All-Star Puzzlement

The 2010 All-Star game will be remembered for a number of things… it came on the day that one of the largest figures in modern MLB history passed away in George Steinbrenner, it marked the end to a thirteen year drought for the National League, and it also might be remembered for the strange moves the managers made in a very close game that could have gone either way.

Both teams pitched very well, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise seeing the names on the rosters for the most part and noting that things like home runs and scoring are down this year overall. This is certainly looking like the year of the pitcher and the all-star game was no exception.

Both managers made some very weird choices (I’m not talking roster choices… I’ve bitched about that enough) though that made me puzzle why.

On the NL side, Charlie Manuel didn’t exactly surprise me when he named Ryan Howard to be the starting DH. I wouldn’t have made that same choice… it should have gone to Joey Votto, who is tearing up the NL like it’s his own personal batting cage… but since Howard is his guy, it’s not too much of a stretch to figure he’d put Howard in that role.

What really made no sense to me though, was that by the 5th inning, you had (arguely) the three best hitters already out of the game in Albert Pujlos, David Wright (who had two hits and a stolen base in the game) and Ryan Braun… but Howard was still in there until the 7th inning. Nepotism is one thing… but waiting until the 7th inning (and at that point the NL had been shut out) to finally get the hottest hitter in the NL into the game didn’t made a lot of sense. Either did putting Hong-Chih Kuo in the game to pitch the 5th with names like Adam Wainwright, Brian Wilson, Heath Bell and even his own Roy Halladay still in the bullpen.

On the AL side, every player got into the game except for A-Rod… and after Big Papi singled to lead off the 9th inning… wouldn’t it have made sense to pinch run for him? Of course he could have pinch hit for Beltre, but he had only come up in the 8th and had only played defense… however Ty Wigginton was pinch hit for with Nick Swisher after playing on one inning of defense and he didn’t get an at-bat (which I though was pretty unfair of Girardi to do to him) so it wouldn’t have been the first time he would have done that. Once he let Betre hit (and he struck out) you had John Buck up afterwards and you had to leave him in because he was the last catcher… I get that… but you had Ian Kinsler up after him and Vernon Wells up after that. Odds are you weren’t pinch hitting for either. What was Joe Girardi waiting for? The next obvious move would be A-Rod pinch hitting for Elvis Andrus (and A-Rod could have played short had the game gone on) but you had three batters before Andrus would be getting up. Of course, Buck hits a bloop single that Ortiz had to wait to see if it would be caught or not and OF Marlon Byrd made a spectacular play, by picking up the hit on one bounce, spinning and firing a bullet to 2nd, where he caught the slow Big Papi by a step. If it had been A-Rod, he would have been safe and it would have been 1st and 2nd with one out and the winning run at the plate.

All in all, it was a tight and exciting game with a lot of dominating pitching and good defense. However, to me, the game was a little marred by the weird decisions each manager made.

You See… The Phillies are Just Jerks

So what do you call a team that cheats, and when called out about it, tries to deflect things to bitch about a division rival… one that your team has basically ridiculed for three years?

You call that team the Two Time Defending National League Champions apparently.

So a number of news outlets (including Yahoo Sports, MetsBlog.com, ESPN and CBS Sports) have reported that The Colorado Rockies accused the Phillies bullpen coach, Mick Billmeyer, of using binoculars to steal signs from their catcher during monday’s game (a 9 – 5 win for Philadelphia). This follows other complaints about the Phillies including both the LA Dodgers and NY Yankees making the same claims during the playoffs last year.

After viewing some videotape, the Commisioner’s Office informed the Phillies that they would not be allowed to use binoculars during games. No one from the Commisioner’s office actually used the word “cheating” or “stealing signs” or “stealing sequences”, but the general concensus seems to be the Phillies have a reputation for this sort of thing.

So, of course, what does Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel do when asked about it?

Why… he attacks the Mets of course. Manuel was quoted saying: “Somebody maybe ought to check the Mets if they did that. Their [bleeping] home record is out of this world and they’re losing on the road. Sometimes that’s a good indicator of getting signs and [crap]. I see somebody sitting there at 17-2 at home and 4-12 on the road, I’d get concerned about that. That kind of crosses my mind… I’m not accusing them, but you look at that and – damn. We’re about the same home and road. I’m just saying their record is much better at home and they hit better… (The Rockies complained) because we beat them… Keep crying. I’m sure if they can steal signs, they’ll steal them. And believe we will, too, if we can get them. Yeah, we will. Legally. If you’re dumb enough to let us get them, then that’s your fault. That’s been in the game for a long time.”

Manuel went on to say that his coach was only using binoculars to check out the positioning of his own catcher during Colorado at-bats. Right… despite the fact that the cameras showed Billmeyer using the binoculars during Phillies at-bats… NOT during the time his catcher would have been on the field playing defense.

Even if you ignore that bit of info and try and forget the fact that television cameras captured outfielder Shane Victorino chatting to someone on the bullpen phone in the Phillies dugout… it doesn’t change the fact that the Phillies manager totally used a baseless accusation towards a division rival to deflect the glare from his own team’s wrongdoing. A runner at 2nd basebase trying to see a catcher’s sign and relay it to the batter is one thing… that happens. A coach using some sort of equipment, be it binoculars or a camera of sorts is plain cheating.

Amazingly yet, there Metsblog.com reported that there were whispers of the Phillies doing the same thing against the Mets in the early season series this year when facing Mets’ ace Johan Santana who strangely enough had his worst outing of the year by far that night. “Some people were talking, amongst us, the bullpen coach would come out and hang over the fence when they were hitting,” Rod Barajas said yesterday, according to The Associated Press, regarding Santana’s start. “And then when we were hitting they were sitting back.”

There were complaints about the Phillies using a camera in centerfield and trying to catch signs back in 2007 by the Mets and The Boston Red Sox also.

Ok… so am I the only one who sees a pattern here? Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Victorino… they all seem to be obsessed with the Mets… which makes no sense seeing that the Phillies have won the damn division the last three years. Two of those years the Mets handed them the division on a platter… so maybe they realize they WOULDN’T have won them without the Mets collapse and that bothers them… but in any case… to constantly bring up the Mets in a negative light every time there’s something to be talked about is just plain being a team of jerks.

Hamels has called the Mets “choke artists” and said “we think they always will until they prove us wrong”.

Victorino threw an elbow into Jose Reyes’ chest during a rundown while on the basepaths during a game early last season that should have resulted in Victorino being out at the end of the play. Somehow the ump blew it and called Reyes for obstruction. He was called safe (when he was actually out). Victorino would then score when the inning continued (when it should have been over) and the next hitter hit a homerun. Not only was the bush play bad enough, but after the game Victorino snickered about it and called the Mets whiners.

This from a team that complained non-stop about Jose Reyes “over-celebrating” in 2006 and 2007.

Fact is, the Phillies are a bunch of unlikeable schmucks. They brag, they insult, they seemingly cheat, and when things don’t go their way they whine. Yet, people are supposed to believe the Mets are the “bad guys” and the Phillies are the blue-collar heroes.

Please. Enough is enough. The Mets need to make a stand against this team of idiots. In my opinion, their leadoff hitter needs a plunking in the first inning of the first game the two teams next play. Hopefully Victorino will be leading off.

Rivalry is one thing. Being a fricking ass is quite another. Time to shut the damn Phillies up.