Turning Points

At first, I was going to do a Phillies “mid-term grades” piece, but it have more F’s than a Chase Utley interview. Plus everyone one and their mother were doing them. Only the 3 all-stars (and I would have made a case for Schwimer) deserve a grade higher than a “C.”

It seems like every time, I read anything on the Phillies lately, its people trying to pinpoint the season’s turning point. Guess what? It ain’t happening. Even I did it. Back on June 28^th, I went to the game the previous night and for the first time all year it was like no matter what they were going to find a way to win and they did. I thought that was “the night.” Since then, they have gotten back Chase and Ryan and have manage to go a whopping 1-10 which includes sweeps by the Braves and Marlins, who went 4-1 against the Floppins in June and 4-17 verse everyone else.

People want to point to previous years and say they can do it again or that the Cardinals made up a similar margin in just the final month. But this team has no heart, no desire to win. Victorino wants to throw a temper tantrum because he’s batting 7^th? Fuck You. Jason Pridie did more in that one game than he’s done in a month. For reals! He’s got one extra base hit in the last month. ONE! I wish MLB would edit him out of the commercial when he says he will lead the league in triples. It’s embarrassing. There are 64 more major leaguers with more triples than him including AJ Pierzynski who’s a catcher…and 35 years old and has a mind boggling career SB total of 20. You’d better start embezzling from the Nicetown Y because you ain’t getting paid this year bro.  Then there was the Vance Worley AB when he just gave up. I’ve seen Natalie Gulbis take harder practice swings. (Funbags. Don’t judge.)

The bullpen stinks. You got Papelbon then your next 2 best options are Schwimer and Raul Valdez????  

The addition from within theory wasn’t exactly panned out so far and now you just waiting on Doc, Nix and Schneider. How much can they possibly do at the trade deadline to improve? It won’t be enough. I’d much rather see the fire sale begin so the Phillies can retool the minors and reload in the offseason.

See ya at the ball park! I’ll be the one wearing the paper bag!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com

Daddy War-bux!



Hoodwink’d       by cj hood

Daddy War-bux!

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

Amaro

Are we in trouble next year, Amaro
Are there are any more dollars Reuben Amaro, to sign a bat
Thinking about next year, Amaro
Makes me nervous and filled with sorrow,
Is J*Roll done?

Our lineup is old, it’s cold and moldy
Howard is hurt and Madson wants cash

Ohhhhhhh. We need hitters who work the count, Amaro
Can we put our trust in Reuben Amaro,
Come what may
Amaro, Amaro, you signed Doc Amaro
And gave the finger to the Blue Jays

Is Chase washed up, Amaro
Pence kinda sucked in the playoffs, Amaro
Come what may,
Amaro, Amaro, you brought Lee back Amaro
Don’t want to go the Eagles way
Amaro, Amaro, I luv ya Amaro
But not in a homo way.

Amaro, Amaro, I luv ya, Amaro
Spring Training is a 100 some, days, awaaaaay!

Mo wins, mo problems

The Wriz’ good friend, Chris, once said, “The more money you make, the more problems you get.” It was just his way of saying no matter where you are at in life; everyone has their own crosses to bear.

For our beloved Phillies, the recent sweep of the Braves and drubbing in Milwaukee leaves them with the predicament that the last three weeks of September basically won’t mean shit. The Cardinals would have to go undefeated the rest of the way just to pass the Phillies in the Wild Card standings. October baseball is a certainty. It will be a “rest verse rust” debate from here on out. How much rest is enough for the regulars without losing their timing? And how do you handle the pitching staff? Does Worley move to the pen to get acclimated? Or does he stay in the rotation to continue the 4^th starter debate?

We will have plenty of time to discuss these topics over the next 3 weeks, but here are some “problems” and such which have been caused by the Phillies dominance over the past few seasons.

Ticket sales.  I remember back when I attended the greatest high school known to man, Roman Catholic, every day my broke ass would borrow the Philadelphia Daily News from my classmate and blog reader, Philly John 74. Occasionally, the Phillies Beat Writer would mention the Phillies expected or had a large number of “walk-up” ticket sales due to either a promotion or an exciting pitching match-up like Schilling against Maddux. You know what the Phillies walk-up sales for the last home game were? I’ll tell you, its 500. Its 500 every home game, because the Phillies hold 500 standing room only tickets to be sold on game day.

Also, playoff tickets.  The first time I got a playoff invoice with my partial plan (2005) I got EVERY possible playoff home game. And they weren’t the ticketmaster type tickets. They were souvenir stock tickets worthy of framing. The World Series tickets are something like 3.5 inch by 6 inch tickets. Not only were they all in the 1^st level, I would have had the same seat for every game.  

Leg room/Personal space.  Going on 200 straight sellouts, doesn’t leave for a lot of personal room to enjoy during the game. Long gone are the days where you could spread out and stretch out your legs. Hell, unless some usher was chasing you to condense the crowd, many games you could have your on section in the 700 level outfield. But the only time I’ve heard a credible “I wish we still had the Vet” story was when a fellow season ticket holder said he missed the Vet because could drink beers and play wiffle ball in the parking lot then enjoy the game and “say whatever the fuck I want.” Sounds crass, but when he said it he pointed at the empty seats three seats over which as the game got closer would be occupied a young couple and their 2 small children.  

Tailgating.  Ever since I got my ticket plan, I’ve been tailgating. For some games it, just be me my buddy and maybe one or two more carloads who would be tailgating. The numbers grew every year. Tailgating, for me, is mostly a chance to sit back enjoy a beer or two and talk baseball. Now you have beer pong, vodka infused gummy bears and worst of all is the kids panhandling for their teams. I swear I’ve seen the same kid in the same football jersey there every Sunday asking for donations for his team for the past 5 years. He only annoys me slightly less than the bum who wants a buck to Windex your car.

With this spectacular run the Phillies have been on what changes do you hate?

See ya at the ballpark!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com