An Electrifying Olympics Ends. Time for Some Baseball

Well, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics have ended, and I have to say that this year did not disappoint. I can easily say that I just witnessed one of the most unearthly athletic performances and one of the most incredible sports games of any I've ever seen. That would be Kim Yu-Na's figure skating performances and the U.S.-Canada gold medal hockey game. Yes, I did just say a figure skater gave one of the most unearthly athletic performances I've ever seen, and in the words of my friend Angel, "I don't care if that loses me man points." As for hockey, the U.S. may have gone home with silver in the end, but that game was something else. Ryan Miller is easily the MVP, and Sidney Crosby continues to do whatever the opposite is of "endear himself to" many American sports fans not from Pittsburgh.

(Top: Photo courtesy of The Chosun Ilbo/Yonhap; 

Bottom: Photo courtesty of Harry How/Getty Images)

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming: baseball.

With the first actual spring training games of the 2010 Grapefruit League almost upon us, it's time for another look at what's been happening down in Clearwater and elsewhere in the world of baseball. Here's a quick rundown:

• Chan Ho Park said that "Philadelphia was the no. 1 choice." For more on that, see my previous entry, "The Changing of the Beard." I have nothing to add to what I wrote last week except that if that's what he wanted, he blew it even more than I originally thought.

• Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels threw some live batting practice Thursday and Friday, respectively. Hitters generally don't swing at pitches this early on, but one young upstart by the name of Domonic Brown decided to try. That went really well for him. Check out some video of that here.
  
  The other good news was that, out of 40 pitches Cole Hamels threw on Friday, 4 were curveballs and 5 were that cutter he's reportedly been working on. Not only did he throw them, but he impressed pitching coach Rich Dubee in the process, Looks like, both physically and mentally, he's well on his way to returning to good form.
  
  
• The pitching line-ups for the aforementioned Spring Training games have been announced. Some highlights: Roy Halladay against the Yankees this coming Thursday, Jamie Moyer in the B game against the Jays on Friday, and the chance to see what some of the up and coming prospects can do going into this year. I think it's fairly obvious by now why Roy Halladay is a highlight; I included Jamie Moyer because this 47-year-old man is pitching at all at this point after three, count 'em, three surgeries since we last saw him pitch. He's determined and resilient, if nothing else.
  
  
• Finally, Brad Lidge and J.C. Romero have both thrown off a mound, with little discomfort. This is great news, and signals that the back end of our bullpen might stop giving us all heart palpitations whenever one of them steps up to the mound. Plus, there won't be a TV show to jinx them this year.

 Of course, no post would be complete without some pictures of Roy Halladay to get excited for the coming season:

 

(Photos courtesty of Todd Zolecki)

That's all for now. Barring any unforeseen events, there will be actual baseball games (even if they're just exhibition games) to discuss by the next time I post. Watching Roy Halladay mow down some Yankees in four days will hopefully make for an exciting transition back into the baseball season.

The Advent of @OzzieGuillen - Twitter and Baseball

Now that the news filtering out of the Phillies camp in Clearwater, FL has slowed a bit in the past two days, the biggest baseball news is that Ozzie Guillen, White Sox manager and philosopher, has a Twitter. I cannot understate the importance of this man's decision to harness social media to bypass the haters in the mainstream media. Already we've gotten these gems of tweets:

"finally I am on this twitter thing it's about time!"

"3 day of Spring Training and im already boreddddddd"

"going to eat in half hour why dye no have a job ?"

"I just finished dinner..I still got it.....BBQ."

And the reason we love him: "I love what I'm doing now,Followers, don't worry, I will be here for all of you."

Behold, the new face of baseball on Twitter

(Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times)

This is a man born to tweet, and I'm only half kidding when I say that. Does anyone doubt, with this latest move and the reality show that's due to hit TV screens this summer, that Ozzie a man completely comfortable in any setting. Sure he's uninhibited and speaks his mind enough to give the higher ups at the White Sox heart palpitations. But you have to respect him for giving it to us straight, and Twitter will only help him there.

Hopefully, @OzzieGuillen will encourage other baseball players to join Twitter. Baseball players simply aren't using twitter at the level that NFL and NBA players are, and this is a missed opportunity. What's an even greater missed opportunity is that twitter has only been around since 2006. With apologies to other people who have done this before, imagine the possibilities if it had been around for, say, the last 100 years. Suspend your disbelief and indulge me:

@TheGreatBambino: LOLZ so long beantown u r gonna regret this #redsox #yankees

@SatchelPaige: balk my ass thats a legit pitch #umpirefail

@WillieMays: yeah i just made that catch and throw no biggie #giants #indians

@RogerMaris: @TheGreatBambino just hit the 61st, what now. hof here i come!! #newrecord

@BigMac: @RogerMaris how'd that hof work out for u? 70! #newerrecord

@SammySosa: @BigMac i hit also! #almostnewerrecord

@BarryBonds: 73. thx @greganderson couldnt have done it without u #newestrecord

@RyanHoward: @BarryBonds be glad I got to the majors at 25 #recordsafefornow

Well, that could go on and on. My list might have something to do with the fact I'm currently reading this and this and that I like home runs. As an aside, I highly recommend both books. It's a shame we'll never know just what Satchel Paige really did in his long and storied career, or what Willie Mays could have done somewhere other than Candlestick Park.

But back to the task at hand. In all seriousness, Twitter should be used by more baseball players for many reasons, not the least of which being that most of the writers who cover them use it. The lives of MLB players may not be scrutinized quite as much as those of NFL or NBA players, and that's partially because baseball superstars don't hold the place they once had in American popular culture. If they fail to latch on to new social media, they'll fall further behind.

Come up with your own historic baseball tweets! Leave some comments with them and I'll post some from time to time in future entries.

The Changing of the Beard

While I don't know or care why Jayson Werth is sporting his awesome new beard (which is a VAST improvement over his old goatee), I do know and care why Chan Ho Park is going to lose his old one. Our former middle relief champ is losing his beard because he signed with the Yankees today. The question is: what the hell is Chan Ho Park thinking?

Let's go over the facts of what's been happening with Mr. Park since we last saw him give up a single to A-Rod in the 7th inning of Game 6 of the
World Series, back on November 4th. The rumors are that, before he became a free agent, Park was offered a one year contract for around $3.25 million to pitch in relief for the Phillies in 2010, doing what he did best in 2009. Instead, he turned down this deal and decided to look elsewhere, reportedly because he still viewed himself as a starter. And we all know how well that went for him in 2009. In case you forgot, his record as a starter last year was a whopping 7.29 ERA in 7 starts, where he was clearly losing velocity just so he could pitch badly in games for longer. When he switched to being a great long relief pitcher, he posted a 2.52 ERA for the rest of the season and regularly hit 94-96 mph with his fastball again. He also averaged a little over a strikeout per inning he pitched. So clearly this is a guy who is meant to be a... starter? If you asked him at the end of last year, that seemed to be the case.

Moving forward to this past week, there were faint signs of life returning to Park's pitching career, when it was rumored that the Cubs had interest in him, including giving him the chance to compete for a spot in the rotation. Meanwhile the Phillies had moved on, given a similar amount of money to what they had offered Park to Cuban Defector #1, Danys Baez, a quality late innings reliever with closing experience. They also signed Cuban Defector #2, Jose Contreras, to do what Park did last year for half of what they had offered Park. So the Cubs are offering the man what he ostensibly wanted, and his prior championship caliber team has moved on, what does he do? He signs with the Yankees. For $1.2 million plus $300,000 in incentives. And why does he choose the Yankees over the Cubs? "I was deliberating on the Chicago Cubs and the Yankees, but their history and championship contention resulted in me picking the Yankees" (from a good ESPN article on the subject). So let's recap:

• In November 2009, Chan Ho Park turns down a $3.25 million offer to play for a championship caliber team, in relief, because he wants to be a starter.
• On February 22, 2010, Chan Ho Park accepts an offer for $2 million less than that to do what? Pitch in relief for a championship caliber team. While turning down what probably would have been a higher offer from the Cubs to compete for a starting role.

I'll say this, if Chan Ho Park's goal was to give a giant middle finger to the Phillies, he succeeded. I just don't know what the Phillies ever did to him to deserve that. It's also possible the whole thing is another fail on the part of Scott Boras, that baseball super-agent. [Update: Turns out he's not represented by Scott Boras, but Jeff Borris. Those damn homophones get me every time. Thanks to the anonymous comment for that tidbit. You should still read Jayson Stark's piece about Johnny Damon, though, even if it's not quite as relevant.] If you want to see how well listening to Boras did for another one of his actual clients, read up on the saga of Johnny Damon of this offseason, as brilliantly retold by Jayson Stark. Also, for another great take on this whole story, check out Chan Ho Plays Waiting Game, Loses over at Crashburn Alley

But enough about the past. The Phillies position players officially reported today, and Jayson Werth's beard was the star attraction to many observers. If seeing it one time wasn't enough for you to believe it, here it is again:

This beard reminds me (and others who have tweeted about it today) of many things, including: Jesus, Ron Burgundy when he breaks down in Anchorman, the GEICO cavemen (thanks Brad Lidge), and Johnny Damon c. 2004. This last comparison could be both exciting and depressing. The exciting part is that Johnny Damon in 2004 was part of a magical championship Red Sox that broke the curse of a city. Jayson Werth could prove pivotal in the Phillies winning another World Series title this year, cementing this Phillies team and one of the greats in baseball, certainly National League, history. The depressing part is that Johnny Damon turned around and signed with the Yankees the very next year and the beard vanished. Let's hope Jayson Werth doesn't follow Chan Ho Park and do the same next offseason.

Note: Werth photo courtesy of Todd Zolecki; Park photo courtesy of Jeff Zelevansky, Getty Images.

The Doc is in!

As avid Phillies fans know by now, the media muzzle on Roy Halladay has been removed and this guy sure knows how to endear himself to us fans. Not only has he been arriving for workouts for months already at ungodly hours in the morning, but he's also inspiring certain younger pitchers to do the same.  I know it's always a good idea to temper expectations before a season begins, no matter who you're talking about, but Roy Halladay has officially reached "this guy is something else" status.  Now he just needs to work on his hitting so he can keep up his absurd numbers of complete games.  In case you were wondering, that absurd number is 49 complete games out of 148 total wins in his career.  That means one third of his wins are complete games.  Oh, and overall he averages nearly 8 innings per start.  The term "workhorse" doesn't begin to describe this guy.  He even has a zen-like attitude vis-a-vis the pettiness of our rivals to the north.  What a stud.

Even Charlie Manuel is getting just as excited as the rest of us watching Halladay throw, judging by where his hands are:

(Photo courtesy of Todd Zolecki)

If you want to read more on what Halladay has the potential for this season, check out Todd Zolecki and that sportswriter extraordinaire, Jayson Stark.  If you're a Phillies fan and not excited about Roy Halladay yet, please check your pulse right now.

Cole Hamels also spoke to the media in the last few days, and he and pitching coach Rich Dubee are on mostly the same wavelength about how to get some of that 2008 magic back, which is definitely good news.  As I've written before, some of Hamels' struggles in 2009 can be attributed to bad luck, high BABIP, etc.  However, the way he responded to much of that bad luck played a significant role in him being pulled from games.  When Hamels visually lost his cool after the infielders missed a routine double play, for example, Charlie is going to take note of that and Hamels is less likely to stay in much longer.  While Hamels can't control what happens behind him, he can control what he does in response, and that's something he recognizes he needs to work on.  He is also in a much better place right now than he was this time last year in terms of arm strength and dedication.  I think it's safe to say he knows it's time to get up off the ground from last year, dust himself off, and return to being an ace (well, co-ace).

Don't just take this optimistic fan's word for the prospects of a resurgent Hamels.  In addition to the links above, check out a good rundown by the AP, Jon Heyman's column over at SI, and, if you have ESPN insider access, go over and check out what Buster Olney has to say.  If you don't have access, this little tidbit from the column should be enough to get you excited:

"In his first start in spring training last year, his fastball velocity was at 81-82 mph.  But already he seems to be able to throw much harder than that, and to do what he wants with a baseball."

So there you have it: what is shaping up to be quite the righty-lefty, 1-2 punch for the Phillies. It is without a doubt the best starting rotation the Phillies have had for quite a long time.  If our offense keeps doing what it does best and our bullpen manages to stay healthy this year, we can get back to the World Series and win it again.  The Phillies have a better team than last year and 2008, and I don't hesitate for a second in making that statement.  Of course, there's always the unforeseen, like injuries (see Mets, 2009), inexplicable offensive slumps (see Rollins, Jimmy circa June 2009), and the shockingly resurgent Washington Nationals.  Just kidding about that last one, sorry Nats fans.  For now, it's still one of the best times to be a Phillies fan in my lifetime, and Roy Halladay is here to make sure it stays that way.  If this team lives up to its potential, there's no good reason (Yankees included) why our season shouldn't end just as it ended two years ago:

Spring is here!

Though pitchers and catchers officially report tomorrow to sunny Clearwater, Florida, many have been throwing the ball around since yesterday.  That's right, spring has arrived for the Phillies. Spring has certainly not arrived in Philadelphia, my former home, or in DC, my current one.  Hopefully all of this snow will  be gone by the time I go see the debut of one Harry Leroy Halladay on April 5th at Nationals Park.  That same pitcher looks quite dashing in front of his brand new Phillies locker.  Now there's a sight to warm the hearts of Phillies fans.  That should hold us over until we have pictures of him destroying the Nats in 40 short days.

(Photo courtesy of Yong Kim at the Daily News)

Speaking of Phillies pitchers, Brad Lidge made himself available to the media today.  It sounds like he decided to finally tell the truth about the extent of injuries last year.  Either that or he's making a great effort to find a scapegoat for that dismal record of his in 2009, which does not need to be repeated here.  As I've stated before, I'm optimistic about his chances for a good, if not great season in 2010, and I do believe that those injuries and Lidge's denial of those injuries last year did a lot of harm.  Let's hope we see some quick evidence of improvements, especially a good down fastball and that biting slider that made him the closer we knew and loved in 2008.

For a whole run down of the state of Brad Lidge, check out what Scott Lauber has to say over in his blog, Philled In.  In the end, I just want to see more of this in 2010 than we did last season:

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

The stories emerging from Clearwater are music to my ears so far.  Philippe Aumont's fastball has impressive movement on it.  Chase Utley is even faster than last year, when he was certainly no slouch at stealing bases.  J.C. Romero is doing better than expected and could be back providing some much needed left-handed relief sooner than expected.  Oh, and that Roy Halladay is just as inhuman as we all hoped he would be.

So spring has arrived and there is much to be happy about as a Phillies fan.  This is a better team than we had last year.  We shouldn't need Raul Ibanez to carry most of the offense until June this year, and Jimmy Rollins will more than likely remember how to hit before July this time around.  And we have Roy Halladay replacing half a year of Brett Myers/Antonio Bastardo/Rodrigo Lopez and a half year of Cliff Lee.  That's an upgrade we should be able to take to the bank in a few months.

Before the official start kickoff of all things Phillies for the 2010 season tomorrow, I just wanted to leave you with what was the best moment of the entire 2009 season.  While there were many contenders in my mind, this was the only one that I can look back at and distinctly remember just how ecstatic I was when it happened.  It also happened right before my birthday, so if I didn't say it enough before, I'll say it again: Thanks Jimmy.  Enjoy:

Spring is in the air...

Less than a week to go until spring training kicks off, and the Inquirer has a great preview. I'm looking out for a few things over the coming weeks, and some of this is in line with Andy Martino's take in the Inq's coverage.

I want to see evidence that Cole Hamels actually has a workable slider/cut fastball that he's reportedly going to work on, or even just an effective curveball. I don't want to see him add another pitch like his curveball last year: a pitch he technically has in his repertoire but pretty much only used to say "See? I have more than 2 pitches, I promise."

I want to see an exciting competition for our fifth starter spot between Jamie Moyer and Kyle Kendrick (and possibly Drew Carpenter and whoever else can make it into that conversation). I don't want to see a competition that leaves the Phillies feel like they have to take the least weak pitcher out of an unexciting crop.

It would also be nice to see some of the outfield prospects we have, like Domonic Brown, Tyson Gillies, and Anthony Gose, show some real potential to step in for Jayson Werth in case we have to lose him to free agency in a year. I'm especially looking at you, #1 prospect Domonic Brown. Time to show a glimpse of that untouchable status.

In general, I'm just looking forward to that great feeling of baseball in the air again. Other people have observed this, but Philly certainly has high expectations of its baseball team these days, as well we should. Those expectations made absorbing the Eagles' failure against the Cowboys a little easier back in January. When you hear people in Philadelphia follow a pretty rough football loss with "well, when are pitchers and catchers?", it's hard not to feel like the sports winds have shifted. Time to get in gear for another exciting season.

Check out the whole Inquirer spring training guide here.

The Curious Case of James Anthony Happ

I've noticed that several writers, particularly the statistically-inclined, are abuzz about our favorite 2nd place ROY finisher and upstart starter, J.A. Happ. The consensus seems to be that he overperformed last year and is headed, as ESPN's Hot Stove U put it, into the "dreaded sophomore slump." Now, I have to be consistent. A lot of the stats, especially BABIP and FIP, that predict Happ having a worse year next year are the same stats that I would point to to say that Hamels will have a better year next year. Briefly, BABIP is batting average on balls in play and FIP is fielding independent pitching. BABIP is generally out of the pitcher's control, while FIP tries to isolate what the pitcher is directly responsible for. So I've already made the argument that Hamels will have a better year because he had bad luck last year, in this case a high BABIP. Happ had an unusually low BABIP. Hamels underperformed his FIP last year, while Happ overperformed his. So based on that, and other stats that you can read about in the links at the bottom, I have to agree that Happ is a candidate for a sophomore slump.

However, no pitcher remains the same from season to season, and Happ is still relatively new to the big leagues. He did show resolve under pressure by coming through time after time with runners in scoring position. Some of his absurdly good numbers in those situations can be attributed to luck, that low BABIP, but he also showed the ability to get batters out swinging after those waist-high (and higher) fastballs. The stuff and confidence is there, even if he did overperform somewhat in 2009. He's also shown that's he's a fast learner, another skill that you can't teach.

I don't remember exactly when it was, but sometime after his beautiful complete game shutout against the Jays on June 27th, Happ said in an interview that someone else on the team told him to throw more strikes, and that's exactly what he did, and that's exactly what he continued to do for the subsequent 3 months. I don't necessarily expect another sub-3 or even sub-4 ERA season out of Happ, but remember, we don't need him to be that guy. That's why we have Roy Halladay, and yes, Cole Hamels.

As promised, some links:

Crashburn Alley: The Case Against J.A. Happ

Phillies Nation: Year in Review: J.A. Happ

If you have ESPN Insider access, definitely read:
2010's Biggest Breakout and Bust

Twitter

Follow me on twitter @Phillibustering. I'll provide some in game reaction when I get a chance via twitter, so that will be pretty quiet for now.

Welcome: Offseasoning

Hi all, I figured I'd get this up and running before pitchers and catchers in a week. Phillibustering is a blog about the Philadelphia Phillies from a completely biased fan's perspective. I'll be giving my take on games, trades, signings, and all things related to my hometown team. I'll also be bringing in guest contributors from time to time to give another team's perspective (especially when the Phillies destroy that team). There are also some awesome well-established Phillies blogs out there that will do a much better job than I can breaking down stats, and there will be plenty of links to other analysis when needed (or when I get lazy).

Now that that's out of the way, a few thoughts on this offseason. First, let me just say that the Mets offseason has made me very happy. I'm sorry, but signing Jason Bay and Kelvim Escobar will not revive the team. Maybe they'll be a little luckier on the injury front this season. On that note, in the future they might want to be better informed about surgeries that their stars are undergoing before those surgeries happen. Just sayin'.

On to the Phillies: I like all the signings. Our bench got a nice upgrade, though we could still use a good power bat there. I like the relief pitchers we've added, even if Ruben does seem to have a thing for former Cuban defectors this year. Danys Baez will be reliable and Jose Contreras showed a lot of promise as a reliever with the Rockies at the end of last year. I realize that's a small sample size, but I'm inclined to give Ruben the benefit of the doubt on a pitcher that's one of those low-risk high-reward types he loves so much. I also like the Placido Polanco signing, since we need a situational hitter with good plate discipline. He's also got Gold Glove defensive chops at 2nd base, and I'm going to trust the powers that be in the Phillies organization that he has the throwing range to play 3rd as well or better than Pedro Feliz.

Now the big one. I love that Roy Halladay is a Phillie for the foreseeable future. I love that we got him and $6 million for the prospects that we had to give up. However, I don't like the Cliff Lee part of the blockbuster nearly as much. Not because we should have kept both, though that would be nice, of course. It's mostly because, at first, the two trades were linked because Seattle prospects were going to the Jays, and that seemed reasonable to me. However, when it became a matter of some of our top prospects going to the Jays, the Seattle part of the deal became separate, and I've seen no indication that Cliff Lee was shopped around for better prospects. That being said, all prospects are just that: prospects. None of them is a sure thing, and in the end, we traded away good prospects and got back good prospects. Only time will tell who got the better end of that bargain, no matter what all the scouting reports say.

Some final quick thoughts:

• We won the World Series without either Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay. We had another ace then: Cole Hamels.

• If Cole Hamels weren't such a big question mark entering this year, there wouldn't be nearly as much of a desire to keep both Halladay and Lee.
  
  
• Cole Hamels will have a better year this year than last, and a lot of his struggles (though by no means all of them) in 2009 can really be blamed on bad luck. For more on that, see the phenomenal run down of Cole over the last two years at Crashburn Alley: Cole's Curious Conundrum.
  
  
• Also Brad Lidge will have a better season in 2010. He was clearly injured and whether he admitted it or not, and that's now been reportedly taken care of. It's clear that the injuries physically hindered him from pitching up to his full potential, and it was made worse by the fact that he was in denial about the extent of the injuries and tried to push through, losing speed on his fastball and control on his slider. Watch for those returning consistently and then we'll know he's back. Not that I'm saying he'll be 2008 Brad Lidge, but he'll be a reliable closer again.
  

This is, of course, all speculation. I could be totally wrong about Hamels and Lidge, but I hope I'm not. In the end, you gotta have a little phaith.