Hamels and Myers a little tense after “quit” remarks?

 

A little tension between Cole Hamels and Brett Myers in the clubhouse during the World Series?  Couldn’t hurt the chemistry, right?

From mlb.com:

Myers and a Phillies official both dispute a Yahoo! Sports report that Myers and Hamels had a "tense confrontation" in the Phillies clubhouse following Game 5 of the World Series.

… (Phillies director of baseball communications) Casterioto asked Myers if he had seen Hamels.

"He quit," Myers cracked.

…Hamels is sensitive to the word "quit" these days after he told reporters following Game 3 of the World Series that he couldn’t wait for the season to end. Myers said he was unaware of Hamels’ comments following Game 3, although the comments have upset some players inside the Phillies’ clubhouse.

I don’t know about you but that’s a clear indication that there WAS a “tense confrontation”. 

The big question (which most media will tend to ignore) is whether or not it’s a really big deal.  Hamels and Myers are good friends (“He’s my buddy”, says Myer of Hamels).  Can’t we just chalk it up to Series jitters and leave it at that?  Or do shall we make it a national story? 

If I know the media like I do, they’ll pounce on this like a lion on a juicy bone and we’ll hear every analysis of each angle of this story. 

The most surprising thing about this story is that it didn’t happen in New York.  The Big Apple media like to pick on their own.

Yankees Make the Wait Werthwhile

arodThere was a one hour twenty minute rain delay before game three finally was set into motion.  Southpaw Andy Pettitte was on the bump for the Pinstripers, while lefty Cole Hamels (I see that commercial with those kids dad, every time he pitches) was matched up against the cagey vet.

It looked like Pettitte was the kid with the jitters in the 2nd inning, when he allowed a leadoff homer to Jayson Werth to give Philly a 1-0 lead.  Before the second inning dust had settled, Andy walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded, and then Shane Victorino’s sac fly made it 3-0.

In the top of the 4th with a runner on 1st Alex Rodriguez’ flyball hit off a camera in rightfield, it appeared as though the camera was out over the field of play, but it was reviewed and ruled a two run home run, making it a 3-2 game.  With one out in the 5th Andy Pettitte took matters into his own hands when he singled home Nick Swisher from 2nd base with the tying run, Swisher had doubled to open the inning.  Derek Jeter kept the line moving with a base knock.  The big blow came moments later when Johnny Damon’s double plated both Pettitte & Jeter, giving NY a two run lead.

In the sixth inning the teams exchanged runs with Nick Swisher hitting a home run in the top of the frame and Jayson Werth matching it with a big fly of his own in the bottom for Philadelphia, still a two run Yankee advantage.  New York took control in the 7th & 8th, with one run in each inning, Jorge Posada’s RBI single in the 7th and pinch hitter Hideki Matsui’s solo shot in the eighth.

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a solo blast in the 9th off reliever Phil Hughes to cut it to three, but then Mariano Rivera was called upon to close it out.  Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher, his 17th postseason victory.

I want to say something about the talking heads, they are crazy, and for the most part they talk about stuff which makes no sense.  They talk about pressure & clutch, they talk about slumps, and meaningless statistics of what batters are doing off certain pitchers in certain situations.  The problem here arises in the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of data, the statistics are very limited, and they are skewed as a result.  What I’m talking about in particular is Alex Rodriguez 0-8 with six strikeouts after the first two games, Chase Utley with two long balls in one game off a lefthanded pitcher, Nick Swisher & his woeful slump, and then there’s Ryan Howard 0-8 with seven K’s in his last eight at bats.  This isn’t about pressure and coming through or not coming through in the clutch.  This is the World Series, featuring the best of the best, don’t over analyze everything, just sit back & enjoy.

Phor What it’s Werth, Phillies Return to World Series

werthAfter Andre Ethier hit a first inning home run off Cole Hamels in the 1st inning, the Phillies were given notice, LA was here to play.  But just like a heavyweight fighter, going toe to toe Jayson Werth blasted a three run opposite field monster blast in the first inning off Vicente Padilla, replying to the challenge, by saying, we’re ready, bring it on.

In the 2nd James Loney leading off knocked one over the rightfield wall to bring it to a one run ballgame.  Before Philadelphia batted in the bottom of the frame, Craig Sager commented how pitching coach Rick Honeycutt instructed Padilla to stay on top of his pitches, the first batter for the Phighting Phils Pedro Feliz hit one out to right, extending it back to a 2 run lead.

The Phillies pushed their lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the 4th scoring two runs.  A leadoff single to left by Werth, followed by a run scoring double to right by Raul Ibanez, and that was all for Padilla.  Ramon Troncoso was brought in to pitch for the Dodgers, getting Feliz to ground to 3rd, Ibanez stays at 2nd, Carlos Ruiz walks, and Hamels sacrifices both runners up on a 3-2 bunt.  Troncoso then hits JRoll & Shane Victorino with pitches, the 2nd one with the bases loaded, driving in a run.

Cole Hamels was getting cold, not pitching for 27 minutes, although two runs were added to the lead.  Pinch hitter Orlando Hudson ripped a one out homer off Hamels inside the leftfield foul pole to cut it to a 6-4 game in the top of the 5th, and when Rafael Furcal doubled to left, that was all for Cole, no win for him tonite in the clinching game.  Ronnie Belliard worked reliever J.A. Happ for a walk, then retired Ethier, and that was all for Happ, as Chad Durbin was called on to face Manny Ramirez.  Durbin jammed Manny, Ramirez hit a soft comebacker, and the Phillies were out of the jam, three pitchers worked the 5th, Charlie Manuel threw the book out the window, and took control of the ballgame.  I’ve given the West Virginian stuff, but he showed his stuff.

In the bottom of the 6th off Clayton Kershaw, Jimmy Rollins was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive at bat, and Victorino took the youngster deep for a two run blast, 8-3 after six.  Hong-Chih Kuo was brought on to pitch the 7th, Werth caught up with a low fastball and drove it over the wall for his 2nd homer of the ballgame, 9-3 Phils.

LA had some fight left, Belliard & Ethier opened with 8th inning base knocks, off Chan Ho Park.  Into the mix came Ryan Madson to face Manny, Ramirez walked, Matt Kemp played peggy move up, moving everybody up one with a single.  Pitching coach Rich Dubee came out to settle down Madson, as Loney stepped in.  Whatever Dubee said seemed to work as Ryan got Loney on a popout, struckout Russell Martin, and got Casey Blake to ground into a force play short to second, with Jim Thome waiting to bat in the ondeck circle.  Question, Joe Torre, why not pinch hit Thome for Martin?  If Thome gets one, it’s a 9-8 game, pressure on, anything can happen.  Instead 9-4 into the bottom of the eighth.

Ronald Belisario works the bottom of the 8th, getting the 1st two hitters before JRoll singles & Victorino doubles off a Phan’s hand, reaching over the rail in right, the umpires didn’t allow Rollins to score, although they could have, Charlie Manuel thought Jimmy should’ve been allowed to score, came out to discuss it, Chip Caray & the Chipettes thought Charlie was arguing the non-homer call, they need to get their heads into the game.  Phillies up 10-4, three outs to go, and then no more TBS, I’m sure that’s what fans across the country were thinking.

Closer Brad Lidge works a perfect 9th, looks sharp, Ryan Howard is the NLCS MVP, the Phillies are going back to the World Series, trying to repeat, this Philadelphia Phillies team looks like a tight group, out there having fun, playing a little baseball.

Kershaw Can’t Survive Wild Stretch

Cardinals Dodgers BaseballTo say the opening game between the Dodgers and Phillies last night was exciting, would be a stretch, it was a close game, ending at 8-6 Philadelphia, but it was over four hours long.  LA hurlers walked seven batters, coincidentally they were the only Dodger pitchers that were scored upon.

James Loney took Cole Hamels deep to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.  Surprisingly Clayton Kershaw was rolling along, pitching almost exclusively from the windup.  Shane Victorino picked up a first inning single, Chase Utley lined out hard to CF, but then Kershaw picked off Victorino with Ryan Howard at the plate, SHANE, where were you going?  With one out in the 3rd Carlos Ruiz walks, then is bunted to 2nd by Hamels, allowing Clayton to return to the windup, from which he got the third out of the inning.  In the 4th the young Dodger lefty walks Howard after retiring the first two hitters on popups, Jayson Werth hits the ball on the nose, but it’s hauled in by Manny Ramirez.  A sign of things to come.

Then comes the 5th inning, Raul Ibanez (or as Craig Segar would call him E-BEENEZ) rips a line drive single to left, Kershaw can’t find the strike zone with his curve out of the stretch, bounces a wild pitch, and ends up walking Pedro Feliz.  Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt comes out to talk to Kershaw, I don’t know what he told Clayton, but almost before Rick was back in the dugout after delivering his sage advice, Carlos Ruiz sat on a fastball and rode it over the leftfield wall for a three run jack.  But the inning wasn’t over, in fact nobody was out.  Still the announcers babbled on about how this was a tough decision for Joe Torre because Kershaw was due to bat 2nd in the bottom of the inning, I didn’t get it, did he have to get tattooed a little more before being lifted from the game?  The pitcher Cole Hamels walks, this kid was done with a capital D, but then he induced Jimmy Rollins to hit into a fielder’s choice, struckout Victorino on a wild pitch sending JRoll to 2nd, threw his 3rd wild pitch of the inning (all on breaking balls) sending Rollins to 3rd, and walking Utley.

Here is where it gets REALLY crazy!  The announcers say, this is a growing up moment, as Joe Torre is leaves Kershaw in the game to face Howard.  He was done after he walked Hamels!  After Ryan lines a two run double into the corner, Ramon Troncoso is brought in to get Werth.  The Dodgers were down 5-1 heading into the home half of the fifth and it looked like the game might be over.

LA had runners at the corners with one out when Andre Ethier hit a tailor made double play grounder to short, Utley threw the relay throw away after Rollins gave him a late feed when he couldn’t get the ball out of his glove.  So instead of an inning ending DP, with Manny leading off for the Dodgers in the 6th, Ramirez would bat in the 5th with 2 outs, a run in, and a runner on secondbase.  Pitcher Cole Hamels was visibly upset, the Phillies sent a coach to the mound to settle him down.  I don’t know what the coaches tell their pitchers, but you guessed it, MANNY BEING MANNY turned on one, putting LA back into the game.

Dodger relievers Ronald Bellisario & Hong-Chih Kuo held the Phillies in check in the 6th & 7th, while Chad Durbin & J.A. Happ (a rookie of the year candidate, but not quite ready as a prime time pitcher) each worked one third of an inning to close out a very shaky 6th, Durbin came on to get the Russell Martin for the 2nd out of the inning, after Loney & Ronnie Belliard had singled off Hamels, to send Cole to the showers.  Happ lost pinch hitter Jim Thome on ball four to fill the bases, it’s a good thing a pitching coach didn’t go out there to talk with J.A.  Then a bizarre incident occurred in which Joe Torre wanted to send in a pinch runner for Thome, however we all had to wait while Randy Wolf got on his shoes, thus freezing Happ.  Rafael Furcal grounded out to Utley to end the threat.

In the bottom of the 7th Antanio Bastardo (what a Bastard-Oh) allows a leadoff double to Andre Ethier (what was Antonio even doing in the game, on the roster?) and is replaced by veteran Chan Ho Park.  Chan Ho gets Ramirez, Matt Kemp, & Casey Blake to earn a well deserved hold.

Former closer, lefthander, George Sherrill was brought on to face the Phils in the top of the 8th in a one run game, sometimes closers do better in save situations.  Rick Honeycutt again comes out to talk with his pitcher after Sherrill walks the first two batters he’s faced, you guessed it, on the very first pitch to Raul Ibanez, he launches a three run blast, again seemingly putting this game on ice.

Ryan Madson, alot of the talking heads thought he should be the team’s closer, was brought on to throw a little batting practice in the 8th inning, and make the game a little interesting.  There was a coaching visit to the mound after Loney & Belliard opened with base knocks, but Martin only produced a run scoring single, rather than a three run dinger, what a bum!  Pinch hitter Juan Pierre hits a comebacker, which Madson fires to Utley to get the first out of the inning, leaving runners at 1st & 3rd.  After Furcal’s sac fly to Werth in right, Ethier kept the inning alive with a single to right, Ryan got Manny on a grounder to third to end the inning.  Phillies fans let out a huge sigh of relief.

But before Philadelphia fans could relax too much, it was the 9th inning, and Brad Lidge time.  I remember Lidge fondly from the 2005 World Series, where the White Sox beat him twice, no saves, with a 4.91 ERA, he was even worse for the Astros in the LCS versus the Cardinals, although he did save three games, he had a loss, and a 7.20 ERA.  Last season was magical for Brad & the Phillies, as he was a perfect 41 for 41 in saves during the regular season, with a 1.95 ERA, earning 7 more postseason saves in 2008.  What a difference a year makes, as he struggled all season long, a 7.21 ERA to go along with an 0-8 record, while converting only 31 of 42 save opportunities.  The ship seemed to have been righted in the LDS against the Rockies as he converted his only two save chances.

Kemp greeted Lidge with a hard basehit to left, then Blake tore the cover off the ball, but hit it right at Utley on the ground for an easy (once Chase fielded the hardhit ball) DP.  Loney walks, but Brad gets Belliard to pop to short to end the game with Loney on 2nd.

The Dodgers outhit the Phillies 14 to 8, but lost the game mainly because of wildness, maybe if they had started somebody else.  Everybody seems to be talking about Chad Billingsley, but he may be hurt, as he has not been throwing well.  Still what about Hiroki Kuroda or Vicente Padilla, or why was Jon Garland left off the playoff roster, out of the mix?  Veteran righthander Garland was 3-2 with a very nice 2.72 ERA for LA this season in six starts and was 1-0 in two starts for the White Sox in postseason play in 2005 with a 2.25 ERA over 16 innings pitched.  You might call it hindsight, but you are not going to win very many ballgames walking seven, Jon has walked under two batters per start for his career.

Dunno which was worse, this long drawn out game or listening to the three jackasses in the booth, headed by Chip Caray, fill airtime, talking nonsense.  Never thought I would say this, but were Tim McCarver & Hawk Harrelson busy?  Just kidding, but these guys are brutal, no insight at all!

4/21/07 Linescore of the Day: Cole Hamels

colehamels

Cole Hamels: 9 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 15 K (Win)

The Phils’ Cole Hamels is said to be rather flaky (he broke his pitching hand in a bar fight in 2005) but maybe that’s what fuels outings like these. I went in to my APBA rookie draft planning to draft him with my first pick. I chickened out and ended up taking Nick Markakis instead.

Maybe Hamels would have been a better choice.

By the way, the Phillies dropped Jimmy Rollins to the third spot for this game, the first time he’s hit there since August of last year. Fantasy owners take note.