J.A. Happens
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J.A. Happens
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Say this about Philadelphia. It's the one place on Earth where you can see a man dressed as Benjamin Franklin sitting in the stands watching batting practice and not think twice about it. Other quasi-celebrity sightings today: Vince Papale of Invincible Fame and Phillies Director of Fun and Games John Brazer.
OK, so there was only one celebrity sighting: Brazer.
(Just kidding, Vince).
J.A. Happ just left the game, so I thought I'd update you all with his final line and give you a chance to react to his performance.
The line: 4 2/3 innings, three hits, two runs, four walks, three strikeouts.
The analysis: Charlie Manuel was wise to yank Happ when he did, and may have thought about doing it one out sooner. The bases were loaded, Happ was struggling with his control, and the heart of the Mets order was up.
That said, not a bad outing for Happ. Much better than a year ago. He threw way too many balls. There were the four walks, and he was behind in many other counts. He threw 96 pitches in just 4 2/3 innings. Other than that, he was solid. The Mets only hit a couple of balls hard -- off the top of my head, anyway -- a ground rule dobule by Ramon Castro and a fly out to left field by Endy Chavez.
Did he earn another start? I'd assume so. He didn't do anything that should make the Phils think twice about sending him out there in five days.
Hey, I will take it! And if Hammels can go 8+ innings the day before Happ, then the bullpen will be rested for their 4+!— Bagels- happ struggled with control but he could have (and possibly did pitch) 5 innings if the ump gives him that call on the at bat by david wright in the 5th— tremo12
- I thought he showed signifigant poise and confidence on the mound. When he got himself into a jam on the bases, he start making pitches down the center of the plate. I would much rather have a pitcher who walks the bases loaded then a Myers-Like pitcher who serves a Grand Slam to a Mets Hitter. His ERA for the game was 3.68. For a Mets Team who had two high scoring games against St. Louis, Happ seriously cooled them off even though he lasted 4.2 IP. He did look a bit nervous at the end. Just a last observation.— cslobodzian
- The reports I heard tonight say that the Brewers are pursuing Sabathia with some serious fury. They have a Prospect in CF who is MLB ready and blocked by Ryan Braun and Corey Hart. Bedard pitched decent tonight for the Mariners bringing considerable questioning into the picture for Seattle Management to trade him to another team, and A.J. Burnett was killed by the L.A. Angels who gave him the embaressing line of 7 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Ben Sheets and Rich Harden are flourishing and both of their teams are seriously contending for each league's Wild Card Race. With less and less options, it appears that the canidates for a Phillies trade are becoming slimmer and slimmer by the minute. Lets hope that GM Gillick doesn't trade top prospects for a Maddux or a Wolf. Both are not good enough to give Carlos Corrasco to their teams. Lets Hope Something Else Pops Up! Myers is a waste! Trade Him Now! He has barely eclipsed the 200 IP mark in his career. He is NOT an ace and never will be. Lets Hope that Gillick is smart enough to dangle Myers (The Indians sent down Joe Borowski to the AA Team) and Werth OR Dobbs, and a Prospect for Sabathia. Go Phillies 2008!!— cslobodzian
- Hasn't Vince Papale had about an extra three hours on his fifteen minutes of fame?— shoeshineboy
- Papale got some extra publicity sure but why not? A bartender walk-on at an Eagles camp who makes the team, then beats colon cancer and works to get others to get screened--then they make a movie--its a feel good story --and after the Myers story this week--its fine with me— kokomo
- I think cslobozian is one of those people that likes the sound of their own voice...I tried to think of a clever and witty way to translate this to blog post, like "he likes the way his post look." or "he like to read his own post out loud" but after thirty seconds i figured there were better things to do with my life— scuba
