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The Word of the Day

The Word of the Day – HAPPY

In The Word of the Day on March 12, 2012 at 9:58 am

HAPPY

“Nobody cares if you’re miserable so be happy”

Anonymous

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Philadelphia Phillies, Roy "Doc" Halladay

Phillies Profile – Roy “Doc” Halladay

In Philadelphia Phillies on March 11, 2012 at 3:16 pm

Roy Halladay – “Doc” has clearly been the best pitcher in the major leagues over the last 10 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Phillies. In the first 4 seasons of his career Doc carried an 18-17 record. That all turned around in 2002 when he became a 19 game winner. He led the league in innings pitched for the first time and made his first All Star team. He followed that up with 22 wins in 2003. He led the league in complete games and again in innings pitched, made his 2^nd All Star team and won his first Cy Young Award at the age of 26. Halladay pitched 6 more seasons for Toronto amassing 89 more wins, including a 20 win season in 2008, and 45 loses over that time while making 5 more All Star teams. Following is a summary of Halladay’s Toronto Stats:

148 wins – 63 loses, 3.43 ERA

49 Complete Games

15 Shutouts

1495 Strike Outs

6 All Star Teams

1 Cy Young Award

In 2010 Doc became a Phillie. Since then he has won 40 games while losing 16 for The Fightins. His ERA is 2.40. He won the Cy Young Award in 2010, with 21 wins. He finished second in 2011. He has also led the league in complete games in both of his seasons with the Phillies with 9 in 2010 and 8 in 2011. The individual highlights of Halliday’s Phillies career are his perfect game on May 29, 2010 against the Florida Marlins and his playoff game no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on October 6, 2010. Docs Phillies 2 year statistics are as follows.

40 wins – 16 loses, 2.40 ERA

17 Complete Games

439 Strike Outs

2 All Star Teams

1 Cy Young Award

Halladay prepares to begin his 15^th big league season. He will turn 35 in May. Doc has led the league in innings pitched 4 times and has thrown over 200 innings 6 seasons in a row while averaging 236 innings per season over his career. With the announced retirement of Tim Wakefield, Halliday is now the active career wins leader with 188. He should also reach the 2000 career strikeout mark this season.

Holliday’s combined career stats:

188 wins – 92 losses, 3.23 ERA

2531 Innings Pitched

66 Complete Games

20 shutouts

1934 Strikeouts

8 All Star Games

2 Cy Young Awards

Personal Analysis

Halladay is the anchor of the Phillies outstanding staff. His work ethic off the field and concentration on it are legendary. Doc leads the younger members of the staff by example. His performance has shown no signs of declining as the numbers show. We see Doc winning 18-20 games and to continue to eat up innings as he has in the past taking pressure off the rest of the staff by facing the number one pitcher on each of the opposing staffs. As stated earlier, Phillies fans should have the opportunity to celebrate Halladay’s career milestones of 200 wins and 2000 strikeouts in 2012.

Tomorrow we will review Cliff Lee.

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Evan Turner, Ilya Bryzgalov, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers

Bryz – Turner Lead the Flyers and 76ers

In Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Flyers on March 11, 2012 at 12:51 pm

Last week we stated in our review that we felt that the Flyers needed a minimum of 6 points for the week with hopes of gaining 7 points. They had tough games against Washington, Detroit, Florida and Toronto. Little did we know they would win all 4 games by a combined score of 10-2 and that Ilya Bryzgalov would pitch 3 shutouts. Bryz was tremendous! He stopped 128 of the 130 shots he faced during the week. As we’ve stated many times before, hot goalies win playoff series and Bryz is as hot as anybody. Offensively the Flyers did enough to win, scoring 1, 3, 5 and 1 goals across the week. Obviously you can’t depend on winning 1-0 shutouts all of the time as they did twice this week. More offense is a must. Claude Giroux continues to have an outstanding season. He had a goal and 3 assists this week and now has 24 goals and 55 assists for 79 points through 67 games. Scott Hartnell continues to have his best season with 32-28-70. Hartnell’s leadership really showed again this week as opponents have tried to take liberties with Giroux. Hartnell has come to his defense and dropped the gloves to protect the team’s best player. The same can be said for Wayne Simmons (22-19-41) who took on Buster Crabb of the Maple Leafs and scored an easy victory after the Leafs continued to slash Giroux. The biggest improvement overall has been the defense and Bryzgalov. Good defense and good goaltending often go together and the Flyers have definitely tightened up their game. With that said, defensive turnovers are no longer becoming automatic goals because Bryz has come up big and made the stops when needed. Overall, this week the Flyers have had outstanding team efforts and as a result won all 4 of their games and earned the 8 points.

Looking at next week it doesn’t get any easier. The Flyers are presently the 5th seed in the playoffs, 2 points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and 6 points behind the number one seed New York Rangers. At this point last week that Flyers were 12 points behind the Rangers. This week 3 of the 4 games are on the road starting today with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils come to the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday before the Flyers go to Long Island and then to Boston. The Devils are just 2 points behind the Flyers for the 5^th seed so these two games will be critical. The Islanders are virtually out of the playoffs but the Flyers cannot have a letdown on the road. The Boston game will be Saturday afternoon on the NHL Network as the showcase game of the day. The Flyers are 1-2 against the Bruins winning on opening night 2-1 in Boston but have had trouble stopping them since, losing 6-0 and 6-5 with both games at home. The Bruins are presently the number two seed in the Eastern Conference 8 points behind the Rangers.

Again, we feel the Flyers need at least 6 points again this week. We are thinking a split with the Devils, a win against the Islanders and a win against Boston on the road.

We felt that the 76ers needed to win 3 of their 4 games this past week against Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and New Orleans. They started the week slow by losing to Chicago and Milwaukee, but bounced back with a blowout of Boston and a win over the Jazz. Depending on how the season finishes we feel that the loss to Milwaukee will be one to be looked back on as a critical lose. The Bucks are not very good and on the playoff bubble. It was a bad time for a letdown.

This was the week that Evan Turner arrived. Coach Doug Collins inserted Turner in the starting lineup against the Bucks for the first time. Turner did not play well, shooting just 1-12 from the field and finishing with 2 points. Collins stuck with Turner and he responded with 26 points and 9 rebounds against Boston and 16 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists against New Orleans. The addition of Turner to lineup that already includes 6 double figure scorers provides the 76ers with even more weapons going down the stretch. A big question for the 76ers through the last third of the season is the health of Spencer Hawes. Hawes has played in only 14 games this season. He was averaging 10.5ppg and leading the team with 8.3rpg. If Hawes can get healthy and contribute down the stretch he will only make the 76ers better in the playoffs.

This week will be another major challenge for the team. They play 4 games in the next 7 days beginning today at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks. They move on to play Indiana on the road before hosting the Miami Heat and closing out the week in Chicago against the Bulls. A 2-2 week is a must. Beating Miami and Chicago will be difficult. The 76ers lead over the Celtics is down to 2 games so they won’t be allowed any slip ups during the week. They have to win the games they’re supposed to win. If they can add an upset victory that’s all the better.

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PHILLY PRESSBOX – https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com

In Uncategorized on March 10, 2012 at 1:22 pm

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Greg Gross, Juan Samuel, Mick Billmeyer, Pete Mackanin, Philadelphia Phillies, Rich Dubee, Sam Perlozzo

PHILLIES PROFILE – THE COACHING STAFF

In Philadelphia Phillies on March 10, 2012 at 12:36 pm

Over the next 28 days Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) will be doing a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. Day 2 in our series is on the most unrecognized position in all of sports the Assistant Coaches. These men spend endless hours behind the scenes working with the players as groups and individually either at home or on the road. These are thankless jobs that are held by baseball lifers. Here is a look at the 2012 Phillies staff.

The staff consists of Greg Gross, batting coach, Rich Dubee, pitching coach, Sam Perlozzo, 1^st Base coach, Juan Samuel, 3^rd base coach, Pete Mackanin, bench coach and Mick Billmeyer, bullpen coach.

Greg Gross – “GG” has spent nearly every year of his adult life in a baseball uniform beginning as a player in 1970. He reached the big leagues in 1973 and played for 17 seasons with the Astros, Cubs and Phillies. Of course GG was a member of the 1980 World Champion Phillies. When his playing career ended Gross started back at the bottom and worked his way through the coaching ranks. He began his coaching career at the high school level, moved to the Colorado Rockies organization and then back home to the Phillies in 2001. He is presently in his second stint with the Phillies at the big league level as the hitting coach after spending time at Batavia (A), Clearwater (A), Reading (AA) and Lehigh Valley (AAA).

Rich Dubee – Rich is probably the most well recognized of the Phils coaching staff due to his visibility during mound visits but also because he is the caretaker of what many consider the best pitching staff in baseball. Dubee is beginning his 30^th season coaching in professional baseball almost exclusively as a pitching coach. He coached in the Kansas City, Montreal and Florida organizations before joining the Phillies in 2002. He worked at Clearwater (A) and Wilkes Barre (AAA) before being promoted to the Phillies in 2004 as pitching coach. He has held that position since.

Sam Perlozzo – Perlozzo is another baseball lifer. He begins his 40^th season in professional baseball. He was drafted out of high school in 1972 and has never left. Sam was a player, mostly in the minor leagues, from 1973-1981. In 1982 he began his coaching career and has never left. He began his coaching career in the Mets minor league system serving from 1982-86. He was promoted to the big league level in 1987 working for the Mets, Reds, Mariners and Orioles before joining the Phillies for the 2009 season. He was the manager of the Orioles for parts of three seasons. Sam is presently the 1^st base coach and is also responsible for baserunning.

Juan Samuel – Sammy is a Phillie fan favorite after spending the first 6 ½ seasons of his 16 year playing career, that included 7 teams, with the Phillies. As a Phillies player Juan was named The Sporting News Rookie of the Year in 1984. He became the first player in NL history to reach a quadruple double in each of his first 4 major league seasons. He holds the Phillies record for most SB in a season (72 in 1984) in the modern era (post-1900). For the decade of the 1980s, Sammy ranks 3rd among all Phillies in AVG (.263), OBP (.310), SLG % (.439), at-bats (3503), runs (523), hits (921), doubles (176), HR (100), RBI (413) and total bases (1539), trailing Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and Von Hayes in each category. Sammy was inducted in to the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2008.

Sammy began his coaching career in 1999 with the Detroit Tigers before moving on to the OriolesHe returned to the Phillies for the 2011 season. He served as interim manager of the Orioles in 2010 and posted a 17-34 record. As well as being the 3^rd base coach Sammy is also responsible for the outfielders.

Pete Mackanin – When it comes to coaching experience Pete has done it all. He has been a minor league instructor, a minor league coordinator, a minor league manager, a manager in the Dominican, Puerto Rican and Venezuelan Winter Leagues, a pro scout, a major league advanced scout and a major league coach with the Expos and Pirates and an interim manager of both the Pirates and Reds before joining the Phillies as bench coach for the 2009 season.

Mick Billmeyer – Mick is another coach who started his career as a minor league player and never left. Mick played in the minor leagues for 9 seasons but never made it to the big leagues. He learned the catching trade well and immediately moved in to a coaching position with the Angles organization in 1994 as the bullpen/workout coordinator. Mick joined the Phillies organization in 2000 as the minor league catching coordinator. He was promoted to minor league catching instructor in 2004 and again to bullpen coach in 2008.

Tomorrow we will start our player previews with Roy “Doc” Halladay.

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Charlie Manual, Philadelphia Phillies

PHILLIES PROFILE – MANAGER CHARLIE MANUAL

In Philadelphia Phillies on March 9, 2012 at 7:19 am

Charlie enters his 8^th year as Manager of the Phillies. In his 7 years at the helm of the greatest era in Phillies baseball Manual has led the team to 646 wins and 488 loses, 1 World Series championship, 2 National League Pennants and 5 consecutive NL East titles. The Phils have never finished lower than 2^nd in the East under Manual. Interestingly enough Charlie has never won the Manager of the Year award. Below are a few highlights of Charlie’s career as the Phillies manager.

• Set the Phillies record for most wins ever by a Phillies manager (646), passing Gene Mauch on the all-time list

• Set the Phillies record for most wins in a single season (102)

• 2011 marked the second straight season he led the Phillies to the best record in the major leagues (102-60)

• Is one of only two managers in NL history, along with former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, to win 5 straight division titles since divisional play began in 1969.

• Is the only manager in Phillies history to lead the team to 5 straight division championships (2007-11)

• Guided the Phillies to the 2008 World Championship, the 2nd title in franchise history and 1st since 1980

• Managed the 2009 & 2010 NL All-Star squads, snapping the AL’s 13-year unbeaten streak in 2010

• Managed the Phillies to the 2007 NL East Championship, the first postseason berth for the team since 1993

• Became the first Phillies manager to have 4 straight full winning seasons since Danny Ozark had 4 straight, 1975-78

Personal analysis:

A key point for any coach or manager is that players want to play for them. This has been a strength for Manual. The players don’t play under a lot of rules, be on time and play hard all the time. The few problems in the last 7 years that have become public have been quickly taken care of behind closed doors and not aired out in the public or press. This is especially evident by the return of future Hall of Famer Jim Thome who credits Manual for his career success in baseball and Jimmy Rollins desire to come to Philly to finish out his career. They want to play for Manual. Winning creates more winning and Charlie Manual has been the leader of the Phillies. Another key item to Manuals success is his ability to remain even keel. He understands as well as anyone that the season is not a sprint but a marathon. He rests players when he feels they need it, he rests pitchers when they need it but overall never panics when the team hits slumps during the season. Theses slumps are part of baseball due to the long 162 game season. If Charlie has a weakness it seems his handling of the bullpen can come in to question, however, we’re going to give him a pass based on his overall success. Manual knows his players better than anyone else so if he makes what appears to be a crazy bullpen move it’s for a baseball reason and not normally a gut feel decision.

Looking forward to 2012 our prediction is that the Phillies will win their 6^th straight NL East title, their 3^rd pennant and 2^nd World Series championship under Charlie Manual.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the Coaching Staff.