A CITIZEN'S BLOG

Once upon a time, Philadelphia had two baseball teams. They played in different stadiums, in different leagues, and had different fans. If you came from the city’s blue-collar, predominately Italian neighborhoods and were a Democrat, you went to the Baker Bowl* to root for the Phillies. If you were Irish, middle-class and a Republican, you journeyed to Shibe Park and rooted for the Athletics. While Phillies fans sat through decades of defeats – between 1918 and 1948 the team had a losing record every season but one, a 78-76 campaign in 1932 – the Athletics had a few good teams.

* The Phillies and A’s shared Shibe Park starting in 1938.

Owned by the mild-mannered Connie Mack, the Philadelphia Athletics won the American League pennant in 1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, winning the World Series in ’10, ’11 and ’13. Forced to disband his team, which featured the $100,000 Infield of Home Run Baker, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry and Stuffy McInnis, due to finances after losing the ’14 World Series to the Boston Braves, Mack returned the A’s to glory in the late 1920’s. The A’s finished second to the mighty New York Yankees in ’27 and ’28 before dethroning them in 1929, featuring a team that might be one of the finest in baseball history. (Click here for a terrific story that ran in Sports Illustrated a few years ago about the ’29 – ’31 Athletics and how their greatness has been lost to history.)

The ’29 A’s repeated as champs in ’30 and won the A.L. pennant again in ’31 before returning to mediocrity. As the cross-town Phillies rose in the late ‘40s, the A’s plodded along before they joined baseball’s westward movement and left Philadelphia after the ’54 season for Kansas City, where they became the western-most franchise in baseball before the Dodgers and Giants moved to the West Coast in 1958. The A’s would sit in Kansas City for another decade, existing as a virtual farm team of the New York Yankees, selling them stars like Roger Maris and Clete Boyer, before leaving for the San Francisco Bay Area in 1967, whereupon they became the Oakland Athletics.

Today, many Philadelphia sports fans don’t know about the A’s and their history in Philadelphia, which is too bad. Even before I read Moneyball and came to admire Billy Beane, the A’s were my second-favorite team in baseball. How could you not love Philadelphia’s other baseball team, those long-lost sons living on the West Coast? The A’s turbulent history, their decades of terrible baseball interwoven with two great dynasties (’10 – ’14 and ’29 – ’31), symbolizes how fleeting triumph and success were to Philadelphia in the early-1900s. As much as the Phillies struggles with racial issues in the latter half of the century mirror society’s own struggles with race, the Athletics symbolize how the city of Philadelphia struggled along to find success but was so frequently over-shadowed by that behemoth to the north of us: New York City.



Before I dive too much into tonight's Phillies - A's preview, I want to include a link to the Philadelphia A's Historical Society website. I love the work that they've done. I haven't had a chance to visit their Museum, which is located in Hatboro, but I plan to one of these days. Their web site is phenomenal and is a terrific resource of information. These guys are an under-appreciated treasure.

So the Phillies swing out to the West Coast to do battle with the Oakland A's before heading to Dallas, Texas, to take on the Rangers. The A's - Phillies matchup ought to be a good one, only the third time in history that these two teams have met. The A's, of course, are well-known throughout baseball for their pioneering Moneyball-approach to the game, which has enabled them to remain competitive despite having a fraction of the payroll of the rest of baseball. These days the A's are a different team from the walks-and-homers squad that Miguel Tejada and Jason Giambi led to division titles between 2000 and 2003. Peter Gammons forecasted this back in '04 when he noted that the market at the time was under-valuing fielding and that teams like the A's were moving to emphasize the fielding component of the game.

Sure enough, fielding, not walks-and-homers, is the A's forte these days. At +28 Fielding Plays, the A's are the top defensive team in the A.L., a fact that helps keep the A's team ERA at 3.41, lowest in the A.L. after the White Sox. The A's ought to send their best pitcher to the mound tonight, Joe Blanton. This will be an interesting game partly because Blanton has been on the radar of a number of MLB teams as a trading prospect. I believe that the Reds were connected to Blanton at one time or another. Don't be surprised if the Phillies swing a trade for the enormously talented Blanton later this season. He would be a terrific fit for the Phillies: in 2007 he allowed just 40 walks and 16 home runs in 230 innings of work (1.6 BB/9, 0.65 HR/9).

Offensively the A's aren't what they were in the early part of the decade. Their .330 OBP is below league average and their .378 slugging percentage is one of the worst in the A.L. This is a team that is still maturing. I'm not sure that Jack Cust (11 Home Runs, 34 RBI, .416 OBP) is the answer, but they need more bats to protect him.

I'll comment again tomorrow, but that is all for today.

Labels: Batting, Pitching, Trade Deadline

With the trading deadline past, I have a couple of thoughts …

… Generally speaking the Phillies made some good moves at the deadline. While I hate sending Matt Maloney to the Reds for Kyle Lohse, the team did a nice job acquiring Tadahito Iguchi from the White Sox and Julio Mateo from the Mariners. Iguchi is a good hitter who can play defense and is a nice stopgap for Chase Utley being injured. When Utley returns, Iguchi will make a nice bench replacement.

Mateo has barely pitched in 2007, but he has a good track-record on the field. In 2006 he went 9-4 with a 4.14 ERA as the Mariners set-up man. You can’t argue with those results. The best part about the deals for Mateo and Igushi are that the Phillies really didn’t surrender a darn thing to get either of them. Aside from losing Maloney, the Phillies didn’t surrender a single plum prospect.

… Aaron Rowand is still a Phillie. I honestly thought he’d be traded, but either the injuries to Bourn and Victorino killed a deal or the Phillies felt that keeping him for the season and letting him walk at the end – I believe they get a first-round pick in the 2008 Draft for him – was the better call. Probably the right decision, given the message that trading him would have sent to the team.

… You could make an All-Star team out of the guys who have been on the Phillies DL in 2007: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brett Myers, Tom Gordon, Shane Victorino, Michael Bourn, Jon Lieber, Jayson Werth. The injuries to Victorino and Bourn sting. That is a lot of speed gone from the lineup right there: specifically, fifty steals in fifty-four attempts (Victorino: 32 in 35 tries, Bourn: 18 in 19 tries). Will the Phillies lack of speed hurt in the coming days with games against the Cubs and Brewers? Chris Roberson has been recalled: will he get a chance to run?

…Much has been made of the Braves decision to acquire Mark Teixeira from the Rangers along with Octavio Dotel. I’m not sure that the braves did that much to strength themselves. Dotel is a capable closer and Teixeira will supply some pop to their lineup, but the Braves mortgaged a little of their future in the deal and seem a little desperate. I think the Braves real problem is that they aren’t good enough defensively to help their pitching staff and adding Dotel and Teixeira doesn’t help.

… The Red Sox made some nice deals, adding Eric Gagne was huge. What is interesting to me was how quiet the Yankees were at the deadline. Are they conceding defeat to the Red Sox?

…Truly the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t a clue what they are doing. Why are earth are they trading for an aging pitcher with a massive salary when the team is young and plays in a small market with a tiny payroll? I haven’t a clue. This is incompetence.

Tomorrow, I’ll finally get around to talking about the Williamsport Crosscutters. I promise.

Labels: Bourn, Braves, Iguchi, Roberson, Rowand, Trade Deadline, Victorino

Lohse-for-Maloney. I hate this deal. Horrible, horrible, horrible. What was Pat Gillick thinking? This team has a terrible habit of dealing valuable prospects for mid-level pitchers at the trading deadline. It is almost a fetish this team has.

What did the Phillies get? Well, they have a pitcher who is 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA. 1.1 HR/9, 2.3 BB/9, and 5.5 K/9 … Decent stats, but nothing to shake a stick at. His FIP ERA is 4.47 … Who exactly are the Phillies going to demote to make room for Lohse? Eaton? Durbin? Hamels and Moyer are out and Kyle kenderick has been pitching very well, so this is a deal that doesn’t exactly make sense – sure the rotation is a little thin at times, but the team had patched things together.

Confused about what I’m talking about? Here are the stats I refer to defined:
ERA – Earned Run Average: (Earned Runs * 9) / IP = ERA
FIP – Fielding Independent Pitching: (13*HR+3*BB-2*K / IP) + League Factor Evaluates a pitching by how he would have done with an average defense behind him by keeping track of things that a pitcher can control (walks, strikeouts, home runs allowed) as opposed to things he cannot (hits allowed, runs allowed).
HR/9 – Home Runs allowed per nine innings: (HR * 9) / IP
BB/9 – Walks per nine innings: (BB * 9) / IP
K/9 – Strikeouts per nine innings: (K * 9) / IP

The Phillies have up an absurdly strong prospect. Maloney was the pitcher of the year in the South Atlantic League in 2006 and has been thoroughly dominant at every level of the minors he’s pitched at. He’ll be a front-line starter with the Reds in 2009 for sure, if not sooner. The Phillies mortgaged a little of their future with this deal. It had better pay off.

Simply put: Kyle Lohse is not the impact pitcher who can alter a pennant race. He’s a talented pitcher with some experience, he’s got some decent stats, but the idea that Lohse justifies the Phillies dealing away one of their prime minor league prospects is absurd.

Not too many other deals so far, aside from Mark Teixeira going to the Braves, who coughed up some talent to get him. Teixeira will help the Braves for sure, but I don’t think that the Braves are getting the impact player they are assuming they are.

Prediction for today: Jermaine Dye to the Yankees, and Eric Gagne to the Tigers.

Labels: Lohse, Minors, Trade Deadline

Don’t look now, but the Phillies have won eight of their last nine games since Cole Hamels lost a 1-0 pitchers duel on July 19th in San Diego. The Phillies three-game sweep of the Pirates was huge. Simply put, they crushed the Pirates, outscoring them 23-7. While beating the Pirates isn’t a feat to brag about, it is important because it gives the Phillies momentum heading into some rough water.

-The Chicago Cubs. The Phillies journey to Chicago for a four-game set in the Windy City to take on the surging Cubs. The Cubs are playing good baseball behind their imposing pitching staff, so the question is whether the Phillies offense can score some runs, or will the Cubs shut the Phillies down.

-The Milwaukee Brewers. The Phillies leave Chicago to go up Lake Superior to take on the Brewers on Friday and into the weekend. The Brewers have been holding onto the N.L. Central despite the assault of the Cubbies for a little while. Can they continue?

Meanwhile, the trade deadline approaches. Thus far the Phillies have made one deal, sending Mike Dubee to the Chicago White Sox for Tadahito Iguchi. Simply put, I think Pat Gillick picked Chicago’s pocket (unlike in the Freddy Garcia deal) and stole a terrific player for a pitcher with marginal value. Nothing against Dubee, but he’s not one of the Phillies core minor leaguers (Matt Carpenter, Josh Outman, Matt Maloney, Kyle Drabek, Carlos Carrasco).

Iguchi will replace Utley at second base and add needed depth in the Phillies bench when Utley returns in late August or September. As a member of the White Sox, Iguchi had a .340 OBP to go along with 17 doubles, 6 Home Runs and 4 triples. He had 44 Runs Created, or 4.9 per 27 Outs. Defensively, Iguchi is a solid presence at the pivot. Nice deal.

The next thirty-six hours will see a lot of wheeling and dealing for teams. I’ve read that the Atlanta Braves are a near-lock to acquire Mark Teixeira from the Rangers, which hardly makes the Braves a lock in the N.L. race because I think that position players impact pennant races a lot less than pitchers do. I’m curious to see how active the Phillies will be.

More tomorrow!

Labels: Iguchi, Trade Deadline, Utley