Crossing Broad

This Guy and His Song Want Your Help Getting Reggie Leach into the Hall of Fame

Photo: Hockey Hall of Fame

Flyers great Reggie "The Rifle" Leach's Hall of Fame credentials seem pretty solid. He played 13 NHL seasons, eight with the Flyers. He led the NHL with 61 goals in 1975-76 as a member of the infamous "LCB" line with Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber-- still a franchise record. And in the Stanley Cup playoffs that season, he scored 19 goals (in just 16 games), a record that still stands, shared with Jari Kurri. That post-season performance earned him MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs on a losing team, the only non-goaltender to ever receive that honor.

Overall, he finished his career with 381 goals and a devilish 666 points, which at least puts him in the Hall of Fame conversation.  I usually leave the Hall of Fame debates to others who care more deeply about such things, but I bring this up because there is an online petition to get Leach into the Hall.

This movement has been captured in song by alt/rock artist, hockey fan and Winnipeg native, John K. Samson of the Weakerthans, with a song on his latest solo album, Provincial, which takes its lyrics from the petition he also started. [Listen to the song here]

On Samson's website:

"Even if I don't get in, it's just great to have all these people signing it, behind it, behind me. Their support is my Hockey Hall of Fame." -- Reggie Leach in the Manitoulin Expositor, February 14, 2012.

I am really pleased that my song/petition to induct the great Reggie Leach into the Hockey Hall of Fame -- www.ipetitions.com/petition/rivertonrifle/ -- now has more than 1000 signatures. I'd like to submit the petition to the Hall at the end of 2012 in the hopes that they will consider Reggie for induction in 2013. Please sign the petition and ask others to do. (Oh, ipetitions.com will ask you to donate to their site, but please do not feel obliged. Your signature will be registered either way.)

 

What's the connection? Leach grew up in the small town of Riverton, Manitoba, about 70 miles north of Winnipeg, so Leach is kind of the local hero. This link has more on how and why it all came about.

Coincidentally, Samson is on tour right now and is playing the Union Transfer in Philly on Sunday March 11th. He might not even mind if a few "Let's Go Flyers" chants break out.

Sign the petition here on this slow March day.

In Defense of The Defense

Castillo didn't have much to smile about this season, but doesn't deserve all the blame (Photo:GCobb.com)

Jeffrey Lurie announced earlier this week that Andy Reid will be the head coach for at least another season, and for purely academic reasons that debate still rages on. But soon the ire will be refocused back to the defensive coordinator. I wholeheartedly support hiring Steve Spagnuolo or another good veteran coordinator to replace Juan Castillo, since it would be an upgrade. However, it isn't completely fair to place most of the blame on the defense for the 8-8 season, since by every objective measure, the defense was better this year than it had been the previous two seasons under Sean McDermott. 

Some may have forgotten how porous those defenses were, because the team won anyway, but that was largely a result of a dynamic offense. And while it certainly wasn't always pretty, the 2011 defense did exactly what most people predicted they'd do: start slow with a lot new players, and  finish strong.

Going into this year, we all had questions about the linebackers and safeties, along with Castillo learning on the job and molding a defense that would have at least five new starters. But for those who predicted the Eagles to win 10+ games, the expectation was that the offense would need to carry the team until the defense gelled by mid-season. 

So if the defense actually improved, why didn't it translate into more wins? Part of the answer is the offense. This team was built around the idea that its explosive offense would simply outscore teams. And this season the offense was just "pretty good," but not great. During a "juiced ball" kind of year for NFL offenses, where a record 11,386 points were scored, and the league had it's highest per-game scoring average since 1965, "pretty good" wasn't good enough.

Eagles Need to Stay Grounded

The recipe for success is a heavy dose of Shady (source: SI)

At 2-4 the Eagles are going to have to thread a needle in their remaining 10 games to make the playoffs. Nine or 10 wins may be enough, but they have to be wins in the division and over rivals in the wild card hunt. So, obviously, this week vs. Dallas is as big as it gets.

I've always felt the criticism of Andy Reid over run/pass ratio was a bit oversimplistic and exaggerated and situations (and personnel) often dictated that they pass more. But the best plan going forward now is to run the ball more. Why?  Put simply, a better run/pass balance minimizes the number of hits Michael Vick takes, while also maximizing the number of touches given to their best player so far in 2011-- LeSean McCoy. Plus, more running plays can hide some defensive weaknesses by reducing the number of snaps for the defense.

Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but we don't need to overthink things here.

Yes, I know with the weapons in the passing game, running the ball 25-30 times is about as appealing to Reid as a salad, but at this point it's a necessity.  Below is a breakdown of the Eagles play selection and the number of opponents' total plays per game so far.  Passing plays include all called passing plays (sacks and QB scrambles) and running plays exclude kneel downs. 

Game 3 Preview: Ace #3 vs. Garcia

I told you, I got this!

Has the momentum shifted to the Cardinals, who return home with Jaime Garcia on the hill for Game 3 on Tuesday? It would appear so... at least on paper.

Of all the Cardinals' starters, Jaime Garcia has the best career numbers against the Phillies - 30 IP, 1.20 ERA, 4 ER, 20 H, 9 BB, 21 K, 1 HR allowed in four starts and two relief appearances (both in 2008). If you created a pitcher from scratch who would give the Phillies trouble, he'd be a lot like Garcia. He's a lefty and doesn't throw overly hard. Instead, he has repertoire of breaking pitches. It's a deadly combination (lefty-junkballer) that seems to work well against the Phillies. Consequently, against everyone else Garcia is a decent starting pitcher, but against the Phillies he's an all-star.

Here are the Phillies' career numbers against Garcia:

Giants Punter Steve Weatherford Doesn't Like Our City Very Much

One fan challenged him... Steve no like:

Here's a little free advice, Steve: Don't kick it to DeSean... then you'll really hate this city.

H/T to Jack, Mark, and Pete for sending

Lamenting Life Without Football, Bitching

Waiting for the lockout to end (astropix.com)

The NFL lockout reached a milestone of sorts this week, when it passed the 100-day mark. So the lockout has now been about as long as a 17-week NFL regular season. Luckily, we haven't missed any games... yet.

But the fun of the NFL offseason has already been lost. The time when the NFL sells its fans hope for next season has been replaced with breathless updates on labor negotiations. Fun times! Fans missed out on the time when your NFL franchise reshuffles its cards and nearly finalizes the roster they will take into battle the next season. This is also the time when fans usually get to be armchair GMs.

I'm as big a football fan as there is, and I can't even tell you the names of the Eagles' top draft picks. They took the Canadian fireman/hockey player, who is kind of old and will likely start on the O-line, and um, er, I forget after that. That's what a lockout does to fan interest.

Everybody Hits! (Seriously, Almost Everybody)

 
Chase Utley gets a raucous standing ovation last night (AP)

The Phillies scored 10 runs on 14 hits last night in a 10-3 win over the Reds. Yes, that is the total from one game and not an entire week. Let's dig deeper: In their previous seven games, the Phillies had scored exactly 10 runs, and they had only one game in their last eight where they had more than six hits. In the 3rd inning alone last night, they had six hits.  Five different players - Rollins, Polanco, Howard, Ibanez, and Ruiz had multi-hit games. That's only the second time all season that more than four different players in the order had multi-hit games.

Bronson Arroyo, with his mid-80's fastball, is the kind of pitcher the 2007-2009 Phillies would have hammered. He pitches to contact, is usually around the plate, and doesn't throw hard. I thought they would score some off him last night as well, but the way this lineup has been hitting lately, you just never know.

We don't usually do game recaps, but since it's been a while that we could talk about some offense, let's break down the two key at-bats last night that helped the Phillies hang some crooked numbers.

Chuck Digs the Long Ball

Charlie blows more bubbles after homeruns (Getty Images) 

Since the finale of the Braves series, the Phillies offense has been struggling, posting scores of 3, 4, 3, 4, 3, 3, 3, 0, and 4. In those nine games, they have gone 5-4, which is a testament to how good the Phillies pitching is. But even with good pitching, asking them to hold the opponent below three runs to win most games is a tough task.

There is no reason to panic. However, their lack of extra base hits, particularly HR’s, has been an issue since the middle of last season. With just 13 HRs through 17 games, they are on pace for only 124 HR’s. They hit 166 HR’s last year and that was a huge decline from the 224 they hit in 2009. They haven’t had a season where they hit as few as 124 HR’s since 1997 when they hit 116 HR’s.

To Boo or Not To Boo

 
Hamels - the one Ace with a ring (Reuters)

So perhaps you had a rough day at work yesterday, which was only tolerable because of the Phillies game you looked forward to going to last night. You paid good money for tickets, parking, and concessions on a rather miserable April night. And then just as you were getting into the game, your day was topped off with one of Cole Hamels' worst starts of his career, going 2.2 innings, allowing six runs, while surrendering two hits to pitcher Chris Young in the same inning.

I can understand how some fans, especially those who might only go to two or three games a season, would be frustrated or even angry.  You missed the three fun wins over the weekend and now were stuck with tickets to this clunker. Oh, and you probably had some douchebag Mets fans near you who was getting on your nerves all night, and taunting every Phillies fan in your section.

Phillies No Longer the 'Trendy' Pick, According to Bored Writers

 
Dave Sheinin, shown here with Pablo Sandoval of the Giants

The Phillies are older and have some injury problems. So now a lot of baseball pundits think, "I'll be a contrarian and pick the Braves to win the NL East. And if I'm wrong, nobody will remember in 6 months anyway." Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post is another recent example. Look, I get it. It's boring to pick the Phillies to win the NL East. Just like it's boring to pick the Patriots to win the AFC East or the Lakers to win the Pacific Division every season. Boring...and usually correct.

As a fan it doesn't bother me that so many writers seem to be picking against the Phillies lately. I don't get my Hanes in a bunch about it. And there are some valid arguments to make in support of the prediction that the Phillies will not win the division, in spite of being the heavy favorite since the re-acquisition of Cliff Lee in December. It's just now it's become the trendy thing to do, and the bandwagon effect is occurring.

Dr. Raul and Mr. Ibanez

Raul has seemed to have a split personality offensively the last 2 seasons.

Even with Utley expected to be healthy, a good year from Raul Ibanez was thought to be crucial. And now with the likelihood of Utley missing significant time, Raul's bat will be needed even more, as he will likely bat 3rd in the order without Chase. But his two seasons here have been tales of two halves with great disparities.

He had a great 1st half of 2009 and was probably the team MVP of the 1st half of that season. And then he went on the DL with a groin injury in mid-June and played through the injury for the most part after that, but his production suffered the rest of the season.  

Cutting to the Chase

Nobody seems to know when Utley will take the field in 2011

Another week has passed and still nothing definitive on Chase Utley.  Like many other fans, the potential seriousness of Chase Utley's knee injury has put a little bit of a damper on the season for me so far. And Wilson Valdez hasn't even hit into any rally-killing double-plays yet. But then I recalled the hot streak the Phils went on from late July to mid-August last season, with Chase out of the lineup. As Rich Hofmann noted recently, it turns out the Phillies actually had a better winning percentage in the 47 Chase-less games last season, than they did with him in the lineup, compiling a 29-18 record (.617 winning pct) without him and a 68-47 record (.591) with him.

You're probably guessing that the pitching carried them when Utley was out more so than when he was in the lineup. Well, the stats don't really back up that premise. In the 47 games Utley didn't play, the staff ERA was 3.58. In the 115 games he did play, it was 3.70, or 0.12 more runs per game. At that rate, that's only about six less runs over the 47 games without Utley than they would have allowed on average with Utley. Six runs in 47 games.