B Dawk

Can there be any higher praise for an Eagle than to be described as "Jim Johnson's 'go-to guy.'"

Next Stop, Canton

Congratulations to Brian Dawkins for a spectacular, Hall of Fame career. 

4 plays immediately come to mind:

1. The interception of Brett Favre in OT that lead to the game winning FG in the 4th and 22 divisional playoff game.

2. The turnover against the Cowboys at Dallas on Christmas in a must win game for the Eagles that led to a playoff spot.

3. The heat seeking missile who stopped Mike Vick on the goal line in the divisional playoff game against the Falcons at the Vet.

4. The flying leap, strip and fumble recovery against the Steelers. My kids were watching that game with me and when they showed Dawkins leap over the lineman and go horizontal -  with his arms outstretched it really did look like he was flying. My kids asked, "Daddy, is that Superman?" 

Yes, children. Yet it was. You got to watch Superman play for the Eagles.

Phillies Preview - A month late

so i was watching a long ago taped version of espn's 30 clubs/30 days preview about the Phillies.

2 things jumped out.

1. Shane Victorino bats 70 points higher when he is 2 (.306) or 5th (.308) in the order compared to lead off (.236)

and 2. baseball prospectus projected the following records for the NL East this year

88 wins

Phillies and Braves

87 wins

Marlins

83 wins

Nationals

71 wins

Mets

The Best for Howard?

My friend also writes:

Meanwhile, assuming that he can come back from the Achilles injury and again become a 35-homer guy, or more, for a few more seasons, let me say something controversial: The Achilles injury is the greatest thing to happen to Ryan Howard since we won the World Series.

Here's why: When he grounded out to end the 2011 season against StL, 96% of the Phils phans blamed one person and one person only: Ryan Howard.

Now that we've started out this season so incredibly sluggish offensively, 96% of the phans are blaming one thing: Howard's absence from the middle of the lineup.

A Tale of Two Teams

A friend writes:

I think it's unequivocal what's going on here -- 1 team with a long history of having a very good eye at the plate, the Phillies, has lost its marbles; another team with a history of having a terrible eye at the plate, the Nats, now has one of the best in MLB.)
 
HITTING
Team batting averages:
Nats, .249
Phillies .248
Team slugging %s:
Nats .334
Phillies .331
Team home runs
Nats 6
Phillies 6
Team stolen bases
Phillies 12 (caught 1 time)
Nats 7 (caught 2 times)

PITCHING
ERA
Nats 1.92 (best in NL)
Phillies 2.48 (2nd best)
BB
Nats 39 walks issued (best of teams that played 13 games so far)
Phillies 24 (best of teams that played 12 games)
WHIP
Nats 1.01 (best in NL)
Phillies 1.10 (3rd best)

So, these are two insanely balanced teams. The Nats have an almost negligible difference tipped in their favor offensively; pitching wise, their ERA is better, clearly, but the Phils are walking far fewer people. Anyway, these are 2 teams that are incredibly balanced and -- by all these measures -- should have roughly the same record. They don't. The Nats are 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies. Why is that case? For one reason, and one single reason alone: they take pitches and walk.
HITTING
Bases on balls:
Nats 57 walks (No. 1 in NL)
Phillies 20 (tied for last with Pirates)
OBP
Nats .335 (tied for 2nd)
Phillies .284 (14th)

http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#sectionType=st&playerType=QUALIFIER&statType=hitting&page_type=SortablePlayer&season=2012&season_type=ANY&sportCode=%27mlb%27&league_code=%27NL%27&split=&team_id=&active_sw=&game_type=%27R%27&position=&sortOrder=%27desc%27&sortColumn=avg&results=&page=1&perPage=50&timeframe=&extended=0&last_x_days=&ts=1334859863229&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Team+hitting

Scheduling good news

Remember this now.

The Phillies play 6 of their last 9 games of the season against the Nationals. And with Stephen Strasburg limited to 160 innings this year, it's practically assured that the Phils' won't have to face the Nationals' ace at all in the homestretch.