Who is the Phillies most indispensable player?
Jimmy Rollins? Chase Utley? Ryan Howard? Soon to be free agent Jayson Werth? Carlos Ruiz?
How about the injury-plagued Brad Lidge?
It is truly amazing that the Phillies made it to the World Series (and probably should have won it) last year with as gaping a hole in their bullpen as they had with Lidge and Ryan Madson trying fairly unsuccessfully to finish games. For them to get back there for a third straight season, this issue must be resolved quickly.
The way the game is now, you build in your bullpen from your closer backwards and if you don't have the reliable, dependable closer to build with, your chances for success aren't very good.
And, now, with Ryan Madson unavailable for another month and a half to be Robin to Lidge's Batman, it is even more imperative that Lidge get healthy and return to something close to what he was in 2008.
It is really staggering that the Phillies are a first place team with all of the injuries they have had, including one save from Lidge to this point, to endure to this point of the season, and with Ryan Howard yet to really get going and be the impact player that he can and should be.
They NEED Lidge to reestablish himself and make it easier for Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee to establish roles and order in the bullpen to get the game to Lidge in a save situation. The 'pen has the potential to be pretty good, and features more hard throwers than the Phils have had in a long time, but it can only be good IF Lidge is healthy and closing and the other guys are doing what they have do in a prescribed role.
All you have to do to realize the importantance of a good closer is to take a look at the Washington Nationals and what Matt Capps has done.
Who would have figured the Nats to be right on the Phillies heels at this point in the season?
Not too many people but the fact is, they get a lead and protect it and win.
It is time for Lidge to get healthy, get his game in order and get back to doing what he is being paid a lot of money to do...and that is slam the door shut in the ninth inning!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
I was at the Flyers history making game last night, first playoff game I had been to in 15 years after starting my career in baseball. As much as I love baseball, and do consider myself more of an old school fan who still looks at the game with some romanticism, there is NOTHING like playoff hockey!
I have been to baseball playoff games and the World Series, to NFL playoff and conference championship games but the intensity on the ice and in the building of an NHL post-season game is unmatched..especially with what was at stake last night.
The building was electric, especially as the game moved on with the Flyers in the lead. You could feel the excitement but also a bit of trepidation and nerves, especially as the Bruins took the play to the Flyers late in the first and throughout half the second period.
You hold your breath on each foray into the attack zone by the Bruins and then nervously exhale as each scoring opportunity gets turned away or denied, or, in my case last night, make sure my shoulder is still attached after my best friend continually grabbed it and pulled on it as the puck was steered wide or cleared from the crease.
Now, we'll see if the Flyers can finish the job tomorrow night and advance into the conference finals and earn home ice against the Canadiens. Obviously, it is a great accomplishment to force a decisive game 7 after being down 3-0 but the job isn't done just yet...
LET'S GO FLYERS!
I have been to baseball playoff games and the World Series, to NFL playoff and conference championship games but the intensity on the ice and in the building of an NHL post-season game is unmatched..especially with what was at stake last night.
The building was electric, especially as the game moved on with the Flyers in the lead. You could feel the excitement but also a bit of trepidation and nerves, especially as the Bruins took the play to the Flyers late in the first and throughout half the second period.
You hold your breath on each foray into the attack zone by the Bruins and then nervously exhale as each scoring opportunity gets turned away or denied, or, in my case last night, make sure my shoulder is still attached after my best friend continually grabbed it and pulled on it as the puck was steered wide or cleared from the crease.
Now, we'll see if the Flyers can finish the job tomorrow night and advance into the conference finals and earn home ice against the Canadiens. Obviously, it is a great accomplishment to force a decisive game 7 after being down 3-0 but the job isn't done just yet...
LET'S GO FLYERS!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sadly, another baseball legend, and maybe even American icon, has passed away.
Ernie Harwell truly was the definition of a distinguished gentleman; as terrific a broadcaster as he was, he was an even better human being.
Harwell and a few others like Vin Scully, who delivered a beautiful soliloquy during the Dodgers game Tuesday night, are the last of the old-school baseball announcers who are identified with the team just as much, if not more, than the players themselves. They have seen the dramatic changes in the game and are so revered and woven into the fabric of their respective cities that their losses are so real and touch so many.
For someone like me, who has been broadcasting minor league baseball with the hopes of reaching the big leagues, and the others who do what I do, we strive to have a sliver of the career with some small measure of the lasting impact that someone like Harwell has had.
Harwell and Scully are the giants of the game and it is part of our job, and duty, to know what they have accomplished and how they paved the road to make it easier for us to pursue our dreams.
I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to interview Harwell twice over the phone while doing my talk show in El Paso, Texas. The second was the day that Ted Williams was remembered at Fenway Park following his death and Harwell could not have been more gracious, more engaging, more informative and more perfectly attuned to the events of the day and their impact on Boston.
Long time Phillies announcer Harry Kalas was the reason I decided to pursue a career in baseball broadcasting and I was fortunate to meet him and tell him that in person. I also had the pleasure of interviewing him three times on my show in El Paso and was visibly saddened when he passed away last year. I closed the remaining 125 games of the 2009 season with an on-air dedication to him and can fully appreciate what the fans of the Tigers are going through as they line up to see Harwell lying in state today at the ball park.
In this ever changing and fast moving culture of ours, it is nice to see that someone can have such a profound impact on the lives of so many for doing something so fun and seemingly so simple as just broadcasting a baseball game.
Ernie Harwell truly was the definition of a distinguished gentleman; as terrific a broadcaster as he was, he was an even better human being.
Harwell and a few others like Vin Scully, who delivered a beautiful soliloquy during the Dodgers game Tuesday night, are the last of the old-school baseball announcers who are identified with the team just as much, if not more, than the players themselves. They have seen the dramatic changes in the game and are so revered and woven into the fabric of their respective cities that their losses are so real and touch so many.
For someone like me, who has been broadcasting minor league baseball with the hopes of reaching the big leagues, and the others who do what I do, we strive to have a sliver of the career with some small measure of the lasting impact that someone like Harwell has had.
Harwell and Scully are the giants of the game and it is part of our job, and duty, to know what they have accomplished and how they paved the road to make it easier for us to pursue our dreams.
I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to interview Harwell twice over the phone while doing my talk show in El Paso, Texas. The second was the day that Ted Williams was remembered at Fenway Park following his death and Harwell could not have been more gracious, more engaging, more informative and more perfectly attuned to the events of the day and their impact on Boston.
Long time Phillies announcer Harry Kalas was the reason I decided to pursue a career in baseball broadcasting and I was fortunate to meet him and tell him that in person. I also had the pleasure of interviewing him three times on my show in El Paso and was visibly saddened when he passed away last year. I closed the remaining 125 games of the 2009 season with an on-air dedication to him and can fully appreciate what the fans of the Tigers are going through as they line up to see Harwell lying in state today at the ball park.
In this ever changing and fast moving culture of ours, it is nice to see that someone can have such a profound impact on the lives of so many for doing something so fun and seemingly so simple as just broadcasting a baseball game.
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