Staff Blog
Afternoon Rounds, August 27th
The Birds backups gear up to take on Brett Favre’s backups
and the second string New York Jets. Most
people don’t care about the forth preseason game (for obvious reasons) but it’s
always been my favorite. All the backups
go full tilt trying to stay on the team through final cuts, and they’ve played
with each other enough that organized, albeit vanilla, plays can be run.
UPDATE: none of that is true, it is not Thursday, despite how much like Thursday it feels. Oh well, live and learn (and expect to read that blurb again tomorrow)
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But no one cares about that game, of course, because Kyle
Kendrick (11-7, 4.87) and the Phillies are trying to hold first place against
Johan Santana (12-7, 2.64) and the Mets. At first glance this seems like a pitching
mismatch, but first glance doesn’t remember that Kendrick has defeated former
Cy Youngs Greg Maddux and John Smoltz over the last year, or that when Pedro
hands the ball off, he has to give it to these clowns.
Two reasons why the Phillies are going to win:
- Santana is coming off an outing where he threw a career
high 121 pitches - Kendrick’s ERA against the Mets (2.40) is actually
better than Santana’s against the Phils (2.60), so logic would dictate that, if
both pitchers go the distance, the Phillies will win (2.6 to 2.4)
Two reasons they won’t
- The Phillies won the first game of the last two sets
against the Mets in epic fashion as well. It was the Good Guys who had a letdown the
next day - Santana is a strikeout pitcher and the Phillies aren’t
contact hitters. As games become bigger
and both sides start holding on a little tighter, that doesn’t bode well for
the bats
Whatever. Look for Pedro Feliciano to do something amazing
for the Phils and the Home Team to take another game from the ‘tropolitans. They’re due for their 22nd (!) blown save of the year.
Rounds, ATJ
Phillies
Balls, Sticks, and Stuff recaps the madness
John Finger, who has seen a game or two, left the stadium baffled
and, of course, The Fightins bring you the visuals
Eagles
The Level checks in on McNabb’s SI cover and more from the Birds
Iggles Blog points out Tony Hunt’s change of heart (but fails to make fun of his astronaut quote)
Sixers
Straight Balling files a generic preview
Flyers
and YouRememberThat remembers one of the greatest Flyers moments ever
I was really hoping the “clowns” link would go to something like this