Hochman: Logos say a lot about teams

Stan Hochman...hey, at least he dislikes Frank Crosetti.

They talked softly because Manny Ramirez totes a big stick. They patiently explained that the team was called the Isotopes, and that an isotope is any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and position in the periodic table and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass.

Manny was OK with that, especially when they told him the air was thin and the fences cozy and the pitching mediocre. And yo, testosterone-breath, the team logo was cool, an abstract A with no crossbar. Just two of those slanted circles featuring an atom or a proton or a neuron, whatever.

It is a cool logo because it refers to the secret place outside of Albuquerque where scientists perfected an atomic bomb that blew away huge chunks of two Japanese cities and brought a swift end to World War II, making the world safe for democracy once again.

...We’ve had our share of woeful logos in the city. Take the A’s symbol, an elephant perched on a ball with a bat in its trunk. Ugh.

It was bad, but not as awful as the Red Sox, represented by a pair of red sawx, appropriate for a laundromat but not a big-league baseball team.

Sports Radio Interviews Darren Daulton: “I Can Assure You There’s Probably No One In Any Sport That Has Taken More Drugs Than I Have.”

I understand that, I’m just trying to pin it down,where you using steroids as a player?

“If I told you all the drugs that I’ve taken, Mike, you would open that up as a can of worms (laughing).  I don’t feel that you or anyone else needs to know anything that I’ve ever done to respect me.  No disrespect, that’s just the way I am.  I feel if I told you all the drugs I’ve ever taken that would reflect on someone else.  I CAN ASSURE YOU THERE’S PROBABLY NO ONE IN ANAY SPORT THAT HAS TAKEN MORE DRUGS THAN I HAVE AND I THINK PEOPLE STILL RESPECT ME.  IT’S NOT WHAT GOES IN, IT’S WHAT COMES OUT .” (editor’s note, he wasn’t yelling, just wanted those comments to stick out)

The Columnists: Isaacs: BEWARE THE BLOGS!

Least Chipmunk: Tamias minimus bloggerami.

John Gonzalez, who strayed from the wise-guy juvenile humor that is his stock in trade, lamented that such was the state of affairs today about tainted baseball druggies that an Ibanez would have to suffer such suspicion. That lame excuse mattered little in light of his having publicized the item in the first place. He was no better than the blogger who also gave legitimate factors that explained Ibanez’ improved play, but only after first casting suspicion on the Phillie stalwart.

The responsible journalist takes note of such a rumor and checks it out behind the scenes. If he can substantiate it with reliable sources, he then can print it. If not, he treats it for what it is, a worthless item that gets no checking by a blogger, one that even a gossip columnist shouldn’t touch.

In a sterling salvo of mealy-mouthed prose, Gonzalez concluded his exercise in hypocrisy by writing, “Until there’s proof to the contrary, shouldn’t all of us--from the traditional mainstream to bloggers--be judicious about calling people cheaters? It’s easier to sling mud than ever before, which is why we need to be careful when taking aim.”

And the powers that be at the Inquirer ought to be judicious by giving the license of a sports column only to adults.

Philadelphia Inquirer/Fitzpatrick: Baseball, radio still go hand in hand

After waiting in line for hours at Richie Ashburn’s 1997 public viewing, grown men, tears in their eyes, left behind transistor radios. At a 2002 memorial service for St. Louis broadcaster Jack Buck, a 61-voice chorus and full orchestra serenaded the mourning multitudes.

...

It’s been nearly 88 years since Pittsburgh radio station KDKA first broadcast a ball game, an 8-5 Pirates victory over the Phillies on Aug. 5, 1921, and yet the marriage remains strong, the romance just as enticing.

...

“Radio is the perfect medium for baseball,” said Curt Smith, the author of the definitive biography of baseball announcers, Voices of the Game. “It’s active, not passive,” he said. “It’s theater of the imagination. The structure of the game makes it perfect for radio and imperfect for TV.

plus, Manuel decides to speak out

Phillies Player Involved in Altercation With Fan in Tampa?

The St. Pete Times has a brief mention of an altercation between an unnamed Phillies player and a fan in Tampa that took place after Thursday’s game:  “An incident took place between a fan and a Phillies player after Thursday’s game, the Rays confirmed. ‘At this point it is a police matter and for that reason we won’t have any further comment,’ the team said in a statement, but did not identify the player. St. Petersburg Police officials could not be reached late Friday night, but a dispatcher confirmed that a report for a battery call was taken at the stadium at about 11 p.m. Thursday. The Phillies could not be reached for comment.”

On a separate The700Level post yesterday afternoon, commenter will.H offered a second-hand account of a similar-sounding incident, naming a Phillies player and describing a physical and verbal altercation. With no official word from the teams, the police, or any players, we’re going to leave it at that for now and not speculate any further until more details are available.

Thanks to The Beltin’ Barnald.

Philadelphia Daily News: Phillies not content with knowing umps blew replay vs. Rays

“The first time I see Bob Watson, I’m going to have him sit down and explain that to me,” Manuel said. “I’ve got some questions I want to ask.”

In the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 10-4 loss to the Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, an umpiring crew led by chief Gary Cederstrom used instant replay to determine whether a fan had interfered with a ground-rule double by Pat Burrell. Had replay determined that a fan interfered with the ball, baserunner Carl Crawford would have been awarded home instead of having to stop at third.

While the review ultimately worked in the Phillies’ favor, keeping Crawford at third base after no fan interference was found, the mere fact that replay was used on a seemingly innocuous play in a game they trailed by six runs angered the Phillies.

Turns out, their anger was justified.

Yesterday, Major League Baseball informed Cederstrom that his crew had erred in using replay. By rule, replay is supposed to be used only on potential home-runs involving boundary calls (whether the ball is fair or foul; whether the ball cleared the wall; whether a fan interfered with the ball).

“I’m sorry about the confusion that was raised,” Cederstrom told the Associated Press yesterday, reading from a prepared statement. “As you know, instant replay is to be used only in boundary or fair-foul calls involving home runs or potential home runs. I regret the error that we had.”

MLB: Slumping Rollins to sit at least two games

Big Ugly Mouth...ain’t so loud no more.

FanGraphs, a sabermetric-based Web site, shows that of the balls Rollins has put in play, he has hit line drives in 16.5 percent of his at-bats, which is the lowest percentage of his career. He also has hit infield fly balls 14.4 percent of the time, which is the highest percentage of his career.

In other words, Rollins is not hitting the ball as hard as he has in the past.

...Rollins, who has a .237 OBP in the leadoff spot, is last.

“I think he’s the leadoff hitter,” Manuel said. “He is our leadoff hitter. ... To me, we’ve got to get Jimmy right. That’s the whole purpose of sitting him. I don’t see moving him around in the lineup helping him one bit at all if you want to know the truth. I don’t understand that. I don’t see it. I’ve been around him for about five years and he is our leadoff hitter.”

So Rollins is definitely back in the top spot?

“More than likely, yeah,” Manuel said.

Ken Rosenthal: Lee may cost too much for Dodgers

The only way the Indians will trade Lee, sources say, is if they are offered a potential top-of-the-rotation starter at the level of the Braves’ Tommy Hanson or Red Sox’s Clay Buchholz.

Such a pitcher would be the centerpiece of the Indians’ multiplayer demand. And unless ownership orders a reduction in payroll, the Indians will not going to budge.

Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young award winner, remains part of the Indians’ plans not just for this season but also next year. The team, which lacks a suitable replacement, can retain him by exercising his $8 million club option.

The Dodgers engaged in serious talks with the Indians last summer for left-hander CC Sabathia and third baseman Casey Blake, then obtained Blake for minor-league catcher Carlos Santana and pitcher Jon Meloan.

They do not match up as well for Lee.

The Dodgers’ best young starting pitchers, right-hander Chad Billingsley and lefty Clayton Kershaw, are part of the major-league rotation and all but untouchable. Their best pitching prospect, right-hander James McDonald, is not considered top-of-the-rotation material.

Thus, a package of say McDonald, third baseman Blake DeWitt and one or two other prospects would not be enough to satisfy the Indians. The Phillies have also asked about Lee, but balked at the price, sources say.

Teams will continue to covet Lee, who is 4-4 with a 2.20 ERA in his last 13 starts. The best guess is that he will not be traded, but the market currently is devoid of starting pitchers who are difference-makers.

In the end, the Indians might get what they want.

Topkin: Tampa Bay Rays find small crowds “bewildering”

s’house is half filled…

Rays officials were clearly disappointed in the relatively small crowd of 19,608 for Tuesday’s opening game and similar projections for the other two games of the World Series rematch with the Phillies.

“As we were planning for the season, we circled this series as one of the most compelling of the year,’’ team president Matt Silverman said Tuesday night. “It’s a rare privilege to host a rematch of the World Series, especially against a team with local connections. Based on all the information we had, we projected full houses.  It’s a huge miss.”

Silverman said the Rays are perplexed why attendance hasn’t been better - the Rays went into play Tuesday averaging 22,796, which was 10th in the American League and 23rd in the majors. Going into the season, they said their goal was to match the MLB average, which was 29,562 entering play Tuesday.

“Quite frankly, we don’t know what to attribute it to, but it’s not just the economy,’’ he said.  “It’s bewildering. There seems to be great affection for the team and excitement for the ‘09 campaign, but it’s not showing up at the gate at all.”

Philadelphia Inquirer/Sheridan: Phils showing how hard it is to repeat

The team that won the World Series last year was fueled by a fascinating combination of strong self-confidence and a burning need to prove itself. The confidence is still there. The need to prove something is not burning quite so bright.

Take away games against the Nationals and the Phillies have a losing record. They just went 1-8 in front of sellout crowds at Citizens Bank Park on this homestand. They take false comfort in maintaining first place in the National League East, as if they deserve credit for the scuffling Mets’ inability to make a move on them.

It is true the Phillies had a losing record in June last year and then went on to win the World Series. It doesn’t follow that a losing record this June means another championship.

During the long, mostly dreadful history of this franchise, plenty of bad Junes have preceded disappointing Septembers and idle Octobers. Last year’s result was the exception, not the rule.

Murray Chass: NOT THE MAGNIFICENT METS

The Mets expect Maine to return to the rotation in 10 days to two weeks, and Minaya was cautiously optimistic about Perez (at left), who hasn’t pitched for the Mets since May 2.

“Perez finally had a good session yesterday,” Minaya said Friday. “He’s not ready now. It depends on how his knee responds. He’s on a cycle to pitch every five days. He threw well yesterday, 91, 92. That was good news.”

Minaya was not interested in getting into the sweepstakes for Pedro Martinez, who has been throwing for about half a dozen teams. The general manager, however, asked Cleveland about Cliff Lee, last year’s American League Cy Young award winner, but the Indians decided not to trade him.

In the meantime, while the Mets tread water awaiting the return of their injured starters, they need to figure out how to convert late-inning leads into victories. In the space of nine recent days, leading to the weekend, they lost four games which they led after the fifth inning.

The losses resulted from a combination of their relief pitchers giving up runs and their hitters shutting down and not producing late-inning add-on runs.

The Phillies, on the other hand, have demonstrated that they are a relentless and a resilient team, and even if the Mets remain in the race, they will have a difficult task in overcoming them.

McCAFFERY: Phils need to sharpen mental game

and don’t forget Vanadium Honing Rod Night at the ballpark this weekend!

It’s a dangerous intersection, that corner of baseball coincidence and baseball justice. And history warns to cross it only after 162 games of looking both ways. The Phillies have played just 32 home games this season, not enough to draw a binding verdict. But since Howard declared open season on speculation, well there is this theory for the Phillies’ most enduring crisis: They don’t think.

And that means there is justice, not coincidence at work.

That means the Phillies deserved their 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday, and that it wasn’t just a matter of inches, bounces or sour luck, of injuries, fatigue or distraction.

The Phillies are losing because they deserve to be losing —- a sentiment that even some of their most loyal backers have started to elevate from whispers to gripes. “A lot of mental mistakes,” Charlie Manuel allowed.

Mental mistakes, in baseball and everywhere else, are often the reverberations of fatigue. And the Phillies are sagging under the pressure of losing their closer, their No. 2 starter and now, Raul Ibanez, who has been their season’s MVP. They didn’t bargain in Clearwater to have John Mayberry as their starting right fielder, Antonio Bastardo in their rotation and their bullpen in a daily uproar. So they are spinning, and it shows.

Philadelphia Inquirer/Ford: Manuel is near boiling point with listless Phils

Don’t make me come in there…

In the third inning yesterday, Toronto shortstop Marco Scutaro got a leadoff walk from Joe Blanton and just kept going, scutaroing all the way to second base when Blanton and the middle infielders stopped paying attention to him. It was embarrassing and did not please the crowd - the 26th sellout crowd in 32 home dates - which had come out despite a long morning of rain.

These things add up. Against the Red Sox over the weekend, Howard had taken his time picking up an errant pickoff attempt and the Boston runner went all the way to third base. Just doesn’t look good.

Charlie Manuel notices all this stuff and he’s thought about jumping on the Phillies for the lackadaisical recent play. But, then again, he sees that the team is also a little beaten up, a little overworked in the bullpen, and he’s decided to wait.

“There are things I don’t have to tell our players. I’ll see them take care of it in-house and I’ll hear them. They’ll call one another out,” Manuel said. “There is a time. If things get to a place where it’s time for me to talk to them, believe me, I will.”

Charlie knows best, at least until the shine begins to fade on those World Series rings, but here’s betting that the next mental error sets him off. If the Phillies don’t win the series against Baltimore, that might light the torch, too.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I’m headed that way, I guess.”

Buzz Bissinger Is Back, And He Hates Harold Reynolds For Some Reason (Audio)

Remember when that international team of archaeologists went into the Chiapas jungle to look for proof of a Zoque civilization? Well, attention Zoqueian searchers, keep an eye out for Bizz Buzzinger...BECAUSE HE’S ALSO FRIGGIN’ LOST!

Buzz Bissinger famously ripped on Sports Blogs (and Will Leitch) over a year ago, and you would think that in the time that elapsed he would have figured them out. Well you’d think wrong. Bissinger went on the Deadcast this week, and somehow came to the conclusion that Harold Reynolds himself, not the website “Hugging Harold Reynolds”, added the Raul Ibanez Steroid Story to his site.

Well then. Now that’s completely and utterly untrue. I think Buzz Bissinger is one of the best things to ever happen to blogs, but the guy still has a lot to learn about them.

Phillies’ Ibanez lands on disabled list

The Phillies placed outfielder Raul Ibanez on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday morning with a strained left groin and recalled outfielder John Mayberry Jr. from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take his place.

Ibanez was hitting .312 and was second in the National League with 22 homers and 59 RBIs.

“He was not pleased with it,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “[But] we have to kind of see the forest for the trees here. He stood a chance to really damage the groin if he continues to play on it, and if he does that, he could be out for a very, very long period of time, and it just doesn’t make any sense for us to do that with him.”

Amaro did not set a timetable for Ibanez’s return. The 37-year-old is scheduled for an MRI exam on Thursday afternoon.

Ibanez’s groin had been bothering him periodically since April, Amaro said, but it only became debilitating recently. He was 0-for-8 with five strikeouts in two games against the Blue Jays, and had just six hits in his past 31 at-bats (.194). He had noticeable difficulty running in the outfield and on the basepaths during Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to Toronto.

“Oh, it’s affected his play,” Amaro said. “When he got back on the field yesterday and played, it got to the point where the discomfort was enough for us to shut him down.”

Thanks to Vet.

MLB: Manuel, Maddon select All-Star Game coaches

With the game being played in St. Louis, it’s no surprise that Manuel selected Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa as one of his coaches, but it wasn’t just hometown favoritism. La Russa has been an All-Star manager five times, most recently leading the National League team in 2007.

Joining that duo on the bench will be Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, a nine-time All Star player himself, including four appearances in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform. He also managed the Cards from 1990-1995, and has been an All-Star manager six times, all in the American League. In fact, Manuel himself was one of Torre’s All-Star coaches in 2002.

...

In the American League, Maddon selected Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman and Seattle Mariners skipper Don Wakamatsu to join him on the bench for the game.

It will mark the Major League All-Star Game debut in any role for both of Maddon’s coaches. Maddon himself was a participant in the 2003 game as the bench coach of the defending 2002 World Series champion Angels.

Conlin: Conlin’s All-Time Phillies Call-Stars

Studio shows? There’s Ricky Bottalico doing “Phillies Post-Game Live” and “Daily News Live” on Comcast SportsNet. That’s Mitch Williams, peering owlishly over his granny glasses on the MLB Channel and various CSN gigs. Here’s John Kruk, administering equal doses of wisdom and dead-pan smack on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight.”

So, hum a few bars of “Auld Lang Syne” while I give you the All-Time Phillies Call-Stars by position:

* John Kruk (1989-94). No further introduction is necessary for an All-Star player, ‘93 Phils icon, self-deprecating author and razor-sharp analyst.

* Joe Morgan (1983). The Wheeze Kid and Hall of Famer ranks with tennis genius John McEnroe as the best sports analysts going, despite misspeaks and blown facts that have earned him the ultimate tribute to fame, a blog site called “Fire Joe Morgan.” Two Emmys . . . The current ESPN A-team analyst called both Giants and A’s games before his long network career.

* Mitch Williams (1991-93). Wild Thing earned forgiveness for the 1993 pitch that sank a million hopes by refusing to slink into the shadows and by revealing himself not only as a good guy, but as a standup guy. And once Mitch grinned into the hot lights that cause severe lockjaw in so many, he revealed a talent for straight shots fired with a folksy, humorous and authoritative delivery. His only foreseeable problem will be to budget time for all the work coming his way.

Yep, the authoritative delivery of Mitch Williams’ nightly reprimanding of the baseball world is a must see.

Zolecki: Rollins won’t let bad luck get him down

Rollins: Talk Is Cheap Vol V.

FanGraphs Baseball, a sabermetric-based Web site, measures how players make outs. Rollins has hit line drives for 17.1 percent of his outs this season, which is the lowest percentage of line drive outs in his career. Raul Ibanez is the only Phillies regular with a lower percentage (15.3 percent) of line drive outs. Rollins also has hit infield fly balls for outs 14.4 percent of the time, which is the highest percentage of his career. It also is the second-highest mark on the team this season behind Shane Victorino (18.4 percent).

So while Rollins might have run into some bad luck, he also hasn’t been hitting the ball as hard as he has in the past.

“I’m not swinging the bat as well,” Rollins said. “Let’s say my MVP year. I hit the ball well, but sometimes some balls fell in for me. Let’s say this year, some balls hit hard that didn’t fall in suddenly fall in. I’m easily at .270 and nobody is really paying attention. But when it doesn’t happen, it can look worse than what it is. Of course, baseball is full of numbers and the numbers are horrible.

“But Ted Williams hit .250 one year. And he’s probably the greatest to ever play the game. Everybody is going to go through stuff. It’s just at the end of the year, how much did you help your team win one way or another? I’ve always felt that way, even when I’m hitting well. Got to try to steal some bags. Got to lead the team in the right direction.”

...But does he deserve to go (to the All-Star Game)?

“It depends what numbers you’re talking about,” Rollins said. “If you want to talk All-Star Game, you pick the best at their position. I still fit in that category. What makes the criteria?”

Hofmann: Phillies’ Utley an old-school player in modern times

Plus he’s a white American player!

There are also numbers, by the way, numbers that back up the intangibles. VORP is a widely used statistic by baseball numbers people. VORP: value over replacement player. It’s basically a calculation of how many more runs a player produces over the course of a season than an average player would produce if given the same opportunity.

Well, Utley has been the leading second baseman in the major leagues in VORP for four seasons running. In the overall calculations, he was 11th among all major leaguers in 2006, 11th again in 2007, sixth in 2008 and seventh so far this season. Pujols was first last year and is second this year (to Minnesota’s Joe Mauer).

So, there are plenty of modern numerical justifications for Utley’s popularity. But Mets third baseman David Wright has similar VORP numbers, plays in a bigger market, is an American player like Utley - a white American player like Utley, for that matter - and Utley still has more than 1 million more votes than Wright.

The reason is the rest of it: the willingness to get hit by an inordinate number of pitches to get on base; the decision last season to play with a hip injury that obviously bothered him and required offseason surgery; the gamesmanship and stoicism and all of that.

Modern numbers and old-time values. It is a combination that makes Utley tough to beat.

The Good Phight: Cohen: Raul Ibanez and the Juice: Another Look at the Numbers

As Robothal recharges…

As you can see, what Ibanez is doing now is hardly unprecedented for him. Yes, this is his best 58-game home run streak and slugging percentage, but it’s not his best 58-game OPS (that was the 1.072 he put up through August 20, 2001) or his best 58-game ISO (that was the .354 he put up through August 21, 2002). His best RBI total isn’t even on this chart, as it’s through August 22, 2002, with 67 RBI.

Now I want to make one thing entirely clear.  I really don’t care much about steroid use in baseball.  I really never have.  I enjoy watching whatever product gets put on the field.  I know the athletes do all sorts of things to get themselves ready that us mere mortals could never do:  much of it completely legal but still completely out of reach to the average person, some of it completely illegal, others of it in some gray area.  I just can’t bring myself to care.  For all I know, every player in baseball, including Raul Ibanez, is doing something fishy.  Or it’s only the small number who have been caught.  Or somewhere in between.  I’ll never know and just can’t bring myself to care.

So is Raul Ibanez juicing?  Like I said, I don’t care and I don’t and won’t ever know.  But, what he’s doing now is not unprecedented in his long and productive career.  There is just no spike in performance that is so unusual for him that we have to conclude that he is taking steroids.  That I do know.

Jeff Pearlman: “Not for you, bud.”

I remember Hoyt Wilhelm once treating me like a semi-moist turdula. It wasn’t until years later that I fully understood about the insane pain cataplextic glare sufferers must go through.

A few days ago a newspaper takeout writer I know—award-winning; highly skilled; great guy—approached Jayson Werth in the clubhouse of the Philadelphia Phillies. The scribe was working on a piece about this or that, and he politely asked Werth whether he had a few minutes.

Werth’s reply? “Not for you, bud.” Then he walked away.

For a moment, let’s think about that. Let’s really think about that. In my life, I’ve been approached by some dazzlingly annoying people. Politicians, panhandlers, religious nutties, cell phone salesmen, editors. Never—absolutely never—would I speak to any in the manner Werth spoke to the writer (a man, for the record, Werth had never before met).

Not for you, bud.

Not for you, bud!?

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. Not for you, bud!? Who the hell is Jayson Werth to speak to anyone with such blatant disrespect? (Brief synopsis: He’s a seventh-year journeyman compared to Ryan Church and Shane Spencer, among other lesser-weights, by Baseball-Reference.com). In fact, scratch that. Whether you’re Jayson Werth or Ryan Howard; Bad Ronald or the Rolling Stones … nobody has the right to talk to others as if they’re the grime beneath their shoes. We all live, we all eat, we all poop, we all die. Fame and money are nice and dandy and swell, but, well, big s%$#. (And Jayson Werth isn’t even famous.)

Philly.com: Pablo Ozuna Suspended for Performance-Enhancing Drugs

First, Alex Rodriguez.  Next, Pablo Ozuna.  How long will Raul Ibanez last with this onslaught against Zs!

Triple-A Lehigh Valley infielder Pablo Ozuna, 34, has been suspended 50 games for taking performance-enhancing drugs, under the minor league drug program, a person with knowledge of the situation tells the Inquirer.

This is Ozuna’s first season with the Phillies organization. In 309 games over seven major league seasons, Ozuna has batted .282. He spent most of spring training with the Phillies, and is batting .294 in 51 games with Lehigh Valley.

mlb.com: Phillies Minor League Player Ozuna Suspended

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that Philadelphia Phillies Minor League infielder Pablo Ozuna has received a 50-game suspension after showing an elevated Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio, a performance-enhancing substance violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The suspension of Ozuna is effective immediately. Ozuna is currently a member of Triple-A Lehigh Valley of the International League.

Salisbury: Ryan Madson becomes Phillies’ closer

I forget witch Frederick Loren-like floating head it was last night, but I kept hearing that “Madson no longer has a safety net!...the outs in the 9th are a lot different than the ones in the 8th!...you need the proper mindset to get the 27th out!” Bloop 1-2-3.

In short, Madson showed closer’s stuff during his emergence as an eighth-inning shutdown man. He seemed to be lining up to be a very attractive closer possibility on the free-agent market after this season, but he opted instead for the financial security of a three-year, $12 million deal - good money, but not top closer money.

Now we get to see how much Madson left on the table.

Now we get to see if he really has closer’s stuff.

Oh, the arm and the stuff are there. There’s no question about that. But does Madson have the stomach to close for who knows how long? Can he close in big games against the Mets and the Red Sox (this weekend) and the Blue Jays after that? Can he close in a pennant race? The Phillies hope that question becomes irrelevant. They hope Lidge returns, in top form, by that time. But you never know, especially with a knee that’s been operated on twice and continues to swell.

Raul Ibanez debacle: blame the Philly Inquirer, not blogger Jerod Morris

The Power of the Word Enter!  Jerod Morris, John Gonzalez and Ken Rosenthal.

I’m clean, angry Ibanez says

I’m Clean, happy Kilgour says!

Raul Ibanez has a message for those who say his spectacular offensive performance in a Phillies uniform could be a result of performance-enhancing drugs.

“I’ll come after people who defame or slander me,” he said before last night’s game against the New York Mets. “It’s pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there.”

A column in yesterday’s Inquirer brought to light an Internet blogger who wondered if Ibanez had used such drugs.

...Ibanez said he had never used performance-enhancing drugs.

“You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool - anything you can test,” Ibanez said. “I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made” if the test is positive.

“I’ll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff,” he said. “Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother’s basement. It demeans everything you’ve done with one stroke of the pen.

“Nobody is above the testing policy. We’ve seen that.”

..."It’s unfair because this story should be about how hard work, determination, and desire trumps chemicals and shortcuts,” he said. “That should be the message: desire, character, work ethic. But some guy who doesn’t know me - one idiot - says something like this. They should be held accountable. It’s cowardly.”

Lidge goes on disabled list

Righthander Brad Lidge was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right knee, retroactive to June 7, the Phillies said today.

To take his spot on the 25-man roster, the Phillies selected the contract of catcher Paul Bako from double-A Reading.

Somehow, Pujols is responsible for this.

Gonzo: A cheap shot at Ibanez

The Curious Case of John Gonzalez: Steroid Speculation Article Perhaps Unfair, but Great Start in 2009 Raising Cain.

I’m not a blog hater. I’m not an old-school newspaper guy who fears the Internet the way children fear what’s under their bed. Far from it. And I’m no apologist for Major League Baseball or the players who chose a quick way to get better and forever tarnished their sport as a result.

MLB started the fire, but that doesn’t mean we have to keep it going by tossing players and their Louisville sluggers into the flames. At a time when anybody’s opinion can be quickly amplified and the weakest voices can suddenly make the loudest noise, I worry about fairness.

Ibanez hasn’t tested positive, and he’s denied taking PEDs on multiple occasions. Until there’s proof to the contrary, shouldn’t all of us - from the traditional mainstream media to bloggers - be judicious about calling people cheaters? It’s easier to sling mud than ever before, which is why we need to be careful when taking aim.

MSF clearly disagrees: “Sorry Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, that’s just the era that we are in.”

Sad but true.

ESPN: The Finisher

The Phillies have called on Brad Lidge the last two days, but instead, the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier has ended both games with walkoff hits heading into tonight’s series finale.

philly.com: Phillies have bargaining chips in search for pitching

There’s a chance the Phils could get to the postseason with the pitching they have. But they can’t take the chance of coming up short, not with this ripened nucleus of players. And beyond the regular season, the Phils have to think of what their postseason rotation might look like. Having a strong 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation is crucial in the postseason, and the Phils have been weakened by the loss of Brett Myers.

So the Phils are hunting for another pitcher, and from the sound of it, they’re not just looking for an off-the-rack arm. They want someone that will make them better, an upgrade on what they have. Jake Peavy interests them, but he doesn’t want to leave San Diego. The Astros’ Roy Oswalt and the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay would interest the Phils - if their teams were to make them available. Ditto for Erik Bedard, if the Mariners put up the “For Sale” sign.