Categories: Podcasts

Playing the Rube: A Baseball Experiment – Chapter 8: We’re Gonna Need Pitchers

The Phillies won a world championship in 2008.

Then Ruben Amaro Jr. was named general manager.

The Phillies didn’t win another world championship.

Tim Malcolm and Dan Walsh wonder if they can do better. So, we continue “Playing the Rube,” a weekly series with accompanying podcast in which Tim and Dan attempt to steer the Phillies to more victories, starting in 2009, through the deep simulation game OOTP Baseball ’18.

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CHAPTER 8: SO WE’RE GONNA NEED PITCHERS

After another bad week of baseball (2-3 against the Nationals and Mets), and after losing scores of pitchers to the canyon that is the disabled list, we had to hustle to bring in some new arms.

That takes up the early portion of this week.

And then we play some games. And the usual happens, like this dismal showing against the Braves. We scored nine runs! But …

So we really need pitchers, and part of our strategy going forward is to figure out how to get at least one pitcher close to Cole Hamels’ rating and performance.

Other issues also emerge, including a note from one of our 2008 heroes:

We are not world champions anymore. No sir.

Listen to Playing the Rube below! And subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts!

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.