All was quiet in the land of the injured yesterday-- the Phillies were off. But, in the evening, Hunter Pence held his Let’s Go Eat: Food and Fun Fest on the Moooooshoooelouuu (as he calls it).
Our friends from La Salle TV’s SportsTalk Philadelphia were on hand and sent along some footage from the event, which includes Pence, Hamels, Victorino, and Ruben Amaro playing ping pong.
Funny thing about Amaro’s ping pong game: after a few volleys with the little white balls, he gets really pissed off if his opponent doesn’t return to him a gigantic softball, two baseballs, a ping pong ball to be named later, and cash considerations. After years of trading with Ed Wade, Amaro just assumes this is how life works.*
*Jokes, here all week.
Thankfully, NBC 10's Jillian Mele was there and posted pictures on her Twitter. Ayla Brown sighting, too:
One question: Where is Sheena Parveen and WHY IS SHE NOT IN THESE PHOTOS?!!
Nice work by Hunter, though. The event looked like a real home run.
- Received some photos in the mail yesterday from the Home Runs For Heart Media Day. That’s me on the right-- eyes on the ball, arms extended, hips cleared. Our “style editor,” Dan Fuller, is on the left. He, um, looks like he’s trying to shovel dirt with a golf club. Nice hat, though.
I've got a question for you, Kyle. Seeing as you are probably the biggest Cliff Lee nut hugger out there, while simultaneously pointing out each and every one of Bryzgalov's shortcomings, I'd like to know something...
Riddle me this, riddle me that, why does Cliff Lee continuously get a free pass, while Bryzgalov continuously gets the shaft?
Let me be the first to admit that I love Cliff Lee. But let's face it, besides a solid run in the '09 playoffs and an impressive shutout streak, Cliff Lee hasn't really done anything spectacular while being a Phillie even though he gets paid money by the boatload. I believe he is set make $21.5 million this year (roughly 14% of the Phillies 2012 payroll) and has yet to win a single game. Granted, he's pitched well enough to win some of his starts but his team hasn't produced runs that well when he pitches. Perhaps most important though, one could easily argue that he actually cost the Phillies the series against the Cardinals last year when he blew a 4 run lead.
Let's see how that compares to Bryzgalov...
Let me be the first to admit that I am a big fan of Bryzgalov's, who is praying that typical Philly douchebags (see: YOU) don't run him out of town before he reaches his potential in the orange and black. However, other than a franchise record shutout streak and single-handedly carrying the Flyers through March, the rest of Bryzgalov's first year as a Flyer was rather unremarkable. His GAA and Save Percentage weren't bad but weren't great either, yet still managed to stack an impressive amount of wins. Monetarily speaking, compared to Cliff Lee, Bryzgalov made $10 million this year (Roughly 16% of the Flyers 2011-12 payroll). Some of the games he played like dirt and the Flyers lost. Yet some of the games (especially the playoffs) he played well enough to win but his team let him down with defensive mishaps and lazy, uninspired play, but regardless, I don't think anyone can blame the Flyers' early exit on Bryzgalov.
So why does Cliff Lee get a free pass?
This nonsense doesn’t even deserve a response... but I gave it a line-by-line breakdown, for your grammatical entertainment. Step over the jump with me, won’t you?
Shane Victorino stopped by the MLB Fan Cave yesterday and surprised one oh-so-lucky fan with a phone call.
Programming note: I apologize for the relative lack of updates (and posts like this) over the last few days-- apparently, buying a house and moving is more work than I anticipated. Site will be back to normal by Monday.
How about a game where delightfully fat and slightly injured Chooch hits a two-run, pinch-hit, game-tying bomb in the hell hole known as Flushing, New York?
Sign me up!
Carlos Ruiz’s two-run blast in the top of the seventh tied last night's game at 3-3 and prevented Cliff Lee from being eligible for yet another loss. The Phillies would explode for seven more runs on their way to a 10-6 victory against the Metropolitans.
"I'm so happy to have that big home run right there. I was trying to get at least a base hit to get the inning going. I got a good pitch to hit and made a good swing."
Charlie Manuel, predictably, knew his pinch-hitter would come up big:
"I had a feeling he was going to get a knock," Manuel said. "That's why I put him up there."
Cliff Lee, predictably, and like Roy Halladay, thinks Chooch is the best player on the team right now:
"He's a great player, and he's proven it day in and day out," Lee said of Ruiz. "He's been a great catcher ever since I've been involved with him, and now he's starting to prove it even more with the bat. It just shows how complete of a player he is. He's our best player right now and has been the whole time."
The Amaro Lies
Ruben Amaro, who back in February classified Ryan Howard’s second surgery as not a setback, tells CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury that The Big Piece probably won’t be back in June:
Amaro was asked if he believed Howard could be back before the end of June.
“I don’t believe so,” he said. “I don’t think so.”
Could Howard be back by the All-Star break?
“I don’t know,” Amaro said.
Howard actually had muscle removed during his surgery, something that was just revealed by the team last week following an all-out assault on their transparency from the Inquirer.
The serial rapist in the Northeast looks an awful lot like Shane Victorino, as pointed out by reader Emily. We're told it was Cliff Lee who gave a description to sketch artists.
Up is down. White is black. Finkle is Einhorn. The Phillies are the Nationals.
Earlier today, the Phillies sent out an email promoting the usual fare: Dodgers tickets, Rockies tickets, pictures of their recognizable players who aren’t injured. You know, the usual. This communicae, however, included a special offer: Buy 1, Get 1 FREE for the June 6 game against the Dodgers.
Oh, how Nationals of them.
A few weeks ago we speculated that the Phillies’ sellout streak may soon be coming to an end. Attendance numbers hit near two-year lows, dipping below 44,000 for the first time since September 7 of 2010, a game which, interestingly, also had a BOGO. The slight attendance dip isn’t surprising given the Phillies’ relative early-season struggles. But, for a team that hasn’t even had to try to sell tickets - let alone give them away - over the past two seasons, it’s a bit saddening to see that there is enough inventory left for next Wednesday night’s game that they’re running a BOGO.
The sellout streak was already questionable, given MLB’s and the Phillies’ ability to sell tickets through StubHub (though I’ve been told the Phillies deny this), but now freebies may be required to keep it going. Miss you, 2008.
Phillies.com beat writer Todd Zolecki says it is a Grade 1 or 2 strain.
The latissimus dorsi, for those who don't know, is the big muscle right under each of your shoulder blades. I'm not a doctor, but I play one on the interwebtuals, and judging by the size of the muscle and some quick research, a strained lat takes longer to heal than most muscle strains do, as evidenced by the 6-8 week timeframe on Doc.
This time it’s the friendly city of Baltimore, where the Phillies will be playing the Orioles next Saturday, June 9, at 4 p.m.
Last month, we worked with our friends from PhansOfPhilly.com to organize a 200-person takeover of Nationals Park, which was featured heavily in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and on ESPN.com. We took four buses to Washington, partied for four hours with catered food and beer in the parking lot, sat two sections wide and four rows deep in right field, and were shown on ESPN as we watched Cole Hamels welcome Bryce Harper to the Major Leagues with a beanball to the lower back.
Sounds like a good day, yes? Yes.
The trip was such a success and we received so much positive feedback (seriously, the guys from Phans Of Philly planned a hell of a party) that we’ve decided to do it again. Since the Orioles game is in 10 days, we’ll only be taking one bus this time, but will still be offering the same great amenities:
- Roundtrip deluxe motorcoach transportation departing from the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.
- Your lower-level center field game ticket, seated as a group for the 4:05 p.m. game.
- Two-hour pre-game party at Leinenkugel’s Beer Garden in downtown Baltimore. The beer garden is in Baltimore’s Power Plant Live, which is their version of Xfinity Live! The bar is a short walk from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Camden Yards. The inside-outside bar will be blocked off exclusively for our group, so you won’t have to deal with any of the crowds seen at Xfinity Live! The party will include all of your domestic and Leinenkugel draught beer, select craft beer, wine, and all soft drinks. Assorted appetizers will be served throughout the party.
- T-shirt. Last time, we wore this:
- Snacks and refreshments on the bus.
- Bar gratuity, driver gratuity, and all service fees.
Total cost: $129. That’s right-- your game ticket, beer, food, transportation, t-shirt and tips, all for $129.
Buy tickets here. Once you do, you will receive an email with all details about ticket pick-up and boarding location.
We'll see you on the bus.
More pictures from the Nationals trip are after the jump.
Feel free to contact me with any questions CROSSINGBROAD [at] YAHOO [dot] COM.
That title sounds like a melodrama about the plight of family whose young son is diagnosed with a rare but curable mental disorder.
As we eagerly await the results of Doc’s doctor’s visit today (WHAT'S UP, DOC? HOW YOU FEELIN, DOC? GOOD, DOC.), we’ll provide all of your stalktastic updates right here.
CSN booking producer Rachel Appel-Vazquez, on an apparent stakeout, tweeted:
Just saw Halladay walk from the Rothman institute into Jefferson Hospital #philliestalk
Our team is in last place. Shane Victorino is picking fights with Cliff Lee. Our pets’ heads are falling off!
In the bottom of the fourth inning Friday night, fielding gaffs by Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence, who both lost balls in the twilight, cost Cliff Lee and the Phillies a run.
Lee, who was seemingly bothered by the yet another game with lackluster fielding and little run support, had something to say about the miscues. He and Victorino exchanged words in the dugout, prompting Charlie Manuel to passively intervene. The manager’s efforts worked, briefly, but then Victo kept talking, which led to Lee removing his towel and approaching Victo in his best you wanna go?!* manner.
Brian Schneider and others quickly stepped in to diffuse the situation. For a moment, though, it looked like Lee was going to beat Victorino.
*This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Lee’s "I’m going to fucking kill a man" face. Last year during a brawl against the Giants (which we Zaprudered), Lee briefly appeared that he was going to roundhouse kick Guillermo Mota. He didn’t, unfortunately.
You can’t blame Lee for taking issue with the shitshow in the outfield. Losing playable fly balls on two consecutive plays is hard to swallow, even if there is a legitimate excuse. On the first play, Victorino not only misplayed the ball, but also threw in the towel on the play as David Freese streaked toward third. That’s the part, I’m guessing, that Lee had a problem with-- it’s one thing to misplay the ball... it’s another to give up on a play in a close game.
After the game, Lee didn’t want to talk about it. Here’s what he told reporters: [quote via Delco Times beat reporter Ryan Lawrence]
"It's going to stay between us... I'm not going to talk about it."
But were you frustrated with the outfield play in the fourth?
"It happens. Obviously when you have two in one inning, it's tough to see out there. You don't' see that very often but it was kind of a flukey inning. Fortunately we were able to overcome it and win the game."
Victorino didn’t want to talk about it, either. He shooed away CSN’s Jim Salisbury:
Manuel liked it: [quote via Wilmington News Journal beat reporter David Hale]
"They had a little heated words, that’s all right. Baseball is baseball, it’s good sometime. There’s nothing wrong with that. It was no big deal."
Before the start of the seventh inning last night, a St. Louis man went streaking in the outfield at Busch Stadium. The above photo, taken by the AP's Jeff Roberson, is perhaps the finest and most ironic streaker photo our country will ever see. More like a take-off hero.
Several revealing videos after the jump, plus Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen react with a meta reminder that the streaker is copyright of the Phillies and accounts or descriptions of his existence may not be disseminated without the express written consent of the Phillies.
Sources have told the Boston Globe and Kotaku that 38 Studios, the video game company founded by Curt Schilling, laid off all of its nearly 400 employees today.
In recent weeks, Schilling’s company has come under fire for being unable to repay a loan it was given by the state of Rhode Island. After missing a payment earlier this month, 38 Studios bounced a $1.1 million check to the state, forcing them to apply for more tax credits. Thus far, the state has refused the application.
Here’s an email sent by an anonymous employee to Kotaku (a partner site with Deadspin):
38 Studios just laid off its entire staff, both Providence and BHG studios are being shuttered.
We have not received a paycheck since April 30th.
On May 15th, we found out we were not getting paid when our checks did not hit our accounts.
Our medical insurance runs out tonight at midnight.
We found this out when an employee's pregnant wife was told by her doctor, this was on Tuesday 22nd May this week.
The company has not communicated anything concrete to the team throughout this process, leaving team members to figure out insurance stop-gaps (where people could afford it), etc. on their own.
Some things wrong with this bobblehead: Chin-strap beard. Poltergeist head. Roy Fucking Halladay is not fucking left-handed nor ambidextrous enough to throw a left-handed pitch while in the motion of a right-hander. Got it?
Earlier today, Zoo With Roy and reader Jeff noticed that a Roy Halladay bobblehead in the MLB Shop was, um, not right... for all of the reasons listed above. The item was almost immediately pulled from the league’s website and the issue was quickly addressed by the MLB PR Twitter account (as you can see, the sports news world has already broken for Memorial Day weekend):
Halladay bobble-gate: Our licensee @weareFoCo says wrong photo was used on site, lefty version was just a sample that never got made.
I can add a little color here, since I used to work for MLB’s online shop. A local company, GSI Commerce, manages the day-to-day operations of the league’s website, and product buying is handled by a team from MLB Advanced Media. If purchased for sale on site, the selling vendor submits photos to a web team (comprised mostly of computer nerds who wouldn’t know a left-handed motion from a picture of a donkey screwing an elephant) to go along with their products. Usually the photos are from a sample item or a work-in-progress design. In some cases, individual products are Photoshopped off of one image (with logos and player names swapped out for each team). So the image you see is not always the actual product.
As for the poking fun at the league here... other than giving said vendor a license to produce products with team and player likenesses, MLB and its teams have little or no visibility on a per-product basis-- they simply buy a product, and images are submitted by the vendor for each variation of said product. And that's how you sometimes wind up with left-handed but sort of right-handed Roy Halladay.
