Pence didn't see deal to Giants coming
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Hunter Pence said his goodbyes inside the visiting clubhouse at Nationals Park exactly 367 days after saying hello at Citizens Bank Park.
Pence didn't see deal to Giants coming
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Hunter Pence said his goodbyes inside the visiting clubhouse at Nationals Park exactly 367 days after saying hello at Citizens Bank Park.
The circumstances of the departure and arrival could not have been any more different.
When Pence arrived in Philadelphia from Houston last year at the trade deadline, he was supposedly the missing piece for the team with the best record in baseball.
As he departed for the San Francisco Giants Tuesday afternoon, he was a player who had become too expensive and inconsistent to keep. The Phillies acquired outfielder Nate Schierholtz and minor-league prospects Tommy Joseph, a catcher, and Seth Rosin, a righthanded pitcher, from the Giants.
Pence admitted to being shocked by both the trade and the Phillies' 2012 demise that has led to a flurry of deals by general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. at the deadline.
"Very surprising," Pence said with a glazed look in his eyes. "I don't think anyone anticipated the season that has gone on this year. It was a perfect storm of injuries and things that didn't go right for us. That's the business of the game and you have to understand that. We had a great run and now I've been sent on."
Unlike a year ago when he was with the Astros, Pence did not see this deal coming.
"Not until it happened because I honestly this year didn't pay any attention to any of that," he said. "I didn't really hear rumors. I talked to the media maybe one time, so really it just kind of happened, so I'm on to play for San Fran and hopefully in a playoff race."
Pence is in a playoff race again. The Phillies, meanwhile, were in their final race of the season and it was a sprint to see how much money they could get off the books before the 4 p.m. deadline.
Despite his brief time in Philadelphia, Pence said he grew to love playing for the Phillies.
"I had nothing but great memories here in Philadelphia," he said. "I am nothing but thankful for the opportunity to play -- unbelievable teammates and really the organization is a class act all the way from the top down. The fans made it an absolute blast to play for, so it was a great experience."
Class act!— bk3131- Beware!
Do not become a cover boy on Philadelphia Magazine. Like SI, it likely serves to jinx you in the season you appear.
I would say HP is fortunate - he has lots of money, going to another contender in a great city. We are fortunate in that we get back cap money, and get something in return even if it isn't symmetrical to last years trade.
— 24sDad - Not R.I.P in this case, more like no R.I.S.P. You can't justify 14 mil for a non clutch guy and same goes for Shane in his contract year. We were crying about no hits in playoffs and no hits with risp from the guys that needed to step up.How about Casey Magee from Pirates to to the Yankees for Chad Qualls, amazing. Scot Posednick to Diamondbacks for Breslin. People sure like our "trash". Raul another HR for the Yanks. Baseball is an amazing game.
— DUDESKINS - Agreed DUDE, good to see you back online. Surprised Blanton didn't go - they weren't overwhelmed by anything for L33 so I am glad he's here. Still think Blanton could go but he would have to pass waivers - tough.
What caught up HP was exactly what you said - too many non-clutch circumstances, at a time when they were counting on him. He'll do great in SF - they'll love him and the wind blows just as crazy as he plays. Wild.
I still think more machinations are going on. One just doesn't start this process and stop. More, much more, to come. And not just through FA'y which many posters are now speculating (Bourne's Philly Redemption, Be-Coming Upton, etc.). It'll be interesting to see how the commentors and 'fans' see DBrown, and some of the other pieces play the next 8+ weeks.
Oh, the lone street moan's.
— 24sDad - We gave Pence away, after giving up too much for him last year. Someone explain this to me. Would like to see Charlie gone by 4:00 PM, too. He's worn out his welcome. It's Sandberg time!!— Cornwall Citizen
- Wish him the best, but part of the problem is that this team is blaming too much on injuries. Even with them they should have fared better, at least be in a position to be a threat when they did get healthy.— Sidewinder7
Comment removed.- This comment has been deleted. — CornerPretzelGuy
- Did you really just try to reason with that guy? — smfree31
- Breaking news!!! The Phillie Phanatic was just sent out west in a swap for the San Diego Chicken!— Bobby V
- Take care ichabod, don't trip on your own feet on the way out— Trot
- Go eat Rice-a-roni— Col. Nathan R. Jessup
- Brutal outfielder + Terrible plate discipline does not = 15 million a year. Time to re-tool.— Facts before ignorance
- Pence seems like a good guy, but for what he brings to the table his arbitration figure and beyond are more than he is worth. Nice to see he had good things to say about the organization and fans. Now there is even more pressure on Utely and Howard to perform at levels I don't think they can reach anymore. Bobo is going to continue to get exposed for the contracts he's handed out, but unlikely anyone will do anything about that so we go into next year with about 135 million tied up in 10, mostly overpaid, players. That leaves about 40 to find two OFs, a 3B, middle relief pitcher or two and 12 other players. I'm not optimistic we can bring in enough quality offense to offset Howard's sagging production, Rollins poor lead off play, and Utley's diminished ability. On the plus side we'll have 4/5s of a great rotation...our idiot GM will need to be really careful how he spends. We'll have another 40 million coming off the books next year so the last thing he should be doing is blowing a big part of 2013's free agent budget on one or two names.— lazyboy
- Victorino and Pence are both Class acts. Victorino has done a lot for the community, Thank you. As far as the Phillies go: Jimmy Rollins needs to get off of being a lead off hitter. They need some better defense— stang66302
