¿Quién es plácido? ¡Polanco es plácido!

I love the Plácido Polanco signing!  He was off my radar because I assumed he would sign somewhere to play second, not third. Not to mention that I thought the Tigers would offer him arbitration.

It’s not thinking way outside the box or anything, but I definitely like having your starting 3B be your backup 2B. You keep the bat in the lineup instead of throwing Juan Castro out there, and there are more bats you can plug in at third, like Greg Dobbs.

Oh, and the dude never strikes out, for those of you who think the Phillies lineup could use a little of that.

Don’t worry about the people saying that he hasn’t played third base in four years. It’s easier than second, not harder. And it’s not like you’re asking him to learn something new; he’s played 2400 innings there in the major leagues. His defense will be fine. (Not as good as that of Pedro Feliz, whom, for the record, I would also have been happy to keep — if you’re punting offense, it had better be for one of the consensus best glovemen at the position.)

Bottom line: I’d've liked to get Chone Figgins, but this definitely beats drinking the Kool-Aid on Mark DeRosa, or rolling the dice on the health of Adrian Beltre or Troy Glaus.

December 3, 2009   Posted in: Phillies  157 Comments

Baseball success != personal character

Hatchet job anyone?  Seems like T.J. Simers and Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times were a little grumpy that they had to rewrite their pieces on deadline.

Simers:

Maybe it’s in the breeding, the Dodgers getting Sherrill from a loser like Baltimore.

…

But you know, you learn something about people, spending time in a clubhouse. Sherrill has been a loner since arriving here, an outcast really by his own choosing, and when things got their toughest for the Dodgers, he was a man on an island again — and come to think of it, that’s probably where he belongs today.

He got in trouble in the eighth, so Torre had to go to Broxton to bail him out, the Dodgers’ winning formula not accounting for that — Broxton a skittish pup with his own problems, as any seasoned Dodgers fan knows.

Plaschke:

With two out in the ninth inning Monday, two strikes from a Dodgers victory that would even this National League Championship Series, Rollins hit a two-run double into the right-field gap against Broxton to give the Philadelphia Phillies a shocking 5-4 victory and probably insurmountable three games to one lead.

But the game wasn’t lost then, Broxton fighting a fierce battle with a former league MVP.

The game was lost moments earlier, when Broxton folded in a timid battle with his ghost.

Folded! Ghost! In the breeding!

Look, I adore this Phillies team. They work really hard and they all seem like genuinely nice people (except maybe Brett Myers).

But the Dodgers are also really good players doing the best they can to win games.

This rivalry has given us some great baseball. Let’s not ruin that by confusing it for real life.

October 20, 2009   Posted in: Media, Phillies  155 Comments

Still the team to beat!

Put this one in the win column for the Fightin’ Phils! [link is video]

Just as she did during Game 4 of last year’s NLCS, Mrs. Spreadsheet (née Superstition) went upstairs and stopped watching as the Phillies trailed late. And it worked again. Jonathan Broxton must hate her.

October 20, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  175 Comments

It’s Pedro in Game 2

Looks like it’s Pedro in Game 2.

I don’t like it as much because that means Cliff Lee in Game 3, thus not again until Game 6:

  • Game 1, Thu 10/15, @LA.
    • Cole Hamels
  • Game 2, Fri 10/16, @LA.
    • Pedro Martinez
  • off Sat 10/17
  • Game 3, Sun 10/18, Phi
    • Cliff Lee
  • Game 4, Mon 10/19, Phi
    • Joe Blanton is apparently more likely to get the extra start than J.A. Happ is.
  • off Tue 10/20
  • Game 5, Wed 10/21, Phi
    • Cole Hamels, no longer starting twice in Dodger Stadium
  • off Thu 10/22
  • Game 6, Fri 10/23, @LA
    • Cliff Lee
  • Game 7, Sat 10/24, @LA
    • Pedro Martinez

And even worse: what if they can’t play in Philadelphia on Sunday night because of the weather?

  • Game 1, Thu 10/15, @LA.
    • Cole Hamels
  • Game 2, Fri 10/16, @LA.
    • Pedro Martinez
  • off Sat 10/17
  • rained out Sun 10/18
  • Game 3, Mon 10/19, Phi
    • Cliff Lee
  • Game 4, Tues 10/20, Phi
    • Joe Blanton
  • Game 5, Wed 10/21, Phi
    • Cole Hamels
  • off Thu 10/22
  • Game 6, Fri 10/23, @LA
    • Cliff Lee on short rest after all?  Might as well have pitched him in Game 2. Or Pedro Martinez? It might depend on whether the Phils are up 3-2 or down 3-2 in the series.
  • Game 7, Sat 10/24, @LA
    • Pedro Martinez or Cliff Lee

I say don’t take the chance. Pitch Lee on short rest in Game 2 in warm sunny Los Angeles.

By the way, I am hoping the Sunday night game does get postponed. We have tickets to Game 4, and I teach Monday nights.

October 15, 2009   Posted in: Phillies  421 Comments

NLCS rotation prediction

Let’s see if I can get my predicted rotation in before the beat writers land in Philadelphia:
  • Game 1, Thu 10/15, @LA.
    • Cole Hamels obviously starts Game 1, never goes on short rest because he’s Cole Hamels.
  • Game 2, Fri 10/16, @LA.
    • Cliff Lee. On short rest, but if you wait until Game 3 you don’t get him until Game 6, and I want Cliff Lee pitching twice in the first five games, period. And I’d rather have him pitching on short rest in Dodger Stadium than Citizens Bank Park.
  • off Sat 10/17
  • Game 3, Sun 10/18, Phi
    • J.A. Happ. And Joe Blanton in relief if necessary, as in the NLDS.
  • Game 4, Mon 10/19, Phi
    • Joe Blanton, or Pedro Martinez if Blanton pitches in Game 3.
  • off Tue 10/20
  • Game 5, Wed 10/21, Phi
    • Cliff Lee on normal rest.
  • off Thu 10/22
  • Game 6, Fri 10/23, @LA
    • Cole Hamels. I know it’s a small sample size, but Hamels has pitched 16 innings at Dodger Stadium and allowed 8 singles, 2 doubles, and 2 walks. That’s .182/.211/.218.
  • Game 7, Sat 10/24, @LA
    • Hall of Famer Pedro Jaime Martinez. Call it a hunch.
    • Whoever the starter is, if he struggles early, everyone but Hamels is available.

October 13, 2009   Posted in: Phillies  264 Comments

2009 NLCS

Anyone else get the feeling that this NLCS rematch isn’t going to be over in five games?

October 12, 2009   Posted in: Phillies  210 Comments

NLDS MVP

is Mrs. Spreadsheet, who went to the kitchen to not watch the ninth inning. It worked. Yes, we are a bit superstitious.

October 12, 2009   Posted in: Phillies  202 Comments

Game 1

Sir Spreadsheet will be missing the last couple innings of Game 1. Why? Because he has class. He would skip class, but he is in fact the instructor. What is he teaching people about? Spreadsheets, of course.

October 5, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  410 Comments

PPP

NL East threePPPeat. Let’s do this!

September 30, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  208 Comments

The Machine

By the way, everything I said yesterday about the 1975 Reds bullpen came from reading baseball-reference.com; I don’t actually have other knowledge about them.

But I am very much looking forward to reading The Machine by Joe Posnanski, which Mrs. Spreadsheet picked up for me today.

I’m sure he does a much better job explaining what the thinking was and why the 1975-76 Reds are the worst example I could have picked. In my defense, I picked them because of Joe Morgan.

September 24, 2009   Posted in: Uncategorized  138 Comments