Balls, Sticks, & Stuff | Phillies, Eagles, golf and other matters of great importance...

The Alec Baldwin Speech for the Phillies

Last night, longtime reader and friend of BS&S.com, "MPN", suggested on the Twitters that Charlie Manuel should give the Phillies hitters the Alec Baldwin speech from Glengarry Glen Ross.

1. 

   MPNPhilly put that cup of Gatorade down! You think I'm @#$%ing with you? I am not @#$%ing with you. Gatorade is for run producers! 08 Jun 2010 from web

I think it is a fine idea. Below is a clip of the speech for the uninitiated. Earmuffs required for kids and coworkers.

The Fat Lady Sings on LOST

There's no good way for something to end that you've enjoyed thoroughly. Be it a book, a piece of birthday cake, a dram of Laphroaig, you're always finding that even though you want to consume more of it, the irony is that that very action is going to cause you to run out.

For several seasons, that's the way LOST fans have known things were going to end. No matter how the actual ending was scripted, you knew you were going to be wanting more whether you liked that ending or not.

[If you haven't yet seen the series finale, you may want to stop reading here.]

We've All Been There the Morning After LOST

[Hat tip: Kulturblog]

Charles Barkley and The Haney Project [According to Saturday Night Live]

Just Add Vodka to Make It a "John Daly"

This One's for the Goodfellas Phans

Henry Hill celebrates Jimmy's walk-off hit in Game 4:

A Message from Kanye West Regarding the Start Times for the Phillies/Rockies NLDS

[Inspired by @MPNPhilly]

A PSA for Phillies Phans from Will Ferrell

With everyone running around screaming, "1964! 1964!" and headlines from the Inquirer questioning if the Phillies will hold on to win the National League East, I've been reminded of this scene from Old School:

Monday Mullings

Long weekend for many of us.  Fun of course, but long.  In order to help all of us get back into the swing of things, we'll keep these thoughts short and simple.  This will be a diatribe-free zone today...

...Friday July 2nd might have been the turning point for Jimmy Rollins.  He's 7-15 in his last four games with 3 doubles and a home run that set the tone for Sunday's win over the Mets.

...As goes Jimmy, so go the Phillies, 3-1 since his [hopefully permanent] turnaround.

...Brad Lidge sure looks good too.

...Could not be more disappointed in "The Pen" on the MLB Network.  Very little is revealed about the Phillies relief corps that you wouldn't already know from reading the sports headlines every day.  It's a shame too, because by all accounts there are some real characters out there.

...Tiger Woods won his own PGA Tour event over the weekend at Congressional Country Club outside of Washington, DC.  In 2010 and 2011, the event will move to Aronimink Country Club in Newtown Square.

...Koho paloka for Shane Victorino.

Philly.com to Charge for Content

You know how you haven’t bought a newspaper in ages because it’s easier to just go online at Philly.com and read the latest Phillies-related notes column from the Inquirer or the latest from the Daily News on Brian Westbrook’s most recent injury?  Well, that’s about to change.

Announcing the Winners of the DVD Giveaway Caption Contest

Before we get to the business at hand, I'd like to thank everyone that entered the contest.  I received a ton of submissions and it was no easy task separating the winners from non-winners.  I think I finally understand now why some people think even losers should get a trophy [not that I agree with it].

So, without further ado, let's cue the drumroll and do our best Dan Baker imitation... 

The winners of the DVD Giveaway Caption Contest are...

Caption Contest/DVD Giveaway Update: Keep 'Em Comin'!

This morning, my inbox was choc full of great submissions for the caption contest, some of which made me laugh out loud.  Keep them coming!

Want to win a copy of the great offering by A&E TV, The Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Series Collector's Edition DVD Set?  Click here.

DVD Giveaway & Caption Contest

As part of the celebration surrounding the first week of baseball at Citizens Bank Park this week, The folks at A&E Home Video have been generous enough to donate three -- that's 3! -- sets of their great The Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Series Collector's Edition DVD Set [aetv.com] for giveaway on BS&S.com.

Ground rules: For the giveaway, we'll hold a caption contest with yours truly as the sole judge.  Feel free to leave your captions in the comments section (along with your email address so that I can contact you if you are the winner) or email your caption to heydoc at ballssticksstuff dot com.  The authors of the top three captions will receive the DVD set. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM on Saturday, April 11th.

Photo below [click photo to enlarge]:

When Pigs Fly: Park Factors Discussed on WIP

This afternoon, I listened to more of Howard Eskin's WIP radio program than I have in the rest of my life combined.  It's not that I don't try to listen to itfrom time to time, but typically, within seconds -- not minutes, seconds -- I'm quickly reminded why I find the show so unstimulating and it's off to another part of the dial or shifting to satellite radio.

But today was different. Jason Weitzel, good friend and editor of Maple Street Press' 2009 Phillies Annual did his best to raise the intelligence quotient of the show as a guest.  When I heard he was going to go on the show, I placed a bet with Jason that if he was able to engage Eskin in a discussion of park factors for 60 seconds, I would pay his entry fee for our fantasy baseball league this year.

Technically, Jason won the bet, however, one this is for sure and that's the fact that the entire point of my article in the annual entitled "The Bandbox Myth: An Examination of Citizens Bank Park Through Weather Patterns and Park Factors" was missed in the discussion.  Yes, Citizens Bank Park does make hitting home runs easier, but that doesn't necessarily translate into more runs being scored. [To find out how, well, I suggest you read the article.]

In case you missed Jason on the airwaves today, feel free to listen here:

Analysis of Wednesday [LOST, Phillies, Tiger Woods]

The Phillies stink!  OK, maybe not, they are the defending World F. Champs after all.  And, it's still early, as a matter of fact, it's as early as it can possibly be.  The good:  Jamie Moyer pitched like he was only 40 [which is also how he pitched when he was 35], Raul Ibanez knocked in Jimmy Rollins for a run, something I'd like to have happen 40 to 50 times during the regular season, and one of the few sources of right-handed power in the entire Phillies organization, prospect John Mayberry, knocked in a run as well.  The bad: Joe Bisenius.  Bisenius allowed four runs in the fourth and it's a shame to see how far Bisenius has fallen since 2005 when he was talked about as one of the hottest pitchers in the system.

While the Phillies were opening Grapefruit League play, Tiger Woods returned to the PGA Tour.  He started out his match-play round birdie-eagle.  Ho-hum.  Nike had a great ad chronicling hist return and what went on while he was on the mend.

Finally, if you haven't watched last night's LOST yet, stop reading here.

It's the Morning After the Season Premier of LOST... Or is it?

As regular readers of this site know, I have a longstanding infatuation with the television show LOST and the show returned last evening with a one-hour recap show followed by a two-hour season premier.

The more the show goes on, my interest in it surprises me because as I've mentioned to a few people, science fiction is not my thing.  And clearly, LOST is of the science fiction genre.

Fortunately, however, the episodes rarely get so caught up in the sci-fi that the characters do not remain the focus of the show.  For me at least, it's the characters that bring me back and my guess is that is the case for most people too.  Clearly, inner conflict sells.

A few links to pass on so as to impress your peers at the water cooler...

Reason No. 589 to Watch the MLB Network

Jimmy channels Rickey: