Screen Shot 2011-08-08 at 8.58.59 AMBalls

Good morning, humans. A relatively quiet weekend in Philadelphia: none of our local teams traded for All-Star outfielders or position-defining cornerbacks. 

The Phillies took three-of-four from the Giants, though J-Roll™ walking down to first base for the final out of yesterday’s game left a sour taste in my mouth. This is the exact reason that despite being loved, he doesn’t have the sort of rabid fan base his double play partner, Chase Utley, has.  I can sort of understand not blowing your wad on every ground ball, but at the end of a close game, with a man already on base, there’s no reason not to sprint down the line. None.  

 

A couple of quick notes:

– I will be hosting a Phillies quizzo at Drinker’s Tavern in Old City on Thursday night. We’ll have four rounds, covering four different teams (08, 93, 80, and the current season). If you think it’s going to be easy, you’re sadly mistaken. Here's a link to the Facebook event.

– Philly Phaithful’s tremendous Good Game, Let’s Go Eat t-shirt is by far our most popular release yet. Get yours right here. Everyone else has.

– Get 25% off licensed glassware, Fatheads, and NHL and MLB dartboards at BC Sports. Click here for store locations.

 

The roundup

– We Zaprudered Friday night’s brawl

DeSean arrives. Polly to have MRI ( — old joke — ) on hip, he says it has nothing to do with Eli Whiteside sticking him at the line of scrimmage.

– Chipper Jones says Phillies are best team since the 2000 Yankees.

– In his defense of Ryan Howard, Mike Missanelli tweaked the SABR nerds by throwing out every buzz word sure to elicit a response (clutch, RBI, etc.). Thankfully, he stopped just short of describing a sexual encounter, something that would have undoubtedly sent the stat heads into a frenzy, for varying reasons.

David Murphy, in his nonstop quest to drip smugness onto every word he writes, took aim at Missanelli, making this the second time in four months he has taken shots at a colleague. If he worked for ESPN, he would be dead in his car somewhere:

Just did my morning reading. It appears stupidity has a new platform. Soon, there will be no escape from the lowest common denominator. As my man Jay said, dumb down for your audience and double your dollars. Shame that pros like @MikeSielskiWSJ are forced out of our market for hacks who can't write without dripping their clown paint on the keyboard. The same reason I rip Sarah Palin and cable news. My country is being dumbed down for profit and power.

 

Odd that a guy taking a moral stance on stupidity, profit, and power is talking about a sports column. I see your stupidity, David, and raise you a dose of perspective.

This is the problem with SABR folks and pseudo-smug tightly wound scriptuals: it’s a game. Our emotions about sports are as real as it gets, but at the end of the day, it’s entertainment. I whole heartedly agreed with the premise of Missanelli’s argument- I wrote just about the same thing here. Where Miss came up short was in completely misunderstanding the arguments over clutchness, RBI opportunities, and productive outs. That being said, his point was right on: Ryan Howard is one of – if not the most – productive player in Phillies history, and we’re going to argue over his on-base percentage, propensity to strike out, and WAR? What is that good for? Nothing. SABR nerds just have a problem with the fact that he doesn’t hit more doubles. And they also don’t take too kindly to tongue-in-cheek discourse, as is evidence by every Tweet they send…

– Dan Gross has a roundup of the attendees at UFC 133, including Charles Barkley, Randy Moss, and others.

– Our friends at Philsville Blog passed along this little tidbit this morning:

The Phillies averaged 4.3 runs per game in the 105 games prior to Hunter Pence trade. They’ve averaged 6.1 runs in the nine games since.

 

SABR nerds won’t be able to comprehend Pence’s value hitting behind Howard.

– Video of Howard at the MLB Fan Cave.

– Busted Coverage has video of a female Red Sox fan getting double dipped at Fenway back in 1997. Random.

– McDonald’s is coming out with a Phillies McFlurry. Per the release:

To celebrate the launch of McDonald’s new Phillies McFlurry, Ronald McDonald and the Phillie Phanatic will be at the South Philadelphia McDonald’s on Front and Oregon Streets on Monday, August 22, from 3-6 p.m. Customers will have a chance to sample the new product on site. In addition, the first one hundred customers to purchase a Phillies McFlurry will receive a McDonald’s-branded Phillies shirt, while supplies last.

 

– As you know, Jay Cutler broke up with Kristen Cavallari. Goodnight Snack put together some of her finer photographs

Great article by Bob Ford about Eagles backup quarterback Jerrod Johnson.

– A look inside the numbers: Cole Hamels.