JROlling

Nice to have Jimmy Rollins back in the lineup. He makes that team go.

Republican spin

One has to wonder how tone deaf the Obama administration is to send Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner out to tout the success of the TARP program, the implicit message being that they helped save the banks, they're doing great, but it didn't translate to helping regular people save their jobs or homes.

And as Yves Smith has pointed out, even Geithner's statements misrepresent TARP's "success."

Change we can believe in.

Halladay and Hits

My friend PK analyzed Doc Halladay's stats and came up with this intriguing finding:

He gives up a ton - a ton - of hits. It's admirable how few walks he yields, but the price he pays for that precision -- his ball is always around the plate -- is that he gives up a ton of hits. In 115 innings, he's given up 108 hits so far this year.

To put that in perspective, in 100 innings, Josh Johnson has given up just 72 hits. He has 26 BBs, 10 more than Halladay, but his ERA is 1.80 and Doc's is 2.43. The reason? He gives up so many fewer hits. He's effectively wild. Bases on balls are the evil bogeyman of baseball, but for a great pitcher, walking a couple guys per 9 innings is not that big of a deal.

Jimenez has given up just 65 hits in 101 innings. In 109 innings, Adam Wainwright has given up 80 hits; Matt Cain, in 100 innings, just 72 hits. They all have better ERAs than Halladay.
This year's hit parade for Halladay is historically on average. In '09, over 239 innings, he gave up 234 hits. It's just the way he pitches.

This is not a complaint of mine, he's a really wonderful pitcher. It's just that I now realize, he's not a historically significant pitcher. He's not Pedro/Maddux/Big Unit, he's not a Seaver, he's not a Palmer.

He's never had an ERA below 2.50. (There was 1 season where he had a 2.40-ish ERA, but only in 19 starts.)

He is just always so around the plate, that as batters you know where the ball is gonna be and you go up there hacking. And since the ball is around the plate, in good spots, when you put wood on the ball, there's a good chance you're gonna hit it solidly. I really have no idea how he ever threw a perfect game.

What's the Matter with the Phillies?

My journalist friend thinks something is rotten in the locker room (a la Eric Lindros) and he's proven to have a nose for news. We'll see.

He writes:

Seriously, this just sucks. For a while the hitting sucked, now the pitching just sucks, aside from whenever Halladay pitches. The team is in a free fall.

I now believe that something happened in the locker room. That someone is/was sleeping with someone else's wife or girlfriend. This is entirely inexplicable, this free fall.

Oh, another thing. Our bench sucks. Gregg Dobbs is a disaster. He can't hit for shit anymore, he clearly must've been on steroids back in '07-'08, or he was a bat corker. Castro was a nice addition until he also got hurt.

All in all, this is f*%!ing ridiculous.

This organization is in full fledged melt down right now. There's something much, much deeper going on. I don't know if it's Howard's big contract that has ruined the locker room or the caught-cheating in the bullpen in Colorado.

Something bigger, deeper has infected this locker room.

Here's a fun thing to examine:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2010_05_21_bosmlb_phimlb_1&mode=wrap

Check the box score of that game, the Fri night game against the Red Sox, May 21. It's the last game Rollins was in the lineup. Look at those averages; 6 of the 8 starters were over .300 in BA.

Now, flash forward 3 weeks, after yesterday afternoon's Red Sox game, and there's not a single guy who's hitting over .300 anymore. (Unless you count backup catcher Schneider.)

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2010_06_12_phimlb_bosmlb_1&mode=wrap

At this point, Werth and Utley had dropped more than 50 pts each. Dobbs -- who flat out sucks and probably should just be cut at some point, he's useless at the plate and in the field -- he started for Polanco, who along with Howard is the only guy who's average hasn't completely plummeted. (Howard is down from .310 to .286, a significant drop, but compared to Werth and Utley, that's nothing.)

So, yes, a big chunk of this is driven by Rollins and his absence. It's infuriating. There's absolutely no indication of when the hell he's ever coming back. Is this a steroid/PED thing? Is that what's causing the injury? He's off the 'roids so now he's getting hurt?

[It's not binocular-gate that's the cause of the slump]. It took another 5-10 days after they got busted with the binoculars, because they went to Milwaukee and Pittsburgh and put up some big numbers, and beat the BoSox on a Fri night with JRoll hitting lead off for the 1st time since game 6 of the season.

Then the bottom fell out.

It really all appears to be related to Rollins being hurt. Because Utley has been a godddam disaster since Rollins went down for the 2nd time. Which coincided with Polanco getting hurt, which means Howard has not been hitting with people on base in front of him. A complete collapse.

From a Phils-fan baseball blog, a post about how bad the bench is.

These stats are effective as of May 31, but have changed little since.

Gload brought a .242/.242/.424 line into Sunday's game; he's been far and away the best hitter off the Phillies bench. Dobbs entered today's game with a .130/.200/.260 line (and was pinch-hit for by Castro, which might rank among the worst insults someone can deliver via lineup decision). Ben Francisco, who's seen time in place of Raul Ibanez, was hitting .194/.256/.250 on the season before getting a pinch-double today. Backup catcher Brian Schneider is batting .174/.296/.174; his terrible batting has made it more difficult for Manuel to give Ruiz rest as he battles through a variety of minor injuries.The reserves have failed both when starting games and coming in to hit. Collectively, Phillies pinch-hitters in 2010 came into Sunday's game batting .119—worst by far in the league, and actually worse than Phillies pitchers, who collectively hit .125 through their first 29 games. (The pinch-hitters are tied with the Padres for the NL's worst OPS, at .427.) Nor is the botched bench a one-year problem: last season, Phils pinch-hitters batted .186 (second worst in the league) with an OPS of .630 that was 12th in the NL.

And the problem is, sports writers protect sports stars, in general, so I'm not sure we'll ever know what ended this great team's play.

Question: why is there no discussion of when Rollins is returning? Why isn't it a full-blown crisis? Why is this not openly speculated upon?

The man went on 15-day DL on May 22, thru June 6, and now almost 10 days later nothing is happening. No one is asking Qs, no one seems concerned. Something is f@#$ing wrong. Something is weird.

The sports "journalism" is falling down on the job here. Something happened.

I'm convinced of it.

C

So goes C Mike Richards, so go the Flyers. Clearly he was worn down and out of gas at the end, just like his teammates.

Cup

Roenick crying - based on memory of letting Blackhawk kids down in 92 - was crazy. Especially after he admitted earlier that he had never touched, nor would ever touch, the Stanley Cup till he won it.

NHL has to do something about teams winning the cup in road games after long, hard fought series'.

More Flyers

I was talking to a neighbor of mine (philly guy) about the Flyers run and the thing about it is - how hard it is to get to the Cup finals much less win it. Such a grind. 

The best team rarely wins (neither #1 seed made it to the finals and the Caps were knocked out in the first round). so when you get that far, it is so disappointing not to take that last step.As great as this series was for hockey, it may be why the NHL will never become a top echelon sport. too many variables and upsets. the favored team is really not that much of a favorite, especially when facing a journeyman but incredibly hot goalie. Similarly, dynasties are very rare and so the superstar players only occasionally get to play in the premier games.

Still, only certain sports and situations can make me feel like i did when the Flyers tied it up late in the 3rd.

Wow

What a series. The better team won, but what a ride it was. 

The Flyers' goal to tie it up late in the 3rd was just a reminder of the never say die spirit of this team.

If there is any disappointment it is the lost chance of a winner-take-all game 7 in Chicago on Friday when anything could have happened.

Eagles Vegas Odds~

A friend visiting Las Vegas writes:

Stopped in a sports book.

The Eagles are 26-1 to win the Super Bowl. When's the last time our odds were that bad?

Dallas - a team we finished with the same # of wins as - is 8-1 to win Super Bowl. 

NYG and the Bears are 22-1, while GB is 11-1. The frickin' 49ers are 25-1 to win the Super Bowl!!!!

The Skins are 40-1. About what I'd expect for a team that went 4-12 and had a nice offseason.

The gambling world has spoken: Kolb is expected to suck.

Meanwhile, holy crap, Strasburg is great.

The Cup

Thoughts on game 5 and musings for game 6:

A pity Jonathan Toews finally showed up to the Cup finals. Kane is also going a little more than he was earlier in the series.

It was no surprise the blackhawks played with such energy and desperation, they were facing an elimination road game if they lost.

In each of the games at the United Center, the Flyers have mounted comebacks only to be thwarted by soft goals – both by Leighton and Boucher.

How is it that the high stick on Briere that drew blood merited barely a mention by the announcers and not a penalty – especially after Emrick and Olzyck had already mentioned that linesmen can intervene on penalties if there is blood? Nobody saw the high stick?!

Is Jeff Carter going to step up or his still obviously injured foot going to prevent that?

Leighton should start game 6. He's so great at home. I would then start Boucher in game 7 in Chicago.

Similarly, I would scratch Carcillo for game 6 but play him in game 7 to help counter the Blackhawks' strong starts.

Unprompted by me, my kids have started calling them the "Blackstinks."

The Flyers' inability to clear the puck out of their defensive zone will likely be their undoing.

For all the gnashing of teeth by fans after game 5, this series is exactly where it should be. A game 5 upset would have been a terrific opportunity to gain control of the series but was probably too much to ask.

More to the point, if the Flyers win game 6 this series is about all Philly fans could hope for – a game 7 winner take all. Like Pittsburgh last year, I'll take my chances on anything happening in that one.

Hopefully, the extra day of rest will help Richards the most, who is clearly worn down.

For as dominant as Pronger has been on Chicago's top line, it's hard to believe it took Quennvile till the 3^rd period of game 4 to split up the Kane and Toews.

Don't Stop Believing!

In Memory of the Wizard

The college Hall of Fame guard that helped Purdue win a national championship but is better known as the greatest coach of all time: 

John Wooden

1910 - 2010

Mike Richards is...

Mike Richards is the Man. 

Mike Richards is the best all around player on the Flyers.

Mike Richards is a leader of men.

If Mike Richards were CEO of Toyota, their cars would work just fine.

If Mike Richards were Treasury Secretary, Lloyd Blankfein, Dave Mack, Jamie Dimon and Ken Lewis would call him "daddy."

If Mike Richards were president, he'd have stopped the BP oil spill by now.

Mike Richards is captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, and they're going to win the Stanley Cup.

Do You Believe?

All the pressure has now shifted to Chicago, which now faces a must-win game 5 or face an elimination game on the road - and the Flyers playing for the Stanley Cup in game 6.

Best of 3. At the very least, a guaranteed game 6 in Philadelphia.

Flyboys

Thoughts and observations from game 2:

Dan Carcillo is a hockey player. While NBC focused on his energy and physicality - and took unfair criticism of him cause the blackhawks outhit and outshot the Flyers in the 1st period, it wasn't Carcillo's fault.

Jonathan Toews has been MIA this series so far (not that i'm complaining).

The Flyers dominated the 3rd period.

Shots from the slot were a huge problem in game 1, so it was funny to see early in the first period the blackhawks with the puck beyind Leighton's net and both Flyers forwards turn to cover the slot (no one was there).

Nice to see Milbury call out the refs on the bogus cross-checking penalty. The Flyers were hurt by not having a penalty in the first game as the refs were looking for any excuse to call one on them in game 2 and even the calls.

Sure they're down 2-0 and everytime the Blackhawks have the puck in their zone I hold my breath, but it still feels like the Flyers are more than holding their own and can win this thing.