The first day of the postseason is upon us and the Phillies are raring to go. A lot of talk of going deeper into the playoffs this year was the topic of several of the players after the Phils clinched the division for the second straight year. 

Quoted from philly.com and Todd Zolecki in bold from 9/12/08:

Charlie Manuel said he never meant the fans.

Manuel caused a stir yesterday with a comment he made after Wednesday's 7-3 loss to the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.

Asked about the team's recent struggles, the Phillies' manager said: "We won a game here against the Mets in extra innings [on Aug. 26], and it seemed like everyone in Philly got real high.

"The next night, we lost and there was a big difference. People got flat. Now, the team didn't, but the whole environment was that way. And that has an effect on the team and the players."

Many took "people got flat" as Manuel's blaming the fans, who have come in record numbers this year.




The problem is not with the fans, Charley and Phillies management. The problem with motivating the crowd is the stuff that used to happen in Veterans Stadium doesn't happen at Citizens Bank Park.

There is no organ music to get the crowd going in the 'new' ballpark, there is nothing really going on sound wise that helps fans 'get happy' and clap - like the old 'clapping hands' on the scoreboard you used to see to pump up the crowd at the ballpark at Veterans Stadium. These types of things always pumped up the crowd. I know because I was there and I remember all those little things. You had a couple bigger scoreboards keeping fans uptempo when the team needed a little extra help. It is no where to be found at Citizens Bank Park! That is the problem.


There isn't any thing going on except for the Phillie Phanatic, and he entertains some people but he can't do it all. He gets people clapping, but there's no music to go along with that... this needs to be fixed. You'll see more activity from fans if Phillies management recognizes that it is them that needs to do more to fix this.



Rich Baxter - Fightin Phillies blog

   The Phillies rainout forced another double header for the team, but it also afforded another day of rest for a starting pitching staff that has been pulling double duty lately. The Phillies are still in the hunt for the playoffs and I got my tickets for the playoffs ordered today!


   We need that offense to keep roaring for Saturday's game vs. the Brew Crew - The Phillies need to do something with the starting rotation. With the pitchers they have currently, that poses and interesting problem. You can demote Kendrick, who has flopped in the last three games terribly. Who do you bring into the rotation though? I think Adam Eaton is finished as a starting pitcher. He has had nothing but bad numbers this year and toward the end of last. He's lost his winning ways and even his stint in the minors had him serving up softballs to them that they hit out of the park reguarly.

    The answer to this problem is simple, JA Happ deserves the chance to give his best to the club for the last two weeks. He's got some good skills and may be a pitcher the Phillies rely on in the future. Time will tell what happens with the situation but that is one option that looks good at this point.


   

The Phillies are the team with two heads. One head is a team that could win it all, everything purrs like a kitten and when this happens it is just great. Last night the Phillies turned in what looked like the other head they have, it is ugly and when it shows itself, you just want to turn away.

The Phillies had a situation where the Nationals had the bases loaded, two ground balls and nobody threw home? This is just unexplainable. These are major league players, and this shouldn't happen. Phillies announcer on the radio, Larry Anderson, was livid on the radio broadcast of the game. You can always look to him to tell the truth about something. He did tell the truth last night, he was really mad at the Phillies and said, "There's two errors you won't see in the box score." His sidekick didn't say a word, he generally doesn't berate the Phillies but this time it was true and the Fightins looked like a high school team. Ryan Howard's indecision left him to throw to second base when he clearly had a play at the plate, the guy would have been out by 15 feet.


The Phils fall 3 whole games behind the Mets, this team could be out of it by next week at this time if things don't change for them. The bullpen implodes regularly now, the offense is producing but not enough when the bullpen implodes, and sometimes the offense doesn't show up at all. They are not out of it yet, but this weekend says it all for the team. If they can't beat the Mets, they won't be going to the playoffs.


                                Rich Baxter  -  FightinPhillies.com

So far in Chicago, the Phillies have been snake bitten in Chicago. They've lost two very important games to Chicago with the bullpen appearing to have a big problem holding games all of a sudden. The offense is doing their job, and now the pitching seems to have let the Phillies down a bit, though they are not out. Yet.

 The Phillies fell to 2.0 games out of first now, and with the games dwindling down to the month of September now with the remaining schedule, they have to do all they can to get back to their winning ways.

The Fightins have lost three in a row now, and this late in the season they can't afford to do that. On paper, they are almost statistically identical to the NY Mets, the Phils have just stumbled a bit lately. This type of play isn't the mark of a World Series winner, but if the Phils just make the playoffs that in itself becomes a new season and nothing previous matters.


 The Mets haven't seen the last of the loss column, that is for sure. The one terrible stat the Phillies have this year is their record for day games, they are 16-22. This isn't a good sign. Somehow, they have to find out why their record during the day isn't too good. This day record the Phillies have is equal to the record of the Washington Nationals, so you can see this isn't good.


         Here's some misc. stats of the Phils so far:

           Ryan Howard...   Strikeouts 2008...      175 as of 8/29
           Chase Utley...    Hit by pitch...             21   "       "
           Jimmy Rollins...  Triples...                    9    " 
          


                 

A trip out to the West Coast for the Phillies has brought nothing but quiet bats, losses, and Jimmy being Jimmy. Or was that Manny being Manny? Oh well, when your making $8 million this year and millions before, I guess you can say whatever you want to when your Jimmy Rollins. I think a lot of these ballplayers lose sight of who actually comes out to see them. It isn't millionaires for the most part, they're too busy making money to actually go out and see the team, no it's hard working people who have to put their season tickets on credit cards and pay on time just to keep their season seats. So, are you going to support that fan, Jimmy? No, I didn't think so. I've always liked Jimmy and I continue to be a fan of his but get off this subject and get out there and start getting the job done on the field!

  Well, moving on, we have a swept team looking for salvation in San Diego tonight. This team needs a win, as the Mets won against Pittsburgh and look like a team turned around. The Phillies need to win every time the Mets win just to stay up with them, the minute the Phils lose when the Mets win, they start digging that winter hole that they can crawl into in October and miss the playoffs.

   What happened? J Roll seems to be off on a temper tantrum, Utley curses at the fans that boo right on national tv, the whole team isn't hitting almost like Ryan Howard's average every game and Myers looks like he's going to kill someone out there on the mound when he's pitching. This is certainly going from bad to worse, they need a bit of lightening up a bit, bring a clown into the clubhouse or something, a comedian perhaps. The team needs to take a load off their mind, and just relax and play baseball. 


    I predict the Phils knock the seams off the ball tonight and win big in game one in San Diego!

   The team did lose 6 straight already this year in June, I don't think they break that streak. They need a win though and start taking every game seriously but relax and have fun.

In the games against the L.A. Dodgers, Jimmy Rollins went 3-17. He found time to talk about the fans though, somethings are better left unsaid and that subject is one of them. There is no easy explaination of why Philly fans take delight in booing a player when they aren't doing too well. The obvious thing for the fans to do in the players benefit would be to offer encouragement to a player that needs the extra support. 'Angry mob' mentality dictates that this isn't what happens though, and it is easier to boo than reason with why a player is doing badly.

Schmidt tried to tackle this subject, as did Carlton, and many other great Phillies. It's bothered all of them. Pat Burrell has maintained a silence on the subject for the most part, though I know something is simmering and one day he'll tell us all how he feels about the subject. It's just not easy to put a handle on it, I've been to many a game though in Philly and I find that the ignorant ones that boo are just trying to make some noise because they actually want attention more than the fact that they are booing a player for any given reason. The problem is there seems to be a lot of those types in a crowd at times.

When Utley said the infamous words that he uttered about fans that booed, he just said, "Boo? - F$$k You!" and no one said anything. The Utley comment flew over the radar by Philly fans and instead of J Roll trying to be philosophical about it, he should have just said the same thing and nothing would have been said. J Roll should have just said that very comment on the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" and he wouldn't be in the trouble he is in with some fans today.


Utley's comments weren't just directed at NY Fans, it pertained to every fan really. I like Utley as a player, but I didn't like what he said when he said it on national tv at the Home Run Derby in July.



     Rollins is firmly entrenched into a different realm with these comments, he directed it at the wrong time, with the Phillies doing so badly in LA and now he'll hear it real loud on Tuesday night. He has moved into an area that Schmidt, Carlton, and all the Phillies greats have been exposed to. What a difference a year makes, he's MVP last year and this year the tables have turned.


 

I don't interpret Jimmy Rollins comments about the fans as a negative. He's just calling it as he sees it. Look at Pat Burrell for instance, he's endured more booing than any home team player should have during his time here, and for what? He's the same player, this year he is doing very well, those boos have changed to cheers. I've talked at length about the damage we can do as fans by booing your own player, especially the ones that don't deserve it. They are 'your' team. It's like booing your mother when she tells you it's cold outside and to wear a jacket, she's your mother!


When a player on a team does poorly most of the time he isn't trying to do poorly, they need support not a dismissive boo in their ear. I think this is the way Rollins meant his comment to be taken. He may have went a little to far saying the fans here are front runners though. Every crowd loves a winner though, that is the nature of the beast, what do you want them to do... want to lose? Jimmy has opened a can of worms here now, he may face the boo birds at Citizens Bank Park, I don't think there will be many but when he goes 3-4 with two doubles and a homerun, they'll cheer him- if he strikes out a couple times he may get the boo call, nothing personal it's just those fans way of telling a player, "hey I spent a days wages for my tickets, how about giving that little bit extra and do something good!"



Don't boo Rollins when the Phillies come home, you'll fall right into the trap!

Cole Hamels seems to have had a lack of run support in the last couple games. This hasn't always been the reason that he hasn't done well this season though. There are a couple of stats that Hamels possesses to support this. Number one in my mind is home runs given up, he is up there at 23 going into tonight's game in LA, that is up there for Cole. Myers has given up 25 and that has been widely publicized, but Cole's number is right there as well.




Cole is also up there for hits allowed over 9 IP that number is 7.40. Cole does have 2 CG and 2 shutouts this season though. His record is a not so good, 9-8. This doesn't bode too well for Cole's demand of much more money this year the way he has pitched so far. What the Phillies decide to do after this year will be interesting. Cole can pitch, but he needs to start showing it now. He desperately needs a win tonight in tinseltown.


His career record is 33-21 so he's still in the plus there, but his last two outings have found him getting tagged with losses in each game. At this point in time he is projected to end the season at 12-11 according to ESPN.com which has the projected stats to the end of the season. He has been called 'struggling starter' in the previews of tonights game. If Hamels wins tonight, he stays above water, if he gets pounded, look for more foreboding articles to appear about Cole - so I hope he wins tonight!


Listen to the Phillies podcast on Wednesday night 8/13 at www.phillywebcast.com at 630 pm and join in on the fun!

Richard Baxter - Fightin Phillies

The Phillies are out west in Dodgerland after a tremendous win on Sunday in a game that felt like it took forever to play with the 1:47 rain delay right from the scheduled start time of 1:35pm yesterday.

The team needed Chase Utley to snap out of his hitting funk, he sort of did with the homerun that sealed the Phillies victory but I hope that's the start of Utley getting hot again. He seemed to have a lot on his mind as he came up to bat yesterday at Citizens Bank Park.

Meanwhile, the Mets and the Marlins get a double dose of losing today and it puts a little distance between the first place Phillies if the Phillies can come up with a couple wins in LA, namely winning tonight the first game on Monday August 11.


Is the Phillies still a powerhouse playoff team, I am not that convinced that they are. They have been winning but not in a convincing fashion. They have sputtered terribly offensively lately and have sputtered a number of times this year for unknown reasons. It just seems that they are not all that happy as a team out there sometimes.


The 1993 team had fun along the way, this team seems uptight about something, there are some really long faces out there perhaps the team should start watching the Phanatic and just relax a little and have some fun.

The Dodgers are now home for a 10 game homestand with the Phils coming in for the first three of them.


Game One vs LA:

PHI: Kendrick (10-5, 4.37 ERA)
LAD: Lowe (8-10, 4.10 ERA)




Rich Baxter - Fightin Phillies