Thursday, September 13, 2018

PHILLY SPORTS CORNER- PHILLIES, SIXERS, FLYERS

- - The Phillies lost their 5th game in a row last night, getting swept by Washington in the process. The nationals, once buried in 3rd place in NL East, are only 1/2 game behind Philadelphia for second place. Both clubs are hopelessly behind Atlanta in the division. In fact, the Phillies are now only 3 games over .500 and are in real danger of finishing below .500 for the season, which would be a major disappointment.

On August 5th the Phils were in 1st place, 1 1/2 games ahead the Atlanta. Since then they have imploded to the point where they are now a season-high 7 1.2 games behind.Those 7 remaining games with the braves later this month will be totally meaningless soon.

Manager Kapler finally acknowledges "problems" with the team, but also remains unrealistic about his club and their talent. One hopes the owner, John Middleton, is taking a more realistic view of the devastating collapse and will make some serious changes after September 30th.

Granted, this was due to be a bridge year til the free agency bonanza this upcoming off season, when players such as Machado, Harper and Kershaw could be on the market. When the Phillies ended up near or in 1st place for most of the eyar, it led to a  pleasant spring and a hopeful summer and beyond, especially after the Eagles' improbable success. So it was frustrating when the Phillies self-destructed so badly, not winning a single series since early August.

Give the braves credit. They beat up on the rest of the NL East, especially the weak Mets and Marlins. They recently went 6-1 on a west coast swing which included stops in Arizona and San Francisco. They have a young team like the Phillies, but their young players want it more and seem much more talented. Plus they still have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball.

Aaron Nola had his worst outing of the year against the Nats on Wednesday night, only going 5 innings. Despite an overall break-out year, he won't win the Cy Young Award. But he does give the team a true ace on which to build for years.

Miami and New York at home next, but really, who cares? then the final road trip of the season to Atlanta and Colorado before the last home stand weekend of the year against the Braves, a series which could've/should've/e been classic.

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More Sixer talk now as the start oft raining camp nears.Did Markelle Fultz fix his broken shot? Is Embbid even stronger/ Does Simmons have a new girlfriend?

Embarrassing that the team doesn't have a general manager ye. Brett Brown willcrack this season under the pressure of doing both jobs as Head Coach and GM.

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Flyers talk is heating up too. Singe-game tickets on sale now, so the organizations has players and front office personnel doing interviews with the media. I have tickets fort eh Saturday afternoon face-off with tough Tampa Bay on November 17.

The Flyers should have an exciting blend of young stars, older vets and fun players to watch. But without a No.1 goalie they are cooked. Hopefully Carter Hart becomes that No.1 guy in training camp.


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