Lunch Time Link Dump

Yawn... sorry for the lack of material lately, but even Incredibly amateurish bloggers need to go on a vacation every now and then. Special thanks to the many of you who pointed out just how "incredibly amateurish" I am when it comes to this! With the Phillies rolling right along winning everything except their B squad game against the Mets this past weekend, there isn't much to complain about... so on with the Links!

• The MLB draft is just a few days away and while it's nothing like the NFL version (and usually quite boring to watch), there are a handful of familiar names sitting out there. Rivals did an article on Bobby Bonilla's son, Brandon, but I'm just as interested seeing Dante Bichette Jr play at the next level. You may remember him as the star of the Little League World Series from a few years back, but the kid can play. As a High School Senior, he hits the ball hard, has plus speed, doesn't miss a lot, and plays a solid SS and 3B. Every mock draft I read through shows him going in the early rounds, but he's still not among the best overall. That title goes to either college players Gerrit Cole or Anthony Rendon. Cole projects as a rock solid front line starter, and Rendon projects as a top tier third baseman. Either are a safe choice for the Pirates, who get top billing this year, but I'm more intrigued to see where the children of Pudge Rodgigurez, Sid Bream, Shawon Dunston, and Steve Garvey land.

• Another story from last week is Barry Bonds offering to pay for college for the children of Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten within inches of his life at Dodger Stadium over Opening Weekend. The way I see this story, it's a completely selfless act on the part of Bonds. At no point did he make a media circus out of the situation, nor did he take advantage of the circumstances. In fact, we may never have even known about the gesture had it not been for the Stow family lawyer who mentioned Bonds' generosity during a press conference about their lawsuit against the Dodgers organization. Bonds isn't exactly hard up for cash, as Baseball-Reference notes his career earnings push the $200M mark, plus countless dollars worth of endorsements. And he's not the only player with Giants ties to reach out to the family, as Tim Lincecum dipped into his piggy bank for $25K as well. But... for a guy who has a terrible reputation as a people-person, and who has more than his own share of personal problems to deal with right now, spending more than an hour in a hospital room with a fan over a month ago and with no public campaign is a classy move. It won't be the final straw that gets him into the HoF without controversy, but it's certainly a fine gesture. 

• Jayson Werth is already showing signs of aggravation in Washington. At 9 games under .500, 11.5 back from the lead, and in the midst of a 2-8 stretch, who could really blame him. But Werth hasn't really held up his end of the bargain either. There aren't many .255 hitters that are worthy of an $18M/year average salary, and I can assure you Werth isn't one of them. He's even gone as far as suggesting that the Nationals led Teddy win a race! Blasphemy! The Nationals are losing ballgames because they create almost no offense. Their pitching has been league average and they maintain some power despite being without Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Laroche, but a .230 team BA and the 2nd fewest hits in all of baseball isn't exactly a recipe for winning baseball. You made your $126M bed, enjoy sleeping in it Jayson!

• We Should Be GM's provides a solid scouting report on how the Phillies minor league systems are looking at this point in the season. With all the injuries and rehab appearances by guys from the big club, it's been a bit tough to keep a steady lineup in tact for most of the teams, but the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs under the advisement of Ryne Sandberg have been on a tear!

• I really liked David Murphy's piece last week on the evaluation of the base coaches, and particularly, Juan Samuel's job at third so far this year. The eye test tells me that Samuel has been less than aggressive at sending runners home from third and that some of his gambles have been outright terrible. The numbers have, surprisingly, been very similar to years past. But seeing Jimmy Rollins thrown out by about six feet last week was pretty terrible. The Phillies stolen base numbers 8th in the NL, but their runs scored from 1st or 2nd numbers rank a handful of spots lower. That, to me suggests that the runners aren't significantly slower, so much as they really aren't getting the job done coming around 3rd. Though, the sample size is still small and Samuel may still be getting a feel for his players. 

• Someone with a far better understanding of the luxury cap system, a far better grasp on the English language, and far more free time than myself, Eric Seidman of BrotherlyGlove.com goes in depth regarding the Phillies ability to add payroll in the coming months as the trade deadline approaches. Two weeks ago, people in town were going nuts over finding another bat to add to the lineup, but that talk has mostly cooled down with this current stretch. But should the need arise once again, there are more than a handful of viable options out there to target and as Eric points out, there are a number of creative solutions for keeping the Phillies total tax number below the luxury tax threshold. Ruben Amaro has said recently that the Phillies could potentially add payroll if they need to, but you can pretty much rest assured that the luxury tax number is as high as you'll ever see this team go. Nevertheless, it begs the question... how would you feel about the likes of Carlos Beltran, Hunter Pence, or Carlos Quentin playing in this outfield?

The Greatest Game Ever Played.

No, I'm not talking about golf. And I'm not naive enough to say that last night's 19 inning Phillies game was actually the greatest game ever played. But the sport of baseball in general is. Nothing is as unpredictable as this game. 2,430 of them are played each year and the game has been around since 1846, and yet at any given point in time there's a distinct chance you'll see something you've never seen before. There is no clock, there is no sudden death, and there is no tie. And that's what makes the game so special. So when the Phillies take the field at 7:05 on a Wednesday night and I'm hoping that I can get home and get my first decent night's sleep in over a week, I have no idea what kind of a treat I'm in for.

• Second longest (continuous) game in Phillies history timewise (6 hrs, 11 min). Four minutes shy of the record! 45,706 people started out there, but I'd estimate about 1/3 of them were gone by the 10th, and another 1/3 left on the Bruce HR. All in, if I had to guess, I'd say less than 10,000 were there to see Ibanez drive the ball to center and Jimmy trot home. If you know someone who claims to have been there, chances are they're lying (except me, you know me!)

• A bad day from Roy Halladay beats a good day from just about anyone else. The Reds were a singles machine for much of the first 7 innings which ran up Roy's pitch count and did some damage to his WHIP, but not a single ball was hit all that hard. A handful of well placed slap hits through gaps led to 3 runs, which was only the 3rd time all year that Roy had let up more than two.

• In 2010, that Jay Bruce HR is the straw that breaks the camel's back. In 2008, the Ryan Howard return shot is a foregone conclusion. It's nice to see shades of 2008 again...

• The stolen bases are a bit concerning. Three guys stole 2nd off Chooch last night and none of the plays were really all that close. 

• 9 1/3 IP, 5Ks, 1 Hit. That's the combined stat line of Kyle Kendrick, JC Romero, David Herndon, Danys Baez, and Wilson Valdez. The crowd groaned as each of them ran in from the bullpen, but collectively they got the job done. 

• Defense saved this game. Jimmy Rollins, whose defense has been questioned on more than one occasion this season, makes no fewer than 3 plays from short that completely save the game. Ryan Howard stretches and scoops everything that comes near him at first base. David Herndon makes a play in the 11th with the bases loaded that goes down in the scorecard as (1-3), but is far from routine and he's the only guy on the field with a shot at getting the out. 

• As the innings wear on, you go through a roller coaster of emotions. 1-3: Well, the offense is hitting tonight, that's certainly better than the last time we saw Travis Wood! 4-9: Man, Roy is really getting dinked and dunked here. There's a good chance this one get's away from us! 10: That HR is the game... no wait! 11-13: Come on! It's been almost an hour since the last time either team got a hit! 14-17: This could be something special. 18-19: This IS something special. Confidence --> Pessimism --> Annoyance --> Optimism -->Pride --> Feeling like you witnessed history.

• The Upper Deck was completely cleared by the 15th. The Rooftop wasn't far behind. Doc's Patients came down from their perch and parked right near us. Another two or three innings and I could have seen them closing Ashburn Alley and the outfield all-together just to get the place clean for the 1PM start today!

• Baez was told he was done after 3 innings, at which point he said "No." Usually that trick only works for Roy Halladays, but Charlie was out of other options. At that point, Valdez would have likely came in the game anyway as they were completely out of other options. The fact that Baez went the longest outing of his career, and threw 73 pitches earns him a complete reprieve from any negative comments until at least the All-Star Break. 

• Valdez throws 10 pitches, 5 for strikes. Romero throws 16, 4 for strikes. I would suspect that JC Romero is dangerously close to being cut... if he wasn't a lefty.

• Around the 11th inning, it became pretty clear that a position player was likely to pitch. Chances are Charlie had already sent today's starter, Cliff Lee, home for the night and with Oswalt coming off a recent injury, Hamels being a creature of routine, and Worley already complaining about tiredness, there were no other options. When Baez goes 5, it's only delaying the inevitable. My first thought is that Valdez is the likely candidate. He has a cannon for an arm at 2nd and there is literally no one else on the team who has pitched. I later heard on Twitter that Valdez had thrown a few years back in a Dominican League game and that Ross Gload had tossed one in 2008, but with a torn hip muscle he wasn't an option.

• Chooch moving to third was the surprise of the night, though. I thought I remembered hearing that he was a 2nd baseman in some past/minor league life, but BaseballReference only shows 1B and OF as positions he's played. Moving him to 3rd and putting Polanco at 2nd was a shocker for me. Watching him motor down the third base line after a foul ball was baseball at it's finest.

• I can't help but think that the Reds had another pitcher available. I haven't heard any word on it, but they only tossed 7 guys and they used 21 players total. Assuming 4 starters weren't available, was Carlos Fisher really the last guy they had left in the pen? When he stepped to the plate in the top of the 19th I was shocked that they were going to march him back out there for a 6th inning.  He was visibly done.

• Before stepping foot on the mound, Valdez is already having a career night. 3 for 6 with a double, and two amazing take out slides at second base. I give the guy crap all the time for his propensity to ground into a double play, but he's otherwise fundamentally sound. I could see him coaching somewhere when his career wraps up. 

• But then the guy threw 90MPH. 90! Tim Wakefield keeps finding work and I'm not sure he's ever sniffed 90! Valdez even shook off signs from catcher Dane Sardhina! According to his post game interview, he mixed a high 80s fastball with a low 80s sinker. He got the reigning NL MVP to fly out, he pegged Scott Rolen to much delight, and he got Jay Bruce (who was 3-7 with 3 RBI at that point) to pop up. Unbelievable and worthy of this T-shirt (coincidentally, it was available WELL before last night's game.)

• According to ESPN, Wilson Valdez is the first person to start a game in the field and earn the win as a pitcher since Babe Ruth. Yes, Wilson Valdez will forever find himself as part of a trivia question that includes BABE RUTH. 

It might be premature to say that last night's game will be the one to define the season, but my knee jerk reaction is to say it already has.

For even more tidbits of information and statistical oddities, check Jason Stark's column over at ESPN.com

On The Disaster That Is Wilpon/Madoff and the Mets...

I've been sitting on the story for a few days now thinking about what angle I want to write about. The more I read through the article in the New Yorker, the more tragic the story sounded to me. Here's a man who put his faith (and money) with a family friend, and now he's about to go down with the ship, most likely as a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Fred Wilpon is by all accounts an inspiring person. A self made man, raised in a middle class family,  friend of Sandy Koufax, an avid fan of the game of baseball, and a great ambassador for the sport. Born and bred in Brooklyn, his admiration for Jackie Robinson is second to none and his ties to the Dodgers and Ebbets Field are obvious (as noted by anyone who visits the Citi Field rotunda)

His successes range from skyscrapers to television networks and he amassed all of his fortunes without stepping on the kind of toes many of his fellow millionaires would have done. And yet, after 31 years of ownership, Wilpon finds himself on the brink of losing his most prized possession, the Mets. His motives seem pure and his intentions seem honest, but somehow Wilpon got himself mixed into the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme of 2008 and now an army of lawyers have come to the table to take their pound of flesh. For Wilpon, that likely means his ownership stake in the Mets is chopped into tiny bits in order to cover the nearly $1Billion in returns that prosecutors are looking for in compensation for fellow victims.

So while most writers and bloggers out there are either laughing at his plight, or slamming him for his remarks about his own players and team, I can't help but feel a little bit of pity for the man. Here's a guy who has poured more money into his own club in recent years than anyone not named Steinbrenner or Henry. Everytime his GM came to the well wanting to throw ridiculous contract offers towards the likes of Carlos Delgado and Oliver Perez, Wilpon said "Where do I sign?" The Mets have been bad in recent years, but certainly not due to Wilpon being cheap or any lack of effort on his part.

The fact of the matter is that when teams like the Mets and Dodgers go through these sort of financial meltdowns, it's bad news for baseball. Baseball needs to be successful in the largest markets in the country in order for the smaller markets to thrive. So while I don't condone Wilpon saying his team is "lousy" and that David Wright is a "good kid, but not a superstar," I can't help but feel those words are the result of the frustration of a 74 yr old man who is being taken down an ugly path.

A year or two from now, it's likely that the current Mets team is blown to bits. Jose Reyes is a free agent at the end of the year, Carlos Beltran is likely to be shopped around at the deadline, and David Wright is equal trade bait. K-Rod is due a huge salary bump unless he misses certain incentives (which you can bet the Mets will avoid), and Johan Santana is still on a slow recovery from Tommy John. What good does a team of Justin Turners and Ike Davises do for baseball? Are Phillies fans excited to see the Mets roll into town with a AAA roster just so we can beat up on them? Does baseball thrive when the biggest market in the country can't sell out a single game? It's a sad story for Mets fans, and baseball fans alike.

Ugggghhhhhh...

 

Ripped Grey Sweatpants in public

A visibly dirty Cole Hamels Shirsey

A backwards, non-fitted, Baltimore Orioles Hat (stickers still included)

The Tri-Fecta of terrible clothing? I think so.

Dom Brown Returns... And Other Links

 

• Domonic Brown gets the call up for tonight's game versus the Texas Rangers with Shane Victorino hitting the DL. So much for the constant "Dom Brown isn't ready!" hyperbole we've heard coming out of the Phillies camp. Scott Mathieson was optioned to AAA Leigh Valley and David Herndon was recalled (likely just because Mathieson pitched last night and wouldn't be available tonight anyway). Still no decision on whether Blanton will be sent to the DL. Obviously the Brown move is the most surprising considering the double talk coming from Ruben Amaro Jr. but I suspect that Charlie convinced him that giving the offense a jolt right now is more important than getting Brown a handful of ABs in the minors. Brown was raking the ball at Lehigh Valley much the same way he had been last year before he was called up. His hand and thumb injuries are supposedly behind him and he brings a .341 BA with 2HRs and 10RBI up from Lehigh. Victorino's DL stint can only be retroactive to Thursday since Charlie used him as a pinch hitter on Wednesday night (Charlie's use of pinch hitters as of late is another topic for another day!) Welcome back Dom!

• Where's Weems? has resorted to posting a Craigslist advertisement soliciting a new Phillies offense. It's no stranger than Phillies Nation putting the offense on a Milk Container! I haven't given much attention to the total lack of Phillies offense the past week or so because I'm confident that things will turn around. Last year was an ugly year for injuries, but this year is proving to be even worse. With pitching locked down, you have to assume Ruben will use the ace up his sleeve this year for some offensive help. Chase Utley and Dom Brown are right around the corner too!

• Interleague play kicks off tonight. The Phillies get a nice matchup with Texas, the defending AL Champs. Cliff Lee will get a crack at his old team on Saturday, and Roy Halladay goes tonight. But Interleague play has always been something that divided baseball fans. And while most people gripe about pitchers hitting and the NL using the DH, Jayson Stark points out the scheduling disparity as the biggest flaw in Interleague Baseball. While it's nice to get the big time matchups every years with the Red Sox or the Yankees, it sure would be nice to beat up on the Orioles and the Royals every now and then and get a few easy W's during this stretch. The Mariners and the Padres have a 3 game snoozefest for the 15th season in a row. And the Cubs play the top teams in the AL East while the Cardinals play the bottom 3. Seems fair, right?

• I haven't decided yet if the above video is hilarious or disrespectful. But I'm leaning towards hilarious. I'm highly suspicious of the statement that Jason Voorhees and Optimus Prime could not take Lou Gehrig in a fight.