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Monday, November 02, 2009
Fitzpatrick: Hamels: Not enough Philly in him
Pop the trunk on that blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan…more long-range sniping from Fitzpatrick.
This will come as no surprise to anyone who watched Cole Hamels pitch or answer questions Saturday night - or any other night - but the Phillies lefthander might be the most un-Philly Philadelphia athlete ever.
Mike Schmidt was an enigma, too, but at some level he understood us and, eventually, we grasped him. Ditto Randall Cunningham and many others who have passed through but never left their hearts in South Philadelphia.
Hamels will never be one of us and it’s not his fault.
The whiny voice. The fashion-mag looks. He was born with those. In Southern California, no less.
That’s all fine for him. But it’s grating to us.
...It’s easier to imagine him as a waiter in a trendy restaurant (“Hi, I’m Cole. I’ll be your waiter. Would you like to hear our specials?”); a dance instructor (“You call that a battement fondue?”); an architect (“If I don’t use dentil molding, it could ruin the neoclassical motif.”); or a model (“Work it, Cole. Work it!”).
When a guy like that fails in a town like this, it could get ugly.
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Good for you Cole Hamels, for actually having a soul.
And when did architects get worked into the mix for thinly veiled nancy-boy insinuations?
- Wikipedia
If the Phillies lose the Series I fully expect Hamels to do his penance by running up the Rocky Steps 100 times in a row, to the Philadelphia Orchestra's rendition of "YMCA".
Obviously Fitzpatrick hasn't read his Ayn Rand, has he?
In all seriousness, does anyone think that Hamels' struggles this year have anything to do with him throwing so many innings last year? It looks like his regular season was 44 more innings than he'd ever thrown before, and then he went and threw 35 more in the postseason. I haven't really followed him this year, so I don't know what the word has been around the Phils. I just wonder if 80 more innings and basically an extra month on the season might have set him back a little.
Not every franchise likes that song as much as your Yankees do.
"Philadelphia Freedom" would be a far greater punishment.
Or, if YMMV, I imagine that Hamels might not like "God Bless America" done by Kate Smith.
Chase Cameron Utley (pronounced /ˈʌtli/; born December 17, 1978) is a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. A native of the Greater Los Angeles area, he was raised in the city of Long Beach. He was a star baseball player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School before moving on to UCLA.
I'd love for Pedro to pitch one more game (game 7?) for a victory, and then come out in his "THAT's IT" press conference right after the game.
That's it exactly. It wasn't even subtle.
No kidding. And what sort of effete, prepschool-sounding name is "Chase Utley"? Is his brother's name "Chauncey"?
I love an article that basically boils down to "Cole Hamels is gay."
Personally, I question Fitzpatrick's straight cred, just for his having come up with the "battement fondue" example...see, this is fun: gratuitous gaybashing's always in fashion. Especially if it's completely out of context...
What is the deal with his hair? Jason Giambi has used that look before as well.
WTF? What the #### did Mike Schmidt do to Phillies fans? Too few World Series, MVPs, all star appearances, Gold Gloves, HOF votes? WTF?
I never understood the booing because it was easy to see that he hustled, made himself into a great fielder, improved as a hitter, ran the bases very well, was head's up and did care. All the "problems" were either fluff or a team problem.
When Schmidt was emerging as a star, I worked with a guy who predated the last great A's dynasty, and he really disliked Schmidt for the Ks. It was fun to hear him reminisce but he had a real blind spot to the low avg., high OBP, high SLG player.
What's to understand? Of course there are plenty of great Philly fans, but it isn't like the city's reputation as a fandom cesspool came from nowhere. They are not fun people.
Hamels year X: 7.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 8.5% HR/FB, .157 ISO, 19% LD
Hamels year Y: 7.8 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 8.7% HR/FB, .167 ISO, 20% LD
Can you guess which one was his 142 ERA+ year and which one was his 99 ERA+ year?
Now figure out which year he gave up 7.6 H/9 and which year he gave up 9.6 H/9.
I'm not sure what it means when a guy becomes more hittable without giving up a significantly different amount of line drives and extra base hits. But it might mean nothing at all.
Some of the booing I can understand -- Rolen decides not to sign with the local team, Dick Allen behaving badly, even drunk Santa during the lowest of many low Eagles eras. The Schmidt booing was the worst -- he was being booed because he didn't hit a homer every time even though it looked like he should. :)
I'm not sure what it means when a guy becomes more hittable without giving up a significantly different amount of line drives and extra base hits. But it might mean nothing at all.
Sid, I'm too lazy (sleep-deprived is more like it) but I wonder about pitches per PA. To my non-critical eye, it seemed like Hamels had trouble putting batters away with 2 strikes -- they fouled off a lot of 2 strike pitches. I also think the batters now look for the change knowing that they can at least get a piece of his straight FB. Plus he has had bad luck, although someone showed some numbers recently that made it look like Hamels is as unlucky this year as he was lucky last year.
I think he needs a laterally-moving pitch, either getting his curve to be a good pitch or learn a cutter.
According to Fangraphs, Hamels threw more fastballs and fewer curves this year. Changeups stayed the same (although that says nothing about sequencing, natch). Velocities were consistent.
P/PA up slightly from 3.74 to 3.83.
There might be something hidden deep in the numbers, but we're starting to get into minutiae. Fact is, he was substantially the same pitcher this year as he was last year.
Thanks, I hear ya, but it doesn't make my gut any more comfortable. :)
Maybe he is a good pitcher, but not a great one, who looked great last year and so-so this year.
"Mike Schmidt gave Phillies fans 1,883 reasons to complain.". That's 1,883 occasions, not reasons, to complain at a strikeout.
That was one of the turning points in his relationship with the fans. (or I should say the fans relationship with him.)
He gets big time credit in my book for that move.
But I find it shocking that an article that can be distilled into "Cole Hamels is a fag, and we don't like fags in Philly" could be published under the name of a major newspaper, even if only on their website.
1) Identify any Philadelphia team that was good over a period of time, but never won it all.
2) Identify the best player on that team.
I would bet that Eric Lindros will never set foot in Philly again without police protection.
As an aside, many years ago, my sister dated a guy who played against Moses Malone 3x per year in high school. Said he got his ass kicked. Repeatedly.
Cole Hamels is intrigued and would like to subscribe, if there's a newsletter or some sort of trial offer or whatever.
Speaking of which, I'm shocked the Conlin column didn't get posted here today. That was like the sportswriting equivalent of a fever dream.
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