Blogger Beat: Balls, Sticks & Stuff
This season, at the beginning of each series, MetsBlog will attempt to get the perspective of the opposition and their fans. From this, we hope to be better educated on the opposition going into a series. It also gives us a fine opportunity to highlight some of our favorite team blogs.
As the Mets look for revenge against the reeling Phillies, we revisit Tom Goyne of Balls, Sticks & Stuff.
What does losing a game like last Thursday’s against the Braves do to a team’s pysche?
It has to weigh on them somehow, whether they will admit it or not. What I have a hard time believing is that at some point, the position players don’t begin to thoroughly resent the pitching staff. They would probably never admit that either, but when the offense scores the way this one does and the pitching can’t even be average, it has to cause divisions on some level.
Have you ever seen a pitching staff this battered?
I’m sure you can go through the statistical archives and find staffs this terrible, but what is rare is to have such a good offense and such a poor pitching staff. They are first and next to last in the league, respectively. One team that comes to mind that had disparities such as this, but even bigger, just happened to also be another Phillies team. The 1930 Phillies, led by Chuck Klein, had a batting average of .315 and an ERA of 6.71.
Back to this year’s team for a second, the day after the loss to the Braves, I crunched some numbers and if this offense was coupled with just a league average number of runs allowed per game, their record would have been, at that time, exactly the same as your New York Mets.
Do you think there will be a few more Phillies fans at Shea Stadium than usual this weekend? If not, why?
Maybe a few, but really, I think most fans have decided that there just simply isn’t enough pitching to make the playoffs and its hard to keep up a vigorous interest when your mind has been made up on the outcome. Most Philly fans at this point are more concerned with the return of Reno Mahe.
Make a case for Jimmy Rollins as NL MVP.
First of all, he had the best quote of the offseason, right? Right? Since then, no one has had a more consistently excellent performance from Game 1 to Game 145 than Rollins (he’s played every game of the season too). He leads the league in runs scored for the team that’s scored the most runs in the league. Basically, he plays very good and sure defense at a premium position and is the ignition switch for a very good offense. Are you sold?
Do you have confidence that even if the Phils can play well in this series that they can sustain it for the final two weeks of the season?
Not at all. If Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick can get healthy, that is two out of every five games you have some confidence in a win, but for the other three out of five, you are just keeping your fingers crossed. In the end though, it’s usually Hamels, Kendrick, and Wish It Had Rained.
…thanks Tom…and no, if the Phillies don’t make the playoffs, Jimmy Rollins shouldn’t be a favorite for MVP…bottom line…just my opinion…another thing, it’s amazing to hear a fanbase so negative even though their team is only 1.5 games out…a lot can happen in two weeks, huh…
