The Chronicles Of Birthday: The Glee, The Flyers And The Phillies

As Fox was kind enough to air the special "The Power of Madonna" episode of "Glee" on my birthday, I decided to a) watch it and b) drink. I watched the show at Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar, a new hotspot in the Gayborhood (but one where everyone is welcome), in their lounge on their second-floor, while missing the end of the Phillies and Flyers games (which were playing on the TVs on the first floor). At the time I went upstairs for the show, the Phillies had just scored a run in the 5th to take a 2-0 lead over Atlanta, and the Flyers were trailing the New Jersey Devils 1-0 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

So how did things turn out?

"Glee" was fabulous. It was a love letter to Madonna, at times so much as to make me wonder if she had script approval. Besides the musical numbers, the rest of the show was enjoyable as well. However, I find myself wondering if I am truly finally getting into the spirit of "Glee" or if I was swayed by the Madonna influence and/or the alcohol.

Phils: Great Start, But...Phanatic: Great. Period.

It occurs to me that I haven't discussed my baseball team since the season started. There are lots of good things happening with the Phillies...and some things that are bad not so good.

Good: The Phillies are off to a 7-1 start, their best start since 1993. After the last few years of poor starts, this is a refreshing change.
Not So Good: All of their games have been against woeful Washington and hideous Houston (who still hasn't won a game).

Good: The Phillies are scoring runs in bunches. In their 8 games they've scored 11, 8, 5, 8, 9, 2, 7 and 14.
Not So Good: Again, all of this is against Washington and Houston.

Good: In the only game they didn't score 5 or more, the Phils still won 2-1 thanks to Roy Halladay, who pitched a complete game. He's won both of his starts, allowing just one earned run in 16 innings, walking 2 and striking out 17. Halladay has completely lived up to his reputation so far. J.A. Happ won his first start as well without allowing a run...
Not So Good: ...but Happ was in and out of trouble. He only lasted 5-plus innings, throwing 104 pitches. And the rest of the rotation has fallen far short of Halladay's excellence.

Phillies Post-mortem

If you're wondering how I'm feeling in the wake of the Phillies' World Series loss at the hands of the Evil Empire, to be honest the cold I'm currently battling feels worse -- and it isn't that severe a cold.

The 2009 Phillies were a team whose bullpen was beset by injuries and inconsistency; whose young pitching ace apparently spent the offseason making stupid commercials for Comcast instead of working out; whose other starting pitchers at the beginning of the season were serving up runs at a ridiculous pace; whose leadoff hitter -- the so-called catalyst -- spent three months in a hitting "slump" (a week or two is a slump; half a season is a disaster); whose pinch-hitters were feeble pretty much all year; whose high-priced new outfielder got hurt and essentially stopped producing on offense after the All-Star break.

A team with such problems has no business contending, let alone winning the NL East for the third consecutive season and appearing in the World Series in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history, with one championship to boot. So who can feel that bad that they lost the World Series to a team that isn't capable of winning without spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up every possible player on the market?

So here's to the 2009 Phillies. It was quite a ride. Actually, the last three years combined have been quite a ride -- no Phillies team has ever accomplished this much over a three-year period -- and this particular one doesn't have to end just yet. With so many key players locked into contracts for at least the next year or two, if the Phils make the proper moves to shore up some weaknesses there's no reason they won't be back in the World Series again in 2010. The deal to get Cliff Lee prior to the trade deadline, without giving up their most promising minor league talent, indicates that such retooling is in capable hands. What needs to be done? Glad you asked...

The bullpen: The struggles of Brad Lidge, whether due to knee problems or not, and the multiple absences of J.C. Romero (suspension and injury) had a domino effect on the rest of the relief corps. They need Romero for the full season as the lefthanded set-up option, especially if fellow lefty Scott Eyre retires. More importantly, they need Lidge to return to something close to 2008 form -- or they need Ryan Madson to step up and become consistent enough to take Lidge's place.

The starters: Not much change here. Cliff Lee stabilized the rotation. J.A. Happ may end up as NL Rookie of the Year. Despite his 2009 problems, Cole Hamels isn't going anywhere. I think Joe Blanton is good enough for one of the remaining two spots; for a while he was the only decent starter. The Phils will have to decide on the final spot. Do they bring back Pedro Martinez for another year? See if Jamie Moyer can bounce back from his demotion and season-ending injury? Or will highly touted minor leaguer Kyle Drabek make the leap to the parent club, either at the start of the year or later on in the season?

The bench: Another year of Matt Stairs probably wouldn't hurt, as a lefthanded bat to provide the occasional home run, but if there's a better option -- someone who can also hit for average as well as having some power -- the Phils should explore it. For righthanded hitting, though, they absolutely need better options than Miguel Cairo and Eric Bruntlett. Sure, he scored the winning run in the 2008 Series and turned an unassisted triple play to end a game this year, but Bruntlett's got to go.

The lineup: The only possible change is at third base. Pedro Feliz is an excellent fielder but his hitting leaves much to be desired. The Phils have a 2010 option to keep him at $5.5 million, and it's not out of the question that they could decide against picking up that option. A better bat can be found in free agency, but it would have to be someone who has decent fielding skills as well. And he'll have to be a righthanded hitter, because there are enough (too many?) lefthanded bats already.

My League Championship Series Picks

Baseball's best-of-five Division Series -- the mini-playoffs, if you will -- are over (and rather quickly, with three sweeps and a four-gamer). Now it gets serious. The National League Championship Series starts in less than 20 hours, and the American League series gets under way a day later. I correctly predicted three of the four participants. Let's see if I can get both of these right...

AL: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels -- I keep going back and forth. The Yankees have the best closer, which is important, but I think the Angels might have better pitching overall. The media will hype up the Yankees, and Alex Rodriguez in particular, but I'm still not convinced. The Minnesota Twins barely showed up for the ALDS after scratching and clawing their way into the playoffs. The Angels took care of Boston, and I think they'll take care of the other AL East team. Angels in 6.

NL: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies -- Here we go again. For the second year in a row the Dodgers swept the highly-touted NL Central champs, while the Phillies took out the Wild Card team in four games. Some circumstances are different. For one, the Dodgers have home-field advantage. Needless to say, it probably comes down to the Phillies' bullpen. Does Brad Lidge's two saves in those two terrific wins in Denver mean he's back? No one can say that and really, truly believe it. With Pedro Martinez starting Game 2, J.A. Happ is back in the bullpen and Chan Ho Park is on the NLCS roster (replacing Brett Myers, who isn't happy about it). I'm going to stick with what I said about the last round: I'm giving the defending champs the benefit of the doubt. Phillies in 7.

Phillies may be in trouble

The NL Division Series got off to a spectacular start for the Phillies, with a 5-1 complete game win by Cliff Lee on Wednesday. However, the Colorado Rockies bounced back Thursday, taking a 4-0 lead against Cole Hamels and hanging on for a 5-4 win.

The series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4 -- Saturday at 9:37 pm ET and Sunday at 10:07 pm ET. These starting times are ridiculous, especially considering the weather forecast Saturday calls for temperatures around 30 degrees with possible snow showers or freezing drizzle. The blame goes to MLB and to TBS (whose performance in televising the playoff games has been pathetic, by the way).

This weather may be a factor for the Phillies, but a bigger question is who will start those games. Hamels was lifted for a pinch-hitter after 5 innings Thursday. The Phils then used both Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ in relief. Blanton only threw 19 pitches and Happ threw 4, with the fourth being lined off his left leg. He has a contusion and x-rays are negative. He says he can pitch Saturday but the Phils are planning to go with either Blanton or Pedro Martinez (as I write this, the decision hasn't been announced). Martinez has struggled in the first inning of most of his starts. With it being so cold in Denver, it'll be that much harder to warm up.

Happ is lefthanded and the Rockies have more trouble with lefties, so if he's healthy enough and doesn't start Saturday he'd better be pitching Sunday. It could be that he'll be kept in the bullpen, but if he enters a game early because the Phils have fallen behind (the way Blanton did today), the Phils are in trouble.

Strange Days Part 1: Phils

The two Philly teams in action over the weekend had an unusual few days, so this is a two-part tale. We start with the Phillies, who had four games against the New York Mets, a team expected to contend with the Phils but instead find themselves trying to play the spoiler.

Friday's game found Mets' starter Nelson Figueroa giving up 9 hits and 5 walks in 5 1/3 innings, but only allowing 2 runs. The Phils wasted multiple opportunities, going 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and managed only a 4-1 lead going into the 9th. Phils' closer-for-the-moment Ryan Madson gave up a couple of hits, but the only run he gave up came on a double play, and the Phils held on for the 4-2 win.

On Saturday the first five Mets' at-bats against Jamie Moyer, starting again in place of J.A. Happ, went like this: double, single, 2-RBI single (David Wright), 2-run homer, single. Moyer settled down, lasting through the 7th and allowing just a 7th-inning run. The Phils' offense came to life, building up a 9-5 lead through 7. Brett Myers came on in the 8th, got an out, gave up a hit and then served up a 2-run homer (Wright again). The Mets got another run off Myers and Chan Ho Park to make it 9-8. Madson came on in the 9th, got two outs, gave up a hit, and got bashed for a 2-run homer (Wright yet again). The Mets went on to finish off the 10-9 win.

Sunday there was a day-night doubleheader. In the first game the Phils got an unexpected bonus: 7 1/3 fine innings from Kyle Kendrick, and took a 5-2 lead into the 9th. Deposed closer Brad Lidge was called upon, and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs, but managed to save the game.

In the nightcap, Charlie Manuel decided to let Pedro Martinez go as long as possible. Pedro ended up throwing an astonishing 130 pitches, the most he's thrown in a game since 2001, but gave the Phils 8 scoreless innings. He had 119 pitches in his last start. The two-game workload is somewhat insane considering his age, his inactivity for much of the year and his injury issues in recent years. Madson, trying again, got the save as the Phils made a first-inning run hold up. Depsite it all, the Phils took three out of four from the Mets.

With Florida losing two over the weekend to Washington and losing tonight at St. Louis, the Phillies' lead stands at 7 games with 20 games left, starting tomorrow against Washington. This is close to the Mets' 7-game-lead-with-17-left standing in 2007 prior to their epic collapse. The Phils of 2007, however, were playing much better than the Marlins of 2009, so a similar flop by the 2009 Phils remains very unlikely.

However, the continuing struggles of the bullpen -- much too similar to those of the Mets' pen in recent years -- do not bode well for the chances of another late October parade down Broad Street.

Phillies: Time To Panic?

There seems to be a new trend for the Phillies: injuries to pitchers' obliques. Clay Condrey has been out since the end of July and is seemingly less likely to return at all this season. Today it was reported that Ryan Madson was unavailable for the four games the Phils just lost in Houston, and may not be able to pitch tonight in Washington. Most alarmingly, rookie J.A. Happ was supposed to start yesterday but suffered his oblique strain on Saturday -- during batting practice, of all things.

In addition, there's some concern about whether J.C. Romero will be ready soon, and today there are Twitter posts from local beat writers that Scott Eyre, who's inherited Romero's lefty specialist role, felt a pain in his left elbow. He said he's not worried about it, as it was "sharp and quick." The rest of us will be plenty worried for him, though.

Jamie Moyer stepped in as an emergency starter yesterday and, as he did with his three previous bullpen outings since being removed from the rotation, did a fine job. However, the team has stopped hitting. They've scored 4 runs or fewer in their last 13 games. They were 5-4 in the first 9 thanks to strong pitching. Then came the mess in Houston. Cole Hamels regressed (again), Brad Lidge blew a save (again), Cliff Lee got smoked for the second consecutive start, and yesterday Chan Ho Park coughed up the game in the 7th inning.

Despite all of that, the Phils maintain a 6-game lead in the NL East (7 in the loss column). The question is, assuming a Mets-like collapse isn't in the offing (and it likely isn't, because their opponents the rest of the way aren't that strong and the Braves and Marlins have weak spots as well), will this team be ready for the playoffs? The Phils were knocked out of the first round in 2007 by a red-hot Colorado Rockies team. That was not deeply depressing at the time. A similar result this year, after their championship run last year, will not be taken with good humor.

Moyer and Lidge

Jamie Moyer told reporters today that he feels "misled" after the Phillies decided to put him in the bullpen. Then he has the nerve to say, "I most certainly do not want to be a distraction." Which is exactly what he's become.

The Phillies signed Pedro Martinez to join the rotation. He would've replaced Rodrigo Lopez, but then they traded for Cliff Lee without having to give up J.A. Happ. That means someone else had to go. Based on performance, it had to be Moyer.

If he's so unhappy that he's been demoted from the rotation BASED ON PERFORMANCE then he should find a way to give back the money the Phillies are obligated to pay him for the next year and two months and leave. Otherwise he should shut the hell up.

Speaking of leaving, Brad Lidge blew yet another save tonight. With each lousy performance it seems less likely that he'll regain his 2008 form. It is beginning to look like Brett Myers will be back with the Phils in September and if so, he should be the closer, not Lidge.

Fortunately, the Phils won 4-3 in 12 on a homer by Ben Francisco. They had just 3 hits all night and still won. Their first 3 runs came on a 2-run homer (after a walk) and a bases-loaded walk (after two walks and a HBP). Highly unusual, to say the least.

Phillies vote for Pedro

Well, the Phillies have made one sensible decision: Jamie Moyer will go to the bullpen as Pedro Martinez will make his first start on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. The question is why Pedro is going Wednesday and not Tuesday. J.A. Happ threw 127 pitches in his last start, and perhaps would benefit from an extra day's rest, but he's going on Tuesday, and Cliff Lee is being held back until Thursday, giving him 6 days off between starts. My guess is that ESPN bribed the Phils to hold Pedro until Wednesday, since they are televising the game nationally.

After being swept by Florida over the weekend the Phils' NL East lead is down to 3 1/2 games (since the Marlins won tonight). They continue to struggle at the plate, which is putting more pressure on the pitching staff. Cole Hamels still is floundering and Moyer, well, the fact that he's out of the rotation tells the story. The Phils are fortunate that Lee, Happ and Joe Blanton have pitched so well lately. The bullpen will get help as Chad Durbin is back from the disabled list, but J.C. Romero is going to rest for about a week before throwing again, so he won't be back soon.

Phillies: Save Happ's Job!

J.A. Happ may be taken out of the Phillies' starting rotation, but he made his case tonight -- as he has all season, really -- to reverse that decision, with a complete-game shutout. Happ gave up just 4 hits and walked 2, striking out 10 in the Phils' 7-0 win over Colorado.

Everyone seems to think that when Pedro Martinez is activated he'll be a starter, and no one seems to think Jamie Moyer can pitch out of the bullpen. Martinez has to prove that he can consistently go 6 or more innings without wearing down -- tonight in a rehab start in the minors he allowed 1 run through 5 innings, then gave up 3 in the 6th, though he walked none and struck out 11 -- or else he shouldn't be given a starting job. He's had a stellar career but he's not the pitcher he once was. Just because he started most of his career doesn't mean he's one of the top 5 starters now on this team.

As I said, people seem to think Moyer won't adjust well to the bullpen. He's 46 years old and did pitch in relief in the past. There's no reason he can't do it again. He can't do any worse from the bullpen than he has as a starter this year. Moyer's contract of $8 million per year for this year and next shouldn't be a factor.

Going strictly by performance, the decision is easy. Happ has outpitched Moyer this year by far. It would be a disgrace to send Happ to the bullpen.

Phillies Lee-ve Jays, Halladay behind

It's a shame, in a way, that the Phillies couldn't work out a deal to get Roy Halladay. I was going to write an awesome parody of Madonna's "Holiday" with Halladay/Phillies lyrics. Oh, well. Toronto wanted too much in their initial trade proposal and apparently weren't willing to compromise, so the Phillies essentially told the Blue Jays the same thing that Dick Cheney once told Senator Pat Leahy. They turned around and got starting pitcher Cliff Lee from Cleveland along with outfielder Ben Francisco, for 4 minor leaguers: pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald.

Pluses:

• none of these four were among the players the Blue Jays wanted for Halladay
• he's going to make about $6.75 million less than Halladay
• they got a right-handed bat off the bench in Francisco
• Lee is the 2008 Cy Young award winner and pitching well (though not quite as spectacular as last year), and now he'll be pitching with a team that has great offense and great defense
  

Minuses:

• Lee is lefthanded, which could leave the Phils with four lefty starters -- Lee, Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ -- that could be a problem against teams with more big right-handed hitters (then again, if Pedro Martinez isn't sent to the bullpen once he's activated, either Moyer or Happ would be out of the rotation)
• Lee hasn't had the same kind of career-long brilliance as Halladay
• Lee is more of a fly ball pitcher; though he hasn't been giving up a lot of homers, he hasn't been pitching home games at cozy Citizens Bank Park

If we're not having a Halladay celebration, this is a fine backup plan. It keeps phenoms Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor (not to mention Happ) here and strengthens the rotation greatly. Between this deal and their 7-game NL East lead, the only worry the Phils have right now is the bullpen, due to the various injuries and Brad Lidge's continuing ineffectiveness.

No stopping the Phils?

It's getting harder to believe that the Phillies won't win the NL East for the third year in a row. Despite everything that's happened so far, they find themselves 6 1/2 games up in the division after winning their 8th straight game today. A sweep of the Florida Marlins (only three games, due to the rainout last night) is a fine way to come out of the All-Star break. Today, J.A. Happ pitched seven shutout innings to go to 7-0 on the year. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs in the 6th, but Happ kept them from scoring. If he keeps this up there needs to be some Rookie of the Year consideration for him at some point. Jimmy Rollins continued his strong hitting of late with three more hits; his average is up to .236 now. Next up: the Chicago Cubs.

Phils almost phaded out of first

With tonight's 5-2 loss, finishing off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies have now lost 14 of 18 games and are in a virtual tie for first with the Florida Marlins. They wasted a good 7-inning start by J.A. Happ, with Ryan Madson giving up 3 in the 8th for the winning margin. Madson's been a mess recently, even after returning to his setup role when closer Brad Lidge returned from the disabled list.

While the hitting hasn't been good lately (but hey, Jimmy Rollins got 2 hits!) it's the pitching that's been poor night after night after night. Some nights it's a bad start, other nights (like tonight) it's a lousy bullpen, some nights it's both. No trades are on the horizon yet as very few teams consider themselves out of the playoff chase and, thus, willing to be a seller. Even when that happens, lots of teams need pitching. The bidding will presumably be high.

The Phillies have to somehow stay afloat until some team makes a quality pitcher available, and the way things are going, the only reason to think they can stay afloat is that most of the National League is as mediocre as they are. The Phils are back home starting tomorrow night. Of course, now that they're losing road games maybe they'll win home games. (For those who don't know, this paragraph is an example of "grasping at straws.") The Mets are in tomorrow; they're only a game out of first place, and the Braves are now just two back.

Phils' Romero vs. idiot fan...oh, and a win!

I wrote about this and a couple of other drug-related issues for the Outsports blog, but I want to expound a little more on J.C. Romero.

Romero came back in early June from a 50-game suspension for his 2008 positive test for a performance-enhancer he says came from a supplement he bought over-the-counter. He’s suing both the supplement’s manufacturer of the and the two stores that sold it to him. After Thursday night’s game at Tampa Bay, a Rays fan was trying to get autographs from Phillies players. When some of them refused, the fan yelled at Romero a comment about steroids. He alleges that Romero told him to “shut the f— up,” grabbed him by the neck and pushed him. The fan called the police and has now hired a lawyer.

Three thoughts:

1) I don't know why grown men are trying to get autographs from athletes except to sell them, especially if it's a photo or a ball or some other collectible. It's ridiculous. Grow up. Leave autograph-seeking to the kids.

2) Romero has to be smart enough to know that jackasses like this guy are going to try and provoke him using the steroid issue, and he has to hold his temper.

3) If this happened in Philadelphia, with a Phillies fan and a visiting player, you just know where the national media morons would place the blame, and it wouldn't be with the player.

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And hey, the Phils won today! A 10-0 win at Toronto, with J.A. Happ pitching a complete game. Tomorrow they try again for two wins in a row.