Staff Blog
The Phillies are distracted, Scottie Reynolds is turning pro (kinda), and much, much more
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A couple of days ago one of the Phillies announcers (probably either Franzke or LA) made a smart point. He said the trip the Phillies made to Colorado, a trip that occurred just five games ago, feels like it happened six months ago.
Between dealing with the pageantry of the World Series, constant rainouts, the hoopla around the Kalas commemorative ceremonies, scheduling and canceling meetings with the President and everything else the Phillies have had a lot on their plate.
In baseball, a game or comfort and repetitions, this can take a toll. So far, the Phillies have played on four consecutive days just once (for what its worth, and its probably not a terrible amount, they won the final three), and after another rainout last night they’ll have to try again tonight in the first of nine scheduled tilts. It’ll be a welcome return to normalcy for the Phils, whose pitchers have begun to openly pine for a regular schedule and for their WBC warriors, who didn’t get their typical spring ABs.
Is that an excuse? Probably, and it could be this type of talk that Charlie is referring to when he says his team has lost some the drive that got them to the title, but its also next in a long line of reasons why its still way too soon to worry. No matter how far ahead the Marlins are.
Now, five stories and one thought about each:
The Story: Scottie Reynolds has declared for the draft but declined to hire an agent.
My thoughts: Underclassmen have the option of declaring for the NBA draft, not signing an agent, and withdrawing their name once. Scottie, who will be a senior next year, is merely using this opportunity to get a few runs in against pro talent in front of pro scouts – it’ll be a shock if the guard doesn’t come back. Win-win.
The Story: Sheldon Brown names names of other Birds who might quibble with their contract.
My Thoughts: Trent Cole and Mike Patterson, I hope your cell phones are charged, you’re going to be using them quite a bit today. The Birds spent the entire offseason jettisoning team leaders (Dawk, Tra, Runyon) and now it is becoming obvious why they need them.
The Story: Ricky Rubio is coming to the NBA!
My Thoughts: Why oh why couldn’t the 76ers have tanked?? We’ve been obsessed with Rubio since at least August 2006 when we came emailed this blog post to a friend and marked him down as one to watch. Rubio is Next, and I can’t wait to watch his game day-in day-out.
My Thoughts: Not a bad time waster for the day after a rainout, and its probably a good sign the new beat guy is working this hard to find the truth behind a suspicious quote. I remember last year being shocked that I was the only person who made a big deal about the fact that Charlie said, in no uncertain terms, that the Nationals were tossing at Utley. Something about the code of baseball writers I suppose. Anyway, kudos to Martino, even if I doubt there is too much behind Cholly’s call out.
The Story: Some poster on BuffaloBills.com breaks down every (we think) sack Jason Peters “gave up” last year and comes to the conclusion that he was pretty nice. h/t the 700 level
My Thoughts: I need some more time to digest this before I can formulate a coherant thought. Initial reaction: dope.
