Phillies season 6

[PhillyPhreak54]

Kiss of death:  Peter Gammons just said that there was "no chance" the Phils would trade Billy Wagner.

Pack your bags, Billy!

And not only did he say that but he said that Wags could even re-sign here this offseason.

Gammons did say that they were shopping Thome, Bell and Lieby though. So they could create money to go for other trades.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Homer haven

The Phils' park is taking hits for its dimensions. But is there a solution?

By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer

John Smoltz is no fan of Citizens Bank Park.

The Atlanta Braves pitcher criticized the Phillies' home field in an interview with ESPN during his team's 4-3 win there July 3. And at the All-Star Game in Detroit last week, Smoltz said that building a home-run-friendly ballpark in Philadelphia was "the worst decision ever made."

The Phillies are especially sensitive to comments like that. And they are concerned enough that they talked to ballpark designers after last season and said recently that they are open to looking into possible solutions. One of those solutions could be moving the fences back. The team doesn't want its $458 million ballpark, which opened last year, to become a punch line, as Smoltz suggests.

"They'll prove me wrong if they win a championship," said Smoltz, who someday is headed for the Hall of Fame. "I've played a long time, and some of the balls that are leaving there - it's not right. It's a joke."

It seems every other homestand there is an opponent who takes a shot at the park. In between, the Phillies' pitchers do.

"The park is not playing out as we expected, because we felt we designed a neutral facility," Phillies president David Montgomery said. "And right now, it's certainly gearing toward a hitters' ballpark. But do you think we tried to design a ballpark that wouldn't be fair? Is the fact that [the 369-foot sign in the power alleys] is further to the right here than [the 371-foot sign] at the Vet an issue? Yes. Was it something we discussed and did intentionally? Absolutely not."

But how exactly did the Phillies and the ballpark's designers - Ewing Cole in Philadelphia and HOK Sport + Venue + Event in Kansas City, Mo. - come up with bandbox dimensions if they wanted the park to be fair? And what could the Phillies do to resolve the complaints about cheap home runs?

Ewing Cole, the lead firm on the Citizens Bank Park project, would not comment for this story. It referred all questions about the ballpark's dimensions to the Phillies, but said it would answer other questions about the ballpark - from architecture to design to construction. (It later declined to comment on a question about the ballpark's architecture.)

But HOK senior principal Joe Spear - HOK served as a design consultant to Ewing Cole - said everybody wanted a fair ballpark.

"Probably the hardest thing to do is to create a balance," Spear said. "It's easier to go toward one extreme or the other. If you want a hitters' park, you know what that is. If you want a pitchers' park, you know what that is. It's not an exact science."

But the problem with the Phillies' park, players and coaches contend, is that its dimensions in the power alleys are extreme. Power alleys generally are considered to be the area between outfielders.

"It plays like the Little League World Series," Boston Red Sox pitcher David Wells said.

Not every pitcher, however, finds taking the mound at Citizens Bank Park a cause for worry.

"With our offense, I love pitching in this ballpark," Phillies starter Cory Lidle said. "As a pitcher, how can you look at it any other way?"

And, as Lidle said, the Phillies get to hit there, too. Outfielders Pat Burrell (20) and Bobby Abreu (18) have combined for 38 home runs this season.

A team source said a Phillies player met an architect involved in the design of the project at a charity event and asked the architect how the ballpark's dimensions were conceived. The architect reportedly told him that the Phillies had been cautioned about the dimensions, but that the team was OK with them.

Montgomery denied he had been cautioned by an architect about the dimensions.

"That's absolutely not true," he said. "That couldn't be more incorrect. We set dimensions. We told everybody. We set them similar to Veterans Stadium. We went out and paid people to tell us what the wind would do. We tried very hard. Could it be true that in one spot we said, 'Leave it there. Leave [the wall] at eight feet'? Of course. The absolute truth is that we thought we were copying Veterans Stadium dimensions."

But the outfield fences at Citizens Bank Park aren't concave like the Vet's. The fences move from the left-field foul pole to center and from the right-field foul pole to center at 90-degree angles. That means the D in the Bud Light sign in left field is just 345 feet from home plate. The Majestic sign in right field is just 349 feet from home plate.

Players, pitchers and coaches contend that the Bud Light and Majestic signs are the park's power alleys - or at least close to them. The Phillies contend that the power alley in left is the 369-foot sign.

Even if the power alley in left is where the Phillies originally placed the 369-foot sign - it was actually 3581/2 feet from home plate - it would be the shortest power alley in the National League.

"All I can tell you is that we asked our architects, who had years of design expertise, to design a neutral/fair ballpark that favored neither hitters or pitchers," Montgomery said. "I will tell you that the fact that it's playing differently to me is the difference in the wind's effect in this facility, as opposed to the Vet."

Blowin' in the wind

The Phillies said prevailing southwest winds have had more of an effect on the way the ball carries than anticipated. Montgomery pointed out that more home runs have been hit in June than in any other month since the park opened, the month he said those winds are strongest.

In June 2004, the Bank allowed 3.27 homers per game. In June this season, it allowed 3.75. The next-highest month was April 2005, when the park allowed 2.88 homers per game.

"The Vet was sort of impenetrable," Spear said. "They wanted the building to be transparent from the street - and we were right there with them. That's essentially what we did. I think maybe what is happening is, particularly when it's windy, the ball carries."

Players don't buy it.

"Then ask them why does it carry to right and left, but it doesn't carry to center?" catcher Mike Lieberthal said. "How does a southwest wind work that way? I don't see too many balls going out to center, and it's not like it's 450 [feet] out there."

"I'll have to check on which way I'm going to pitch a guy the next time I have the wind out there, because that's a crock," closer Billy Wagner said. "When has the wind had any effect in our ballpark?

"If I'm throwing 100 m.p.h., and a guy just gets wood on it and hits it to right or left, it's gone. It doesn't matter what gale-force winds are blowing in. To say it's the wind, they haven't pitched. They can believe what they want."

Citizens Bank Park ranks third in baseball this season with 2.82 home runs per game, behind Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati (3.04) and Ameriquest Field in Texas (2.96). It ranked third last season at 2.81 behind U.S. Cellular (3.36), home of the White Sox, and Wrigley Field (2.82), home of the Cubs.

According to Baseball Info Solutions, Citizens Bank Park and U.S. Cellular Field have been the two easiest stadiums in which to hit home runs this season. Baseball Info Solutions is a Bethlehem, Pa.-based company that produces the Bill James Handbook, which is considered a must read for hard-core fans. Baseball Info Solutions also found that teams that play in homer-friendly parks are not necessarily always winning teams.

Remove both Junes from the equation and the Phillies' park has averaged 2.67 homers per game since its inception. That still would rank it fourth this season behind Great American, Ameriquest and Yankee Stadium (2.79).

According to the ballpark index rankings in the 2005 Bill James Handbook, it was 23 percent easier last season to hit a homer in Philadelphia than at other National League ballparks. Only Coors Field was higher, at 35 percent. And it was 9 percent easier to score runs; Citizens Bank Park ranked third last season behind Coors Field (35 percent) and Bank One Ballpark in Arizona (14 percent).

continued...

[PhillyPhreak54]

What are the options?

Spear said the Phillies were concerned enough about the home-run numbers last season that they talked with Ewing Cole and HOK about them.

"Maybe you ought to play it again next year and then, you know, if it happens to play the same, then maybe that's the time to think about what the options are," Spear told the Phillies.

Options seem limited, other than to move the fences back. After a reporter asked to speak to a Ewing Cole architect about the ballpark's architecture - specifically, what it might take to move the fences back - the company called the next afternoon and said it could not answer questions about that because it's a hypothetical situation.

Maybe not.

"We're certainly open to looking at it," Montgomery said.

"It's something that could be done," Spear said.

Nobody would estimate how much it might take to move the fences back, but it is believed it could cost $10 million or less.

But then there is all that lost revenue.

If the Phillies removed just five rows in left field - some think 10 would be best - they would lose about 476 seats, which sell for $22 apiece. Over the course of an 81-game home schedule, the Phillies could lose $848,232 in ticket sales, and that doesn't include revenues from parking and concessions.

"They want to see it a balanced park, but they don't want to react too quickly," Spear said. "I think David and the Phillies really want to do the right thing. They're convinced that they know what the right thing is. I can't tell you, frankly, where we'll end up on this, because I don't think that we're convinced - nor they, nor Ewing Cole - about what the appropriate change might be.

"They believe they have a beautiful ballpark, and they don't want to make a snap decision and make the wrong choice. They're being very cautious and very careful about it, which they should be."

What the numbers say

Last season, the Phillies hit .266 with 133 home runs and 424 runs at home and .268 with 102 homers and 416 runs on the road. Phillies pitchers had a 4.31 ERA at home, 4.61 on the road.

This season, the Phillies (48-45) have hit .289 with 62 homers and 273 runs in 49 games at home, and .249 with 33 homers and 175 runs in 44 games on the road. They have a 5.16 ERA at home and allowed 76 homers. They have a 3.82 ERA on the road and allowed 42 homers.

"It's tough for me to say which trend is correct," Montgomery said. "The full season from a year ago, or half a season now."

"Yeah, the number of home runs is a bit of a surprise," Spear said. "So we're trying to ... make certain that we understand what the issue is before we go in with jackhammers and tear something out."

[PhillyPhreak54]

CHASEBALL!

By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com

THE PHILLIES needed leadership.

The Phillies needed grit.

They got it.

With all due respect to slugger Jim Thome, All-Star Bobby Abreu and homegrown glamour boy Pat Burrell, Chase Utley today owns the heart of Phillies fans.

He's Scott Rolen without the aloof attitude. Lenny Dykstra with introspection. Darren Daulton without the tan. Pete Rose with power.

Said front-office adviser John Vukovich, who played with or coached each of them: "This guy wants to be the leader of the club. I don't have any doubt that in less than 2 years he'll be the leader of this club."

Utley doesn't seem to be waiting.

When Thome went on the disabled list from May 1 to May 21, Utley put together a 17-for-60 stretch with five homers and eight RBI in 15 starts. When the Phillies came back from the All-Star break Thursday to face their nemesis, Florida, with the season and the team's composition on the line, Utley simply took over in big ways and small.

His perfectly slapped ground ball to second base drove in a run and broke a 4-4 tie in Thursday's win. He smacked a two-run triple and scored in the seventh Friday to make a comeback possible (it failed). He launched a three-run homer in the first inning Saturday, propelling the Phillies to another win. And his two hits drove in two more runs Sunday and helped give the Phillies just their second significant series win over Florida since the Marlins began a run of 28-12 against the Phils on July 4, 2003.

The Phillies scored 38 runs in four games against a team they had averaged 3.6 runs against this season. Utley drove in 10 and scored two more in raising his average to .314 with 12 homers and 50 RBI - remarkable production numbers for a player who platooned with Placido Polanco until Polanco was traded June 9. Yesterday, Utley was named the National League's Player of the Week.

"Chase Utley, he played great," said Abreu, who drove in two runs and got two hits in the most crucial series of the season.

Never was the Utley lovefest more apparent than this weekend. For Vukovich, the reason is simple, and it recalls the Dude.

"Lenny proved over a long period of time and Utley over a short period of time they both like to play late," Vukovich said. "The bottom of the eighth, it's 2-2, that's when Lenny shined. This kid likes to play late."

There's no question Utley has a flair for the dramatic.

Utley's first major league hit was a grand slam in April 2003. He beat the Expos with a bases-loaded, eighth-inning triple in September of that season, and soon thereafter took future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux deep in Atlanta - the same team he beat later that month with an RBI single. After starting 2004 in Triple A, he came up in May and homered in three straight games. After trips back down and up, he handed Braves star closer John Smoltz a blown save July 9 in a game that helped the Phillies hang on to first place in the National League East.

So he's clutch, and a leader, like Dykstra... but he doesn't have to be.

"I could imagine that. I could see what it would be like," Utley said. "Am I prepared to do that? Whatever it takes to win. I can be that guy or I can be nobody, as long as we're successful."

Unlike Dykstra, Utley is quiet, by nature, but alert and observant.

"I've lived with Chase," said Phillies reliever Geoff Geary, a minor league teammate. "He's the type of guy, he's on your side through thick and thin. He keeps to himself. I can't really answer why he does."

Utley, 26, lends little thought to the matter.

"I like it that way," he said. "I like to keep people guessing, I guess. There's a little mystery behind that. It keeps people on their toes."

So, draw what conclusions you will.

Utley likes a taste of it all, it seems, but he'd prefer a jungle beach in St. John to the glitz of Las Vegas; a cold beer over a warm, dry red; intense, if bitter, East Coast fans to the blasé West Coast atmosphere.

He likes PlayStation, sure, but if he has a passion outside of baseball, it's probably fishing: "Deep-sea, marlin. When you actually land it, when you fight it, it's a bitch."

No, not Florida Marlins, though the parallel is apt.

"It's not as easy as it looks," he continued. "It takes a while. It takes a lot of patience. You can't just pop the thing out from the bottom of the ocean. You have to work it. It's pretty exciting, dude. [Dude!] Who knows what's down there? You don't know exactly what you have. It's exciting just to be a part of that."

In his iPod, these days he'd opt for Coldplay over Nirvana, but there is no rhyme to his rhythms.

Until about 6 weeks ago, he came out to the batter's box to the Vengaboys' "We Like to Party" (you know, the Six Flags commercial music the weird old guy dances to). Why? Well, because he did it in college and it worked. Relentless teasing by teammates led him to change... to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," a song whose release predates his birth by 3 years.

So, boxers or briefs?

"I wear boxer briefs; there is such a thing, you know," he smirks at his unhip interviewer.

Blessed with the body of a male model - think Ashton Kutcher - Utley wears those boxer briefs under distressed, flared-leg jeans with retro-adidas sneakers, a striped shirt, tails out, collar wide, or maybe a T-shirt of significant saying or obscure logo, topped by the mesh-backed trucker's cap.

Or, if it's a travel day, he'll sport a suit of Savile Row cut complete with cuff links and narrow-toed shoes.

Said fashion-plate third baseman David Bell: "He helps me dress. And believe me, no matter what he's wearing, he's always aware."

So what if it's a calculated look, Utley said.

"In terms of dressing my age, I think that's important," Utley said. "You have to feel good about yourself, but that's as far as it goes... I'm not ready to dress like a 40-year-old yet. But I really don't care what anybody wears. Nor should they care what I wear."

But they do. And then there are the scars. The 2-inch gash under his right jawbone recalls the days when he was a kid in California, body-boarding at nearby Huntington Beach or rollerblading and playing roller hockey with other kids at his home in Long Beach. At 7, the handlebars on his bike twisted sideways and threw him; the grip was worn off the end of one of the handlebars, and a 30-stitch wound was opened.

The lip is a memento to the Phillies' misspent obsession in 2002, when they sought to make him a third baseman after he'd spent his life and calibrated his unimpressive arm to playing second. They asked him to change at Triple A - with no Double A experience, only 2 years removed from being an All-America at UCLA and a first-round pick. He never complained; he even played in the Arizona Fall League. The last day he ever played third he took a really bad hop off his face.

His family - sister Taylor, 19, mother Terrell, animal lover and counselor, and father Dave, a personal-injury lawyer, fortunately - happened to be in Tucson that Sunday. They went to the hospital, where the resident on duty said he'd stitch Chase right up, no big deal.

Dave said, "Hold on. You're just going to stitch him up, no big deal?"

"OK, well, there might be a scar."

"We don't need to have some gnarly scar on your face," Dave said to Chase, then asked the resident, "If there's a plastic surgeon around, he might be able to do it a little better, huh?"

It cost Utley 3 more hours of pain, but, he said, "It turned out pretty good. I actually still have a little scar tissue in there, but what are you going to do?"

You're going to generally keep a little scruff there, grow a soul patch to distract attention and otherwise ignore it.

Besides, the ladies seem to like it. Jen Leventhal, a fetching, 17-year-old senior-to-be at Central Bucks East, wore her "Utley" T-shirt to a recent game. She is a perfect representative of the cult of Chase:

"I love Chase Utley. I love the way he plays. I think he tries really hard. And he's sooooo cute!" she said.

Wait a minute. Burrell has movie-star looks, $60 million banked and a ton of home runs. Where's the love?

"Oh, Burrell's cute. But I don't think he plays as hard."

Oh?

"And Chase looks shy," Leventhal explained. "That's really attractive."

So that "man-of-mystery" image seems to work. Utley, who has a girlfriend, smirks again upon addressing his popularity with the fairer sex:

"I guess that's better than having them not like you."

continued...

[PhillyPhreak54]

What's not to like?

"Fans have always related to people like that: Guys who wear it on their sleeves. The natural progression is to see him as a team leader," said general manager Ed Wade. "We've tried to create team leaders over time. We've found out we can't use that approach. It has to be ingrained in the individual. He has that type of demeanor."

It's the kind of charisma that sells - tickets, merchandise, a team image.

"Everything about Chase - his talent level, the way he plays the game, his personality, his looks, even his name, sort of bring attention in his direction," Wade said. "But he's still the guy who wants to get dirty. He's still the guy who wants to dive for balls up the middle even if it's going to be a base hit."

Sound familiar?

Sound lacking on a team with a franchise-record payroll for the third straight season - a team on track to miss the playoffs again?

"The biggest similarity between him and Dykstra is Dykstra always wanted to beat you into the ground," said Larry Andersen, a Phillies reliever when Dykstra, Daulton, Dave Hollins and John Kruk led the Phils to the 1993 World Series. "He wanted to embarrass you. That's a killer instinct. It's down and dirty."

It's all Utley, said Andersen, now the team's color commentator. A confidante of some players and an observer of them all, Andersen can't wait for this club to belong to the kid with "Smut" stitched on his glove (no back story there, sorry).

"I know people say that this team, at times, doesn't have the energy. He's a guy who can definitely step up and say, 'We need to do this. We're not doing this. We're not doing enough of that,' " Andersen said, "and, at the same time, leading by example. You have to walk the talk. And he does that."

Philadelphia fans can't wait to have again what was theirs in 1993: players with whom they could identify.

"I think that was one thing that people saw: a lot of guys in that role," Andersen said. "A Hollins. A Krukkie. A Dykstra. Daulton. They were out there, grinding it out. Chase Utley is that type of player. The people in that town, they take to that. They're grinders."

Not to be lost in this is that Utley is immensely talented. Yes, he's worked on his fielding and become solid or better at second base, but his offensive ceiling - a .300-plus hitter who might drive in 110 runs and hit 25 homers a year - is not what you'd consider ordinary. Those are numbers that make second baseman Hall of Fame candidates.

The real attraction stems from obvious talent and obvious effort, both earmarks of Dykstra.

"Utley has some of that in him. I think that's very important," manager Charlie Manuel said. "One guy like that is sometimes hard to find on a team. If you have two or three, that's what really changes you into a club. Pete Rose comes into my mind. Kirby Puckett was one of those guys. You talk about energy, and ability, and a guy who loves to play the game - I think fans really relate to that. That's what they look for."

Dykstra. Rose. Puckett. Heady company, but, perhaps, the kind of hero this city needs. Utley takes his popularity in stride.

"It's becoming more apparent to me, the more the fans are inclined to me," he said. "I'm a little surprised, but I really feel like they've taken a liking to me, which is great. You obviously want people to like you."

They will, if he continues to be the same guy.

"He's kind of a scrap-iron type of player, but he has a lot of ability with the bat," Manuel said. "He hustles. He plays the right way. That's what makes him popular here. I think he'd be popular anywhere.

"I think it'd be great if we had about three of them."

He's not the only one.

[PhillyGirl]

LOL...a few of the Phils were apparently at WWE Raw last night in Philly.

JRoll was there with Lofton and HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH and Ryan Howard and Utley were with them as well.

Abreu was also there for a while, left early. But the whole place chanted "Bobby! Bobby!"

[Wingspan]

Abreu was also there for a while, left early.

he was probably sitting really close to a wall

[Geowhizzer]

Abreu on 2nd, none out.

If Burrell can even make contact, get Abreu to 3rd with one out.

What does he do?  Strike out. 

It's things like that that cost this team a chance at winning 90+ games.

[Don Ho]

Abreu on 2nd, none out.

If Burrell can even make contact, get Abreu to 3rd with one out.

What does he do?  Strike out. 

It's things like that that cost this team a chance at winning 90+ games.

Nice Thomas

[Don Ho]

Watching this game on FoxSports 2 West - Dodgers network.  I am very impressed with their crew.  Charlie Steiner(formerly with Yankees and ESPN) and I believe it's Steve Lyons.  No Vin Scully tonight.  Steiner and Lyons are very good and are by no means homers - like the TBC crew

[Don Ho]

homers - like the TBC crew

meant TBS.  I'd never knock TBC?  Trinity Broadcast Company?

[Rome]

Too many blown opportunities for the Sillies tonight.

Bases loaded in the 8th and they get nothing. 

BTW: I'm stuck listening to Charlie Steiner on MLB.TV.  He sucks.  I hated him at ESPN as a boxing guy and he's ten times more annoying announcing baseball.  Psycho Steve Lyons isn't bad, though.

[Don Ho]

WAGS!  shtein!

[PhillyGirl]

 >:(Wags

[PhillyGirl]

How in the WORLD did that not go out of the park?