Morning Wood: Doctober
Good morning. Rock solid today. Rock solid.
When the Phillies signed Lee (Clifton, Phifer) in December, I spent approximately the next 36 consecutive hours writing about and aggregating content on Cliff. Most of that time, Belinda Carlise’s 1987 hit, Heaven is a Place on Earth, blasted through my speakers (don’t judge, it just seemed to fit). You see, just one week earlier, I had quit my job to take this little venture full-time. Am I fucking crazy?, I thought. I quit a pretty decent job to write a sports blog. Lee’s decision to spurn the Yankees and sign with the Phillies not only sent us all into some sort of pseudo uncomfortable level of glee and euphoria, but it also proved to be a game-changing event for this site. Our roundup of Photoshops, non-stop coverage of everything Lee, and consistent updates of reactions from around the sports world (specifically New York- heh) introduced to this site to many, many more readers. On that day, visits immediately and consistently increased 50%, and have grown incrementally ever since. In short, and without exaggeration, Lee’s decision is quite possibly the reason why I’m not sleeping on a curb tonight. It was all ironic, too, because it came nearly a year to the day from when the site was launched in December, 2009. The first ever post? Ranting about the Phillies’ decision to trade Lee after they acquired Roy Halladay. They could have been so good with both.
Everything came full circle, though. The very thing that inspired me to launch the site, is what eventually helped it grow into Philly’s best sports blog (your words, not mine). So now here we are, Doctober 1st, 2011, a chilly fall day, eagerly awaiting the playoff debut of our historic pitching staff, which includes both Halladay and Lee.
This is what we had in mind when we all gathered around computers and television sets last December to consume every drop of Cliff Lee news. And this is what I had in mind back in 2009 when I vented about a missed opportunity to throw out two Cy Young Award winners in the playoffs. How could we lose in October with that? Now we have four aces. Four.
Today, ace number one, Roy Halladay, will trot out of the gate. Tomorrow, Cliff Lee. Tuesday, Cole Hamels. Wednesday, Roy Oswalt (if necessary).
Ooh, baby, do you know what that's worth?
Ooh heaven is a place on earth
Let’s Wood.
Our stuff:
Game 2 time change. Carpenter will pitch.
MLB Network How They Got Here.
Hunter Pence speaks Japanese.
David Murphy wants to know what Tony La Russa is thinking.
St. Louis Papers bring us interactive Cardinals scouting reports– well worth checking out.
John Finger writes about Albert Pujols.
Jimmy Rollins questions Jose Reyes.
Danys Baez still mentors Antonio Bastardo:
So Baez started watching all the video he could find on Bastardo. He compared Bastardo's delivery at different points in the season. He took notes and relayed them to Bastardo.
"I saw him do a lot of things wrong with his mechanics," Baez said.
Baez, who posted a 5.81 ERA in two seasons as a Phillies reliever, pointed to Bastardo's hand and glove positioning before he began his motion. At first, his hands were slower than the rest of his body, and that forced him to rush at the most crucial moment. His slider was rendered useless.
"I remembered what he was doing before," Baez said. "Little things make him get in the right position."
Ryan Howard ready to put behind him last year’s lasting image.
Finally, we’re working with the OneTwoSee folks to run their new live blogging platform tonight. Ryan Gillon will be on the grammaticals. Be sure to stop by and follow along.
