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JULY 8
LET'S HAVE A HALLADAY
Toronto Blue Jays' GM J.P. Ricciardi made a lot
of people in professional baseball very happy yesterday when he announced that
he would entertain offers for stud pitcher and former Cy Young winner Roy
Halladay.
The asking price is undoubtedly going to be high for a pitcher who many
(myself included) consider to be the best pitcher in Major League Baseball. With
that said, many news outlets are naming the Phillies as front runners in the
Halladay sweepstakes, and if they do not at least make a legitimate effort to
acquire the ace, consider this as a renouncing of my Phillies fandom.
Call me an optimist, but I think this is the year the Phillies have the
minor league talent that can land a player the caliber of Halladay, it’s just a
matter of not being too afraid or too thick-headed to pull the trigger.
The Phillies have deemed a few of their prospects as “untouchable”, and
these would most likely be the players Ricciardi would ask for in exchange for
his prized possession.
The only thing “untouchable” in this whole scenario is Halladay’s stuff.
The guy is downright filthy, and he’s a gamer. Back in 2003, he pitched a 10
inning (yes, 10!) shutout against the Detroit Tigers, not too shabby. The guy is
a proven winner, the kind of talent that should be passed up in favor of a minor
leaguer’s potential.
Without cleaning out the entire farm, the Phillies should seriously think
about sending two or three top prospects north of the border if they want any
chance of repeating as World Champions. If I had it my way, I would try to keep
Reading outfielder Michael Taylor if possible, but like I said, nobody should be
untouchable in this situation.
There are some people with concerns about how Cole Hamels would react to
Halladay’s arrival here should the Phils make the move. I don’t see that as
being a problem. Hamels already dealt with an inferior pitcher being named
Opening Day starter over him (cough..Brett Myers..cough), I don’t think Hamels
would have a legitimate gripe if the team brought in Halladay because simply
put, Halladay is better than Hamels.
Should the Phillies go into October with a one-two punch of Halladay and
Hamels, I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find a team in the National
League that can contend with them.
The Phillies are obviously not the only team in contention for the
all-star. The Red Sox and Angels have also been mentioned along with some other
teams. Now I don’t know J.P. Ricciardi personally, but I would hope that he
isn’t dumb enough to trade Halladay to a division rival, so I think you can
cross Boston off the list. Still, the Phightin’s will not be alone in this hunt.
Halladay will not come cheap, but he will be worth the price. Fingers
crossed.
JUNE 22
A response to the Bryce Harper opinion piece . . .
Bill,
Interesting comments on Bryce Harper. To be honest, I'd never heard of him
but then I'm not familiar with all of the young national sports talent.
According to a friend who is from Europe (Poland) soccer is king and talented
teens basically leave school to become professional as soon as possible. I
chuckle when authorities in this country preach how important education is but
yet make decisions to the contrary. For example, from an educational
perspective, a 3-month break (summer vacation) doesn't help students. Several
breaks during the year would allow students to move to subsequent levels when
educational outcomes have been achieved. This won't occur in the U.S. because of
the vacation industry lobby. We, putting it simply, live in a capitalist society
where the entertainment element is highly valued. Entertainment pays!
As a teacher (and a coach), I don't agree with it, but I understand it.
I wish young Harper well! I hope he is successful in his baseball career if
that is what HE desires. And if he is blessed in his endeavor, perhaps he can go
back to school and earn a degree so that he can find himself a more educated and
well-rounded individual who can give something significant back to society.
(Hopefully, Harper may use his baseball talent to benefit others!)
-- Rick Adamsky, Warminster PA
JUNE 17
Harper’s Decision Raises a Glaring Question
If you haven’t already heard of Bryce Harper,
you’re bound to sometime in the next year. The 500-foot-home-run-hitting child
prodigy from Las Vegas is considered by many to be the best amateur baseball
player in the country – he’s 16.
Had he not been in just his second year of high school, some scouts say
he would have at the very least been the second pick in this year’s MLB Draft.
Harper and his parents have solved that problem, however, by making him eligible
for next year’s draft.
Harper has decided to forgo his final two years of high school and earn
his GED. He will enroll in a junior college and, barring any sort of drastic
setback, will be the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.
None of this comes as a big shock to anyone. The piece done on Harper by
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci all but confirmed the decision two weeks ago,
but for me this situation raises a far greater question: Is this the right
message to be sending kids across the country? Is it ok to sacrifice education
in favor of athletic aspirations?
The answer, sadly, seems to be yes. It doesn’t only happen in baseball,
it happens in almost every sport. With the exception of the NFL, college seems
to be just a momentary speed bump on the way to becoming a professional athlete.
But just imagine for a second if players were required to attend college.
The NFL requires players to be three years removed from high school graduation
to enter its draft. The results have increased the level of play in college
football, but more importantly these young men are getting the opportunity to
get a quality education.
What if the MLB, NHL and NBA required their players to be three years
removed from high school? Imagine the level of competition in college sports.
Imagine LeBron James cutting down the nets at the Final Four; imagine Bryce
Harper rushing the field in Omaha.
Having the best players in the country playing at the collegiate level
will exponentially increase the amount of money received by our colleges and
universities. This could theoretically lead to lower tuition costs for those of
us who don’t have the benefit of a full athletic or academic scholarship.
Most importantly it would bring value back to something that seems to
have lost its place in this country, an education.
I know the situation is difficult, and if I were put into it I’m not sure
what I would do. I would like to think that I would go to college and get my
education, but I’m not LeBron James and I’m not Bryce Harper.
MAY 27
MLB's All-Star Voting: Definition of Ridiculous
It will not come as a shock to any Phillies fan to say that Raul
Ibanez is hot. In fact, it might be an understatement. But despite his torrid
play through the first two months of the season, Ibanez currently sits sixth in
the voting to represent the National League in this year’s All-Star game.
If the voting ended today, the player who is tied for the league lead in
home runs, third in runs batted in, and 12th in batting average would not be a
starter when the game’s “best” take to the field in July at Busch Stadium in St.
Louis.
Luckily for Ibanez and Major League Baseball, the voting does not end
today, and there is still a chance for the Mid-Summer Classic to save face.
The All-Star game is meant to display the best baseball has to offer, and
is supposed to be a reflection of how the player’s are playing during that
particular season. Too often players are chosen for their name rather than their
performance, and this season is no exception.
Just take a look at the voting in the National League for the outfield
starters. The leading vote-getter is Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun. Braun is having an
excellent season (.323, 8 HR, 31 RBI), still his numbers don’t match up with
those of Ibanez (.347, 17, 44). Yet Braun and the Cub’s Alfonso Soriano (along
with his .254 average) sit ahead of Ibanez by a good margin.
And that’s not even the worst part. Manny Ramirez, the Dodger’s left
fielder who earlier this season tested positive for a banned
performance-enhancing substance, is currently fourth in the voting despite being
in the middle of a 50 game suspension. Manny’s suspension ironically brings him
back just in time to play in the All-Star game.
The outfield is not the only place that needs fixing. The Brewer’s J.J.
Hardy leads all NL shortstops despite having a dismal .234 average. His 403,269
votes put him ahead of Marlin’s shortstop Hanley Ramirez who is having another
terrific year (.320, 8, 22, 8 steals).
The flaw in this system is the online voting that has been implemented by
Major League Baseball in recent years. For some absurd reason, fans are
permitted to vote up to 25 times, rather than once (imagine if every voting
system allowed each person to vote 25 times).
If you visit the Brewer’s website, the first thing you will see is a
banner urging you to “Vote Early. Vote Often. Vote Brewers.” This sort of
campaigning seems to have paid off with a Milwaukee player in the top two at
every position (Braun is the only one with respectable numbers).
Perhaps I am beating a dead horse here, but I figured as long as have the
forum to voice my opinion (thanks Ted!), I might as well bring your attention to
what I feel is a glaring problem with Major League Baseball.
I doubt anything will change. Players like Ibanez and Hanley Ramirez will
not start but they will certainly be there in St. Louis watching players with
mediocre seasons starting over them due to the fans ignorance or desire to see
their team’s players rather than the best players.
I just hope that when Major League Baseball see’s players with
MVP-caliber numbers sitting on the bench while players with smaller numbers from
larger markets start, they will see the need to make a change.
It’s not like the game is important anyway, it only determines who will
have home-field advantage in the World Series (don’t even get me started on that
one).
MAY 13
Philadelphia Union set to take city by storm
Monday marked a historic day in the history of Philadelphia Sports. For
the first time since 1976, major professional soccer has returned to the City of
Brotherly Love.
At a press conference at City Hall, officials from Major League Soccer
and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced the long-anticipated name and
logo of the city’s new MLS franchise – the Philadelphia Union.
With the unveiling of the team’s name, crest and color scheme,
Philadelphia sports fans now have another team to follow and another team to
agonize over.
I know what you’re thinking, nobody will care about this team and an MLS
franchise will be no more important than say an Arena Football team or some
other obscure professional team. There is no way a soccer team can pull
attention away from the city’s four major professional sports franchises,
especially when the league starts play right around the same time as Major
League Baseball and those beloved Phillies.
But I say give it a chance, and the game might just catch and keep your
attention. Soccer, or football as it is called across the pond (that’s Europe),
has the innate ability to captivate audiences. Much in the same way baseball and
football are revered in this country, soccer is revered in almost every other
part of the world.
It is truly the world’s game, and it is expanding. Soccer is becoming
increasingly popular among America’s youth, and that includes Philadelphia.
Drive around this city on any weekend in the fall and the spring and I’ll bet
you a dollar you won’t have to drive longer than 10 minutes to find children
playing soccer.
The game is slowly building a foundation in this country, in this city,
and this new team has already created a lot of buzz. The unofficial fan group,
the Sons of Ben, is 6,000 members strong and counting. The team has already sold
6,000 season tickets for its 18,000-plus capacity stadium, and that is without
spending any money on marketing.
The Union have yet to play a game, the team doesn’t even have a coach or
players yet, and already tickets are selling.
Personally I cannot wait for next March, not because the Phillies will be
starting up again, but because the Union will be taking to the pitch at Chester
Stadium and a new chapter of soccer in Philadelphia will begin.
I don’t think I have made it any secret that I am a fan of the beautiful
game, earlier this year me and a friend of mine drove seven hours from State
College, Pa. to Columbus, Ohio just to watch the second half a World Cup
qualifier between the United States and Mexico.
I’m not saying you have to do the same (although I always say it was
worth the 100 dollars and two classes that I missed), but when the season begins
next March, take a drive to Chester to watch a game and see for yourself.
I’ll admit, soccer can be a little boring to watch on television, but it
is hard to compare to electricity in the stadium during a soccer game to any
other sport. There is something different about it. The building up of an
offensive run to get just one goal is one of the most exciting things to witness
because that one goal may be the only one you see.
It takes a certain type of fan to enjoy soccer, and I think this city has
that type of fan. The type of fan who pours his heart and soul into a team and
game that has absolutely no effect on his life whatsoever, the type of fan who
brings an unrivaled amount of passion to a game that is merely that – a game.
This city is ready for soccer, I just hope the people in it are willing
to give the game a chance and create a little more room in their hearts for
another sports team.
The owners of this team know this city has the passion to maintain a
successful soccer franchise, and if the team’s motto is any indication, they
have that same passion.
We’ll just have to wait until next March to see if the city responds to
that motto – “jungite aut perite” (that’s “join or die” for those of us who
aren’t Latin scholars).