The Bullpen Game

Things were finally looking up in Phillieville on Wednesday. The Phils had taken the first two games from the surprisingly contending Pittsburgh Pirates and were not out of the NL East basement.  Cashmere would soon be playing from the Citizens Bank Park speakers, symbolizing the return of Chase Utley. Ryan Howard was starting his rehab in Lakewood on Thursday and Roy Halliday could be throwing off a mound within a week. Yes, indeed things were about to return to normal.

After Utley and Carlos Ruiz go back-to-back in the first inning, Citizens Bank Park was rocking with excitement and the Phillies were rolling. Then came………The Bullpen Game. All of the momentum, all of the positive energy created by the return of Utley, all of the where-have-you-been-all-year good vibes vanished in a matter of minutes. Raul Valdes, who has done well as one-inning reliever, gives up a three-run HR and just that quickly a 2-0 lead is a 3-2 deficit.  Joe Savery, he who was playing first base at single A Clearwater in 2011, is then asked to pitch three innings. By the time Michael Swimmer is done cleaning up his mess after 2 2/3 of ineffective pitching, the Phillies trail 8-2.

But, led by Utley’s two more hits, the Phils show that familiar “Phightin’ Spirit” to climb to within 8-7. Hope vanishes quickly however, as Chad Qualls gives a going away gift of a three-run blast and the comeback falls short, with the Phillies losing 11-7.

What exactly was the Phillies brain trust thinking? In a season where wins have been at a premium, and when they finally had momentum, Ruben Amaro decided that the Phillies didn’t need this game. Adding to the questionable logic is the fact that Kyle Kendrick was starting a day game the following day. Amaro will say that it’s just unfortunate luck. All of their top minor league starters would be on less than five days rest. But what Ruben fails to admit is that the Phillies knew they would need a starter ever since Friday’s game was rained out. It’s not as if they woke up Wednesday and said “Wait a minute, we don’t have a starter for today.” They had plenty of time to prepare for this situation. A simple phone call to Lehigh Valley manager Ryan Sandberg with the directions to skip whomever they chose is all they needed to do. Heck, I’d even just go with whoever was supposed to start on Wednesday, no matter what their numbers were.

On Thursday, Kendrick gave up five runs in the first inning and while the Phillies fought to climb to within 5-4, they couldn’t get over the hump. Two days later, they still haven’t gotten over it and are in the midst of a four game losing streak. Let’s hope that Ryan Howard’s first game back isn’t right after another double header.

Thad Iguaturner?

David Stern stepped to the podium, looked down at the index card in his hand and smiled. "With the 15th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select Thad Iguaturner."

 At least that's what most Sixers fans heard. Another tweener without a jumpshot who runs the floor like a gazelle and hops like a kangaroo? Don't we have three of them? Now I've been know to DVR a mid-February matchup between the Sixers and Sacramento Kings but I'd be lying if I said I've seen much of Maurice Harkless or Arnett Moultrie. And anybody who tells you they can predict what either player will turn out to be five years down the road probably has some lovely beachfront property in Arizona for you. What I do know is that almost none of the "experts" had Harkless coming to the city of Brotherly Love. Doug Collins and Rod Thorne had both said that the Sixers needs were an athletic big man-who they did acquire in the trade for Moultrie-and a shooter. Harkless stands 6'8 and weighs a shade above 200 pounds, not a pure four or three in the NBA. (Sounds like a right-handed Thad Young) He shot 20% from beyond the arc for St. John's. Sixers management claim that Harkless upside is just too great to turn down, and in their defense, he was the Big East Rookie of the Year, no small achievement. You have to figure that another shoe is going to drop and somebody, probably Iguadola, is on the way out.
I realize that you can't look at the Harkless pick in a vacuum. You have to look at the total haul for the night. Moultrie is a 6'11 power forward who averaged a double-double in the SEC, impressive numbers for sure. I just wonder if they wouldn't have been better off going after a NBA ready, legitimate 7 footer in Tyler Zeller and then trading with Miami to pick the former projected lottery pick in 6'11 scorer Perry Jones. Jones may have the highest upside in the draft after Anthony Davis. Or maybe trade into the low 20s for Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger, a 280 pounder who knows how to play the game. Only time will tell....

It gets worse ....

As if the story below is not bad enough ... this was the THIRD instance of the worst tradition in sports rearing its ugly head at a totally inappropirate time. 

The instance that I believe to be the worst of this trifecta of emabarassment occurred just a few days earlier.  To set the scene: It's late in the game, the Phillies are down (again), struggling to score timely runs (again), and struggling to tie together a lengthy enough winning streak to begin to move forward in the standings (again) ... Hector Luna steps to the plate with the BASES LOADED.  The go-ahead run is on base, and as big Hector digs into the box and the pitcher gets his signs ... I see, much to my dismay, a quick flash of movement in the stands behind homeplate.  THE WAVE STRIKES AGAIN!!!  This is as the Phils are at the plate with the bases jammed, and the fans behind homeplate ... NOT the upper deck, BEHIND HOME PLATE, are doing the stinkin wave!

Needless to say I became immediately livid.  And here's where it gets really bad.  The centerfield camera fades back and pans over to the Phils dugout, and who is standing on top of said dugout not only encouraging, but LEADING this travesty??? ....

One Philadelphia Phanatic!!

Shame on you Phanatic, you have betrayed us.  If you can't trust a big fuzzy green guy ... who CAN you trust?

WHY??? I need an explanation.

The Wave!!??

Tuesday night, Citizen's Bank Park was rocking. Chase Utley had just hit a home run for the Iron Pigs and would be back tomorrow. Ryan Howard could be following soon. And the surprisingly above .500 and playing playoff baseball, cross state Pittsburgh Pirates were in town. It was bottom of the seventh, Michael Swimmer enters the game, nobody out, two men on, the Phillies clinging to a one-run lead. The two billionth in a row sell-out crowd should be watching with baited breath, screaming at the strikes, and holding their breath in between pitches. And when what looks like a game tying sacrifice fly off the bat of Neil Walker is thwarted by an on the money throw from John Mayberry and a clutch block of the plate and tag by MVP candidate Carlos Ruiz, what were the fans doing?

The Wave?!

Philadelphia fans have a national reputation of many things...unruly, boorish, boobirds who throw snowballs at Santa, etc, etc. Our rebuttal has always been "So what. We're passionate intelligent fans who care." So what explanation is there for such an obvious fan faux pax of doing the wave in the midst of a close game?

Is it the state of the home town team? They've been called basement dwellers, past their prime, old over night, etc, etc. All of which may prove to be true. But.....as of Tuesday, they still were within a stone's thow of the second wild card spot. Mind you, that last year's gang busting, 102 win, record setting Phillies were dispacthed of by a wild card team. That went on to win the World Series. Sometimes it's better to be hot than good.

Full disclosure, I have participated in a wave before. But like eveything there is a time and a place, people. Drunken college kids before the start of a football game. Fine. Phillies up-or down-by 5 or more runs. Fine. September and double digits out of a playoff berth. Fine. Bottom of the 7th in a meaningful one-run ball game is not the time nor the place. The fact that so many "diehard" baseball fans rose up and down in unision during an intense situation of a game the Phillies had to have......I'm not sure what to think. How about it world? Have Philadelphia fans simply given up already? Has the city lost its edge? Is their baseball IQ not up to snuff? Or is the mystical powers of the wave simply that strong. Let me know what you think before you arrive at my doorstep with pitchforks. And please no more waves. Philadelphia, we're better than that.