_ The Phillies had no pulse last night in their loss to Colorado. What a dreadful, boring game to watch, let alone be there! This team puts me to sleep anymore. No moving runners- when they do get on base. No bunts, no steals, no hit-and-run. Stale. Lifeless. Unemotional. Robot-like. Not entertaining at all.
They are now 4 games behind Atlanta. They don't play the braves until late September. The Phils are inching closer to being out of the NL East race. Will they be buyers or sellers in July if they continue to play this poorly?
Soon they will be irrelevant again. Soon it will be all-Eagles all the time. Soon we won't care.
-Was this supposed to be another rebuilding year/ Yes, until next off-season when the free agent crop of star players like Machado and Harper are available.Then again, why spend big money on free agents such as Santana and Arrieta if you don't hope to contend this season? Phillies management is again trying to play it both ways- rebuild while contending. I'm not sure this current brain-trust is savvy enough to pull it off> The duo of McPhail and Klentek have not impressed me at all. What has Klentek done since he was hired/ Other than trading away closer Ken Giles to Houston for practically nothing.
The team wraps up it's home stand with an afternoon game vs. the Rockies. The inconsistent Vince Valasquez is on the mound. A weekend series awaits in Milwaukee against the NL Central division leading Brewers. Then it's back home against the Cardinals, Yankees and Nationals. Brutal!
If the Phillies can stay afloat, their schedule does turn easier in July. But will it matter?
- If Nick Pivetta, now 4-6, keeps having bad games, does that mean de Los Santos or Irwin get a shot ? Both are pitching well at Lehigh Valley. Pivetta is improved from last year, and has good stuff and enormous potential, but is Pivetta merely an average pitcher? Same with Valasquez. Who's to say these guys have locks on rotation spots if they continue to flounder?
Look at Jerad Eichoff, currently on the DL. Great stuff. A workhorse. Yet even before he got hurt I never thought that Eichoff was anything special. That's my point. Now is the time for someone to step up and prove they are major league quality now and for the future. Yet no one is stepping up. Are these young hurlers overrated? Poor talent evaluation? Bad coaching? Or are they just not good enough?
That's why I don't worry about trading young arms for proven talent. The young arms may not pan out of may get hurt. That's why the word "potential" is used. They haven't done it yet.
- Odunel Herrera should be back in the line-up today after resting against a lefty last night. Tyson-stinkin' Anderson looked like Sandy Koufax in the punchless Phillies batting order. Herrera has lost 80 points off his average in a month. He was leading the National league in hitting with a .361 average. We knew that couldn't last. Now he's down to .283,s till respectable but way down. I would be surprise if Herrera makes the All-Star team. He seems clueless and disinterested at the plate.
Even with all the problems scoring runs, and the defensive lapses, and the shaky bullpen ( other than Dominguez), the Phils still can take the series form Colorado with a win today. Somehow, I don't have much faith that they will.
- Big Al Meltzer, iconic sports guy in Philadelphia for many years, died last night at the age of 89.
I fondly remember Big Al from his Big 5 days. He would call the games on Channel 17, the Saturday night doubleheaders, when Big 5 basketball really meant something.
Big Al was in the same class with other famous Philly personalities, like Jim O'Brien, Sally Starr, Chief Halftown and Capt. Noah.
He was the voice during all the St. Joseph's- Villanova Holy Wars when I was growing up as a kid. He called the great Penn and LaSalle teams of the early 70s. Big Al was the announcer when superstar legends of college basketball like Calvin Murphy invaded the Palestra .He was there during some of the happiest times of my childhood.
I met Big Al once. it was a pleasant accident. We were walking back to the car after seeing an afternoon taping of the old Mike Douglas show. It was 7/7/77, truly a lucky day. I had met Jphn Ritter earlier after the show. So who doesn't come strolling down Market Street but Big Al, suit jacket thrown over his shoulder. He was heading to the nearby KYW-TV studios to do his nightly sportscast.
I remember called out "Big Al!" and he approached with a big grin, shaking hands. I knew he was busy so I didn't ask for an autograph. It was just a pleasure to meet him.
They don't make sports guys like that anymore. He was all-Philly, even though he once announced Buffalo Bills football games ( his partner was none other than O.J. Simpson). He didn't have a glitzy schick, like a lot of millennial so-called sports experts have now ( think the awful Marc Farzetta). Big Al was meat-and-potatoes, no frills sports guy. There will never be another Big Al.
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