Various Thoughts on Phillies
don't have a lot of time today, so i'll just throw out some things kicking around in my head
- charlie manuel -- i think his ability to bench rollins (reigning league MVP) without tearing apart the team or losing rollins was a significant contribution to this championship. the day he pulled that move off, he won me over as a fan forever. how many other managers could have pulled that off? bobby cox? maybe torre? certainly not bowa or leyland. in addition, virtually every button he pushed in the playoffs was the right one. it was uncanny.
- pat gillick -- i took some heat last season when i mentioned that gillick is one of the biggest reasons why i got my love of baseball back (that he had turned a sour and grumpy team into a team that genuinely enjoyed each other and the game), and i stand by that. he may not have made a ton of big ticket moves during his time here, but boy did he fill the roster with guys who got the job done.
- head wade -- head is going to get some credit for the nucleus of this team, but there is no chance that the phillies would have one a series if head was still the GM. first of all, head wouldn't have been in houston to give away brad lidge for nothing. second, there is no way that head would have given away bobby abreu for nothing (which i still maintain was critical to changing the team personality). third, head could never have assembled this pitching staff, and pitching is the biggest reason why the phillies won this title.
- jamie moyer -- instrumental to helping cole reach his potential. another move head would likely not have made.
- cole hamels -- did cole mention that his wife just turned 30? cole is what, 24? is there a story there? was she his babysitter as a kid or something?
- jimmy rollins -- thank you to whoever got jimmy to stop swinging for the fences every at bat. big difference between falling off balance and over home plate after every swing and his balanced line drive swing.
- this core is young enough that they should be contenders for 4-5 more seasons!
- hopefully this opens the floodgates and some of the other teams start winning. the 1980 phillies were part of the golden age of philadelphia sports. dare we hope for the start of another golden age? am i being greedy?
- the heads up play by chase utley should go down as one of the greatest postseason defensive plays ever
wow. i can't stop smiling.
- charlie manuel -- i think his ability to bench rollins (reigning league MVP) without tearing apart the team or losing rollins was a significant contribution to this championship. the day he pulled that move off, he won me over as a fan forever. how many other managers could have pulled that off? bobby cox? maybe torre? certainly not bowa or leyland. in addition, virtually every button he pushed in the playoffs was the right one. it was uncanny.
- pat gillick -- i took some heat last season when i mentioned that gillick is one of the biggest reasons why i got my love of baseball back (that he had turned a sour and grumpy team into a team that genuinely enjoyed each other and the game), and i stand by that. he may not have made a ton of big ticket moves during his time here, but boy did he fill the roster with guys who got the job done.
- head wade -- head is going to get some credit for the nucleus of this team, but there is no chance that the phillies would have one a series if head was still the GM. first of all, head wouldn't have been in houston to give away brad lidge for nothing. second, there is no way that head would have given away bobby abreu for nothing (which i still maintain was critical to changing the team personality). third, head could never have assembled this pitching staff, and pitching is the biggest reason why the phillies won this title.
- jamie moyer -- instrumental to helping cole reach his potential. another move head would likely not have made.
- cole hamels -- did cole mention that his wife just turned 30? cole is what, 24? is there a story there? was she his babysitter as a kid or something?
- jimmy rollins -- thank you to whoever got jimmy to stop swinging for the fences every at bat. big difference between falling off balance and over home plate after every swing and his balanced line drive swing.
- this core is young enough that they should be contenders for 4-5 more seasons!
- hopefully this opens the floodgates and some of the other teams start winning. the 1980 phillies were part of the golden age of philadelphia sports. dare we hope for the start of another golden age? am i being greedy?
- the heads up play by chase utley should go down as one of the greatest postseason defensive plays ever
wow. i can't stop smiling.
Labels: baseball
posted by The Mean Guy at 11:38 AM
2 Comments:
I can't wait to see the Scrapple Ed Wades' input. It just proved to me again, that you need to manage the season appropriately. You will have highs and lows, and you probably need a little adversity. All the while winning enough not to fall out of any play-off contention. The key, then, I believe is getting hot at the right time. Look at the Phillies and last year's Giants and sooooooooooooo many many teams that have won championships. I finally saw a champion swagger early on in Milwaukee. It's all about getting hot at the end of the season and carrying it into the play-offs.
I don't know if it's about getting high priced ticket agents, but I do know it's about having a good pitching staff and pen which the Phillies fortunately had. Their 1-5 hitters never got hot all at the same time, but hot enough to contribute when needed. The bottom half of their line-up was solid in play-offs (Victorino through Ruiz)....and it all worked out
That is why you can never count the Eagles out when they are 3-3 in October....they need to manage and get hot down the stretch....that wins championships...oh happy day!!!
Interesting article on Akers (linked below). He had at least 2 touchbacks yesterday, which I hadn't seen in quite a while. He's also still perfect inside of 40.
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