Heading to All
Star festivities I'll admit this past week has put me on all of the emotions in
my title. Taking 3 of 4 from the Gnats had a small part of me almost hopeful of
2007 happening all over. The records were similar(eerily within a game) and the
recent winning ways were almost blinding. And then came the rainout and Game 1
on Saturday. I predict that was the pit that swung the pendulum for the season.
We should have won that game in the 9th, 2nd and 3rd nobody out. Yet Charlie
chose to let people swing away(no surprise he loves guys who can swing and hit)
instead of trying something nobody expected... SQUEEZE. He had the perfect
opportunity to blindside Robin Ventura, a 2nd year manager, yet stuck with his
traditional thinking and got zero for it. Maybe this is why the Phillies lead
the universe in runners LOB, more succinctly in scoring position. So we end up
not winning and losing 2 things in the 11th... 1) the game and 2) our hottest
hitter Revere with a broken foot. Had they won in 9 Revere would be playing
right now, which he's not. And I contend, as I have since 4/12, that Charlie's
time is damn near done.
I truly wanted
this to be a positive, constructive piece. However, I agree with Wriz it's time
to sell off the people who can bring the most return that will help in the long
run. I can see Chooch and possibly Michael Young to the Yankees, especially with
Jeter going dormant again. But do they have enough in the farm to make it worth
our while? I can see Utley possibly to the Dodgers for the same. Kratz,
Frandsen, and Galvis are the immediate fill ins but Reading and the Iron Pigs
have some good kids who are ready to explode. If you haven't been following
either team let me suggest now you brush up, it's worth a read. If it were
humanly possible to unload Howard, without having to eat more than $10MIL/year,
then go for it. Many may not like this either but I've been preaching it for
weeks... Papelbum to DET for Castellanos. If you can't win enough games to make
the 2nd wild card why do you need a $12MIL closer? His recent exploits have also
been less than stellar to boot. Yet I digress... lastly Charlie must go too.
I wish I had
more knowledge to drop on you but the current state of the NL East numbs me. At
this point, whoever wins is out first round. Not even the fireworks tonight can
sway me. But I do have this for Cliff and Dom... Good luck in NY and have a
great time. I'm glad Dom didn't get into the HR derby and can just have fun and
learn by osmosis. Not sure how many more pieces I have left in me for this year
when my material is so up in the air. So let's get bunted.
Bill S aka/netfather
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