AJ Burnett

It's really a dubious honor - 4 strikeouts in an inning, but on Friday night, AJ Burnett achieved this honor that gets achieved about once a year since the stat was first acknowledged (although Baseball Almanac does list some old time greats that have achieved it - Walter Johnson being the most notable and Ed Crane being the first on October 4,1888).
The rest of the game wasn't as memorable for the New York Yankees wild man and occasional solid pitcher as he threw 6.1 innings to get the loss against the Rockies. Other than that 6th inning, he only whiffed one other Rockie, and he walked 5 and allowed 7 hits. Nothing special...
But the 4 in one inning... that's special.
Last year, Manny Parra of the Brewers and King Felix achieved the feat. Hell, in 2002, Burnett did the same feat as well, so he's no stranger to the phenomenon. However, he's still got one more to go before he gets to first place in a tie with Chuck Finley - you know the guy who had the tar kicked out of him by Tawny Kitaen, she of the Whitesnake "Here I Go Again" video. And maybe it's hard to find control when you're throwing heat with movement, but there's also something to be said about picking up and starting again when you should be out of the inning and there's a runner on first because your catcher can't handle the nastiness that you throw. Maybe it's hard to find your control when you want to put a fastball behind your dirty tramp wife's eyes and are so wild with anger that (in the words of Crash Davis), "you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat."
And so Nuke Laloosh is going for a new league record.
It's not like opposing teams don't know the book on Burnett. The Phillies knew that if you get to him early in the game, you can get him out, but if you sit and wait on his pitches, you're going to lose (and they did - instead choosing to sit on his pitches and let him find his routine and end their dreams of back to back World Series victories in 2009).
Thus, AJ Burnett's 4+ ERA and 76 strikeouts that go with his 7-5 record really aren't worth the time and attention that the Yankees made us all think that they deserved when they signed him (in the same way that Big Sluggy CC's contract won't be much good when he opts out of it this offseason).
It will be nice to see people fleeing the Bronx - even when they're throwing money out like it was growing on trees. And if AJ is stuck in New York... call it a fitting punishment for a team that thinks that to win is to buy all of the name players - without checking what happens when they aren't making a name for themselves with a no hitter and 4 Ks in an inning.

Raul Ibanez

Ok, so Raul Ibanez is having a few good games, so we can either look at this blog as:
1) celebrating his return to form.
or
2) a final curtain call before he bows out gracefully.
There was that late career career-year that he had in 2009 (34HRs, 93 RBIs, and .272 over 134 games), which led the Phillies to a 2nd place finish against the Yankees in the World Series (no thanks to their offense crapping the bed when it counted as Mighty Ryan whiffed 13 times in 25 plate appearances and only hit a home run in an already decided last game of the season).
This year, he's 22 for 103. If not for the 3 game 8 for 12 swing, he was 14 for 91 before facing Washington's not so formidable pitching staff. On top of this, he has 27 whiffs for those first 91 at bats (none since).
Will he keep his average over the Mendoza Line, or will he go to seed against Atlanta?
I know where my money is (5 whiffs and 2 for 12 in the first series he played against them this year).
Philadelphia fans are fickle. They booed Santa Claus and threw snowballs at the jolly guy back in 1968. In 1999, they greeted JD Drew with D cell batteries after he refused to sign for their team (he never did have that career both the Phillies and Cards thought he would). They booed Mike Schmidt, who is considered the greatest third baseman EVER.
Do you think that they give a hoot about keeping around an over-priced guy who can't get a hit between April 18th and May 3rd? Do you really think a 1 time all star that played 2 stints with Seattle around a few years with Kansas City is going to cause fans to feel bad for his loss? They're already celebrating the fact that Jayson Werth took his over-priced talent to Washington and isn't doing well (.230 with 4 home runs, 8RBIs, and 27 strikeouts).
The Phillies are more concerned about not having Chase Utley and Dominic Brown than not having an aging outfielder that has been on the decline for ages with a few years of over-achievement. To this, I knew what was coming, but alas, the guy in my fantasy league that begged me to have Ibanez (I wouldn't budge - I'm not known for giving in when I know that I'm right) wanted to pretend differently (even though he tried to pass him off like a free T-shift giveaway that nobody really wants (but you can use it to wipe off your car oil after you change it!).
The reality is that of the 2 choices for what this blog today is, it's all about what Ibanez isn't and that he should go the way of the dodo bird. In this, I'm not alone - Eric Seidman of ESPN concurs with me as he says, "These are all signs that point to the end of a player's career. Ibanez will undoubtedly have a hot streak or two this season wherein Phillies fans and fantasy owners will convince themselves that he has regained his stroke. The streaks are temporary fixes, however, like using a piece of gum to plug a hole, and before we know it the Ibanez who looks his age will be back. Other players may have been prematurely written off in the past, but the same cannot be said of Ibanez. Practically everything he has shown so far this season suggests that he has reached the end of his career."
The only question is when can the Phillies get their injured players back and when can they start dealing with other teams that have called the game early?
And let's be honest - there aren't many teams ready to call their seasons (Houston and San Diego are about it, and even they aren't THAT FAR off of the .500 pace that could take them back into contention). Hell, even Kansas City and Pittsburgh are playing competitively.
Which really says we are in new baseball times.

Justin Masterson

Ok, ok... everyone who follows baseball and not just one of the East Coast teams knows who Jered Weaver is, but how many people know who Justin Masterson is?
I'll give you a hint... he's number 2 on wins (5) and number 9 on ERA (the last game was average and he got pulled down a little to 2.18). He pitches for the Indians. In his first few seasons, he was rough and Boston ditched his upside for Victor Martinez (not with the team anymore either), but how many young pitchers make the jump to the bigs and pitch like a star at age 25 (he's 26 now)?
After all, Sandy Koufax was 25 before he went sub 4.00 and 27 when he hit the 5 years that decimated all opposition. At 26, he won 18, struck out 269, pitched 15 completes, and had a 3.52 ERA. Masterson might only have 22 whiffs in 33 innings, but he's getting it together for the Tribe, and that says something.
Bob Gibson was good at 25 (13-12, 3.24, and 166 Ks BUT, he walked 119 batters to lead the league), but he didn't flourish until 26 (15 wins, 2.85, and 208). From there, he was the man and literally stopped everyone cold and dead by the World Series of 67 into the regular season of 68 (that beautiful number that is so mathematically perfect 1.12 - baseball's version of pi or the golden ratio).
Randy Johnson was 26 before he went sub 4.00 for an ERA, and that was the first of 3 years where he led the league in walks - compiling 416 TOTAL walks over that time (though he did fan 194 in the final year). From this point on, he had 1469 Ks in 4 years - to include 204 in the strike shortened season of 1994. In 1993 and 1994, he was still walking 99 and 72 batters (respectively). We can't call the final 72 total that much of a victory since he missed a month and a half and he walked 19 batters in that last month and a half (projected 91 total).
And so Masterson is winning big. He's better than C.C., Roy, Jon, Tim, and James (at least for now). With that, the future is bright. Let's hope he doesn't have to wear shades, because we're in year 2 of the year of the pitcher.
There are so many great hurlers out there. Danny Haren, Josh Johnson, and the aforementioned Weaver (so much better than the mirage of his brother Jeff Weaver that the Yankees coveted and had to have from Detroit... only to have him flop bigger than Sidney Ponson).
Weaver is throwing a .99 ERA. His WHIP is .79. He's killing opponents for a team that just can't beat the Red Sox, but seems to beat everyone else. Like Haren, his other ace starter by his side, his anemic offense doesn't have to do much to support him. They will prevail - unless they play Boston.
What's sick about this (early version of the) season is that there are 3 pitchers better than a .79 and one of them is named Kyle frickin' Lohse (.73 WHIP and 1.64ERA)! This is a man with a career 1.41 WHIP and 4.71 ERA, and yet, somehow he goes to St. Louis and Dave Duncan makes him great! It's time to nominate Duncan for President of the US (provided Donald Trump can't imagine a reason to get him exiled).
And in the end, good pitching is a thing of beauty. That 12 to 6 curve that just falls or the cutter with serious late movement that explodes on the batter and leaves him fearing the sting of a broken bat before it happens (if it happens, and yes, it does... just not always - it's the fear of God factor - ask Mariano Rivera and his bank account). This year, there are 23 pitchers who have more strikeouts than the league sucking batter (31 for Raburn and Fowler). The high water mark is 49 in 45.2 innings for Jered Weaver, but Justin Verlander is making batters look stupid with his 45 (despite a 3.64 ERA). Clayton Kershaw and Matt Garza also have 41 despite very high ERAs. The Phillies big 4 alone has 133 (Halladay and Lee have 39 a piece, Hamels has 34, and Oswalt has the remaining 21).
Nevertheless, Mighty Ryan has given 27 of them back (Ibanez has given back another 24), which only goes to prove that you win some and lose some...
You just have to hope that you win more than you lose!

Joe Morgan and Jon Miller

I have to say - I hate Joe Morgan and his sidekick Jon Miller. Then again, each one is really the little Grover Dill sidekick to the other one, and if you're like me, you hope that Ralphie comes in and kicks both of their asses across Indiana's small town set and makes my Christmas Story wish complete.

That said, neither one is particularly bright, and yet, until this year, both were seasoned ESPN Sunday Night Baseball announcers. For 21 years, we've had to hear Joe Morgan pretend to be intelligent (while actually just playing the voice of race) and Jon Miller feign being reasonably competent (while wearing some of the worst suits in history), but alas, they both just suck, and for what a website couldn't do... ESPN finally did.

Orel Hershiser is at least an articulate and fair voice of the game. Bobby Valentine played the game with passion and fire, and if nothing else, for one night in 1999, he made getting ejected into a comedic artwork as he came back to the dugout with a pair of sunglasses and a fake mustache. Baseball players have gotta do something when their fans are having to endure the drudgery of the Mets and the Blue Jays labor through the grueling schedule of interleague play.

But yes... for years, there wasn't much opportunity to watch baseball - until MLBTV came along and made that different. Sure, Fox has the game of the week - if your team is one of the first place teams or the perennial favorites. And sure, there are local team games, but I'm not a Phillies fan, so I can only handle baseball so long with them LET ALONE the Pirates. And while TBS used to be good for Braves games... uh, enough said.

The good news is we're free of them ONCE AND FOR ALL, which is a good thing unless we're going to Cooperstown and we have to see that Jon Miller is in the same place as guys like Harry Caray, Harry Kalas, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, Vin Scully, Red Barber, and Mell Allen. He even gets to be in the Veterans Committee to decide future HOF inductees... talk about travesties.

But nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and all is better because he is going to vanish into obscurity - save that vote for or against the steroids guys that he cheered for so long - and isn't that the biggest kicker of them all? How long until Joe gets in that auxillary feature of the Hall of Fame (the Ford C Frick Award for writers and broadcasters) with him?

Domonic Brown

When your team has a pitching staff that is considered by some to be the best ever - at least on paper and if you think really, really hard about Cole Hamels upside - you definitely want your offense to be able to produce.
The Phillies don't have much and those people who can swing definitely aren't the most solid and reliable types in the world. Jayson Werth left, so that means that Jimmy Rollins has to step up and produce. Since his MVP in 2007, he's definitely gone downhill. Last year, he ended up injured and didn't even step to the plate 400 times. His batting average has fallen from .296 to .277 to .250 to .244. In 2005, when he had 36 of his 38 games in a row that he hit in during that momentous hit streak (we'll add the first 2 from 2006 for good measure, but not to this), his batting average went up from a rather pedestrian .262 to .290, which is nice, but it's not a mark of consistency. Rather, it's a late season surge. If we think about 20 triples and 30 home runs in 2007, these are potentials for a player to emulate, but the reality is that it's more of a career year masked in the midst of an above average player that was and is counted on WAY TOO MUCH.
Chase Utley is also a solid player - if he's healthy, but let's look at his numbers. This is a guy who the Phillies can't count on for 700 plate appearances. Last year, he only had 511 and since 2007's break out .332 batting average, he's spent the last 2 years at sub .300, which isn't exactly a place for optimism seeing as the Phillies are counting on him to produce. And while he's capable of 30 home runs (just over), he's going to whiff 100 times if he gets this mark. In that, he's not Ryan Howard, but alas... who would want to be when we talk about aging players and overhype and lack of production?
So who's left? Raul Ibanez had 1 last year in 2009, and now we can stick a fork in him. There's hope for Shane Victorino who is still young enough to make us believe, but Placido Polanco isn't a bopper, and while Carlos Ruiz is loved, he's not getting 400 at bats a year either.
So when Dominic Brown goes out for 4-6 weeks of spring training with a wrist injury, the prognosis just isn't good for the Phillies.
That said, we're Red Sox fans, so it doesn't matter who we beat in the World Series - just that we win!

John Fogerty

Yesterday, my wife and I were out taking a walk since the weather was starting to break and amidst the sounds of a kid hammering out the drum, it seemed like spring was getting here quickly. And with that, what better way to start the baseball season than to look out back and see the green (well, ok, it's brown) grass on my own lawn and to figure out how to get the rest of this snow melted so that I can sit out in the Siesta Zone on Friday afternoon after another week is over (hopefully, with gainful employment on the horizon as a warm almost 60 degree day basks the winter blues and cabin fever away.
Nevertheless, everything is born again except for Albert Pujols' future with the Cardinals as he rejected the Cardinals offer a few weeks ago. However, since Albert isn't paying my bills, I'll reflect on how my wife’s flowers are blossoming. Well, at least the snow drops are. Someday soon, I look forward to seeing the cherry tree that I bought her last year as an early birthday present getting brough back to life in brilliant pinks and lights reds. The magnolia tree is incredible when it opens as well. The whites go well with the yellows of other bushes that I haven’t learned the names of, and the tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils are poking through the former owner’s less than manicured “gardens.” It's not Longwood Gardens, but we can dream that someday, it will be.
Last year, the Giants won the whole show by beating up on a surprising Texas in a World Series that someone had to win for the first time (while the New York Giants won before, the San Francisco Giants never did). After that, it was all over. The city by the bay made the Freak and Matt Cain their heroes. Cody Ross and Brian Wilson were the knights in shining armor. This year, I really want to have aspirations for Boston’s hitters. I do see them getting better with Carmeron and Gonzalez, but they still have JD Drew and an aging Ortiz that saw better seasons prior to 2008. Kevin Youkilis is fine, but I still wonder who they're kidding with a well-aged Jason Varitek who made have leadership and game calling, but other than that... However, with John Lackey and Josh Beckett being high salary question marks, it’s time to believe in offense again because Theo's grand defensive plans of last year and a ton of injuries equaled third place. And I'm not even getting into how we STILL haven’t solved shortstop since Orlando Cabrerra was allowed to pack his bags for elsewhere.
As for the Yankees, I'm sure they'll make a play for Pujols next year since their signings were ancient has beens and never weres from the early 2000s and an overpaid set up man from Tampa Bay. Eric Chavez. Garbage. Mark Prior. The Cubs killed his career before he had a chance to prove it. Bartolo Colon? Are we going to pair him with CC to see who the biggest loser is? Freddy Garcia? Didn't we learn anything from signing Kerry Wood and Lance Berkman at the break last year?
Yep. It’s baseball season. Break out the Yuengling and the pretzels. Life is good. I’m ready to see them all play. It’s going to be a great 2011 with the Phillies taking on the Red Sox in the World Series, which I happily admit will be a good series for the Red Sox unless the Phillies decide to make a play for offense - i.e. Michael Young. All the same, it’s one of those years where potential looms, but more than ever, it seems to be a year where the youth of the game establishes itself for a rebalancing of power as the old guard (Atlanta, Anaheim, and both New York teams) slip further away from contention.
Nevertheless, Despite not playing and having spent my little league career watching from the bench, I became a master of card collecting for those eighties pre-steroid years. My heroes either saw their stats eclipsed or lost due to asterisks. The heroes of the past were all bent up and tattered at the edges and worth slightly less. As time went by, I took to APBA Baseball, but lost the 1980 and 1982 sets to a 1999 fire. Now, I’ve been reading the previews magazines religiously since I took Derek Jeter’s face to California in 1997 with the mission that I would get back into baseball, which would allow me to reacquaint myself with America after living in England from December 27, 1990, to July 8, 1996. And it worked. I found Mark McGwire, Larry Walker, Randy Johnson, and Kevin Brown and a guy named Renteria who hit one through to beat the Indians. I found Willie, Ty Cobb, and Joltin’ Joe Dimaggio. By 1998, the time was now, and while it’s not like it’s a year where records are predicted to fall, it still feels like now. The time is T-minus 8 hours and 20 minutes.
The veterans and the rookies are still there. The old haggard faces with their gloves of steel that they’ve worn for many years, and memories of a pair of hot rookies named Strasburg and Heyward trying to create some glory in their respective towns. Alongside of him, a guy named Jurrjens wants to come back from some rough times with injuries and be Maddux at the center of a greate Braves rotation. It could very well happen.
Will Jose Bautista be the first homerun of the year, or will it be Joey Votto? Will Jeter or Jacoby give the ball a ride to the bullpen in right field? Will Big Papi start a campaign to not go off into the sunset by hitting the Dunkin Donuts sign? I eagerly anticipate it all.
Here’s to 2011. Let John Fogerty sound and let the Cactus and Grapefrut League games begin!

Cliff Lee

So what kind of Christmas present can you get after spending 13 prospects and $250million+?
In mid-December, the Phillies found out when they gave their fans the present that they yanked away from them the year earlier and sold it as a coup of enormous potential. They had just blown the playoffs to the Giants, who went on to win the World Series based solely on pitching. All the same, the Phillies had lost the NL Championship because their offense was lousy in the clutch. The Phillies had also lost Jayson Werth, who was viewed as a saviour to the team, but was now an overpaid price for the Washington Nationals allowing one to wonder if it's about money, opportunity, or love that a player accepts the chance to go to another team. I guess we'll just have to believe that it's the extra year that nobody who wasn't ruling the cellars of their division would have to pony more up to get.
Of course, we have to be happy for the big losers, i.e. the Yankees who missed out on their opportunity to lay claim to Lee. Thus, we see that the if you can't beat them join them mentality that brought Jason Giambi to the Bronx for a shave and a steroid nightmare wasn't convincing to Lee who in the past few years established himself as great since finding a way out of the baseball Hell that is Cleveland. At least he did it classier than Lebron did, but you knew that after being a revolving door for football teams, baseball players, and anything else of remote value, the populace would over-react and spew venom. Then again, we can't say that King James didn't kind of sort of deserve it.
So Christmas dinner was served and Lee was in the City of Brotherly Love, the fans were digging out their old jerseys or wishing that they hadn't used them to clean motor oil off of their garage floors, and life was good. The baseball gods were smiling because now the team had the big 4 to make them win the division. Roy Halladay and his perfect game and no hitter. Roy Oswalt and h is lost legacy that was brought back to life in a short stint in Philadelphia. And then there was Cole Hamels of the awesome 2008 and the lousy season after that. Sure, last year, he was back to form in ERA, but the 12-11 record shows that the team doesn't hit for him.
Thus, the true problems aren't solved because Howard has a big hole in his swing. Jayson Werth is gone. Raul Ibanez is older than dirt. Polanco is a singles man. Jimmy Rollins is washed up. Chase Utley has potential when he isn't fragile and injured. Sure, there are a few prospects coming up and Carlos Ruiz is a nice feeling for the hometown fans, but who is there to put a fear in pitchers come the playoffs? Ryan Howard isn't the man and no matter how much some fans complain and argue otherwise, what has he done in the clutch? Even Alex Rodriguez reinvented himself against Minnesota's bullpen, which I could pretty much break through on in any given high profile October game.
But I digress...
I'm not saying that Lee was a bad move. He'll do exceptionally and the fans love him, but... how much hard luck can the staff handle as the offense doesn't produce and Brad Lidge implodes in the closer role. Now those masseusse and psychiatric jobs will definitely be high pay as they hope to stave off the late inning sadness and try to be like the Orioles of the early 1970s were supposed to be the greatest pitching staff ever. Then again, there was the mid nineties Braves and the 1954 Indians.
No matter what happens, they'll be fun to watch even if the pink cap wearing sunny side up rooters of Philthydelphia will be screaming loyalty now that they're winning despite the fact that they were nowhere to be found in 2005, but what's new? That's Boston and New York, too. But such is the joy of being a baseball fan in a world of bandwagon jumpers.