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Eyre Proved Most Of Us Wrong

It’s always fun reading old posts, looking at the knee-jerk reactions in retrospect. When the Phillies traded for Scott Eyre, I said I liked the deal, writing:

“While there’s reason to feel concern because of his recent slide (and possible injury problems), he could provide a long stretch of good play down the stretch.”

Posters on the site, however …

  • Geoff: “we can hope all we want, and i could be wrong, but im pretty sure this guy is trash and will be cut by september.”
  • Greg V: “I just picked up some play off tickets on stubhub, I don’t know about you guys.”
  • Gavin: “Claim that his was the best thing they could do at this point. Eyre blows ass. He’s Dennis Cook’s younger long lost brother.”

Maybe it’s just guys whose names begin with “G.” I don’t know. A bunch of posters liked the move, though, saying it’s always nice to have bullpen depth. Well, the “trash” or “Dennis Cook’s younger long lost brother” did this down the stretch in 2008:

19 G / 14.1 IP / 2-0 / 3 ER (1.88 ERA) / 8 H / 18 K / 3 BB

The three runs he surrendered were two in a blowout win against the Mets, and one in a blowout loss to the Braves. Pretty impressive. Overall, he provided a power arm that dominated left-handed hitters (.220 AVG, .664 OPS), giving Charlie Manuel a second option from the left side in the bullpen. He and Chad Durbin became the middle relievers du jour in September and October. Oh, and his ridiculously contagious personality made him an instant favorite.

The 36-year-old Eyre won’t be used in the closing situations, and shouldn’t hopefully see the eighth inning much, but for $2 million and a season, he’s a wonderful fit for the middle of the bullpen. Now ya’ll can eat your words.

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Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.

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