“God, I Hope I Wear This Jersey Forever”

Today, September 11, 2009, Derek Jeter became the all-time hit leader for the New York Yankees. For the past few weeks I scoffed and puckered my lips at any mention of a number two seeded Lou Gehrig and had my mind set that I would never place Jeter in the same class as a Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Cy Young, Hank Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, etc. I was prompted to actually look at the numbers this evening and prove myself wrong. If you’re an avid reader of this blog (or even if you’re skimming through it for the first time) you already know I have a penchant for stats so bear with me through this:

I couldn’t help but notice the obvious – Derek Jeter is not only going to enjoy his place on the record boards for a long, long time but he is just going to continue to widen the gap between himself and the legends of Yankee Stadium. His playing time is comparable to Babe Ruth’s and yet his hits still outnumber the Babe’s by over 200 (well above a season average for any player).

Let’s break Jeter’s number down for just this season (mainly because now that I’m into this entry I’m curious):

I suppose if you’re going to be “out played” by 46 other players and still absolutely dominate the stats that actually matter you deserve to be considered among the greats.

We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet: Derek Jeter is only 35 years old. Now I don’t know if it’s the economy & the fear of being the next Lenny Dykstra living out of his car or if physical therapy is so advanced that playing baseball professionally can be close to a life-long career anymore, but if players like Jamie Moyer, Roger Clemens & Randy Johnson can play into their mid-forties surely Jeter can squeeze a few more years out of that jersey and one day be considered the greatest Yankee of all-time.

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Drive Me to Drink

A tee shirt I saw at Target today reminded me of an excerpt from my letter to Brad Lidge a couple entries ago:

There was a time when “Brad Lidge Time” meant you could start packing up your belongings and getting the kids ready for the drive home. “Brad Lidge Time” meant you could shift focus from the television to getting the dog ready for one last walk before bed. “Brad Lidge Time” meant the game was over, the Phillies notched another win and all was well with the world. Now “Brad Lidge Time” sends us fans to the fridge for beer before turning the lights down and curling up under blankets as if preparing to watch a scary movie.

Here is the shirt:

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And Now for Something Completely Different

If Will Ferrell & Mark McGwire had a love-child, it would look like Adam Dunn. Just saying.

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Dear Brad: A Formal Request

September 7, 2009

Mr. Bradley Thomas Lidge
c/o The Philadelphia Phillies
1 Citizens Park Way
Philadelphia, PA 19148

Dear Mr. Lidge:

I am writing in regards to your recent performance as the official closer of the Philadelphia Phillies. As you are most certainly aware you are currently 0-7 with a 7.15 ERA and 10 blown saves.

In 2008 you were Mr. Perfection. Lights Out Lidge. A sure thing. You carried your success into 2009 racking up three saves in as many opportunities right out of the pen. Then on April 18 against the San Diego Padres you walked two & gave up four runs on two hits. Charlie pulled you from the game and we the fans tipped our hats to you and gave you a standing ovation. I sincerely hope you truly appreciated the gesture and recognized that outward affection is not something offered so lightly by the fans of Philadelphia - especially in times of trouble. You should have been warned that at Citizens Bank Park cheers are to be taken with a grain of salt. That day the fans were smiling and clapping for you, but what they were thinking quietly to themselves was "congratulations on 47 consecutive saves - just don't blow another one."

You didn't let us down again until May 15th when you tried to hand an 11-21 Nationals team their 12th win of the season by allowing two runs in the ninth bringing a 4-2 game to a 4-4 tie. It was one of those brilliant opportunities in which you were credited with a blown save but thanks to the prowess of Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, and Feliz the Phillies still managed on scooping out the win in twelve innings. I will admit you did give us some warning when you started giving up at least one run per game in your five previous appearances. It wasn't before long you were showing us what you were really made of dishing out two back to back blown saves and accumulating a 7.27 ERA before your eventual hiatus on the disabled list.

In the month following your return you were getting the job done, but the fingernails of fans across the Delaware Valley had been chewed to the cuticles. From June 26th through July 26th you pitched a total of 10 innings over 12 games. In those 12 games you had 6 saves and notched one loss. You gave up 10 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 10 walks, recorded 12 strike outs, and enjoyed a moderately lower ERA of 6.30. The real nail biters fell on July 10th with one run given up but still winning 3-2 & July 17th with another run given up winning by a score of 6-5.

There was a time when "Brad Lidge Time" meant you could start packing up your belongings and getting the kids ready for the drive home. "Brad Lidge Time" meant you could shift focus from the television to getting the dog ready for one last walk before bed. "Brad Lidge Time" meant the game was over, the Phillies notched another win and all was well with the world. Now "Brad Lidge Time" sends us fans to the fridge for beer before turning the lights down and curling up under blankets as if preparing to watch a scary movie.

In your last twelve appearances you have gone 0-3 with four blown saves giving up 11 hits that have turned into 9 runs in 9.1 innings (translating to an 8.90 ERA). You are fidgeting between pitches and lose all concentration when you allow a base runner.

Do you remember game five of the 2008 World Series? Do you remember getting the save propelling Philadelphia to their championship even with two runners on base? Do you remember only giving up 17 runs all of that season? Do you remember what it took to have a 1.95 ERA through 72 appearances?

Do you remember the last pitch of the 1993 World Series?

Do you want to be that guy?

Did you know that as of today you are tied with that guy at number 42 on the all-time saves list?

In 1993 Mitch Williams went 3-7, had 43 saves (blowing 6) and boasted a much more impressive ERA of just 3.34. Jim Fregosi believed in The Wild Thing and exhausted him to the point of no return similar to Charlie's faith in you. There is a difference between you, though. Mitch earned his nickname by way of his mechanics (or lack thereof). For the most part, and besides the most devastating blown save in Philadelphia history, Mitch got the job done. He may have caused a number of nail biter games throughout his tenure as a Phillie but none as intense and those thrown by you. There is no confidence left on your face. There is no mystery left to your pitches. There is no heat, nothing "nasty," nothing to look forward to other than how long it will take for you to lose your composure.

Cole Hamels raised an excellent point last week: you have nothing to prove. There is nothing you can do that could possibly top your performance in 2008 - and there is nothing wrong with that. You made 2008 happen because you brought your best stuff, and that was all you needed to get the job done. No one could ask any more of you, and no one expected any more from you this year. You cannot get caught up in trying not to disappoint the fans. We have stuck by you this season and literally hope and pray each time you take that mound that something will click and the fire will find its way back to your eyes. Charlie has stayed ever faithful to your abilities but we are all growing weary. It's now or never. Myers is back and he is HUNGRY. Prove us wrong, Brad. Prove everyone wrong. We beg of you.

Your prompt attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Michelle O'Malley for the people of Philadelphia Pin It Now!

Aces High

So here we are again. How did the Phillies find themselves with such an overabundance of pitching and still remain so far from a solution to their troubles?

On August 9th the Phillies & Jamie Moyer suffered a 12-3 loss to the Florida Marlins. In five innings Moyer allowed 11 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), hit one batter, walked one and recorded one strikeout. Rodrigo Lopez and Brad Lidge combined to do the rest of the damage by allowing 6 and 3 runs, respectively. It may not have been so bad if those three runs scored on fewer hits or if Moyer hadn’t thrown 97 pitches in those five innings. After all, Cole Hamels had a 97-pitch complete game on June 4th and J.A. Happ threw a 100-pitch complete game on June 27th. Cliff Lee has thrown two complete games since joining the defending world champions with 106 pitches in each start. It might not have been the straw that broke the camel’s back had it not been the Phillies’ third loss in 4 games with Moyer on the mound. If Moyer had not already had the third highest ERA in all of baseball going into the game the club may not have moved him to the bullpen the day following the loss.

How did Moyer respond to the move? It was reported that he felt “disheartened” and “misled” and had been assured that he would not be bumped from the starting rotation when he was negotiating his 2-year $13 million contract in December. Jamie had said “I feel like I’ve played this game long enough that the respect factor should be there;” but the Philadelphia Phillies organization is about winning ballgames, not sparing feelings. “Right now circumstances have changed and that’s why we’re moving him to the bullpen,” responded Amaro just days after he made public that J.A. Happ’s starting role was secure.

So Moyer took to the pen. Moyer took the pen in grand fashion, even. On August 18th Pedro Martinez was on his way to a start the Phillies knew he was capable of when they added him to the roster. However, the skies opened upon Citizens Bank Park and after a 66-minute rain delay forcing Pedro to sit the rest of the game allowing Moyer to show Philadelphia what kind of stuff he can bring to the table in long relief.

And boy did he show off. Moyer pitched six innings, allowed just two hits, struck out five, and did not allow a single run as he took over the game with confidence and finesse. This is the Moyer the Phillies had in mind when they signed him to that two-year contract. This is the Moyer that used to be part of a five-man rotation that was also home to the 2008 NLCS & World Series MVP award winner Cole Hamels.

Wait a second… What about Cole Hamels?

Cole Hamels has struggled to remain consistent in 2009. You can see it in his win-loss record. In 2008 Cole went 14-10 with a major league career low 3.09 ERA. He went 4-0 in the post season and was the obvious nominee for MVP. Cole was the Phillies’ ace and no one expected anything less of him in 2009. So far this season Hamels has proven to be very hot and cold - there has been no luke warm.

Let’s look at the numbers:

Cole Hamels’ record is 7-8 with a major league career high 4.78 ERA which is also fifth worst in the National League. The Phillies are 12-12 in games that he has started - they literally have a 50/50 chance of winning a game with their so-called ace on the mound. When you break it down even further you can really see his inconsistency come to light.

In April Hamels went 0-2 but immediately turned it around and won all three of his decisions in May. Things dipped south again in June when he went 1-2 but flip flopped in July going 3-1. To round things out Cole is 0-3 in August. Baseball is a streaky game, and the Phillies have historically been a streaky team, but the way the math works out ends in Cole having a brilliant September and a rocky October which is something I like to imagine would essentially bench even an MVP when the team may have another World Series title on the line.

Let’s discuss October for a bit, shall we? Cliff Lee will undoubtedly be the number one starter in the playoffs. So far with the Phillies he is 4-0 with an astonishing 0.82 ERA (and a team-leading .385 batting average - who knew?!). Behind him we can assume Blanton will make an appearance as he has been just as effective for the Phillies, only he is not usually backed up by enough offense to secure him the W. Regardless he is the reigning AL Cy Young award winner and a seasoned veteran and will surely continue to prove himself to be an asset to the team as they look to defend their title.

After Blanton, however, the future becomes a little blurry. Pedro Martinez has said himself that he expects to be picking up the pace when the rest of the rotation starts to get tired towards the end of the year. With only eight innings under his belt so far he has shown everyone he still has the stuff that made him a great pitcher in the past but it will be up to him to make sure he continues to build his resume so that he can dominate in the fall. J.A. Happ has been remarkable as a starter and is a favorite for the well deserved NL Rookie of the Year award. But does he have what it takes to be just as stellar in a post-season game? More importantly do the Phillies feel comfortable taking a risk in finding out?

But where do Hamels & Moyer fit in? The Phillies have been 13-10 when Moyer has started but those wins have not come easy. As we’ve already seen the Phightin’s have a 50% chance of winning with Hamels on the mound. Is it too far of a stretch to think that maybe, just maybe, we will see Moyer & Hamels switch roles in the not so distant future? Is it fair to even consider such things? We saw the Phillies organization put feelings aside when they issued Moyer his billet. Should a team as powerful & dominant as Philadelphia even be expected to have to decide between starting a Rookie of the Year candidate & and World Series MVP candidate? Shouldn’t they reasonably be able to use both of them with the utmost confidence? Only time will tell. Pin It Now!

The Rotation Conundrum

The trade deadline has come and gone. On July 31st at 4:01 p.m. there was no work order put in to start printing Roy Halladay t-shirts with a Phillies logo on the front. J.A. Happ took a step down off the chopping block and breathed a sigh of relief. Cliff Lee was mentally preparing for four at bats against Giants pitching. Rodrigo Lopez was lamenting a tough loss from the night before. Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer & Cole Hamels were all coming off of wins in their last starts anxious to see the reigning AL Cy Young award winner pitch for the reigning World Series champions. Brett Myers was throwing long-toss and gearing up for a weekend bullpen session. Pedro Martinez was gearing up for a rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Wait… Is Philadelphia about to have seven starting pitchers at their disposal? When was the last time anyone was able to say the Phillies had too much pitching? And how are they going to narrow it down to five?

Lopez has already made the move to the bullpen and will most likely stay there. Myers is scheduled to throw a simulated game in Clearwater on Thursday and although he may be back in Citizens Bank Park sooner than originally anticipated he will most likely pitch relief initially. Martinez gave up five hits leading to four runs (three earned) in six innings pitched on Wednesday versus the Trenton Thunder but more notably recorded eleven strike outs. Every day he inches closer to being major league ready and when he is he brings with him the question everyone has started to ask lately - will he be a starter and if so who is he replacing?

Cliff Lee was a force to be reckoned with on Friday at AT&T Park and proved quickly that the Phillies made the right move by investing in him. In his national league debut Lee pitched a complete game four-hitter in a 5-1 win over the Giants striking out six and walking two. Not only did he pitch brilliantly, he also went 2-3 at the plate hitting a long double in the eighth that would have easily been a homerun in Philadelphia. I’m fairly confident in saying Cliff Lee will not be sitting in the outfield any time soon.

Cole Hamels is battling to prove he can pitch like the Cole Hamels we saw in the 2008 post-season where he earned both NLCS & World Series MVP titles. Despite being statistically the second worst pitcher in the Phillies rotation his spot is secure.

Blanton is skating along proving to be one of the more consistent pitchers on the mound for Philly this season. So far he is 7-5 with a 4.02 ERA and 107 strike outs. Almost every one of his stats rank third of all of the Phillies current starting pitchers and the city knows they can generally expect a good solid outing from him even if his efforts sometimes go unanswered by the team’s offense.

So that leaves Moyer, the 46 year old that has had a rollercoaster of a season, and Happ who has been auditioning for his job since spring training. Happ has bullpen experience having started out there in the beginning of the season after losing the spring training pitching duel to Chan Ho Park (who has proved to be phenomenal in relief as of late). It’s almost natural for him to go back to the pen now that the Phillies have created a stock pile of starting pitchers to fill the voids left by Park and Myers earlier in the season.

It’s not exactly as though Happ has been throwing like a substitute, though. In fourteen starts, Happ is 8-2 which is the best win/start ratio on the team. He boasts a team low 2.74 ERA and on Wednesday he threw his second complete game shutout of the season and his career. He only has 86 strike outs so far but has also pitched the least amount of innings of the rotation - even so he is averaging about 6.5 strikeouts per game ranking him ahead of Lee & Moyer. Happ is turning out to be the Phillies ace and he didn’t even start the season in the rotation. He is arguably the best transaction the Phillies did not make.

Moyer is the only Phillies pitcher to have secured 10 wins so far in 2009. Of the 21 starts he has made this season he is averaging about five and two thirds innings pitched per game. In those five and two thirds innings pitched per game he has given up 22 home runs. That works out to be roughly one trip around the bases per game. When you add that he has also given up a team high 74 earned runs (13th highest of all MLB pitchers) it isn’t hard to see why his ERA is third lowest in all of baseball at 5.55 trailing only Francisco Liriano (MIN, 5.63) and Todd Wellemeyer (STL, 5.67).

The numbers don’t lie. Anyone could look at a page of statistics and deduce that of the Phillies current starting pitchers Moyer should be the one to have to give up his seat to make room for Pedro but the organization says he isn’t made for the bullpen. Although he has pitched relief before it hasn’t been for quite some time with his last bullpen appearance coming in 1996 with the Rex Sox. Clearly he has done well with age, though. It took him twelve years to notch his 100th win and just eleven to scoop up 150 more to hit the 250 milestone in the 2009 season with the Phillies. He had remarkably impressive numbers with the Mariners and ranked among one of the best American league pitchers at the time. But does an impressive run in the late ’90s earn Moyer a spot in the World Series champions’ rotation?

Lee will pitch Thursday to try and recreate Friday’s game in his Citizens Bank Park debut. Joe Blanton will pitch Friday and Hamels will pitch Saturday. Moyer is scheduled to start against the Marlins on Sunday afternoon, but will that be his last start? It’s time to Jamie to step up to the plate and show Philly what he’s got and that he’s still got IT. If he can’t the Phillies may end the season with a rotation that has been almost completely replaced, but the ultimate goal is clear: Repeating. And back to back World Series wins may be worth a little more to the front office than sparing feelings. Pin It Now!

It's Not Obsession - It's Enthusiasm

Back when the home of the Philadelphia Phillies was Veterans Stadium, when general admission tickets were just five dollars, when you could bring a can of Maxwell House Coffee to the ticket office and get a free 200-level seat, when the roster consisted of Terry Mulholland, Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra & John Kruk, I was a little girl that was packing a cooler with water and sandwiches to bring to the games at least once a week with her dad.

I remember where I was sitting when I watched the 1993 World Series come to a screeching halt and I spent more than one game in the yellow seats next to the Phan-O-Vision with my grandfather. I remember getting ticket stubs signed by Mickey Morandini and my grandmother and I wearing matching Scott Rolen t-shirts to Sunday games spent in section 236. I couldn't believe my eyes when I sat and watched a stunning 7-run bottom of the ninth comeback win by the Phightins in '98 capped off by a Mike Lieberthal 3-run home run. I remember pushing my way to the front of a group of boys to get Ricky Bottalico's autograph before a game and a few hours later watching a bench and bullpen clearing fight between him and Barry Bonds (click here for a brief recount). I remember staring at the pile of rubble on Broad Street and walking into the shiny new Citizens Bank Park for the first time recognizing it was time to make some new memories.

I can't remember my first game - I just know there were a lot of them growing up. I could rattle off rosters and batting averages as a 10 year old and couldn't imagine a life without baseball.

I grew up in South Jersey approximately 25 minutes from Broad Street without game-day traffic. I was mildly athletic as a kid participating on the swim team (bringing my Phillies beach towel to every meet) and was a cheerleader through high school (mostly for a free pass to the football games). I lived in an all-girls dorm while attending Rutgers University and left my roommates shaking their heads when I would have boys over to watch Sunday football. No matter where life took me summers were always spent at the ballpark.

When I started dating my husband he was in the Navy and stationed in upstate New York. I moved in with him when he got orders to Norfolk, VA and realized quickly that I was living in Redskins country and it was a rarity to catch an Eagles game on Sundays. A few months later I noticed there seemed to be an awful lot of Orioles and Nationals games on television - but where were my Phillies? After two seasons of crossing my fingers and hoping to catch a Braves series on TBS or a Saturday game on FOX I wised up and purchased MLB Extra Innings from my cable provider. As wonderful as it has been being able to watch almost every single game this season I think my dedication (not obsession) is wearing on my poor husband even if I have gotten him to be a bit more baseball-minded.

So here I am, living in Virginia Beach, watching all the games I want and cheering in my car when I can pick up WPHT 1210 AM once or twice a series. I have a couple of people to talk baseball with in my new city but mostly rely on Twitter, Facebook, and good old fashioned text messaging to discuss the Phillies. That's where this blog comes from: another outlet (besides my husband) to talk to all of you wonderful people about what drives me, what I look forward to every day, and what I literally shed more than a few tears for when Brad Lidge delivered that 0-2 pitch with two outs in the top of the ninth at 9:58 pm on October 29th, 2008. This team has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and my passion runs deep. I look forward to sharing that enthusiasm with you and spreading my Broad Street pride wherever I go. Pin It Now!