Phinally Philly

By this point, I’m sure most of you have seen video of Ryan Howard’s moon shot grand slam from Saturday night. If not, here it is:

(Had to replace the original video because MLB Advanced Media was on the prowl through YouTube and took down a ton of videos, plus, this one is just way too funny not to use.)

That was an absolute blast. He also hit one to that section a few years ago off of the Yankees’ Mike Mussina, but that one landed a few seats over. I was at that Yankees game, and the noise off the bat could be heard throughout the Bank.

As Larry Shenk points out, the Phillies used to mark Mike Schmidt’s upper deck HRs with a white “S” and Greg Luzinski’s with a bull ring.

That brings up the question, what should the team do to mark Howard’s titanic shots? They marked Howard’s shot off Mussina with a white “H,” similar to how they did with Schmidt. There’s got to be a better way to do that for Howard.

My suggestion? Paint the seats that Howard hits red. That will be a subtle but noticeable recognition.

What do you guys think?

-KK

Jamie Moyer picked up career win #250 today…and his postgame comments were a perfect representation of what an incredible, classy man he is. Via ESPN:

Moyer (4-5) allowed three hits and one earned run while striking out four on 102 pitches and lowering his ERA to 6.75. The 46-year-old Moyer is 44th pitcher and only the 11th left-hander to join the exclusive 250-win list. And despite his teammates’ postgame champagne toast, Moyer’s words lacked the excitement one might expect after such a rare achievement.

It’s not about the personal things, I’m more excited about us winning,” Moyer said. “I really haven’t thought about (winning 250). It takes so much effort to prepare and play. I was taught to play the game as a team, not as an individual. When you play 20-some years, some of these things can happen,” the Associated Press reports.

Said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, “A guy like Jamie and the type of pitcher he is, what he’s had to earn and his ups and downs, it says a lot about the individual. For a guy with his ability, how he goes about it, how he gets it done, you don’t see many guys like that.”

They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore do they? Congratulations Jamie, we’re all proud of you!

…or in this case, up.

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Cheer Up Eddie! You're the New 76ers Head Coach!

The most top-secret head coaching search ever is finally over, it ended with the hiring of Eddie Jordan. With plenty of quality head coaching candidates out their the hiring of Jordan is disappointing to say the least for most fans.

I voiced my displeasure at the possibility of the Sixers hiring him a few weeks ago. I’m sticking to my guns on this one, but let’s give him a fair shake.

Let’s take a look at the Pro’s and Con’s of Eddie Jordan’s hire. Read the rest of this entry »

What do all of those names have in common? The Phillies have supposedly expressed interest in each them at one point or another…via Jayson Stark on ESPN.com:

“Is there a prominent starting pitcher in the July shoppers’ catalogue that the Phillies haven’t looked into? Clubs all over baseball report that the Phillies are, as one exec put it, “looking everywhere for starters.” And for once, he said, “they’ve got pieces to give” to get one.

The list of pitchers they’ve called on, from what we’ve heard, includes every conceivable usual suspect: Oswalt, Peavy, Brandon Webb, Roy Halladay, Doug Davis, Erik Bedard, Cliff Lee, Aaron Harang, Brad Penny, Chris Young and Jason Marquis.”

Stark goes on to mention some names of Phillies prospects that other clubs are looking at, and says Antonio Bastardo may have surpassed Carlos Carrasco as the Phils #1 pitching prospect. He also spends quite a bit of time discussing Charlie Manuel’s tough decision regarding what to do with the struggling Jamie Moyer. A must-read for any Phillies fan.

Ok, so news came out today that Brett Myers will probably need hip surgery and will most likely be done for the season. This is terrible news as Brett had actually been pitching well recently. I noticed he came out of the game last night when I was at the Bank, but there was no real reason given.

Now that preliminary reports show he needs surgery, the Phillies have a decision to make.

Do the Phillies pursue a trade for a starting pitcher? Do they promote from the minors? Or, dare I say it, give Chan Ho Park another shot at the rotation?

All of these options present problems that need to be addressed. The Phillies have been rumored to be pursuing pitchers since the season started. It was obvious to everyone around the league that pitching was going to be this team’s weakness this season. Recent names being thrown around include Jake Peavey, Eric Bedard, Jason Marquis, Roy Oswalt, and even Brad Penny. Should the Fightins’ do it?

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A starter such as Seattle's Erik Bedard may be available for trade, but should the Phils go after him?

On SI.com Tim Marchman points out how trades for established stars in Major League Baseball usually end up being lopsided favoring the team that dumps the established talent. It’s an interesting piece that is worth checking out.

In the column Marchman specifically mentions the Phillies as the team with the greatest need for another starting pitcher…

Read the rest of this entry »

Several sources, including Soccer by Ives and MLS-Rumors.net, are reporting that current US assistant coach Piotr Nowak will be named as Manager of the Philadelphia Union.  We have learned that there is a presser at 2:00 3:00 tomorrow in Chester.

Nowak who has won titles as a player and a coach brings a hard nosed but attacking style of soccer with him and a candor with the media that should be well received.

•  According to a source within the Dallas Mavericks organization, Dwayne Casey currently an assistant with Dallas came to Philadelphia this weekend for a 2nd interview. The source said Casey met with GM Ed Stefanski and Peter Luukko the Sixers President. 

             Casey is the first candidate to be granted a second interview. 

• According to The Philadelphia Daily News the Sixers have contacted Avery Johnson for the vacant head coaching position. There is speculation that Johnson appeared  uninterested in the Sixer job because he didn’t want to be a part of “wide-ranging search.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
• There are whispers from some in the NBA world that the Sixers may soon be contacting Jeff Van Gundy.

• The Sixers are no longer entertaining the thought of bringing in Laker assistant Kurt Rambis as head coach. 

-Mike Santa Barbara

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