Sunday night, while making my way back to Philly from a weekend trip, I caught Loudmouth Host #26745 on WIP (to me, they are all interchangeable) as he berated listeners because no one seems to care that Ryan Howard has not been used as a designated hitter for the Phillies interleague road trip. Several listeners called in and gave a few pragmatic reasons for Howard remaining in Scranton. The most prevalent was the theory that Ed Wade does not want to devalue Howard -- if he comes up to the Show and performs poorly in even a limited role, his trade value might decline.
However, my brother and I discussed it over the weekend, and I believe we have figured it out. It likely boils down to service time. If Howard plays too much in the majors, he will become eligible for arbitration sooner, which will make him less attractive to other teams.
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Anyone who wasn't rooting for Jason Gore going into Sunday's final round of the US Open doesn't like a good story.
Gore, a journeyman pro who expressed quick self-deprecating wit in press interviews, had a caddy who wore his lucky Pabst Blue Ribbon trucker hat, had his car ransacked in recent days only to make jokes about the sorry suckers who ended up with his belongings, welled up in response to the the vigorous applause he received as he finished up with an eighty-something on Sunday, and sadly, found his father, passed away on the day he turned professional.
From now on, I'll search leaderboards for Jason Gore.
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For the first time, the United States Golf Association held a qualifying tournament in Europe for the US Open. Had they not chosen to do so, Michael Campbell would probably not have attempted to qualify, and therefore, our national champion would likely be Tiger Woods.
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After Sunday's loss to the Oakland A's, Jimmy Rollins has nine hits in his last eighteen at bats, and so hopefully, he is getting back on track at the plate. But if you are expecting him to work some counts like a good leadoff hitter, then you are mistaken. Because if his own mother can't get him to take a pitch, how in the world are the Phloggers go to accomplish the feat?
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Balls, Sticks, & Stuff has procured a few new sponsors [see righthanded sidebar]...Don Gabriel Cuban Cigars, Buy-baseball-tickets.com, Ticko.com, and EZTicketsearch.com. So on behalf of all of the site's advertisers, I implore you to get put on your favorite T-shirt, get a ticket to Citizens Bank Park, and smoke a cigar while taking in a game.
