EVIL~! alkeiper

Hunmberto Sanchez is now 3-0 with an 0.47 ERA for the Toledo Mud Hens. Just what the Tigers need, more pitching help. And the Astros have an even better starter than Roger Clemens in the minors. Jason Hirsh is 7-0 since May 1 for AAA Round Rock.

I'd like to see Griffey move, because his range IS declining in center field. It would allow the hot-hitting Chris Denorfia to get into the lineup as well.

What about Melvin Mora? They could shift him to short and call up Fernando Tatis who's enjoying a nice comeback season in Ottawa. It hardly seems worth the effort though when it shouldn't be THAT hard to just find a first baseman who can slug over .400.

Stan Hansen

I'd love to but my schedule doesn't really allow me to chase prospects. I did get to see some of Rochester's prospects a few weeks ago. Thank god they finally came to their senses and called up Bartlett.

The Devil Rays suspended Elijah Dukes yesterday. I'm hoping there's still a Durham Bulls team left by the time they come to town next week.

Brewers win on a walk-off home run from Carlos Lee. Thanks to XM, I got Uecker's call.

I'm not sure if it was ever really allowed in recent times. The problem was just that security was overwhelmed by the onslaught of fans. New York teams had the worst of it. In the 1969 postseason, you can see sections of the field at Shea Stadium ripped up by the fans. Chris Chambliss was unable to complete his home run trot after winning the 1976 ALCS for the Yankees. Reggie Jackson had to fight his way off the field following the 1977 World Series. When you check out the 1979 set, you'll note Pirates players fighting fans following their Series win in Baltimore. Look quick to see catcher Ed Ott punching a fan on the ground. Players literally had to RUN to the dugout to hold onto their personal possessions. Fans were once allowed on the field following a game. Billy Crystal notes walking towards the center field exit via the field following Yankee games. But fan behaviour has made opening the field too risky. Fans will try to grab the bases, the plate, the grass, anything really.

The big problem with Fox isn't the announcing, it's the endless promotion and advertising. The ludicrious banner at last year's All Star game says it all.

Over the last few seasons the Phillies have developed into a perennial contender. From two consecutive 90+ loss seasons in 1996-97, the Phillies improved to an average win total of 85 wins the last five seasons. Despite the growth however, fans grew restless over the lack of a playoff berth. So the Phillies' upper brass did the only reasonable thing. Fire the general manager. Surely a proven baseball man like Pat Gillick would lead the Phillies to a division title, right? Well, sixty-eight games into the season, the Phillies' record stands at 33-35. The Phils have developed mediocracy before, but the Mets' hot streak has landed the Phils 9.5 games out, and seemingly on the brink. So what's gone wrong so far? HITTING: The Phillies currently rank sixth in the National League in runs scored. This is not normally a poor result, but Citizens Bank Park inflates run scoring. The exact degree of inflation I am unsure of, but it is reasonable to call the offense about average. Looking at run production from each position in the lineup, here's where the Phillies rank by OPS (the sum of On Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage). C: .625 (14th) 1B: .912 (5th) 2B: .871 (1st) SS: .718 (10th) 3B: .666 (15th) LF: .909 (6th) CF: .850 (2nd) RF: .931 (2nd) DH: Have not played a DH game PH: .521 (16th) Production at second base (Chase Utley), center field (Aaron Rowand and Shane Victorino) and right field (Bobby Abreu) has been excellent. Production from left field (Pat Burrell) and first base (Ryan Howard is good to very good). Production from shortstop (Jimmy Rollins) is fair. Catcher and third base are the big problems. At catcher we have seen 39 games from Sal Fasano, 25 games from Mike Lieberthal, 14 from Carlos Ruiz, and 4 from Chris Coste. Fasano's production has been surprisingly passable, with a .321 On Base Percentage and .433 slugging percentage. I was honestly expecting to rip Fasano's offense, but it's good. Lieberthal hit poorly, but I expect his averages would improve given time. Carlos Ruiz's 5 for 35 performance and Coste's 2 for 13 drag down the percentages here. David Bell has gotten the bulk of the playing time at third, and has produced a decent OBP (.335) but only a .383 slugging percentage. That's a bad sign from a righty at Citizens Bank Park. The average at third is dragged by Abraham Nunez hitting .139 in 36 at bats. That brings us to the pinch hitting. The Phillies rank dead last in the National League in OPS, and given that pinch hitters are often used in key spots in the game, that's an awful mark. David Dellucci is 10 for 37 off the bench, with 4 doubles, 2 triples and a homer. That's quite a few extra base hits, good for a .568 slugging percentage. The rest of the bench has been awful. Abraham Nunez is 3 for 29 off the bench, with one walk. That's 26 outs in 30 plate appearances. Alex S. Gonzalez was 2 for 13 before his retirement. Shane Victorino went 5 for 20, all singles. Nine more batters have combined for a 1 for 20 performance as pinch hitters, the lone mark being a solo home run from Ryan Howard. The big problem for the Phillies' offense is situational hitting. The Phillies are 15th in the league in batting average with runners in scoring position, 15th in the league. There's little that can be done for that except wait. The Phils do need to add punch to their bench. David Dellucci is a platoon hitter and opposing teams are frequently able to outmanuever Charlie Manuel and bring in their situational lefties. PITCHING: In short, the rotation has been awful and the bullpen is sensational. The Phillies' starters have compiled a 5.53 ERA, by far the worst in the league. The bullpen on the other hand has produced a 3.18 mark, best in the league. If only they ever got a lead to work with. Eude Brito and Gavin Floyd were awful in their stints, and have landed in AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Both walked far too many batters. Ryan Madson, thought to be a rotation prospect, crashed in his rotation try yet remains there due to a lack of other starters. Jon Lieber's awful numbers are the product of a bad April. He's since recovered, but his trip to the DL has forced the Phils to use subpar starters in his absence. Cole Hamels was supposed to provide some help, but he's walked 14 batters in 25 innings and failed to make it past the third inning in his last start. Brett Myers is the staff ace but even he got shelled his last two starts. The bullpen meanwhile has been outstanding thanks to strong performances by Tom Gordon, Rheal Cormier and Geoff Geary. The other relievers have contributed, and only Brian Sanches and Julio Santana have ERAs below the league average. Both of those pitchers have pitched few innings. Call me crazy, but it is time Ryan Franklin got a rotation spot. The idea of having Franklin was to have some rotation depth. Well guess what. The rotation sucks. Franklin might be a bad pitcher, but there's no way he can make this abomination any worse. Get him in there and try to hold out until Randy Wolf comes back. I know managers hate to mess with the bullpen, but they aren't handing out booby prizes for holding onto four run deficits. FIELDING: The Fielding Bible rated the Phillies as having the majors' best defense. Given the strong uniform performance of the Phils' bullpen despite average peripherals, I would buy that. The Phils surprisingly are middle of the pack in stolen base percentage. They have only allowed 11 steals all season. The problem with the Phillies is their awful rotation. Scott Mathieson performed well in a spot start, but I doubt he is a long term solution this season. If the Phillies want to make a realistic run, they need to add a starting pitcher. Whether the cost is worth making a run this season or holding off for a future season with their farm club is up for debate. There is almost no hitting in the system, meaning a trade would likely be pitcher for pitcher. It is easy to trade away the very solution to your problem in that manner. Patience is difficult, but it is probably best for the Phillies to try Ryan Franklin, Randy Wolf, Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez to shore up the rotation. If it fails, look for serious pitching help in the offseason.

Twelve home runs. I think Peavy's just had a bad stretch and he'll break out of it.

The problem isn't Miami, it's ownership.

Chris Coste finally got his first MLB hit. Too bad our starters can't go a game without imploding. These last few games have been depressing, because the team is seemingly out of it right in the first inning.

Tiger Stadium is set to be razed this fall. So long.

I'll get to watch the late games fortunately. For casual fans, many of your teams' draft picks will compete.

I love how Ozzie tried to cover it up by saying he was so animated over something else. If he really wanted the kid to hit Blalock, he should've just told him to pitch as normal. The kid has no command, as he displayed on Sunday against the Tribe. I'm glad this came up, because as luck would have it I just got back from the Charlotte/SWB game. It didn't take long for Shawn Tracey to get from Arlington to Scranton. He pitched two-thirds of an inning and gave up a three run homer to Danny Sandoval.

Is it true that they are booing Abreu at every AB now? On a related note, in your opinion, is Burrell-Rowand-Abreu a legitimate outfield crew to run out there. Burrell is a one legged man at this point and Abreu seems to have regressed this year (and was never a really good fielder to begin with). Rowand looks to be a good defensive CF, but I don't know that he is good enough to cover between two bad corners. Looking at ZR, RF, and defensive win shares on HBT, all three are middle of the pack or worse. I think so. Abreu's not all that bad. He rarely makes mistakes. Burrell's got a tremendous arm and that helps him make up for a lack of speed. And Rowand of course is one of the top five center fielders in the majors. Defensive metrics are suspect, especially when you only half a third of a season to work with.

Looking at the numbers, the Phils' have the NL's worst ERA among starters, led they have the best ERA among relievers.

The Phillies have just been awful the last week. It's painful to watch.

I think Clemens has a better argument. I'm not sure how accurate win shares are when it comes to comparing the accomplishments of hitters vs. pitchers. I don't know if Clemens was the best player in the American League. But consider that the Red Sox were 66-60 (.531) without him on the mound, but 27-6 (.818)* with him. This certainly wasn't a bad vote by any stretch. *His W/L record was 24-4, with five no decisions. The Red Sox finished 3-2 in those no decisions.

On other boards, I've seen rumors that the "dead arm" thing was a ploy so he wouldn't have to pitch to Texas, and could instead pitch against weak-hitting Twins. Is this just one guy's posts, or is that really what's commonly believed in Boston right now? Regardless of how much it's believed, it's dead wrong. I can't see how a pitcher would see arm trouble as an attractive alternative to bad outings, as far as marketability is concerned. Esteban Loaiza was arrested for DUI last night. I'll be interested if the A's see this as an out to his contract.

.148, with a .360 OBP and .500 slugging percentage. Of course it's just 54 at bats, which doesn't really mean much. The point is he came up in a big situation and came up huge.

So what happened to the "Adam Dunn isn't clutch" crowd?

1998 was the bad one. 1990 was a poor showing but indicative of the team's talent.

Pennsylvania just passed the opposite law a year or two ago. I doubt they'd flip it so suddenly.