Results tagged “stargame”

After losing to the Pacers Monday (110-103), and the Pistons Wednesday (86-78), the Sixers are hoping to beat the Knicks tonight. They’re hoping that snaps them out of the losing funk they’ve been in, which has seen them lose 10 of their last 12 games.

We would be terrible, awful, no good Phillies Phans (see what we did there?) if we didn't take the opportunity to congratulate Chase Utley, Cole Hamels and Aaron Rowand on their selection to the 2007 All-Star Game. We'll be honest - we were expecting that Utley would be elected starting second baseman, and we were fairly certain King Cole would make the cut on the mound. We were, however, pleasantly surprised to see Rowand make the team as a reserve. We've enjoyed watching Rowand's brand of gritty play since he was on the White Sox, and are particularly pleased that the rest of baseball appears to be taking notice.

by Ryan Dougherty

Leading off the All-Star game after nearly an hour of introductions and pre-game commercials, Bobby Abreu slapped a Mark Buehrle pitch into left field. Abreu’s line drive single was a dynamic way to start the All-Star Game, which too often feels like an advertisement rather than a baseball game. But the three Phillies selected to the team all treated it as an important game, going a combined 2-3 at the plate and drawing one walk. Billy Wagner was not used as each manager held back some pitchers in reserve just in case the game ran into extra innings. Jimmy Rollins picked up an infield single and turned a double play once he entered. And Tony LaRussa came close to using Wagner and Jason Isringhausen, the 2 closers not used, when the NL mounted a comeback, scoring 5 runs over the last 3 innings. The Phillies and their fans should be proud of the Phillies representation and performance at the game: Abreu showed great versatility not only by getting a hit to the opposite field, but by hitting in the lead-off spot, a position known for hitters able to make sacrifices in order to get on base. All of this coming only one night after he smacked 41 home runs in the Home Run Derby.

We'd like to introduce to our newest weekly installment: Chris, Phil and the Fightin' Five. Each week, our resident Phillies writer, Chris Mustazza and Phil Sandick, will talk about five issues currently surrounding our flounderin' Phils. This week, the duo talks about Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins at the All-Star Game, Ed Wade buying and selling, and much more. 1. What should the Phillies do to resolve their first base situation? Chris: I know that Phil will disagree with this, but I have seen enough of Jim Thome this season. The sole reason they are playing him is the amount of money they are paying him, not for his performance - .207 average and 7 homers. It’s unthinkable to let a prospect like Howard rot away in the minor
leagues while the overpaid and under-motivated Jim Thome plods through the season without a care in his guaranteed contract world. So to answer the question, I would platoon Howard and Thome at first,
and, if I did not see significant improvement from Thome, begin to phase him out altogether. I would be willing to wager that you would get exponentially more production from Thome once his starting position was threatened – look at Padilla. Phil: Start Jim Thome when he's healthy and send Ryan Howard back to Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Thome is not at the end of his career, he is just hurt. The steroids rumors are inconsequential. You cannot bench Jim Thome, even if he were hitting .185 and striking out 3 times a night (which he's not, by the way - he has less than 200 AB's and 30 RBI and a .360 on base average). Ryan Howard needs at-bats everyday, even if he's ready to play in the big leagues. Howard is only 25. He will not help the Phillies as a bat off of the bench. Many good hitters are groomed extensively in the minor leagues. The Phillies are not in dire straits. It's not a preposterous suggestion that Thome should be benched but it is out of the question for this season.

We're not the type to say we told you so... We told you so. While so many were looking through their rose-colored glasses last month as the Phillies completed a 12-1 home stand, we knew that this was only a setup. Now, as the Fightin’s are hovering around .500 going into the All-Star Game Tuesday night, we must once again say, we told you so. We weren’t always this cynical. It was only last year that we scraped together some money and purchased our first ever season ticket plan. For it seemed that, finally, the stars were aligned. With a beautiful new ballpark, a flame-throwing closer in Billy Wagner, a real live giant-of-a-man in Jim Thome and a young nucleus, a division title seemed likely. At the very least, it looked like the team would be competitive until the final weeks of the season. But as the loses mounted, so did our frustration. The manager became a scapegoat. And the organization just spouted out the same lines over and over again. “Blah blah blah playing up to potential. Blah blah blah competitive team on the field.” And as the trading deadline passed without any major moves, we made a move of our own. We would do what seemed almost treasonous weeks earlier: root against our home-team. We came to realize that it is only through losing and the embarrassment of the organization that any good can come about. The one final piece in our plan would be to stop attending games. Sure, we already purchased those tickets, but the Phillies weren’t going to get any more of our money. No concessions. No parking. No plush Phanatic dolls. We were going to hit the Phillies where it hurt: in their pocketbooks. This season has been no different. We have not watched a game on TV; have not attended a game in person. If anything, we have focused on telling others not to get their hopes up. You will only get your heart broken yet again. As we continue to root against our once beloved Phillies, we tell ourselves, “It’s for the greater good.” And so we have the Phillies of 2005. 73 games left until the end of another dreadful season, where we will hear the inevitable excuses. We’ll watch as another scapegoat is brought out to slaughter, and nothing fundamentally will change. The team will underachieve, they will spend money unwisely, and they will acquire players either past their prime or not worth their pay. Unless there is a drastic change at the upper levels of the organization, .500 ball and mediocrity will be the norm. And we will year after year be able to say, “We told you so.”

On July 26, 2000, Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling (now the most-expensive set-up man around while he rehabs his ankle injury) was traded to the fesity Arizona Diamondbacks after winning 102 games in a Phillies uniform, including one in the 1993 World Series. Schilling was upset in Philly, he wanted out and the rest is history. The Phillies may not see a pitcher that good for 25 years. He’s up there with Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts as the best to ever pitch in Philly. The Phillies received what at the time seemed like a steal. They got pitching prospect Nelson Figueroa, solid veteran Omar Daal, power-hitting first round draft pick Travis Lee, and another prospect, hard-throwing 22 year old Vicente Padilla, who was striking out a batter an inning with the D-Backs. He was praised for his competitiveness by manager Buck Showalter, who did not want to part with him. The only thing the Phillies have to show from that trade five years later, aside from the everlasting hysteria from “The Bowa Years,” is Vicente Padilla. Although he represented Philadelphia in the 2002 All-Star Game, he was fighting to stay in the big leagues as he pitched against the Pirates in Pittsburgh last night. While Schilling has won 2 World Series, the Phillies have lost with, as Chris Mustazza affectionately calls him, “Sure-to-lose” Padilla. We all love Vicente, though; we do want him to do well. We know he’s the same pitcher Showalter praised, taking losses out on himself. It has taken a great toll on his confidence to pitch as bad as he has been pitching. But Padilla helped the Phils last night to come within four and a half games of the NL wild card leading Atlanta Braves.