PHILLY SPORTS CORNER- PHILLIES, SIXERS, NFL NEWS

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting ex-Phillies pitcher Dickie Noles. He attended our local Baseball discussion group. He's a great guy and hung around and talked Baseball for over 2 1/2 hours. He still works for the Phillies.

Here are some of his more interesting insights, both on the past and present Phillies:

* Rhys Hoskins will rebound this season. Dickie claims he "already has turned the corner" during the off-season and is on rack to have a monster year. "It was all mental," he said. "This launch angle stuff.. they coached him to swing at high fastballs, which got him out of whack."

* Loved Charley Manual; hated Ryne Sandberg as a manager and Gabe Kapler. Noles said the main reason Snadberg failed was because he was a "terrible" communicator. Kapler failed for many reasons, but most importantly he had no discipline. Guys were able to do whatever they wanted. They had too much time in the clubhouse to be on their cell phones or play video games, instead of focusing on baseball. 

"Things will be different" with Joe Girardi. He loves Girardi, who was his catcher with the Cubs. Already Girardi has said that every player must be on the field and take batting practice all together, which wasn't Kapler's rule. 

He loves Charley because Charley dealt with each player as an individual. He knew which  buttons to push and when, and was a master at psychology with players. But the "best" overall manager he ever played for was Dallas Green. 

* Scott Kingery should play second base. "Jean Segura is dictating" that he must play second. Instead, Noles feels they should trade Segura.

* Roman Quinn is the best athlete on the team and should play every day in center field. But he can't stay healthy. Otherwise, according to Noles, Quinn could be one of the best players, if not center fielders, in the entire game. He's got tremendous speed, has upper deck power, and plays great defense. He is "all muscle," according to Noles.

* Adam Heasley will turn out to be a good 4th outfielder, at best. "He's a Greg Gross-type hitter," Noles said. Nice kid, good defense.. but sounds like another Matt Klentek 1st round mistake.

* Zach Wheeler is okay, but "If I was running the show, " says Noles, "I wouldv'e signed Madison Baumgarner and Cole Hamels." They are older guys but Noles claims both have a lot left in the tank. Especially Baumgarner. claims he would've taken tons of "pressure' off Aaron Nola as a # 1 starter. Baumgarner likes to hunt and fish, as does Nola, and would've'e been a great tutor for Nola.  "Nola is a Greg Maddux type pitcher, only with better stuff."

Hamels would've'e fit in nicely as a # 3 starter in the rotation. He wanted to come back to Philly. 

* Of the young pitchers, Noles feels Zach Eflin break out , "maybe not this year, but next." He likes Vince Valasquez' stuff, but it's "in his head." Same with Nick Pivetta, who he called a "head case." "Pivetta has the pure best stuff on the staff, even better than Nola. Nola is just much smarter and can deal with pressure better.

* 60's and 70's baseball were the best eras. The umpires would joke around and were friendlier. Now the umps don't say anything. Guys are bigger and stronger now but don't work as hard. Players like Mickey Mantle were not as huge body-wise but were tremendously strong.

"Johnny Bench , for some unknown reason, never liked Noles. He and George Brett made up a long time ago over Noles knocking him down in the 1980 World Series, perhaps turning the series around. But Royals manager Jim Frey never forgave Noles for "taking away my ring."

* Noles got the reputation for being a "dirty pitcher" nad a "head hunter" both he cliamed weren't true. "I was just wild," he said. 

"Steve Carlton could throw 100 miles an hour, if he wanted to. "He had the best slider and curveball I ever saw," Noles said. Plus that fastball which would "jump" at the end. Tom Seaver and Roger Clemens had fastballs that "jumped" as well. 

* Tug McGraw was the teammate he most admired. McGraw did a lot of unknown things for kids with cancer, building wheelchair ramps, with his own money, or flying sick, dying kids to Disney World, without much fanfare. "He was just a really good guy. Of all the guys I knew, he never once said a bad or negative thing about anyone." And he was a lot of fun to hang with, and was a motivator in the bullpen.

"Pete Rose was actually "underrated" as a player. "He hit the ball harder than anyone,"Noles said. He is "still" obsessed with gambling issues. "We all knew he did it (gambled). Everyone looked the other way.. He would have guys run down near the dugout and Pete would speak in codes such as 'I  really like the A's today'" And the guy would then place his bet. 

Noles does not think that Rose ever bet against himself or his team, to lose. "He had, and still has, too much of an ego to do that."

* He likes the Phillies' chances this season, but admits  the Braves are better, and the Mets are "about even" with the Phils. He didn't mention the Nats. 

* He doesn't think the World Series titles should be stripped from the Astros and Red Sox." They are suffering, and will suffer forever with a tainted championship.  He said "more will come out' about the Red Sox.

* He agrees that Lenny Dykstra is "nuts." 

* Noles is an EPA with the Phillies now. He has become licensed to deal with mental health, suicide, abuse and other personal issues, dealing with players, their families and some former players. 

* Of all the new hirings, even above Girardi, he thinks the new pitching coach, Bryan Price, will turn the staff around. Noles says it is "very" important for the bullpen guys to know their roles, something Gabe Kapler didn't do.  Things will be "much different" without old pitching coach Chris Young. 

The Phillies open spring training next week.

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The Sixers are in disarray. Locker room disagreements between players; The coach seems helpless and is waiting to get fired; and the GM seems over his head in his job, with too many power forwards and not enough shooters on the roster.

The club is 0-3 on their current road trip, which they finish up tonight in Milwaukee against the conference leading Bucks. Milwaukee is a 8 1/2 point favorite. It seems like a big number but the Bucks are really good at home while the 76ers have struggled on the road, going 9-18 so far.

I'm taking the Bucks in a small play tonight.

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The Kansas City Chiefs had their championship parade yesterday to an underwhelming crowd. But it is the Midwest, where crowds are smaller and the fans are much more laid-back.

Rarely does a team repeat, let alone get back to the Super Bowl. KC can, merely because of Patrick Mahomes. The trend is stronger for the loser of the Super Bowl, namely San Francisco, not to get back to the big game, or even to make the playoffs next season. The NFC West could be a challenge, with the Rams likely to rebound and the Seahawks getting stronger.

Meanwhile, no team has repeated in NFC East since the 2003-04 Eagles. The Birds will try to snap that streak. Look out for Dallas with new coach Mike McCarthy. Both the Redskins and giants are still rebuilding, so it's likely to be an Eagles-Cowboys match-up again this fall.