Finishing Half on a High Note
The Phillies beat the Diamondbacks yesterday, 6-3, to remain in first place at the all-star break.
Finishing Half on a High Note
Todd Zolecki
Pat Burrell didn't try to send a message with his three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning yesterday in a 6-3 victory over the Diamondbacks.
It sure would be more fun if he did.
Burrell has the numbers to be at the All-Star Game tomorrow night at Yankee Stadium. Most people know by now that on-base-plus-slugging percentage is a great indicator of a player's overall production. Burrell's OPS is .975, which ranks second amongst NL outfielders. Here are the NL all-star outfielders and where they rank compared to the 33 NL outfielders that qualify for the statistic:
1. Matt Holliday (.981)
3. Ryan Ludwick (.955)
6. Nate McLouth (.907)
10. Ryan Braun (.882)
12. Corey Hart (.831)
18. Kosuke Fukudome (.793)
Alfonso Soriano (.879) doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify, but would rank 11th in the league if he did. It's quite clear that Fukudome, who fans voted in, shouldn't even be sniffing the All-Star Game. But Cubs fans are more zealous than Phillies fans, so Fukudome goes and Burrell goes home.
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Phil Sheridan tells us that while the offense is good enough and the bullpen is good enough, it's quite clear the Phillies must add another starter to remain in first place and return to the postseason.
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In the Phillies Notebook, the Phillies are in first place at the break for the 10th time in franchise history. Here are those years, and where they ultimately finished:
1950: First (Yankees swept them in World Series, 4-0)
1964: Second (suffered worst collapse in baseball history)
1974: Third
1976: First (Reds swept them in NLCS, 3-0)
1978: First (Dodgers beat them in NLCS, 3-1)
1982: Second
1993: First (Blue Jays beat them in World Series, 4-2)
2001: Second
2004: Second (Larry Bowa fired after season)
2008: ??????
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It's all-star week ... in New York.
Let the madness begin.
Truth in answer to your question; yes Burrell deserved a place on the team. As Todd Zo pointed out his stats for THIS season are excellent. He has been one of the Phillies more consistent hitters THIS SEASON. Look at how many times he's walked? Anyway enough debate about Burrell and his all-star snubbing,NOW its on to more important matters--2nd half of the season what with Mets, Marlins and even the Braves knocking at the door. Let's hope we can give ourselves some breathing room when we face the Marlins & Mets after the break. GO PHILS!— KarenA
Comment removed.
I love Chase Utley, but I think it's ridiculous him being in the HR contest tonight. I have a feeling he's going to get smoked. He's just not a power hitter, although he had a great stroke going earlier this season. The last thing we need is Chase Utley being heralded as the HR champ. I'd much rather see Ryan Howard or Burrel sub in for Chase at the last minute. More entertaining and more appropriate. As for Pat Burrell and the All-Star team, I don't view him not getting on as any kind of snub. He's having a very good year and would be right at home on the AS team, but it's up to the fans to put him there. I'd love to see him be an All-Star before his career is over. Let's see what happens next year.— bobby- Now Truth, you tell the whole story. Pat's been mostly a 5 hole hitter behind some guys that knock in runs like Chase, Ryan, Thome, and Abreu. When you have guys like that in front of you there isn't much of a chance to lead the league in RBI.— cg
- Here's a little stat to stroke Truth's ego (as if he needed it): Pat Burrell for his career has an RBI in 18.53% of his at bats. A batter needs 1000 games played and 1000 at bats to qualify. This ranks him 69th all time and 19th amongst current players. If you assume the same production for 1000 games from Howard he would be considerably higher at 23.95, good enough for 4th all time and 1st amongst active players. Can you imagine what Ryan's numbers would be by cutting the Ks in half or even a quarter? He'd be higher than Babe Ruth!!— cg
- KarenA has spoken and based on this singular yr she has a point...cg you also make realistic pts but its still a fact that a cple years ago Burrell lost many gms for this team looking at strike 3...— Truth
- This is a little off target, but it's a little trivia to break up all the hater-ade being thrown around this chat room: How many players in baseball history have won the HR crown in both the American AND National League? Who were those players?— cg
- If only there were a stat that tells you how many strike outs (or a percentage of how many Ks) a batter's had with runners in scoring position. I think a percentage would be a better stat as MLB service time could be accounted for that way.— cg
- I also think it's Uterly ridiculous that Chase is in the HR contest. It definitely has shades of Abreu all over again...given that they were defending NL East champs the Phils really got shafted in the whole process this yr...— Truth
- This civility is a nice change; shame on all you haters! Hey Truth, got any of that love to spare for me and Jimmymack????— John in LA
- To be fair Truth, how many times THIS year has Howard done the same thing either looking or taking a wild swing when we needed a hit. I'll tell you, it Howard could learn to hit line drives to left field it would do wonders for his career and we wouldn't have to complain about his batting average as much. His low average is partly due to the extreme shift and partly because of the Ks. Even if he bunts one down the line every so often to keep the defense honest. i have a feeling that once he shows he can hit liners and grounders to the left side of the field consistently teams will play him straight up and that will open the holes throughout the field.— cg
Frank Robinson— RAS- Did McGuire with the As and Cards?— John in LA
- I don't think it's at all ridiculous for Chase to be in the HR Derby. After all, he was leading the league at the time. It's just a fun part of the activities. It means NOTHING. Just a facsmile of the Silver Slugger award for the winner. And Chase knows he's not the favorite going in. I'm hoping to see his *fun* side. I'm SURE he has one! LOL!— Norma
- Big Mac is one of the people with the A's and Cards...the other was the Crime Dog Fred McGriff he did it with Toronto and San Diego?— cg
