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An Ode to Doc Halladay by Some Female Canadian Singer/Songwriter Type

As Philadelphia sports fans, we've experienced enough anguish over the years that you can definitely sympathize with this woman. As a matter of fact, based upon her melodic case, you almost want to send Roy Halladay back to Toronto. Almost. But definitely not. He's all ours now.

Hat tip to the Facebook page of the Harry Kalas Statue charity group.

"This Is Why We are Fans"

You'll see a lot of things written about Roy Halladay's complete game last night, but none encapsulate the evening better than "PhilliesDoll" did at Chicks Dig the Long Ball:

This is why we are fans.

This is why we endure a 162-game season of dizzying highs and devastating lows and keep coming back for more. Because on one glorious, magical night, something so special happens that makes the long grind of baseball season completely worthwhile.

As a matter of fact, the gals over at CDLB were en fuego last night as "thekdotcom" put together Scott Franzke calling the final out along with the video of said out:

PERFECTION!

Ad Astra: Robin Roberts

As is the case in 2010, when there is an important [as well as unimportant of course] piece of news, it is spread rapidly and discussed on Twitter. The passing of Phillies-great Robin Roberts is no different, and I found this posting to be spot on:

Robin Roberts led the NL in CGs for five seasons. Roy Halladay pitches today. Do it for the Whiz Kid, Doc.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck'Duk
bigleaguestew

Go get 'em Doc.

Must We Go Down this Road Again?

It's at the point now that when Curt Schilling speaks, I want to drape a towel over my head.

As you've undoubtedly heard, Schilling thinks the Phillies were "stupid, stupid, stupid" to trade away Cliff Lee.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not turned off by the fact that he thought it was the wrong deal to make, just that he spouted off about it the way he did, in typical Schilling fashion.

Naturally, this will re-open the debate.  Several weeks ago over at Fire Jim Bowden, I was asked about the way the Halladay/Lee trades went down.  Here was my answer:

The Phillies added Roy Halladay, but gave up Cliff Lee. Did they miss an opportunity to have a historically great team by keeping both?

It depends how you look at it, and believe me, I've spent the entire winter doing just that, and, well, moving snow. I think by keeping Lee, the Phillies would have closed the door to contending very much after 2011 or 2012. By keeping him, they MIGHT have sealed the deal on another World Series, but they CERTAINLY would have been in trouble a few years from now. I fully expect Tyson Gillies [and Domonic Brown] to be in the outfield in a few years and Phillipe Aumont to be on the big club in some capacity. Unfortunately the firm of Utley-Howard-Rollins-Werth won't be around forever.

You can't forget, the Phillies have very few periods of sustained success. There was the 1976-1980 teams, and really, that's about it other than a few lightning in a bottle teams here and there (1950, 1993) and I think the current regime is very wary of drifting into insignificance again. They want to contend year in, year out. They don't want the golden era of Phillies baseball--and that's what this is--to end.

My heart wanted to keep Lee, my head tells me it was the right thing to do.

Halladay's Attention to Detail Never Takes a Holiday

Photo from fOTOGLIF

In yesterday's Toronto Sun, columnist Bob Elliott recounted a "day in the life" of Roy Halladay in spring training with the Phillies.  Naturally, the first entry occurs at a time when most of us still have a couple hours to go in bed.  That's great and all, really it is, but we've heard it before.  It's not that I am not impressed, it's just that it's not new to us.

The 8:30AM entry, however, contained an interesting tidbit.  Halladay was doing a Q/A of sorts with minor league pitchers in the Phillies system:

What about when a feel pitch comes and goes? Halladay says his cutter at times “would go away for a month.” When his cutter was working he would take a ball and trace his fingers on it.

Now that my friends, is attention to detail.  We should all exhibit that kind of behavior.

Perhaps when a Phillies pitcher does well this season, I'll trace my fingers on the remote control or my beverage glass.

The Differences in the Rogers Centre and Citizens Bank Park Through the Eyes of Roy Halladay

Last night we took a look at how switching to Citizens Bank Park from Safeco Field might have helped Raul Ibanez [link].  This morning we'll take a look at how switching to Citizens Bank Park from the Rogers Centre might hurt Roy Halladay.

First, we'll overlay all of the fly ball outs Halladay induced at the Rogers Centre in 2009 at Citizens Bank Park:

By my count, four fly ball outs in the Rogers Centre would be homers at Citizens Bank Park. In my mind, not a big deal when you consider that Halladay will also be facing fellow pitchers several times a game this year rather than DH's last year.

How about doubles and triples?

Hard to say, but it seems to me that anywhere from two to five extra-base hits in the Rogers Centre might have left the park in Philly.

So, add 'em up and 6 to 11 balls in play at the Rogers Centre may have been home runs in Citzens Bank Park.  But again, as was the case when we discussed Raul Ibanez, the ballpark differences aren't the only variable.  Lineup strengths and road ballparks are obviously unknowns here too.

Same as yesterday though, fun exercise.

Further Analysis of the of Halladay/Lee Mega-Deal

Two items to ponder.  First and foremost, the more I think about it, the more I like this deal for the Phillies due to one big factor:  the discount Roy Halladay gave to the Phillies.  Think about some of the albatross-like contracts that have been given out to starting pitchers in recent years.

C.C. Sabathia to the Yankees - 7 years, $161 million

Johan Santana extension from the Mets - 6 years, $137.5 million

John Lackey to the Red Sox - 5 years, $82 million

A.J. Burnett to the Yankees - 5 years, $82 million

Barry Zito to the Giants - 7 years, $126 million

Santana and Sabathia are the only two that even come close to being the pitcher Halladay is, yet he signed a 3 year extension worth $60 million and a fourth year vests only if Halladay reaches performance levels similar to what he's done his entire career.

Second, according to this interview between Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com/MLB.com and Benny Looper, current Phillies assistant general manager and former Seattle Mariners front-office official, there is a possibility that the Phillies could convert Phillipe Aumont back into a starter.

If that is the case, then it would take the sting out of losing Kyle Drabek just a little bit.  Should they decide to do so though, Aumont is going to have to come up with a third pitch to compliment the power sinker/power curve combination.  If he can't, the bullpen is his true calling.

Phillipe Aumont Footage

From this year's World Baseball Classic, Phillipe Aumont induces a weak liner from David Wright and then strikes out Curtis Granderson and Kevin Youkillis.  Not too shabby.

The pitch that got Wright was a tailing fastball, and the two strikeout pitches were hard curves.

It's All Official

It's hard to get your head around the last 72 hours, no?  Initially, there was euphoria and the idea of picking up Roy Halladay, followed by disappointment at the news of losing Cliff Lee.  If you're not careful, you can end up with a personality disorder over this thing with all the thoughts that run through your head.

You can go back and forth with yourself 14 times while at a traffic light questioning whether or not the series the trades the Phillies have made in recent months have resulted in an improvement in the team or not and, whether or not the Phillies have handled things as best as they could.

The bottom line is that the big league roster is ever so slightly better tonight than it was four or five days ago and the minor league system is slightly weaker.  Other than that, everything is just speculation.  Could the Phillies ownership group turned over the couch cushions and found enough cash to keep both Halladay and Lee?  Maybe, maybe not, there's no way to know.  Could the Phillies have signed either Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay after the 2010 season?  Maybe, maybe not, there's no way to know.

In the end, this trade is just like a lot of trades, only time will tell if it was the right move(s) to make.  I have a hunch though, and that's all it is, that in 2011, we'll be glad Roy Halladay is a Phillie.

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Additional Observations...

...There's a lot of discussion about how if the Phillies hadn't handed Jamie Moyer a 2-year, $13 million deal after the 2008 season, which is now looking like a bad idea, they would have had enough money to keep both Lee and Halladay today.  To that I say, not so fast.

Look, I was someone who thought that signing Moyer to that contract was a bad idea then and nothing changes that.  However, if you take Ruben Amaro Jr. at his word, that he wanted to at least partially replenish the Phillies farm system, then even without Moyer's contract, Lee is the only player the Phillies could realistically trade that would allow for both salary relief and decent prospects in return.  Trading any other player wouldn't do that.

...It's amazing to think that the best pitcher in baseball wanted to come to Philadelphia.  It's not that long ago that such an idea would be absurd.

...Tyson Gillies, the outfield the Phillies obtained from the Mariners in return for Lee is significantly hearing impaired.  If the Phillies need a team-audiologist, similar to the team-chiropractor they have for Cole Hamels, well, lets just say I know a guy.

...Phuture Phillies has a very good analysis of the trade and scouting report on the prospects involved.

...Even without Lee, Halladay and Hamels will form a very formidable 1-2 punch.  I'm very willing to bet money that the Hamels of 2010 will be closer to the one of '08 than '09.