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

Notes and Observations from a Long [Yet Too Short] Weekend in Clearwater

Is it too early to book a trip for next year's spring training?  If you've never been, yet you consider yourself a baseball fan I highly, highly recommend it.  At any rate, below are some thoughts and observations after spending a few days in Clearwater...

Jimmy Rollins takes strike one Friday night against the Orioles.

...Had a chance to shake the hand of Tyson Gillies, the outfield prospect that some are saying might be the fastest player in all of baseball.  Real nice kid, I wish him the best.  Both he and Domonic Brown were spending quite a bit of time near Frenchy's, chatting with fans and taking pictures.  In hindsight, I wish I had challenged Gillies to a race.

...Saw both Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer start games against the Orioles.  Both looked, well, about like a "fifth starter" typically does.  In the end, I think Moyer will get the nod to start out in the rotation, Kendrick will go to the pen, and then, when Brad Lidge and JC Romero return from the disabled list later in April, Kendrick will be sent to the minor leagues.  Why?  Because contractually, Kendrick can still be sent to the minors and Moyer can't.

...Look for David Herndon to also head north with the Phillies, however, he could also be in trouble when Lidge and Romero return. But, the extra time will allow the Phillies to decide if the Rule 5 draftee is worth working out a deal with the Angels to keep him.

...On Friday night against the Orioles, Greg Dobbs did not look good at third base.

...On Saturday the Phillies traveled to Lakeland to take on the Detroit Tigers.  At least half of those in attendance were wearing Phillies attire.  Back at Clearwater, it was standing room only at Bright House Networks Field.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again, this truly is the golden age of Phillies baseball.

...Finally, some links.  Here's the entire set of photos and videos I took while down in Clearwater.  Over at Fire Jim Bowden, I answered some questions about the Phillies.  I like to think I gave some pretty good answers, particularly about the Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee trades and the probability of Chase Utley making the Hall of Fame.  Here's the link.

An Attempt to Overdose on Baseball and Sunshine

From Thursday through Sunday, this Phillies phan will be down in Clearwater to catch three games and see how the Fightins look this year.  Check back here often starting on Friday for updates, predominantly photographs and videos, but other stuff too certainly.

In the meantime, I've been compiling a reading list for the airports and flights.  Tell me if I am missing anything from the list below.

   

The first listed, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", by Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki is an unauthorized biography of Clint Eastwood. Don't look for Todd to be given the keys to the Gran Torino any time soon. [In all seriousness, Todd has written what he describes as a "bathroom book" about the best and worst moments in Phillies history.  I'm anxious to see what sort of tidbits he'll pass on from recent years, but I'm up for a good anecdote from any time period.]

"High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time" was written by Tim Wendel [had to correct myself three times, my fingers insisted on typing "Turk Wendell"] who also wrote "Castro's Curveball", a fun little piece of fiction that I read about ten years ago in about a day.  "High Heat" is non-fiction, and examines the myths and auras of the fastball in baseball's past and present.  In researching the book, Wendel interviewed everyone from historians to professional pitchers and hitters to physicists.

Batting last is "Philadelphia Phillies Past and Present" by Rich Wescott.  If you've been in the sports section of any Delaware Valley bookstore over the years, you've certainly seen some of Wescott's work.  According to Amazon.com, he's written over a dozen books on Philadelphia sports, mainly concentrating on the Phillies.

-----------------

Not on my reading list for the trip, but a book that hopefully will be soon is "Bury Me in My Jersey: A Memoir of My Father, Football, and Philly" by Tom McAllister, who used to blog about the Eagles.  He's a very good writer, trained in the art as a matter of fact and seems like a very nice guy in the emails we've exchanged over the years.  Keep an eye out for it in mid-May when Tom tells me it will be released.

What a Great Day for a Ballgame!

Watch this space and the "Micro-Missives" in the right-hand sidebar this afternoon and this evening.  I'll be at Citizens Bank Park for a "meet and greet" with the Phillies before the On Deck Series game with the Rays, and then, weather permitting, at the game itself.

One Man's Crystal Ball Regarding the Phillies Rotation

The more I think about it, the more I think that the Phillies are going with the hot hand for the fifth slot in the starting rotation.

I think all along, their intention was to have J.A. Happ be the fifth starter, given everything he's accomplished in AAA and the majors at the end of last season.  Chan Ho Park was expected to me nothing more than a long-man out of the bullpen.  When Park came to Clearwater and pitched lights out, the team decided to go with the hot hand.

To that end, the more I think about it, the more I think the Phillies will be more than willing to go back to Happ when Park falters.  Notice, I didn't say "if", I said "when".  Park will indeed falter, maybe due to injury or maybe due to the fact that he is a flyball pitcher pitching in a Citizens Bank Park that is very unkind to flyballs.

When this happens, you can bet Charlie Manuel will turn to Happ.  Think about it, when a hitter is tearing the cover off the ball, Charlie plays him every day until he looses his groove, and then he sits the player for a few days.  Same with the bullpen.  When Chad Durbin was getting everybody out including Babe Ruth in the first half of 2008, it seemed like Manuel called his name every night.  Then, when Durbin burned out, Manuel turned to other options.  He always plays the hot hand.

In the end, when we get to October 1st, 2009, I'm willing to bet -- barring significant injury to one of the other four starters in the rotation -- that J.A. Happ ends up with more games started than Chan Ho Park.

Anyone agree?  Let me know in the comments section, I'm curious to see if I am the only one reading things this way.

-----------------

You can find follow Balls, Sticks & Stuff on Twitter and Facebook.  And, don't forget the Phloggers' Pheeds page for more blog-type content.

Phillies Roster News Coming Phast and Phurious

As of 5:33 PM on Tuesday, here's what we know thanks to the local beat writers:

• The Phillies have released Geoff Jenkins.  This means that any team can pick him up for the league minumum of $400,000.  Whether this happens or not, the Phillies are still on the hook for the over $8 million Jenkins is owed.  So long Geoff, thanks for Game 5.

• The Detroit Tigers have released Gary Sheffield.  The Phillies have been looking for a right-handed bench bat and Sheffield would fit that bill.  Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has told reporters that he has contacted Sheffield's agent to inquire.

• Chan Ho Park has been named the fifth starter.

• J.A. Happ's role is unclear now that Park has been named the fifth starter.  If he makes the big league club, it will be as a reliever.  The possibility exists that he may be sent to AAA Lehigh Valley to start the year.

Where to begin?

On Jenkins:  For those of you scoring at home, this means that the Phillies are now paying approximately $20 million in salaries to players who are no longer on the roster.  The Phillies are still paying $3 million of Jim Thome's salary and of course your favorite pitcher, Adam Eaton, was released by the Phillies several weeks ago.  It's hard to argue against any of the trades or releases individually, but at the same time, I don't think a team can consistently spend 1/7th of it's payroll on players for other teams.

On Sheffield: It's unclear whether or not Sheffield is willing to become a bench player, but on the plus side, the Phillies would only have to pay him $400,000, similar to whoever picks up Jenkins or the Orioles who were desperate enough to take on Eaton.  We do know this, Sheffield has only 38 career pinch-hit appearances.  That's such a low total, I'm not even going to waste my time looking up his production in those plate appearances. [Update: curiosity got the better of me; he has a .964 OPS in those situations].

On Park and Happ:  Park clearly out-pitched Happ in spring training.  Happ pitched pretty darn well on his own though, while Park hasn't been a good starting pitcher since 2001. Judging from the comments made by Amaro, reading between the lines, it seems as if the Phillies are more or less going with the hot hand and will then go with Happ, or another hot hand, when Park inevitably falters.

-----------------

You can find follow Balls, Sticks & Stuff on Twitter and Facebook.  And, don't forget the Phloggers' Pheeds page for more blog-type content.

The Choreography of Catchers

Prior to last Wednesday's Phillies/Blue Jays game in Clearwater, we wandered over to the Carpenter Complex, behind Bright House Networks Field.  On Richie Ashburn Field, there were dozens of young prospects taking fielding drills.  The choreography of the drills was impressive, as was the fact that hardly anyone on the field spoke English.

Listen to the sound of the balls hitting the mitts. I could have stood there all day.

Photo Album: Clearwater, Fl

Click on our esteemed leader's belly to view the slideshow.

Observations and Analysis Following Wednesday Baseball in Clearwater

The Phillies/Blue Jays game at Bright House Networks Field ended in an ungratifying tie today in Clearwater.  Good thing the weather was out of this world.  Some notes:

• Greg Dobbs started the game in right field and made a heckuva catch against the fence.  Don't worry ladies, his face looked OK afterwards.

• Chase Utley started again, and, again, looked awfully good.  He drew some walks and ran the basepaths well.  What a gamer.

• J.A. Happ was the starting pitcher and got hit fairly hard.  Fortunately, most of the hard hit balls were right at defenders.  He'll need to do better than that to make the rotation and stay in it.

• Ryan Madson pitched out of relief and appeared to change speeds well.  No radar gun at the park, but the catcher's mitt certainly popped loudly.

• There was some creative anti-sun headwear amongst the spectators today.  I'll include a montage in my photo album to follow later in the week.

• Joe Bisenius also pitched out of relief and was awful, surrenduring three runs and the lead, which resulted in the 7-7 tie.  Our best suggestion is for him to leave now, check into the Berksy County Holiday Inn Express and wait for the rest of his teammates to arrive in a few weeks.

• Before the game, got to witness some very interesting fielding drills on Richie Ashburn Field at the Carpenter Complex.  Two things stood out: One, the wonderful choreography that went into each drill and two, hardly anyone on the field, including the coaches, spoke English.

Don't Tell Donovan [Updated]

Spring training games can end in a tie. [Updated:  Not sure how, but the scoreboard played tricks on my camera/phone.  The score is really 7-7 after nine innings.]

Today's Lineups

Good Eats

Highly, highly recommend the Redneck Benedict.

Observations from Tuesday Baseball in Clearwater

CLEARWATER, FL -- The Phillies looked pretty darn good yesterday against the Reds while Aaron Harang, the Reds starting pitcher, certainly didn't.  The Phils won 8-1 and put up 6 runs against Harang.  More in-depth observations:

• Raul Ibanez looked good in person.  He's certainly a better runner than the player he is replacing on the Phillies and hit the ball to all fields yesterday.

• Chase F. Utley started the game, leading off and of course playing second base.  He reached base on walks several times and on one of those occasions, really motored from first to third.  If I hadn't read some newspaper headlines about a surgery or something he had, I wouldn't know anything had happened.

• John Mayberry looks pretty raw.  On his first at-bat, he waited nicely on a pitch and pulled it down the left field line.  But on subsequent at-bats, he looked impatient and it appears as if his swing has some uppercut.  Physically, he reminds me of Jayson Werth with long legs that cover a lot of ground in just a few steps.  Hopefully Charlie Manuel and Milt Thompson can work some magic and get him approaching plate appearances more consistently.

• Brett Myers appeared as if he's ready to start the season.  He pitched deep into the game and mixed his pitches well.  We're gonna need him to pitch the way he is capable.

• We capped off the evening at the Palm Pavillion Grill in Clearwater, right on the beach.  I feel very comfortable giving it two big opposable thumbs up

More today from the ballpark, stay tuned.

Fightins win 8-1

A Six-Spot

As the raindrops fell, the Phillies batted around in the bottom of the second.

Ibanez Doubled in the First

Warmups

Dubee Tutoring Prospect Lou Marson

Longtime BS&S.com reader Tony is in Clearwater and passes along this photo with a description below.

"[The] picture is an example of Dubee talking over the bottom half of each inning with Marson.  It wasn't every inning, but it was clear that there was a lot of in-game teaching."

Tony also reported:

• For the entire weekend, Jayson Werth's motor is in high gear and that he doesn't appear to be nursing any injuries.
• John Mayberry Jr.'s swing looked like it had a lot of holes in it.  His head was pulling off of pitches and looked confused on many pitches.