Odds And Ends: Chih-Kuo, Manny, Bowa, Rant
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Thu, October 09, 2008 11:09 AM
A few odds and ends before game one:
- Hong Chih-Kuo is close to being added to the Dodgers playoff roster, taking the place of Takashi Saito, who has struggled after being injured.
Chih-Kuo, a lefty, is 5-3 with a 2.14 ERA in 42 games this season. He has struck out 96 and walked 21. I call that a good move.
- The Los Angeles Times points out Manny Ramirez is hitting .155 in 58 at bats in Philadelphia.
His career on-base percentage is .219.
- Larry Bowa said Philadelphia fans are awesome:
“The one thing they’re not is front-runners; they come out.” He then added that he warned his players on how loud and hostile Philadelphia will be. “It’s not even close,” he said, comparing Philly to Wrigley Field. Take that, bleacher bunnies.
- Here’s a head-scratching read: Cathal Kelly of the Toronto Star says he knows Philadelphia fans.
So did Kelly speak to one? Did he poll Philly fans about the upcoming NLCS and their level of fandom?
No, of course not. For one, he says mentioning the “Oronto-Tay Lue-Bay Ays-Jay” in Philadelphia is dangerous. Okay, no one likes watching Joe Carter romp around the bases, but Mitch Williams is an integral part of Philadelphia baseball these days, so … ummm … you’re wrong? Then he brings up Jimmy Rollins’ frontrunner comments. How original. Then he brings up Bowa’s above quote. And misreads it, saying going to a Phillies game sounds like a public hanging. Really? Have you ever been to a public hanging, Cathal? So there’s a town square in Toronto where people just chop off heads? Tell Marie Antoinette I said “‘ello.”
Then he says we have “memories of elephants,” whatever that means. He uses Bowa’s defense of the Phils in the 1977 LCS as proof that Phillie fans dwell on everything. I’ll say this — not once has my mom or dad (Phillies fans in 1977) ever spoke about Black Friday. In fact, the only person I’ve ever seen or heard speak about that day is Bill freakin’ Conlin, and that’s because all he ever does is reference the past.
Then there’s this nugget:
If Philadelphia fans weren’t thinking negatively about baseball, they wouldn’t have any reason to watch at all.
Go f*** yourself, Cathal. What a slap in the face to all of us.
Of course, this is the kind of crap you get when you’re thrust onto the national stage.
Related posts:
- Odds And Ends: Jan. 20
- Odds And Ends: Manuel, Garza, Madson, Honors
- Odds And Ends: Jan. 27
- Odds And Ends: Relievers, Legends, Burrell
- Odds And Ends: Kendrick, Eaton, Lidge, Prospects
17 Responses to “Odds And Ends: Chih-Kuo, Manny, Bowa, Rant”
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October 9th, 2008 at 11:16 am
WTF?! Although I guess we should be used to this kind of talk by now-everyone and their brother thinks they are qualified/justified to diss the Phillies and Phillies fans at every possible opportunity.
Prattle on, fools!
October 9th, 2008 at 11:29 am
The Phillies announced their 25-man roster for the National League Championship Series this morning.
The roster, which did not change from the Division Series, is comprised of 11 pitchers, six infielders, six outfielders and two catchers and is as follows:
Pitchers (11): right-handers Joe Blanton, Clay Condrey, Chad Durbin, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson and Brett Myers and left-handers Scott Eyre, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer and J.C. Romero.
Infielders (6): Eric Bruntlett, Greg Dobbs, Pedro Feliz, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
Outfielders (6): Pat Burrell, Geoff Jenkins, Matt Stairs, So Taguchi, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.
Catchers (2): Chris Coste and Carlos Ruiz.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
These articles written by these two a$$-holes if anything should be good bullentin board material for our ‘Fightins.’ I believe that %90 of the players taking that field tonight take pride in representing the city and the fans of Philadelphia! We are officially the underdogs for whatever reason….Lets prove the world wrong starting tonight and kick the F**KING Dodgers A$$ES!!! GO PHILS!
October 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Wow, first the LA times TJ Simers and now this? Apparently nobody has gone around and actually, well, you know, TALKED to the fans to see how much love and support for this team that there is.
October 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
TALK to the same fans that threw snowballs at SANTA CLAUS!!!! are you nuts!!!
screw all these reporters… Tony Gwynn picked the Phillies to get to the World Series.. that is good enough for me!
October 9th, 2008 at 11:42 am
My North Jersey/New York friends bring up the Santa thing all the time. It really has become more urban legend then truth. I ask them where it happened. They always say “The Vet.” I ask when it happened. They always say sometime in the “80s or 90s.” I then sum it up asking whether it was the real Santa or some drunk guy from the stands. They of course answer the “real Santa.”
So despite that it happened at Franklin Field (Vet wasn’t built) in the 60s with some drunk guy pulled from the stands wearing a half-assed Santa costume, they’re right on the money, aren’t they?
October 9th, 2008 at 11:54 am
SJ… my boss told me that story a few weeks ago! And it wasn’t just some random drunk guy – it was a well known Eagles season ticket holder who was known for his drunken shanninagans (sp?) at all the games and everyone knew – so they picked him because everyone knew him or of him!
That article has me fuming. Of course there is no mention of New York fans – who in my opinion make us all look like english gentlemen
October 9th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Who the hell is this guy anyways? He lives in Toronto? What qualifications does he have to bitch about Phillies fans?
I am for one could care less what this guy says…
October 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
The fact is he was a really bad santa but that is all these writers care about Lazy Journalism.
Perdiction…Whoever the Phillies beat the res tof the way, the storeies will be about, How the other team lost. Not how the Phillies won.
Canada is just the apartment above a really good party, and I have been to LA and it is an utter dump. Anyone who wants to move to Hollywood is a moron, it really is trash.
Also LA Fans leave before the 7th inning because of traffic. Yeah Fans thats it…
Thanks for the roster announcment. I must say I would rather Cinderblock head then Happinator. We need another righty and Happinator is not going to play.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
RedSox story line… EVEN WITHOUT MANNY RAMIREZ..
Rays… WORST TO FIRST…
Dodgers.. JOE TORRE IS GOD, and MANNY IS BETTER THAN GOD
Phillies… FANS BOO SANTA, FRONT-RUNNERS, etc…
since we already know what the story is.. we shouldn’t let it bother us.. as long as we win, I don’t care what they say
October 9th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I mean, do we really care what Canadians think about us? Although it was a nice take on the story, T-Malc — loved the part about the town square where they hang people.
But as for this guy, he might as well be reading bedtime stories to polar bears in the Arctic Circle. Let him write what he wants. Canada is, despite their universal health care, decriminalized marijuana, general sunny dispositions, poutine, slightly better macro beers (but far worse craft ales), dogsled races, vaunted strip clubs on St. Catherine’s Street (Montreal, not Toronto, but worth noting) and introduction of hockey, the minor leagues.
And DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON LOS ANGELES. The only thing good about LA is that it makes getting robbed in Philadelphia seem more enjoyable than a dinner on Sunset.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Go Phils.
October 9th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
If you ask me, this city dwells a hell of a lot more on winning in 1980 and going to the show in ‘83 and ‘93. I mean, can you show me a town where a guy who looks like Kruk is a sports hero?
And let me tell you, until Torre started prancing around Rodeo, the only people around Hollywood who gave a sh!t about the Dodgers were the guys commuting in each day working their butts off to feed their families. Maybe there was an Angeles fan or two, but if you want to talk about some frontrunners, look no further than that den of human garbage.
October 9th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
That article was downright offensive. Not just as a Phillies fan but as a journalism major. The author must have taken at least three quotes out of context just so he could craft his own negative image of fans in Philadelphia. He obviously has something against Philly or maybe he was just trying to builld his resume as a sports journalist and went over the top. No matter what his real intentions were that guy Cathal should be fired.
October 9th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
LA swept the Cubs in three. Playing a team that spent the better part of the year playing catch-up with the Mets and Florida should be a walk in the park for Torre’s boys.
LA in four!
Nice to see the “front-runners’ excited ’bout the NCLS!
October 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Go Blue…you are so dumb you don’t even know how to type the acronym NLCS properly. The Cubs are post season choke artists. If you watched baseball at all you’d know the team with the best record in baseball history didn’t win the WS. You can’t judge anything on how good a team is. Secondly, we never chased Florida. Only the 1st month. You spent most of the year chasing the D-Backs who were horrible. It took you 2 big trades to catch them, one of those trades being for the best hitter of our time. Don’t come to a Phillies board and talk sh*t you moron.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I have no clue about the “elephants” comment. I mean, if he were talking about any two of the three baseball haydays in Philadelphia, the ones from 1909-1915 or 1927-1932, then he’s be talking about our (former) White Elephants, the Philadelphia Athletc Club, with a minor assist from the 1915 Phillies. But those elephants were playing in Oakland by 1977 and had made their own, new history by that time.
Look at it this way, he probably got the job only because the Canadian social welfare system likely pays newspapers to hire the otherwise unemployable. That’s the best I can come up with.