2009 Philadelphia Phillies - Season's Over, Time to Move On

[MDS]

2009 nl east champs t shirts already printed up calm the farg down

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Bums.

[phillymic2000]

it's early, the mets havent even had a chance to choke yet.

[ice grillin you]

they got swept at home by Florida and came into this series missing all 5 starting pitchers from the beginning of the season.

they also have a better record than the phils and would easily eclipse it if it wasnt for the phils getting to play the nats 12 times so far

[BigEd76]

long SI article on Charlie (which means igy won't read it)

details collide to the point that diagramming one of his sentences would require several of the Penn English department's best men and an oversized blackboard. "That's what always freaks people out," says his longtime companion, Missy Martin. "He can have times when he's talking and he gets distracted and it's not clear what he's saying or he doesn't complete sentences or he doesn't complete a thought, and that's when you think, 'Geez, this guy just doesn't have it up here'."

But when the subject turns to hitting, the stammer disappears and he gets locked in and it's almost as if you're listening to Warren Buffett on investing or Mario Batali on pasta.
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"He's got an eclectic group of friends, to say the least," says one of them, former pro wrestler and onetime Memphis mayoral candidate Jerry (the King) Lawler.
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Manuel's Orlando Twins were getting pasted 7--0 at home by the Charlotte O's early in a one-game playoff to decide the 1984 Southern League Eastern Division second-half race, and he had to do something. As the storm clouds rolled in, Manuel called [groundskeeper] Big John down for a talk. A short while later the heavens opened. The game hadn't gone five innings, so a rainout meant they'd have to go back and start all over. In the O's dugout manager John Hart was hollering for the tarp. One problem: The grounds crew was nowhere to be seen. "What Charlie did," says Hart, "he gave the groundskeeper a hundred dollars and a bottle of Jack Daniels, and the grounds crew disappeared."

Not true, says Manuel, "I gave him $50 and told him to go buy him some wine."
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In 1983 he was hired as the manager of the Single A Wisconsin Rapids. "I knew nothing," says Manuel. ... His bunt sign entailed squaring around and saying, "Bunt." A typical pregame talk consisted of Manuel pointing to the cowboy on the giant cigarette ad out in deep right center and asking his players, "O.K., who's gonna knock the d**k off the Marlboro Man today?"
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On Aug. 28 Philadelphia was a half game behind the Mets and had a 4-1 lead on the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Manuel brought in setup man Ryan Madson to pitch the eighth inning, and the 28-year-old righty gave up three runs without retiring a batter in a 6--4 loss. Afterward Manuel summoned Madson into his office. "I thought, Oh, man," says Madson. But instead of getting ripped, he got this: "Sometimes those Louisville Sluggers are going to talk to you a little bit," Manuel said with a chuckle. And that was it. From that point until the end of the season, Madson had an 18-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and his ERA was 0.63.
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[ice grillin you]

overshadowed stat with the pitching woes that have been prevalent lately

phils hitting .190 with runners in scoring position last 30 games

[mpmcgraw]

Yea they've been pretty unlucky lately.

[Geowhizzer]

Yea they've been pretty awful lately.

[Diomedes]

When the Orioles make you look bad, you're pretty awful.

[PhillyPhreak54]

They made 5+ ERA Rich Hill look like a stud...which is the what the Phils prior to 2008 did. Some shteinbag toes the rubber and they flail and hack at every hunk of trash heaved up there.

Why Jack Taschner has a job, I don't know. And why Charlie left him out there, I don't know either. Unless the BP had been ground into nothing from the 1-5 week of starting pitchers not getting into the 7th.

1-6 start to a homestand first time since 2004

The horrible road Orioles were something like 7-20....need help? Come to CBP where the champs can't play for shtein.

farging terrible week.

[SD_Eagle5]

I'm still not worried and they've been playing like shtein.

Drabek with another solid outing. Scattered 4 hits through 7. Pitched a shutout.

[ice grillin you]

yeah good to see drabek come back last night...he hasnt been very good since his debut...his bb/k ratio is still pretty bad


i dont know if anyone mentioned it...im sure easy did...but lakewood won their first half division sal title the other day

[Rome]

I'd usually be furious about how the Phillies are playing right now, but I can't seem to get all that upset over it.  Occasional World Championships seem to help in that regard.

[Sgt PSN]

this phils went into a slump about this time last year.  i remember they were on a roll going into st louis for father's day weekend.  they had that 1st game blow out where they plated 20 and then they went into nearly a month long stretch of average/below average ball.  so i'm not really worried about how their playing right now, but i'm very annoyed with it because you'd think that after winning a championship this team would be able to take a step forward mentally and play smarter ball. 

[Rome]

The hitting will come around.  I have no doubt of that.  I am concerned about the pitching, though, because they're closing in on the midpoint of the season and it's only gotten worse.  And all around, too, not just the starters although they've been exceptionally putrid.