I quickly want to summarize the baseball happenings of the last 24 hours, and I'm going to do so without linking you to various stories because that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to tie in to a discussion we had on here a little over a month ago.
To recap:
The Phillies are getting Roy Halladay (once the trade goes through)
The Mariners are getting Cliff Lee.
The Blue Jays get a lot of prospects.
The Red Sox signed John Lackey.
The Red Sox signed Mike Cameron.
The Angels signed Hideki Matsui.
The Yankees are entering the talks for Jason Bay.
The Mets and Angels remain frontrunners for Jason Bay.
Now....what's missing from this list?
How about reports about the Pirates, Rays, Reds, Padres, Royals, and Twins. Let's look at some of the signings for smaller market teams in the last couple of days:
The Brewers re-signed Craig Counsell.
The Astros re-signed Jason Michaels.
The Blue Jays signed Ramon Castro.
The Nationals signed Scott Olsen.
The Indians signed Adam Miller.
For some reason, they just don't seem to stack up.
Again, I don't know that this is necessarily a major problem as we discussed last month, since baseball is more than happy to have their big market teams in the playoffs. But when all the big name free agents are going to the same teams over and over again, and more than half the teams don't even have a chance at signing guys like John Lackey and Hideki Matsui, that's an issue.
Because of this, I feel that baseball is rapidly losing fans in middle America, and I don't think losing fans in places like Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and other similar cities is good for the long-term future of the game.
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How Good was Cliff Lee last night?
Phenomenal pitching performance by Cliff Lee to lead the Phillies to a 6-1 victory in game one of the World Series last night.
As the poll on the right proves, a lot of people that read this blog are picking the Phillies to win. I think that's largely because we consider ourselves fans of the National League, or more importantly, haters of the Yankees.
However, if you look at the national scope, virtually everyone is picking the Yankees (look at yesterday's post where I linked to the ESPN.com writers picks).
That doesn't make sense to me. I realize the Yankees won more games this season, have the highest payroll, and they are the Yankees for crying out loud. But why is everyone forgetting that we are talking about the Phillies -- THE TEAM THAT WON THE WORLD SERIES LAST YEAR. This isn't David vs. Goliath. It's Goliath vs. Goliath.
I realize the Yankees have the more impressive pitching staff and perhaps New York proves that over the next 2-3 games to get the series back on track. However, I'm just amazed at how everyone is sleeping on the Phillies this year. I can't think of another time in history that the defending champs are considered this much of an underdog.
Anyhow, enjoy the Series over the next few days. I am spending Halloween with my adorable 3-year old twin nieces, so the blog is going to get a few days off. I'll be back on Monday with more World Series thoughts. Don't eat too much candy this weekend!
As the poll on the right proves, a lot of people that read this blog are picking the Phillies to win. I think that's largely because we consider ourselves fans of the National League, or more importantly, haters of the Yankees.
However, if you look at the national scope, virtually everyone is picking the Yankees (look at yesterday's post where I linked to the ESPN.com writers picks).
That doesn't make sense to me. I realize the Yankees won more games this season, have the highest payroll, and they are the Yankees for crying out loud. But why is everyone forgetting that we are talking about the Phillies -- THE TEAM THAT WON THE WORLD SERIES LAST YEAR. This isn't David vs. Goliath. It's Goliath vs. Goliath.
I realize the Yankees have the more impressive pitching staff and perhaps New York proves that over the next 2-3 games to get the series back on track. However, I'm just amazed at how everyone is sleeping on the Phillies this year. I can't think of another time in history that the defending champs are considered this much of an underdog.
Anyhow, enjoy the Series over the next few days. I am spending Halloween with my adorable 3-year old twin nieces, so the blog is going to get a few days off. I'll be back on Monday with more World Series thoughts. Don't eat too much candy this weekend!
Monday, October 26, 2009
World Series is Set
Well, it's going to be the Yankees and Phillies battling it out for baseball supremacy.
I'm excited about this matchup for a number of reasons:
1) You have the Phillies trying to become the first National League team to win back-to-back titles since the Big Red Machine of the mid-70's.
2) The Yankees are trying to reclaim their magic and win for the first time since 2000.
3) There are former Silver Hawks on each roster: Scott Eyre with the Phillies and Brian Bruney with the Yankees (Note: Bruney has not been on the postseason roster, but even still, if you are a part of the team, you get a ring).
4) It's the World Series. As baseball fans, this is what we all live for.
Make your predictions for the outcome in the poll to the right. In the last poll, only one person of the seven that voted wanted the Yankees/Phillies matchup. The winner was three people who would have liked to see the Yankees/Dodgers.
I'm excited about this matchup for a number of reasons:
1) You have the Phillies trying to become the first National League team to win back-to-back titles since the Big Red Machine of the mid-70's.
2) The Yankees are trying to reclaim their magic and win for the first time since 2000.
3) There are former Silver Hawks on each roster: Scott Eyre with the Phillies and Brian Bruney with the Yankees (Note: Bruney has not been on the postseason roster, but even still, if you are a part of the team, you get a ring).
4) It's the World Series. As baseball fans, this is what we all live for.
Make your predictions for the outcome in the poll to the right. In the last poll, only one person of the seven that voted wanted the Yankees/Phillies matchup. The winner was three people who would have liked to see the Yankees/Dodgers.
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