EAGLES
By the time you’re reading this training camp will have officially begun for rookies and select vets, and if the OTAs were any indication, expect this to mean a serious up-tick in Eagles coverage.
Les Bowen examines Brian Westbrook’s contract demands. READ
Rich Hofmann on the poetry of training camps. READ
Bob Brookover says the, contract concerns aside, Brian Westbrook is excited about the Eagles’ team. SKIP
Brookover reports that the Birds have signed second rounder DeSean Jackson to a four-year deal. SKIP
*if you can only skip one Bob Ford writes camp songs. SKIP
The complete training camp roster. READ
*if you can only read one Bob Brookover writes about Brian Westbrook’s horse farm. Seriously. READ
Reuben Frank sits down with Omar Gaithar, Stewart Bradley, and Chris Gocong. READ
Steve Esack and Larry O’Rourke bring you a well-done fans’ guide to training camp. READ
SIXERS
Kate Fagan reports that the Sixers have locked up first round pick Marreese Speights. SKIP
Tom Moore says that signing draft picks in the League is nothing like signing draft picks in the NFL. SKIP
FLYERS
Matt Gelb writes that Steve Downie has put those turnovers behind him. READ
Sam Cardichi reports that Joffrey Lupul and the Flyers are all but agreed on a four-year contract. READ (the national post says that the deal is done)
With the Spectrum about to be gone, the Phantoms might want be looking for a new city to call home. READ
TODAY and MORE
We should have a little something on the Spectrum, maybe a few NBA bits and anything that else comes up. As always, feel free to email me with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
Great Moments in Broadcasting: re the Angels vs Sawx game last night
Picked up a few innings of the ESPN Radio broadcast of that game last night. At one point Vlad was up against Tim Wakefield and Gary Thorne was right in the middle of saying “In the Dominican Republic where Vladimir grew up they were too poor for bats and balls so they would play with sticks and rolled up socks. The socks would flutter so when these guys face the knuckle ball …” – EXACTLY there, he switched into his home run call. Vladdy had crushed a knuckleball in mid-sentence.
If they included that in a movie, you’d say naaaaahhhhhh