Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, October 15th
The Red Sox are one game away from elimination, and this
time the team seems to lack either the spark of hope or the confidence that their previous incarnations had in spades. This morning Shaughnessy wrote, “Fenway
was so quiet you could hear a dynasty drop. And that was in the first inning.” It isn’t just the losing — they trailed the 2004
Yankees 3-0, and as recently as last year had their backs to the walls against
the Indians, 3-1, and won the chip both years — they’re getting casually
smacked around. The Rays put up 13 last night, it was the third straight game they hung 9 or more, and
they’ve done it against the “the best big game pitcher in the majors” (Beckett), the Red
Sox “ace” (Jon Lester) and their wily veteran (Wakefield). So what is the Philly hook? I don’t care about
the obvious one (next round opponent), at least not until the Phils take one
more game from LA, and the Rays don’t have anything that would resemble a local
product, so I guess it’s this: In baseball you never know what to expect.
I remember being at a game a couple months ago
and having a Yahoo! Sports columnist check a national scoreboard, show the Rays
lineup to me, and ask “How the fuck is this team the best in baseball?” Thanks to a couple of guys returning from injury,
their 1 through 9 is better today than it was two months ago, but these are the last
four guys in their lineup last night:
DH Willie Aybar
C Dioner
Navarro
RF Fernando Perez
SS Jason Bartlett
And that team put up 13 on the presumed World Series
favorite.
So I guess the local hook is a warning: Yes, the Phillies
throw Hollywood
tonight, and yes, they look good, up 3-1, but this is baseball, and it’s not
over yet.
 |
“My goal is to make it to the batter’s box and see how far I can hit a ball.” – Matt Stairs, quote machine.
Three lines on their world:
- The Rays are one game away from The Series
- The Cowboys added a second Roy Williams
- but lost their Pacman to suspension
Three lines on ours:
- First Pitch of Game Five is tonight at 8:22
- The Eagles released Tony Hunt and added a linebacker
- and the Flyers picked up a point with an overtime loss
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about after the jump
PHILLIES
Phil Sheridan looks at just how amazing Brad Lidge’s comeback has been. It is a good story, but it has been told. SKIP
Bob Ford appreciates what Pat Gillick has done, and reports back from a Matt Stairs batting practice. READ
John Gonzalez gets his mind around Matt Stairs: hero, and the fact that LA is sad, and — way more important — he gets a story from Harry Kalas. When Kalas announced Pat Burrell on Fox’s pregame introductions Kalas called him ‘Bait.’ I didn’t know why, immediately emailed a couple of the beat guys and they didn’t either and I quickly forgot about it. It’s worth hearing. READ
Mike Jenson thinks that Ryan Howard is feeling the pressure. READ
Sam Donnellon says that not hitting isn’t going to keep Jimmy Rollins from helping the team. READ
Todd Zolecki notices that the Phillies just keep going to work. READ
David Murphy says the Phils realize how close they are. SKIP
Larry Eichel points out that the Game Five is bad news for John McCain, who needs the knockout victory and needs people to see it. READ
John Gonzalez gets emotional, Phil Sheridan big ups Lower Bucks and Bob Ford remains both old and cranky. (I know I always skip Talking, but writing that explanation line brightens my morning every day) SKIP
Paul Hagen says that the pressure is now on Chad Billingsley. SKIP
Bill Conlin explodes. READ
Rich Hofmann looks at Matt Stairs’ first love: hockey, then gets a couple great stories and good quotes from the big slugger. READ
Jim Salisbury writes the same story. SKIP
Zolecki’s notes point out that Brett Myers was in the bullpen for the end of game four (which is fucking awesome), the Dodgers are taking a mental health day, and more. READ
Mike Sielski says that, led by Shane, this Phillies team is doing the little things. READ
Kevin Cooney looks at how the Phillies were assembled. SKIP
EAGLES
Paul Domowitch reports that the Birds stood pat at the trade deadline and released Tony Hunt. SKIP
Les Bowen reports that the Birds released Hunt and picked up a linebacker. SKIP
In a section I love, Bob Brookover looked at the game film and took three more guys under the microscope. READ
Les Bowen breaks the story (at least to me) that Andy Reid is a Dodger fan, and checks in on his boyhood home. READ
Bob Brookover looks at some of the finer points. READ
Reuben Frank breaks down week six and says that the Birds are back in the mix. SKIP
SIXERS
Phil Jasner says that Jared Reiner has dubbed Reggie Evans‘ play ‘Reggie-ness’ and the scribe loves it. READ
Joe Juliano points out that Kareem Rush can shoot the ball. SKIP
The Sixers beat the Knicks in a preseason game. SKIP
Tom Moore says that even with all the Sixer changes, Lou Williams role isn’t going to shift much. READ
FLYERS
Ed Moran looks at the success of the power play. READ
The Flyers lost the game but picked their first point of the year. SKIP
Wayne Fish says that Scottie Hartnell plays cards with the best of them – literally. READ
TODAY and MORE
Game five tonight, so baseball talk should dominate. As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
