Phillies 2013 "Road to Redemption" Thread

[Franks Tanks]

I'm very interested in seeing how Brown plays out this year. If he becomes the monster he was always projected to be, then he could possibly replace Howard in the 4th spot.

I sure hope so, but not sure Brown will ever have that kind of power.

[Ibanez]

Chase Utley today: "I feel pretty damn good right now."

"We'll get them tomorrow coach."

[93henfan]

<clears throat>




E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!!!

[bluehenbillk]

Has there been a worse time to be a Philly sports fan? All 4 teams suck.

[grizzaholic]

[GannonFan]

Has there been a worse time to be a Philly sports fan? All 4 teams suck.

I don't think it would be hard to find that being the case often in the past. Hence why Philly fans are such great sports fans - our teams suck balls pretty much most of the time and yet we still hang in there. If this was Miami or Arizona the stadiums would be empty pretty much all the time.

[93henfan]

Has there been a worse time to be a Philly sports fan? All 4 teams suck.

I don't think it would be hard to find that being the case often in the past. Hence why Philly fans are such great sports fans - our teams suck balls pretty much most of the time and yet we still hang in there. If this was Miami or Arizona the stadiums would be empty pretty much all the time.

Amen.

I think the Eagles will be back within three years. The Phillies are probably on a long, slow death spiral.

[andy7171]

Has there been a worse time to be a Philly sports fan? All 4 teams suck.

I don't think it would be hard to find that being the case often in the past. Hence why Philly fans are such great sports fans - our teams suck balls pretty much most of the time and yet we still hang in there. If this was Miami or Arizona the stadiums would be empty pretty much all the time.

[Ibanez]

Has there been a worse time to be a Philly sports fan? All 4 teams suck.

I don't think it would be hard to find that being the case often in the past. Hence why Philly fans are such great sports fans - our teams suck balls pretty much most of the time and yet we still hang in there. If this was Miami or Arizona the stadiums would be empty pretty much all the time.

That is a fair assessment.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

I haven't given up the Phillies yet! (maybe I will if they lose tonight)

[GannonFan]

I don't think it would be hard to find that being the case often in the past. Hence why Philly fans are such great sports fans - our teams suck balls pretty much most of the time and yet we still hang in there. If this was Miami or Arizona the stadiums would be empty pretty much all the time.

Philly fan envy noted.

Interesting note as a kid we were going down to a Baltimore Orioles game at Memorial Stadium for a change from going to pretty much all Phillies games. My mom told us before we went that Baltimore fans were very different and they were very supportive of their team and that it would be an entirely different from what we'd come to expect at Phillies games. We even got to see future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer pitch that day, in the twilight of his career (must have been something like 1981 or 1982). Lo and behold, Palmer has a bad game, gets pulled in like the 5th or 6th, and gets greeted by a hearty chorus of boos and vulgarities on his way to the dugout. Yup, very different indeed.

[Seahawks08]

I think the Eagles will be back within three years. The Phillies are probably on a long, slow death spiral.

A team with a $150M+ payroll will never stay down for long. A team with Lee and Hamels anchoring the rotation for the next couple of years will never be a "bad" team. Even the bullpen looks to be set for the foreseeable future. The problem of course will be the offense and the phils can just buy FAs and combine them with players like Ashe and other prospects.

[93henfan]

I think the Eagles will be back within three years. The Phillies are probably on a long, slow death spiral.

A team with a $150M+ payroll will never stay down for long. A team with Lee and Hamels anchoring the rotation for the next couple of years will never be a "bad" team. Even the bullpen looks to be set for the foreseeable future. The problem of course will be the offense and the phils can just buy FAs and combine them with players like Ashe and other prospects.

The Yankees always have the highest payroll and they missed the playoffs 11 straight seasons 1965-75 and 13 straight seasons 1982-1994. Payroll means nothing if you don't have a solid core of everyday players.

[BlueHen86]

I think the Eagles will be back within three years. The Phillies are probably on a long, slow death spiral.

A team with a $150M+ payroll will never stay down for long. A team with Lee and Hamels anchoring the rotation for the next couple of years will never be a "bad" team. Even the bullpen looks to be set for the foreseeable future. The problem of course will be the offense and the phils can just buy FAs and combine them with players like Ashe and other prospects.

I think the "window" is closing on the Phils, if it hasn't already closed. I think they have a chance to make some noise this year, but their stars are aging. If they fall out of contention they will be sellers at the trade deadline and Lee will be one of the few players of value that they have to offer. I hope that I'm wrong, but I think the Phils are clearly on the decline.

[BlueHen86]

Phils get their first win of the season as Cliff Lee goes 8 innings in a 2-0 win at Atlanta.

[Ivytalk]

Phils get their first win of the season as Cliff Lee goes 8 innings in a 2-0 win at Atlanta.

Off the schneid!!!

[Seahawks08]

The Yankees always have the highest payroll and they missed the playoffs 11 straight seasons 1965-75 and 13 straight seasons 1982-1994. Payroll means nothing if you don't have a solid core of everyday players.

Did I not just say that the offense will be the problem? They don't need to pay for any more starters and have the closer they want. Therefore, they can develop players like Ashe, Brown, and Revere while they pay for other free agents to fill up the lineup. It is feasible, but the problem of course comes from what Bluehen said in trading away Lee. That would be troublesome unless we got back someone like Profar from Texas.

[bluehenbillk]

Lee was nasty last night!! The offense needs to wake up though.

[GannonFan]

Hopefully Hamels paid attention last night and saw the value of a top line starting pitcher doing what he's supposed to do. Halladay is clearly going to have issues, and there's only so much you can ask of your 4th and 5th starters, no matter what team you are. But you need the aces on your staff (Hamels and Lee) to act like aces if you're going to win.

Pappellbonn looked pretty good too. Let's get to him more often.

[93henfan]

Phils give up 19 hits and 13 runs in the home opener.

To the Royals.

Nice.

I thought the $150M payroll made them good.

[BlueHen86]

The Yankees always have the highest payroll and they missed the playoffs 11 straight seasons 1965-75 and 13 straight seasons 1982-1994. Payroll means nothing if you don't have a solid core of everyday players.

Did I not just say that the offense will be the problem? They don't need to pay for any more starters and have the closer they want. Therefore, they can develop players like Ashe, Brown, and Revere while they pay for other free agents to fill up the lineup. It is feasible, but the problem of course comes from what Bluehen said in trading away Lee. That would be troublesome unless we got back someone like Profar from Texas.

I'm far more worried about the starting pitching than I am the offense. I think the Phils will score runs this year, but if Lee and Hamels are the only reliable starters the offense better win some 10-9 games.

[BlueHen86]

Phils give up 19 hits and 13 runs in the home opener.

To the Royals.

Nice.

I thought the $150M payroll made them good.

If payroll was all that mattered the Yankees would never lose.

[93henfan]

Phils give up 19 hits and 13 runs in the home opener.

To the Royals.

Nice.

I thought the $150M payroll made them good.

If payroll was all that mattered the Yankees would never lose.

That's precisely what I told our Seahawks fan friend a few posts up.

The Yankees always have the highest payroll and they missed the playoffs 11 straight seasons 1965-75 and 13 straight seasons 1982-1994. Payroll means nothing if you don't have a solid core of everyday players.

[BlueHen86]

If payroll was all that mattered the Yankees would never lose.

That's precisely what I told our Seahawks fan friend a few posts up.

The Yankees always have the highest payroll and they missed the playoffs 11 straight seasons 1965-75 and 13 straight seasons 1982-1994. Payroll means nothing if you don't have a solid core of everyday players.

I know. He tends to dig himself into a hole and then try and get out of it by digging some more.

[AZGrizFan]

Have the fightin' fils won a game yet?