Its a Major Award!

There is always a lot of debate on who the MVP is or should be.  It’s funny that some writers will discredit a player because his team blows. If anything that should make it harder to put up the type of numbers required to have an MVP season.  Anyway, this week I’m giving out my MVP award for the Phillies.

Last year, I gave it to Wilson Valdez because I take the MVP at face value. It’s the player who is most valuable to his team. Last season, Valdez was the glue that held the Phillies together for most of the year. He put up numbers far beyond what he is probably capable to do on a regular basis and played stellar defense. I still feel the Phillies would have missed the playoffs without Valdez last year. My Valdez MVP story was such a good idea that fat slob Bill Conlin stole it and did the same article in the Daily News.

This year, much like last year there is no clear cut team MVP. A case can be made for several players. In fact, it is much easier to say they each won it for a month or two.

Month            Player              Avg                HR                  RBI                 SB

April              Polanco             .398                 2                     19                    3

May              Ibanez                .315                 7                     19                    0

June             Howard              .269                 5                     22                    1

July              Ibanez                .284                 7                      25                    0

August          Victorino            .316                 6                      16                    2

September    Pence               .310                 3                      17                    1

But the Wriz doesn’t take the easy way out I’mma make a decision in a minute but how about this fun fact. John Mayberry Jr hit .275 with 15 homers, 49 RBI’s and 8 steals. Jayson Werth went .233, 20, 58 and 19. Werth had 558 AB’s. Mayberry had less than half that at 262. In the immortal words of CJ Hood how about a slow clap for Young John Mayberry.

Even with his September struggles, the Flyin Hawaiian easily wins the team MVP. His numbers in the dog days of summer were just ridiculous. Besides August, he also hit .364 in July and scored 25 runs in June. For the season, he went .280 17 HR, 61 RBI, 19 SB and 16 triples and played his usual gold glove caliber defense.

As for the team Cy Young, you can make a case for either Halladay or Lee. Hamels might have been right there too had he not had the DL stint. Their numbers are so close it’s almost impossible to choose.

                      G  GS W     L      GS       IP         H      ER HR  BB  K          ERAWHIP

Roy Halladay	32	32	19	6		25		233.2	208	61	10	35	220			1.04	2.35
Cliff Lee	32	32	17	8		25		232.2	197	62	18	42	238			1.03	2.40

But Big Roy’s W/L gets him the nod. The Philly chapter of the Baseball writers gave the nod to Cliff. I wonder if this cost Halladay Cy Young votes? It’ll be interesting to see.

See ya at the Ballpark (for RED OCTOBER!!!!)!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com

DUH.... WINNING!!!

HAPPY SEPTEMBER BUNTERS!!!!



I apologize if you aren’t amused by my article title. I can understand that some of you would like to protest my lame usage of Charlie Sheen vernacular. In my defense… Can you think of a better way to describe this season to date? NO. And I must say, now that we are in the final stretch of the regular season I am feeling pretty, pretty, pretttttyyy excited.



Before I start my jib jabber about the fabulous SWEEP of the Atlanta Braves, I thought I’d give you a quote from Chipper Jones to digest first:

“The only team that can really put any pressure on them and beat them somewhat is us. And I hope we get them head-to-head in the postseason. If we get them head-to-head, we like our chances. We’ve beaten their big three. I’m not sure if any other team in baseball has beaten their big three. They’re a great ballclub, don’t get me wrong. But we’re not scared of them. It’s going to be a knock down, drag out fight.”




How’d that work out for you, Larry??

Our 91-48 Phils wrapped up the series last night with a 9th inning walk off shot by Ross Gload, driving Raaauuuulllll in and giving the Fightins a 10.5 game lead in the division against the Braves.

Oswalt was solid last night on the hill, most likely cementing his place as the 4th starter for the Phils in the postseason. As the season is winding down, Manuel has a tough call to make when deciding whether to give the nod to the veteran Oswalt (7-8; 3.72) or the pen protégé Vance Worley (11-1; 2.85). Historically, Manuel has been loyal to the veterans in the postseason but looking at their stats it’s hard to not argue that Worley deserves a shot at the 4th spot. If the decision were up to me - I would have to go with Worley. The kid is dealing. His line is impressive amongst a team with dominant pitching, including two that are head to head for NL Cy Young contention.

I’m going to go out on a limb here… I GUARANTEE the 2011 NL Cy Young award winner is a Philadelphia Phillie. Yeah, yeah I know that isn’t much of a stretch. But think about it. We have three incredibly worthy candidates to win this prestigious award in Doc Halladay (16-5; 2.49), Clifton Phifer (16-7; 2.47), and Hollywood Hamels (13-7; 2.63). Too bad the collective rotation couldn’t win that baby… its pretty well deserved! Vance Worley is getting the “Harvard” of pitch schooling right now, an education that you couldn’t buy. I understand that Oswalt has 10 career postseasons. I know that he was marred by an injury and had to miss time due to personal reasons. But you should go with who is hot, and for me that’s Worley.





Cole Hamels takes the mound tonight in the first of a four game series at Milwaukee (85-59). This could be one of the most competitive series the Phils have had all year, what many are calling a preview to the NLCS.





Housekeeping:

The Phillies have reached the 90 win mark for the past four years. The win against Atlanta Tuesday evening cemented the shortest length of time where the Phils attained such a feat in team history (90 wins after 138 games).

Chase Utley did not fly to Milwaukee with the team last night after getting beaned in the head by Atlanta reliever Eric O’Flaherty in the 6th inning. Utley will meet with doctors as a precaution due to the suspicion of a mild concussion. DiamondGirl is planning on retaliating, with the intention of smashing O’Flaherty’s hands with a baseball bat.

Apparently a few of the Phillies themselves didn’t think they were going to make it to Milwaukee either! Jimmy Rollins tweeted earlier this morning about a rocky flight that was averted to Green Bay due to weather:


YIKES!!!

Hey speaking of twitter… I freaking LOVE the Ask the Booth segment that T-Mac and Wheels have partaken in (albeit reluctantly I’m sure). It was nothing short of hilarious… if you followed ONLINE that is. I decided to list the questions that made me LOL the hardest:

@PhoebePhanatic
Oh god, this #askthebooth thing is going to be terrible, isn't it?

@uublog:
How many bears could Bear Grylls grill if Bear Grylls could grill bears? #askthebooth

@msab20
How do you two stand listening to each other? #askthebooth

@tkesq
If Tmac left DC traveling 50 mph and Wheels left NYC traveling 37 mph, when they met in the middle would they both still suck? #askthebooth


AND THE #1 QUESTION....

@michaelmader
F/Marry/Kill: TMac, Sarge, Wheels. Please direct to Larry Anderson. #askthebooth


HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
-xo,
DiamondGirl215