***The Official Philadelphia Phillies 2012 Thread***

The Fixer wrote:

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

First time the Phillies have been shutout consecutively against the Mets since July 17-18, 1998. Your starting pitching matchups for those games at Shea were the following:

Carlton Loewer vs. Hideo Nomo
Tyler Green vs. Al Leiter

carlton loewer...HAAAAAAAAAAAA

almost as bad as getting shut out by a dude named dickey

ryan howard was great again tonight...so glad the phils overpaid him for 5 more years. 2 nights in a row he couldn't get a dude home with less than 2 outs and a guy on third. and my dog could have scooped that ball on that sick play utley made...then utley gets an error (proof that stat means nothing). for whatever reason people think howard's defense has improved. if you watch the games you'll see he's still a pear with seal hands. I still think he's really right handed in the field...someone needs to tell him to try playing 1B with the glove on his other hand. fucking brutal

pjhawks wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

fixer would have been one of those idiots booing mike schmidt and ron jaworski back in the day. i am now convinced of it. funny how he wasn't lambasting howard a week ago when he was hitting .312. he conveniently waits for the entire team to go into their usual late may/june tailspin, and there he is again like clockwork. :roll:




anywho...

another big test for cole today. gotta stop the bleeding.
GO. PHILS.

Howard can be frustrating at times but end of the year he will have around 45 home runs and knock in about 140 runs. relax people, every team in baseball goes through stretches like this. hell it seems like the Phils go through this may-june every year. still in 1st place. ligthen up.

pjhawks wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

fixer would have been one of those idiots booing mike schmidt and ron jaworski back in the day. i am now convinced of it. funny how he wasn't lambasting howard a week ago when he was hitting .312. he conveniently waits for the entire team to go into their usual late may/june tailspin, and there he is again like clockwork. :roll:




anywho...

another big test for cole today. gotta stop the bleeding.
GO. PHILS.

Howard can be frustrating at times but end of the year he will have around 45 home runs and knock in about 140 runs. relax people, every team in baseball goes through stretches like this. hell it seems like the Phils go through this may-june every year. still in 1st place. ligthen up.

The Fixer wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

pjhawks wrote:

Howard can be frustrating at times but end of the year he will have around 45 home runs and knock in about 140 runs. relax people, every team in baseball goes through stretches like this. hell it seems like the Phils go through this may-june every year. still in 1st place. ligthen up.

more importantly, though, it looks like he'll be around .300 for average too. he doesnt even heat up till june/july and he's already hovering around there.

I will bet you my new car that howard doesn't hit 300 for the season. there is no fucking way in hell that happens. zero chance

The Fixer wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

The Fixer wrote:

I will bet you my new car that howard doesn't hit 300 for the season. there is no fucking way in hell that happens. zero chance

if the bet is your car, i will take that in a heart beat.


by the way, you should just enjoy howard for what he is, one of the most prolific power hitters in this 130 year old franchise's history. he's got his flaws, sure. but you might as well try to enjoy this while it last's man. just think back to the mid to late nineties for a second........feel better now?

enjoy what while it lasts? the fact that we have an overpaid 1B that can't hit lefties, throw a ball 90', or scoop balls my dog can pick?

in case you haven't realized, the phils history isn't exactly loaded with great players. to say howard is the most prolific power hitter in the team's history isn't saying much. and that fact doens't make it OK that the team ridiculously gave him that absurd contract last month.

they should be giving utley a lifetime contract for whatever amount of money he wants. that dude is the best phillie ever. period

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Not to get back into this discussion or anything but Ryan Howard is going to be getting paid more annually than Joe Mauer

pjhawks wrote:

uh no Utley is not the best Phillie ever by a long shot. Mike Schmidt won multiple MVPs, hit over 500 home runs (before steroids and short parks) and was one of the greatest defensive 3Bs of all time. Utley is great but does not reach Schmidt's level. I saw Schmidt in his prime when I was a kid, did you or do you just assume Utley is better?

and Ryan Howard has won 1 mvp and was 2nd in voting another time. Utley hasn't really come close. Love Utley and think he is awesome but to say emphatically that he is the best Philly ever is absurd. would it kill Chase to hit .330 or hit 40-50 homers? He has done neither yet. in no way am I disparaging Utley - just saying he has had some darn good years but never really a dominant season like Howard has.

The Fixer wrote:

pjhawks wrote:

uh no Utley is not the best Phillie ever by a long shot. Mike Schmidt won multiple MVPs, hit over 500 home runs (before steroids and short parks) and was one of the greatest defensive 3Bs of all time. Utley is great but does not reach Schmidt's level. I saw Schmidt in his prime when I was a kid, did you or do you just assume Utley is better?

and Ryan Howard has won 1 mvp and was 2nd in voting another time. Utley hasn't really come close. Love Utley and think he is awesome but to say emphatically that he is the best Philly ever is absurd. would it kill Chase to hit .330 or hit 40-50 homers? He has done neither yet. in no way am I disparaging Utley - just saying he has had some darn good years but never really a dominant season like Howard has.

yeah, I grew up watching schmidt too. utley plays a premium defensive position and he's a better hitter. home runs are shiny and nice, but I'll take the guy that hits for average and power, and plays great defense at a premium position...not to mention utley's incredible OBP and baserunning. utley helps the phillies win more than any other player in team history

people love to look at homers and RBI. there is much more to baseball than that.

mvp and individual awards are stupid...they are voted on by sportswriters that have no clue what they're talking about. Jimmy Rollins won an MVP too...do you think that makes him better than utley? derrek jeter has never won an MVP...is rollins better than jeter because rollins has won an MVP? of course not. those awards are meaningless. a couple of years ago edinson volquez got 10 votes for NL ROY...he wasn't even eligible for the award.

rating players based on awards is just plain weak

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

Dude, this dude's older than us. Of course he saw Michael Jack in his prime. Fixer, not trying to call out your age, just sayin'....

And by the time Utley's done - barring no injuries - Chase WILL be the best Phillie of all time. The dude bleeds baseball more than Pete Rose. I saw, and you, saw Mike Schmidt play when his best days were behind him. Still have my bat from Mike Schmidt bat day. Oh, and Schmidt's lifetime average is something like .268 or something(off the top of my head). To compare them defensively is totally different. Chase could be a potential 30/30 guy if he wasn't in the 3 hole. When Chase's career is over, he'll be the most prolific player that has walked between those lines for this team. Watch. I've jinxed him now. If Roy Halladay wasn't on this team, I wouldn't mind making out with that guy either. Shmitty IS the best 3rd baseman to play baseball - and nobody give me this Brooks Robinson BS. But by the time A-Rod is done, he could claim fame for being the best 3RD AND shortstop to play the game - steroids and all. And, like I said, barring any injuries, Utley could quite possibly be the best 2nd baseman to ever play the game - better than Robinson, Sandberg, Alomar or Morgan. There. I said it.

Oh, and to say anything along the lines about Howard to the tune of "At the end of the year he pops 45 homers and drives in 130, blah blah blah". I used to hear the same thing about Burrell - at the end of the year drives in 100 and hits 30 homers. Big woop. I wouldnt want him on my team if I had the choice. Howard is much better than Burrell, but to make this basis of why I want him on my team is ludicrous.

Oh, and on an unrelated/related note - does anybody else get the feeling that Pujols doesn't respect Howard as a player? Cause I do. I have a feeling he laughs at him. At best, he loves him now because he made the slot machines start ringing a year early.