I would like to welcome everyone to a new weekly feature here at Phillies Nation, "The City Line." I will run the post every Thursday night or Friday morning. If you are wondering, the name is derived from the proximity of my residences (current and past) to the edge of the city limits. Just an informal introduction this week and a few minor details to put out there for discussion.
First off let us all take a moment and give thanks that we are not Bud Selig right now. What a week this guy has had, right? First, a little over a week ago the biggest speculation in sports today became fact; Bary Bonds used steroids. Now what does Bud do? If he runs an indepth investigation, Pete Rose style, you and he know what the results will be: that Barry Bonds and numerous others have been using steroids ( and some pretty serious stuff too) since the late 90’s. This not only proves that baseball has been tainted for years, but it puts a black cloud over his reign as commisioner. He already has the strike of ’94 on his resume, add the rampant use of steroids and more then a few would slap the label, "worst commisioner ever" on Bud’s forehead. If anyone was switching between the first round of the NCAA tournament and the WBC game featuring the USA vs. Mexico, Jon Miller of ESPN was interviewing Bud. When the question of Bonds and steroids came up he started squirming like a little kid who has to pee. The perspiration on his brow was almost visable.
And speaking of the World Baseball Classic, Bud’s baby, the USA did not even make the semi finals. That is a disgrace. While I admit that I enjoyed watching the WBC much more then I had ever anticipated, there are still some major flaws. I do not totally blame Buck Martinez or the players either for the early exit. Buck had a responsibility to the players respective teams to rotate players in and out and platoon like it was a normal MLB team in Spring Training. Well this is not Spring Training, and if it is then what is the point of the WBC. Good idea, but needs some major tweaking
.Now I know this blog is named Phillies Nation, do not fret, here comes some Phils phodder. Is it just me, or does it seem that the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. Another Spring is almost over and David Bell has been inactive almost all Spring with a bad back. At least David has age as an excuse. Cole Hamels again is battling a bad back as well and Gavin Floyd is having trouble with his confidence. Tom Gordon has a sore elbow, Authur Rhodes is throwing wild pitches. The starters are whining that they get no respect. Bobby Abreu had a poor showing in the WBC, so poor in fact that his Venezuelan teammate Endy Chavez out homered him, had a better average than him, and more RBI’s. Now that is impressive. Pat Burrell has been DH-ing all Spring because of his still sore surgically repaired right foot (that is a situation I feel needs to be monitored very closely as the Spring draws to a close). Aaron Rowand just broke an 0-20 start. The list goes on, but you get the drift. Its time to start winning. Period. As the calendar flips from March to April, its good to know that not much has changed with our beloved Phils over the off season. Still, here is to a fun and successful season!
That’s the story from the inaugural City Line
