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Antiquities, Caesers Palace, Pete Rose, Philadelphia Phillies, Shop.com/bobsullivan

Catching Up with Pete Rose

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 15, 2012 at 9:42 pm

While on our 30^th anniversary vacation trip to Las Vegas my wife and I were site seeing through one of the many casinos. As we walked through the mammoth and beautiful Caesars Palace, and its many stores, we saw a store named “Antiquities”. “Antiquities” is a store full of memorabilia of all types. Below the entrance was a large white sign with red lettering that simply said “PETE ROSE HERE”. We decided to walk in and sure enough, about 20 feet inside the store there was the incomparable, how is this possible, 71-year old, Peter Edward Rose. Pete was set up at a table to sign autographs for any takers. If you were interested you were directed to the back of the store where you could purchase Phillies and Reds jerseys, bats, balls, pictures, cards and framing. They also ship anywhere and will provide certificates of authenticity for the items. Each comes at a price. Each purchase also provided you the opportunity to sit with Pete and have your picture taken and talk with him. The workers take your camera and shoot pictures the entire time he’s signing your items so you get about a dozen pictures. The business is a well oiled machine.

My wife decided that I needed to have the Phillies jersey, which also came with the signed bat, as a Father’s Day present. SHE’S A GREAT WIFE!!! Of course I decided I wanted the Phillies jersey instead of the Reds jersey that had many statistics embroidered in it. I asked if I needed to tell him what to sign and I was told “Pete knows how to hit and Pete knows how to sign”. When they hand you your jersey and bat they are in wrappers that Pete opens for you at the table. The purpose is to keep the item from being damaged in any way. (They’ve pretty much thought of everything). As I walked up the table and sat down the first thing Pete said was, “how are you doing? It’s a great day.” He asked if I wanted the bat personalized to anyone, which I said “no.” He then signed his name, added Hit King and 4256 on the bat. While he was signing we started talking Phillies baseball. Pete is still a huge baseball fan and a huge Phillies fan. We talked about the present state of affairs with the Phils. Like most of the rest of us, he feels the same way we do, Pete stated “until (Jimmy) Rollins and (Shane) Victorino stop thinking they’re power hitters and start hitting for average, and getting on base, the team will struggle.” I think we’ve heard that before!! He also stated, “they should’ve never paid (Ryan) Howard the money they paid him. He struggles in the playoffs because he sees good pitching every game, in the meantime, he’ll hit 40 fastballs out of the park in the regular season.” Spoken like a true Phillies fan. It was very clear that Pete has been paying a lot of attention. All the while, Pete was signing my Limited Edition Phillies jersey. He signed his name with 1980 World Series Champs, “Charlie Hustle” and 4256 on one side and Hit #3631, NL Record, 8/10/81 on the other side. By the way, this is the only place that Pete will sign “Charlie Hustle”. Don’t expect it at a memorabilia show. We bantered back and forth about Pete’s upcoming trip to sign autographs in Philadelphia this weekend, but first there was a trip to Cincinnati to watch the Reds against the Indians, then off to Philly and back to Vegas on Saturday evening. Pete is a busy man trying to stay involved in the game he loves while making money doing it. When everything was signed and the conversation ended Pete puts out his hand and offers a good handshake for the camera.

With all of the signing complete you proceed to the final step of the journey. You go back to the desk where you placed your order and turn over any item that you want shipped. I kept the jersey with me and shipped the bat. They added a signed baseball card as part of the deal. The bat arrived at the house before I did in perfect condition.

As I left I said to Pete, “I’ll see you Saturday in Philly” and he said, “Great, I’ll be looking for you.”

I have to say, even at my age, I was pretty excited to have had the opportunity to sit with the All Time Hit King in a one-on-one situation, even if it was for only 10 minutes and it came at a small price. After all, this was the guy that took the 1980 Phillies over the top. The Phillies would’ve never won that World Series if it wasn’t for Pete Rose.

It has been a long time since I looked at the amazing numbers Pete put up as a player during his career. Here is a quick summary:

6 World Series, 3 wins

4256 hits, 1^st All Time. To put this is some perspective Derek Jeter, the most recent 3000 hit man, is still over 1000 hits behind Pete.

3562 career games played, 1^st All Time. 254 ahead of Carl Yastremski.

14,052 career at-bats, 1^st All Time. 1,689 ahead of Hank Aaron.

15,890 career plate appearances, 1^st All Time. 1,898 ahead of Yastremski.

3,215 singles, 1^st All Time. There are 15 members of the 3000 hit club that have less total hits than Pete has singles.

5,929 career times on base, 1^st All Time, 330 ahead of Barry Bonds.

.303 career batting average

17 All Star games. Selected as a 2^nd baseman, right fielder, left fielder, 3^rd baseman and 1^st baseman.

3 Batting Championships – 1968, 1969, 1973

10 seasons with 200 hits, tied with Ichiro Suzuki

Rookie of the Year – 1963

NL MVP – 1973

World Series MVP – 1975

2 Gold Gloves – 1969, 1970

1 Silver Slugger Award – 1981

Selected to Major League Baseball All Century Team

Led the NL in Fielding Percentage as a RF once, 1970, as a LF, twice, 1972 and 1974, as a 3^rd baseman, once, 1976 and as a 1^st baseman, once, 1980.

It’s a shame that Pete will never be inducted in to the Hall of Fame for his actions after his playing career, because his playing career is as good as anyone that ever put on the uniform and to this day, clearly, truly loves the game.

It was a lot of fun catching up with Pete Rose!!

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Atlants Braves, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals

Phillies Injuries – Why & What’s the Effect??

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 7, 2012 at 9:51 pm

As I watched Freddie Galvis limp down to 1^st base last night running out a foul ball, try to get back in to the box, and take a feeble swing before removing himself from the game to become the 14^th Phillie to go on the disable list (DL) since April 1 it made us think of why was this happening to the Phillies and was it happening to other teams? The Phillies fans and media have been discussing how the Phils have been besieged with injuries so far this season. The common theme is, when we finally get healthy we will make a run and win the division. With that in mind, the Philly Pressbox went to work doing some research on the injuries for each team in the NL East. Below are the “transactions” listed on each of the teams’ websites dating back to April 1, 2012 through today. We left transfers to the 60 day DL as an indication that the injury the player suffered was more than likely severe.

We’re just providing the numbers and information of the injury and not trying to determine if a Ryan Howard injury is more significant to his team than a Ryan Zimmerman injury or Mike Pelfry being placed on the 60 day DL versus a Roy Halladay injury.

The big question that comes to the top of the Philly Press box is this, why are the Phillies having so many injuries? Of the 14 Phillie injuries, 8 have been pitchers. Two of them, Contrares and DeFratus, have resulted in trips to the 60 day list. In Contrares case it will likely end his career. Of the remainder of the pitchers, Halladay and Cliff Lee, like Contrares, are getting older; however, Vance Worley, Michael Stutes and David Herndon are young pitchers. So what’s the common denominator?

The 1^st Place Washington Nationals have also had 14 players placed on the DL. Interestingly, of the 14 only 5 have been pitchers. They have had to place three different 3^rd basemen and three different catchers on the DL. They have also lost Jayson Werth and Rick Ankiel to go along with Zimmerman since April 1^st.

The New York Mets are next with 10 players going on the DL. Of their 10, five have been pitchers, included two that transferred to the 60 day list.

That brings us to the healthy teams, the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins. The Braves have placed four players on the DL and three of them were in early April, and included Tim Hudson who was recovering from back surgery. The only other player has been Chipper Jones, which is not unusual. Overall, the Braves have been extremely healthy. As far as the Marlins, they have added three players to the DL. One of them, Jose Ceda, is recovering from off season Tommy John surgery and was later transferred to the 60 day list. Overall, they have only put two players on the list since the season started.

You make the conclusion of how important the injuries are with 58 games in the books. Below are the standings as of today in the NL East as well as the disabled list transactions:

1^st Place – Nationals

Tied for 2^nd Place – Braves and Marlins – 2 games back

4^th Place – Mets – 2.5 games back

5^th Place – Phillies – 6 games back.

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Phillies Injuries 04/03/12 Philadelphia Phillies placed 2B Chase Utley on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Deterioration of the cartilage behind his left kneecap.

Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Justin De Fratus on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Right elbow sprain.

Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Jose Contreras on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Recovering from September 2011 right elbow surgery.

Philadelphia Phillies placed 1B Ryan Howard on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Recovering from October 2011 left Achilles tendon surgery.

Philadelphia Phillies placed 2B Michael Martinez on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Right foot fracture.

04/21/12 Philadelphia Phillies placed LHP Cliff Lee on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 19, 2012. Left oblique strain.

04/24/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Michael Stutes on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 22, 2012. Right shoulder inflammation.
05/01/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP David Herndon on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 30, 2012. Right elbow inflammation.
05/02/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed 1B Jim Thome on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 29, 2012. Strained lower back.
05/11/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed LF Laynce Nix on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 10, 2012. Strained left calf.
	Philadelphia Phillies transferred RHP Justin De Fratus from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.
05/12/12	Philadelphia Phillies transferred 2B Michael Martinez from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.
05/16/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Vance Worley on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 12, 2012. Right elbow inflammation.
05/29/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Roy Halladay on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 28, 2012. Right back strain.
06/02/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Jose Contreras on the 15-Day disabled list. right elbow strain

06/04/12	Philadelphia Phillies transferred RHP Jose Contreras from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.
06/07/12	Philadelphia Phillies placed 2B Freddy Galvis on the 15-Day disabled list. Lower back strain.

Marlins injuries

04/04/12	Miami Marlins placed RHP Jose Ceda on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Recovering from April 2012 Tommy John surgery.
05/20/12	Miami Marlins placed CF Emilio Bonifacio on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 19, 2012. Sprained left thumb.
05/24/12	Miami Marlins placed LF Austin Kearns on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 23, 2012. Right hamstring strain.
05/27/12	Miami Marlins transferred RHP Jose Ceda from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.

Braves injuries

04/02/12	Atlanta Braves placed RHP Anthony Varvaro on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Right pectoral strain.
	Atlanta Braves placed LHP Robert Fish on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. Left elbow tendinitis.
04/04/12	Atlanta Braves placed RHP Tim Hudson on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 3, 2012. recovery from back surgery
05/26/12	Atlanta Braves placed 3B Chipper Jones on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 24, 2012. Bruised left calf

Mets injuries

04/04/12	New York Mets placed RHP D.J. Carrasco on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. right ankle sprain
	New York Mets placed RHP Pedro Beato on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. right shoulder stiffness
04/23/12	New York Mets placed SS Ronny Cedeno on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 21, 2012. Left intercostal strain.
04/24/12	New York Mets placed RHP Mike Pelfrey on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 22, 2012. Swelling in his right elbow
05/04/12	New York Mets transferred RHP Mike Pelfrey from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list
05/07/12	New York Mets placed SS Ruben Tejada on the 15-Day disabled list. Strained right quadriceps.
05/08/12	New York Mets transferred RHP Pedro Beato from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.
05/20/12	New York Mets placed RHP Miguel Batista on the 15-Day disabled list. Lower Back Strain
05/29/12	New York Mets placed 2B Justin Turner on the 15-Day disabled list. Sprained right ankle
05/30/12	New York Mets placed SS Ronny Cedeno on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 27, 2012. Strained left calf.
06/03/12	New York Mets placed LF Mike Baxter on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to June 2, 2012. Displaced right collarbone.

06/05/12	New York Mets placed RHP Ramon Ramirez on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 31, 2012. Hamstring strain

Nationals injuries

04/03/12	Washington Nationals placed 1B Chris Marrero on the 60-Day disabled list. rehab from torn left hamstring
	Washington Nationals placed LF Michael Morse on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. strained right lat
	Washington Nationals placed RHP Chien-Ming Wang on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. strained left hamstring
	Washington Nationals placed RHP Cole Kimball on the 60-Day disabled list. rehab from right shoulder surgery
	Washington Nationals placed RHP Drew Storen on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 26, 2012. elbow injury
	Washington Nationals placed CF Rick Ankiel on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to March 28, 2012. quad injury
04/27/12	Washington Nationals placed RHP Brad Lidge on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 22, 2012. Abdominal wall strain
04/28/12	Washington Nationals placed 3B Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 21, 2012. Sore right shoulder
04/29/12	Washington Nationals placed 3B Mark DeRosa on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to April 28, 2012. Oblique strain

05/08/12	Washington Nationals placed RF Jayson Werth on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 7, 2012. Broken left wrist
05/13/12	Washington Nationals placed C Wilson Ramos on the 15-Day disabled list. Torn right knee ligament
05/15/12	Washington Nationals placed C Sandy Leon on the 15-Day disabled list. High right ankle sprain.
	Washington Nationals transferred C Wilson Ramos from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list
05/22/12	Washington Nationals placed RHP Ryan Mattheus on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 21, 2012. Plantar fascia strain in his left foot.

05/28/12	Washington Nationals placed 3B Chad Tracy on the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 27, 2012. Right adductor strain.
	Washington Nationals transferred RF Jayson Werth from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list.
06/03/12	Washington Nationals transferred RHP Drew Storen from the 15-Day disabled list to the 60-Day disabled list
06/07/12	Washington Nationals placed C Carlos Maldonadoon the 15-Day disabled list retroactive to May 30, 2012. Strained lower back.

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Hector Luna, Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies Profile – Hector Luna

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 7, 2012 at 5:12 pm

If you follow the Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) you’re aware that we did a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. Now that the season has reached the 50 game mark there have been four additional players that are on the roster that we will get to know. We’ve profiled Jake Diekman, Raul Valdez and Mike Fontenot, today we will get to know Hector Luna. UPDATE: As the injuries keep mounting we will continue to profile additional players. Next up will be Michael Schwimer.

Hector Luna –Luna has been bouncing around the major leagues since making his debut in 2004, at the age of 24, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Other than 2009 and 2011 he has been on a big league roster every other season. Hector originally signed with the Cleveland Indians as a free agent in 1999. He was drafted away from the Indians by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2002, then returned back to the Indians in 2003. The Cardinals drafted him out of the Indians organization in the 2003 Rule 5 draft later in 2003. In 2006 the Cardinals traded him back to the Indians. In 2007 he was waived by the Indians and signed by the Toronto Blue Jays. He lasted only one year in the Blue Jays organization before being granted free agency. He was quickly signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in December of 2008. Again, Hector only made it through one season with an organization. He was realeased by the Dodgers at the end of the 2009 season and signed by the Florida Marlins. Another year later, Luna was released by the Marlins and signed by the Boston Red Sox organization. Again, one year later, he was granted free agency before signing with the Phillies in December of 2011. To say it’s been quite a journey for Luna to end up in Philadelphia is putting it mildly. Interesting enough of the 8 organizations Luna has played for he has been in the major leagues for 5 of them, St. Louis, Cleveland, Toronto, Florida and Philadelphia.

In the parts of the 7 seasons Luna has spent in the big leagues he has played in only 323 games. He has totalled 762 at-bats and 203 hits with a lifetime batting average of .266. He’s hit 14 home runs and has driven in 95 runs. What has kept Luna working is his versatility. He has played every position, except pitcher and catcher, at the major league level. He also acted as the DH at times in the American League.

As a minor league player Luna has over 4000 plate appearances in parts of 11 seasons, mostly at AAA. He has a career .279 batting average. His big league numbers aren’t much different than his minor league numbers, he just hasn’t been able to stick. This is likely due to his lack of power, only 87 career home runs, and as he’s gotten older his lack of speed. Early in his career he was able to steal bases, 32 in 2002, but hasn’t had more than 7 in any of the last 5 seasons.

Personal Analysis: The 32 year old Luna is likely a short timer with the Phillies as well. He’s done a decent job filling in at 1st base and occassionally in the outfield in the 12 games he’s played. He’s presently hitting .300 with one home run and 9 rbi’s. The feeling here is that as people start getting healthy and coming off the disable list that the numbers will catch up to Luna and he will ultimaetely be sent back to Lehigh Valley.

Tomorrow we will preview Michael Schwimer.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

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Mike Fontenot, Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies Profile – Mike Fontenot

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 3, 2012 at 1:59 pm

If you follow the Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) you’re aware that we did a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. Now that the season has reached the 50 game mark there have been four additional players that are on the roster that we will get to know. We profiled Jake Diekman Wednesday and Raul Valdez on Thursday, today we will get to know Mike Fontenot.

Mike Fontenot –The 5’8″, 165 lb. utilityman was signed by the Phillies in the middle of Spring Training and nearly made the ballclub. The journeyman has played 2b, ss, 3b and in the outfield throughout his career. The 31-year old Fontenot is a former 1st round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles, as the 19th pick, in the 2001 amateur draft out of LSU.

Fontenot quickly ran through the Orioles minor league system playing a full season in A ball in 2002, AA in 2003 and AAA in 2004 as the up and coming 2nd baseman in the Orioles system. He hit .325 with 12 HR’s and 66 RBI’s at AA Bowie. Before the 2005 season Fontenot was traded, along with Jerry Hairston and Dave Cruthers, to the Chicago Cubs for Sammy Sosa. Mike made his major league debut for the Cubs on April 13, 2005. He finished the season with 2 official at bats in his 7 games played. He spent most of the 2005 and 2006 and half of the 2007 seasons at AAA Iowa. He finally made it to the big leagues on a full time basis in 2007, with the Cubs. He hit .278 in 86 games in his first full time action. Mike stayed with the Cubs in 2008 and 2009, playing in 119 and 135 games. He hit .305 and .236. 2010 brought another change of scenery for Fontenot. He was traded in mid-season from the Cubs to the San Francisco Giants. His combined numbers for the year were .283 in 103 games. Again Mike seemed that he had found a home in San Francisco, however, he only played in 85 games and hit .227 in 2011. This earned him some time back at the AAA level. Mike was released by the Giants this Spring and quickly signed with the Phillies.

As we stated earlier, Fontenot was in a roster fight until the last day of Spring Training but didn’t make the team and was sent to AAA Lehigh Valley. He was hitting .308 in 58 at bats before getting the call to the Phillies. Since being called up Fontenot has played in 12 games, playing both 2nd base and 3rd base, as well as pinch hitting. He’s hitting .429 with 2 RBI’s thus far.

Personal Analysis: Fontenot brings big league experience and can play many positions. This versatility will give him a chance to stick withe the Phils. There will be big decisions to be made by the Phillies management regarding Fontenot, Pete Orr, Hector Luna, Michael Martinez and Jim Thome, when they return from the DL, and ultimately Chase Utley and Freddie Galvis. There are only so many spots and too many players. Obviously, injuries have played a big part in these players getting opportunities, however, at some point they should all be healthy, that’s where Fontenot’s experience and versatility will help him stay in the big leagues.

Tomorrow we will preview Hector Luna.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

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Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Valdez

Phillies Profile – Raul Valdez

In Philadelphia Phillies on June 1, 2012 at 8:21 pm

If you follow the Philly Pressbox (https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com) (@phillypressbox) you’re aware that we did a review and analysis of each Phillies player, Manager Charlie Manuel and the coaching staff leading up to Opening Day 2012. Now that the season has reached the 50 game mark there have been four additional players that are on the roster that we will get to know. Yesterday we profiled Jake Diekman. Today we’ll get to know Raul Valdez.

Raul Valdez –The 34-year-old Cuban born Valdez was signed as a free agent in the 2004 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs. He bounced around the minor leagues from 2004 to 2010 before making his major league debut with the New York Mets on April 11, 2010. At the age of 32, Valdex had a nice rookie year with Mets. He pitched in 38 games, finished with a 3-3 record with a 4.91 ERA and a save. That rookie season wasn’t good enough to keep him with the Mets, he was released following the season and signed by the St. Louis Cardinals. Valdez pitched in just 7 games for the Cards before being released and picked up by the Yankees where he pitched in only 6 majoe league games. He was released by the Yankees following the season and signed by the Phillies. Valdez has pitched in 8 games thus far for the Phils, recording a 2-0 record with a 3.00 ERA. He has stuck out 11 batters in his 9 innings of work.

As a journeyman minor leaguer, Valdez has worked as both a starter and reliever. He has pitched in 133 games in his 6 years at the lower levels with the majority of his work coming at the AAA level. He’s won 28 games and lost 21 with a 4.59 career ERA.

Personal Analysis:It will be interesting to see if Valdez sticks with the Phillies. He has done a decent job thus far, however, he was called up from Lehigh Valley due to injuries in the bullpen. Our expectation is that he will be sent back down as soon as Michael Stutes is healthy and able to return. He could also be the first guy that returns to the big leagues if the injuries continue. At the least we would expect to see Raul again in September.

Tomorrow we will preview Mike Fontenot.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

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Jake Diekman, Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies Profile – Jake Diekman

In Philadelphia Phillies on May 30, 2012 at 6:32 pm

Jake Diekman –The 6’4″, 200 lb., 25-year-old lefthanded was the Phillies 30th round draft choice in the 2007 amateur draft out of Cloud County Community College in Concordia Kansas. He was called up from AAA Lehigh Valley and made his major league debut on May 15th against the Houston Astros. Jake pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless baseball in that game and picked up the win, 4-3. To date, he has pitched in 7 games, all in relief, has a 1-0 record with a 5.68 ERA. He has struck out 12 and walked 2 in his 6.1 innings of work.

Diekman began his minor league career in 2007 playing in the Gulf Coast League and with Class A Williamsport. He posted a combined 3-4 record with a 2.72 ERA. He started 10 games and relieved in 3. During that first season Diekman started to earn the reputation as a strike out pitcher. He tallied 46 k’s in 51 innings of work. In 2008, Jake split time between Class A Williamsport and Class A Lakewood. He was a full-time started on both teams. He started a total of 27 games and loggged 141.1 innings of work. His combined record was 4-9 with a 5.09 ERA. He totalled 96 strike outs. 2009 saw the move to the bullpen at Lakewood. Diekman pitched in 32 games, 30 of them in relief. His record was 2-0 with a 4.04 ERA and 2 saves. He struck out 52 batters in 55.2 innings of work. By 2010 Jake was spending his fourth season in “A” ball. He was with both Lakewood and Clearwater. The path to the big leagues wasn’t looking very promising, however he pitched well in 2010. He appeared in 45 games, all in relief. He was 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 1 save. He struck out 56 batters in 55.2 innings. In 2011, Jake finally got the promotion to AA Reading and again pitched very well. He was 0-1 with a 3.05 ERA in 53 games with 3 saves. He struck out 83 batters in 65 innings of relief. The outstanding 2011 got Diekman promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley to start 2012 and it didn’t take long for him to excel. Before getting the call to the Phillies he had pitched in 13 games with a 1-0 record a 0.59 ERA and 5 saves. He had struck out 22 batters in 15.1 innings. It wasn’t an easy climb for Diekman but it appears that everything has come together.

The promotion to the big leagues was well deserved!!

Personal Analysis:It will be interesting to see how the Phillies use Diekman at the big league level once he gets comfortable. They presently have Antonio Bastardo and Joe Savory as lefthanded relievers with Bastardo having worked himself back in to the 8th inning slot. That leaves Diekman and Savory as clean up guys. Obviously being a strike out pitcher will be to Diekmans advantage moving forward and will likely put him in position to get big lefthanded hitters out. We look for Diekman to get more work once he gets settled in the big leagues. He’s a good looking, young lefthander with an unusual delivery that has nothing but upside.

Tomorrow we will preview Raul Valdez.

For those that haven’t followed our Phillies Profiles you can see them all in the archives file under “Phillies”.

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Carlos Ruiz, Cole Hamels, Greg Gross, Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies

5 Phillies Things to Ponder – You Rank Them!!

In Philadelphia Phillies on May 18, 2012 at 10:41 am

While driving down the interstate of Missouri I’m pondering a few things about the Phillies and the first 38 games of the season. I’ve come up with a list of 5 things and I ask you, what do you think will happen in what order? I’ll list them randomly and give you my list at the bottom.

· The Phillies take over 1^st Place in the NL East.
· Greg Gross gets fired as the hitting coach.
· Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz is named the starting catcher for the NL in the All Star game.
· Cole Hamels is signed to a long term contract.
· Jimmy Rollins will be moved out of the leadoff spot permanently.

Here is our list and our reasoning:

Greg Gross will be fired. It’s not fair to blame everything on the hitting coach but that’s what happens, ask Mickey Hatcher who was fired after 13 seasons as the hitting coach of the Angels because he and Albert Pujols had a disagreement and the team was underachieving at the plate. GG has been fired before in favor of Milt Thompson who was replaced again by GG. When it’s all said and done, there are a lot of the same hitters that have been here throughout and they haven’t changed, regardless of who the hitting coach is. The Phils are presently playing .500 ball, 19-19, and in last place in the NL East. They rank 4^th in the NL in batting average at .261, however, they rank only 10^th of 16 teams in OBP, on base percentage, are 8^th in runs scored and home runs but 15^th in bases on balls. It’s a shame to say but someone may have to be the scapegoat if the Phils don’t start to score more runs and GG will be that guy. Maybe Chase Utley and Ryan Howard can help out if it’s not too late.
“Chooch” is named to start in the All Star game. At this point in the season he has done it all. Always solid on defense and managing the pitching staff, he has now added some pretty significant offensive numbers. He’s sporting a .343 batting average, .388 OBP, 7 HR’s, 24 RBI’s and 19 runs scored, all second on the team to Hunter Pence. It’s a no-brainer that Chooch is the NL starting catcher.
Cole Hamels signs a multi- year deal. Every time Hamels goes to the mound it’s costing the Phillies money. He’s presently 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He’s started 7 games and the Phils have won 6 of them. He leads the team with 49 strike outs while holding the opposition to a .229 batting average. The 28 year old lefty has not reached his prime yet and needs to be locked up for the long haul. We’ve been on that bandwagon since Spring Training. The Dodgers, Angels and Yankees will likely be interested if Cole tests the free agent market and will all be willing to dish out big money. The Matt Cain contract in San Francisco has set the bar at $120m and the Phillies need to beat it and they need to do it now. Following is the link to our preseason player profile on Hamels. https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/phillies-profile-cole-hamels/
The Phils take over 1^st place in the NL East. The Phils have played poorly through the first 38 games of the season. Utley and Howard are out, the middle bullpen is a mess, Cliff Lee has been on the DL, Jim Thome has been a bust, Freddy Galvis, Lance Nix and John Mayberry, among others, have struggled and the Phils are only 4.5 games out of 1^st place. Although the division has improved the Phillies still have the top line of starting pitchers. It’s just a matter of time until they find some consistency at the plate and start scoring runs in bunches.
Jimmy Rollins is moved out of the leadoff spot. The Philly Pressbox doesn’t under Charlie Manuals love for JRoll in the leadoff spot. Those days are gone. Jimmy is presently hitting a measly .232 with an OBP of .290. That is awful for a guy in the leadoff spot. He has also already struck out 27 times while walking only 13 and stealing 8 bases. Only Galvis and Mayberry have a lower OBP than Rollins. With Juan Pierre swinging a hot bat, .343 average, with a .388 OBP, he needs to be in the leadoff spot until he can’t get the job done. Pierre is a proven big league player and he will produce. JRoll and Manuel need to swallow the egos and move Rollins down near the bottom of the lineup where he belongs. We don’t see it happening any time soon and the Phils will suffer because of it unless Jimmy turns back the clock to 2007 and 2008. See our preseason preview of JRoll at the following link. https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/phillies-profile-jimmy-rollins/

There you have our thoughts at close to the quarter point of the season.

What do you think????

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Florida Marlins, Hunter Pence, Philadelphia Phillies, Roy Halladay

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Marlins Series

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 13, 2012 at 7:08 pm

In our second installment of the “View from the Philly Pressbox” we’ll review the 3 games series, against the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, in which the Phils won the last two games after losing the home opener of the season.

Cole Hamels struggled on opening night at The Bank. Hamels struck out 9 batters in his 5.1 innings but allowed 8 hits and 4 runs, 3 earned. Joe Savery saw his first action of the season in relief. David Herndon and Jonathan Papelbon also threw in the game. The Phils managed only 6 hits off of four Marlins pitchers, none of them off their bullpen. Anibal Sanchez pitched well and picked up the win. Jimmy Rollins had 2 hits while Freddie Galvis got his first major league hit and first two RBI’s.

Roy Halladay is off to a great start. He won his 2^nd game of the season. Doc threw 7 innings, allowing 5 hits and 1 run. He walked 1 and struck out 3. He lowered his ERA to 0.50. Chad Qualls and Michael Stutes threw perfect innings of relief. The hits finally started coming, 14 total. Carlos Ruiz continued his hot hitting with 2 hits, including his first home run of the season. Rollins, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco all added a pair of hits while Hunter Pence banged 3 hits. Galvis added 2 RBI’s.

Game 3 belonged to Joe Blanton. The #5 starter in the rotation made his first start of the season a dandy, leading the Phillies to a 3-1 win. Blanton threw 7 innings, allowed 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and struck out 3. Chad Qualls pitched the 8^th for his first hold of the season and Papelbon pitched the 9^th to earn his 2^nd save. Offensively, Hunter Pence added 2 more hits, raising his average to .391. Ty Wigginton belted his first home run of the season as did Shane Victorino.

To summarize the series, the Phillies pitching was outstanding again with quality starts from Halladay and Blanton. The Marlins also have good pitching with Sanchez, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, however, the Phillies banged out 28 hits in the series. That’s a good sign!

Next up, the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Their ace Johan Santana threw on Wednesday against Washington, losing to Steven Strasburg, 4-0. Santana won’t pitch against the Phils. The Phils will throw Cliff Lee on Friday night against R.A. Dickey, Vance Worley against Jon Neise on Saturday at 4:05 and Cole Hamels against Mike Pelfrey on Sunday afternoon. The Mets have started the season with a 4-2 record. The Mets have listed 3^rd baseman David Wright as day-to-day after breaking his pinky finger on Monday. If Wright can tolerate the pain he could play at some point during the series.

As far as the Phillies lineup, Charlie Manuel has made a few moves; however, he seems to have settled back to his opening day lineup. Juan Pierre did get some work in the leadoff spot. Pierre is hitting only .214 in his 4 games played. With only 6 games in to the season Pence is leading the team in hitting at .391, followed by Ruiz at .375 and Victorino at .333. No one has more than one home run. Pence and Galvis lead with 4 RBI’s each.

The season is still very young and the bats will be warming up. Like everyone else we expect Hunter Pence to lead the way for a good portion of the season until Chase Utley and Ryan Howard return. We’ve attached the link to our Phillies Profile on Pence. https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/phillie-profile-hunter-pence/

It would be a great weekend for a Phillies sweep of the Mets!

For now, WE’RE OUTTTTTTA HERE!!!!!

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Carlos Ruiz, Charlie Manuel, Cliff Lee, Freddy Galvis, Hunter Pence, Juan Pierre, Philadelphia Phillies, Roy Halladay, Vance Worley

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Pirates Series

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 9, 2012 at 11:47 am

In our first installment of the “View from the Philly Pressbox” we’ll review the 3 games series, at Pittsburgh, against the Pirates, in which the Phils lost two out of three.

We learned the following:

Roy Halladay and Jonathan Papelbon were really good in the opener, combining for a 2 hit, 1-0 shutout.

Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle lost his mind by pitching to Carlos Ruiz with the score 0-0, with Phillies on 2^nd and 3^rd with 1 out and Freddie Galvis, in his first major league game, and the pitcher, Halladay due up. Chooch hit a SAC Fly to rightfield that was all Halladay needed. 1-0 Phillies.

Cliff Lee can still be good even when he’s not at his best. He gave up 2 hits and 1 run through 6 innings, allowing a run on a wild pitch. Lee appeared to be struggling with his location some and wasn’t happy with some balls and strikes from the umpire but still pitched very well.

Games will end on bang-bang calls on the bases. This one was close and went against the Phils allowing the winning run to score giving them their first lose.

The Vanimal, Vance Worley, doesn’t appear to have any sophomore season concerns. Worley threw 6 innings of 5 hit, 1 run baseball, leaving with a 4-1lead.

Overall the Phillies starters threw 20 innings, gave up 9 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and had 14 strikeouts and Cole Hamels hasn’t pitched yet.

The Phillies hitting is awful!! They accounted for 20 hits, 1 by Halladay, in the first three games against average pitching, hit 1 home run, had 2 doubles and only scored 6 runs.

Juan Pierre needs to be the leadoff hitter that can get on base and make things happen. If Charlie Manuel wants John Mayberry to get At-Bats it needs to be at 1^st base. Not that Mayberry can’t play leftfield, but Pierre needs to be in the lineup until he proves he can’t get the job done. Shane Victorino is not a lead-off hitter and Jimmy Rollins is not a number 3 hitter. Our thought is play Mayberry every day at 1^st base and bat 5^th so opponents don’t walk Hunter Pence like they did Sunday with Jim Thome hitting behind him. The Phils need to establish a 5^th hitter in the line-up and leave him there until he fails.

How long of a leash do you have with Freddie Galvis? He needs to hit something! 0-10 in your first series is not a great start, especially for a guy who isn’t a notoriously good hitter to begin with. He has played well in the field but he needs to hit. The Ty Wigginton, Galvis, Brian Schneider experiment in the 6, 7 and 8 spots produced a 0-9 with 2 walks for the day. They did score 2 runs. That won’t get it. Tack on another 0-4 for the 9^th spot and it wasn’t a very good day.

Why pull Worley after 6 innings and only 78 pitches?

Lastly, Charlie let Sunday’s game get away. As long as I can remember being around baseball there’s been a cardinal rule of “NEVER let the other team’s best player beat you”. Charlie decided to pitch to both Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen with a runner on 3^rd and 1 out in the bottom of the 9^th inning. David Herndon was fortunate enough to strikeout Tabata for the 2^nd out before McCutchen hit the game winner off the centerfield wall. Baseball wisdom says they should’ve walked both Tabata and McCutchen and set up a double play situation with Adam Walker. Those runners meant nothing so why not put them on base. Choosing to pitch to Tabata was one thing but letting McCutchen, easily the Pirates best player, beat you with two empty bases is inexcusable.

With that said, it’s early in the season and today’s game against the Marlins brings Hamels to the mound. There’s nothing like the home opener. As we stated in our Phillies Profile on Hamels, the link is attached, https://phillypressbox.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/phillies-profile-cole-hamels/, we expect a great season from him and it starts today. The Phillies pitching is going to be fun to watch but we sure need some answers at the plate, and soon.

For now, WE’RE OUTTTTTTA HERE!!!!!

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Michael Stutes, Pete Orr, Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies Profiles – Michael Stutes and Pete Orr

In Philadelphia Phillies on April 5, 2012 at 9:50 am

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. On Day 28 we preview, Michael Stutes and Pete Orr.

Michael Stutes – Stutes was drafted out of high school in the 32^nd round in 2004 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead of signing he chose to go to college at Oregon State University and later at Santa Clara University. He was drafted again in the 9^th round, by the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2007 and again by the Phillies, in the 11^th round, in 2008.

Stutes, a starting pitcher at the time, cruised through “A” ball at Williamsport and Lakewood in 2008, posting a 7-2 record with a 1.42 ERA in 13 starts. In 2009, Mike was promoted to “AA” Reading where he posted an 8-8 record with a 4.26 ERA, while starting all 27 of his games. The decision was made for Stutes to move to the bullpen between the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He started the season at Reading before being promoted to “AAA” Lehigh Valley. He finished the combined season with a 7-1 record, a 3.42 ERA and 3 saves. All of his 53 appearances were in relief. Stutes started the 2011 season back at Lehigh Valley before getting the call after pitching in just 7 games.

The 25 year old Stutes arrived on the scene and quickly became a very important part of the Phillies bullpen. Stutes, from the right side, and fellow rookie Antonio Bastardo, from the left side, carried the 8^th inning bullpen work before tiring a bit down the stretch. Stutes finished the season with a 6-2 record with a 3.63 ERA in 57 games.

Personal Analysis:

Stutes ended up in a battle to make the team coming out of spring training. He suffered some arm soreness that looked like was going to land him on the DL and not come north with the team. Apparently he has recovered and is ready to go. Stutes has been a quality pitcher throughout his career in the minor leagues and as a rookie in 2011. It’s not clear, at this time, what role Stutes will play as one of the 12 pitchers on the roster, however, whatever role it is we expect Stutes to compete and be productive.

Pete Orr –Pete Orr has won the last roster position as a backup infielder. Pete has primarily been a 2^nd baseman throughout his career although he has played 3^rd base and some outfield. Pete was invited to camp as non-roster player, however, he’s another journeyman that should provide the Phils some depth until Chase Utley returns or possible until Michael Martinez returns. The 32 year old Orr has 6 years of major league experience with Atlanta, Washington and the Phillies in 2011.

Pete was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Braves in 1999. Orr made his major league debut with the Braves in 2005. He stayed with the Braves through the 2007 season bouncing back and forth to AAA. He bounced between the Nationals and AAA Syracuse in 2008-2009. He only tallied 150 major league at bats and hit .253. The Phillies signed Orr as a free agent prior to the 2011 season. Again, he split time between the Phillies and AAA Lehigh Valley. He hit .219, with 0 home runs and 4 RBI’s in 96 at bats for The Fightins. Pete is a career .254 hitter with 615 at bats.

Personal Analysis:

With Orr you know exactly what you have. He’s going to be a spot player to fill in as needed. He can step in and play every day if Freddie Galvis struggles. Galvis will have every opportunity to play and improve at the big league level. Orr will provide good defense and baserunning when called on. Overall, Orr is good guy to have on your ballclub but we don’t expect anything big from him. The downside is that he’s another left handed hitter on the bench.

The series: Day 1, Charlie Manuel. Day 2, The Coaching Staff. Day 3, Roy Halladay. Day 4, Cliff Lee. Day 5, Cole Hamels. Day 6, Vance Worley. Day 7, Joe Blanton. Day 8, Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz. Day 9, Ryan Howard. Day 10, Chase Utley. Day 11, Jimmy Rollins. Day 12, Placido Polanco. Day 13, John Mayberry, Jr. Day 14, Shane Victorino. Day 15, Hunter Pence. Day 16, Brian Schneider. Day 17, Jim Thome. Day 18, Kyle Kendrick. Day 19, Antonio Bastardo. Day 20, Ty Wigginton. Day 21, Chad Qualls. Day 22, Freddy Galvis. Day 23, David Herndon. Day 24, Juan Pierre. Day 25, Laynce Nix, Day 26, Jonathan Papelbon. Day 27, Joe Savery.

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Archive for the ‘Philadelphia Phillies’ Category

Catching Up with Pete Rose

Phillies Injuries – Why & What’s the Effect??

Phillies Profile – Hector Luna

Phillies Profile – Mike Fontenot

Phillies Profile – Raul Valdez

Phillies Profile – Jake Diekman

5 Phillies Things to Ponder – You Rank Them!!

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Marlins Series

“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Pirates Series

Phillies Profiles – Michael Stutes and Pete Orr

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