Has LaRussa changed the game again?

Twenty years ago, Tony LaRussa changed the way modern baseball is played, essentially creating the role of the modern one inning closer with his innovation of having Dennis Eckersly start the ninth inning in save situations with a clean slate, usually resulting in a quick 1-2-3 inning...Game Over! Prior to that, closers rarely came in unless the previous pitcher had run into trouble, usually leaving a couple of men on base for the closer to clean up. A far more difficult task with almost no margin for error.   This has lead to the modern era of cheap saves, and a manager's reluctance to use his best reliever, usually the closer, in any key situation that may arise before the ninth.
Now LaRussa is at it again. Using his entire bullpen almost very game in the NLCS vs. Milwaukee, matching up where he feels each has the advantage of opposing hitters. Sure, someone starts the game but there are no traditional starters. no one will see each pitcher a second or third time through the lineup. Good major league hitters usually begin to feast on all but the best pitchers at these times, they figure out what the pitcher is trying to do just as the pitcher is starting to tire, a lethal combination!  By changing pitchers so often, in the new LaRussa method, no pitcher faces a batter twice, all the pitchers are fresh and their stuff is at it's sharpest, pitchers can pitch almost every day...it could revolutionize the game again. Teams with less talented starters (the Phillies will be very late adopters of this change) can use formerly weaker starting pitchers more frequently for shorter periods (think Kyle Kendrick, moderate stuff, but usually effective once or so through the lineup), will suddenly have effective staffs overall.
Batting averages will tumble. The game will change and adapt...for the better or worse? That depends on unforeseen consequences (will pitchers develop as well in the minors if they are never allowed starter innings to work on their craft?), or will they pitcher frequently enough that they end up with approximately the same number of innings, rendering the point moot?  I don't know, but the constant changes, the moves and counter moves (yes, the hitters will adapt) are what make baseball ever fascinating
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An early look at the 2012 Phillies Roster

We looked at the Phillies impending free agents, let’s look at what next year’s team should look like.  The four aces plus the Vanimal return, again providing the Phillies with the best roataion in baseball. Joe Blanton is under contract, and having been injured all year, we might be stuck with him, but if we can trade him, adios.  Kyle Kendrick proved valuable in a swing role, but is replaceable. If we can trade him for a need, do so. The bullpen can be filled from within and will look something like this: Antonio Bastardo (L), Joe Savery (L), , David Herndon, Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, Michael Schwimer and Mike Stutes (possibly substituting Kendrick for Blanton depending on trade possibilities). There is the 12 man pitching staff.

            In the infield, Polanco, Utley, Rollins (or prospect Freddy Galvis if Rollins signs elsewhere) and Mayberry, at least until Howard returns (usual recovery time from Achilles tendon surgery is 6 to 9 months).  The infield is aging, and none of these players (excepting Mayberry) is likely to play a full season (injuries must be factored in). I’d like to see them sign a more viable offensive infielder, one who would be an almost every day player, starting at very infield position and giving that player a day off. In other words, five players filling four positions, each one getting rest and , if all goes according to plan, staying more productive throughout the season because of this rotation. Texas’ Michael Young would be ideal.  In addition to these five, one more tradition utility player, Wilson Valdez, would make the team. Two catchers, this year’s tandem  Carlos Ruiz and Brian Schneider (excellent defensively, can’t hit a lick) return, at least until prospect Sebastion Valle is ready (expect to see him at Reading this year).

That brings the roster to 20, with the five remaining spots going to outfielders Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, and Domonic Brown.  Bring back Ibanez as left-handed pinch hitter and Ben Francisco as the right-handed pinch hitter and we’re set.  Mayberry can also fill in here as well, and will likely do so when Howard returns. 

            Of course, this looks very much like this year’s roster, and one thing we’ve seen from General manager Ruben Amaro Jr., he’s not afraid to make a bold move, something to shake up a batting lineup that has perhaps gone a little stale.  The winter meetings should be veeeery interesting.

This is how the season ends, not with a bang, but a Rupture…

            Achilles tendon, that is. As in Ryan Howard’s on the last play of the Phillies 2011 season. The play left Howard sprawled in the dirt, facing surgery, as the season came to a close. Are the current Phillies facing similar surgery? With a record payroll, a roster full of aging, but still productive players, what should they do. What should be there game plan?   Impending free agents Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson are in for big paydays, should they be resigned? Rollins almost definitely, unless someone else offers him Jayson Werth crazy money; Madson, it depends. Super-agent Scott Boras represents Madson, meaning his price tag is likely to be astronomical.  Is inexpensive internal solution Antonio Bastardo ready, or his September swoon too scary to entrust the ninth to him?  Roy Oswalt and Brad Lidge have expensive club options, should they be picked up? Oswalt probably yes, Lidge almost certainly no. However, he might be willing to resign at a lower rate, especially if Madson leaves. An inexpensive closer combination of Bastardo and Lidge may do just fine.

            Raul Ibanez’ contract is up, and he almost certainly won’t be resigned, unless he’s willing to come back as Ross Gload. Speaking of Gload, who gamely battled through a painful hip injury that severely limited his ability to play in the field…waive bye bye. He did his job, but he’s expendable. 

            So we’ve reviewed impending free agents , who can or should leave, next time we’ll discuss who can and should stay and what the team should look like.

Playoff Baseball... Catch It!

If last night’s finish to the MLB regular season is indicative of what’s in store for the playoffs, we, as fans, are in for a real treat!  In playoff baseball, every out is important and teams never quit. Tampa Bay, behind 7-0 to the Yankees in the eighth inning, with their playoff lives hanging by a thread, battled back, scoring six runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull within one, then, with 0.108 hitting Dan Johnson at the plate and down to his last strike in the bottom of the ninth, ties the score at 7 with an improbable pinch-hit homerun. Tampa wins the game in the bottom of the twelfth when Evan Longoria hits his second home run of the game, completing an improbable comeback in the game, and the season as the Boston Red Sox blew a nine game lead after September 3 in the wild card race when they gave up a two run lead in the ninth inning of their last game and lost to the Baltimore Orioles 4-3. Meanwhile, in the National League the Braves completed a similar collapse, losing to the Phillies 4-3 in thirteen innings while the St. Louis Cardinals finished off their own hot streak, overcoming Atlanta’s 10.5 game lead in the wild card standings on Aug 25 by winning 23 of their last 31 games.  The Phillies meaningless victory over the Braves guarantees them a series against these same red-hot Cardinals where each game is sure to be fought to the last out. In baseball, unlike other sports, you can never run out of time, until that final out is made you always have a chance. This intensity is ratcheted up in the playoffs where the stakes are so high, the intensity level so strong, that playoff baseball is the most entertaining, nerve-racking, exciting sporting event there is, and I, for one, can’t wait!

All we are saying, is give Reid a chance

To listen to all the hue and cry emanating from Eagles fans you’d think Andy Reid had lost his mind and forgotten how to coach.  On the contrary, the one thing you can count on with the best coach in Eagles history is that he won’t change.  Reid is what he is, a great organizer and planner who prepares so well, and gets so locked in, that when the game starts, he cannot adjust, or at least until he explores all his contingency plans (this frequently results in wasted timeouts or delay of game penalties as he pours over his myriad options).   His preparation can’t be faulted. Where he might receive criticism is an inability to acknowledge his weakness, that in-game adjustments aren’t his strong suit and hiring a coach with this talent to help during the games. Not recognizing one’s own faults is an all too common trait.

Defensively, he has never valued linebackers, preferring to pressure the quarterback and cover receivers downfield, thus Eagles linebackers are frequently inexperienced low round draft picks or undrafted free agents.   This philosophy is not necessarily erroneous as during Reid’s tenure the Eagles defense usually ranks near the top of the league.  Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo is learning, but all indications are no one works harder. I firmly believe He will adjust and integrate the many new players into the system   The Eagles have frequently started seasons poorly, but Reid usually gets things straightened out by October.  Let’s give him the chance again before we all fracture our ankles jumping off the bandwagon.  To all those calling for his ouster, I have two words:  Rich Kotite.

"Bolden" go Where No Man has Gone Before

Saturday’s 41-7 victory over Indiana State couldn’t have been heartening to Penn State fans. The game was not expected to be more than a tune-up for next week’s big game against number 1 Alabama, and, it lived up to expectations. What fans hoped to get out of the game was an indication as to which quarterback should lead the offense, sophomore Rob Bolden or redshirt junior Matt McGloin . Instead, what we got was what we had going in, as the inadvertent graphic on the Big Ten Network broadcast displayed…Rob McGloin. Neither quarterback set the world on fire. Neither was terrible. McGloin's stats were slightly better, but Bolden's two long passes dropped by wide receivers.  My informal exit poll of fans leaving Beaver Stadium on Saturday was that the team looked more energetic with McGloin, and for this reason, he should be the starter.   I agree, they did look more energetic, but disagree in thinking this should make him the starter. This energy burst added by McGloin makes him the perfect reliever.   Bolden is the more talented of the two, but the less experienced (at least in terms of practicing the PSU offensive system).  McGloin, for all his energy, has a few flaws, chief of which is a tendency to attempt to force something that is not there. The more he plays, the more these flaws are exposed. However, if the PSU offense were bogged down, going nowhere, this aggressiveness and energy may prove to be the perfect pick-me- up (see last year’s Northwestern game, Paterno’s 400^th victory, as example 1-A.) Bolden may or may not live up to the hype his status as a prime recruit engendered,  but he will have the chance to better develop  by starting and being given the opportunity to show that he can be the man for the next three seasons.  McGloin has shown he can be the energy boost needed to kick start a desultory performance, but when he is overexposed (see his five interception bowl performance), his flaws emerge for all to see.

The "U" Cheating? As the late, great Rich Ashburn used to say, "Hard to believe, Harry!"

I don't know about you, but I'm still in shock that those paragons of virtue at the University Miami were caught cheating. in college football.  If it could happen at a stellar program like Miami, where else could it occur? Florida State? Texas? Oklahoma? Somewhere in the SEC? The mind boggles.

Poor Al Golden, the Penn State grad was brought in, without a whiff of scandal, mind you, to take over what must have seemed a plum job at Miami after performing miracles at Temple.  In recent years Miami had seemed to overcome it's outlaw reputation, well earned under Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Ericsson. It seems the "U" has been under investigation for some time, something for which they must have been aware, yet no hint of this pending thundercloud was leaked to Al as they enticed him south from not quite as sunny North Philadelphia. (Or, maybe he did know and my opinion is clouded by my blue and white colored glasses, but, somehow, I doubt it).