Political musings of an unoriginal nature

Well, I made it to the bottom of the 4th before I was forced to get up and put the radio on and mute the TV. That's longer than usual.

With the current debate going on in our country right now about the President's possible issuance of an executive order that would force companies which contract with the government to disclose all of their donations--and the subsequent petitioning of the Prez by good government groups to go further and ban all political spending by government contractors--and connected to the Phillies' wearing of a small round patch on their breasts memorializing some former owners, I have a modest proposal.

Let's pass a law that says that any government official which receives a fixed amount (5 percent, 10 percent?) of money from a particular company or industry must wear a small logo of that company or industry on his/her suit jacket in a visible location whenever that pol appears on TV or in public. The aesthetic effect would be the same as the Phillies' jerseys right now, which you can see by tuning in to Comcast SportsNet as I type (or most any other night).

Would our policies have been different if Dick Cheney had had a Haliburton logo on his weak chest whenever he was on television from 2001 to 2009? I don't know, but it would be harder for our media to ignore his conflicts of interest while overseeing our wars in the Middle East and devising our energy policy, attention that is sorely needed. It might also make it a little tougher for the Obama administration to discuss their weak-to-negligent financial regulatory policies when every person in the White House is walking around with a Goldman Sachs logo over their hearts (maybe we can write into the law that anyone who uses more than 40 percent of their campaign money from a single source has to have that logo tattooed on his or her forehead).

It is now the bottom of the 5th inning, the Phils are winning 2-0 over the Mets, and I am being naughty by drinking a soda. Those aren't good for you, you know.

Shy Chuck stays in the dugout--a lot

Charlie Manuel's use of the bullpen this year has never been shakier, and tonight's game with Halladay (still going on as I write this, btw) provided another questionable moment.

An obviously tiring Doc was struggling through more bum's luck in the seventh inning, after a couple of lucky, weak hits. With two outs the Reds' hottest hitter, Jay Bruce, was due up. Charlie had already been out to talk to his star, and one gets the feeling that Chuck doesn't really lead in these situations, he takes the easy way out and "let's his players play," rather than making a hard, possibly conventional wisdom-flauting move (Charlie is nothing if not consistent in his willingness to be conventional). Bruce is a lefty, there were two outs, and Halladay was done after this inning, no matter what happened. Why not bring in Romero or Bastardo--two very tough pitchers against lefties--for the final out?

Will Halladay get upset by this? I don't care. His job is to do what's best for the team. Charlie's job is to make the tough decisions, not be everyone's BFF. I've always wondered if someone is keeping track of the number of mid-inning pitching changes, because I've always suspected that the Phillies are pretty much last in the league in that category. It's as if Charlie doesn't want to upset or insult his pitchers by making them walk off the field all alone.

As I was writing the above, Bruce hit a home run in the 10th inning off of Bastardo. While that doesn't invalidate what I wrote at all, it does show how this is all about playing the percentages, reducing risk, and avoiding the strengths of your opponents. And then someone just does something damned impressive, because he's damned good--like Jay Bruce.

The Man returns

How great is it to have Chase Utley back on the field? How scared are you that it won't last? Yes.

Last week, C and I went to the Harry Kalas tribute night at the IronPigs (got a kickass talking bobblehead, I did). I bring this up because one of the phrases Kalas was famous for coining in his later years was from his spontaneous outburst about five years ago when Chase Utley scored from second on a Baltimore chop to the pitcher: "Chase Utley, you are the man!" It was a great hustle play, an incredibly smart baserunning move, and Kalas said it out of pure joy and excitement; there was no question of its having been thought out in advance or stated with any idea of it lasting beyond that moment. And it is a perfect illustration of why Harry was the last of an older school of announcers who were there to serve the game, not their careers. He spoke when he had something to say, not just to fill the air or to be verbose, and he said only what he meant. You knew he loved and rooted for his team, but in the way that was respectful of the ballplayers on the other team (I submit for evidence of the opposite the announcer for the Chi-Sox who has his stupid home and end-of-game calls--I won't try to describe them, just listen for yourself sometime).

Anyway, I just wanted to share another Harry memory, in the midst of the happiness of having one of the most beloved Phillies of all time back in the lineup. And as I write these words, the man is up...

Being civil

I enjoyed seeing/hearing the Braves fans doing the "tomahawk chop" during today's Civil Rights Day game (where the teams were wearing the uniforms of their respective cities' negro league teams from many decades ago).

Irony is dead in America.

Worley's Curlies

I never saw a guy open and close his mouth as he sprints, as new Philly darling Vance Worley did when tagging up from third tonight. It looked pretty odd, but I like him, so it was endearing. Plus, it sort of goes with his goggles.

Too bad the umpire had to screw up Worley's scoreless streak--he definitely had Laroche struck out.

I've decided to start a Brian Schneider fan club, in honor of the local (Northampton) product who does a more than admirable job behind the dish. And man, the older he gets, the more he looks like a PA Dutchman. I am taking name ideas for the club; so far I have Schneider's Sliders (referring to the pitch selection, but gives us the option to dress like mini-burgers--veggie burgers, of course) (actually, C and I came across this great idea for grilled beet sliders, where you take just a big, honkin' slice of red beet and grill it and throw it in a bun--can't wait for grillin' season!).

Making moves

The Phils have had to make a few decisions lately, putting Blanton on the DL, calling up Worley, sending down Zagurski, putting Ruiz on the shelf, etc. While another year of bad injury luck is certainly unwelcome, considering the lackluster way the team has been playing and the relative mildness of the current issues, this little shake-up could be a good thing. I am certainly happy to see Worley getting some more action, hopefully leading to the Phils realizing that he should replace Kendrick/Baez/Herndon (take your pick).

As I write this, the game has started, and Worley has struck out Reyes and been victimized by a Polanco error. Hope it doesn't get inside his head.

Wow--he just made a great pitch to Wright: 1 ball, 2 strikes.

O GIVE ME A BREAK! Rollings just booted a double play ball, and Worley is stuck with men on first and second and one out. He must be missing the Pig's defense right now.

And as I type this, Beltran hits another to Rollins and this time they turn the twin killing (kind of a morbid bit of jargon, no?)!

So...I hope this finds both of my readers having a good weekend. The semester is finishing up none-to-soon, and while there is still lots of grading, at least the other stuff is largely done. And maybe I'll be able to actually write here a little more often.

Re: birth

He is risen. If only that applied to Chase Utley.

Why, o why, does anyone ever throw a fastball to Ryan Howard? Not to take anything away from him last night--he did go down and take the ball to the field to which it was pitched--but there is simply no reason to ever throw a fastball to him unless it is up around his eyes. Just bounce curves until he strikes himself out. Or learns to not swing at them, but I ain't holding my breath.

Enjoy your Easter, enjoy the warmth, enjoy the leaf-buds, listen to music you love. You could watch the film of Jesus Christ Superstar, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you've been drinking that Holy wine.

Ques.: What should be done about middle relief? Ans.: Loosen your belt.

I am desperately behind in my grading; in fact, I am currently sitting at my desk surrounded by several bursting manila folders, one of which I really need to give back to a class in less than two hours.

I don't want to grade.

Grading is what umpires do, and I want to be a player! Or at least a manager.

So I've been reading up on my new favorite Phillies blog, Brotherly Glove (http://www.brotherlyglove.com/) (no, I don't know how to do hyperlinks) (yes, reading this blog is a bit like using your grandparents' rotary phone). On said blog, much discussion has been about the Phils' middle relief, and how nonsensical the front office's decisions have been concerning those pitchers. I couldn't agree more.

I'm sorry, I know Kyle Kendrick has been trying his darndest for several years now, but he needs to be let go. He doesn't strike anyone out, he walks too many batters, and he's a sinkerball pitcher who gives up a ton of flyball outs. His "good" outing yesterday is a perfect example of why he has to go (also because when he's there, Chuck brings him into tie games in the seventh inning, which is ... well, stupid). Kendrick, the sinkerballer, retired the side in order--good, right? Except all three outs were hard-hit, deep flies to the outfield. WTS?

The main point of all this is that there are several guys on the Pigs who could be at least as good at Kendrick (and Herndon, and Baez), and they could be a lot better, but we won't know until we let them pitch. David Murphy, another Phils writer, has officially launched the "Free Mike Stutes" campaign. We should all contribute.

Holy Week

Since I don't have time right now to write my own sermon, I'll quote the one delivered by Kid Scissons at the end of Shoeless Joe.

"Eventually, we all gather on the left-field grass, staring up at Eddie standing on the bleacher, wild and wind-blown, looking for all the world like an Old Testament prophet on the side of a mountain.

'I take the word of baseball and begin to talk it. I begin to speak it. I begin to live it. The word is baseball. Say it after me,' says Eddie Scissons, and raises his arms...

'The word is what?'

'Baseball...'

'Is what?'

'Baseball...'

'Is what?' As his voice rises, so do ours.

'Baseball!'...

'Can you imagine walking around with the very word of baseball enshrined inside you? Because the word of salvation is baseball. It gets inside you. Inside me. And the words that I speak are spirit, and are baseball...

'As you begin to speak the word of baseball, as you speak it to men and women, you are going to find that these men and women are going to be changed by that life-flow, by the loving word of baseball...

'When you speak the word, something will begin to happen. We underestimate the power of the word. We don't understand it. We underestimate all that it can accomplish. When you go out there and speak the word of baseball--the word of baseball is spirit and it is life...

'As I look at you, I know that there are many who are troubled, anxious, worried, insecure. What is the cure? Is it to be found in doctors and pills and medicines? No. The answer is in the word, and baseball is the word. We must tell everyone we meet the true meaning of the word of baseball, and if we do,those we speak to will be changed by the power of that living word.

'Can you say the word?'

'Baseball,' we chant, and our voices rise toward Eddie Scissons like doves on the warm Iowa wind.

'The word is what?'

'Baseball.'

'Is what?'

'Baseball.'

'Praise the name of baseball. The word will set the captives free. The word will open the eyes of the blind. The word will raise the dead. Have you the word of baseball living inside you? Has the word of baseball become part of you? Do you live it, play it, digest it, forever? Let an old man tell you to make the word of baseball your life. Walk into the world and speak of baseball. Let the word flow through you like water, so that it may quicken the thirst of your fellow man.'"

--W.P. Kinsella

Frustration, thy name is Chuckles

Tonight’s Phillies game included a couple of things we fans should get used to, because they represent the particular weaknesses of the 2011 club.

First, Charlie’s continuing awful in-game decisions, especially the use of the bullpen. In the seventh inning tonight, Roy Oswalt hurt his back (also something that close observers of the team have been predicting would be an issue for the vaunted rotation) and had to come out. Because it was only the seventh, and because it was the beginning of the inning, Chuck brought in Romero to deal with a lefty. I have no problem with the decision there, except that Romero’s crap defense joined forces with Howard’s crap defense to make a large, steaming pile of crappy defense in the infield between the mound and first. So out comes Romero, and in comes Baez. Now the decision process is becoming a bit sketchy, as Baez, despite a decent start to the season, is one hell of a lousy pitcher. He proceeds to load the bases. OK—that sucks, but Charlie couldn’t have predicted a bloop, so I am willing to forgive him.

But then, when the Marlins send the lefty Dobbs to the plate, Chuck screws the pooch (as they say).

He decides to let Baez pitch to Dobbs. This is dumb for two separate but related reasons. First, it’s a bad matchup. He has the lefty Bastardo ready to go. Now the argument goes that if he brings in Bastardo, the Marlins will sub a righty pinch hitter for Dobbs. Yes they will, and that is preferable to leaving Baez in. The Marlins don’t have any great righty pinch hitter on their bench, and Dobbs has been good for the Fish, so there’s that. But primarily, with all batters being roughly equal, USE THE BEST PITCHER! Bastardo is far-and-away better than Baez, both this season and existentially. He just tied a record earlier this week by striking out six batters in a row, for Jeebus’ sake. Let him pitch to the righty—rather than letting Baez pitch to a lefty.

The second reason Charlie was wrong has to do with that old Galbraithian curse: Conventional Wisdom. Charlie is nothing if not conservative, and he can always be counted on doing the safe thing. Right now in baseball, and for the last decade or more, the Conventional Wisdom is that you use your best reliever (the “Closer”) in the ninth inning, your second best in the eighth, and a mix of the others to get you that far. The problem with that configuration is that the most dangerous situations don’t always occur in the ninth, or eighth, innings, especially in very close games. Sometimes there are situations that call for a strong pitcher earlier, or even your best pitcher in the eighth. Something like…oh, the bases loaded and nobody out in a one run ballgame after losing your starter to an injury in the seventh! Why not bring in Madson here? He has the best chance of settling this mess down, and you’ve still got your closer and Bastardo for the eighth and ninth. How about doing something a little risky (in terms of defying the sports writers and fans) by doing something a little smart?

But defying Conventional Wisdom is not one of Chuck’s strengths. (By the way, I say this without meaning that he is a bad manager—I think what he does off the field and before and after games is second-to-none.)

So he waits, lets Baez blow the game by giving up a single to Dobbs, and THEN, frustratingly, pulls Baez for Bastardo. One batter too late.

The other bit of badness we are going to have to get used to was well illustrated in the bottom of the ninth. Here was the sequence: Orr swings at the first pitch, flies out. Mayberry walks on four straight pitches. Victorino takes one pitch for a questionable strike, then swings at a bad pitch and flies out. Polanco swings at the first pitch to end the game. Which one of those things was not like the others?

If you said Mayberry forcing the pitcher to actually have to pitch to him, you are correct. The Marlins’ closer was primed to give the game away, at least by the evidence of the Mayberry walk and the questionable pitches the others swung at, but the Phils just wouldn’t let him do it. The Phillies, without Utley and Worth, have no one who works pitchers and takes walks. This is a serious weakness, though Phillies fans frustratingly don’t always treat it as one. They have a history of complaining about players who “take too many pitches” instead of “being aggressive.” Exhibit A: Bobby Abreu. Exhibit B: Pat Burrell. Exhibit C: Jayson Werth. What do those exhibits all have in common? They left the Phillies to get on base elsewhere.

Getting on base is, quite literally, how you win. And that will be absolutely obvious and vital this year, on a Phillies team that is no longer built to hit home runs all the time.

God, I miss Jayson Werth.

A break in the grading, a glimpse of sun

The fates got their shit together today and allowed it to be sunny and warm on day where the Kutztown baseball team played a home game and I had three hours between classes this afternoon. And the ballfield is right across the street from my building here. So office hours were held outside today!

There were some things on display today that I enjoyed that could only happen on the local-baseball level. Wilmington, taking advantage of perhaps the most bunt-perfect field I’ve ever seen, bunted three batters in a row, initiating (and largely comprising) a four-run rally. It was great, and also included a fake bunt/double steal with runners on first and third. The batter squared, but the runner on first had left for second early, in order to draw a pickoff throw from the pitcher, which he did. Perfectly keeping his distance from second base, he got in a rundown, as per design. The second basemen, who got the throw from the pitcher too early, and therefore had to do quite a bit of running the baserunner back to first, tried to keep his eye on the runner on third. But the Wilmington runner on third executed perfectly, by waiting for the second baseman to check him twice, then took off as soon as he looked away the second time. By the time the ball was tossed to first and the first baseman threw home, it was too late—the runner had scored. Plus, because the play had succeeded so perfectly, the runner on base was still safe (and in fact made it to second on the play home). It was a thing of beauty, pulled off by players who knew exactly what they were doing. And then the batter, who had faked a bunt on the steal play, bunted the next pitch for a perfect sacrifice, moving the runner to third with one out. And the sun was shining and the birds were singing and God was smiling on his most perfect creation.

Forging ahead

This formatting thing is really a pain in the heiney, but I have to write, or all of my legions of readers will think that I flaked out already! [So here's my strategy:]^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I was planning on going to a "contemplative service" at my church tonight--actually in the Old Chapel--where we would sit in silence and listen to some soft piano/guitar music for an hour, but then I figured, "It's only the first week of games, and let's face it, I'll just be thinking about baseball 50 percent of the time like I do at most concerts." Plus, my companion also was leaning toward a non-contemplative evening, so... we flaked. I'll have to find another excuse to go to the Old Chapel soon. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^[I wonder if this long string of carots is working the way I envision?] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^So, Hamels wasn't so good last night, eh? Well, don't worry about it--he's the real deal. I'll take bets that he ends up as the second-most valuable starter on the team this season.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^I noticed that Pete Orr has a "fan club" at the game tonight (as I write, it is the top of the third inning, the Phils are up 2-0 thanks to a hot Howard and a horrid play by Pelfrey): Orr's Oars. Not such a good name, though it does lead to easy prop use in that many of them are holding oars. I wonder if they had a hard time getting those into the park; I mean, if they are concerned about any kind of hard bottle or other weapon-like implement, an oar seems a little dangerous, no? Anyway, I think a better name needs to be found. How about Orr's Corps? Orr's Boars? Pete Orr's Folklores? We adore Pete Orr? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HOT DOG! Howard just blasted another out to center! And then the camera closed in on Mike Pelfrey's face just in time for him to shout an unmistakable expletive. It may be juvenile, but I never get tired of that happening, especially in these way oversensitive times. And there's another hit from Ibanez. I'm glad he's starting the year solidly, but I don't expect too much from him this year; middle-aged outfielders are like poetry in trochaic heptameter: slow-footed. (Ha!)^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^OK, I'm going to post this now and see how it looks. Perhaps more later...

The first weekend

This initial foray into blogging my way through the Phillies' season has hit an early bump as I am having trouble getting blogger to publish my posts with the paragraph breaks in them. So if you are reading this, I have either temporarily given up that fight, or I have found a way to fix this annoying situation. Let's hope for the latter. With all of that being said, how about those first three games, eh?! The pitching looks as-advertised so far, and the hitting has come through fairly well, though we've yet to see any truly elite pitchers. One thing that many writers--including my fav Phils blogger Crashburn Alley, which I'll be incessantly touting all year--have indicated is that the Phillies offense will probably be only as good as is Jimmy Rollins. At least until a healthy Utley returns, Rollins' ability to be consistently productive is the hinge on which the Phils' offensive door swings. Right now he's hot, and right now the team is scoring runs. Anyway, I was going to get all reflective about the beginning of the season, players and their facial hair, and the perfect soundtrack for watching baseball--you know, the cultural stuff I promise to include so that this isn't just a collection of my summations of the conventional wisdom about the Phils--but I'll save that till this formatting situation is taken care of with finality. Until then, try to enjoy the day off from Phillies baseball (I really dislike these days).

Here we go again

Why the hell not, right? I am supposed to be a regular writer, and a regular writer of baseball stuff, plus I like to talk about baseball and culture (and culture and baseball) with my pals/acquaintances/frenemies/strangers. I can manage to keep up a six-month monologue on the mostly goofy stuff that occurs to me as I watch games, right? So here it is, my old blog repurposed to be a "phlog," where I'll unambitiously post some little stuff about the Phils, the IronPigs, the local baseball I like to go see (Blue Mountain league, etc.), and hopefully entertain some folks as well as myself along the way. Comments are welcome, emails are awesome, and facebook is, well, a pain in the ass, but it has its uses. Let's join hands and frolick through the 2011 spring, summer, and fall baseball season together, shall we? Post #1: Opening Day! I'm writing this the next day, so obviously I'm pretty jacked about the big comeback win yesterday. I watched the second half of the game at Machs Gute with Wesley, after holding a quick comp class and hopping in my car. The whole bar was there to watch the game--and have a drink and some good bar food--so the atmosphere was fun at the end of the game, when we all cheered for an absurdly long time, especially considering we were applauding and whooping to a few television screens. I don't think they heard us at the ballpark, but I guess that's hardly the point. Wes was psyched that Mayberry got to be the hero, and so was I. It is an interesting new twist to baseball fandom to watch young players in person for up to several seasons here in the L.V. with the Pigs and then hope they come through in their chances with the big club. That experience also brings home to we MLB fans how crazy are the odds against even a AAA player making an impact in the majors, as so few of the players we've watched in three seasons (has it been three?) at Coca Cola Park have made the Bigs, let alone become stars there. That's all I'll say about the game. Well, other than pointing out that it set the stage for some narratives we'll be hearing all season: Can the bullpen hold leads for this starting rotation? Will the offense approach the great output of the past several seasons without Werth, with an ailing Utley, and aging Howard and Rollins? Can the Phillies ever hope to replace Harry Kalas (that last one is my own concern, I suppose)? Nice things: Chris Coste is back! The catcher, working class hero, World Series Champion, author, and 33-year-old rookie is with the Phils again, this time as an analyst on Pregame and Postgame Live. And so far, I think he's really good; he doesn't engage in all the chuckleheaded nonsense of many of the others, and he speaks concisely and usually makes a real point. I hope he sticks around a long time (could he even be the next Richie Ashburn in the booth, some time in the not-so-near future?!). Roy Halladay is awesome. What will Cliff Lee do tomorrow?? Lord knows the fans will be projecting some joy his way.