Baseball Preview Day 6: The Philly Phab Phour

Everything is sunny in Philadelphia.

We in sports have become obsessed with cliques, crews, Big 3’s and things like that. We marveled at how Miami was able to bring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh together, we salivated over the possibility of Terrell Owens and Chad Johnson catching passes from Carson Palmer, and we marveled at how the Celtics brought Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce together.

 

This past winter, the Philadelphia Phillies trumped them all.

 

When Cliff Lee announced that he was signing with Philly Monday December 12^th it sent shockwaves throughout baseball.

 

Lee was the coveted prize of the free agent market and the two teams that had the inside track on him were the Yankees (of course), and the team that traded for him the Texas Rangers. But when it flashed across most TV screen that he was going back to Philly (who traded him to get Roy Halladay) people began placing their bets for the 2011 season.

 

It was clear that at that point the Philadelphia Phillies were the favorites to win the World Series in 2011.

 

Pitching wins championships, and if that’s the case then why not hand them the trophy right now. The Phillies rotation is a who’s who of the best in the game on the mound in any situation.

 

Roy Halladay is the ace. A two-time CY Young winner with amazing control who is coming off of his best season ever going 21-10 with a 2.19 ERA and two no-hitters. Following him is Lee, arguably the best lefty in the game with a penchant for coming up big in big situations (ask the Yankees about that). Following him is Roy Oswalt who was trapped in Houston letting his powerful fastball and pinpoint consistency be overshadowed by the team’s recent downturn before the Phillies added him before last year’s trade deadline. Lastly there sits Cole Hamels. Hamels was once thought to be the future ace of the Phillies and proved it with a 2008 postseason to remember when he led Philly to its first World Series title since 1980. Hamels was the World Series MVP and was primed to start a gigantic run as one of baseball’s best lefties before a lackluster 09 kept him down. Last year saw Hamels get back on track with a sub 3 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, not bad for your fourth starter. Oh yeah and there’s Joe Blanton… he’s got a ring too as the number 5 starter… no biggie.

In case you were wondering Joe Blanton is also in the Phillies rotation.

When looking at that rotation on paper its no wonder that everyone from the media, to the bloggers, to the casual fans began fawning over them even before pitchers and catchers reported.

 

This staff brings back memories of the mid-90’s Atlanta Braves with John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Steve Avery taking the hill and straight owning opponents.

 

However, its time to rain on Philly’s parade just a little.

 

As impressive as this staff is they might not even be the best staff in the National League, let alone baseball. Out west the San Francisco the Giants are the defending world champs with 4 of the best young arms in the game (and Barry Zito) and, oh by the way, they beat this same Philly team last October.

 

Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner are just as good and just a talented as Philly’s Phab Phour and they’ve proven it. The Giants are lying very low as possible title contenders and they have as much claim to throne as anyone.

 

Also Philly might want to take a look in its own division for some competition. The Atlanta Braves have their most potent staff in years with Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens and Brandon Beachy. With that rotation and the addition of Dan Uggla to the lineup Philadelphia wont just run away with the division like everyone expects.

For the first time in years the Phillies wont need to rely on Ryan Howard and the offense to do the heavy lifting.

Speaking of offense, can Philly score enough runs to win ball games? I know, I know, that sentence sounds foolish when talking about the Phillies because over the last few years they’ve been one of baseball’s best run producing machines.

 

However, Chase Utley is still banged up, without him in the lineup or Jayson Werth for that matter, Ryan Howard might put up career low numbers and Jimmy Rollins is coming off of back-to-back poor seasons. It sounds weird to say but what may hold Philadelphia back is their inability to produce enough runs to get victories for Halladay and company.

 

Taking all of this into consideration, Philly is still the team to beat. I’m sorry but there is nothing scarier than seeing Philly on your schedule and seeing a former World Series MVP, two former CY Young winners and one of baseball’s best power righties coming at you at any point during a series. It’s a murderers row of arms that if healthy can with 100+ games without breaking a sweat.

 

Let me ask you this; going into a series if you’re Cincinnati, Atlanta, San Fran or anyone, do you really think you can go to Philly, play games 1 & 2 against Halladay and Lee and get a split before coming home and facing Hamels and Oswalt? If you said yes then you’re a liar.

 

This staff was put together to intimidate and to win. One look at them and you walk into a clubhouse thinking please God let us get one hit. No other staff does that; no other team is like that.

 

Ever since Philly won the title in 2008, Ruben Amaro has made it a priority to stay on top and get back as much as possible. With the Lee acquisition to coincide with Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt, Amaro may have out done himself.

 

No matter the questions about the offense or the concern of the health of Brad Lidge, the Philadelphia Phillies are the World Series favorite backed by the baddest rotation in baseball. Miami might’ve gotten a lot of attention with their Big 3 but they got nothing on the Philly Phab Phour.

The Unlikely Timeline Of The Cliff Lee Saga

He's baaaack!

Here’s a timeline of what happened on Monday night after watching the New York Giants beat up the Minnesota Vikings:

11:37- the first headline on the ESPN score bar is that the Yankees were officially out of the running for Cliff Lee. Honestly I was happy. You probably think I’m the biggest dope in the world for writing that but let me explain; the Yankees have too many contracts that guarantee too much to guys who will be pushing 40 and won’t be producing the same stats as they did when they signed their deals.

A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixiera, Jorge Posada. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are all signed past the age of 37 and all will be making more than 16 million a season… yep you read that correctly, 3 of our 4 main infielders will be making 20 million plus while staring retirement in the face.

If we would’ve signed Lee to that 6 year, 138 million dollar deal it would’ve been another bad contract that we would’ve had to deal with down the line.

The thing is with this free agency class its so thin that guys like Lee and Carl Crawford are getting way too much money for their services and you wonder if they’re worth it (I didn’t mention Jayson Werth for the simple fact that Hellen Keller knows he got way too much money).

While Crawford is great on bases and in the outfield was 142 million really necessary for a guy whose career high in homers is 19, RBI is 90, a guy that has a career .296 average and a .337 on base percentage?

And in the case of Cliff Lee here’s some facts for you; he’s 32 years old with a lifetime 3.85 ERA. As great as he was with Texas in the playoffs he was 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA. I mean the guy is good but he’s not the superstar stud that his contract and hype are making him out to be… with that said…

12:02- ESPN reports that Cliff Lee has reaches an agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies.

12:05- the following exchange takes place between me and my buddy D.J. who used to play baseball at OSU…

Me- um… The phillies got Cliff Lee
DJ- it doesn’t matter they don’t have enough offense

(5 minutes later)

Me- dude the phillies got Cliff lee, they winning the World Series.
DJ- no they’re not. Their lineup is weak. Who’s gonna score runs for them?

(5 minutes later)

Me- dude the phillies got Cliff Lee
(at this point we’ve both had one too many shots and it becomes clear to him that I won’t shut up about the phillies impending world championship)

For everything that I just said about the Yankees not signing Lee an downplaying his importance as a pitcher, the last team that needed Lee was Philadelphia.

Look at their rotation for next year; Roy Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels and whoever they decide to throw in there as the fifth starter.

And to think, these 3 weren't enough.

Thats arguably the best pitcher righty and lefty in the game with a horse like Oswalt and a former World Series MVP in Hamels as your top four pitchers in your rotation, this makes Miami’s big three look like a walk in the park.

This makes Philly the early front runner for the World Series in 2011. No team comes close to that kind of rotation, not even the pitcher happy San Francisco Giants. Four out of five days a week the Phils are sending out a win in the making. So what they lost Werth to free agency, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are still there and Dominic Brown is waiting in the wings to become their next offensive threat in the outfield.

All they need is two to three runs a game tops with this staff and they’ll be fine. In the NL East the only possible competition could be the Atlanta Braves but their offensive output could be a huge problem. The Reds, Giants and possibly Rockies could challenge them for the crown but I don’t see that happening.

Most importantly for the Lee himself was the comfort level in returning to Philly. It’s no secret how much he loved it there and was disappointed when he was traded last winter. As much as he loved Texas and was enjoying how much the Yankees were throwing at him, Philadelphia still has his heart, which led to him turning down an extra two years and 40 million from the Yankees. In the end it wasn’t about money it was about comfort and happiness and Lee is getting both.

12:40pm yesterday- I texted my boy Scully to congratulate him on his impending world title and to tell him I’m giving up on baseball this year. He reminded me that he still thinks the Giants have a better rotation in his opinion and that the Phillies still have to replace the bat of Werth.

That’s cool, unfortunately that’s hard to believe when staring Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels and now Lee. This is the team to beat at the current moment whether you agree with me or not. It’s the best collection of pitching put together in a long time and no one, not me, my buddies or even ESPN saw it coming. 2011 is going to be a long year for the other 29 teams in baseball. Oh well, at least the New York Giants are 9-4.

They Might Be Giants

Your 2010 Champs.

In the early part of September the San Diego Padres had the division sewed up. They were seven and a half games up in the NL West with Colorado beginning to make their customary postseason push behind the monster months of Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitski.

Ahead of them in the Wildcard were the NL East powers of Philadelphia who were fueled by the big three of Roy Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, and Atlanta who were trying to send Bobby Cox off to retirement with one last World Series run.

Then there was the story of Cincinnati who was finally in a pennant race after fifteen years behind another masterful rebuilding job by Dusty Baker and the emergence of Joey Votto as an NL MVP candidate.

So where the hell did the San Francisco Giants come from to win the World Series?

How did a team of castoffs, misfits, rookies and beards go from a frat pack to the most polarizing team of the postseason?

How did Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard and Josh Hamilton all wilt under the bright lights of the postseason while Cody Ross, Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria came through time and time again?

I don’t know. How does Brian Wilson “tan” his beard?

While we marveled at Cliff Lee’s precision, the Yankees legacy, the Phillies pitching and the Rays youth
the Giants were sitting back growing their beards wondering who was going to start in left field let alone get to the World Series. Tim Lincecum was trying to regain the form that made him a two-time Cy Young winer. Pablo Sandoval was in the midst of a season long power slump. Their cleanup hitter was Aubrey Huff who was thrown by the waist side by the Detroit Tigers.

To say that their championship run is a surprise is an understatement… but should we really be surprised?

Cody Ross was one of the many misfits that fit in perfectly with the Giants.

Think about it. As much as Lincecum struggled in August as well as postseason castoff Barry Zito the Giants were still deep in the rotation thanks to their other three young studs Jonathan Sanchez, who pitched a no hitter last year, Matt Cain, whose ERA was a ridiculous 0.00 in the postseason and Madison Bumgarner who became the youngest lefty to throw eight shutout innings in the world series at age 21. As great as Lee, Halladay and others were, the Giants just had too much pitching for any lineup to deal with.

Speaking of lineups… Um this one ain’t that scary on paper, but boy did it provide nightmares for everyone. Cody Ross’s NLCS performance is the stuff legends are made of as he just always seemed to come through in clutch situations. Ross was a Marlins castoff who only made the postseason roster thanks to a Jose Guillen neck injury. Ross certainly took advantage of the opportunity and helped put the Phillies run in the NL to rest.

The most important bat might have been 23 year old Buster Posey. Posey was called up after the Giants needed a boost behind home plate that they werent receiving from Bengie Molina who they shipped to Texas. Posey did more than just deliver timely hits like his home run in game four off of Darren O’Day but the way he called games behind the plate made you wonder if he really was a rookie. Cain, Lincecum and company shined with Posey calling the shots as no lineup seemed too intimidating for the former shortstop.

I could go on and on about this team and they deserve it. The Giants have suffered heartbreak after heartbreak since their last title in 1954 when Willie Mays roamed center and the Giants played at the Polo Grounds in New York.

The heartbreak of the initial move to San Francisco, the earthquake in 1989 with that great team with Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell to the agony of being 6 outs away of a title before the Anaheim Angels stormed back to claim the series in 2002 and the entire Bonds era of constant headaches was more torture than one franchise should deserve.

Fortunately for us the Giant faithful basked in it holding up signs claiming how torture never felt so good. Nightly at one of baseball most beautiful venues the orange and black maniacs wore fake beards to glorify Brian Wilson and the gangs grizzly new look. The cheered loudly for Uribe’s home runs, Lincecum’s strikeouts and Freddy Sanchez’s wizardry at second. It was the perfect team to stand behind as far as they were concerned, a bunch of players no one wanted on a team that was of no concern when compared to their southern rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Now they all share the glory together. A team that no one saw coming amongst a slew of postseason monsters that grabbed the headlines. A fan base that had it’s share of pain spanning close to 60 years. The Freak, the beard and the guys no one wanted plus a bunch of young guys that no one paid any attention to now stand as the center of our attention.

It couldn’t happen to a better more unique group of guys. Guess you don’t need glamour to win a World Series, just a group if characters who don’t know better. Now do us all a favor… SHAVE! Except you Wilson you’re a special case, fact.