Tag Archive: domonic brown

Are They Who We Thought They Were?

June 5, 2013 Randy Neil

Fresh off the longest win-streak of the 2013 season, the Philadelphia Phillies are back at .500 (30-30) which leaves a very important question to be asked: Who are these guys?

I don’t know. Charlie Manuel doesn’t know. Ruben Amaro Jr. definitely doesn’t know. In the not so distant future, the front office of this ball club is going to have to make a definite move that shapes the remainder of the season.

Certainly, Domonic Brown is having the best season of his career. Leading the national league in home runs, being named the NL Player of the Month, and earning the NL Player of the Week award back-to-back are all incredibly positive feats that can offer hope for this ball club.

Roy Halladay gave more hopeful news in his press conference this week, alluding to the fact that he will return this season and his surgery went successfully as expected. Doc even noted that his range of motion, even a mere week after the surgery, is better than it has been in years. All signs point to him returning to the lineup this summer, possibly healthier than he’s ever been in a Phillies uniform.

Howard, Utley, and Ruiz were all playing at the start of this season, but have had their own obstacles to overcome. Howard has been consistent, but below average, in his offensive output and would even tell you himself that he’s not living up to his potential. Utley and Ruiz have both been riddled with injuries that leave question marks around their contributions come “make-a-run” time, if that ever happens.

Which leads to the less-desired question that the Phillies front-office will have to answer: Is it time to abandon ship?

Up until 4 days ago, the Phillies looked all but doomed. Michael and Delmon Young have just not lived up to the expectations we had going into this season. Michael Young is second in the league for GIDP and boasts a meager 10 RBIs. Their defense has definitely been the major reason for their playing time.

No one expected Cole Hamel’s record to be 2-9 at this point, but our offense (and his pitching in some cases) has been less than consistent. Cliff Lee trade rumors have been coming out of the wood-works. Lee, when questioned on whether he thinks he will get traded or not, even admitted that he thought it was likely. He certainly stands as the most valuable commodity the organization has, and if they decide to pump the brakes for this season, consider him gone.

That’s what it really all boils down to for this club. The consistency just simply hasn’t been there. Winning spurts like the one we are currently in (knocks on wood) are few and far between. The losses have been just too discouraging at times. The next month is going to be pivotal. The hump of .500 has finally been conquered, but all too often do I hear the phrase “gain some momentum” being used without any follow through.

I’ve seen stranger things happen… but just don’t get your hopes too high Phillies fans.

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Welp, We’re Back Where We Started

May 20, 2013 Randy Neil

Just a day after the miraculous 9th-inning rally over the Reds and elite closer Aroldis Chapman, the Phillies fell to the Marlins 5-1 and put up another poor offensive start. The rare highlight of the evening was Domonic Brown’s solo shot and stolen base.

Rumor has it that the almost untouchable Chapman blew yesterday’s save because he ate too many pastries… according to Phillies’ español broadcaster Rickie Ricardo. Apparently, Mr. Ricardo had ordered a box of 100 cream cheese and guava pastries and presented them as a gift to Chapman. He ate 18 and then blew the save. If that’s our key to victory, then Chollie needs to be hitting up Tastykake on a daily basis (for more than just his usual chocolate Kreamies fix.)

Cole Hamels pitched another decent game, in most respects, but fell to 1-7 on the year. Hamels left in the 7th with a 1-run deficit, and the combination of DeFractus/Aumont helped pad the lead for the Marlins.

Story has it that Cole Hamels hasn’t pitched with a lead since April 7th. Yeesh. It really seems like every time we get some momentum, it’s spoiled with some absolutely depressing, humbling, pathetic loss to a lower caliber team. Cheers to that.

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Everybody is Coming Up Short This Summer

July 6, 2011 Randy Neil

Baseball umpires are ejecting people like crazy. There have been 15 ejections in the past 5 days. A majority of these are coming because of the poor calls umpires are making, themselves. Although this may be a little excessive, the baseball officiating system is still about as terrible as it ever was.

People like the human element of baseball. It’s why so many people fight technology when the issue gets brought up. Of course it sucks when a strike zone is all over the place. I want to blow my brains out when a game ends on a looking strike out because it was clearly a ball and the umpire was just trying to wrap things up. They get lazy. They’re human.

It still is a lot of fun to include them, though. I’d like to think there are an equal amount of bad calls for ‘safe’ as there are ‘out.’

The problem lies when the umpires start getting a little too testy or lazy. Cameron Maybin was put on base after a 3-ball walk that everyone in the entire stadium messed up on. The scoreboard was wrong. The ump was wrong. The players missed it. The coaches missed it. How did 30,000 people miss this? There was probably some poor old man in the stands who was wretchedly shifting in his seat, mumbling under his breath, AND he noticed it. “Kids these days….”

Two nights ago during the Phils/Marlins game, Domonic Brown was called safe on a play at the plate. After some instant replay, it was obvious his foot bounced perfectly over the plate and never touched it. He should have been called out, technically. 80-year-old Jack McKeon was ejected that game for fighting with the umpires, but he was right. The running theme seems to be that old people possess super human-like intelligence and should never be called wrong. Age should be the deciding factor in all arguments.

My only defense for that particular matter is this : the infield-fly rule. What I mean by that is the decision umpires will make in regards to what they believe to be a “catchable” ball. It gets ruled an out regardless of what transpires afterwards. This is based on intentions and circumstances. Now I say this because even though Domonic Brown’s foot technically skimmed over home plate and never touched it, he still had John Buck beat at the plate and was going to score. He should have made that slide and been safe, just as a hit can be ruled an error. You judge circumstances.

Don’t buy that? Well… neither do I… but still…

I’m just trying to come up with an argument as to why we shouldn’t have instant replay. There is going to be an onslaught of ‘replay’ talks this week. Get ready for ’em.

Another cliche category that is going to get some coverage this week is our lovely friend, steroids. Albert Pujols recovered from an injury that was diagnosed to take 6-8 weeks in around 2. That, combined with the fact that Mark McGwire is his hitting coach, has a lot of people speculating over the special kind of HGH he’s taking.

I know what it’s called. Stem cells. Some incredible doctor injected a batch of awesome into his arm, and BAM, just like that, he’s back to putting up big numbers for his contract year. Stem cells don’t show up on a drug test right?

Since we’re on the subject of coming up short, Roy Williams proposed to his super-hot, beauty-pageant winning girlfriend and she turned him down. Now he’s trying to sue her for the $76k ring she kept. Why wouldn’t she give the ring back right then and there you ask? Well, because the proposal was through a video recording he mailed to her on Valentine’s Day. Fuck, that’s sad.

Alright, that’s it for today folks.

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Happy Headrush 4th of July!

July 1, 2011 Adam Thomas

Yea!  It’s that time of the year again, time to pack up the old Suby and hit the slower lower for some BBQ, beaches and pine cone baseball!  If you don’t know what pine cone baseball is, then I don’t know what to tell you. On to the thoughts!

1.) I read an article in Details magazine titled “Shia LeBeouf: Hollywood’s Last Badboy.”  That title is kind of like saying, “The Sun: The Galaxy’s Last Moon.”  What is badass about LeBeouf you ask?  Well, he is happy to tell you!  Apparently, he went to Taco Bell (or some other place, I’m not reading the article again to confirm) with Megan Fox and the guy behind the counter said something mean to her and so he hopped the counter and commenced to wail on the guy.  Now, I don’t know what Shia LeBeouf “wailing” on a Taco Bell employee looks like, but I imagine it’s lots of pushing, open handed slaps and Cinnamon Twists to the eyes.

LeBeouf also once took a paparazzi’s camera equipment and held it inside his house until the cops came and then he gave it to them.  BAD! ASS! Holy shit that is such a hardcore story, I dunno if I can take anymore.  Oh, and then he said that he and actor Tom Hardy (the cool guy from “Inception”) got into a fight backstage or something after Hardy teased him, and from that point on, Hardy knew not to mess with LeBeouf.  Good stuff.

He also drinks and skate boards and smokes and spits.  So bad ass.

2.) Is anyone else worried that Domonic Brown talks in the third person?  “Not hustling, not running balls out, that’s just not Domonic Brown.”  Ugh!  Also, how come every time I bench this fool on my fantasy team in favor of the Rockie’s Seth Smith, Smith goes 0-4 and Brown hits two homeruns?  WHY!  (Sidenote: The Wolfman is up by 21.5 games in one league I am in.  21.5!  That is insanity.)

3.) Yesterday I took a trip to Best Buy and they had a bin of movies for 4.99 (or maybe 3.99) and one of them was three movies in one: Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Scared Stupid and Ernest Goes to Camp.  Naturally, I picked that up (along with Jerry McGuire and Cast Away) only to think about it and decide that I didn’t REALLY need those movies.

I am regretting that decision.

4.) Anyone else find it odd that the only black character in Wedding Crashers is a servant who speaks in an odd Jamaican accent?  I really think that he is the ONLY black character in the whole movie, including extras.  How did they get away with that? By the way, the actor who plays the butler is named Ron Canada.  How great of a name is that?  It’s not quite Wings Hauser or Treat Williams, but it’s close.

5.) CM Punk’s promo on Monday Night was pure gold.  Holy crap, that thing was a classic.  I’m very interested to see where the WWE goes from here.

6.) Did you know that after racking up SIXTY BILLION DOLLARS worth of debt and having to be bailed out by the government and the American taxpayers, AIG announced that they were giving out $165 MILLION DOLLARS in executive bonuses?  Hahahahahaha holy shit!  Doesn’t that just make you freaking so angry?  How EVIL is that? I can picture the board room now:

“Well, we did just lose SIXTY BILLION DOLLARS and have to be bailed out by the government and the American people…you know what? I think we deserve some bonuses!”

And we wonder why we are having economic troubles.

What a joke.  If you want a good read on the ineptitude of companies like AIG, I suggest you read Michael Lewis’ “The Big Short” which focuses on the sub-prime mortgage and credit default swap fiasco.

On that joyful note:

Have a happy 4th of July everyone!

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Domonic Brown, Doc Halladay, and Roy Oswalt walk into a bar…

July 29, 2010 Randy Neil

alt

A few weeks ago, the Phillies seemed hopeless.  The team has lost 11 of 18 since July 1st.  They dropped 7 games back in the division, and their offensive rank in the NL had dropped from 2nd to 12th. 

Although the Phillies line-up was often reduced due to injuries, on July 22nd, Charlie Manuel said goodbye to hitting coach Milt Thompson in an attempt to shake up the ball club.  Greg Gross, the former hitting coach, replaced him, and it was met with immediate success.

In fact, as of now, success is a poor word.  It’s been perfection.  The Phillies have gone 7-0 since the replacement, and have had 4 games with 6 runs or more. 

Last night was one of those games, and I managed to make it down to Citizens Bank Park to catch what is now once again a beautiful team to watch.  

Due to Shane Victorino’s abdominal strain (on a routine pop up mind you,) the highly anticipated Domonic Brown was called up from Triple-A to make his debut for the Phillies last night, starting in right field.  Werth was moved to center, and they both batted in the 5th and 6th positions in the line-up.  

Before Brown’s named was even announced for the at-bat, the 45,000+ in attendance were standing in ovation for the debut.  There was a feeling in the air something special was happening and I was glad to witness from 20 rows back behind home plate. 

The prospect flourished in the minor leagues, and all the hype building up to last night made what happened even more special.  Domonic went 2-3, scoring an RBI double in his first at bat.  Overall, he had 2 runs, 2 RBIs and a sacrifice fly for the night.  Not too bad for your first game in the major leagues.  

It was also nice to see Roy Halladay finally pitch, and he was outstanding.  6 hits, 9 strike-outs, 1 earned run.  Doctor’s doing some surgery.

The Phillies finally have momentum carrying into the stretch, and with news of Roy Oswalt coming to town, things should only get better from here on out.

altEarlier this morning, news was released that the Astros and Phillies have come to an agreement for Roy Oswalt to come to Philadelphia.  The sad news is most likely J.A. Happ is going to Houston.  I’m not a big fan of this, but something of this magnitude was going to require a little sacrifice.  Another prospect being speculated in the trade is Triple-A 1st basemen Jonathan Singleton.  We’re pretty OK on the first basemen front, so I think I’ll be able to sleep at night.

None of the official names or figures are being released, and there are still possibilities of Joe Blanton being the pitcher to go (hopefully,) but according to the Phillies official website, a deal is “in-place” and it’s awaiting Oswalt’s OK.  This is going to happen, and it will probably happen by the end of the day.

The Phillies are getting back to their form, and a Halladay-Oswalt-Hamels starting rotation sounds pretty damn good to me.  The Phillies projected starting line-up has only been on the field 8 times this year.  With that number set to increase in the upcoming weeks, and a stronger starting pitching rotation, I’d expect to see the Braves’ 3.5 game lead in the division diminish.  

Do work, fellas.

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