2006 Philles Season Thread

[MDS]

Perhaps I'll Vote For Utley

[mpmcgraw]

Are you in double secret probation?   

[MDS]

I wonder if The Office is the best show evAr.

[mpmcgraw]

Wonder no more...

[MDS]

You clearly post too much.

[SD_Eagle5]

Coste isn't that bad and Ruiz was a good hitter in the minor leagues so the C situation could be worse.

[MDS]

We could be playing Sal Fasano two times a rotation....

[BigEd76]

Padres and Dodgers won, so the Phils fall back to 1/2 game out...

Looks like we'll avoid Clemens on Monday and get Matt Albers instead...

[MDS]

What happens if LA, Phi and SD all have the same record? LA plays SD, loser comes here or SD/LA head to head winner wins division, other team comes here?

[Sgt PSN]

What happens if LA, Phi and SD all have the same record? LA plays SD, loser comes here or SD/LA head to head winner wins division, other team comes here?

I'm just guessing......... LA/SD would play a 1 game playoff for the division.  The loser would then have a worse winning % than the Phils and would be eliminated from the WC

[PhillyGirl]

Speculation on Howard misguided, announcer says

Jon Miller had seen and heard enough, so he voiced his displeasure during an ESPN game two weeks ago.

Miller was unhappy with stories that questioned the validity of some of the top home-run hitters, specifically the Phillies' Ryan Howard.

The common thread was the speculation that anybody who was hitting home runs at a rapid pace these days must have been getting a boost, namely from performance-enhancing substances.

So, Miller used his national forum to vent about the speculation during a Sept. 10 telecast of the game between the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants.

"I think it's very irresponsible and unfair to openly start making accusations with innuendo simply because the guy is having a very good season," Miller said this week in a phone interview. "They have no evidence other than that."

He then repeated what he had said on television.

"Ryan Howard is guilty of nothing more than having a great season," he said. "Why should his name ever be associated with that [steroids]?"

As the voice of the San Francisco Giants, Miller has heard his share of steroid talk. Giants slugger Barry Bonds continues to be the subject of steroid speculation, with his name linked to the investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

"In San Francisco, the reporters had the whole Balco story and got some leaked testimony from the grand jury and published all sorts of stories about Bonds and Jason Giambi, in addition to using FBI sources in regards to the investigation," Miller said. "None of which has had any sort of legal standing with which to indict Barry, but it at least met the journalism standards. Nobody has done any reporting on Ryan Howard."

Miller said Howard has become one of the game's big stories over the last few years. "From what I've seen and from talking to him and talking to his teammates about him, Ryan Howard is everything that is good about the game," Miller said. "He is a breath of fresh air in the game."

Miller said Howard's success probably is not a coincidence, given that he was not rushed to the big leagues. With Jim Thome in Philadelphia the previous three seasons, Howard's path seemingly was blocked until Thome was injured last season.

Howard, who will turn 27 in November, had 1,847 at-bats in 505 minor-league games.

Miller believes that if the Phillies make the playoffs, they can be a dangerous team - one that the national audience will enjoy watching.

"The Phillies and Ryan Howard up against anybody is fun," Miller said. "Right now nationally, the average fan may not know a lot about the Phillies, but they sure know Ryan Howard."

[Seabiscuit36]

Good read there PG.  Its nice to see a guy who's watched bonds over the past 10 years or so looking at howard as what he really is

[BigEd76]

I'm just guessing......... LA/SD would play a 1 game playoff for the division.  The loser would then have a worse winning % than the Phils and would be eliminated from the WC

Almost.  The loser would fly here for a 1-game playoff to determine the wildcard winner (since the Phils won the coin tosses against both teams).

[MDS]

Which the Phillies would then lose because they are a bunch of chokers.

[BigEd76]

and because they suck at home and already lost 2 out of 3 at home to both earlier this year...