Archive for 21. July 2008
Jimmy Rollins: “We don’t get concerned until late.”
21. July 2008 by Glendo.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, frustrated with his team’s offense, and he let it be known after the Phillies wasted a golden effort from ace Cole Hamels in losing, 3-2, in 11 innings to the Florida Marlins yesterday, had this to say after the Phillies loss to the Marlins. “It’s going to be hard for us to win” if situational hitting does not improve, Manuel said. “[On Saturday], we hit all those balls down to third base in one inning - absolutely bad hitting. I’m not trying to hurt anybody’s feelings, but if I do, if I’m talking about you, that’s good. I mean to be talking about you.
“We hit enough. We talk enough [about situational hitting]. We’ve got to get it done. A lot of it is me. It’s up to me to make us try to get it done.
“Accountability is fine, but if you don’t execute, something’s wrong.”
I hear everybody [praise] our lineup, but evidently they don’t really evaluate our lineup right,” he said. “It’s not like I’m throwing anybody under the bus, because I’m not. It’s about our team. I’m included in that.”
In one breath, Manuel said the team had several elite hitters. In another, he indicated that those hitters were underachieving.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who has struggled to match last year’s MVP season, was unfazed by Manuel’s criticism.
“He’s pretty much right, but we’ll get out of it,” Rollins said. “We don’t get concerned until late. Coaches do that now. We go play.”
Why is that, Jimmy? Sounds pretty ridiculous to me. Why not get after it now? What’s with all the glib assumptions that the Phillies are always going to be able to pull out all the stops when they ‘need’ to in September? You must remember the Phillies were handed the division last year. Oh Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.
Celtics Re-Sign Two
21. July 2008 by rich.
The Celtics re-signed two key ingredients to their Championship run early Monday morning. Eddie House and Tony Allen were rewarded with two year deals (financial terms of the deal yet to be disclosed) and will be returning to the Celtics in 2008-2009. Happy times!!
P.S. I would have been quite upset if we lost Eddie, because then his son wouldn’t be around on the bench anymore!
Mets Notes
21. July 2008 by Glendo.
Billy Wagner, who will have a precautionary MRI on Monday, told reporters his shoulder has been bothering him for the last two weeks, but is not worried about his condition. Wagner experienced a stiff shoulder in yesterdays game, he did however strikeout the side for his 24th save in a Mets 7-5 win.
During yesterday’s win over the Reds, Mike Pelfrey pitched seven innings, allowing five runs on six hits (3 HR) and one walk, while striking out four. Pelfrey, on having the confidence to pitch through a tough outing: “I feel like i’m getting better. Not pitching in nine days, my command was a little off. Especially with the sinker. My sinker wasn’t very good today. That is my out pitch and it wasn’t very good and command wise it was a little off.”
Carlos Delgado continues to play very well after going 3-4 yesterday with 2 RBIs. Delgado is now batting .419 in July with a .726 SLG%. Delgado needs to keep this up as the Mets now find them selves in the thick of a pennant race.
Now, here he is again, starting off another series vs. Philadelphia. But on Tuesday, it will be at Shea Stadium, the Mets will have a winning record, and, thanks to a lengthy pre-break winning streak started the very next game after Santana’s Independence Day no-decision,the Mets are even with the Phillies and have a chance to seize control of the National League East.
An opportunity sits at Santana’s feet once more, and the winless streak hasn’t dogged Santana since he picked up his long-awaited eighth victory of the season against the Giants, immediately following the last Phillies series. As of July 17, though, the tables turned again, and Santana will return to New York needing to shake off four innings against the Reds where he surrendered five earned runs.
A four-game split with the Reds may have slowed some of the Mets’ momentum in recent days, but New York’s continual want for wins could never be at a greater level this week. The Mets will also have a shot at another postseason contender, the Cardinals, directly after a three-game set with Philadelphia.
New York might not need to worry about St. Louis and the NL Wild Card if it can consistently take care of the Phillies, though. The Mets already have more wins against Philadelphia this season than they did all of last year, posting a 7-3 record so far this season as opposed to a 6-12 mark in 2007.
This is the reason the Mets got Santana, he can earn his Met’s colors on Tuesday night.
Taylor to the Skins
21. July 2008 by rich.
Late Sunday evening the Washington Redskins acquired former Defensive POY and Pro-Bowl defensive end Jason Taylor from the Miami Dolphins for a 2nd rd. pick in ‘09 and a 6th rd. pick in ‘10 . The move comes after losing their starting DE, Phillip Daniels, to a torn ACL on the first day of camp.
High risk, high reward move for the ‘Skins. Taylor has gone on the record as saying this will be his last year. But, if he has a solid year, who knows…A risk the ‘Skins had to take & a relationship the ‘Fins had to cut ties with.
On a personal note, no longer will I have to worry about Taylor hunting down Jets QB’s =)
