Results tagged “Cole Hamels” from The Southpaw

The quest to repeat starts here.
Or is it going to be another Roctober?

Tim Hudson had perfect form in his return to The Bigs. It would be good for baseball if the proud owner of 147 wins could return to his old self.

The Phillies have aces wild, which is better than Wild Aces.
Rereading the Scott Kazmir trade.

Don't overreact.
Don't overreact? Are you kidding me? The Philadelphia Phillies are World Champs - a phrase we're still joyiously getting used to - and they just picked up the reigning American League Cy Young winner.
Don't overreact. He's not Roy Halladay.
That's true, he's younger and cheaper. But he did win 20 games last year.
Yeah, and he's 7-9 this season.
Big woop, he could have easily won 10 to 12. He's got a 3.14 ERA this year and leads the American League in innings pitched.
Boy, you're excited.
Of course I'm excited. WE'RE GOING TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES.
Hey now, simmer down. Wait a minute, did you just use the word "we?" Are you going to pitch for the Phillies?
Sorry about that. Got carried away there. As far as me pitching for the Phillies, well, they seem to be high on southpaws. They do have four left-handed starters now.
Speaking of don't you think that's dangerous? So many lefties. How are they going to contain Manny Ramirez or Alfonso Soriano?
Yeah, I'm concerned about having the reigning AL Cy Young winner, the reigning World Series MVP, a rookie with a 7-1 record, and Jamie Moyer, who's got 10 wins or more for five straight seasons. Plus he's 4-1 with a 3.30 ERA in his last five starts. I don't know how they're going to compete. It's going to be so much tougher now. Seriously, though.
Remember the last time you got this confident? When you thought Freddy Garcia or even Kevin Millwood were going to lead you to the promised land? Where did they take you?
None of those guys joined the Phillies after winning 20 games, let alone the Cy Young. Sure, there's a risk here, but at least the Phillies didn't give up a lot.
Oh no. Just last season you talked about how Jason Donald, Carlos Carrasco and Lou Marsen as being the future of the organization.
Are you kidding me? The future is now. What's Jason Donald, the next Mickey Morandini? At worst, Marsen is the next Mike Lieberthal or Carrasco the Next Brett Myers. Most people are scared Jason Knapp is going to be a staple in the Indians' rotation. But he's at least three years away. By that time Kyle Drabek will be anchoring the rotation and Happ should still be around.
So you're not counting on the Phillies still packaging Happ and Drabek to the Blue Jays for The Good Doctor?

Chris Woodward lays down a sacrifice bunt Tuesday. Who says the American League doesn't play small ball?
This time, Omar gets a public spanking.
Mark Buehrle continues to impress, even in a loss.
The regional teams get set for the trade deadline.

Can Daniel Murphy and the Mets catch the World Champs? Or are the Phillies playing the Yankees to the Mets' Red Sox?
The Philadelphia Phillies, their fans and their city should be content with where they stand.
On top of the world.
Right now, they are the reigning World Series Champs. They hold back-to-back division titles. And they have crippled the egos new New York Mets fans.
It's kind of like how the Yankees used to be with the Boston Red Sox.
That's right, to the Metropolitans and their fans, the Phillies are the Evil Empire.
So, we can expect 86 years of dominance, right?
Come on, the Mets have more injured veterans than Walter Reed. The Phillies have a big lead. They need to be more concerned with the Marlins, not Willie Randolph, err, Jerry Manuel.
What could Phillies fans possibly worry about? Black Friday was more than 30 years ago.
They're World Champs. They got the rings. They got the glory. They got Cole Hamels.
But a bit of recent history looms over the Phillies. No, the shadow does not belong to Joe Carter, or the Ghosts of '64 for that matter.
It's the Ghosts of 2007.

At the end of October, after he'd hoisted more trophies than Larry King's had trophy wives, you'd have thought Cole Hamels was the toughest man on the face of the earth.
Sure, he sounded like a cross between Michael Jackson and Steve Carell.
Sure, he looked like a surfer dude.
Sure, he's all gangly, his arms and legs flying forth as he tosses that unhittable change-up.
But he ate Manny Ramirez, Prince Fielder and Carlos Pena alive.
Between smiles he gave dragons noogies. After speaking softly, he could take on the entire UFC. And he didn't need a big stick.
This guy swam in pools filled with great whites. And they were afraid of him.
Then this comes out.
Hamels has a teeny-weeny, curly-haired dog. Not that there's anything wrong with that. My mom and dad have a cute, little chitzu-poo. But my dad doesn't throw fastballs past Evan Longoria and Ryan Braun.
My dad doesn't put the fear of god into Chipper Jones.
The really weird thing about this picture of Hamels, as Jeff Frantz so succinctly pointed out, is what reason on God's green earth is there for Hamels to need a backpack?
Sure, he looks young. He probably has to show his ID to get into R-rated movies. But a backpack? Seriously. Is he heading off to trig? OMG, guys. Where's my BFF?
But there is a prototype for the grown male carrying a backpack. Josh, played by Bradley Whitford, on the West Wing.
He always had a backpack slung over his shoulder.
While Josh helped President Bartlett run the free world, he never had to toss aside BJ Upton like it was nobody's business.
Cole Hamels is a baseball god. And not only do gods not answer letters, they don't carry little dogs around in their backpacks.
Are we going to tell Cole that?
No way.
We'll have David Ortiz do that.
Then we'll watch him go 0-for-4 with three whiffs the next time he faces Cole Hamels.

The Southpaw is sick and tired of King Felix. He's barely a duke. Barely.
The Phillies opened up a can Monday.
And yes, we actually defend Derek Jeter.

Pedro Martinez, who led the Boston Red Sox to the promised land, could be joining the team that occupies that sacred ground.
That's right, the Philadelphia Phillies are inexplicably scouting Pedro Martinez.
Sure, he won thre Cy Young awards. But he won 17 games the previous three seasons.
What's the benefit here?
Sure the staff has trouble, but unles Pedro is willing to pitch out of the pen, he doesn't bring much to the table.
Is he better than Joe Blanton, who the past two years has a lower ERA than Martinez does during the same span? No.
Is he better than Cole Hamels? Historically, yes. Currently, not even close.
Is he better than Jamie Moyer? Not really. They're both maxed out after 5-6 innings. They both will give up home runs.
Is he better than JA Happ? That's a tough question. Happ is young but he has been the Phillies most consistent starter. Since joining the rotation, Happ has gone six innings or more in five of eight starts. Pedro won't do that.
Now, as for the Phillies fifth starter. Pedro might be better than some of the rookies, but if the Phillies are going to contend for a long time, it might be more worth their while to have those young kids get some innings in.

Another tragedy in Anaheim.
How is it possible a night in front of 4 TVs with 4 games could be bad for The Southpaw's health? They had the Nationals, Pirates, Orioles, and Orioles again on.
How is Jose Canseco helping Barry Bonds?

Of course, we have to talk about Randy Johnson even if he once was called Rando Grando.
Cole Hamels was on. He owns L.A. more than Brangelina does.
And don't forget to drink your Melk. It does a Yankee good.
Is Carlos Beltran beginning to hate his teammates?

The Phillies-Mets series was a dud, but the Red Sox-Rays was very entertaining.
Joe Maddon's team appears to have life. And, if you didn't know, Carl Crawford is quick as a sneeze.
And don't forget, a daily dose of The Southpaw keeps the swine flu away.

Manny Ramirez smacked three doubles Tuesday.

Alright everybody, give the Yankees a round of applause. The Bronx Bombers finally caught on that there's this little problem of a supply and demand. They slashed ticket prices.
Oh yeah, the big, fat toad is returning.

Cole Hames throws a pitch in the first inning Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Phillies ace was injured later in the game when a pitch Prince Fielder crushed struck Hamels in his left shoulder.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels left Thursday's series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers after being struck in the shoulder by a line drive.
One pitch after giving up a two-run homer to Ryan Braun in the fourth inning, Prince Fielder laced an infield single that hit Hamels in the front of his left shoulder.
Trainers immediately tended to Hamels, who left the game with what the team called a left shoulder contusion. He was replaced by J.A. Happ.
Hamels was the MVP of the 2008 NL Championship Series and World Series, but is off to a rough start this season. He had an 11.17 ERA through his first two starts.
He had cruised through the first three innings Thursday, striking out six of the nine batters he faced.

"Meat!" The Cincinnati Reds' Jerry Hairston Jr. is tagged out by Ivan Rodriguez.
As REM sang, "Everybody hurts." It would seem all the time.
Also, Cole Hamels blames himself.
And how's the attendance been?

I just have to pass along this story.
Molly and I were in the clubhouse store at Citizens Bank Park during the opening game. Molly saw a pink shirt she thought was cute and wanted to buy. But she told me it was $75. We both agree. Seventy-five bucks for anything made of a polyester and cotton mix that cannot keep you warm in 55-degree weather is way too steep an asking price.
Later, we walked by and she pointed it out. It was basically a T-shirt - we'd already bought two at $28 apiece - and I couldn't help but think, "No way is that shirt more than 30 bucks." In fact, at that price I thought it would be grossly overvalued.

Well, this wouldn't be a reputable baseball site if we here at The Southpaw didn't have some preseason predictions.
So here goes:

One of the most popular players here at The Southpaw is current San Diego Padres second baseman David Eckstein makes a catch against the Cleveland Indians in the third inning of a Spring Training game Monday.
Spring Training is almost over. It's a bittersweet feeling, kind of like riding the school bus for the last time. You're moving on to better things, but you had a lot of fun while it lasted.

The World Baseball Classic dominates today's story lines.