Phillies season 6

[Don Ho]

I don't believe.  I did, yesterday.  Not today.  Tomorrow? Maybe.  Monday?  Possibility.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

They're zesty.

Aye.

[Mad-Lad]

that was fun. 

[BigEd76]

Now sweep the Mets, please...

[Mad-Lad]

Now sweep the Mets, please...

I'd love nothing more than to put Carlos Beltran out of playoff position.

[Geowhizzer]

I was watching the game on the Rockies broadcast (MLB Extra Innings STILL doesn't show Phils broadcasts  ), and suddenly they show this on the TV:



A dinosaur- with pink sparkling-things- is their mascot?  It's name is "dinger."

Anyway, my man Chase nearly single-handedly got the Phils a win tonight.  5 RBIs, 3-for-5 (though that liner in the 9th should have been caught, and I would have called it an error). 

Beat up on the weak club.  Lose to the ones with a chance.  Stupid Phillies.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Phillies are only 2.5 games out of the WC

Atlanta is going to win the division. Our best bet is to win the WC. Focus on the WC and handle bidness, bitches.

Gotta worry about Houston and the Cubs though, IMO.

[Rome]

Posted on Fri, Jul. 29, 2005
 
Abreu insists pressure isn't getting to him

By MARCUS HAYES

hayesm@phillynews.com


DENVER - Maybe it's getting to Bobby Abreu.

Maybe the team leadership, all of those All-Star votes, the absence of lefty slugger Jim Thome - maybe Abreu, previously impervious (or indifferent) to pressure, is feeling it.

After all, Abreu is 13-for-70 from July 5, with no homers and five RBI. The most alarming stat: Entering last night, Abreu hadn't drawn a walk in four games. The only other stretch in which he went more than three games without was a seven-game run in April - when he was 13-for-33 with a homer and six RBI.

"I've never seen him swing at balls out of the strike zone so bad," hitting coach Milt Thompson said. "And at the same time, he's missing pitches he should hit."

Thompson said he talked with Abreu before batting practice. Abreu offered that their discussion centered on Abreu's pitch selection and his maddening inability lately to not jump at pitches.

"I've been swinging at some pitches I don't usually swing at. I've lost my strike zone for a while," Abreu said.

Why? Might it be the added responsibility while Thome struggles to return from tendinitis in his right elbow? Could it be hitting fourth in the order against righthanders since the All-Star break instead of third, where he has spent most of his career?

"I think he might be [pressing] a little bit," Thompson said. "And he's hitting fourth now. He might feel he has to do some things."

And that might be wearing on Abreu.

"He might be mentally tired," manager Charlie Manuel said.

"No, no," Abreu insisted. "I've got my mind set, whether I hit fourth or fifth."

As for leading National League outfielders in All-Star voting this season after squeaking in as the Last Man via online voting last season, plus his acknowledged team leadership over the past 12 months or so, Abreu shrugs.

"I don't think any of that is affecting my swing right now," he said. "All they do is push me to work harder."

Maybe so, but the work isn't working. For the first time, Manuel, unprompted, brought up the possibility that Abreu's All-Star appearance July 13 and his record-setting performance in the Home Run Derby the night before might contribute to Abreu's being tired. Manuel speculated that other Derby participants have struggled since, but only the Rangers' Mark Teixeira and the Pirates' Jason Bay have hit significantly worse, and none has approached Abreu's struggles.

For now, the Phillies must live with those struggles. Thome spoke with team officials yesterday from Clearwater, Fla., where he continues to rehab after landing on the 15-day disabled list July 1. Apparently, swinging the bat doesn't hurt, but throwing causes soreness. He said he might be back by the time the Phillies host the Brewers on Friday.

Until then, at least, Abreu will stay in the cleanup slot.

The Phillies hope that, before then, he will relocate his strike zone.

It occurs to me that Abreu, through no fault of his own, has simply picked the worst possible time to fall into a prolonged slump.

As for him not handling the "pressure," that's ridiculous.  He carried the team on his back for long stretches this season and it's only July, for God's sake.  Guys fold down the stretch in September, not in July, and for Hayes to suggest otherwise is further proof that he's a complete imbecile.

[PhillyGirl]

The beating this guy (Abreu) takes from the media/fans is just amazingly retarded.

When the ENTIRE team was slumping, he kept them afloat while batting well over .300. But I guess he can be blamed for not making them play better. Also, how dare he pick NOW to get into a slump, right? Its something I'm sure he said to himself, "Hmm, well, we're a few games out of a WC spot...lets start to play like shtein." 

[Wingspan]

"Hmm, well, we're a few games out of a WC spot...lets start to play like shtein." 

you are finally understanding exactly how this team works

[PhillyPhreak54]

Supposedly Eskin reported today that his "sources" have told him that the Phillies are working on a contract extension for ED WADE.

I didn't hear him say this, I read it on a Phils MB.

I hope this is one of the many, many times that Eskin is wrong. Because if he is right, I will cry myself to sleep and then go poison Dave Montgomery.

[Geowhizzer]

 

That's all I can say.  Wait, one more thing...

[PhillyGirl]

Supposedly Eskin reported today that his "sources" have told him that the Phillies are working on a contract extension for ED WADE.

I didn't hear him say this, I read it on a Phils MB.

I hope this is one of the many, many times that Eskin is wrong. Because if he is right, I will cry myself to sleep and then go poison Dave Montgomery.

Which means he's being canned after the season.

Remember..."the Phillies are, in no WAY SHAPE OR FORM, getting Billy Wagner. Every one of my sources says that the rumor is completely false and anyone who thinks otherwise is a dope."

Wagner was already signed. LOL

[Don Ho]

Once again, I believe.

[PhillyGirl]

2 games out of a WC spot. Still 5 behind the Braves.