2006 Philles Season Thread

[PhillyPhreak54]

Why wouldn't Manuel come out and dispute that Utley non-HR?

Burrell is the worst player in major league baseball history.

Apparently, from what IGY said, you cannot see down the lin while in the dugouts since it is a football stadium, So he wouldn't have seen it.

However...Chase and Marc Bombard should have seen it. I just watched the highlights on ESPNews and that sonofabitch hit off the pole. No doubt about it.

[PhillyPhreak54]

From the Yahoo game story;

"Two Nationals players said they heard the ball hit the foul pole."

LJGIKHSFKJHFSJGDJGHFDWIRIOfargOIUWTJHG

[MDS]

I could swear it hit off the black then hit the pole. But...if not...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking godamnit.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Utley and Manuel said that after watching the reply they are convinced it hit too.

Goddamn sonofabitch.

The season is on the line tomorrow. I'm nervous. And scared.

HOld me, MDS.

[PhillyPhreak54]

By Todd Zolecki
The Philadelphia Inquirer

WASHINGTON — Charlie Manuel had fire in his eyes when he left the visitors' clubhouse Tuesday night at RFK Stadium.
It looked like he could have throttled somebody.

He had his reasons. The first reason appeared to hit the right-field foul pole in the top of the second inning of Tuesday night's 4-3 loss to the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium. The second reason stared a hole through him from the box score: an anemic 3-for-14 performance with runners in scoring position.

The critical loss dropped the Phillies one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League wild-card race with just five games to play. That means the Phillies no longer control their destiny.

So when Manuel wakes up today, which will bother him more: the three-run home run that Chase Utley apparently hit in the second that was ruled a foul ball by first-base umpire Rob Drake, or his team's miserable performance in the clutch?

"Both," Manuel growled. "The same."

"We were lucky," Nationals manager Frank Robinson said afterward.

Apparently.

But Robinson wasn't referring to the alleged home run or the Phillies' missed chances. He was referring to the fact that the Nationals held Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard to a pair of singles and just one RBI. Howard flied out to left field with the tying run on first base with two outs in the ninth inning to end the game.

"We got lucky," Robinson said. "I'm serious.."

Some Phillies sat quietly in the clubhouse afterward and watched the Dodgers spank the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Others watched video of the controversial call.

The umpires would not comment after the game.

"It's not even close," Jimmy Rollins said, standing with teammates behind the video screen that appeared to show the ball hitting the foul pole square in the middle before kicking to the right.

"We all thought it was a home run," bullpen coach Ramon Henderson said.

"We were all looking at each other like, 'Is it? Isn't it?' We thought it was," reliever Geoff Geary said.

But Utley never argued. Neither did first-base coach Marc Bombard. Neither did Manuel.

"I thought I saw it," Bombard said. "From what everybody has said, I guess I didn't."

Bombard spread his thumb and index finger a few inches apart. That's the signal he gave to Manuel in the dugout, indicating the ball was just foul. There is no view of the right-field corner from the part of the dugout where Manuel was standing. He learned a short time later that the ball apparently hit the pole.

"That's why Charlie didn't come out and argue," Bombard said of the signal he gave to Manuel. "It's so close."
But there were other reasons the Phillies lost. They had 10 hits against righthander Ramon Ortiz in the first five innings. Overall, they stranded 10 runners.

The Phillies still had a chance in the ninth. Chris Coste hit a leadoff double and scored on Utley's two-out single to left. That's when Howard stepped in.

Robinson visited the mound to speak with closer Chad Cordero. "You created this situation — get yourself out of it," Robinson said.

Cordero did. But the Phillies mostly got themselves out. They wasted a nice performance from Brett Myers. In seven innings, he allowed six hits and three runs.

"I've got one thing to say," Myers said. "I cost us the game."

Hardly. The offense did. Maybe the umpire's call did.

"Tomorrow is a new day," Utley said.

But the Phillies will wake up in need of some serious help.

[rjs246]

Ha. Ha. Ha.

[MDS]

I want to punch rjs right in his dumb face, but I pull this icehole stuff when the Flyers are pulling their early choke in the playoffs. So I can relate here.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Phil Sheridan | No alternative: It's time to give up on hapless Burrell.

By Phil Sheridan
Inquirer Columnist

WASHINGTON - Pat Burrell is an easy target. That doesn't mean you hold your fire, not when a playoff berth is at stake.

So this column will adhere to the credo I picked up from a fictional CIA operative in a book so long ago, the title eludes me:

Kill without joy.

It won't be difficult. Burrell looks so miserable, you have to think it would be a mercy killing for Charlie Manuel to pull the plug on his season. That is precisely what the Phillies' manager must do - ASAP, stat and PDQ - before the Dodgers or Padres are spraying champagne to celebrate their wild-card clinch.

Umpires are easy targets, too, and TV replays showed that first-base ump Rob Drake blew a call that cost Chase Utley a three-run home run in the second inning. But we will hold our fire on the umps, for two reasons.

One: Drake was about 225 feet from where Utley's shot appeared to nick the very outside of the right-field foul pole. It was so close that neither Utley nor Phillies first-base coach Marc Bombard thought the ball was fair. No one in the Phillies' dugout - set way back in this old multipurpose dump - could see it at all.

Two: As Utley said, "It's unfortunate, but it was still early in the game."

In other words, the Phillies had time and plenty of opportunities to make up for the missed call.

"Somebody's got to see that," Manuel said. "But I'm not actually [griping] about the umpires, because we could have scored more runs."

Manuel can't control the umpires. He can't control what his hitters do. But he can control who those hitters are. And that's where the Burrell thing comes in.

With righthander Ramon Ortiz starting for the Washington Nationals, the lefthanded David Dellucci would have made perfect sense. As it was, Manuel dropped Burrell to the sixth spot, after Jeff Conine.

It didn't help. Burrell struck out with runners on first and second in the first inning, helping to douse a potential big rally after just two runs. After a single in the third, Burrell came up in the fifth with one out and runners on first and third.

He struck out on three pitches: foul ball, foul ball, flail at an outside pitch - just as it says in the How to Strike Out Pat Burrell pamphlet available in every major-league clubhouse.

In the eighth, with the Nationals out of lefthanded relievers, Manuel let Burrell lead off. He popped weakly to second base. Lefthanded pinch-hitter Randall Simon immediately drilled a single to left off reliever Jon Rauch.

It's easy to understand what Manuel is hoping against hope for in this situation. It makes sense. You've seen it before a million times in every sport. The coach or manager wants to show a player, and by extension his entire team, that he has confidence in him. The hope is that the show of confidence will pay off with a breakout performance by the player.

In the early part of the season, Jimmy Rollins was ice-cold in the leadoff spot. Manuel stayed with him, just as he had the year before. In 2005, Rollins responded with that epic hitting streak. This year, Rollins got hot and helped Ryan Howard carry this team back into contention.

"When you stick with a guy," Manuel said, "that shows a lot of confidence in him and he comes around."

It's an approach that works better on certain players than on others. For some guys, support is something they can lean on. For others, it's just a crutch.

"Pat hit some balls hard," Manuel said after the 4-3 loss dropped the Phillies a game down in the wild-card race. "My options there are Pat, Conine and Dellucci. I'm going to match them up. Pat had some pretty good numbers against the guy tonight."

Burrell was 2 for 5 lifetime against Ortiz, with two singles and two walks. Dellucci was 1 for 3 but had struck out twice against Ortiz. So those are the numbers.

The thing is, we're way beyond numbers now. This is about more than Burrell's offensive struggle. He is the last remaining vestige of the Phillies nucleus that has fallen short in its last several shots at the wild card. If this team in transition turned its season around after Bobby Abreu and David Bell were traded, it seems reasonable that it would benefit from having Burrell out of the lineup.

If Burrell hits a three-run homer in Florida this weekend to win the wild card, Manuel will look like a genius. From here, though, it looks like a better bet to put Burrell out of his baseball misery.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Instead of putting him out of BASEBALL misery, he should simply be murdered.

[Seabiscuit36]

by stangelation

[MDS]

Guys his OPS is among the tops in LF's. He walks a lot and you underate his defense. Go Burrell!!

[Seabiscuit36]

Your right...Bestest playa eva

[Wingspan]

Brett Myers...everything we ever hoped for in an ace.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Who pitched well last night.

I knew you'd say that. I'm shocked it took you so long to take a shot at him. He was totally the reason they lost! Damn him for not hitting with RISP. Damn the ace for giving up 3 runs!

[Wingspan]

Who pitched well last night....

you mean pitched well last night after blowing a 2-0 lead in a matter of 3 innings. when if there was a time you needed a stud outting, this was it vs a bottom dweller while your team is in the drivers seat for the playoffs.

myers is not...and will not ever be an ace.