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Sports Then and Now



5 Mistakes The Phillies Can’t Make 5

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Teddy Bailey

Even the best team in baseball can make mistakes.

At 83-45 and seven games ahead on the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies are looking to make a long run and win the World Series. Here’s what they can’t afford to do if they plan on winning it all:

1. Being Overconfident: Winning 100 games and annihilating your division doesn’t get you anything. The Phillies need to play like a Wild Card team, and get the job done. It’s still ways to go, and Atlanta is not a terrible team. Here in Philadelphia, fans laugh when the Detroit Tigers or Cleveland Indians come up in baseball arguments or discussions. “Well, if Detroit makes it to the World Series, their going to get destroyed!”. Philly fans have always been too confident in their teams when they are on a roll, and this season is no different. I hope the players are less confident than the fans, or the Phillies’ run to a title may end in a letdown.

2. Not having a consistent bullpen: The Bullpen for the Phillies has been extraordinary this season. But, with Ryan Madson and Michael Stutes struggling, the ‘Pen could be in jeopardy. The Phils’ have enjoyed their young rookies including Bastardo, and Stutes for the time being. The real question is, will they need veteran bullpen pitchers to win a title? As for now, there aren’t alot on the roster…

3. Injury Plagued: This goes to every team, in every sport, but with Polanco, Victorino, Hamels, Ruiz, Ibanez, Contreras and Utley all having recent injuries, it may be a huge block in their path to winning it all. Contreras is out for the year, which goes along with not having veteran relief pitchers, and Hamels is out for at least 15 days. However, the Phillies are one of the deepest teams in the league, so rookie Vance Worley (9-1) can always take Hamels’ place. Read the rest of this entry →

Sports in Philadelphia: As Good As It Gets 24

Posted on August 07, 2011 by Teddy Bailey

The 4 Major Sports Teams In Philadelphia.

For years, the thought of Philadelphia as a sports city was unheard of and rare by national fanatics. Now, with the recent surge from the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and possibly even the Sixers, Philadelphia is finally becoming known to the sports nation.

We’ll start with the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball’s best team. With only 2 championships in hand, the Phillies reputation is diminished and scarce. In 2008, doubters were quieted after a postseason field day was brought to the city of brotherly love, with the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win the 2008 World Series. After a year of heartbreak, the Phillies are back for more. At 74-39, Philadelphia is completely destroying Major League Baseball, and a 9.5 division lead over the Braves is showing it. With a more than solid pitching rotation, including Hamels, Halladay, Oswalt, Lee and outstanding rookie Vance Worley, Philadelphia has a 3.06 team ERA. Recently acquiring OF Hunter Pence from Houston solidifies the lineup and brings more power and consistency for the postseason. For the Phillies, it can’t get better than this.

Now we turn to the Eagles, a team getting national attention for the big named players recently acquired by the organization. Philadelphia was keen on defense, bringing in CB Dominique Rodgers- Cromartie, CB Nnamdi Asomaugha, and DE Jason Babin along with shipping out unhappy QB Kevin Kolb in the process. Don’t forget the pickup of QB Vince Young, which is solid security for the injury plagued, mobile Quarterback Michael Vick. With Desean Jackson ending his holdout, and WR Jeremy Maclin getting healthy, Philadelphia has emerged as the team to beat. Granted, the season hasn’t even started yet, but the Birds new look is hard to argue against. I’m not sure with the “Dream Team” phrase that has rumored around the city of brotherly love, but a Playoff Caliber team is surely in store for the Eagles. Read the rest of this entry →

Philadelphia Phillies: The Yankees in Disguise 8

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Jeremy Brundage
It was payday...

It was payday....

What’s in a rivalry? Hatred? Two very good teams in the playoff hunt?

The Philadelphia Phillies are a very good team, worthy of contending year in and year out. They’re also very good at paying attention, you got something going for you Philly. They watched the Yankees buy pennants for years, and decided to follow the pattern. They are number two behind the Yankees with a payroll of just under $173 million. Their average player is paid over $5.7 million. That’s what I call buying wins. Maybe that is why you are one of nine MLB teams in debt.

Now for my favorite part, the Braves payroll comes in at just over $87 million. Now lets do some math, for you Philly fans out there, I will help you out.

Phillies payroll $172,976,381
Braves payroll $87,003,192
Difference- $85,973,189

Read the rest of this entry →

Creating Baseball History: No Mercy From “Doc” Halladay 4

Posted on October 06, 2010 by Dean Hybl

Roy Halladay is only the second pitcher in baseball history to toss a post season no-hitter.

Major League Baseball’s “Year of the Pitcher” has a new defining moment following Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the opening game of the 2010 National League playoffs.

In his first-ever post season appearance, Halladay enters some heady company as he joins Don Larsen as the only pitchers in major league history to toss a post season no-hitter. In addition, he became the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1973, and the fourth ever, to toss two no-hitters in the same season.

After winning 148 games while toiling away for a decade on a perennial second division team in Toronto, this season Halladay showed that he could also have success on a winner. After being traded to the Phillies in the off-season, Halladay won 21 games in the regular season to help lift Philadelphia to their fourth straight Eastern Division title.

Even though Halladay was facing the best offensive team in the National League in his playoff debut, there was little surprise when he started the game by mowing down the Cincinnati hitters. Read the rest of this entry →

Phillies Down, But Not Out 5

Posted on November 02, 2009 by Richard Marsh

Charlie Manuel says he’s team is resilient. He points out the fact that the team has lost

Can Cliff Lee pitch another gem versus the Yankees?

Can Cliff Lee pitch another gem versus the Yankees?

22 games this season where they led after the 7th inning. That sounds like the 2008 New York Mets to me. But in this case it was the Phillies this year and not the Mets last year who ultimately wound up winning the World Series. (ouch)

I too am quite confident that this series is far from over. On the Yankee side all one must do is just look back a short 5 years when they were one game from eliminating their most hated rival,the Boston Red Sox and unless you’ve been hiding in a time capsule you know what happened there.

For the Yanks to close this puppy out they are going to have to do it on the arms of A.J. Burnett, who like his counterpart C.C. Sabathia, will be pitching on three days rest. If he doesn’t get past Cliff Lee they will have to use Andy Pettitte once again on three days rest and if it goes to a seventh game it will be CC once more time on the short rest period.

Personally I can’t see this as a formula for success therefore my unwillingness to count the Phillies out just yet.

Read the rest of this entry →

World Series Preview: Can the Phillies Repeat? 3

Posted on October 27, 2009 by Richard Marsh
NLCS

Fans of the Phillies are hoping to have more to celebrate following the World Series.

Asked last April who were the last two teams I would like to see in the World Series, anybody and everybody who knows me well enough would have said the Yankees vs. the Phillies.

As a lifetime New York Mets fan and college student Red Sox, fan nothing in baseball could be worse than to have these two rivals competing for a world title. For close to 15 years, I hated the Atlanta Braves. They gave me so many ugly nights and subsequent nightmares it’s no wonder I still can’t get enough sleep.

In the last three or four years or so, the Phillies and their legions where I lived for 20 years, have crept past the Braves to receive my ultimate disdain.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • Vintage Athlete of the Month

    • Archie Griffin: 2-Time Heisman Winner
      December 11, 2022 | 1:42 pm
      Archie Griffin

      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is the only football player ever to capture college football’s top individual award twice.

      As a star running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Archie Griffin claimed the Heisman Trophy during his junior season in 1974 and then was able to repeat the honor the following season.

      Griffin joined the Buckeyes for the 1972 season, which happened to be the first in which freshmen were eligible to play varsity football, and made an immediate impact. After fumbling in his only carry of his first game, Griffin more than made up for it in his second game by rushing for 237 yards against North Carolina. By the end of the season, Griffin had rushed for 867 yards.

      Read more »

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