Olbermann: 40 Years Of Steve Carlton

Countup with Keith Olbermann ~ win #28…win #29…win #30.

It remains, in short, the most amazing season a pitcher has put together since at least Sandy Koufax, and very probably since long before him. And now, Steve Carlton’s 1972 campaign, when he won 27 of his rotten team’s 59 games, dates to 40 years ago.

So much has been written about Lefty’s work that it is amazing to consider that an extraordinarily relevant detail is usually omitted from the recounting – one that makes winning 46 percent of one team’s entire supply of victories all the more remarkable.

Steve Carlton did it in a strike-shortened season.

The first sport-wide in-season strike in American history would in later contexts seem so brief as to be almost quaint. But when Opening Day was pushed back by a week forty years ago, and each team lost between six and nine games, it was traumatic – and it contributed to the distinct possibility that Carlton missed an opportunity to win 30 games.

Nats ask fans to ‘Take Back the Park’ vs. Phils

You can’t spell effen Phillies without Feffer!

When it comes to the Phillies, chief operating officer Andy Feffer wants Nationals fans to fill up Nationals Park—and for a good reason.

In the last few seasons, whenever the Nationals played their National League East rival in D.C., almost nothing but Phillies fans flocked to the stadium.

...“For several years now, our fans, everybody, have been screaming about the number of Phillies fans that invade our park when we have a series here at Nationals Park,” Feffer said. “Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the Phillies fans in our ballpark in Washington more than anything. We sat down as a group and we said, ‘You know what? It’s time to take our park back in Washington and get our fans in this park.’

“We have a great team this year—one of the best pitching staffs in the National League, if not the best with the addition of Edwin Jackson and Gonzalez. You have [Stephen] Strasburg and Zimmerman healthy. We sat down and said, ‘Let’s do something we’ve never done before. Let’s go out prior to single-game tickets going on sale in March and open it up early starting Friday.

...“Someone asked me, ‘What do you think of Philly and Phillies fans and the series?’” said Feffer. “I couldn’t be more direct. I said, ‘Forget you, Philly. It’s our fans, our time, our park and we are going to fill it with Nationals fans.’ We are going to do everything we can to ensure our fans here in Washington that first opportunity to make that happen.”

OT: NBA Monthly Thread, February 2012

I estimate that there may be more than 10-12 Primates who want to talk about the inevitable dominance of the Philadelphia 76ers, and with our own thread, we won’t detract from what this site is really about: the pharmaceutical industry, allergies, and obscure movies.

Phillies Nation: Why Have Black Fans Rallied Around the Phillies?

Philadelphia Soul!

For people like my father, seeing Howard and Rollins play for the Phillies is a reminder of the progress the team, the sport and this country have made over the years.

“For guys my age, I can remember back in the 1950s when the Phillies were still one of the most racist teams in baseball,” my father told me. “To see guys like Howard and (Jimmy) Rollins on the team now, that means something.”

RLYW: Too-Early Marcel 2012 Season Forecast

Crikey, such excitement in the NL West!

This is current through Francisco Cordero signing with Toronto, and assumes Prince Fielder at 1B and Miguel Cabrera playing a terrible version of 3B for Detroit in 70% of their games, and DHing in 25% of them.

Ryan Howard’s contract looks good to Amaro

Hell…Brill’s Content and Talk looked good to me at one point. So there’s that.

“I’m kind of happy,” Amaro said. “Really happy because if I would’ve had to put eight or nine years on Howard’s deal right now, that would be a little disconcerting. Right now we have Howard for the next five years. I kind of like that rather than giving an eight-, nine- or 10-year deal.”

...Amaro has been criticized for Howard’s contract - it’s worth $25 million per season compared to $24 million for Pujols and $23.7 million for Fielder - and that was before the first baseman tore his Achilles’ tendon making the final out in the team’s NLDS loss to St. Louis.

“He’s still, say what you want about Ryan Howard and how he stacks up against those guys, but there’s not too many people who over the last several years that have had this kind of production and he’s right there with those guys,” Amaro said.

...The numbers are comparable, though Howard ranks third in all but home runs. Amaro, however, said he doesn’t see the Big Piece on the downside of his career.

“I think that Ryan’s the kind of guy - this is one of the reasons we signed him to two long-term deals - even when we signed him to a multi-year deal he got himself in better shape than he’s ever gotten himself into,” Amaro said. “There’s always a fear that guys get complacent. That’s not what we’re going to get out of Ryan. I know Ryan. Ryan’s desire to be successful remains very high. I know there was no one more upset with the way things ended the last couple of years than he is. I think he’s going to be as productive a player as he has been in the past and even more so at times.”

Phillies’ all-star Rollins tells kids to play without fear

Hell, the Red Sox started doing this in 1990…and have won two WS because of it!

Rollins was touched by an ESPN documentary about the plight of the Ugandan team and tweeted about it. He later was contacted by a humanitarian group called “Right to Play,” which organized a trip by that same Canadian LL World Series team to Uganda.

Rollins was joined on the trip by, among others, free-agent first baseman Derrek Lee and former major leaguer Gregg Zaun. He described the experience as, “Awesome.”

“If this facility was over there,” Rollins said, referring to Gomes’ academy, “those kids, the way they learn, the fearlessness with which they play, I think they’d be better than (American) kids at this age, because their mentality is, ‘I’m going to make a mistake and it’s OK to be wrong.’ We grow up with, you have to be perfect before you do it.

“With the way (Ugandan youngsters) think and that learning curve, they’ll actually end up better faster. Now, the talent level is equal. It’s just the way that they go about learning, with the fearlessness that will give them an edge, from what I saw. They don’t get a chance to practice. It’s just strap up, play catch and then go play a scrimmage game. That’s what they do.”

Salisbury: Phillies sign speedster Juan Pierre

Woo-hoo! Gives him a shot at his 8th Caught Stealing title!

That’s why they signed veteran outfielder Juan Pierre, a three-time league stolen base champ, to a minor-league contract on Friday. Pierre will compete for a big-league job in spring training.

“Juan’s speed element is something we clearly do not have on our bench,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “There are no guarantees he’ll be on our club. He’ll have to earn it and be the right fit for our club. But he has a legitimate chance because of that speed element.”

Phillies officials have been looking to add some speed to their bench all winter. Even before Pierre, the team had signed veteran Scott Podsednik to a minor-league deal and invited him to big-league spring-training camp. Podsednik was the National League stolen base leader with 70 for Milwaukee in 2004, but he will turn 36 in March and has been plagued by foot problems in recent seasons. Pierre, 34, won two National League stolen base crowns and led the AL with 68 while playing for the White Sox in 2010. He had 27 for the Sox last season.

With Domonic Brown likely headed for more development time in Triple A, Pierre and Podsednik will create a little spring drama by competing for the fifth outfielder’s job.

“They’ll be battling,” Amaro said.

Former Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser dies

RIP, Andy Musser…Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster for over a quarter-century.

Former Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser died peacefully in his home in Wynnewood on Sunday, his family said.

Mr. Musser was 74. No cause of death was listed.

The native of Lemoyne, Pa., broadcast Phillies games for 26 years. At one time or another, Mr. Musser did play-by-play for every major sports team in Philadelphia except the Flyers.

A Syracuse graduate and Army veteran, he broadcast two World Series, two Super Bowls, two Masters Toumaments, and numerous football and basketball games on national networks.

After leaving the Phillies in 2001, Mr. Musser worked in private business.  He is survived by Eun Joo, his wife of 50 years; two children: Allan of Roswell, Ga., and Luanne Zimmerman of Lower Gwynedd, Pa., and four grandchildren.

Rox sign Jaime Moyer to Minor League deal

Fun fact: When the Rockies came into existence, Jaime Moyer was in his eighth Major League season.

The Rockies’ search for a veteran for the starting rotation could take them to the ultimate veteran, 49-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer.

Colorado and Moyer have agreed to a Minor League deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, the club announced on Wednesday. The agreement is pending a physical.

Moyer underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2010 and didn’t pitch last season. The lefty worked as an analyst for ESPN in 2011 but stated that he intended to try to pitch again in ‘12.

Moyer went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA for the Phillies in 2010.

Jimmy Rollins Travels to Uganda to Play with Kids, Freestyle Raps Along the Way

Shortstopyo: Game Beginning.

ESPN The Magazine’s Steve Wulf wrote about Rollins’ experience with the kids. Not surprisingly, the trip seems to have meant as much to Rollins as it did for the kids, who will hopefully get a nicer ball field due in part to Jimmy’s efforts.

The whole story is worth your time, for sure, but we thoroughly enjoyed one nugget in particular. Jimmy was pulled onto a stage during a lunchtime gathering on Martin Luther King Day and busted out a freestyle rap that went something like this, according to ESPN:

“One two one two, in Uganda baseball comes through

Big D Lee in the house and so is me doing it everyday casually

Because we like to play and get down, Uganda, Nsambya, the big towns

I’m not done, we get it down, we get it too, I stand up and push, it’s on you

And when the ball leave the field I’m gonna clown

Walk down the baseline, throw a pound

To the sky, up high, to my fans, we got a plan

Everybody just say baseball … baseball

Everybody say baseball … baseball”

MLB Trade Rumors: Bartolo Colon Agrees to Sign With Unknown Team

Bartolo Colon has agreed to a deal with an unknown club reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter). The right-hander wouldn’t divulge the team because he has not yet passed his physical.

Pretty sure it’s either the All-Stars or the Champs.

Phillies Top-15 Prospects List

1. Trevor May | RHP | Age – 21 | Grade – B

2. Jesse Biddle | LHP | Age – 20 | Grade – B

3. Phillippe Aumont | RHP | Age – 23 | Grade – B/B-

4. Maikel Franco | 3b | Age – 19 | Grade – B-

5. Justin De Fratus | RHP | Age – 24 | Grade – B-

6. Sebastian Valle | C | Age – 21 | Grade – C+

7. Larry Greene | LF/1b | Age – 19 | Grade – C+

8. Freddy Galvis | SS | Age – 22 | Grade – C+

9. Austin Wright | LHP | Age – 22 | Grade – C+

10. Jon Pettibone | RHP | Age – 21 | Grade – C+

11. Brody Colvin | RHP | Age – 21 | Grade – C+

12. Lisalberto Bonilla | RHP | Age – 21 | Grade – C+

13. Jiwan James | CF | Age – 23 | Grade – C+

14. Tyler Greene | SS | Age – 19 | Grade – C+

15. Adam Morgan | LHP | Age – 22 | Grade – C+

The Greatest Animated Sports .GIFs of 2011

32. Cliff Lee declines to run out his own grounder

I’m a firm opponent of the designated hitter rule, because just as I love to watch a punter try to scoop up a bad snap and try to throw it, or see a 7’1” center with no range try to chuck up a last-second three, I love watching pitchers hit.

Never will I come closer to seeing what it would be like if someone with my skill set tried to perform on a professional level. I mean, how nuts is this: in the National League, five to 10 percent of all at-bats are taken by men who, by everyone’s admission, are profoundly bad at it! It’s Dada performance art, and the ubiquity of such comical nonsense—over the course of a game, a season, and the history of baseball—is unrivaled by anything in any other sport.

This GIF features a delightful bonus: the catcher starts jogging to the dugout well before the play ends. It’s beautiful.

Roy Halladay helps rescue man after snake attack

The snake apparently bit him on the ass but he was able to free himself before the snake wrapped him up. Instead the snake wrapped around his motor on the back of his little 14 foot dugout canoe and tore it off the back of his boat. Doc and I helped him gather his gear and flip the boat back over and then towed him home. You could definitely see the bite mark on his ass, but he was able to fight it off; amazing.

Halladay lifetime vs. the Snakes: 3-1, 2.73, 32/4 K/BB, and now, one save.

Jayson Stark (ESPN): Strange stuff … in the 2011 postseason

The postseason edition of trivia and oddbits that Jayson Stark excels at collecting and presenting…

Here’s one I didn’t know:

All four teams that advanced to the LCS—the Cardinals, Brewers, Rangers and Tigers—got outscored by the teams they played in the Division Series … and won.

Deadspin: Legendary Columnist Bill Conlin Resigns Over Forthcoming Philly Inquirer Bombshell

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top investigative reporter, Nancy Phillips, has written a story containing what we’re told are allegations of child molestation against sportswriter Bill Conlin, a longtime columnist at the rival Daily News. Conlin resigned just moments ago, according to a source at the Daily News.

Conlin, who turns 78 this May, won the Ford C. Frick Award last May. The story supposedly will drop soon (the newspapers publish under a joint-operating agreement, sharing some resources and a website but otherwise competing for the same readers). Conlin has hired an attorney to defend himself against the piece. We’ll have more details on this. For now, we can tell you that Conlin is at his condo in Largo, Fla.

And Bill Conlin’s articles on BTF...

Ed Wade Returns, Hopefully to Claim His Ring

The Phillies will be living trophies in his diabolical collection!

Wade’s tenure as Phillies GM wasn’t considered to be a particularly good one at the time, but he returns to a team that still fields a talented group of players drafted during his time here, including Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, and even Vance Worley. (Worley opted to go to college, but was again drafted in 2008, this time by Pat Gillick’s regime.) Charlie Manuel was also his guy, and he selected Shane Victorino in the Rule 5 draft (but almost returned him). Wade and his scouts drafted the recently departed Ryan Madson, as well as Pat Burrell.

That’s not to say he didn’t also make some critical missteps. It’s hard to think of anyone who was less popular during a Philly tenure than Wade. But, in its own cruel way, history has been increasingly kind to his legacy. The guys listed above finally did win us a World Series. While Wade couldn’t himself put it all together, he drew the prototype on the cocktail napkin and saw through it the startup phase. I certainly didn’t appreciate what he had put in place at the time, how close he was.

The Gillick Era will be seen by many, particularly as years pass, as the phase in which the Phillies went from being the bums who were a constant letdown to the heroes who have owned the city’s sporting hearts from 2008 ‘til question marks. But Gillick would be the first to credit Wade for the work he did leading up to that.

Boston Red Sox - Red Sox have more competition than ever - The Boston Globe

This week’s Boston Globe Sunday baseball column.

ESPN: Rollins re-signs with Phillies for 3/33

Philadelphia narrowly avoids giving playing time to someone under the age of 33.

The Philadelphia Phillies have reached agreement with shortstop Jimmy Rollins on a three-year, $33-million contract, according to a baseball source.

The contract also contains a vesting option for a fourth year worth $11 million, the source said.

Dontrelle Willis joins Phillies, leaves admirers in Cincy

Whatchoo talkin about Willis?!?

After word of his move to Philadelphia got out Tuesday, Willis expressed his gratitude to the Reds via Twitter.

“I just want to say I owe the whole reds organization a great deal,’’ he wrote. “Great staff top to bottom and I wish those guys all the best.’‘

Willis actually pitched better than his record indicated with the Reds, at least initially. He had no wins but a 3.41 ERA through his first six starts and allowed more than three earned runs only once in his first 10 starts before posting an 8.27 ERA in September.

Phillies Trade Francisco to Blue Jays for Local Product

The ‘Cisco Kid was a friend of mine.

Outfielder Ben Francisco was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for left-hander Frank Gailey, the Phillies announced today.

Gailey, a 26-year-old native of Philadelphia, split last season between single-A Dunedin and double-A New Hampshire in the Blue Jays’ minor league system where he combined to go 5-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 45 relief appearances.  For his minor league career he has gone 23-15 with a 2.45 ERA in 175 games (one start).  Gailey, Toronto’s 23rd round selection in the June 2007 draft, attended Archbishop Carroll High School and West Chester University.

Bill Conlin: Rollins in the Cards

I once had a fleshy Conlinesque druncle who’d freak out whenever I’d flick juice-less, hence disposable, boogers his way at the dinner table. Strange man.

When I’m King of the World . . .

Manager Mike Scioscia likes to run. He has a lineup filled with rabbits, including Erick Aybar and two of the game’s fastest players in outfielders Peter Bourjos and Millville’s Mike Trout, 19.

With that kind of speed in front of him, if Trout is ready to lead off or bat No. 2, Pujols might drive in 150 runs.

Ah, but what has the Pujols signing done for a Rollins re-signing that seemed close to dotted-line time until the Angels surfaced as the “Mystery Team” that had been lurking in the shadows while the Cardinals and Marlins tried to wrap him up? No doubt it will get him a fourth year and a better price from the Phillies. Or, horror of horrors, the Cardinals, who just saved themselves $250 million, go all in and decide to upgrade their shortstop situation with the best infielder out there? Could happen. Be very afraid.

When I’m King of the World . . .

Phils will dive into the deep end of the International talent pool just to see what it’s like . . .I’m talking a big, expensive, defecting Cuban five-tooler like Yoenis Cespedes, who is said to be the centerfield equivalent of 106 mph power arm Aroldis Chapman. They say the 26-year-old has the opposite-field power of Vlad Guerrero and the size and running speed of No. 1 prospect Trout. And all he wants is $30 million, a bargain considering you don’t have to pay a “posting” bounty to Fidel Castro, the way suitors for Japanese phenom Yu Darvish must pay the Nippon Ham Fighters just for the right to negotiate with their gas-pumping righthander.

Rule V Results

1.Astros take Rhiner Cruz from Mets.
2.Twins take Terry Doyle from White Sox.
3.Mariners take Lucas Luetge from Brewers.
4.Orioles take Ryan Flaherty from Cubs.
5.Royals take Cesar Cabral from Red Sox; traded to Yankees for cash.
6.Cubs take Lendy Castillo from Phillies.
8.Pirates take Gustavo Nunez from Tigers.
  21.Braves take Robert Fish from Angels.
22.Cardinals take Erik Komatsu from Nationals.
23.Red Sox take Marwin Gonzalez from Cubs.
  25.Diamondbacks take Brett Lorin from Pirates.
  29.Yankees take Brad Meyers from Nationals.

Brookover: Phillies’ deal for Howard not all that bad in light of Pujols and Fielder situations

Yeah, but doesn’t Ryan Howard’s contract kick in right around the time OSIRIS-REx starts sending signals back from asteroid 1999 RQ36?

Given those circumstances, the Phillies might have been pushing for a deal with Fielder instead of Howard. Fielder, after all, is four years and seven months younger than Howard and is coming off a much better season.

Amaro said he’s perfectly happy to have Howard for a five-year deal because he believes he may have had to pay him over 10 years if he had hit the free-agent market.

“I don’t want to pay him for 10 years,” the general manager said. “I don’t think any of those three guys would be wanting less than the other.”

...But what’s done is done, and the Phillies have to live with what they paid Howard. It’s not as if they are stuck with a bad player. Howard ranked sixth in baseball and third in the National League in RBIs last season with 116, and that’s because he hit .298 with runners in scoring position.

...The clock starts ticking on Howard’s five-year, $125 million deal in 2012, and there is a large population that believes the Phillies overpaid for their slugger. Maybe they could have had Fielder if they had waited. It’s doubtful that Pujols would have left St. Louis unless the Phillies were willing to pay an absurd amount of money.

There are a lot of consolation prizes worse than Ryan Howard.

Brookover: Freddy Galvis remains an option at shortstop for Phillies

Joe Jordan, the Phillies’ new director of player development, recently watched the 22-year-old Galvis play for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League and turned in a favorable scouting report to Amaro.

“I really liked the reports I have gotten from Joe Jordan on Galvis,” Amaro said. “The reports were good on how he has progressed offensively.”

...Amaro said he was still in discussions with Rollins and other free-agent shortstops. He also conceded that there would be some risk in starting a rookie shortstop with no big-league and limited triple-A experience on a team with World Series aspirations.

“You never know how a guy is going to react, but we like his maturity level and makeup,” Amaro said. “But, of course, there is a risk, especially when you’re talking about replacing a guy who has arguably been the most steady shortstop in the game for many, many years.

“But I’m not afraid to take a risk. I look back at Kevin Stocker and think about how steady he was defensively and how much better offensively he was than anticipated.”

Neat. I look forward to a Freddy Galvis/Bobby Abreu-type deal.

Hunter: Jimmy Rollins and the Hall of Fame

Rollins: A Night at the Cooperstown Village Vanguard?

Buster Olney of ESPN posed a very interesting question this morning about Jimmy Rollins.  Rollins, who has spent his entire career with Philadelphia and is entering free agency, has put together a very nice career.  How nice though?  Let’s take a look.

ESPN Buster Olney: Within two seasons, Rollins could have 2,100 hits, 200 homers and 400 steals, as SS who won three Gold Gloves and an MVP Award. HOF?

...In all I think these comparisons paint the picture of a very good shortstop, but not a Hall of Fame shortstop.  Rollins can have an incredible finish to his career and prove me wrong, but the current numbers don’t lie.  So to answer Buster Olney’s original question, no, Jimmy Rollins is nowhere near a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Former Mets closer Billy Wagner won’t consider Phillies offer

There’s guns across the Delaware River aimin’ at ya

The Phillies were interested in having Billy Wagner come out of retirement next season, but the star closer passed on both returning to baseball and rejoining the Mets’ arch rivals.

Wagner, who retired after a sparkling 2010 with the Braves, told The Post yesterday the Phillies called him directly after the 2011 season ended.

“It was after the regular season ... just to see if I was even contemplating coming back or had an itch or anything,” Wagner said. “I just told them, ‘No, I do not have an itch.’”

...He says he has zero interest in pitching again.

“No, I’m done. I’ve got a major role on a JV baseball team,” Wagner said of his current post at the Miller School of Albemarle in Charlottesville, Va. “I’m JV baseball coach.”

Joura: Reviewing my 33-year-old grudge against Richie Hebner

or…I Used To Spit on Your Grave Digger (mere zarchasm).

So then why all the disdain, from me and countless others, for poor Richie Hebner? If you were there, no explanation is needed but if you weren’t it’s not really that much of a mystery. Hebner committed the one Cardinal Sin of a ballplayer, one that if he was playing in the 21st Century, either he or his agent would have had the required media savvy to prevent from happening.

When the Mets traded for him, he made no secret that he didn’t want to be on the team.

...And then to the average fan, it seemed like Hebner just gave up. In retrospect, I have no doubt that it was merely a slump. But in 52 games and 194 PA, Hebner posted a .190/.281/.256 line. The Mets went 13-39 in that span and it should be pointed out that they won the first three games of Hebner’s slide. Over the previous two seasons, fans had been accustomed to seeing some rotten, uninspired play. But that stretch right after the All-Star break seemed even worse than what had become accepted as normal.

...Today is Richie Hebner’s birthday and he’s now 64 years old. Maybe it’s the influence of the McCartney song that references Hebner’s current age – “Indicate precisely what you mean to say…” – but it’s time to bury the hatchet and not directly in his back, either. I’ve hated this man I’ve never met for over 30 years now and I don’t want to do it anymore.

As my birthday present to this senior citizen, I’m taking Richie Hebner off of my personal “On Notice” board. Happy Birthday, Mr. Hebner – let’s both pretend that the 1979 baseball season never happened.

NYBD: Silva: Selig’s Final Act Should Be Reinstating Pete Rose

Some shouted “R. Budd Selig, don’t do this!”  He asked people to “please leave the chat room if this will offend you.”

If Bud Selig is true to his word and retires at the end of 2012, he should end his commissionership with the reinstatement of Pete Rose. It would be a fitting final chapter to a period where the game transformed for the better. It would also dispel the label that he’s a cowardly commissioner that rules by consensus and has yet to make a controversial decision, even if it were for the better. Remember, steroid testing was more a result of political pressure than Selig’s courage and vision.  Personally, I would gain a ton of respect for a man whom I believe has been in the right place at the right time in the games history. A lot of his success has been due to him standing on an oil field. Dealing with the Pete Rose issue might be his toughest and most controversial decision yet.

...The clock is ticking Bud. Is the new CBA going to be the cherry on top of your legacy? Not a bad encore, but you could do better. Do you want to go down as the guy that benefitted from the inevitable growth of the game? Is your stewardship only about committees and politics or are you ready to make a real decision? One that could potentially spark debate around the game like only steroids has in the past. Reinstate Pete Rose. Show us that you have at least one fastball in you after nearly 20 years of throwing us nothing but proverbial junk balls.