Phillies Nation

Disappointing

Posted by Brian Michael, Mon, May 09, 2005 06:51 PM

John Donovan rated the 5 most underachieving teams through the first 1/5 of the season and surprise surprise he ranked the Phillies the most underachieving team in the majors.

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Next Stop Byberry Manor

Posted by Brian Michael, Sun, May 08, 2005 12:44 PM

You can say what you want about Tim Worrell and his psychological meltdown, but who else thinks this may have been a chronic condition?  If his pitching is any indication, then the move to Philadelphia last year may have been the spark that lit his crazy match.  He has consistently underperformed and blew more than his fair share of saves and games.  Now, I’m not one to kick a guy when he’s down - he did a fair job of filling in for Wagner last year - but as a player on a team of 25 you have a responsibility to keep yourself in top physical and mental shape.  If there was a time before Thursday (and I suspect there was) when Tim knew he was having issues and that they could potentially affect his game, he needed to tell someone.  Players aren’t supposed to play through injuries, especially not this early in the season, and this case is no exception.  I am not convinced this hasn’t been a larger issues and I am disappointed he didn’t come to terms with his “personal psychological problems” sooner.  Nonetheless, I wish Tim a speedy recovery, because a sane pitcher has a much higher trade value than an insane one.

So moving forward, the Phillies used the extra roster spot to call up 23 year-old Robinson Tejada from AAA Scranton.  Tejada is 2-0 with a 2.22 ERA in 5 starts spanning 28 1/3 innings for the Red Barons this year.  Last year was spent entirely in Reading where he was ranked 4th in strikeouts but 1st in HR allowed (a Reading record, 29).  He appears to have shed this Eric Milton-like characteristic as he’s yet to give up a dinger this season, but I highly doubt CBP will be as forgiving as Lackawanna County Stadium. 

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academic

Posted by Brian Michael, Mon, May 02, 2005 09:55 PM

Baseball Diplomacy

Baseball and the American City

Gospel on the Mound: Our National Pastime and the Culture of Religion

Business of Baseball Data and Documents

Baseball Hall of Fame Research Department

Phillies Wikipedia

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Ain’t no coincidence

Posted by Brian Michael, Mon, May 02, 2005 09:25 PM

There have been some rumors going around suggesting that Bobby Abreu’s mini-slump in April (.743 OPS .261 avg) may be caused by issues at home.  Apparently his fiancé, ex-Miss Universe Alicia Machado Fajardo (Venezuelan, like Bobby), was involved in a few scandelous scenes one of her housemates on the Spanish version of the Surreal Life, La Granja (The Farm).  Unlike the runaway bride story from this weekend, Abreu has reportedly claimed this breaks his marriage commitments with the ex-Miss Universe. 

The exact details of this story are still a bit fuzzy.  My research relied on a mix of Spanish gossip sites translated by Bablefish and myself.  Nonetheless, family issues can always affect a player’s mojo, especially when amplified by the fact both are international celebrities, living on opposite sides of the Atlantic and scrutinized/worshiped at home in Venezuela.  Most likely, some selective editing by the show’s producers sparked a bit of internet controversy and the whole thing’s been blown out of proportion.

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Utley for All-Star

Posted by Brian Michael, Mon, May 02, 2005 12:31 AM

It’s voting season, so vote early and often for your favorite Phillies starters.


Vote for Phillies All-Stars

Come for the Phillies and stay for the American Leaguers.

I was at Saturday night’s game and it was quite the meteorological disaster. The 2-1 loss was wet and boring, but was tempered by the post game sighting of Bob Clarke, Flyers GM, at the Garage in Manayunk. I phoned my friend and told him of the encounter and he promptly told me to punch him in the face, which I briefly considered, but it got me thinking: What if I saw Ed Wade in a bar? Would I be inclined to punch him in the face? Probably not, I would plug Phillies Nation and ask him kindly to quit his day job. Just a funny thought, what would you say?

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