The Sports Idiot

So why are the Phillies looking to add offense, when they already dominate the NL in most offensive categories?  To do so at the expense of Pedro Feliz’ glove is a crime, as dude is one of the best three baggers in the game.  Speculation is that they will try to sign free agent Adrian Beltre, who would certainly have the potential to be a huge offensive upgrade over Feliz.  Beltre, however, has not hit over 30 homers since 2004 in which he belted 48 of them.  That is also the only year he did manage to hit over 30, by the way, and in 2009 he only managed eight in an injury plagued season that saw him play in only 111 games.

Here at The Sports Idiot we think that the Phillies should have picked up this option.  The Phillies failed to ask us for our opinion, and have yet to return calls that we have not placed to them.

In last night’s Game Four of the 2009 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees we saw the offensive team finally use the shift to their advantage.  With Mark Teixeira at the plate and Johnny Damon standing on first base, the Phillies put the shift on.  Damon proceeded to do one of the smartest things I have ever seen a baseball player do.  He stole second base, doing a feet first slide and popping right up to his feet.  He then raced to third, where there was no one to cover the bag.  Dude stole two bases on one pitch.  Damon then scored the game winning run when Alex Rodriguez hit a double later in the inning.

In a series that base running figured to be a factor, this may turn out to be the biggest play of them all.  The ironic thing is that most of us figured it would be the speedy Phils who would use their base stealing ability to wreak havoc, not old ass Johnny Freaking Damon.

Wait, what pre-established ground rules?  Umpire crew chief Gerry Davis told Phillies Manager Charlie Manual that when the crew took their tour of the field, they saw the camera and decided then that if any ball were to hit it, it would be a round tripper.  Fair enough, and that makes the correct call on this one a home run.

The problem that Phillie Fan is going to have with this is that the ball did not look like it would have cleared the top of the fence if the camera were not there.  The problem with Phillie Fans’ impending argument about being screwed is that this happened on their home turf.  While we are not sure who determines the location of the cameras and their clearance to the field, we are sure that if Chase Utley had hit this ball they would not have an issue with it. 

That sound you just heard was all of the Phillies Fans that were screaming about disrespect and how their Phils would either sweep on win in five throwing their remotes into their TVs.  I predicted Phils in six, but that prediction is looking shaky right now.  As I said Friday, this series will turn when either Ryan Howard or Alex Rodriguez does something other than generate electricity via the human windmill.  Unfortunately for the Phillies, it was not their guy who showed up first.  Rodriguez reached base four times, the homer, a walk and he was drilled by two pitches.  He also had a throwing error, for what it is worth, but did not strike out a single time. 

Howard, on the other hand, continues to look lost in the batters box while striking out three more times and not reaching base a single time.  Good thing for him the Phillies have a new super star in the mix in Jayson Werth.  The bad news is that it will take much more than Werth to win three more games this series.

Back on track.  Burnett was stellar last night, putting the ball exactly where he wanted it and outsmarting the Phillies lineup.  Pedro was almost just as good, fooling Yankee hitter after Yankee hitter.  There really is not anything bad we can say about what either guy did on the mound last night.

Which brings us to the point of this entry.  Is this going to be one of those epic World Series’, like the previously referenced 1992 slate between the Twins and Braves?  Right now it certainly looks like it has the potential, but there are some key missing pieces.

Where in the hell are Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez?  Headed into the WS there was no doubt that these dudes were having statement postseasons.  Through two games in the WS, however, they are a combined  two for 17 with 12 Ks.  Yes, that is correct, and those two lone hits were both Howard doubles, giving him and his monstrous one RBI the edge in the matchup.  If this series is going to be one of legend, then both of these guys are going to have to figure it out.

Another missing piece, and what could be their eventual downfall, is the bully for the Yankees.  Mariano Rivera may be the best closer in the history of ever, but he can not pitch two innings every night.  If the Yankees do not get solid work from at least two more members of the bully, they do not stand a chance at winning this series.

Going into this thing we said Phillies in six.  Hopefully we are wrong, for the mere fact that a Game Seven would be epic.  In order to make that happen, either ARod or Howard are going to have to show up.  Whichever one decides to first, may just be wearing the championship uniform.

And now a word from our sponsors:

“Sports betting online has never been easier. Join now the most secure online sportsbook with best bonuses and promotions!”

Apparently Jennifer Valdivia, a 12 year old girl, caught Ryan Howard’s 200th home run ball in Miami earlier this season.  She was escorted by security to the Phillies’ clubhouse where an equipment manager convinced her to give the ball to the team in exchange for a meet and greet with Howard and a signed ball.  Problem is, Jennifer thought she was getting her ball back, not some random ball.  Another problem was that Howard was a no-show to the meet and greet, and some random “club official” delivered the new ball to 12 year old Valdivia.

So the Valdivias hired a lawyer after speaking with a Miami TV consumers affairs squad and tried to get her ball back.  Here is where it gets even shadier.  Valdivia’s lawyer got a letter from the Phillies’ team lawyer, William Webb, in which he said the team would return the ball to Valdivia but they would not authenticate it and little Jennifer would have to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Sounds to me like the Phillies were going to send her another random ball, and claim it was Howard’s 200th home run ball.  They had already given the ball to Howard and planned on letting him keep the ball.  Why else would they say that they could not authenticate the ball?  Yet when Valdivia’s lawyer rejected the offer from the Phillies and filed a suit, the real ball showed up the same day.  This ball was authenticated by the Phillies.  See why it sounds like they were trying to screw this little girl out of the real “200th” ball?  This is a record setting ball, for the fastest player to ever get to 200 home runs, by the way.

This ball could be worth a lot of money (seriously, 500K would be on the low side of what it could bring at auction if Howard goes on to a Hall of Fame finish) and the Phillies came up really, really small here.  Oh, they did offer her free tickets to a September visit to Miami by the Phillies, which the Valdivias declined to accept, so they have that going for them.  The Phillies front office should be ashamed of itself for their actions back in July, and even more so for their actions after that.

You will notice I am not killing Ryan Howard for any of this.  I have a feeling that he was not aware of what was going on, and would have been pretty ticked off if he had.  Howard, by all indications, is as outstanding of a person as he is a one bagger and slugger.  I just can not see Howard agreeing to the actions of the front office here, and it is my guess that he never knew about the missed meet and greet.

Oh yeah, and Pedro is also back in form with the media.  Always a quote machine, he gave us this gem last night:

“I’ve been there,” he said. “For this club, what I’m lacking right now, I might give them at the end. Experience. A cold-blooded person that doesn’t matter how big the game is. I’m going to stand right there. And if anybody fails, they can always count on the old goat to go out there and kind of stand up. I might do that. I might be able to do that if I’m healthy.

“I’m healthy. And I’m going to improve. Regardless of what happened today, I’m going to improve. I expect to improve, especially with being healthy.”

So I guess a lot hinges on his health? 

There was also a very sad chapter to last night’s tilt.  While fielding a ball in the fifth inning, Shane Victorino was the victim of some very dangerous and bad fan behavior.  Someone in the stands decided it would be a good idea to throw a beer on Victorino as he attempted to catch a fly ball.  Credit to Victorino for not letting getting pelted by a full beer stop him from making the snag.  Even had he dropped it, the batter would have been called out for fan interference.

There is no place in sports for behavior like that from a fan.  What good could possibly come from doing something like that?  The batter is going to be called out every single time, and now you have put it into your own team’s head that they have to worry about retaliation down the road.  Get a life and grow the hell up.