Even though I have spent the better part of the last two weeks pretending that baseball ended when Mike Mussina recorded his twentieth win, apparently baseball has continued on without the Bronx Bombers. So with this new found awareness I must figure out who to root for?
Red Sox - No way in hell, no other explanation necessary, simply baseball's version of the anti-christ.
Devil Rays - A great story no doubt, but their success is always juxtaposed against the Yankee failure because of the salary disparity. With the teams slated for 19 games next year the last thing I want to hear ad nauseum is World Champion Devil Rays. However, they are preferable to the Dodgers or Red Sox
Dodgers - I would love to see Manny beat the Red Sox at Fenway. The ultimate F U, however, I am not willing to risk the Red Sox in the World Series. I also have no desire to see Torre and Mattingly win in a Dodger uniform. I respect everything Torre did for the Yankees but his part in the downward turn of the franchaise should not be ignored. Joe ruined the arms of many a bullpen stalwart and refused to integrate younger players until they were forced down his throat. I have no personal ill will against the man but I also could do without the hours of talk radio/espn nonsense that would follow a joe torre world series victory.
Phillies - by default are my team. However, a Phillies win solves all of my problems, a. the red sox don't win and b. its a giant f u to mets fans, which is always a big bonus. Besides how can you root against a team with players named shane, cole and chase. If they lose they could always start a boy band.
When you break it down, as a Yankee fan, there is only one option if you choose to believe that a playoffs without the Yankees really exists, and that is to root for the Philadelphia Phillies.
Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phillies. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The Sherman Avenue Block Party Completely Biased Baseball Playoff Preview: NLDS, Phillies vs. Rockies
I shouldn't be writing this.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was the beginning of a new era in the NL East and my new baby girl was destined to live in a time where her father didn't worry about the Braves. He didn't worry about missing the playoffs because these were the new Mets, Los Mets. This was our season, our year and all that crashed down in the span of 17 days...
17 painful days.
17 days that could age a baby girl like Naomi into a full-fledged teenager, watching Jose Reyes disappear into another harmless pop-up as Jimmy Rollins' preseason decree proved true for a total of 24 hours, but the placement of that time was vital.
Everyone is quick to jump on the Philthies bandwagon since the Mets figured out a way to lose to the bottom feeders while the No-Account Philthies beat those same crappy teams.
My advice, stay away from this train wreck and remember, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when you're not talking about their sports teams. The city is cursed and chock full of crap teams that can't get it done when it matters.
As bad as the Mets collapsed, I will take some pleasure in watching NL MVP to be Matt Holliday and NL Rookie of the Year Troy Tulowitzki wait on Jamie Moyer (14-12, 5.01 ERA) and his 56 MPH arsenal.
Yeah, I'm picking the Rockies but not for the reasons you may believe. I don't really care about the Philthies like that. I'm not like some bitter Yankee fan, finding reasons to hate another franchise that has little to nothing to do with the one I root for and that should tell you exactly how much I respect the Philthies.
Sure, they won the last eight meetings against my Mets, big deal. Any team that sweeps a four-game series, then lose five of the next seven against the same no-account Marlins that delivered the final blow by sending Tom Glavine packing for Atlanta with an exit befitting a Brave.
By the way, the best SS in the National League during the first half, second half and likely next year is Hanley Ramirez. Reyes was the best in the first half of the season, but his attitude and numbers dipped as the year wore on.
Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet that 28 GMs would take Ramirez and Reyes before Rollins and not just if they were going in alphabetical order.
While Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.39 ERA) and Oliver Perez (15-10, 3.56 ERA) are both lefties, there are big differences. Oli P. throws at 94 MPH and has Game 7 experience. Hamels throws a really good changeup and gets to pitch the rest of this season in that joke of a stadium, Citizen Bank Park.
Here's why the Rockies will win.
1. They have a complete lineup for top to bottom, kind of like my Mets do when healthy. Willie Tavarez and Kaz Matsui are to Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo at the top of the lineup. Holliday and Todd Helton are hotter than David Wright and Carlos Beltran and guys like Garrett Adkins and Brad Hawpe batted over .290 this year from the bottom of the lineup like Moises Alou.
2. The Philthies bullpen
They have Jose Mesa AND Roberto Hernandez. Need I say more?
Oh, OK. How about Tom Gordon?
3. Honestly, does anyone really want to see the Philthies in the NLCS? I thought not.
4. While it may seem like this will be an offensive series, it will come down to pitching and the Rockies are better. The games will be close and the Philthies are horrible in 1-run game, low scoring games and they might throw Jose Mesa AND Roberto Hernandez...
5. The Denver metro area is due something after trading for Iverson and getting bounced early in the NBA playoffs, after banking on Jake "The Snake" Plummer at QB and that not working out and with the gap of time since the Avalanche were great and the NHL mattered.
6. This was Wally Backman's number and since the Diamondbacks gave him a job, then fired him just because he was a drunk wife beater, I'm rooting for the Cubs.
7. I got nothing else, but I was a little disappointed with the Eureka season finale.
And with that, I return my focus back to the Giants hopes of finding a way to have
Eli succeed while giving enough reason to fire Tom Coughlin.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. It was the beginning of a new era in the NL East and my new baby girl was destined to live in a time where her father didn't worry about the Braves. He didn't worry about missing the playoffs because these were the new Mets, Los Mets. This was our season, our year and all that crashed down in the span of 17 days...
17 painful days.
17 days that could age a baby girl like Naomi into a full-fledged teenager, watching Jose Reyes disappear into another harmless pop-up as Jimmy Rollins' preseason decree proved true for a total of 24 hours, but the placement of that time was vital.
Everyone is quick to jump on the Philthies bandwagon since the Mets figured out a way to lose to the bottom feeders while the No-Account Philthies beat those same crappy teams.
My advice, stay away from this train wreck and remember, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia when you're not talking about their sports teams. The city is cursed and chock full of crap teams that can't get it done when it matters.
As bad as the Mets collapsed, I will take some pleasure in watching NL MVP to be Matt Holliday and NL Rookie of the Year Troy Tulowitzki wait on Jamie Moyer (14-12, 5.01 ERA) and his 56 MPH arsenal.
Yeah, I'm picking the Rockies but not for the reasons you may believe. I don't really care about the Philthies like that. I'm not like some bitter Yankee fan, finding reasons to hate another franchise that has little to nothing to do with the one I root for and that should tell you exactly how much I respect the Philthies.
Sure, they won the last eight meetings against my Mets, big deal. Any team that sweeps a four-game series, then lose five of the next seven against the same no-account Marlins that delivered the final blow by sending Tom Glavine packing for Atlanta with an exit befitting a Brave.
By the way, the best SS in the National League during the first half, second half and likely next year is Hanley Ramirez. Reyes was the best in the first half of the season, but his attitude and numbers dipped as the year wore on.
Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet that 28 GMs would take Ramirez and Reyes before Rollins and not just if they were going in alphabetical order.
While Cole Hamels (15-5, 3.39 ERA) and Oliver Perez (15-10, 3.56 ERA) are both lefties, there are big differences. Oli P. throws at 94 MPH and has Game 7 experience. Hamels throws a really good changeup and gets to pitch the rest of this season in that joke of a stadium, Citizen Bank Park.
Here's why the Rockies will win.
1. They have a complete lineup for top to bottom, kind of like my Mets do when healthy. Willie Tavarez and Kaz Matsui are to Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo at the top of the lineup. Holliday and Todd Helton are hotter than David Wright and Carlos Beltran and guys like Garrett Adkins and Brad Hawpe batted over .290 this year from the bottom of the lineup like Moises Alou.
2. The Philthies bullpen
They have Jose Mesa AND Roberto Hernandez. Need I say more?
Oh, OK. How about Tom Gordon?
3. Honestly, does anyone really want to see the Philthies in the NLCS? I thought not.
4. While it may seem like this will be an offensive series, it will come down to pitching and the Rockies are better. The games will be close and the Philthies are horrible in 1-run game, low scoring games and they might throw Jose Mesa AND Roberto Hernandez...
5. The Denver metro area is due something after trading for Iverson and getting bounced early in the NBA playoffs, after banking on Jake "The Snake" Plummer at QB and that not working out and with the gap of time since the Avalanche were great and the NHL mattered.
6. This was Wally Backman's number and since the Diamondbacks gave him a job, then fired him just because he was a drunk wife beater, I'm rooting for the Cubs.
7. I got nothing else, but I was a little disappointed with the Eureka season finale.
And with that, I return my focus back to the Giants hopes of finding a way to have
Eli succeed while giving enough reason to fire Tom Coughlin.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Touch gloves and come out fighting
I wish I was referring to the fight in either of the teams I root for, but alas it's just another boxing reference - a dead sport to title a rant about teams playing dead.
Since I'm on the theme of death, I'll start with my beloved first place Mets. For the past three weeks, ever since they went to Atlanta after losing four straight and swept the dreaded Braves, I've been thinking about just how I would write the eulogy of Atlanta.
Yes Virginia, the Braves are dead and buried and I'm happy to say that the Metropolotians were the ones to do it.
Yeah, you could blame it on the departure of Maddux, Glavine and Leo Mazzone. You could look back to the lack of premier prospects coming up and making a difference. The days of Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, Adam LaRoche, Johnny Estrada, Jason Schmidt, Kevin Milwood and John Rocker (Crazy as he was, the guy was a nasty closer) coming up from the minors and fitting in right away are gone.
I'm in Mississippi, 20 minutes from the home of the Braves Double-A franchise and have watched as Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur (who I just hate to look at with that stupid look on his stupid face), and Salty were here for weeks before heading north. I'm not saying the cupboard is bare, but there's no Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones or Steve Avery brewing down here...
You could just blame it on age. Eventually John Smoltz is going to get old - not this year, but soon enough. The Jones boys are the same way and looking back, I'm amazed to realize how many years it was Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux in this rotation.
It was a great run, a record-setting run. One that desereves its own space and time, but not here and not now is the battle cry. The final wound was a three-game sweep at the Ted, half-empyt as usual for a late-season series against the No. 1 division rival, so much so that as I watched from home, I wondered just how close to the field I could have gotten if I was in the ATL on that day.
But alas, while the curse of the Braves may appear to be broken, it has just switched places to another venue that doesn't fit well with my Mets. What was Andruw Jones patroling center field at Turner Field is now Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins snagging grounders up the middle at that band box of a field Citizens Bank Park.
While the Mets may appear to have sluggers, we're a lineup built for Shea and the 390 gaps to left and right center that turn doubles into triples, that score runners from 1st base, that bodes well for all-around players like David Wright (30 HR, 98 RBIs, 31 steals), Carlos Beltran (29 HR, 99 RBIs, 23 of 25 steals) and Jose Reyes (need I say more?).
Short porches bode well for overpaid losers like Pat Burrell, for fat slow sluggers with emmence talent like Ryan Howard and for the Phillies two best players, Rollins and Utley (either of whom could sneak the MVP award away from Wright, the league's front runner).
Everyone talks about what their eight-game win streak against the Mets will mean if the two teams were to met in the NLCS. To which they usually preface or add later at some point, IF THE PHILLIES MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AND REACH THE NLCS.
I should and do say the same thing about the Mets. I mean, we're a pretty good shot to make the playoffs at this point, but with a stockpile of 6-inning pitchers and little to no confidence in anyone between a great starting rotation (Pedro, Glavine, Maine) and Wagner, we might not make it past whoever unless the Phillies do win the wild card, meaning we would get the NL Central winner, teams we've played well against recently.
You would think it would be a joyous day, the day the Braves died. Instead my worries have only shifted north.
As for the Giants, let me just say this - In my preview, I was torn with the belief that the hands of Thor and Loki would help prevent the defense from looking this bad. I would love to add early, but let's be real. They're going to be this bad all year.
The cornerbacks can't defend anyone and we're not gaining any pressure with a four or five-man rush, so it doesn't matter if we can stop the run if you can throw short, medium and long.
The real question becomes, with a Top 5 pick in next year's draft, does Reece look for a running back like the kid from Rutgers or a linebacker, then hope to sign someone like Ashanti Samuels, who's been dying to play for (Insert your favorite unemployed coach here) all his life.
Since I'm on the theme of death, I'll start with my beloved first place Mets. For the past three weeks, ever since they went to Atlanta after losing four straight and swept the dreaded Braves, I've been thinking about just how I would write the eulogy of Atlanta.
Yes Virginia, the Braves are dead and buried and I'm happy to say that the Metropolotians were the ones to do it.
Yeah, you could blame it on the departure of Maddux, Glavine and Leo Mazzone. You could look back to the lack of premier prospects coming up and making a difference. The days of Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, Adam LaRoche, Johnny Estrada, Jason Schmidt, Kevin Milwood and John Rocker (Crazy as he was, the guy was a nasty closer) coming up from the minors and fitting in right away are gone.
I'm in Mississippi, 20 minutes from the home of the Braves Double-A franchise and have watched as Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur (who I just hate to look at with that stupid look on his stupid face), and Salty were here for weeks before heading north. I'm not saying the cupboard is bare, but there's no Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones or Steve Avery brewing down here...
You could just blame it on age. Eventually John Smoltz is going to get old - not this year, but soon enough. The Jones boys are the same way and looking back, I'm amazed to realize how many years it was Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux in this rotation.
It was a great run, a record-setting run. One that desereves its own space and time, but not here and not now is the battle cry. The final wound was a three-game sweep at the Ted, half-empyt as usual for a late-season series against the No. 1 division rival, so much so that as I watched from home, I wondered just how close to the field I could have gotten if I was in the ATL on that day.
But alas, while the curse of the Braves may appear to be broken, it has just switched places to another venue that doesn't fit well with my Mets. What was Andruw Jones patroling center field at Turner Field is now Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins snagging grounders up the middle at that band box of a field Citizens Bank Park.
While the Mets may appear to have sluggers, we're a lineup built for Shea and the 390 gaps to left and right center that turn doubles into triples, that score runners from 1st base, that bodes well for all-around players like David Wright (30 HR, 98 RBIs, 31 steals), Carlos Beltran (29 HR, 99 RBIs, 23 of 25 steals) and Jose Reyes (need I say more?).
Short porches bode well for overpaid losers like Pat Burrell, for fat slow sluggers with emmence talent like Ryan Howard and for the Phillies two best players, Rollins and Utley (either of whom could sneak the MVP award away from Wright, the league's front runner).
Everyone talks about what their eight-game win streak against the Mets will mean if the two teams were to met in the NLCS. To which they usually preface or add later at some point, IF THE PHILLIES MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AND REACH THE NLCS.
I should and do say the same thing about the Mets. I mean, we're a pretty good shot to make the playoffs at this point, but with a stockpile of 6-inning pitchers and little to no confidence in anyone between a great starting rotation (Pedro, Glavine, Maine) and Wagner, we might not make it past whoever unless the Phillies do win the wild card, meaning we would get the NL Central winner, teams we've played well against recently.
You would think it would be a joyous day, the day the Braves died. Instead my worries have only shifted north.
As for the Giants, let me just say this - In my preview, I was torn with the belief that the hands of Thor and Loki would help prevent the defense from looking this bad. I would love to add early, but let's be real. They're going to be this bad all year.
The cornerbacks can't defend anyone and we're not gaining any pressure with a four or five-man rush, so it doesn't matter if we can stop the run if you can throw short, medium and long.
The real question becomes, with a Top 5 pick in next year's draft, does Reece look for a running back like the kid from Rutgers or a linebacker, then hope to sign someone like Ashanti Samuels, who's been dying to play for (Insert your favorite unemployed coach here) all his life.
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