Why what you have done lately matters
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Why what you have done lately matters
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
When you consider the emotions of defeat and the persecutory feeling of a tight circle of microphone-wielding reporters, a certain amount of leeway should be afforded to an athlete when he answers a question about his performance. Once you have afforded Kyle Kendrick this leeway, you may proceed to the nearest section of drywall and bang your head against it in a steady yet forceful manner. More than two hours after he trudged off the mound in the fourth inning with a 6-1 deficit on the scoreboard, and long past the time most of his teammates had departed from the post-game clubhouse, the right-hander emerged from a members-only section of the premises and fielding questions about the Phillies' 12-6 loss. He was asked about a second inning in which he threw 50 pitches, walking a light-hitting eight-hole hitter and then surrendering a two-run double to the opposing pitcher.
"I just couldn't find the zone," he said.
He was asked about his tempo, which slowed to the pace of a rush hour crawl, about a perceived lack of aggression, which pushed his manager close to combustion.
"When you are struggling to find the zone, that's how it is," he said.
And then he was asked about his security in the rotation, where he is 2-8 with a 5.01 ERA in 15 starts this season, and the potential that he might head to the bullpen, where he is 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA in 12 appearances.
Kendrick shrugged.
"I guess that's how it is with me,'" he said. "It's, 'What have you done for me lately?'"
Whether Kendrick uttered the words in response to the media's constant hunt for a referendum or in response to his coaches' personnel decisions though out the season, the only response he will get is the sound of a record scratching to a halt. That, or a bug-eyed Jack Nicholson slamming his fist on a wooden table and barking in a homicidal rage, "You're (gosh) (darn) right it's what have you done for me lately."
You can forgive his exact words. Again, leeway. But words come from thoughts, and thoughts come from observations, and when you consider the observations required to get from A to B to "Woe is me," you realize that you are traveling a cognitive chain that is in serious need of reconditioning.
What Kendrick needs to understand is that the ability to throw a hard object with relative precision does not have any inherent value to a non-hunter-and-gatherer society. Kendrick does not manufacture a good, nor does he perform a service that is integral to the functioning of the American economy. A fastball does not refrigerate food or cure disease. A pitcher does not earn $3 million because he has a $3 million arm. He cannot call a 1-800 number during a commercial break on the O'Reilly Factor and exchange his sinker for gold bars. Investors are not transferring their money from treasuries to change-ups.
A human being's status as a pitcher does not entitle him to anything. He must create that value himself. He must earn everything. The value of a pitcher's skill is dictated entirely by the open market, and the open market is dictated by the decisions people make about where they spend their money. Kendrick makes $3 million because a lot of people have chosen to invest a percentage of their wealth in the ability to watch a baseball game rather than investing it elsewhere. Last night, one of those investors, a gentleman seated within earshot of the press box at Citizens Bank Park, yelled at the top of his lungs, "Give us our money back!" That, of course, is not the way markets work. But the gentleman's experience at the ballpark on Wednesday night can affect his future spending decisions. And since the game he watched was a pair of handcuffs away from violating the Geneva Conventions, it probably will.
If enough people have enough bad experiences and make enough changes to their spending habits, the Phillies lose money, which affects the earning potential of everybody in the organization, from the front office to the coaching staff to the players to the clubhouse staff. Which is why Charlie Manuel seemed so agitated after watching the second inning unfold on Wednesday night. The manager was so perturbed that he decided that his best course of action was to avoid saying words at his post game press conference. He didn't even bother with his nightly recitation of the pitching line. Manuel is a man who will excuse physical failure, because baseball is a game in which it is expected. What he cannot stomach, though, is a failure to control the controllable. And that, we can only assume, is what he saw in the second inning.
Me? I think the night was lost with one out, when a breaking ball in the dirt got past Erik Kratz and allowed runners to move to second and third. For a brief moment, Kendrick held a crouch, looking in at home, the wrong kind of emotion on his face. It was the kind of body language that Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee detest, the kind that is the arch nemesis of consistency. The consistent ones are consistent because they accept the results that are beyond their control. A failure to do so puts the whole operation in peril. That wild pitch -- a more agile catcher could have blocked it -- enabled a run to score on the ensuing groundout. And from there, the night spiraled out of control. A walk to Paul Janish. A double to Tim Hudson. A walk to Michael Bourn. And then a two-run single by Martin Prado.
One run followed by a quick third out would have sufficed. Instead, one run turned into four. What have you done for me lately? It is the essence of the sport.
Wow: great late evening/early morning writing Murph, reflecting the frustration felt by more individuals than simply Charlie Manuel. Kendrick might be sent back to the bullpen, or shipped out of town, while Bastardo, if Ricky Bottalico had his way, would be released outright. Presumably, Tyler Cloyd, not particularly liked by the Phillies brass, will be brought up in due course nonetheless, along with one of the Lehigh Valley relievers.— chuckw- E-a-g-l-e-s....— albrock
- ...and just what do you think they're gonna do other than their usual being just not good enough to be good enough... — flank steak
- My wife and I left the game after the top of second. Painful to watch and figured it was better to watch some TV shows we had recorded rather than waste another 3 hrs at the park. Not sure why they didn't get someone up early to relieve KK. Bullpen hadn't pitched on Tues and day off Thurs.— Philliesguy
- Murph - did you have your cranky pants on when you wrote this article? Mostly true about KK, but very "preachy".— LI PhilPhan
- If Philliesguy's actions are becoming more prevalent as this nigthtmare of a season winds down, maybe a few more moves will get made than just salary dumps and a simple "write off" of a tough luck season...The NL simply is not scared of the Phillies anymore, and the preseason comments from Brad Lidge, which irked too many IMO, came to fruition...injuries or not....I toitally agree with chuck that this was insightful writing by Murphy, who has taken heat of late as being a tea toter...For an early morning post, his words clearly spoke for feelings that may have been on his mind for quite awhile...It's ashame contracts often get in the way of moves that should be made...and yes, Cloyd and DeFratus should be in the fold right about now for THEIR shot.— bearsfriend
- It's bad enough that Kendrick is getting the money he gets to stink up the ballpark, but then he opens his mouth...
Kendrick. Bastardo. Gomer Pyle from the Dodgers. On and on. Go down the Phillies current roster and you'll find eight highly paid stars and maybe a couple other decent pieces, and then it just drops off like the continental slope. Great job doing what you do, Ruin Tomorrow Jr. We want our money back, indeed!— dasher 
Good article, Murph, but be careful you don't cross the line into Conlin territory. His contorted, obscure, confusing style of of round-about writing was painful. Your hunter-gatherer paragraph was borderline Fat Bill esque!— John621- KK has never read Dorfman's "Mental Side of Pitching" highly recommended by Halladay, L33 and I suspect Cole Hamels but also likely read by most 8/9th graders and higher who have aspirations to pitch.
He simply has no mental approach to ANY game, let alone this one. 'this is how it is with him' paraphrasing. 'I don't know', paraphrasing and taking something out of context.
How in God's name CManuel, RAJ and MontCo can believe in this (not so) young man as a fifth starter is beyond me. He occasionally has a good mid-relief outing when NOTHING is on the line, or usually so, and fools all of us into thinking he can do the job. Enough already.
As for Cloyd, the word on him is 'not sure' - yes, he's having a stellar season but is he a savior, a 4th or 5th starter, maybe not. But now is the time to find out.
Fish, or cut bait.— 24sDad - Hopefully this is the last time we have to suffer through Kendrick's mediocracy and attitude.— Blue Hen
- I want more KK in the rotation. In a lost year, the best thing to do is keep trotting proven-mediocre talent out there and hope they magically get better. The last thing they should do is give a young guy who's ERA at AAA is below 2. That would just be silliness and crazy talk. KK has only been in the big leagues for 5 years and started only about 80 games so we don't have enough of a sample set yet to truly judge his soon-to-be-ace probability. But what do I know, I'm just a TV clown. Uggghhhhh— Krusty
- And just think, we, the paying customers, have another year of Kendrick at approximately $4 million. Atta boy, Rube.— PhightinPhil
- And if you'd bother to look around baseball, you'd see there are about 20 other teams with ineffective million dollar pitchers. It's not exclusively a Phillies problem. — Grapost
- Everybody - read Krusty above - this is how you can be sarcastic and satirical and still get your points across. AND, best of all, they are good points. Good job, my friend - I couldn't agree more.— dwp66
