NLDS Game 4-It Comes

Left side of the infield unite.

May your gloves be quick and sticky and your movements be lithe and graceful. May you block groundballs with aplomb and snag popouts with ease. May you be unfazed by the purple and black masses of the stands and risk your limbs and appetite by reaching into their depths. May the double play bring smiles from the heavens and may you run down and tag advancing Rockies before they reach their destination.

May you work the count in a judicious manner and get on base at a frequency much higher than your season stats suggest. May you run the bases smartly, advancing beyond the normal expectations and avoiding the siren's call of an overzealous 3rd base coach. And may you score runs in abundance as numerous as the sands on the beach or the dust particles in my apartment.

The game is begun. It's time to perform. Go Phils!

Wishes for Game 3 of the NLDS

Bobby Abreu, patron saint of patience (4 walks in game 1 of the ALDS alone!), please bless thy former teammate, Jimmy Rollins, with the ability to let bad pitches go and only swing at good ones. Grant him with the forebearance to recoginze the difference between a fastball and breaking pitch from the left side and not jump in the batter's box. Stay back on the ball, Jimmy and work the count. Also, extend thy bounty to Carlos Ruiz, to recognize when the lineup needs turning over. A double play is worse than a strikeout....



To Larry Bowa, patron saint of overreacting, I beseech thee to remove thy presence from the inner sanctum of Charlie Manuel. One must look beyond the singular batter and the singular inning to manage to win the series. Each game is important, but do not ruin the rest of games in the future for a game today. Do not let him give in to thee and thy fiery temper. The laid back Charlie is a winning Charlie except during motivational team meetings.

Go Phillies!

This is just a tiny sampling cards from the generosity at Stats on the Back

2009 Allen and Ginter Wantlist and Tradelist-Update 1

The official 2009 A&G wantlist (it's large) and tradelist. Thanks to those who I've made trades with or sent cards to me. I'm working on gathering cards for those who I have not sent cards to yet. I've been away from home (unexpectedly) for almost 3 weeks, so I haven't been able to respond to everyone yet. I'm now back and ready to deal.

Wantlist

Base (20): 23, 25, 28, 36, 37, 88

152, 158, 162, 172, 187, 190, 194

201, 226, 243, 257, 263, 273, 279

Shortprints (12): 303, 314, 315, 319, 332, 334, 336, 338, 339, 344, 348, 350


National Pride (23): 1, 2, 38, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75


Sketch Cards (13): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 25


Creatures (17): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20

Tradelist

13, 20, 22, 35, 49, 57, 60, 69, 75, 76,80, 94, 98, 111, 120,134, 136, 151, 188, 207,223, 229, 252, 270, 278, 282, 292, 302, 309

National Pride:12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Split and Torn

The Phillies-Rockies series is all tied up at 1-1 after two hard-fought games. It seems the Phillies new strategy is not to utilize the decimated bullpen arms as evidenced by the fact Charlie Manuel decided to use three starting pitcher types during the game 2 debacle. Joe Blanton was burned for an inning and performed well while JA Happ received a line drive in the shin as way of thanks for his service.

As a result, Pedro Martinez, the wily old veteran (seriously, his changeup is by far his best pitch now), who has pitched only one start since Sept 19, is slated to pitch game 3. I guess Happ will be the first out of the bullpen if Pedro falters since the Rockies have been demonstrably worse against lefties than righties.

But today a twist emerges from the weather gods. It seems that it's snowing in Denver and gametime temperatures were expected to be close to 18F. Who would have expected that it would be colder at night at elevation? I mean, that couldn't be logical, could it?

Therefore, games 3, 4, and 5(if necessary) will be played on 3 consecutive days without a travel day over 2000 miles and 2 timezones. Mark this is in contrast to the lax and easy scheduling of the other series. Both teams have been screwed by the all-knowing (sarcasm) scheduling committee of MLB.

In addition, the fanbases of both teams have been treated poorly by the times for the games. The first two games were during the day on a weekday. The 3rd game is now at 10:07 pm EDT...on Sunday...again welcoming the cold and snow possibility, and the 4th game will most likely be on Monday during the day to allow for travel during the same day. Is this any way to treat the last two defending NL champions?

Why do you think the only fanbases that get preferential TV treatment are Boston, New York, and LA? I thought Philly was part of the so-called east coast bias, but just like the signs on I-95, they have been overlooked.

The series is split...I could see it going all 5 games. But I'm pissed at MLB for making it really difficult to watch the games for my team. All they care about is that the fans' wallets are torn and tattered at the end of the day.

Play-in Play-off Games

Well, I go out of the country for two weeks and a pennant race breaks out in the wild, wooly AL Central. This was definitely unexpected. The Twins were supposed to have had their epitaph written some time ago with Crede and Morneau (especially) going down for the season. Apparently, Detroit decided to play just well enough to get down to their level (which really is not that bad a place to be). Today's matchup pits Rick Porcello vs. Scott Baker in a homerdome hanky extravaganza. I've just finished reading "High Fidelity" on the plane. So let's proceed....top 5 play-in, play-off games/series based on my own unrevealed criteria.

5. 10/2/1995 The Mariners beat the Angels 9-1 behind the hard-throwing Randy Johnson. This, of course, was the Mariners first ever play-off game, and it only came about because of the Mariners recovering furiously from a 13 game deficit as late in the season as 8/2. From that point the Angels were 22-34 and the Mariners were 36-20. This culminated in the Mariners beating the Yankees in the ALDS on Griffey's mad dash commemorated in A&G sketch card 22.

4. 10/1/2007 The Rockies win 9-8 against the Padres for the wildcard. The game itself was high-packed with drama. To the background of Hell's Bells, Trevor Hoffmann took the mound and promptly blew the lead. The indelible image is of Matt Holliday scoring the winning run, flopping chinfirst into home. Did he or didn't he touch the plate?

3. 1962 The height of the rivalry between the Giants and the Dodgers. At this time, the NL decided who would continue with a 3 game series. The first two games were split, leading to a 3rd game. The Dodgers held a 4-2 lead entering the 9th and promptly lost 6-4 as Walter Alston's handling of the bullpen during that inning could be routinely 2nd guessed. Relief ace, Ed Roebuck, was going on his 4th inning, but he had already pitched 4 innings two days ago and made another appearance the next day. The bases were loaded when "Wild" Stan Williams was brought in to allow a SF and two more walks. Thus, the damage was done with young Ron Perranoski and Sandy Koufax warming up in the bullpen. The Dodgers easily recovered to win the 1963 World Series.

2. 10/2/78 Yankees over Red Sox 5-4. Bucky Dent, Mike Torrez, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Billy Martin, Bob Lemon. Crazy pennant race.

1. 1951 Bobby Thomson hits one out off Ralph Branca. The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant! He definitely knew which pitch was coming, I think. Even so, pandemonium on Coogans Bluff.

Agree? Disagree?

Away

I'm away until September 26th. All people who I've agreed to trade with have had their cards sent before I left. I am cut off from baseball here (can you believe soccer's more popular over here?), and I didn't scan anything before leaving, so I won't post more until I return.

I will initiate a round 2 of A&G trades when I return as well. Getting closer...

Also, the magic number is 6!

Keep me updated if you like with real or false information in the comments.

SuperSlice of a Season Slices 13-16: Reflectives and Perspectives For the Stretch Run

Because I was incommunicative with the world for most of this time period, it's time to both ruminate and pontificate on times past and times future.

After 16 slices or (144 games), the Phillies are in a strong position for the postseason. At this point, it's simple math. They are 7 games up on the Marlins and 7.5 games up on the Braves with 18 games remaining. This is a large lead entering the stretch run of the season, but it is not insurmountable as recent history suggests. Let's take a look at what pieces are working and what pieces aren't as September brings shorter days and longer nights.

Positives
Chase Utley: He is the glue of the team. His steady bat production sometimes is overlooked, but with his continued .400+ OBP, it shouldn't be. Also, he's spectacular at 2nd base.
Cliff Lee: 7 wins, but more importantly 5 quality starts. He was hit around a bit, being a location and speed mixing pitcher, but his groove will continue to deepen.
Cole Hamels: Feeling comfortable as a second banana, 3-1 in September with a less than 2.5 ERA is stellar.
Carlos Ruiz: Great pitch caller and handler of pitchers. He has also upped his OPS+ to above 100.
Joe Blanton: The so-called innings eater of the rotation still has a greater than 7 K/IP. Only one non-quality start since the beginning of July.
Unassisted Triple Plays: Eric Bruntlett, send your uniform to the Hall of Fame!
Jimmy Rollin's Fielding: Only 5 errors as a SS all year with some heads-up play. One DP he turned with going to third base for the second out was indicative of his field awareness.
Jamie Moyer as a Reliever and Spot Starter: It rains, he appears, he dominates.
Selling Out the Ballpark: 3.2 million fans and counting and I can sense them all screaming with excitement.
Power and More Power: 205 HR and .450 SLG as a team.
Ben Francisco: The right handed spark off the bench that was lacking earlier. Not a great player, but has a .520 SLG.
Pedro Martinez: Quite a change-up he has! 5-0 in 7 starts.
The Prodigal Son Returns: Brett Myers is a bullpen ace? He may take over the closer's role before all is said and done.


Negatives
Raul Ibanez: very streaky player needs to turn around when the stretch run and postseason arrive
Brad Lidge: he has a 7.18 ERA and 30 Saves, how can this be?
Ryan Madson: Great set-up man, but wilts under the 9th inning spotlight
Offensive cohesiveness: There are days when the hits are scattered, and there are other days when they are not. Crooked numbers are good to see. Starting with the Giants series earlier, there were few games in which the Phillies scored more than 4 runs over a 15 game stretch or so.
Pedro Feliz: He is playing at his career average, but he needs to show more.
Matt Stairs: one grand slam not withstanding, he had been horrific with 26 straight hitless ABs
Jayson Werth's Fielding: This guy is a threat at the plate. 34 HRs is an amazing total. Plus he has patience and can work a count. Sometimes it seems he loses focus in the field, letting a groundball go through him or being indecisive about where to throw the ball. It's laser focus time.
Losing Trap Series: They got swept by Houston 4 straight. This is a below .500 team, there is no reason for this to happen except shoddy play and a leaky bullpen. These issues must be resolved before October anyway. These are not the 2005 Astros.
Situational hitting: Runner on third, less than two outs, get the run anyway you can. All players have heard this a million times.
Injuries: Romero, Condrey, Eyre, Park, Happ: All fill roles that could be considered integral. Luckily, the team has some pitching depth this year.



The remaining schedule will allow the Phillies to thrive if they allow they play their game, bludgeon the opponents with power and use the starting pitching to put them to sleep before the bullpen sets everyone's teeth on edge.



Here are the keys to each of the series.

@ATL-First, hope that Chipper Jones remains slumpy and/or injured. He enjoys a little too much ripping the Phils. They have to solve Derek Lowe and win a pitching duel against Jair Jurrjens or Javier Vazquez. The Braves' strength is their pitching; don't let the hitting beat you, especially the new Mark Lemke (Martin Prado).

@FLA-Neutralize the potential start that Josh Johnson makes. Tuesday's a doubleheader day. The starting pitching depth of the Phillies should be the difference. Kendrick should thrive in the spacious Marlins stadium. Speaking of stadiums, do not complain if a HR is taken away by dimensions! Adjust and run with it.

@MIL: Take advantage of the weak starting pitching (Parra, Bush, Suppan, all righties) in the first few innings and then hold on.

HOU: Don't make it a revenge series. Win 2 of 3 with some Ben Francisco help against Wandy Rodriguez.

FLA: I hope this series is unnecessary in the scheme of things.

Drop Everything Now!

I don't care what you're doing or reading right now. Drop everything and go to Deadspin.com today. It's a Fire Joe Morgan reunion today!

For those who don't know who Fire Joe Morgan was, it was a conglomerate of guys who excoriate bad baseball chats and writing. (who did it for a long time as pseudonyms until one day it was discovered that they were all professional comedy writers, including one guy from The Office, which made the site even more awesome in my eyes). They have been retired for awhile, but read them today and their archives and laugh at some baseball writer banality.

This has been a public service announcement sponsored by nobody.

A Look at AT&T Park in San Francisco

I went to the Phillies vs. Giants game on August 2 and unfortunately, as has happened the three previous years that I have attended a Phillies game in San Francisco, the Phillies lost. This time it was ugly and they had no chance, so I didn't feel so bad.

Sidenote: Is it strange I'm less bothered by losses than I used to be? The Phillies are in first place, the Phillies are in first place...2008, yes...1964, no...this is the mantra.

Losses in which the other team outplays your team are easier to swallow than blown opportunities. Though there are opportunities nearly every inning, just track AVG with RISP and less than 2 outs the last couple weeks to source frustration of the fans of nearly every team.

In any case, I sat further away than I would prefer because I went with a group of people. Here's some photos of the general atmosphere of the stadium, set on the Bay (does the Bay actually have a formal name?), next to a bunch of piers.



Action on the field,the Giants were setting up for a rally, which was successful.


The left side of the Phillies infield warming up.


The huge HD scoreboard. This is one of the best scoreboards I've ever seen. It gives the scoring decisions next to the lineup as plays occur and even incorporates OPS into the statistics shown.


A view of left field. That Coke bottle is actually a functioning sliding board.


A view of the scoreboard in center field again. Davey Lopes's visage appears.


The whole outfield with the Bay in the background. That boat has to stay until 15 minutes until the game is finished. One time I was at a game that went into the 13th inning. And you know those people that leave early? They were on the boat for nearly 90 minutes. Being in San Francisco at night, it was also freezing.



The view down the right field line. Behind there is the famed McCovey Cove. During day games, you can usually find a couple kayaks or boats out there. During a night game, there's usually none. Some player doesn't play here anymore.

Overall, it's a fun place to watch a game. Plus during a cold night, you can enjoy clam chowder in a bread bowl. Giants fans, for the most part, don't mind if you're cheering for the opposing team (except if the Dodgers or A's are visiting). I recommend coming here....during a day game.

Climbing Out of the Time-Sucking Abyss

That would be fantasy football. I had three drafts this week, and seeing as how I am an A-grade procrastinator, I did nothing all week during my free time except project performance and predict playing time for every single NFL player that could possibly be drafted. The leagues I'm in are large (12 teams or greater) with usually large rosters, making drafting backups not out of the ordinary. For those who like to debate the merits of these type of things, I'll list out the skeletons of the rosters for comment. I'm no expert prognosticator, but I think my teams have potential.

League 1 (12 teams: lineup: QB, RB, WR, RB/WR, RB/WR, TE, K, DEF, yardage league)

QBs: Eli Manning, Shaun Hill
RBs: Chris Johnson, Ladanian Tomlinson, Kevin Smith, Lendale White, Lesean McCoy
WRs: Wes Welker, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Steve Breaston
TE: Visanthe Shiancoe
K: Shayne Graham
DEF: Panthers

League 2 (14 teams: lineup: QB, RB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, RB/WR, TE, K, DEF, yardage league)
QBs: Donovan McNabb, Matt Cassel
RBs: Maurice Jones-Drew, Ahmad Bradshaw, Donald Brown, Tim Hightower, Mike Bell, Earnast Graham
WRs: Greg Jennings, Marques Colston, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Kevin Curtis, some other guy
TE: Visanthe Shiancoe
K: Jeff Reed
DEF: Packers

League 3 (14 teams: lineup: QB, RB, WR, RB/WR, RB/WR, K, DEF, practially TD-only league, only high yardage bonuses)
QBS: Tony Romo, Jake Delhomme
RBs: Reggie Bush, Jonathan Stewart, Tim Hightower, Willis McGahee
WRs: Randy Moss, Steve Smith, Anthony Gonzalez, Patrick Crayton
K: Steve Gostkowski
DEF: somebody or other

And this is what I've been doing this week. I'll get back to cards and Phillies next.

Allen and Ginter Box Summary

Summary of the box contents (which I'm really pleased with, regardless of the Gint-a-Cuffs score)

There were no duplicates in the box.

Short Set: 120 out of 300
Short-printed base cards: 12 out of 50
National Pride: 24 out of 75
Code Card Parallels: 2 out of 100
SketchCards: 4 out of 25
Cabinet Card: 1 out of 10
Minis: 24 in Total
Broken down with 8 regular Minis, 2 short-printed regular Minis, 6 A&G Back Minis, 2 Black Bordered Minis, 1 No-Numbered Mini, 2 Hoaxes, 2 National Heroes, 1 Creature of Legend
2 Relics (bat and jersey)
One RIP card

I'm putting together the rest of A&G cards that I have, and will post a wantlist and tradelist shortly.

Gint-a-Cuffs Packs 23 and 24:In Which a Milestone is Reached

Unfortunately, it's doubtful that I'll hit 500 HRs in my career, but I did finish sorting this box. Overall, it was a fun experience. I would say there were two annoyances: the National Pride cards at one per pack and the fact that you get almost as many A&G Back minis as normal minis. I would say make one or the other the standard and only have the black bordered parallel and up scarcity.

Pack 23
111: Jason Giambi
265: Paul Konerko
269: Brian McCann +2

177: David Freese RC
Mini 7: John Smoltz
Relic Game-Used Jersey: Ichiro! +8

National Pride NP33: Hanley Ramirez +4


Pack Total: 14

Pack 24
118: Scott Olsen -1

122: Dontrelle Willis
107: Bryan Berg
56: Daniel Murphy
213: Stephanie Brown Trafton
136: Mickey Mantle -1

Mini National Heroes NH33: Skanderberg (Albania) +5

Mini No Number Erik Bedard 28/50 +10 with ink!

National Pride NP19: Erik Bedard (Canada)

Pack Total: 13



Final Total: 232
Not in last!