Phillies Nation

That Dykstra story is incredible… I didn’t realize how f’d up he was. He really is a sick human being…

I love you philliesnation.com You give me warm fuzzies……. like that commercial.

I am thinking about having a charity golf match or dart game to help defray some of my expenses. Any ideas of where to go in Philly? Also, I plan to raffle off some securities. I may write a book about my steroid era and other cool stuff to get back on my feet.

I just read that as of now, the 2011 FAs will include Pujols, Fielder, HOWARD, and Adrian Gonzalez… now that’s some quality first basemen… in theory, it should push the prices down.

I’d like to hear that Hamels is working out with Halladay.

Nails is a poster child for uncontrolled steroid use. He may actually have a third ear somewhere. Loved him as a player, but an absolutely horrible human being (The real Pete Rose jr).
Certainly an impressive 1B crop, but Pujols will not be one of them. He will sign an extension, possibly before spring training. No way the Cards sign Holliday to that contract without commitment from Pujols. He’s the best player in baseball, but I really don’t think he’s going to be a free agent any time soon.
Gonzalez is a very good player, power numbers coming up each year without a major sacrifice to avg, and he plays in a pitcher’s park. I’d still rank him behind Howard, though. Stud players on bad teams make me nervous.
While a great hitter, and a surprising good athlete for his size, I wouldn’t touch Fielder. Howard, who has a ring and an MVP, comes back each year in better shape, works on his weak points. Fielder can’t manage to stay below 300lbs, and seems to have maturity issues. He’s going to try to break the bank, won’t even talk about an extension. Can’t say I blame him for wanting to leave Milwaukee.
Pujols, Howard, Gonzo, Fielder.
Echoing many others – cheap arms are always worth a look.

Howard is abysmal against lefties, and I’m not sure if it’s really fixable. There’s a good analysis of it here based on pitch f/x: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/ryan-howard-against-lhps The long and short of it is, on balls from LHPs on the inside part of the plate, he can make contact but has very little power. On balls from LHPs away, he can hit for power, but he whiffs at a very high rate.

It seems that he just can’t identify pitches properly from LHPs, and that’s a difficult skill to learn when you’re 30 years old in the MLB.

Comparing Pete Rose to Lenny Dykstra is ridiculous..while Rose certainly hasn’t been a model citizen…to refer to Dykstra (who is trash) as Rose, Jr. is going overboard.

Was it the gambling on games he was involved in (and the subsequent lying), the speed and coke ring, the complete contempt for autograph seekers, or the failure to report earnings on memorabilia that make Rose so much better than Dykstra? At least Dykstra has the excuse that his mind is fried through unsupervised use of steroids.
Philly doesn’t win the 80 WS without Rose pushing Schmidt. The 93 Phils are nowhere without Dykstra. They are two of the more important players in Philadelphia history, and I will never forget either for that. If I saw them, I’d buy them a beer and say thanks. On the other hand, I’d never do business with either, nor would I want either as a neighbor.
There are some genuinely good guys from the Phils in my lifetime: Ashburn, Tony Taylor, Maddox, Luzinski, Manny Trillo, Larry Christensen, Sarge, Andersen, Bob Denier, Doug Glanville, Milt Thompson, Ryan Howard, …. Rose and Dykstra are a pair of cheaters who thought (and continue to think) that rules are for others. One is just a little crazier than the other.

“It is a six-bedroom, eight- bath mansion, that was once vandalized, littered with beer bottles and dog feces, spewed raw sewage, and close to being deemed a biological hazard.” (From Reuters, Jan 29)

Yeah….I guess that pretty much makes the case that Rose is just as bad as Dykstra.

All your points are well taken, bfo_33, but….c’mon..

Pete Rose .. Hall of Famer in everyone’s eyes

Lenny Dykstra.. Hall of Shame

Dykstra played hard, and we loved him… and then his life went right down the drain, unfortunately, he took a lot of people with him.. he’s a scumbag.. maybe he can get a job at one of the Car Washes he used to own

The comparison with Rose and Lenny are sadly similiar in the personaly dept, but I want Rose in the Hall because of what Rose did on the field!!

Lenny did some great things on the field buy not for 3 decades

Thank you for comparing me to Pete Rose. I agree 100%.

sorry…SIXTH

Howard’s ineptitude against lefties is exactly why the Phils have to retain Werth.

Pete Rose can never go in the Hall of Fame. Ever. If he does, the Hall of Fame will mean nothing. As its is there are about 25-30 players that have no business being in there. Its so diluted. But thats different that the Rose issue. If Ryan looked at more pitches he would be fine. I can understand him not wanting to try to constantly beat the shift because it might mess up his swing but I would be all in favor of a slug bunt down the line. Ryan could be it out no problem. There’s no one there.

The Dipsy

The Hall of Fame is the Disney story of Baseball, cleaned up and G rated (or at least like Disney when I was a kid – now it looks like Melrose place). I’d like to see it more as a historical representation of baseball. Put Rose in there, along with the circumstances that got him banned. Open the Bud Selig Wing for the PED users, put the life story of Ty Cobb in there,…. There are a lot of great players, many who were good guys, but many had their issues.

You know…I like that, bfo…Some of these players were amazing in their own right….but led or have been leading lives that have “brought them down.”

People (fans) should be able to see for themselves how good they were…how they contributed to the game….but, also…how they screwed up.

Ty Cobb KILLED a guy?

I think the whole hall of fame system needs to be overhauled. The voting system has to be revamped. I still have have a hard time believing that the writers turned blank ballots last year when you have Sandy Alomar and Bert Blyleven still not in! Also, it’s supposed to be a museum. They should just create a “steroid wing” to the hall of fame. You can’t just ignore a huge black mark on the game.

I don’t think Howard should be moved from the 5th spot. Who else are you going to put there? It’s not like Jayson Werth has been lighting it up against right handers. Also, Charile doesen’t seem like he will change his lineup that much anyway.

If Howard was a little better against lefty pitching, I think he would easily hit 50+ homers most seasons, instead of 40+ like we have been seeing usually. Glad to hear he’s working on improving, and hopefully he can do something to hit better against lefties. Also very happy to hear that Roy is already down there, you have to LOVE his work ethic of constantly trying to improve.

Also I heard a while back that Cole Hamels and Rich Dubee would be going to Clearwater a few weeks early, but I haven’t heard much since then.

It does not matter much where Howard bats. If it is an important spot expect a lefty to pitch. Werth is a great complement (to Howard) because he destroys lefties. But most teams stack extra lefties in the playoffs just to pitch to Howard. The fact that Utley bats ahead of Howard is a bonus and that Ibanez might bat after Howard is even better for the opposing manager. Ideally the lineup would flow Howard, Werth, Utley, Ibanez. That would require 3 pitchers for those 4 hitters because of the severe splits of Howard and Werth.

Pete Rose’s “indiscretions” directly impacted the game of baseball. Killing a guy is not a big deal. Fergie Jenkins and Orlando Cepeda had documented drug busts. Nothing to do with baseball. As far as I’m concerned, if Hitler retired with a .330 lifetime average HE should be in. Extreme example. The idea of having Howard get as many at bats as possible is not a good one against lefties, plain and sample. He stinks. He’s woeful. Stop it. He should be batting sixth and Werth should be batting 4th against lefties so HE can get the most at bats. Get the better hitters more at bats than the bad hitters. Or am I missing something?

The Dipsy

Whatever he took. He took the extra good stuff for the playoffs. I respect that. The 93 team was a steriod team. do I like them any less? Hell no thats how the game was then. they were a good closer away from a championship. Wish Mitch had hit the juice that the toehrs were on. Might have gotten a title.

Don,

I agree with you completely on Rose, Dipsy, I don’t agree with him never being in the Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame is about the game not what the idiot did later. I mean if a known doper gets in to the Hall of Fame then you have to put Rose in.

He was what every kid wanted to be and he worked harder than everyone else in the game for 2 decades.

He had a sickness with gambling, I mean Ruth was a sloth and alcoholic.
Cobb , see forementioned, and many others were scumbags and criminals.