July 16, 2007

End Of The Road To 10,000 Losses

Hey, we're here! Last night, the Phils heroically lost their 10,000th game, 10-2, in front of the Philadelphia home crowd, but not before scoring two runs in the 9th to ruin all the 10,000-0 headlines already laid out on sports pages. (But, hey, Michael Bourn hit his first major league home run! Good for him.)

The last few Phillies game have been a pretty good microcosm of the Phillies season -- and probably of the past few years, actually. After blowing leads to the Rockies twice to fall back below .500, the Phils had the great tarp incident where they helped the Colorado grounds crew cover the field. After the All-Star Break, the Phils routed the Cardinals on Friday and Saturday, scoring 23 runs. They were two games over .500, only four games out of the division. And poised for a chance at a sweep, the Phils don't homer until it's 10-0 and, viola, 10,000th loss.

It's perfect, right? Just when a fan thinks the Phils are going to sputter into the All-Star Break, they have the coolest moment of the season. Then, with everyone waiting for the 10,000th loss, the Phils rout the reigning world champs. It happens every year: Just when you think you're out, they pull you back in. The Phils led the Wild Card with a week to go last season. We were all excited. And then, a few losses to a bad Washington team and it's over.

But, you know, whatever. No, the Phillies are not lovable losers, and that's why they fit in Philadelphia perfectly. Plus, as Phillies PR man Larry Shenk defends on his MLBlog, "The lives of ill and crippled children are brightened by the games and the players."

Yep. Those ill children can sit there and think: "Man. I'm almost good enough to play for the Phillies!"

St. Louis 10, Philadelphia 2 [AP/Yahoo!]
Milestone [Phillies Insider]

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July 14, 2007

Phillies Fans Too Angry To Spellcheck Banners

A big 13-3 win last night kept the Phillies teetering at 9,999 losses, but that didn't stop the fans from celebrating.

Fans draped a banner over the second deck that read "7 Stadiums, 52 managers, 2150 players, 10,000 loses."

Hooray! The Mets lost, so the Phils are only four games back in the surprisingly kinda crappy NL East. I swear, the Phils are gonna be stuck on 9,999 losses for about two weeks, all because of the good karma from their tarp assistance before the break.

Phillies 13, Cardinals 3 [AP/Yahoo!]

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July 10, 2007

The Phillies Lose In Every Conceivable Way

As the Phillies attempt to stave off lost number 10,000, The Morning Call in Allentown has a nice list of hilarious Phillies losses throughout the years, most of them due to forfeit. (Baseball games seem to have been forfeited a hell of a lot more 50-100 years ago.)

The whole list is pretty awesome, but I think my favorite is this:

AUG. 21, 1949 -- New York at Philadelphia. A pop-bottle barrage with one out in the top of the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader resulted in a forfeit win for the visiting team. New York was ahead 3-2 when umpire George Barr ruled that Richie Ashburn had missed a diving catch of a ball off the bat of Joe Lafata, scoring Willard Marshall with the fourth run. The players objected, but when the call was not reversed the fans got involved. The barrage continued despite pleas over the loudspeaker system. Umpire Lee Ballanfant was grazed by a bottle and Al Barlick was struck by a tomato. After waiting more than 15 minutes, Barlick called the game for the Giants.

Even though brooms are banned from Citizens Bank Park -- not that the Phillies sweep anyone, anyway -- I don't think tomatoes are. I'm totally bringing a whole bushel of 'em next game.

A Sampler Of Bad Losses From The Early Years Of The Phillies [The Morning Call]

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July 09, 2007

Phillies Help Grounds Crew, Defeat Lazy Jerks

Yesterday, the Phillies managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rockies, avoid picking up loss #10,000 and finished out the first half of the season at 44-44. The Phillies are somehow only 4.5 games behind the Mets in the NL East. Considering most of the Phillies pitchers don't even have any arms, all in all it's not all that horrendous of a first half.

And perhaps something that happened yesterday will propel the Phils to some good second-half karma. Before the top of the seventh, a thunderstorm swept through Denver yesterday, leaving the grounds crew to cover the field. Here's what happened.

Yes, pretty much the entire Phillies team (and the umpires, even) helped pull the tarp over the field due to the ridiculous weather conditions. (There's more video here.) Not present helping out their home grounds crew? The Rockies, who only had one player (LaTroy Hawkins) trying to keep the tarp on the field.

Know what: It's a good time to be a Phillies fan. Sure, they're approaching 10,000 losses, but, hey, at least we're not rooting for a bunch of pussies like the Colorado Rockies.

Phils top Rockies [Inquirer]
Phils assist Rockies' grounds crew, get win after rain delay [AP/ESPN.com]
Yesterday: Washington Generals, Here We Come!

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July 08, 2007

Washington Generals, Here We Come!

Only six more innings until 10,000. Unless the Phillies' vaunted pitching staff shuts down the Rockies at homer-happy Coors Field. Uh, yeah, only six more innings until 10,000. With any luck, Jose Mesa will be the losing pitcher of record.

Update: Ahh, looks like I reversed jinxed 'em. Phils win, 8-4, and help put the tarp back on. Ryan Madson gets the old timey three-inning save.

Rockies-Phillies boxscore [Yahoo! Sports]

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July 04, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Unlucky 13

Where to begin? The Phillies just wrapped up their 9,997th loss in franchise history, a 5-4, 13 inning loss to the Houston Astros, on a walkoff homer by rookie Hunter Pence on the first pitch Jose Mesa threw in relief.

The Phils might only have three losses to get to 10,000, but tonight's loss was certainly the first one that went down like this: Phils up, 4-3, top of the ninth, bases loaded with one out. Antonio Alfonseca manages to a dead double play ball, Rollins-to-Utley-to-Howard, game over, Phils win, gain a game on the Mets, who were pounded in Colorado for the second straight night.

Only problem was, the first base umpire called Carlos Lee safe at first. He was out by about a half-step; it wasn't even really that close. The game continued, Alfonseca got the final out, the game went to extra innings.

The blown call wasn't the only misfortune the Phillies faced, uh, last night and into this morning. Ryan Howard hit a 430-foot blast into dead center that would have been out in Citizens Bank or any other ballpark in the majors; Minute Maid Park's ridiculous dimensions allowed Pence to catch it next to that ridiculous pole in center field.

The Phillies also ran out of players; pitchers Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer both pinch hit in extra innings. The Phils had first and third with no outs and the bases loaded with one out in the top of the 13th and didn't score. The decision to go for a sacrifice bunt -- which Rod Barajas blew anyway -- in the seventh inning possibly cost the Phils a run or two.

But, eh, it was just kind of like the other 9,997 losses. The Phillies lost because they stink.

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June 27, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Larry Bowa, Working Hard To Contribute To All 10,000 Phillies Losses

So, yes, in the paper today I wrote about the 10,000 Losses thing, basically focusing on the historical awfulness of the Phillies. Lest you think I've possible exhausted all the bad stories about the Phillies on this blog, ha ha ha. There's enough awfulness about the Phillies to fill three Wikipedias. My story begins with an 11-year-old boy the Phillies had arrested 80 years ago because he pocketed a foul ball hit into the stands. I'd like to say he'll be sharing a room with the streaker from earlier this year in Phillies Heaven.

Anyway, we ran a sidebar of local bloggers who wrote their favorite "awful" Phillies stories, and some of them weren't able to make it into the paper because of length or my Gmail account sucking. As such, here is the amazing account of A.J. Daulerio of Phillymag (and Deadspin) fame at a game following Sept. 11.

I believe it was September 17, 2001 and the Phillies, like the rest of Major League Baseball, had supposedly put together a tribute to recognizing every one lost after 9/11. Most other teams coming back after the week-long break had tasteful tributes with military personnel, flag waving, and heartfelt national anthems sung by either established stars or, at the very minimum, people who could actually sing. The Phillies organization decided to stick with the same entertainment that they had scheduled for that evening prior to the attacks: a middle-aged female barbershop quartet-like group, frumpily decked out in sweatshirts and turtlenecks. After the ladies' wince-worthy renditions of God Bless America and the National Anthem -- which they breezed through in, oh, maybe two minutes -- most of the crowd expecting to be uplifted and inspired, appeared to have actually been made to feel worse. Best part? It was one of the first nationally televised games after the attacks. Goosebumps?

Wasn't this the game where they showed Larry Bowa crying during the National Anthem? Maybe he was actually crying because it was so bad.

After the jump, another long story involving Larry Bowa and, of course, Minor Threat.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: Larry Bowa, Working Hard To Contribute To All 10,000 Phillies Losses"

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June 26, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: 9991 Down, 9 To Go

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. The Phillies stand at 9991 losses, only 9 away from 10,000.

A lot has happened since the last time I've written about the Phils. (More on this absence tomorrow.) Basically, although the Phillies have climbed over .500, the season's pretty much over because the Phils are one injury away from re-signing Jim Bunning and having him start every other game the rest of the season. And if that doesn't work, they'll have to sign me, and although I have a wicked curve, my fastball tops out at around 82 and I don't have the control of Jamie Moyer.

Phillies starters Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia are both on the disabled list and are probably both out for the season. Tom Gordon and Brett Myers are supposed to be off the DL soon, but, ah, yeah, we'll all believe that when we see it. This leaves the Phillies starting rotation with three players, one of whom (Adam Eaton) has an ERA over five. The bullpen has Jose Mesa, Clay Condrey, Lefty Grove, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Cy Young and Lil Stoner (the best baseball name ever). Unfortunately for the Phillies, only one of those pitchers (Condrey) is alive, although Grove did pick up a win last week.

The bullpen is a mess, and now the starting rotation has somehow become an even bigger mess. The problem is, the Phillies had a guy who might've helped in the rotation this season. His name is Justin Germano, and he is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA. How recently did the Phillies have him? Oh, they fleeced the Reds last season, trading Rheal Cormier for him. But despite going 2-0 with a sub-three ERA in Scranton after the Phillies traded for him last year and a 4.50 ERA in spring training this season, the Phillies decided he wasn't in their plans and placed him on waivers.

As for the bullpen, Justin Miller was with the Phillies' AAA affiliate this season and is now in the Florida Marlins' 'pen with an ERA just over three. The Phillies released him from Ottawa so they could sign more of Pat Gillick's friends.

Anyway, the Phils are only 3.5 games back of the first-place Mets, which is pretty amazing considering the Phillies were 28-29 and 8 games back on June 4. Unfortunately, that a team averaging 5.09 runs a game in the National League is only three games over .500 is pretty amazing, too.

Oh, and here's who's starting the first game of the doubleheader Friday:

The Phillies, Durbin's fourth team, claimed Durbin from the Red Sox on April 13, after Boston designated him for assignment. He spent Spring Training with the Twins, but was claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks on March 29. He appeared in one game for Arizona, and allowed seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, compiling a 94.50 ERA.

Update: Yeah, I miscounted when I put my original post up. Stupid evolution, not giving me enough fingers to properly do simple arithmetic.

Oh, let's update again: Jason Weitzel on Durbin: "Last season, managers rated his curveball as the best breaking pitch in the International League. Baseball America had him as the Twins 10th best prospect this season, which would probably [definitely—dmac.] make him a top 5-10 player in the Phillies' system." He might be able to pitch a nice game Friday, especially since the Mets won't know what to expect. Hey, optimism!

Archives: Road to 10,000 Losses

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June 07, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Joe Table Returns?

Here's a joke for you: The Phillies bullpen is bad.

How bad is it?

The Phillies' bullpen is so bad, they're thinking of signing Jose Mesa.

That's what actually might happen, as the recently released ex-Phillies closer might come back to shore up his support. Mesa, the Phillies' all-time leader in saves -- really -- had 87 saves in 2001-02, but had an ERA north of 6 in his final year with the Phillies.

Still, that's not the biggest story about Mesa. If you look at Mesa's bio, you'll find that he is 41, having been born in 1966. If you look further down the page to the biography, you'll also see Jose's daughter Yamely was born in January 1974, meaning Jose Mesa is either lying about his age, or was a father before the age of 8.

Oh yea, Mesa has a 12.34 ERA this season.

Phillies Notes | Mesa to be given look-see in bullpen [Inquirer]

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May 31, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Replay, Replay

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks last night -- the last of a three-game sweep by Arizona -- the Phillies stand at 9982 losses, only 18 away from 10,000.

Hey, the Phillies played the same game they previously played against the Diamondbacks again! (Ow. That sentence made my head hurt.) Point is, though, last night's game against the D-Backs was pretty much the same as Monday's: Phillies trail by a run or two most of the game, let the game get out of hand late and then rally but lose in the end.

Monday, the Phils were down 3-1 going into the ninth. Ryan Madson gave up 2 runs. The Phillies scored three in the bottom of the ninth but lost, 5-4. Last night, the Phils were down 1-0 going into the eighth, Jamie Moyer stayed in to pitch and gave up three runs in the 8th. The Phillies scored three in the bottom of the ninth, but lost again.

Last night's goat was Michael Bourn, who pinch ran after Pat Burrell singled home Jimmy Rollins to make it 4-3. Bourn stole second on a 2-2 count with Ryan Howard at the plate pinch hitting. Howard lined the 3-2 pitch right to second baseman Orlando Hudson, in shallow right field with the "Howard shift" on. Bourn was running on contact and got doubled off second to end the game.

Of course, this team makes a lot of mistakes. A lot of stupid mistakes, mental ones, ones that shouldn't happen once a player gets to the, oh, I dunno, major leagues. An observer might call them "the stupidest team in baseball," but that would probably be a little nice. (Incidentally, "the dumbest collection of 25 individuals in history" is a bit harsh.)

But whatever. Shane Victorino is a guest DJ on XPN tonight at 8! Yes!

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May 30, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Back To Normal

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With an 11-5 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9981 losses, only 19 away from 10,000.

It's nice the Phillies know how this thing works. After thumping Atlanta in a three-game sweep this weekend, the Fightins have promptly come home and lost two straight to the Diamondbacks. The Phils are now 26-26, back at .500. With 42,000+ Monday night and 27,000+ last night, Phillies fans have returned to their doom-and-gloom ways. The Phils are now 8 games back of the Mets in the NL East.

Ryan Howard almost got hurt last night, too. While the Phils were down about 59-6, Howard dove for a grounder and came up limping. It's just a cramp, however, so Ry-Ho just wasn't drinking enough water or something. Meanwhile, backup catcher Rod Barajas is hitting .213 with a .361 slugging percentage. Chris Coste is at Double A Reading.

Bobby Abreu, however, has apparently aged 40 years overnight and is having the worst season of his career. "Finally, the Abreu envisioned by Tampa Bay when it traded him for Kevin Stocker shows up," Jeff Passan wrote. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the man they traded Abreu for, Matt Smith, has an 11.25 ERA and is in the minors. Ryan Franklin has a 0.90 ERA for St. Louis. Oh, and 2006 first round pick Kyle Drabek is on the DL.

Blah blah blah 75 wins blah blah blah Charlie Manuel blah blah Pat Gillick blah blah Chris Coste blah blah DL blah blah bullpen blah blah Dollar Dog Night blah blah.

It's amazing how quickly a Phillies fan's opinion on the team can shift, eh?

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May 29, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: A Giant Sweep

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9980 losses, only 20 away from 10,000.

Well, well! The Phillies finally started playing some good ball over the weekend, sweeping the Atlanta Braves and improving to an improbable two whole games over .500. The Phils beat Atlanta 8-3, 6-4 and 13-6 in the sweep, their first of the Braves on the road since, like, they were in Boston.

The Phillies lost last night despite a furious ninth-inning comeback that had last week's goat, Rod Barajas, fall a few feet short of a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth. The Phillies might have been in a better position if Charlie Manuel had pinch hit for Freddy Garcia in the bottom of the sixth, since the Phillies had the bases loaded and 1 out with the pitcher at bat. Garcia grounded into a double play, but did pitch two more scoreless innings.

The Phils could use wins in the next two nights to win another series before Barry Bonds and the Giants come in this weekend. Also, in an Inquirer story on why members of the Phillies wear certain numbers, Adam Eaton revealed himself to be totally awesome:

“It was the only one that looked remotely interesting. I had 21 in Texas. They gave me 53 in San Diego. You don’t buy numbers from older guys, so I wasn’t getting 21 here. Plus, my number is free. Why spend money? No, there’s really no significance to my number. But I could create some. Let’s see, 53 was my first number in the big leagues. Two and 3 equals 5. Three is the second number in both numbers. Two plus 1 is three. So you can have people draw their own conclusions. Everybody asked why I was 21. Well, five minus 3 is 2. Three minus 2 is 1. It was a progression. And it was available.”

Posted by D-Mac at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 25, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: #@@$&(#^#!!!

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 5-4 loss to the Marlins last night, the Phillies stand at 9979 losses, only 21 away from 10,000.

The Phillies lost again, dropping their record to 23-24 and once again failing to improve to better than .500. But they way they lost it was distressing. Shall we do a little recap?

• Phillies got on the board early and led 2-1. A Jeremy Hermida two-run double put the Marlins on top, but the Phillies tied the score on a J-Roll sac fly in the top of the sixth. Oh, yea, and before that the teams almost got into a fight. Both benches cleared, supposedly somebody on the Marlins threw a punch, but nothing major.
• Miguel Olivo tripled to lead off the bottom of the 6th. Joe Borchard grounded right to first-baseman Chris Coste -- who scored on the sac fly earlier. Coste fired it to Rod Barajas, who had Olivo out at home. Then he swung his glove over lazily and Olivo kicked the ball out and the Marlins regained the lead. Yes, Rod Barajas made two terrible plays at the plate in consecutive games.
• In the top of the 8th, Chris Coste walked. Michael Bourn pinch-ran for Coste, who went 2-for-3 in his first start of the season. Pinch hitter Greg Dobbs doubled, and with no outs, third base coach Steve Smith sent Bourn home. He was out by a mile. Shane Victorino then singled to score Dobbs and tie the game.
• The game ended up going to extra innings, of course, and the Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the 11th but didn't score anybody. The Marlins won in the bottom of the 11th.

I apologize if I got any of that wrong, but it was a bit of a frustrating game. Plus it's 3:30 on the Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend.

After the jump, the beginnings of a bit of a trend.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: #@@$&(#^#!!!"

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May 24, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Wait, That Was A Win?

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. After splitting the first two games of the Marlins series, the Phillies stand at 9978 losses, only 22 away from 10,000.

The Phillies are never going to top .500. The 23-23 Phillies have hit the .500 mark at 20, 21, 22 and 23 wins, but have lost the next game each time. The Phillies, though, have kept creeping back up to .500, including an 8-7 10 inning win last night.

But, right. Last night's ninth inning could leave the Phillies in trouble for a couple of weeks. The Phillies scored three in the top of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, two bloop singles and a triple made it 7-5. Hanley Ramirez grounded to Greg Dobbs, who threw home instead of taking the easy out at first. Dobbs was remorseful:

"I'm sick to my stomach," said Greg Dobbs, who was responsible for one of the two defensive lapses. "I want to eat, but can't. I feel tremendously responsible for that inning because we should have had three outs." [...]

"I wasn't," he said. "Quote it. Print it right on front page. 'What was Dobbs thinking?' I saw it all happen right in front of me in super slow mo. As I released the ball, I went 'whyyyyyyyyy. What are you doing?' I should've taken the ball and either tagged Ramirez or gone to the bag, instead of being way too aggressive. It was just stupid. Afterward, I was so disgusted with myself that I just started walking in circles, thinking 'Did I just do that?'"

Okay, calm down, Greg. It's okay. We forgive you.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: Wait, That Was A Win?"

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May 21, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Finally, Mediocrity!

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. Finishing up a 7-3 homestand, the Phillies stand at 9977 losses, only 23 away from 10,000.

Hey, how about that! When they returned home from a road trip for a 10 game homestand, the Phillies needed a 7-3 homestand to get to .500. And then, wildly, they actually went out and did it, losing only one game to Chicago, then-NL leading Milwaukee and Toronto.

Last weekend was when teams supposedly played their natural interleague rival. Since the Phillies lost Baltimore -- who now plays Washington -- the rivalry went to Toronto, as baseball looked to match up two teams in a rivalry almost as fierce as that yearly Colorado Rockies-Kansas City Royals dustup. (Okay, the 1993 World Series, but, is that it? And the Phillies were called the Blue Jays for two years in the 1940s. One of the all-time great rivalries!)

The Phillies are now a whopping 22-22, and have gone 18-11 since a 4-11 start. As Rich Hoffman writes today, though, the Phillies 7-3 homestand improved the team from 6 1/2 games back in the NL East to... 6 1/2 games back in the NL East. And since the Mets have both starting pitching, offense and a bullpen, the Wild Card is pretty much the best case scenario already. And it's May.

The important thing about today's Phillies game is, well, there isn't one. And so, for the first time all season, the Phillies will spend a full day with at least a .500 winning percentage. Baby steps, people.

Posted by D-Mac at 03:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 14, 2007

Fleece Blankets Are The New Bobbleheads

With Ryan Howard on the disabled list, it appears Phillies fans -- at least those of the female persuasion -- are set to move right on over to Chase Utley.

Case in point: The eBay auctions for the Chase Utley fleece given away to women over 14 at yesterday's Phils game.

Alert reader anonymous reader IMs:

anonymous reader: nb: i really want a chutley blanket to cozy up in, but they are going for FIFTY DOLLARS on ebay

reader: fifty dollars!!!
pwddmac: i'm bloging that
reader: good
reader: i'm pissed!
reader: i want to wrap myself in chutley but i'm not going to whore it out for fifty dollars
reader: i wouldn't even spend that much for tickets to the game where you got that blankie for free!
reader: seriously
reader: WTF
reader: what is wrong with our culture?

Search: chase utley blanket [eBay]

Posted by D-Mac at 03:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Road To 10,000 Losses: Coste With The Most

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 4-1 loss to the Cubs yesterday, the Phillies stand at 9975 losses, only 25 away from 10,000.

It was Mother's Day. There was a packed house. The Phillies actually won three straight games heading in to the game. They could sweep the Cubs and move within a game of .500. Every woman 15 and older had a Chase Utley blanket to wrap themselves in.

The Phillies responded by scoring just one run, on a throwing error in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the Phillies down, 4-1, Utley singled with two outs in the ninth and was thrown out trying to take second. The Fightins failed to get their first sweep of the season, their first since a sweep of the Marlins put the Phils into the Wild Card lead with a week to play last season.

But all is not lost! The Phillies might not even lose 25 more games this season, as they've called up the savior. I'm referring to, of course, Chris Coste, who was called up when Ryan Howard went on the DL. Howard hit a pinch-hit grand slam on Wednesday to help the Phils beat the Diamondbacks but has been having quad problems. He hurt the quad because he ate too many Big Macs instead of Subway sandwiches.

Coste hit .328 in 65 games for the Phillies last season. The 33-year-old rookie also drove in 32 RBI, and although he's hitting .233 for the Phillies' AAA affiliate this year, he's become the rallying cry for everything that's wrong with the franchise by fans and bloggers alike. If my calculations are correct, Coste will hit .368 this year with 17 homers and 107 RBI, playing first and, when Howard returns, third.

World Series here we come.

A word on numbers: Unless I did something like add incorrectly -- which is perfectly possible -- the numbers I have are correct. See this post for more info.

Howard goes on the shelf; Phillies recall Coste [Beerleaguer]

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May 09, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Replay

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9974 losses, only 26 away from 10,000.

PHOENIX — For the first time since 1947, two major league teams agreed to play "pretty much the same game" for the second night in a row, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2.

"I don't really know why the players wanted to do it," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "I was reading on the SABR-L listserv about the ban on fraternization in the rulebook, and I really don't get why our boys wanted to do this, but they figured they were gonna lose anyway and could use the day off."

The Phillies lost the previous night, 4-3. While the runs were scored in a different manner and fewer relievers were used last night, the games took essentially the same form: Diamondbacks lead early, Phillies rally to tie it twice, but fade away in a late one-run loss. At no point did any Phillies fan watching believe the local nine would rally to win the game.

With the deal, Greg Dobbs got to hit his first home run of the season, while Chase Utley was allowed to hit his fifth. The Diamondbacks wouldn't agree to a pinch-hit Ryan Howard homer, a stance than nearly blew the deal.

"Not even I would give up a home run to Ryan Howard at this point," said rookie D-Backs pitcher Micah Owings.

Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton was also allowed to make a "quality start," defined as three runs or fewer over six-plus innings. Eaton went 7 innings and gave up 3 runs, but did pick up another loss.

The Phillies return to action tonight at 6:40 p.m. No word if a deal has been made for tonight's game, but it's likely the team has actually already left on a chartered plane to Philadelphia and the last game of the roadtrip will be played by Phillies impersonators and Rod Barajas.

Update, 2:00 p.m.: Mike's Baseball Rants notes if the Phillies lose by one run tonight, the Diamondbacks will pass the Phils in winning percentage in all-time one-run games.

Posted by D-Mac at 11:52 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

May 08, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Blah

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks last night, the Phillies stand at 9973 losses, only 27 away from 10,000.

Ahh, yes. Last night Freddy Garcia recovered from his pathetic cart injury Sunday and was able to pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The righthander actually pitched his best game of the season, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings, but the Phillies were unable to score any runs until late and lost, 4-3. The Phils are now 3-5 on their 10-game roadtrip.

The Phillies tied it up at 2 in the 7th and at 3 in the 8th, but the Diamondbacks came right back each time, as Antonio Alfonseca and Francisco Rosario (who the Phillies acquired for cash earlier this year) each gave up a run. What a bullpen, eh?

The Phillies did manage to lose in incredibly boring fashion last night, and in utterly predictable fashion, so there's really not much else to say. Hey, at least the Phillies are making losing boring now, so there's absolutely no reason to watch.

Arizona 4, Philadelphia 3 [AP/Yahoo! Sports]

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May 07, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Not-So-Fab Freddy

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 2-2 series split with the Giants -- who, by the way, have 10,000 wins -- the Phillies stand at 9972 losses, only 28 away from 10,000.

Freddy Garcia is 1-2 for the Phillies this year, but he might not factor in to a loss tonight. No, it's not that the Phillies are going to -- and this is a silly thought -- win. Garcia might not play due to a collision with a cart in the outfield yesterday.

Garcia was warming up before last night's win over the Giants when the righthander with a 6.05 ERA chased after a Ryan Howard fly ball. Unfortunately, a cart had stopped to avoid being hit by that flyball -- and Garcia ran directly into it. He ended up having to be taken off by the cart he ran into and might miss tonight's start.

Naturally, the Phillies' brass was content to be confused and use sayings from the 1950s:

"I wouldn't say I'm upset, but I'm kind of curious why it was out there while we had the field," Gillick said of the maintenance cart.

"The guy stopped the cart right in front of him," Manuel said. "Damn, use that head for something besides a hat rack."

The Phillies play at Arizona tonight at 9:40 p.m. They're 14-17 and 5.5 games out in the NL East.

Phillies Notes | Garcia hurt by running into a cart [Inquirer]

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May 03, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Jim Salisbury Will Not Tolerate The Phillies' Lies

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With 4-3 loss to the Braves last night, the Phillies stand at 9970 losses, only 30 away from 10,000.

The Phillies didn't just lose last night. They also learned after the game Tom Gordon will be heading to Philadelphia to be checked by a team physician. The Phillies' closer hasn't been all that good this season, with three blown saves. The new closer is Brett Myers.

But, hey, manager Charlie Manuel successfully performed a double switch last night! After his double switch the Braves' bullpen retired the next eight batters, but, hey, he tried.

Inquirer writer Jim Salisbury wasn't happy with anything, though. In the spring, he remembers, the Phillies' said Tom Gordon's random visit to Philadelphia was nothing. Nobody believed that, since they wouldn't send him to Philadelphia unless he had a possible serious injury.

Whom can you believe in the Phillies organization these days? Anyone? [...]

Remember that not-so-secret trip home to Philadelphia that Gordon took in the spring? Remember how team officials insisted that Gordon's shoulder, which landed him on the disabled list last season, was fine? Remember how the Phils repeatedly said he went home for a routine exam?

Turns out that was a whole load of compost.

Wow. Not only are the fans angry, the sportswriters are angry.

Update: Oh, and the Braves catcher yesterday? A rookie playing in his first game, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, of course. The previous day the Phillies manage to hit the other two Braves' catches with their bats in the glove -- this one was the catcher's fault -- and head, respectively. Go Phils!

Phillies lose the game and Gordon [Inquirer]

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May 01, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: You Lose Some, You Lose Some

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 5-2 loss to the Braves last night, the Phillies stand at 9969 losses, only 31 away from 10,000.

"5-2 final, Atlanta. Goodnight everyone."

After Harry Kalas ended the Phillies broadcast last night, Post Game Live began. The Phillies fell to 11-14 on the season, dropping to 0-4 against division rival Atlanta Braves. The Braves only need seven more wins to take the season series. I think the Phillies might as well concede it.

I don't really know why I'm using this line now. When the Braves sweep the series, the more appropriate line will be, "The Braves only need five more wins to take the season series." It seems odd that by May 2 I could be saying that.

Yes, right. This is the negative Philadelphia fan stereotype. Loving to boo. Having a negative attitude. Blah blah blah. Whatever. This has nothing to do with a stereotype. The Phillies are just a bad franchise. Just like K-Mart is never going to sell Waterford crystal, the Phillies are never going to win the World Series again anytime soon. Not with this ownership. Not with this team.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: You Lose Some, You Lose Some"

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April 30, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Ups And Downs

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 2-1 series victory over the Marlins, the Phillies stand at 9968 losses, only 32 away from 10,000.

Today, I'm going to recap the Phillies weekend -- a series win over the Marlins -- by charting the ups and downs of it.

Up: The Phillies won the series against the Marlins. They've won 7 of 9, improving from 4-11 to 11-13.

Down: The Phillies 7-2 stretch came against the Astros (1-0), Reds (2-0; lost first game of series), Nationals (2-1) and Marlins (2-1), not exactly the powers of the National League. The Phillies are still 0-3 against the Braves and 1-3 against the Mets.

Up: The Phillies' two best pitchers, stats-wise, are 3-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA.

Down: These two men are 44-year-old Jamie Moyer and 23-year-old Cole Hamels. One needs Geritol and the other needs a date for the prom.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: Ups And Downs"

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April 27, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Losing In November

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 4-2 loss to the National yesterday, the Phillies stand at 9967 losses, only 33 away from 10,000.

Geeze, even when the Phillies won't be playing -- November 4, 2008 -- they're going to lose.

How, you say?

Yep. George Phillies, Libertarian candidate for president. According to his official website, he's against "selling our grandchildren into de facto debt slavery," for civil liberties and presumably for all the normal libertarian free market and such.

Oh, and he's for ending the Internet poker ban. ("Real Americans know: Poker is as American as apple pie.") This guy is looking better and better every second.

Plus, hello, his last name is Phillies. I didn't even know there were people with that last name! God, what a tragedy it must be to go through life with that last name. Everywhere you go, people associate you with the worst baseball team of all time.

George Phillies for President [Thanks, Brad]
Phillies for President [Myspace]

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April 26, 2007

Road To 10,000 Losses: Phils Go For Six

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies' 10,000th loss, coming sometime later this year. With a five-game winning streak, the Phillies still stand at 9966 losses, only 34 away from 10,000.

The Phillies have been on a bit of a tear recently, winning five straight and improving their record to 9-11. They've hit six homers during the streak and the much-maligned bullpen has a 1.38 ERA during the last five games. Morning Glory fan Chase Utley went 5-for-5 last night.

Now, these wins have come against three subpar teams, the Reds (2), Astros (1) and Nationals (2). But, hey, a win's a win, and the Phils have five games left in April to attempt to get to .500.

The Phillies go for a series sweep and third-straight series win (duh, they already won the series) with 23-year-old Cole Hamels on the mound, who had 15 strikeouts in a complete-game win last Saturday.

Yes, it's a day game, and the Phillies are still not at 10,000 losses, so you know what that means: Liveblogging! Head after the jump for Chris Wheeler jokes, references to old Phillies you forgot were on the team and, hopefully, Ryan Howard home runs.

Continue reading "Road To 10,000 Losses: Phils Go For Six"

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