Daily News: Eyre could be sidelined with calf injury

Scott Eyre, the unsung relief hero the last two nights, suffered a calf injury that could keep him out of action, according to Paul Hagen, reporting on the High Cheese blog. [Link]

Eyre, who recorded the win on one out tonight and notched a very big out in yesterday's game, is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA, holding down the fort as the primary lefty until J.C. Romero's recent return. The Phillies, and the Daily News, said they will know more tomorrow. Obviously, an Eyre injury would represent a significant setback for a Phillies' bullpen beginning to find its footing, particularly in the middle innings.

Ozuna suspended: In unrelated news, veteran infielder Pablo Ozuna, who signed a minor league deal this off-season and has been playing for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, was suspended 50 games for high levels of testosterone. Most of the beat writers scooped this earlier. Oznua, who was hitting .294 in 187 at bats for the IronPigs, was trying to make a case for a call-up as extra help off the Phillies' bench. Guess that won't be happening.

Werth snubs reporter: Author and former SI scribe Jeff Pearlman passes along a note that Jayson Werth snubbed one of the reporters in the Phillies clubhouse recently. Pearlman writes "the scribe was working on a piece about this or that, and he politely asked Werth whether he had a few minutes. Werth’s reply? 'Not for you, bud.' Then he walked away."

Pearlman doesn't mention the name of the reporter, but hints that he or she is award-winning and highly-skilled. It's a nice reminder of the plight of our beat writers, who not only face resistance from the players, but instability in the profession. Stuff like this happens constantly, but is rarely reported, and with good reason. They'd be blackballed forever and never get another interview. I've been in the trenches only a handful of times at Phillies games and can tell you it is as intimidating as it sounds. [Link]

Comments

[Mike]

On Burrell vs. Ibanez: I recognize Burrell had outperformed Ibanez since 2005, but Ibanez has outshined Burrell considerably this year, on both offense and defense. Burrell was appreciated (perhaps overly so) for his ups and downs, and he helped us win a WFC, but that ship has sailed. Burrell's been hurt and has underperformed this year and Ibanez has been dynamite, so why are we arguing this?

[TNA]

There's been so much shuttling going on I'm having a hard time keeping track who is where. What relievers do the Phils have right now, with Lidge on the DL?

And is anybody but me looking forward to seeing what Walker can do as a ROOGY for the Phillies?

[bay_area_phan]

Eyre is a fairly significant loss. He has been an extremely reliable LOOGY this year. Taschner's numbers against lefties are pretty poor, so I imagine if Eyre goes on the DL, we'll see Escalona again. He looked pretty good in his brief time here, but it's an open question whether or not he's ready for the big leagues.

The Phillies' bullpen was great this series, but with the injuries to Lidge & now Eyre, it's starting to feel a bit thin. Acquiring another reliever might not be the worst idea in the world.

[J. Weitzel]

Added a note on Werth snubbing a reporter, via Jeff Pearlman's blog.

[Len39]

I liked Pat as much as anyone, but there can't be a Burrell vs. Ibanez debate at this point.

That really sucks about Eyre, as he's been great this year and we could use him this weekend.

That being said looks like we draw the short end of the stick and will see both Beckett and Lester. We better rock Dice-K on Saturday.

I'm still calling to trade the farm for Peavy and then do what it takes for him to accept the trade. Hamels/Peavy for the next 3-4 years at least would be pretty sweet and worth giving up whoever the Padres want and making Peavy happened. You can pay Peavy with the money coming off the books with Myers and the various bad contracts. You have everyone locked in and this nucleus in their primes (or near it) for the next 3 years or so, time to go for broke. This could be a dynasty.

The only bad part is I miss the days of getting some seats the day of the game.

[philsphan]

I was an advocate for Ozuna to win the bench job over Cairo and get called up. Now I;m glad he didn't get a chance although he would have done better than Cairo!

I hope that Eyre doesn't have to go on the DL just when the bullpen was hitting its stride. I wouldn't mind seeing what Tyler Walker can do and I have no probably with them bringing Escalona back up, who just earned the save tonight for the Iron Pigs after pitching 2 scoreless innings with 3 Ks.

[doubleh]

I don't find that note on Werth the least bit shocking.

A lot of these guys feel like they are hot crap now that they've won a WS. But they still should be able to treat others as human beings. He didn't owe the reporter anything, of course, but at least he could have been polite about it.

I love baseball and I love the Phillies, but these guys play a game for a living. They are not curing cancer here. Werth was practically out of baseball just a few short years ago. Have some humility, bud.

What is that saying about being nice to the people on your way up the ladder of success...?

[TNA]

I'm conflicted about Worth's behavior.

On one hand, the media provides interesting insights into players' lives, thinking, etc etc. And it feeds American celebrity culture.

On the other hand, I think media attention affects players for the worse; especially those who aren't very mature.

If I were a ballplayer, I'd hate talking to the media. It's almost always a no-win situation. It's like playing poker. Why give up any information needlessly that can be used against you in future situations? Why give opposing teams the opportunity to spin what you say into bulletin board material? Why even recognize the banality with which print media has to convey their performance to the public (using things like batting average or QS or saves)?

Yes, Werth doesn't necessarily have to be an A-hole to the writer. However, celebrities (and unlike what the writer said, Werth is definitely a 'celebrity') are like really attractive girls who learn that an effective and efficient way of weeding out courting men is by being bitchy. There might not be enough time or energy to be nice to everyone.

[aspen]

A buddy who lives in Boston told me that Dice K's favorite band is Backstreet Boys. Hope the Phillies' PA people can make use of that info

[Unikruk]

I suppose we'll just have to wait for the first article from a prominent writer to bash Werth, right?

And doubleh, we don't yet have enough information to draw that kind of conclusion, assuming Pearlman is reporting accurately. There might be a history with that reporter, e.g. he might have printed something said in confidence, or written pieces the players consider unfair, rightly or wrongly.

Pearlman's article also comes off sounding like a hissy fit. Ballplayers are paid to play ball, not help beat writers with quotes.

[TNA]

To say that Beckett has been pitching well for the past couple of games is an understatement. He's given up 1 earned run and 11 hits in his last 28.2 innings. However, he has thrown a lot of pitches over his last six starts, with all going over 110 pitches with the exception of his last gem where he threw 93 in a 6 inning demolition of the Yankees. Hopefully, he'll be a little worse for wear. The Phillies' hitter with the best record vs. Beckett is shockingly Feliz who has a 1.444 OPS in 9ABs.

Fortunately, Blanton, who's been throwing better of late, has always thrown decently against Boston. The key will be throwing off the plate for the first three innings and then pounding the strike zone afterwards. The Red Sox are particularly aggressive swingers in the beginning of games. Thankfully, Blanton can be a master of throwing off the plate.

This is going to be the toughest team the Phils have run into this year; one that is clicking on almost all cylinders at the moment.

[EastFallowfield]

Like Weitzel, I've been in the trenches a handful of times as well, and it's not the WFC that has players acting like that. It's like that on every team no matter what their level of success.

There's a reason you often hear from the same guys all the time and it's not because it's the reporters' decision.

[EastFallowfield]

"The Phillies' 5-4 win Wednesday over the Mets was the eighth time this season that they have won a game after having trailed by at least three runs, the highest total for any team in the majors, according to Elias Sports Bureau."

[CJ]

Is there any doubt that Charlie is a better manager than Jerry?

Three times in the last two games, Jerry has sacraficed with a runner on second and nobody out, playing for a single run. Who plays for a single run against the best offense in baseball? And, especially, who does it in the first inning!??!

Also... why did Jerry play his infield back late in the game with a runner on third and a one-run lead? Why concede a tie late in a game at home?

Finally, Takahashi to face Utley, Howard and Ibanez?? Going into last night's game, here's what lefties were doing to Takahashi:
.440/.500/.640 for an OPS of 1.140. I guess K-Rod was unavailable?

[CJ]

We have a new clubhouse leader for dumbest suggestion of the season:

Ryan Howard is jealous of Raul Ibanez.

Have we gotten that out of our system?

--------------

Oh, and Jayson Werth snubbed a writer. Until I learn some context, I'm not going to blame this on Werth. If the writer had burned Werth first, I'm not sure a fellow writer would have mentioned that.

[CJ]

Jerry Manuel actually said about K-Rod, "After pitching 2 innings last night, I wasn't going to use him in a tie situation. I was only going to use him in a legitimate save situation or a winning situation."

Does Jerry not understand that in a tie game at home, you'll NEVER have a save situation from the 9th inning on?

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Ron Darling addressed J. Manuel's strategy in the first inning on SNY, surmising that he was playing for the one run out of fear that hte game would be shortened by rain. Made sense to me.

I know it's been said, but I like listening to Darling and Hernandez. I especially liked when Hernandez mumbled "oh my" when Ibanez got a hold of that low pitch in the 10th.

[CJ]

Hugh: Not sure I buy that... unless Jerry was listening to a really bad forecaster. There was never a strong chance that game was going to be shortened.

[EastFallowfield]

Well, I can tell you it poured twice for a while during the game on the other side of the Hudson river but somehow that rain didn't make it all the way to Queens, and it was pouring when they were playing for the one run.

As Sarah Palin/Tina Fey might say, you can see NYC from my house.

[CJ]

If I'm looking at things correctly, the Phillies have a higher winning percentage right now (.603) than they had at any point last season. We're currently 2 wins ahead of where we were after 58 games last year.

[CJ]

EFF: There was definitely some rain around, and it may have forced a delay here or there, but the rain in the area was no threat to actually halt the game. It wasn't nearly sustained enough.

[bsg]

So if Eyre goes on the DL, How about Bastardo to the Pen and call up Carpenter again for the rotation, from the ironpigs site, "Carpenter notched his fourth-straight win, and has now allowed just three earned runs over his last 34.1 innings pitched. During that span, Carpenter has gone 3-0 with a 0.79 ERA over five games." plus he's on the 40 man roster, not sure if there would be any problems eventually sending him back down if they had to calll him up for another few spot starts, not sure how that works, but at least the phils have some good opitions to work with, not something we could always say in past !

[CJ]

bsg:

Couple of points:

1) They can call up Carpenter and send him down as many times as they want this season. They've used an "option" for this season. They don't count the number of times he's up and down, just the number of seasons in which he's up and down.

2) I think Bastardo has more than earned another start. He's done nothing to earn a demotion to the bullpen (even though I think that's his eventual destination).

3) Escalona seems like an obvious choice.

[RSB]

JW: it's good of you to take the high road and insert this example as evidence of what makes the beat writer's job such a tough balance, even on the heels of a notable beat writer's blog-bash. Obviously, you straddle both sides of the ledger here as both a journalist and a blogger; in fact, you blur those lines as much as probably is possible. Perhaps where a line should be drawn is between the *creator* of a blog and those who comment on its content. In the public eye, those are unceremoniously lumped together, so that you technically have no higher standing than guys who post things like "filthies lick balls lol". Even though the person who targeted Ibanez for innuendo was in fact the head of a blog, it's time a distinction was made here. You may not have to answer directly to management or players, but you are certainly as fair-minded, objective, and professional as anyone with a byline on philly.com.

It isn't fair for anyone to take what Werth did and project an opinion from it that Werth is just a jerk, the players are generally jerks, the world champs are on an ego trip. There's a possibility that it actually could as simplistic as this, but it's just as likely that Werth had a good reason (at least in his mind) for denying this specific reporter access. Just as ballplayers can react with indignation over perceived affronts to professional standards on the field, they will also do so with members of the media. That's where the issue of balance comes in. The writers know they have to be critical in order to be taken seriously, and yet they know the players are aware of what's being written and too much tipping over the line can result in their jobs being made more difficult by those players. And that's where sportswriters can perhaps justly say, bloggers aren't even in the same universe as far as having to operate with this sense of accountability in mind.

[J.R. King]

bsg: It sounds like Carpenter and Bastardo could do well in those roles, but the Phils won't rock the boat on Bastardo after his successful starts. The kid stays in the rotation as long as he's pitching well.

In the end, though, it'll be fun to watch Bastardo throw gas from the pen.

[Jack]

CJ: Totally agree on the ridiculous sac bunt in the 1st inning. I remember thinking that Jerry was totally feeling the heat. Reminded me of Maddon's bullpen usage in the WS; he was outthinking himself.

Not sure what to say about the Werth thing. I don't really care that much. I've heard some other things, but at the same time, I'm not gonna judge someone's character on hearsay. Werth is a baseball player. I root for him on the field. That's good enough for me.

[bsg]

c,j, thanks for roster info never quite sure how the whole option thing works, esacalona does have a high era over 5.00 but a pretty amazing whip at 1.08 i think, but only like 8 ininngs pitched, just wondering how long before hitters figure out bastardo if he doenst start mixing up his pitches like i said decent problems for the phils to have

[king myno]

Agree with most people - Escalona for now, Bastardo later, miniature American flags for others.

If Eyre's gonna be out 5-6 games, just make it an even 15 and put him on the DL. Don't want to be shorthanded for this series with the Sox, at the very least.

[Hydrant]

On Jerry Manuel's strategy on Cora bunting in the first inning:

Are we sure that came from the dugout, or, was Cora just trying to move the runner over and that was the best way he thought possible?

[mikes77phillies]

Watched the game on SNY last night. It's funny how Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling speak so respectfully about the Phillies even while rooting for the Mets. Very professional. Larry Anderson could learn something about professionalism by listening to them.

[thephaithful]

Ive said a bunch of times that I think Werth is a scumbag/douche as a person, but this is hardly an example. A reporter got snubbed, big deal. I've heard and seen Werth do plenty of interviews, and last night he wasn't in the mood, so what. I hope someone follows Pearlman around and reports anytime he doesnt throw change into the Salvation Army bucket, its probably the equivalent of what Werth did.

[mvptommyd]

Concerning this whole Werth thing. This is why "Scribes" as they call themselves always think they have the upper hand. They cover a baseball team for a living, obviously this writer and Werth have previous history. So Werth doesn't want to speak to the guy and what happens? A fellow writer tries to make Werth sound like crap by making it public like a little baby.

Honestly, if this "scribe" wrote things that were untrue, nasty, or on the road only talked to me when he needed a "story", then I would have said the same thing.

[MG]

Actually the Phils pen wasn't in bad shape even with Lidge on the DL but with Eyre's injury now it might force him to hold back Romero against a lefty because he saving him for a setup role.

As for this series against the Red Sox, it is hard to see the Phils winning more than 1 of 3. Phils have played worse at home and the Sox have the best bullpen in MLB right now. Don't see any late rallies down 2 or 3 to come back in the 7th inning or on to win it.

[CJ]

mikes77phillies: I love Larry Anderson on the radio. I don't have any problem with the enthusiasm he shows. There's no rule that says they can't be fans. It's not like they're a national broadcast team.

[mikes77phillies]

While watching the Phillies-Mets broadcast I found it interesting that Keith Hernandez commented that there are no breaks for the pitcher in the Phillies line-up. He went on to say with agreement from Darling:

"It's because Raul Ibanez is a much better hitter than Pat Burrell." In Wednesday's game when Ibanez cut off a ball and held a Met to a single: "Ibanez is a much better defensive player than Pat Burrell. In years past, that was a double."

That is in contrast to clouts' assesment that "Pat Burrell is a better offensive player than Raul Ibanez." and 'Pat Burrells' offensive production outweighs Ibanez's minimal defensive upgrade'.

[CJ]

MG: The Mets had the best bullpen ERA in the NL when we arrived :-)

Hydrant: It came from the dugout. And it happened again later in the game. In fact, it's the third sac bunt of the series by a regular (Tatis did it the night before).

[CJ]

mikes77: Seriously... let it go. You sound like a 12 year old. The numbers speak for themselves. No reason to be trollish about it.

[loctastic]

oh no, a reporter had his feelings hurt! and then another reporter had his feelings hurt too! too bad.

[mvptommyd]

mikes77: Yea, I think everyone knows we were right at this point. Let's just chalk this one up in the W column.

Sitting here thinking about all the negativity about every move by some on here. I really can't wait until the Phillies trade brown or taylor along with Carrasco for a Cliff Lee type at the deadline and all the uproar by those saying they are the next coming.

[mikes77phillies]

CJ:

I don't have any problem with an announcer showing enthusiasm for the home team either, in fact it adds to the broadcast. My problem with Larry Anderson is his constant unnecessary negative comments about the opponents, especially young players. You can show enthusiasm without personally attacking the opponent. His comments regarding Reyes, Milledge and Dukes border on dispicable.

[loctastic]

i also can't imagine the media has a great reputation in the clubhouse after the Inquirer decided to reprint that Ibanez garbage.

[CJ]

mikes77: Can't say I remember and dispicable commments from Larry. I'll keep my eye out for them.

[tw]

I don't know, I liked the call to bunt. You suffered a totally deflating loss the night previous, and their lineup was a LOB machine in that game, so moving a higher percentage play made sense to me. No more a mistake than taking a field goal on the opening drive of a football game would have been.

[loctastic]

mikes77phillies is right, LA is constantly slamming those guys. But then again, I think they deserve it.

[thephaithful]

I also agree with the bunt to move a runner over.

when the game was 3-3, 4 of the 6 total runs were produced with outs. Before Ibanez's 3run jack, both teams ability to play smallball kept them in the game and i thought was the key to the game.

Rauuuuul showed how useless smallball is when you can crush a ball 420ft into the opposing bullpen on a pitch at his ankles, but alas, everyone can't be Raul.

[CJ]

tw: There are lots of ways to move a runner without bunting that don't automatically give up an out.

Outs are the most precious commodity in baseball. And most studies show that sac bunts are statistically an incorrect decision, especially from a position player.

Moyer had a 6.00+ ERA going into the game. Perhaps they should have tried to hit the ball instead of bunting.

I'm glad they made the decisions they made!

[Bedrosian's Beard]

loctastic: What's the Ibanez piece you reference? I must've missed it.

[CJ]

thephaitful: You would have supported Victorino bunting over Rollins from 2nd to third in the top of the 1st inning?

[Klaus]

I agree with CJ; I didn't see the play in question but I'm always pleased to see the opposing team give away an out with RISP early in games. I did see Castillo square up to bunt last night in the tenth down 6-3, and I found that particularly heartening.

[thephaithful]

CJ: Cora's 5 PAs last nite were:

Bunt, Bunt, gndout 3U, gndout 6-3, K

Both bunts resulted in runs, while his ground to short and K would have not. Play that 1000 times and bunting may not always lead to the most runs, but last night it definitely did.

[bay_area_phan]

Big difference between taking a field goal and sacrificing in the first inning. You take a field goal because you you more or less have to. Jerry Manuel sacrificed by choice. Sacrificing in the first inning, against the highest scoring team in baseball and when your own pitcher has a 7+ ERA, is just inane. It potentially took them out of a big, or at least bigger, inning.

[RSB]

mikes: I've listened to Andersen a lot the past couple of years. He is brutally honest, unobjective, marginally insightful, without a filter, and mostly negative. In essence, the epitome of a Philadelphia fan. It's like listening the guy in the seat next to you at the ballpark.

I can definitely see how he'd rub people the wrong way, and his comments are often totally disrespectful. But he and Franzke blend so well through nine innings, and I can't imagine it'd be nearly as good as broadcast with some generic schlub in there instead. He has a good many faults, but I like the edge he brings - an edge you'll never get on TV.

[loctastic]

i was referring to the article that john gonzalez wrote earlier in the week, where he commented on the blog post about Ibanez and steroids. i think that bringing the blog post to light by putting it in the paper was irresponsible. no one would have heard of 'midwest sports fans' if the inquirer hadn't written about it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/homepage/47290092.html

[thephaithful]

CJ: Yes I would have, considering Victorino is the dumbest player on the entire team now that Myers is on the DL. The more times you can take the decision away from that bonehead, the better.

Were you not watching last nights game? he popped up 3 times! Luckily Utley doubled into the RF corner or his lazy popfly that kept Rollins at 1B would have cost us a run that inning.

[EastFallowfield]

Cora may bunt a lot due to that thumb injury he's playing with.

[Klaus]

phaithful: I don't have the numbers at hand, but Cora has been hitting around .350 during the last week or so.

[Gary Tang]

On the Jerry decision to play for a single run: I think that as people who have the pleasure of watching the Phillies offense and for those of us who grew up watching the HR derby during the steroid era, we sometimes forget about the idea of small ball. It may seem ridiculous, but Jerry made the right decision last night. Looking at the weather forecasts, there was a real possibility that the game could have been called early. So Jerry's idea was that it was okay to trade outs for sure runs early with the hope that it gets called early. Even though it was the wrong decision, its easy to say that with 20/20 hindsight. At the time it was the right call.

On the Japanese dude versus Ibanez and not K-Rod. Jerry just didn't want to blow out K-Rod's arms. Yes he knew that there aren't save oppurtunites for the home team past the 9th.

I have been a Phillies fan for years and while I like HK, I never liked Larry Anderson. He makes Philadelphia sports fans look retarded. I have to say that I really do like the SNY broadcasters, they have a reputation for good work. My favorite though? Orel for national broadcasts and Vin Scully. I watched the Phillies feeds but had the Dodgers feed in the background during their series just because he is that much better at calling the game. Oh God and Sarge? Give me a break.

[thephaithful]

well he hit .000 last night, and was an integral part for getting all 3 runs across. He moved Castillo up a base the first 3 times in a game that went extra innings tied 3-3. I can't see how anyone can argue that having Cora move the runner over last night was a wrong decision. At the time, debateable, but in retrospect, no.

[Klaus]

oops, that's wrong: Cora's hit .260 in the last week. But he's been hitting .325 and OPBing .423 since May 1st.

[bay_area_phan]

phaithful: Your entire defense of the bunt is based on subsequent events -- i.e., Cora had a bad night; Vic had a bad night; the first 6 runs were scored on outs. You can't use subsequent events to justify a decision that was made in real time, nor can you use them to justify a decision that was based on an assessment of the percentages.

If Ryan Howard goes up to the plate with a man on first and strikes out swinging, can I point to that strikeout and say, "Look, he should have sacrificed?"

[highlander]

FYI:

MLB Network will televise a new reality program titled The Pen, an original series produced by MLB Productions that follows members of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen with unprecedented access to a Major League team, which will debut on Sunday, June 14 at 8 p.m. ET. The series, which features on-the-field and off-the-field interviews, will air for six weeks and include coverage from 2009 Spring Training to the All-Star break.

[mm]

Loctastic: Absolutley. No one would have ever heard about this blog except chicago sports fans if it wasn't for the inquirer acknowledging this guys article. The biggest problem i have with it is that, he has absolutley no evidence. He's just making idle specualtion and the media's coverage of it gives it an amount of weight it should not have.

Also, I think that when bloggers actually add something to the discussion of a topic, or in rare instances, actually manage to break news/publish hard reporting, the mainstream media should recognize them. But when it's just idle gossip like in this case, the media should it ignore. No one would take this guy seriously, until ESPN is repeating what he's saying, and then you have people thinking it may be true, not because of the blogger, but because of ESPN.

Seems like a cheap way to get your name out there as a sportswriter.

[loctastic]

mm - exactly.

[bay_area_phan]

Come to think of it, maybe Manuel played for 1 run because he knew that, 7+ ERA notwithstanding, Tim Redding turns into Tom Seaver whenever he faces the Phillies.

[Tray]

I don't know that anyone's won or lost the Burrell/Ibanez debate, as the debate was basically over whether it was wise to sign the guy until he was 40, and for much more money than Burrell would have cost. If the debate was about who was going to have a better year in 2009, that'd be different. Of course, if you think that what's happened in the first two and a half months of '09 somehow predicts 2010 and 2011, you can make that argument, I guess.

[curt]

It's moronic to suggest that Ibanez would start juicing now. The guy has already signed his last contract. It's his big pay day. He has nothing to gain by juicing, and everything to lose (his reputation AND that big paycheck).

If you're going to start inventing crap, try to invent something that makes some sense.

[MG]

RSB - That is probably the most apt description of LA's broadcasting style I have seen yet.

I do think he can be a bit overcritical especially of home umpires because of his former career as a pitcher and younger players who don't play the game the way he thinks is proper.

As for the names you mentioned though, I don't think you would find many supporters of the likes of Milledge or Dukes. Supposedly some in the NY media were overcritical of Milledge but you never really heard Minaya or Willie stick up for him.

Plus, Minaya traded Milledge to the Nats for less than his perceived value at times perhaps in order to get rid of a malcontent from what was a very poisonous team locker room by the end of the 2007 season. Minaya got ripped for trading Milledge pretty heavily but it turns out he was right on about Milledge's attitude toward working to improve & dedicate himself to a training regiment in the offseason.

As for Dukes, he met yet turn into a decent MLB player but he certainly has had his share of offfield incidents and still dogs it from time-to-time in the field. Good friend who is a Nats season ticket holder has a pretty good take on it - not many Nats fans root for Dukes not only because of his offfield incidents in the recent past but his continued mental lapses on the field. Hard to root for a guy like that.

Reyes gets an undeservedly bad rap from LA because of some of his on-field antics/mental lapses but he isn't in the same class as Milledge or Dukes. He has been a very successful pro but LA just sees a guy who has such talent yet manages to make some really head-stratching mental miscues at some of the worst times.

[MFiP]

excellent series gentlemen. certainly not the result i was hoping for, but this is pretty clearly the best rivalry in baseball.

i just wish someone other than wright or beltran could produce right now.

[Albert]

Where are all the trolls hiding today?

[CJ]

Bunting in the first inning is playing scared. Period. I can't understand how any would defend this strategy. It's playing to lose. And guess what? They lost.

[MFiP]

I assume the trolls are badgering cerrone for being stuck in commenting purgatory.

[joe]

test post - sorry...

[Albert]

Did anyone happen to check out metsblog? Cerrone is angry because the Phillies were "laughing" when they took the lead.

[kells]

The Mets TV team is outstanding. I would rather listen to the audio of "The Lifetime Women's Network" for 3 hours than McCarthy/Wheels. I really hope Anderson & Franske are put on TV-I doubt it happens. Pretty weak blurb by Pearlman-especially since he probably doesn't have knowledge of reporter/Werth's relationship history. I was in the Striped Bass in Philly last year. Werth entered & the entire restaurant gave him a standing ovation. It's not suprising if some members of WFC have huge ego's at this point.

[EastFallowfield]

As for the discussion of the demographics of the fans of the NY teams, there's a new poll that looks at that issue.

Summary: 25 percent of NYers are Mets fans, plus 6 percent say they're fans of both teams.

Yanks at 34 percent.

Mets/Yanks percentages nearly equal for those older than 45, Yanks up 2-1 among the younger folks.

Women like the Yankees, the Mets not as much.

So there you go: Mets fans are old single guys.

[MG]

Wheeler gets ripped in this city by most fans to no end but he is such an improvement over Sarge it is not even close. In fact, Sarge might be the worst color guy the Phils have had since Johnstone or Maddox.

Wheeler generally gives you at least several decent points during the course of the game and it is clear that he put some real prep time into a game before a broadcast.

For example, if an opposing pitcher is coming up he generally can tell you if that pitcher can get a sac bunt down. You will never hear that out of Sarge's mouth. If Sarge does make a point, it is largely limited to a Phils' player and he will have made that same point previously several times.

Sarge is as bad as Mike Quick is on Eagles' broadcasts. They both don't have a flow with their partners/tell you almost nothing of real insight into what is going on in the game.

Biggest difference is that Quick is with Merrill Reese while Sarge is with McCarthy. I love listening to Reese because I am an Eagles fan but he can be an obnoxious homer/overrated a bit as a broadcaster. Frankly, Eagles' broadcasts haven't been nearly as good since Stan Walters left. He was a much better technical guy who gave you a much more even-handed approach & knew when/how to get Reese to calm down a bit.

Still, Reese has become a Philly institution and generally is competent enough to give you just enough insight that Quick is really redundant.

McCarthy on the other hand really struggles at times yet to find his pace during the broadcast & technical analysis of a game is clearly not a strength of his broadcast. In fact, he is as bad as Scott Graham was.

At least when Wheeler on the broadcast, you have a competent color man who can supplement McCarthy fairly well even if they suck the oxygen out of the booth.

Listening to McCarthy and Sarge is horrendous. It has to be one of the 4 or 5 worst right now in MLB.

My dad (who has been listening to Phils' games long before I was around) says Sarge is their worst color guy since Maddox and Johnstone.

[MFiP]

how widely-accepted is it that the marlins and nats have the worst announcing tandems in the majors?

[EastFallowfield]

The only reason the Met fans are upset with the laughing is because SNY has a camera in the dugout corner that's closest to home plate, where all the action is.

If the game was at Shea you wouldn't have heard it because they didn't have a camera there.

[MG]

Last point on broadcasters:

- Franske has really surprised me. Wasn't a big fan of his the first month or two but he clearly found his footing by the later part of the 2007 season with LA.

Franske is never going to be a guy who gives you great insight into the game but I generally have enjoyed his broadcasts over the past 2 years including some of the more dramatic calls he had made.

He will never be a TV guy but the radio medium suits him quite well and he has done a good job this season so far with the entire broadcast with LA.

Couldn't find it anywhere but does anyone know how long Franske's contract with the Phils' runs?

[MG]

Nats are pretty bad when I have listened to them on occasion but I haven't listened to the Fish really to know.

[Dukes]

I may be one of the hardest on T-Mac but I went back and heard his Ibanez call from last night and it was actually pretty decent. Made me wonder - how much of our dislike for T-Mac is just missing Harry because Harry was so damn good and so engrained in our hearts? I don't know the answer to that, just asking.

[Jonesman]

Does anyone else find that Met fans' irrational hatred of Victorino just makes you love him more? I know I do.

[thephaithful]

bap: Alex Cora and Shane Victorino are not Ryan Howard. They are both #2 hitters whose job in the lineup is to set the table for the power hitters(traditionally at least, which applies to both mets and phillies lineups last night).

Percentage speaking, Cora is going to make an out 62% of the time(in 2009). Beltran is going to make an out 57% of the time(09). I'm giving your side the benefit of the doubt as these players' career OBP are MUCH lower than their 09 nubmers im using.

So play your percentages out, and you'll realize that the way to score the most runs that inning would be to use those outs to advance the runner to get the run in.

If you spent all that time relying on hits, you would score much less often. And the fact of the matter is, Beltran and the batters following him are still swinging away, so they still have a chance to hit the ball and score even more runs, but to allow them to score a run withuot a hit is your best chance to score runs.

[MFiP]

Honestly, I wouldn't say it's any more irrational than Phillies fans' hatred of Reyes.

But to each his own...

[Spitz]

Yeah, what's up with this laughing thing? Are the Phils supposed to be somber after Raul essentially wins the game with 2 outs in the 10th? And what the heck is the difference between laughing and celebrating? I'm picturing Vic stirring a cauldron of green stuff and cackling like a witch.

[MG]

Dukes - McCarthy isn't a terrible straight broadcaster per se. He really has struggled to deliver a chemistry with anyone though because of the crazy broadcaster schedule the Phils have had on TV. Additionally, he has tried to ham up his "Philly connections" way too much/way too often.

Technically though McCarthy is pretty darn weak then again so was Graham. Even on the Ibanez HR last night, he really didn't know if it was going to go out until the very last second. There are still times he when he says "offspeed pitch" or "breaking ball" for every changeup/slider/curveball that is thrown. Plus, it doesn't seem like he really does that much prep work on the opposing team.

That is fine when he is with a competent color guy like Wheeler but it is hard to listen to McCarthy/Sarge and as although Wheeler certain has his distracting points as a broadcaster I would rather have 9 innings next year of McCarthy & Wheeler to see if they can at least develop some chemistry.

[Kutztown Fan]

This debate over sacrifice bunts is very interesting, and I can see both sides of the argument. But what I don't understand is why Castillo squared up to bunt in the tenth down 6-3. Did he (or Jerry) really think small ball in one inning would score 3 runs? Your thoughts, please, as I can't comprehend this reasoning.

And Cerrone is angry because the Phils were happy taking a 3 run lead in the 10th inning of the third game of a very tense series? Really? How does he think other teams feel when a Mets player does a victory dance over a home run in the middle of the game? Or the third out in teh 5th inning? If you can't stand the heat....

[MG]

Did anything else think that Howard was going to doing anything against Takahashi besides strike out or hit a weak ground ball to the right side of the infield?

[thephaithful]

MFiP: very true. If i was a Met fan, I would love Reyes even more just because other teams dislike him, which is exactly what I do for Victorino. Although I would say Jimmy is the Mets' fav to hate, while the Dodgers have Vic as their #1 target.

If I were the Braves, I'd hate Victorino the most too, he absolutely slaughtered them last year.

[EastFallowfield]

I dunno, I think if we had Reyes there'd be plenty of hate for him when he struggled.

And his usual September fade wouldn't sit well with most of us.

[donc]

I wonder if Raul goes back to Krypton on off days. Pretty long trip. And you know things are good when all we have to complain about are the announcers. I do have one gripe about Franzke though. He sometimes takes too long to make a call. A good play by play man needs to be a little quicker. Often times on a homerun he seems to be a little surprised by the outcome. Occasionally, a homer surprises everyone. Last night's was a good example, but sometimes Scott is a little to nonchalant about big moments in a game. If he can improve this one part of his game, I think he could be fantastic. It's his only weakness IMO. The rest of the Phillies guys absolutely blow. I come down on the side against LA and his blatant homerism and backround cheers. He truly does sound like the guy next to me at the game. And I always know more about the game than that guy. And the cadance of his voice puts me to sleep faster than the WNBA. In general I think there is way too much being said by all and way too much joking around and being folksy. Enough with the inside jokes and innuendo already. I don't need to know so much about these guys.

[thephaithful]

Did anyone notice how Redding pitched the Phillies last night? Phils violated one of the basic rules of hitting: Never sit on offspeed stuff, sit fastball and adjust if needed.

He pitched them completely backwards and they did not adjust. I dont have the pitch f/x data on hand, but from watching, he pumped them full of backdoor offspeed pitches to get ahead and then blew his 90-91mph fastball by them as an out pitch.

Over the course of the past series, our power hitters have been seeing almost exclusively junk--which they probably should. But it looked as though they were sitting on junk everytime, and ended up getting overpowered by a very mediocre MLB fastball above the waist.

[CJ]

thephaithful: Well, I'm sure I'm not going to change your opinion, but read this post from a Mets fan, and you'll see that the statistics are NOT on your side, despite what you've posted above.

[mvptommyd]

Off topic guys but anybody have suggestions for my beer of choice this weekend while watching the Bo Sox series with some pizza and wings?

[lets go mets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lets go mets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lets go mets go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

why does every one hate Reyes ???? And in 07 he was overused.

[Andy]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love to see the Yanks move into first place by Sunday evening.

[CJ]

lets go mets: No one hates Reyes. He's irrelevant. We save our hate for players that matter. There aren't any on the Mets at the moment. I hate Jeter.

[mvptommyd]

Andy: I HATE the yankees more than I hate the Sox(which is alot). But Yea, I hope the Yankees take care of the Mets, and us take care of the Sox. I wouldn't mind a comfy 5 or 6 game lead come Monday morning.

[MFiP]

Kutztown: Castillo usually squares up to bunt 5 or 6 times every game. He almost always pulls it back as if he just wants to get a read on something.

phaithful: I'm sure Jimmy is the consensus #1 in the eyes of most Met fans, but there's just something about Victorino that strikes a nerve (much like one Jose Reyes I'm sure). You'd think I'd hate Utley or Howard considering they've done more damage against us than anyone else.

[lets go mets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lets go mets !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lets go mets go !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

By the way the Mets don't show off to other teams. They don't say the Phillies aren't good. Like what Hole hamels says about the mets.