The Philly Sports Journal

It was the kind of deal that had Pat Gillick written all over it. Phils GM Ruben Amaro even acknowledged that his former boss, now a consultant for the team, was involved.

Amaro didn’t go for broke, but he didn’t skimp out either. It wasn’t Broadway, but it was still big-time. He got a legit, front-line starter. And by keeping J.A. Happ, he gave the Phillies depth.

Halladay is Mr. Consistent, the closest there is to a sure thing, a second-to-none Number One. That’s not what Amaro got in Cliff Lee, who can slide in either ahead or behind Cole Hamels in the Phillies’ rotation. But, although Halladay would have packed more of a punch — and was absolutely worth the price — the Phillies retain a more balanced staff, top to bottom, with the Lee deal.

Lee, Hamels, Blanton, Happ, Moyer, Lopez and, soon, Pedro. Not too shabby. One of the best staffs in baseball, in fact.

Is it a staff built for the postseason? We’ll see.

It’s comforting that the Phils kept Kyle Drabek, Dominic Brown and Happ. But who’s to say Jason Knapp — a 6-foot-5 righty with a 97-mph fastball at age 18 — won’t turn out to be the best of the lot? Cleveland sure seems to like him, and the Indians know a thing or two about young talent. They traded then-ace Bartolo Colon to Montreal a while back for a couple prospects named Lee and Sizemore. They also drafted and developed a guy named Sabathia.

It’s easy to say the Phillies “gave up nothing” to get Cliff Lee, but that might not be true. That’s why they should have gotten Halladay.

Still, I’m pretty excited about Lee.

Tags: AL Central, Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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Hold your breath, Ruben, and jump in. Close your eyes and pull the trigger. Go on up there, rook GM, and take a big-league hack.

Get Roy Halladay. Now. Please.

They want Drabek, Happ and Brown. Fine. I want another championship, and a Halladay/Hamels duo exponentially increases my odds.

And all you Phillies fans paralyzed by fear, it’s time to get on board. We’re big-time now. We’re major players now. We’re world champs. Realize what that means. This is not the time to wait and hope for tomorrow. Seize the day.

If you have so much faith in these sacred, pristine, untouchable prospects — about whom, I bet, you don’t actually know much (be honest) — then have faith in the Phillies’ ability to draft and develop other prospects. In the meantime, for the next two Octobers and hopefully beyond, we’ll have one of the best pitchers in baseball leading our elite club in its dynastic quest.

And Cliff Lee is no substitute. I won’t complain if we get him, but he doesn’t have the bulldog, big-game mentality Halladay has.

Ruben Amaro knows the Blue Jays are up against it. They need to deal Halladay, and with a year and a half left on his contract, right now is when they’ll get the best value. So Amaro is gambling that they’ll soften their demands just before the Friday deadline — and that no other team will swoop in and scoop him up.

Amaro may be right. But I don’t want to gamble, not on prospects and not on passing up Roy Halladay.

Tags: AL East, Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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David Sale was 22 years old. He was from the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdale. He was at Citizens Bank Park with some friends for a bachelor party on Saturday afternoon. As the Phillies finished off the St. Louis Cardinals, David was beaten to death in the parking lot by a group of strangers, including a 35-year-old man and a 45-year-old man.

There had been a confrontation in McFadden’s bar, which is attatched to the stadium. It spilled out into the parking lot.

The murder came on the same day that anonymous fans pointed lasers at Cardinals batters, causing a delay in the game. Nationally, and even locally, the two unrelated events are being linked as an example of negative Philadelphia fandom. 

A fan was killed at an Angels game earlier this year, but Philadelphia, because of its reputation and because of characterizations based on preconceived notions by lazy journalists, is being ripped today for having the angriest fans in the country. As if a crime committed in the parking lot had anything to do with the Phillies game.

It was a murder over spilled beer. People here are horrified.

Philadelphia fans booed Santa Claus 40 years ago, and the Vet used to have a judge and a jail in the basement, so the fans here are viewed as the worst of the lot. I’m not saying Philly’s harsh reputation isn’t warranted, but I’ve been to Yankees games in the Bronx and Giants games in North Jersey, and I’ve been to Boston and Chicago. Those fans aren’t any nicer than Philadelphia fans. Those cities have the same sort of drunken, low-life trash that we have here — basement jail or not.

Let’s not generalize what happened in the stadium parking lot as representative of Philly fans, because it had nothing to do with sports. It represented a larger problem of violence, which exists in Philadelphia and other big cities, and it was a tragedy.

Tags: Baseball, Phillies
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As rumors continue to swirl about which team will get Roy Halladay, assuming Toronto decides to trade him, at least one team might be out of it.

The Yankees.

Although it would be crazy for the Blue Jays to deal their ace within their division — it would be like the Phillies trading Cole Hamels to the Mets or Braves — they said they’d be willing to do so for the right price. But the price may be too steep for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yanks may just be engaging in some poker-faced gamesmanship, but the Phillies remain the frontrunner. It’s all up to GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and whether he wants to part with certain prospects. Hopefully Amaro will remember one fact: It’s not about winning with Kyle Drabek; it’s about winning, period.

Halladay is a winner, and he’d give the Phillies the best chance to win, not only this year and next, but for several years down the road.

If the Phillies don’t pull the trigger for Halladay, it’s a bad baseball decision. The only other explanation would be that they don’t want to spend the money for Halladay’s contract. If stinginess is what prevents them from dealing for an ace, that’s an even worse decision.

Tags: AL East, Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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Whether he was with the Mets, Red Sox or irrelevant Montreal Expos, or even when he broke in with the Dodgers, I’ve never rooted for Pedro Martinez. But I’ll root for him if the Phillies sign him for half a season.

It’s rumored they’d pay him around $4 million without many bonuses, which apparently is fine with Pedro, who was originally seeking more money but wants to latch on somewhere and wouldn’t mind sticking it to the Mets.

Although there may be concerns about him disrupting the Phils’ chemistry, at this point in his career Martinez is looking to fit in. As long as signing him doesn’t interfere with a possible trade for Roy Halladay, the Phillies have nothing to lose. Other teams have scouted Pedro and been less than awestruck, but he was decent in the World Baseball Classic. And he’d only have to stay healthy for a few months instead of an entire season.

Tags: Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said he won’t mortgage the Phillies’ future to get Roy Halladay. That’s smart, but he shouldn’t be afraid to pay a high price.

Halladay, 32, is one of the best pitchers in baseball and he’s in the prime of his career. And, perhaps along with the Angels, the Phillies have the prospects and payroll to make a deal. The Red Sox and Yankees might too, but there’s no way Toronto is trading its ace to an AL East rival. The Mets aren’t in the sweepstakes.

I don’t want to part with Kyle Drabek and J.A. Happ, but I’d wince and pull the trigger — and I’d even throw in another top prospect and a first-round pick — in order to get Halladay. Even at that high price, the Phillies have enough farm talent that they wouldn’t be gutting their system.

When the top of your rotation is Hamels and Halladay, you’re automatically in the running for a world championship. Plus there’s this: Rollins, Utley, Howard, Lidge, Victorino and Company are all in their primes. The Phillies’ time is now.

Halladay has a year-and-a-half left on his contract, and it would require close to $20 million per year to sign him to an extension. That’s worth it too. In fact, the Phils shouldn’t get him unless they do an extension, considering the high-end prospects they’d be giving up. They need to go all-in on this. A rental is how they’d get burned.

Halladay, who’s just two years older than Johan Santana and 14 years younger than Jamie Moyer, isn’t going to fade anytime soon. 

Making an extension easier is the fact that the Phillies will free up a combined $30 million in dead weight at the end of this season, when Brett Myers, Geoff Jenkins and Adam Eaton come off the books.

I’d be wary if the Phils were to go halfway and not give Halladay an extension, but even then they’d still have him for two Octobers.

Awfully tempting.

Tags: AL East, Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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Last week, and in fact for a while, they looked like chumps. Now they’re world-beaters who have it all figured out.

The way the Phillies are playing, it’s like when you come through a tough breakup.

One moment you’re a mess, seemingly directionless, without perspective and looking for solid ground, barely keeping your head above water and sometimes going under. It feels like there’s no end in sight, it becomes easy to question yourself, and everybody around you notices the state you’re in and starts to whisper. 

Then something changes.

Often it’s something simple. Something just clicks inside, maybe a realization or some other means of closure — like a Jimmy Rollins squibber that finds its way through the infield — and your slump is broken.

Your whole world opens up. You’ve re-found yourself, maybe even better now. Now you can’t even believe you were ever in such a funk in the first place.

The Phillies beat the Reds 22-1 Monday night, right after sweeping the Mets. Whatever bad stuff happened before that, it’s not even worth remembering.

J-Roll is back to being J-Roll. Hamels is back to being Hamels. Hell, when you erupt for 22 runs, pretty much everybody gets in on the act.

A 22-run explosion. It’s like when you finally break free of that relationship that was dragging you down and you find what you’ve really been looking for. You’re walking tall now, almost dizzy but in a good way. And there’s no looking back.

One more thing… Raul Ibanez, your All-Star left fielder, is due to return this week.

Life is good.

Tags: Baseball, NL Central, NL East, Phillies
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Their guy is a former Cy Young Award winner, lean and in tip-top shape. Our guy clearly likes beer and burgers.

Their Manuel, bespectacled and quiet, looks smart, but he manages like he doesn’t know his you-know-what from first base. Our Manuel looks like a down-home country boy, yet he inspires his players.

They’ve been whining about injuries. We’ve taken plenty of hits ourselves (Myers, Lidge, Ibanez, the list goes on), but you don’t hear us complaining.

Oh, and they’ve been hyped up by seemingly everyone, including themselves, as the team to beat (for the last few years now). Our team is the reigning World Series champion.

This past weekend, the Phillies swept the Mets. And the way they did it — with good starting pitching, good relief pitching, including vintage Brad Lidge, good defense, and by outscoring New York 13-3 in the series — it looks like the Phillies may finally be starting to hit their stride. They even capped it off with Joe Blanton upstaging Johan Santana.

Plus, Jimmy Rollins was 5-for-11 with a homer, two runs, five RBIs and two walks, his slump just a memory now.

The Mets will put together a little run at some point, but it won’t matter. They’re done. They don’t have what it takes. And if you look at the standings, it is the Marlins — not the Mets — who are right behind the Phillies. And the Braves, who beat up on the Phils last week, have obviously shown they’re a team to be reckoned with.

Florida and Atlanta are who the Phillies have to be most aware of. They are the biggest threats in the NL East. They have the arms and they play complete baseball. The Mets are the Bad News Bears.

Look for Jerry Manuel to get fired. He deserves to. But Mets GM Omar Minaya, who should have been fired two years ago, is the real culprit in Queens. He collected an incohesive hodgepodge of players, a fantasy league roster filled with lousy personalities and no heart, instead of assembling baseball team.

Somewhere (as bench coach in Milwaukee now) Willie Randolph is smiling.

And so are Phillies fans.

Tags: Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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If Charlie Manuel was going to sit him down for five days, if he really wanted him to clear his head, he should have sent Jimmy Rollins on vacation.

Hawaii. China. The North Pole. Anywhere away from baseball. Because sticking him at the end of the dugout and letting him ruminate about his slump, which has labored on for nearly half a season now, didn’t do the trick. Rollins is more lost in his own head than ever.

Since he’s been back, the Phils shortstop is 0-for-8, although he did walk once. Including the days leading up to his benching, he’s 0-for his last 27. And you knew a few days into his break, when Rollins said, “I’m just trying to stay positive,” that Manuel’s move wasn’t working.

“Trying to stay positive” meant Rollins was still pressing. He was still mentally stuck, still too close to the situation, still tense, still without perspective.

Lately, he’s trying a different approach at the plate — trying to be more selective, trying to be fundamentally sound — but it’s all forced and discombobulated. Football may be physically brutal, but Rollins’ psychological black hole is the brutality of baseball.

In real life, there are no breaks, no sit-downs for a few days. You just put one foot in front of the other and keep going. The best thing for Rollins now is to just leave him in there and let him keep going.

Tags: Baseball, NL East, Phillies
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Before the rains came, this was the World Series nobody was watching.

Die-hard baseball fans, Philadelphians everywhere and, probably, most folks in the Tampa/St. Pete area tuned in, but that’s about all.

Despite Philadelphia being a major city and major sports town, and despite the handful of big names on the Phillies, most people around the country had lukewarm interest in the matchup. Most people didn’t know the Rays (including many of their own fans), and the Phillies hadn’t won a title in a very long time.

Then mother nature stepped in (again) and Bud Selig inevitably bungled the situation with his poor planning and lack of communication, and the world began to take notice.

Even better, the resumed game ended around 10 p.m. in the East, instead of after midnight, and it was exciting from the first at-bat. It was as if baseball, like a movie, just cut to the good part. It was as if the gods said, “Hey everybody, you need to check this out.” So people watched.

The Series’ overall ratings were abysmal, but the final night drew a big audience. What viewers beheld were the tenacious Phillies, who knocked off a team that had won 97 games in the regular season. What they beheld was the story of this Phillies team, the story of Brad Lidge & Company, the story of this crazed, title-starved city of Philadelphia and its fans finally finding the promised land.

You have to start somewhere: A few years ago, the Red Sox were nothing spectacular. Neither were the Angels or the Brewers or a lot of other teams. But they started getting good, and staying good, and they became interesting.

The Phillies had been knocking on the door for a little while, and now they’ve won it all. If they get back to the World Series, or even the playoffs, you can bet a lot more people are going to be interested.

Too bad for Tampa Bay: The Rays won’t get the credit they deserve. They did what a lot of people who knew nothing about them expected them to do. Call it rolling over, collapsing, buckling under the pressure, choking, being exhausted, losing momentum or just being too young.

Nonsense.

The Rays got beat. Plain and simple.

And the Phillies beat a damn good team.

There are no flukes in a 162-game season. You’re not a fluke when you win 97 games. You’re certainly not a fluke when you win the powerhouse American League East.

You’re not a fluke when you get to the World Series, when you have to go through the likes of the Red Sox and the White Sox.

Still, plenty of people won’t give the Rays their due. Plenty of Johnny-Come-Lately experts will second guess Joe Maddon’s in-game decisions, even though they didn’t watch him all year, even though he dialed enough of the right buttons to take a team from worst to first, the biggest turnaround in baseball history.

Sometimes you hit a wall, and in this case the wall was the Phillies.

The Rays will be around a while. Charlie Manuel even told Maddon so after Game 4. But it won’t be easy, not with big spenders like the BoSox and Yankees, and even the Blue Jays now gunning for the top spot in that division.

Tags: Baseball, Phillies, WS 2008
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