Ryne Sandberg, the Hall of Fame second baseman who was drafted by the Phillies in 1978 and then played 13 games in Philly before infamously being given away to the Cubs, made the news recently. But not necessarily for something good. Or even for something he was a part of.
In a downright scary basebrawl, Sandberg's team, the Peoria Chiefs mixed it up with the Dayton Dragons. During the ugly scuffle, which you can see on any number of videos on YouTube, Julio Castillo of the Chiefs rifled a ball towards the Dragons' dugout, but instead nailed a fan in the face. Interestingly, Sandberg, the team's manager, was in Cooperstown during this debacle, but I can just imagine his reaction when hearing this news...
(Phone rings)
"Hello?"
"Hey Coach! It's me, Julio!"
"Hey Julio, how are you buddy? Sorry I couldn't be there for today's game... how'd we do?"
"Well funny story, Coach..."
"Excellent, I love funny stories!"
"Heheh, ummm, yeah about that. I don't really have time to explain right now because I'm kind of in jail."
"What?!? Jail? I leave you alone for one weekend and you call to tell me you're in jail? What did I tell you about having liquor in the clubhouse?"
"Well, it was a little more than that. I kind of, umm, launched a ball at a fan's face."
"You launched a ball... wait, was he trying to run on the field to attack you?"
"Umm, no, not really. I was aiming for the Dragons' dugout and then..."
"Wait, you mean to tell me you were aiming for the other team's dugout and you hit a fan in the face??"
"Yeah"
"Okay, that's all I need to hear. From now on, you're showing up to practice two hours early to work on your pitching..."
Okay, so I jest about this sad situation, and I can't imagine the position that Sandberg's in. Hopefully they iron this out and I'm sure Castillo, and his teammates, will be punished harshly for his barbaric actions. What it comes down to is, you don't cross a man known as "Ryno" and get away unscathed... the Phils learned that the hard way.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Phillies Notes: A Word on Slumps
It's been almost a month since my last post on this here blog. I guess you could say I've been in a slump when it comes to blog posting. I can't blame it on a broken keyboard, just lack of time or thoughts on what to write.
Similarly, "slump" seems to be a common thing for the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies.
I know that Charlie Manuel doesn't like to call it a "slump" when a hitter can't get a hit for an extended period of time. But whatever you call it, (a funk, not seeing the ball well, a cold streak, etc.) it can be ugly, and this year the evil slump has reared it's ugly head for Phils' hitters quite frequently.
Just out of curiosity I did a quick Google search for "Phillies 2008 hitting slumps" and I got a veritable buffet of hits (no pun intended) on the subject. And interestingly, just on the first page alone there is a diverse listing of names in the headlines. Here are the headlines of some of the top 10 results:
-Phillies Notes: Slumping Jenkins working on swing | Philadelphia ...
-DelcoTimes - Shane's slump buster a beauty as Phils rally to top Mets
-Phillies offense going through epic slump
-Ryan Howard's Slump - Philadelphia Phillies, Baseball
-FOX Sports on MSN: Chase Utley, Second Base, Phillies, MLB
-Slumping Burrell given rest vs. Astros | Phillies.com: News
What this tells me is that there is a dangerous trend going on with the Phillies hitters. Collectively, they are an offensive powerhouse, pumping out homers, runs, and RBIs... which is good. But strangely the hitters are quite manic on an individual level. To demonstrate the hitters' struggles this year, here are some slump statistics that I dug up from the articles found in my search, with links back to the articles if you care to read more:
-Geoff "Jenkins entered last night hitless in his last 26 at-bats with just two hits in his last 41 at-bats."
-Shane "Victorino's recent struggles - he was in a 3-for-28 slide when he stepped to the plate in the ninth..."
-Chase "Utley's double in the third inning on Sunday ended an 0-for-24 skid at the plate."
-Pat "Burrell, who hit .326 through the end of April, had gone 3-for-27 the previous eight games, including 0-for-11 the last three..."
-Carlos "Ruiz is stuck in an 8-for-60 slide that dates to May 25."
-Ryan "Howard, who is hitting .176 with 34 strikeouts in 85 at-bats..."
-I know that Chris Coste also had a big slump recently and went 20+ at bats without getting a hit during the middle of July.
-And So Taguchi, by my calculations, had only 3 hits in 22 at-bats (all three in one game, BTW) during a cold snap this year.
Hopefully this year's round of batting slumps for the Phillies will be on a decline from here on out. I realize it's a long season and hitting in and of itself is a tremendously challenging thing to do, but this inconsistency is uncharacteristic of this bunch of otherwise stellar hitters.
As for me, if the Phils' hitters keep getting into these hitting funks, I might have to break a bat over my head just watching them continue to unfold. And recognizing that slumps can affect us all, I will be hitting the keyboard more often to keep my blog posts flowing. I certainly don't want my Philly sports blog to hit a cold snap...
(Note: photo from Getty Images)
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