With Halladay, Oswalt, & Hamels starting 3 of every 5 games, this team is very hard to beat in a series. If they can win most of their remaining series against divisional opponents, they should be in good shape.

How great does a Game 7 in the World Series at Citizens Bank Park sound? Although, I wouldn’t complain if they won it in 6…

After the Flyers tough loss in Game 1 to Boston in overtime, it was comforting to sit back and watch the Doc go to work against the rolling Mets. Now if only Jamie Moyer can give use a series win tonight and keep those NY fans quiet a little longer.

In 2006, it was clear that Iverson was not the same player, nor were the Sixers the same team, that could compete for a championship. Rather then trying to rebuild another successful team with role players around Allen, it made logical sense to free up his salary space, get really bad, and shoot for a high pick in the lottery over the next few seasons. After all, that’s who you rebuild in the NBA (thanks to guaranteed contracts and players like Glenn Robinson, aka Elton Brand).

Unfortunately, the Sixers never became one of the worst teams in the NBA, struggling to make the playoffs each year, only to get knocked out by a much higher seed in the first round. Without any drastic change, teams like this are destined to be stuck in “no man’s land” of the NBA – too good to get in the lottery and get significant help from the draft, but not good enough to ever compete among the elite teams in the playoffs.

So why bring #3 back, other than for “basketball” reasons, such as needing a point guard to replace Lou Williams while he’s injured?

Fan excitement. Let me say that I’m not under the delusion that Iverson will bring back the excitement of 2001 and lead us into the NBA finals to face the Lakers once again. But, he does offer what this team has failed at miserably, other than winning basketball games – me caring about basketball again. Regardless of how well he plays or how many more (or less) games they win, I will watch the Sixers, something I have been unable to stomach much of over the last few seasons. No matter how much he “has left in the tank”, or whether or not I think he will hurt the development of younger players (what players?), he will still bring the energy and passion that we grew to love him for back to Philadelphia.

Do you think this was a good move? Do you think he’ll help this team win, lose, or make no difference? Do you care about basketball enough to even finish reading this article (obviously you do if you’re reading this far)? I have a feeling a lot of people will be watching Monday night, whether or not they admit to it. I’m just glad to have a reason to talk about basketball again. Maybe his nickname this time around will be, “The Reason”? Just a thought…

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Washington Redskins
3. New York Giants
4. Indianapolis Colts
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
7. New England Patriots
8. Dallas Cowboys
9. New Orleans Saints
10. Baltimore Ravens

In week 10, there was also a “roadblock game”, which basically means you have to pick a very tough game as determined by the guy running the league in order to try to thin the number or contestants still remaining.  They chose the Patrio/Colts game, and I went with the undefeated Colts.  Luckily, Peyton had my back and squeezed out a 35-34 win in the last seconds (literally).

I have to confess, getting this far wasn’t that hard, and it shouldn’t be for anyone with a little big of football knowledge.  The real test is at the end of the season, when you’ve used all the good teams and you have to start taking some chances.  I have 7 more weeks to survive, and in my opinion there are only a few good teams left.  What that means is I’ll have to eventually pick some games that are either very closely matched or even an upset or two.  This is the first year I’m doing this, and I don’t have any delusions of winning.  But, I’m still proud of getting this far and I guess it’s possible to get lucky a few times and see what happens.  The teams left that I consider to be decent are:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Denver Broncos
• San Diego Chargers
• Green Bay Packers

I wouldn’t exactly say they are worthy of being counted on to win any given week, but I will most likely have to depend on them at some point in the rest of this season if I’m going to have a chance.

Anyone else in a suicide pool?  Let me know what teams you had and are still holding on to for later in the year, as well as what kind of pool you are in.  And good luck (unless you’re in mine)!

Lineup:

SS – Jimmy Rollins: in a perfect world, Jimmy would hit 7th in my lineup.  He would never get anywhere near the top of the order.  While he insists he is a lead off hitter, he does not take the approach at the plate necessary to be successful in a way that most benefits the team.  The bottom line is that instead of being patient at the plate and trying to get on base any way he can, he too often tries to imitate Ryan Howard and ends up popping a ton of balls into the outfield.  By doing that he also wastes his second biggest asset to this team: his ability to steal bases.  The best thing I can say about him is that no matter what he’s doing at the plate, he’s a gold glove type of fielder and the leader of this infield.  Frustrated By Him.

CF – Shane Victorino: this man is everything Jimmy Rollins is not.  He works hard, plays hard in the field and does whatever it takes to get on base and help his team.  He uses his speed (although I would love to see him improve his stealing percentage) and even has a little bit of power that he seems to muster just enough strength to hit a few HR’s every year (which in this park is saying very little).  He’s got a great arm for a little guy and usually plays pretty smart.  Every once in a while he falls asleep on the bases but overall I think he’s the best option on this team for a lead off hitter.  He’s Hawaiin.  Like Him.

2B – Chase Utley: all this guy does is exemplify everything a baseball player should be.  The only problem is he has zero personality.  But I’ll take that any day for the production he gives you and his willingness to tough out a whole season despite injuries.  Any team would be lucky to have a player like this.  Love Him.

1B – Ryan Howard: This may surprise you but I am not Ryan Howard’s biggest fan.  It’s nice to have a guy who’s going to hit a bunch of home runs but as everyone knows, he strikes out way too much – and more importantly, against good pitching.  Well, doesn’t everyone do worse against good pitching?  Probably yes, but he is awful, because good pitchers have figured out exactly how to pitch him and he has so far been unwilling to make any adjustments (well, until it was too late in Game 5 of the WS).  His defense, while much improved from last year, is still pretty pathetic.  There is no way a guy should be able to steal second 3 times in one game after getting picked off.  That’s partly Cole Hamels’ fault, but we’ll get to him later.  Frustrated By Him.

RF – Jayson Werth: this guy drives me nuts but for a different reason.  He will strike out swinging in the most embarrassing way, then come back the next at bat and hit a ball way out of the strike zone way out of the park!  His inconsistency makes him unreliable, as he was able to hit 2 HR’s in a game they barely had a chance of winning, but couldn’t drive in a run with guys on base the next day when they needed it.  Pretty good arm, although I don’t love the slide he does to stop some balls from getting by him.  Takes too many risks, but is great on the bases (except for that brain fart at 1st last week).  He’s OK.

LF – Rauuuuuul Ibanez: Everyone will admit that we had no idea what we were getting when we replaced Pat Burrell with his at the beginning of the year.  I’m not sure he even knew how good he would be, but obviously benefited from hitting in this tiny ballpark until getting hurt.  He never fully recovered, but was definitely a fan favorite this season.  I’m certainly hoping he can stay healthy all year and if he has half of the offensive production next year, will still be a solid 6 hitter.  Like Him.

3B – Pedro Feliz: I thought he had a decent year until the playoffs this season.  Not sure if it’s his age but he really showed his lack of hitting ability when it mattered the most.  I don’t understand why Manuel didn’t show some creativity in the later games of the WS and move him behind Ruiz, who was hitting everything that came near him (for him at least).  He’s been solid in the field, but I’m not sure the tradeoff is worth it and he’s only getting older.  I’m hoping this will be the one position they look to upgrade in FA during the off season.  EH.

C – Carlos Ruiz: this guy has turned himself into one of the best catchers in the league in my opinion.  After Utley, he was my favorite player this postseason, and was actually ahead of him until the World Series.  He was the most clutch and had the most power compared to what he gives you during the season (ground outs if you’re lucky, double plays if you’re not).  He continued to earn the nickname “Senor Octubre” and should be counted on more next season if we make the playoffs again.  Like Him.

Pitching Staff:

Cliff Lee: best move Amaro could’ve made at the deadline.  Shows up big in the playoffs.  Nonchalant.  Love Him.

Cole Hamels: get your head right, get back to your old self, and we’re good.  We’ll See.

JA Happ: rookie of the year kind of stuff.  Hope he continues to progress and learns more from Lee then Hamels.

Pedro Martinez: nice knowing you.  Sorry you didn’t get more run support.  Good luck if you decide to keep pitching.

Summary:

I might expand on this but I’m just too tired to finish this off.  I realize I still need to do the bullpen as well, so I might come back with a more in depth look at the whole staff when I take a better look at what they did during the year and in the postseason.  Just seems harder to judge because they aren’t regular players and the rotation changed so much from the beginning of the year.  Anyway, this has been depressing.

While I know I’m in the ever shrinking minority, I do not want or need any of the “fluff” that comes with professional sports coverage.  I would love to be able to go to a game and hear nothing but the crowd noise instead of random rap songs in between pitches.

So this year I had to resort to turning the volume down to 0, which had the bonus effect of also not being able to hear the commentators.  It’s become increasingly easy to bash them, which should tell Fox something about the quality they are putting out there in front of a national audience.  This year, I even heard people complaining about them who aren’t really baseball fans.  That’s when you know it’s time for a change.

Back to the title of this article.  I could talk about a lot of things but I pretty much covered everything I hate about the Yankees in the last post.  All I really wanted to add is that I do not think I would want to be a Yankees fan.  I’m not sure I would be able to root for a team who, year after year, tried to buy championships.  What enjoyment can you take in rooting for a player in the playoffs who you’ve only since pitch 20 or 30 times for your team?  I know we brought in Lee and Ibanez late in the season this year, but knowing they will part of this team for a few years makes it easy to root for them.  And when you trade for a player instead of just overpaying him to bring him to your club, there is definitely a sense of appreciation you can have for what your club was willing to risk giving up to get him.

Anyway, maybe I’m just bitter.  Maybe if I grew up in NY I would be a Yankees fan.  Maybe I would hate myself, too.  Or, maybe I would be lucky enough to move to Philadelphia and be adopted by this great city so I could root for the teams who go out and work hard to earn everything they get.

SS – Derek Jeter – he is the poster boy for New York.  All through the World Series we had to watch that annoying commercial for razors of him diving into the stands and getting bloody, while Cole Hamels was standing on the mound when some random guy came out of the stands who thought he was a manager.  Hate him.

LF – Johnny Damon – won with the Red Sox and beat the Yankees, then became a Yankee to beat the Phillies.  Not a good  outfielder and most of his hits come off ground balls barely getting through holes or texas leaguers off the end of the bat.  Hate him.

1B – Mark Teixiera – looks solid at first (easiest position to play by far) but I think only had 3 hits in the World Series.  Pretty weak for their biggest position player signing this year.  Hate him.

3B – Alexander Rodriguez – great fielder but botched a bunch of ground balls in the World Series.  Also struck out a lot and only got one meaningful hit, yet somehow outperformed the Phillies cleanup hitter.  Also, did steroids.  Hate him.

DH – Hideki Matsui – Can’t play the field, yet still won MVP for his timely hitting against basically just one pitcher, Pedro Martinez.  If it wasn’t for that matchup you could easily argue the Phils have a much better chance at winning this series.  Can’t speak English.  Don’t like him but kind of respect him.

C – Jorge Posada – respect the glove although was not that impressed by his game management.  Complains about every single strike and strikeout called.  Show some class.  Hate him.

RF – Nick Swisher – barely deserves to even be mentioned in the same breath as any other professional athlete.  Don’t know where he came from but don’t really care enough to look up any stats to abuse him more.  He is a complete waste of matter.  Is it that obvious? Hate him enough to know who he is and not leave him off the list like some other irrelevant players who failed to show up against the Phillies.

Pitching Staff:

CC Sabathia – biggest (literally and $$$) FA signing in the off season and carried his team through much of the season.  If you told me he would only win 1 of 2 games I’d have felt good about the Phillies chances the rest of the way.  I have to respect his willingness to pitch whenever they need him and ability to do it as a workhorse, but I’d be a little worried about his ineffectiveness in the World Series for years to come.  Might like him if he played for anyone else.

AJ Burnett – Apparently he signed here once he knew he would be the #2 behind CC.  Gotta love a guy who doesn’t want the ball in big situations, like I don’t know a clinching game 5 of the World Series. Hate him.

Andy Pettitte  – the other “Mr. Yankee” who has won more post season games then anyone in history.  Gotta give him respect for that, but he really didn’t pitch too well in the series.  Yankees fans will agree he didn’t have very good command or his best stuff.  Good enough to win, as they say…I guess. Hate him.

Manager:

Joe Girardi – I don’t really believe the manager has that much influence on the outcome of the game.  Especially in this series, both managers are very hands-off and let their players play.  Also, he pretty much has a gift waiting for him in the bullpen that makes every game a 7 inning game for him if they can get the lead by then.  Not really getting a feeling as a manager but since he played on the team – Hate him.

Last and yes obviously least, Yankees fans:

Fans in NY – New Yorkers like to act tough and smart and classy, but I have to agree with Jimmy Rollins that they didn’t really show up for Game 1 or 2 and the people who were there sat on their hands, then left early.  I know there wasn’t much to get excited about in Game 1 (thanks, Cliff) but still, show some emotion.  I guess they expected to win and didn’t really get that into it until they had a chance to win it in their shiny new stadium.

All other fans – I’m not sure why right now, but I do have some friends who are Yankees fans.  They are actually decent, respectable human beings.  But from what I read/see/hear, most Yankees fans are not really baseball fans, they just hop on and pretend to care when the Yankees are winning.  I can’t really blame the Yankees or their real fans for this, and I know every city has people like this, but it makes them no less annoying.

Summary: Don’t absolutely hate Matsui and Sabathia.  The rest of the team is pretty much useless to NY except for Jeter, who I hate because he IS a Yankee, but at least he’s homegrown so it’s not technically his fault.  Makes you wonder how this team even got to the World Series.  It’s amazing how the bright lights make certain individuals disappear into thin air.  On that note, I will be going over the Phillies lineup tomorrow.  Should be fun…

You see, in Philadelphia, we don’t give up. As depressed as I have been today about losing the last 3 games, I have been mostly thinking about how possible it is for this team to get to a game 7, where anything can happen. And as nice as it would be to have tied the series up last night, I can’t say I’m that surprised they are in this position. It’s not an uncommon, nor uncomfortable one for the Phillies either. While they have yet to play in an elimination game this postseason, they have proven to be a resilient team this season.

Give the Yankees credit for being clutch, but they have not been dominant against the Phillies. After winning 6-1 and taking down CC Sabathia, the Phillies have been in every game this series until the end. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get guys on base as every home run by the Phillies this series has been a solo home run. It’s become clear that to beat the Yankees, they’re going to need runners on base and get them home. I’m not quite sure that Lee will be able to frustrate that Yankee lineup as much this time around.

As always, let’s win it for Harry!

Hmm, maybe that’s because I didn’t watch it.  Sorry guys, you’ll have to wait until the Phillies are done to get any real attention from this city.  Hopefully by then, you won’t still suck.  Thanks.

In other news, anyone excited about the Eagles/Giants Sunday?  Didn’t think so.  We are so overtaken by Philly Phever that hardly anyone is noticing the 3 other teams in this city who are also playing games this time of year.  But that’s OK, for now.  If only the Phillies could play all year long…