According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Phillies' stats will be tallied as home stats, but little else will feel like Philadelphia as the Phillies become strangers in their own home in a quirky series with the Blue Jays beginning tonight at 7:05.

ESPN baseball writer Tim Kurkjian provided a comprehensive preview of this unusual series. “In baseball annals, this is not a big deal, many games have had to be transferred from one city to another for a variety of reasons, be it weather, ballpark construction, etc.,” Kurkjian writes. “But this is the first time that an interleague game has been moved from one team's park to the opponent's park. The Blue Jays will wear their home uniforms, will bat second and the DH will be used. The Blue Jays will take batting practice first, as they would at home. The walk-up music that is played for each Blue Jays player before each home at-bat will be played, as will the walk-up music for each Phillies player. The attendance for the games will be credited as home games for the Blue Jays.”

"It's really going to be strange," Brian Schneider told Kurkjian. "I looked at the times to show up Friday and we don't have to be on the field as early." Great read. Check it out here.

Comments

[Spitz]

Cool graphic JW!

[HammRadio]

can't flip the dugouts.. but should flip the bullpens just for sport..

[Hugh Mulcahy]

They should flip the dugouts for sure. Anybody have info as to the expected ratio of Jays fans to Phillies fans?

[Meyer]

Last player on the field will be Roy, aye.

[Heather]

Are they going to ring the bell when a Phillie hits a hr?

[GTown_Dave]

I'm already sick & tired of the whining about what an "advantage" this is for the Phillies. I don't recall any rival NL East GMs sympathizing w/ the fact that the Phillies have to play the Yankess & Red Sox every f*cking year (6 of those 9 games were road games this season, by the way), while their clubs are facing the Royals & Orioles. "Oh, but the Phillies play the Indians, too!" Yeah, well so do the Mets. In addition to the Orioles. Bitching & moaning about this particular series in the Era of the Unbalanced Schedule (not to mention All-Star Games "That Count") is ignorant.

My own bitching & moaning aside, I'm really looking forward to tonight's game, & am very curious as to how Halladay will perform. A seldom-mentioned aspect of Roy's brief Phils career thus far is the fact that he hasn't had a "Roy-like" start in any of his 3 appearances vs. the AL this season, & 2 of those starts (vs. Boston & NYY) were by far his worst as a Phillie. Additionally, one can't help but wonder if the adrenaline he must surely be feeling facing his old club will be a hindrance. On the other hand, if any pitcher in MLB is capable of mastering his emotions on an occasion such as this, it is Roy Halladay.

So here's hoping for some rare Phillies Interleague magic at Home ... er, on the Road ... er, but still at Home ... :-S Let's try that again: Here's hoping tonight's Roy is Roy at his Best, & that the Phillies offense decides to mash on his behalf for a change.

[Marc H]

Let's not forget that the Blue Bays swept last year's series at Citizens Bank Park

[GBrettfan]

I second all that, GTown.

[George]

The Jays have to play the Red Sox/Yankees 36 times a year...that's a much tougher situation than we've got.

[Sophist]

It's definitely an advantage for the Phils, but given the already unbalanced schedule (with the Phils playing the toughest IL schedule in all of MLB, I think) I wouldn't make much of it.

Also wouldn't make much of Doc's AL starts. In his 9 seasons prior to joining the Phils he didn't seem to have too much trouble with AL teams (18-7, 2.98 ERA against the Yanks including his last start against them).

[Bubba]

Do we get Toronto announcers on the TV ?

Much as we all love T-Mac that would be a bummer, eh.

[timr]

Def. need to win, and win easily, tonight. Its Halladay against his former team and some no-name pitcher. Lets hope the Phils don't fall back on their habit of making no-name hurlers look like aces.

[Jack]

Jays should have called up Drabek to start tonight's game. That would have made it real interesting.

[BobbyD]

George- I believe G-town is talking Phils IL schedule vs. Mets/Braves IL schedule.

[MG]

The G-20 temporarily relocated the CN Tower to Philly? Wow I heard that security had a price tag of $1B+ but that must have been really expensive.

[Andy]

Nous sommes les Geais Bleu, comme 1943!

Everyone wear a touque, eh!

[Meyer]

Sacrebleu Andy is back.

[out of my league]

Resposne to Spitz, from previous thread...

Speaking of Michael Taylor, another great season for Billy "I've had books written about me but don't have anything to show for it" Beane.

Posted by: Spitz | Friday, June 25, 2010 at 04:20 PM

~~~~~~~~~~

Oh now Spitz, don't blame Billy for Michael Lewis writing a book about how Beane was ahead of the power curve when it came employing the use of sabermetrics to help identify undervalued players in baseball.

Since Beane began managing the A's in 1998 & thru the end of the 2009 season, the A's W/L record stands 1051-891 = .541

And since his tenure with the A's, Beane has operated with an average annual payroll of less than 47 million dollars.

I defy anyone to come up with another ML manager who, over the last 12 years, has accomplished MORE with the same (or less money) than Beane has had to work with during his tenure.

(Sorry, please resume Phillies game chat.)

[clout]

OOML: Your post is factually correct, but given who you are addressing, you should realize it is pearls before swine.

[clout]

MG: Please correct me on this, but what I got from your posts on the last thread is that you think Rizzotti is a hot prospect, but J.C. Ramirez isn't.

[NEPP]

clout, clearly a couple hot weeks in Reading are more than enough to rocket a 24 year old DH up the prospect ranks, right?

I look forward to him posting a .600 OPS in Lehigh next year myself.

[Spitz]

OOML: How bout the two Marlins GMs that won WS rings with similar payrolls?

Clout, as always, you are an arrogant idiot.

[MG]

clout - No. Just more interested in what Rizzotti is doing. I personally wouldn't buy a ticket to the R-Phils just to see Ramierez pitch. That's all.

[Spitz]

Also, I think the 2002 Angels (who won the WS are also in teh same division as Beane's As) had a payroll of $34MM. Where is the book about their GM?

[BobbyD]

OOML: Marlins.

[Sophist]

The Marlins payroll was 5th in MLB in '97.

http://www.baseballchronology.com/Baseball/Years/1997/Payroll.asp

[HammRadio]

btw... JW's photoshop skills are still great...

nice job on the couple indiscreetly "coupling" in the Holiday Inn.

[GTown_Dave]

Followed a Dodge Caravan w/ Canadian plates to the Ballpark. Said Caravan had a roof rack. I'm sorely tempted to find Aumont, stuff him into one of those Thule luggage things & send him back to the nation of his birth. "I went to see the Blue Jays play a Home game on the Road in Philly & all I got was this lousy pitching prospect" ...

[Sophist]

Additionally, since 1998, the Marlins are 964-1050.

[clout]

Spitz: "How bout the two Marlins GMs that won WS rings with similar payrolls?"

Yes, GM Larry Beinfest was quite famous for his brilliant trades and personnel decisions. In fact, the Marlins amassed a record of 485-487 during the Beinfest era fair superior to Beane's .541 winning pct.

Spitz, I'm not arrogant. I simply point out ignorant, ill-informed comments. Nothing personal, I treat all ignorant comments equally.

[Meyer]

Hey, wait a minute, that's Joe Carter's killer homer heard around the world picture on the scoreboard.

[clout]

G-town: If you'd print 1,000 T-shirts with that slogan and Aumont's photo on it, I guarantee you'd sell them out at $12 apiece within 45 mins standing at Broad & Pattison.

[Spitz]

You guys are right - Billy Beane is an awesome GM. In addition to all his overwhelming success with the As, he also has had an owernship in the San Jose Major League Soccer team since 2008. He's guided them to two 7th place finishes. His excel models of picking athletes ROCK!

[clout]

Speaking of the Marlins, in watching every Phillies game, you really get a feel for the opposing managers in NL East. I feel pretty comfortable saying that Freddi Gonzalez was the dumbest, worst in-game manager I've seen in at least a decade.

He too was a Beinfest product.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I think Beane is a solid GENERAL Manager, but maybe a bit overrated, now that the rest of the league has seemingly caught on to his method. This may not be fair, but IMHO, a serious GM would get the heck out of Oakland and go to an organization that is serious about winning.

[Spitz]

Clout, I guess I feel like books should be written about and movies should be made about true greats. A 541 regular season winning percentage along with a total of zero World Series apperences goes not qualify as great. There is a reason that the movie Mircle was made about the 1980 US hockey team and not the 1984 US hockey team.

If Beane was a guy that did his job and didn't seek publicity, I'd have no problem with fanboys like you. But Beane has greenlighted two projects (book and movie) that, in my opinion, he is underserving of. Therefore, he rubs me the wrong way.

[GTown_Dave]

clout: Damn. That's a great idea. I know I'd buy one. I wonder if his potential derogatory t-shirt value counts as an Aumont "intangible"?

[Spitz]

Bed Beard - agreed. SOLID does not equal SUPERSTAR.

[aksmith]

From Clout in the last thread:

"aksmith: You have it exactly backwards. Ramirez has the highest ceiling among the prospects in the Lee deal and Gillies has the lowest. Aumont would've been fine had the Phils left him in the bullpen and not messed with his mechanics in an effort to turn him into a starter. Now he's lost a year of development.

Projecting guys this young is pretty tough, but if I had to guess I'd say Ramirez will make a decent contribution at the major league level, Aumont will be at least a middle reliever and Gillies will be Chris Roberson."

Clout - A couple of things. First, JC Ramirez is all ceiling and little else. In fact, if he really really improves, he'll top out at Carlos Carrasco, and that ain't much.

Also, the Phillies apparently have NOT changed Aumont's mechanics. I was actually hoping they would, but they have denied it recently. Haven't seen him pitch this season, have you? It would be nice to have someone who has actually seen him tell us the truth on this one.

And to say Gillies is Cris Roberson is simply wrong. Completely different skill sets aside from speed. Gillies has plate discipline and does not appear to have ADD in the field. And he apparently plays the game at a high energy level. Not exactly Roberson.

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Just don't put the t-shirt in the wash if you ever want to wear it a 2nd time.

[Sophist]

Spitz - They should only make books and movies about "true greats"? There's a narrow definition of suitable objects of art.

[Spitz]

Clout, is Bob Geren any better or worse than Freddi Gonzales?

Sophist, you'll be happy to know that I'm penning a novel named "Von Hayes: One Time All Star". I'm glad that I will be able to sell at least one book!

[Bedrosian's Beard]

I enjoy reading people speculating about prospects they probably know little about.

[Sophist]

It's also funny when people use winning a WS as a necessary piece of great general managing when it's pretty clear that the playoffs are a totally different beast (esp. the divisional series, where the A's lost all those series). The Yankees didn't win a WS from 01-08, but had 7 94+ win seasons and 3 100+ win seasons. Were they not successful? Only a entitled Yankee homer would say no (and their payroll was multiples of the A's).

When Lewis wrote Moneyball (published in 2003), the A's record int he preceding seasons was 383-264 (and the A's would win 90+ games in 03 and 04), and the work of guys like Bill James wasn't in many peoples' minds. What's more, Beane was a character himself: a former prospect, a hothead, whose athleticism was touted by the old guard (Gillick). If you've read some of MIchael Lewis' other books, this kind of story is in his wheelhouse.

No, he's not the Warren Buffett of GMs (who is?), but it's a great story. Funny how a good story irks people so much.

[out of my league]

I think Beane is a solid GENERAL Manager, but maybe a bit overrated, now that the rest of the league has seemingly caught on to his method. This may not be fair, but IMHO, a serious GM would get the heck out of Oakland and go to an organization that is serious about winning.

Posted by: Bedrosian's Beard | Friday, June 25, 2010 at 06:15 PM

~~~~~~

Beane is now part owner of the A's. And the ownership group of the A's - including Bud Selig's fraternity brother & managing partner of the A's, Lew Wolff - has been working very hard to "get the heck out of Oakland" which is when, imho, the A's will once again rise to the top of the AL West.

There is a LOT of bitterness among A's fans about how this whole thing has been going down. Bad juju all the way around.

[GTown_Dave]

The Phillies should bust out their 80s Powder Blues for one of these games so we can finally see them wear 'em at Home.

[out of my league]

Also, I think the 2002 Angels (who won the WS are also in teh same division as Beane's As) had a payroll of $34MM. Where is the book about their GM?

Posted by: Spitz | Friday, June 25, 2010 at 05:53 PM

~~~~

The team payroll list I was using has the 2002 Angels Angels of Anaheim with a total payroll of 61.7 about 21 million and change more than the 2002 A's were working with.

http://content.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/salaries/totalpayroll.aspx?year=2002

[NEPP]

I don't think I appreciated the Powder Blues at the time...I really love them now.

[out of my league]

...snip...

No, he's not the Warren Buffett of GMs (who is?), but it's a great story. Funny how a good story irks people so much.

Posted by: Sophist | Friday, June 25, 2010 at 06:31 PM

~~~~

No $.hit. Go figure.

[DH Phils]

Moneyball was important in getting mainstream sports media to think about things other than batting average and RBIs. Without Moneyball, I doubt you would see OPS on Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts (although Jon Miller still pronounces the acronym phonetically, as if it were short for "operations").

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Moneyball was a great read, and I remain a big Michael Lewis fan.

[NEPP]

Walkin' Dude

[Old Phan]

This whole thing is strange.

[MG]

Been while though since Lewis has written a good book. 'The Blind Side' was okay and his recent book on the 2008 crash (The Big Crash) was one of the worst ones I read on the subject.

Did randomly run into him once at the Berkeley Bowl getting some vegetables. Amazing how no one seemed to recognize him.

[DH Phils]

Anyone else listening on the radio?

Talking about how it's not going to feel like Toronto this weekend, no matter what they do:

LA: And we're on grass.
Franzke: Well, you're always on... (trails off)

Did I hear that right?

[Old Phan]

You'd think the outfielders would know how to play a ball in their own ballpark...oh, wait..

[TK]

Paging Dom Brown....

[NEPP]

to DH Phils: Yeah, probably to be honest.

[NEPP]

Good job setting it up for our slugging 1B Ross Gload!

[NEPP]

Gload has no idea what he's swinging at, does he?

[NEPP]

Never a doubt with Ross Gload out there. I wonder if he gets to DH tomorrow too.

[MG]

Nice job. That was a good slider and Gload did a nice job of just going with it.

[Old Phan]

I don't care if he goes up there blindfolded if he hits like that.

[NEPP]

I agree...it was nice to see a player get a timely basehit like that.

[MG]

Halladay is a bit anxioius here. Missing location so far and getting behind every hitter so far.

[NEPP]

If he keeps putting up zeros, I hope he stays "anxious" all night.

[Old Phan]

6 down, 21 to go. Oops, hope I didn't jinx anything.

[NEPP]

Walkin' Dude

[MG]

Litsch looks like a guy who is really rusty from a long layoff and still trying to find location. Hopefully the Phils don't let him settle in here.

[MG]

Fudge.

[Old Phan]

Why is Exxon wearing Polly's uniform?

[aksmith]

Charlie started the runner and Jimmy was still out at second by quite a bit. That's worrisome.

[Old Phan]

Well, Polly didnt hit it where they ain't.

[Voice of Reason]

with those two gidps, phils now tied for 5th most in NL

[NEPP]

That was a "different" double play there.

Too funny.

[Old Phan]

Nice play, Chase.

[Voice of Reason]

werth almost had the cycle the other day, needed that triple. looks like he got the tough one out of the way early today.

[NEPP]

Jayson Werth is En Fuego!

[NEPP]

Werth is hitting .300 again.

[MG]

Was that a 'Run & Hit' or a 'Hit & Run?'

[NEPP]

Pretty sweet stroke for a washed up guy.

[NEPP]

Seriously man, put a hat on your baby.

[Mr. Mack]

I find myself oddly waiting for Werth to shave off the beard. I keep expecting it to be gone now that the thermometer has gone North of the 90 degree mark. It's sort of 'hockey playoff-like' and really needs to go.

[Mr. Mack]

"Lets hope the Phils don't fall back on their habit of making no-name hurlers look like aces." - timr

They aren't exactly smoking this guy yet. I would be much more comfortable with a few more runs to help Roy pick up a W.

[holy mackerel]

Roy is doing his part - excellent job - fairly lo pitch count too.

[MG]

Patience from young James tonight. I like it.

[NEPP]

Please dont hit into another DP.

[holy mackerel]

Officially Jimmy is 0 for 0 (3 bb)

[NEPP]

Found just enough of a crack there for the infield single. I'll take it.

[goody]

MM: Werth is waiting for the Yanks to pay him $100MM+ to shave.

[MG]

Alright. Way to break this game open.

[Old Phan]

Mack, there are the runs you requested.

[NEPP]

Nice easy swing by Chase there...just reached out and lifted it to shallow CF there.

[MG]

Is it me or does Sam Perlozzo look hesistant to make a call on sending a runner/holding up a runner around 3rd since a couple of early season gaffes?

[Old Phan]

Gaston had that guy on a short Litsch.

[MG]

Seeing Cito Gaston come out of the Blue Jays dugout gives me bad flashbacks . . . .

[NEPP]

Wells isn't exactly the most mobile CF, is he? I remember his range as being much better a few years ago (UZR agrees with this impression)

[DH Phils]

With these stats going into the books as "home" stats for the Phillies, that's Howard's first career home RBI as a DH.

[NEPP]

Great patience by the Phils tonight...terrible pitch location by the Jays staff too.

[NEPP]

1st pitch Shane? Seriously?