Charlie Manuel Watch Thread - 2010 Edition

[93henfan]

Madson's gone until the All-Star break, though. Hopefully that will give him time to work through his anger issues. And issues with chairs too.

The issue that Madson needs to work on most is his sucking issue. That's what led to his anger issue and his chair issue.

[GannonFan]

Madson's gone until the All-Star break, though. Hopefully that will give him time to work through his anger issues. And issues with chairs too.

The issue that Madson needs to work on most is his sucking issue. That's what led to his anger issue and his chair issue.

Well, keeping him out of the 9th inning and save situations is a start to help solve that - we found out last year he couldn't take the pressure - not sure why we thought this year would be any different.

[93henfan]

The issue that Madson needs to work on most is his sucking issue. That's what led to his anger issue and his chair issue.

Well, keeping him out of the 9th inning and save situations is a start to help solve that - we found out last year he couldn't take the pressure - not sure why we thought this year would be any different.

You know Uncle Chuck: uber-loyal, sometimes to a fault. I can't complain too much though. That clubhouse is absolutely tight under that old man.

[GannonFan]

Nice outing by Kendrick last night, and the bullpen was quiet and effective. Phils keep showing the grit by making the most of the hits they get, and they take a nice 4-0 win over the Cards. With Halladay on the hill this afternoon there's a good chance to take 3 of 4 from the Cards. The Phils are enjoying finally getting to have some home games after a road-heavy April. If the pitching keeps looking like this (Blanton is nice to have back in the fold, Hamels certainly looks better than last year even if he's still a little loopy in the head, and hopefully Happ comes back by the end of the month) the Phils should coast this year. So far so good, even with a ton of injuries.

[bluehenbillk]

Nice to read tha J-Roll is finally making progress, they're targeting him returning in about 10 days, after the Phils come back from their COL/MIL road trip.

[93henfan]

Hall of Famer Robin Roberts has passed, at age 83.

I have a copy of his book "My Life in Baseball" that he signed for me at either the Vet or CBP; I forget which. Anyway, I went down in the middle of an inning and there was no one there but him and an employee ringing up the book. He was a super nice guy.

From the Daily News:

Phillies legend Robin Roberts dies

Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Staff Report

Phillies icon Robin Roberts, who was a key member of the 1950 Whiz Kids, died this morning at his Temple Terrace, Fla., home from natural causes, the Phillies said. Roberts was 83.

He spent 14 years with the Phillies (1948-61) posting a 234-199 record, before stints with Baltimore, Houston and Chicago, compiling a 286-245 record with a 3.41 ERA for his 19-year career. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

"Dad didn’t miss a Phillies game on television, including last night. He really loved this team and was so thrilled that he was included in the World Series festivities the last two years," said his son, Jim. "He’d sit there and would comment, 'Did you see Jimmy make that play... Chase can really play this game… My man Jayson is some kind of an athlete… Did you see that change-up from Cole... How strong is Ryan... Roy makes pitching look so easy and it isn’t… I wish I had Brad’s slider... Shane can fly, can’t he?.'"

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Roberts started three games on the final five days of the 1950 season and was the winning pitcher in a victory over the Dodgers that gave the Phillies their first pennant in 35 years. Roberts won 20 games that season, becoming the team’s first 20-game winner since Grovery Cleveland Alexander in 1917.

Roberts was born in Springfield, Ill., and attended Michigan State University to play basketball, not baseball. He was a two-time captain of the hoops team but his professional future was in baseball.

He made his big-league debut on June 18, 1948.

Roberts was a workhorse as the Phillies made the 1950 World Series and continued their success. Between 1950 and 1955 Roberts won 20 games each season, leading the NL in victories from 1952 to 1955. Six times he led the league in games started, five times in complete games and innings pitched, and once pitched 28 complete games in a row.

Roberts won a career-high 28 games in 1952. In 1953, he went 23-16 and lead the NL in strikeouts with 198.

He was sold to the Yankees after the 1961 season and has his Phillies jersey retired before a spring training game against the Yankees in Clearwater. It was the first jersey retired by the team.

After his big-league career ended in 1966 with the Cubs, he pitched for the Reading Phillies in 1967 before retiring.

He then coached the University of South Florida baseball team from 1977-85.

Man, I hope I go out like that: watching the Phillies win, hitting the rack, and passing quietly in my sleep.

[93henfan]

Hot damn! First two Cards get on base and then Halladay gets Pujols to ground into a double play and Holliday to ground to short.

Then in the bottom of the first, complete opposite. Lohse gets out the first two batters, then Utley singles, Howard walks, and Werth plunks one into the right field seats. 3-0.

[GannonFan]

Phils up 6-1 now - Ibanez with a homer to lead off the bottom of the 5th off the new Cards reliever. Halladay is actually working today - up to 83 pitches through 5 innings. Doubt we'll see a complete game today unless the Cards start to go real quiet over the next few innings. Halladay did strike out Matt Holliday on a bases loaded, full count to end the top half of the 5th.

I saw a funny picture - they had pics from the dugout showing the Robin Roberts jersey hanging there and in one of the pics you could see Jamie Moyer sitting by it - Jamie's probably the only guy on the team who remembers what those jerseys look like.

[93henfan]

Halladay did strike out Matt Holliday on a bases loaded, full count to end the top half of the 5th.

That was a beauty. The home plate ump has been squeezing him all day, which is why his pitch count is up. He threw a strike three to Pujols in the previous at bat on a full count and the ump called it a ball to load the bases. Roy was letting the ump know he was pissed and I'm surprised Chuck didn't get tossed with his verbal barrage from the dugout. Then on 2-2 to Holliday, Roy threw another one that was really close (it was a ball on replay, but the fans couldn't tell) and the whole stadium was serenading the ump. Then Roy ended it with the pitch you mentioned. The guy is just a stud. He had another discussion with the ump when the inning was over.

[Ivytalk]

Two straight home series wins against tough clubs. Next victims: the Braves. Let's get Bobby Cox started toward retirement in style!

[93henfan]

Old man Moyer becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout in Major League history! 2-hitter to boot! He passes Phil Neikro for the honor. He also becomes the oldest non-knuckle baller to do the same, passing Satchel Paige. Wow.

I'll lay off the retirement talk.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

Old man Moyer becomes the oldest pitcher to throw a shutout in Major League history! 2-hitter to boot!

I'll lay off the retirement talk.

Dude, you just beat me you it, though I was gonna add a big WTF?!?!?!

[93henfan]

Pretty cool in the post game interview with Sarge, Moyer didn't know about the record, saying "really?" when Sarge told him.

How about Jayson Werth too? Dude is on fire.

Phils scored all seven runs tonight with two outs.

If Moyer and Kendrick can pitch half as good as they did this week the rest of the year, this team will be on cruise control for most of the regular season.

[Ivytalk]

Pretty cool in the post game interview with Sarge, Moyer didn't know about the record, saying "really?" when Sarge told him.

How about Jayson Werth too? Dude is on fire.

Phils scored all seven runs tonight with two outs.

If Moyer and Kendrick can pitch half as good as they did this week the rest of the year, this team will be on cruise control for most of the regular season.

Moyer is a very cerebral dude. Too bad he has to put up with inane questions from Sarge and "Wheels."

[Ivytalk]

Phils bullpen pitches 4 perfect innings and Lidge gets his first save! Not bad, Phils: 7-3 homestand! On to Denver!

[93henfan]

Phils bullpen pitches 4 perfect innings and Lidge gets his first save! Not bad, Phils: 7-3 homestand! On to Denver!

It was a little unnerving watching Hamels unravel in the fifth, but Durbin sure was welcome relief. I guess you could call what Lidge did a save, but if you happened to be watching live, he gave up what would have been sure homers to the first two batters had there not been a steady 30-40 mph wind blowing in. He was throwing beachballs up there. I only saw one slider that bit to the last batter. The rest was BP, right over the plate.

Good God is Jayson Werth ever hot right now.

To see the Phils having the May they are with the banged up roster they have right now is a really good sign.

[93henfan]

Nice Mothers Day story (try not to laugh at the "pearl necklace" like I did):

Contreras, mom have overdue reunion

By MARTIN FRANK • The News Journal • May 10, 2010

PHILADELPHIA -- Mother's Day had extra significance for Phillies reliever Jose Contreras.

That's because he spent it with his mother, Modesto Carmejo, for the first time since he defected from Cuba in 2002, leaving his entire family behind.

Carmejo, 75, was granted permission to travel to the United States a few weeks ago. She has been staying with her son and his family at their Cherry Hill, N.J., home ever since.

For Mother's Day, Contreras got his mother two-dozen roses and a pearl necklace. The Phillies honored her on the field before the game along with Chad Durbin's mother.

"I give thanks every day to be in the big leagues," Contreras said through teammate Danys Baez, who served as his translator. "But being without my mom for seven years, there's no comparison."

Carmejo saw him pitch for the first time Wednesday when he pitched against the St. Louis Cardinals. He threw a scoreless eighth inning Sunday in the Phillies' 5-3 win over the Braves.

Contreras' father, Florentine, never saw his son pitch in the major leagues. He passed away in 2004. Contreras couldn't attend the funeral.

So far, Contreras said his mother is quite impressed with what she's seen of the area.

"Everything is clean and everything works," he said. "In Cuba, the electricity goes out almost every day."

[GannonFan]

Phils bullpen pitches 4 perfect innings and Lidge gets his first save! Not bad, Phils: 7-3 homestand! On to Denver!

It was a little unnerving watching Hamels unravel in the fifth, but Durbin sure was welcome relief. I guess you could call what Lidge did a save, but if you happened to be watching live, he gave up what would have been sure homers to the first two batters had there not been a steady 30-40 mph wind blowing in. He was throwing beachballs up there. I only saw one slider that bit to the last batter. The rest was BP, right over the plate.

Good God is Jayson Werth ever hot right now.

To see the Phils having the May they are with the banged up roster they have right now is a really good sign.

Eh, maybe Lidge was thinking of the wind and knew he could groove those pitches?? Pitching in that wind had to be brutal though - hard to take too much of a read from anything there.

But yeah, great so far - Phils are really the best team in the National League and they've just been decimated with injuries (Schneider just went to the 15 day DL). If they're this good now, then when they get everyone back you figure they should be in real good shape. Nice that they miss Jimenez on the Colorado part of the trip. Schedule for the rest of May is breaking nicely for the Phils as well. The NL East road trip to end the month is a long one, but you got to win those games sometime anyway.

[Ivytalk]

Another huge game for CHOOCH! Good way to start a road trip.

[93henfan]

Interesting tidbit from Sportscenter: The Phils were scheduled to play a series in Toronto this year (not sure of exact dates). The G20 Summit is being held concurrently in Toronto and MLB is worried about some serious protesting, so the series will be moved to Philly, same dates, with Toronto playing as the home team.

Nice. Three more games at CBP!

[GannonFan]

Yup - confirmed on the team's website.

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/ne ... p&c_id=phi

Means the 6 game home stand before it turns into a 9 game home stand, and the 10 game road trip that it was to be part of becomes a 7 game one. Very cool!!!

[93henfan]

Phils lose game one of the day/night doubleheader. Worse than that, Chooch tweaked his knee running the bases. C'mon MRI, don't let us down.

Lidge flew back to Philly with soreness in his elbow; same one he just rehabbed from offseason surgery.

In better news (from Delawareonline):

Jimmy Rollins played for the first time since straining his calf muscle on April 12. He went 3-for-6 in an extended spring game in Bradenton, Fla., with a double and 2 singles. He is expected to play shortstop tomorrow. Phillies assistant GM Scott Proefrock said Rollins will likely return during the Phillies’ homestand that begins Monday.

[93henfan]

Chooch's injury is being called a capsular sprain of the right knee. No DL, day-to-day. That's a little more encouraging.

[GannonFan]

Chooch's injury is being called a capsular sprain of the right knee. No DL, day-to-day. That's a little more encouraging.

Down to the 3rd string catcher, the 3rd string shortstop, the 3rd string closer, etc - oh, and still in first place and still with one of the top records in the NL (if not the top one).

[93henfan]

Chooch's injury is being called a capsular sprain of the right knee. No DL, day-to-day. That's a little more encouraging.

Down to the 3rd string catcher, the 3rd string shortstop, the 3rd string closer, etc - oh, and still in first place and still with one of the top records in the NL (if not the top one).

It's the sign stealing. Obviously.