NL East roundup: Misery loves company

The Phillies have their share of problems, but they're far from alone.

Despite the Phils' issues at the plate and on the mound, it's possible that the Marlins, Nationals and Braves would trade their problems for the Phillies' in an instant.

Marlins: Ozzie Guillen opened his big mouth again, and this time it was an opinion that many experts are calling "the worst thing you can say" in Miami. Guillen has since apologized for his comments about Fidel Castro, but he - Guillen, that is - has been suspended for five games. If nothing else, it has become a PR nightmare for the Marlins and a lousy way to christen what the team hoped would be a magical first season in Miami.

Nationals: Anytime your closer's name is in the same sentence as Dr. James Andrews, that's never a good sign. Drew Storen may not need Tommy John Surgery - though it hasn't been ruled out yet - but as manager Davey Johnson put it: "It doesn't sound good to me." Brad Lidge is now their closer. Uh oh.

Braves: They sit at 0-4 for the first time since 1988. Going back to last season - for whatever that's worth - the Braves have lost nine straight games. Chipper Jones is supposed to return to the lineup tonight, but how much does he have left? And a Jason Heyward platoon is an actual idea being floated around. For all the talk about the Phillies' offense, the Braves have only scored 10 runs in four games.

Mets: They're 4-0 and in first place. Division race = over.

Comments

[Willard Preacher]

Yet sportsbook odds updated today still put the Mets at +5000 to win the division (Phils are still favorites at -175).

[Scotch Man]

Why even bother playing the rest of the games? Suck for a good draft pick!

[Dukes]

This post made me feel awesome. A little perspective is great medicine.

[Dragon]

Not surprised. Miami has a lot of talent on the team, unfortunately they have an equal number of loose cannons. Had a feeling it would be a three-ring circus down there, just didn't think it would start this early.

[Phlipper (thinking of going back to rooting for the Mets)]

Now NEPP needs to be suspended from BLer for five games for being a commie-loving moral equivocator who defended Castro's oppression of Cuban dissenters.

[Malcolm]

And David Wright has a pinky injury. THE PLOT THICKENS

[MG]

Guillen has already offended the Cubans. What major demographic group is he going to piss off in Miami next? Dominicans? Puerto Ricans? Haitians? Jews?

[Willard Preacher]

Malcolm, I'm not convinced that Wright and Chipper aren't the same guy. Interesting that "Wright" is hurt the same day that "Chipper" is coming back....

Have they ever actually played on the same day before?

[Willard Preacher]

MG, depends, what nationality is Zambrano?

[aksmith]

We can't suck for a draft pick, Scotch Man. Our first round draft pick resides in Boston, whose closer Rube signed as a free agent.

So, that isn't even a viable strategy.

[Scott]

I'm thinking Lidge lifted Kendrick's voodoo doll on his way out of town, and is now using it down in D.C.

[goody]

I think NEPP is a veteran, lets cut him some slack.

[HammRadio]

@aksmith -- the top 15 picks are protected... so if we really suck we can pick a really toolsy former lacrosse standout

[DH Phils]

One thing I don't understand is the bizarre disdain for Laynce Nix. He's been a perfectly useful bench bat the last 3 seasons and has a good glove in the outfield. I think maybe we should give him at least 5 ABs before we declare his signing a complete failure.

[RT]

"Despite the Phils' issues at the plate and on the mound, it's possible that the Marlins...would trade their problems for the Phillies' in an instant."

Nah! As soon as they start winning, Miami will forget about it all.

[Ozzie Guillen]

Stalin wasn't such a bad guy, either.

[clout]

Isn't this Drew Silverman's first post of the season? Where did he spend his winter?

[CJ]

More injury woes for Washington... Michael Morse removed himself from the game. Was unable to even throw the ball to the SS from the OF.

[NEPP]

***Stalin wasn't such a bad guy, either.***

Well he did basically defeat the Nazis all on his own with minimal help from the West...regardless of what you learned in history class.

~ducks~

[Willard Preacher]

clout, not exactly sure, but I hear that he's in the best shape of his life.

[Willard Preacher]

"Was unable to even throw the ball to the SS from the OF."

So, he's basically Juan Pierre?

[Willard Preacher]

JW, any plans to integrate Beerleaguer into that CSN Philly Sports app? It would be sweet to have BL customized for iPhones (and not have to deal with the zooming, scrolling on the small screen).

[Josef Stalin]

I love Ozzie Guillen. He's been around a long time and people keep trying to knock him out of MLB, but that m8888rf8888r is still there. I respect that.

[awh]

"Well he did basically defeat the Nazis all on his own with minimal help from the West."

NEPP, do you have ANY idea how much war materiel the Soviets received from the West in WWII?

[3r0ck]

JW, any plans to integrate Beerleaguer into that CSN Philly Sports app? It would be sweet to have BL customized for iPhones (and not have to deal with the zooming, scrolling on the small screen).

Posted by: Willard Preacher

+1

[3r0ck]

"Well he did basically defeat the Nazis all on his own with minimal help from the West."

NEPP, do you have ANY idea how much war materiel the Soviets received from the West in WWII?

Posted by: awh

Lend-Lease Program

[Michael Martinez's Tools]

awh: no, NEPP means that Stalin literally defeated the Nazi's on his own. Jujitsu.

[awh]

3r0ck, yep.

NEPP, here's a little history lesson for you regardless of what you may have learned outside of histroy class:

http://www.historynet.com/russias-life-saver-lend-lease-aid-to-the-ussr-in-world-war-ii-book-review.htm

[Raul's grandpa]

Ozzie Guillen just released his top ten coaching idols: Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Louis Farrakan, The Ayatollah, Kony, Mussolini, Milosevic, Coach K, Vlad Dracul, Jim Jones. He loves and respects them all. He also credits Amin as the originator of "small ball".

[Bedrosian's Beard]

"We can't suck for a draft pick, Scotch Man. Our first round draft pick resides in Boston, whose closer Rube signed as a free agent."

Sucking this year will be for next year's draft pick, which doesn't reside in boston, unless Rube signs another Bosox closer.

[awh]

N_E_P_P.......U_S_S_R

Similar acronyms? Hmmmmmmm.

[STS]

JW, any plans to integrate Beerleaguer into that CSN Philly Sports app? It would be sweet to have BL customized for iPhones (and not have to deal with the zooming, scrolling on the small screen).

Posted by: Willard Preacher

+1

Posted by: 3r0ck | Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 06:10 PM

The CSN Philly app doesn't work well on my 4s for some reason? Or it takes more than 30 seconds to load and I've never waited that long.

But either way I too have scrolling issues on the iPhone and would like a better viewing exp.

[awh]

mini-mart's tool: that's some mean jujitsu, no?

[bay_area_phan]

"One thing I don't understand is the bizarre disdain for Laynce Nix."

I'll meet you half-way on this. Nix has his uses. He can hit for power and, for 3 years in a row, he has had a .780+ OPS against RHP. He should never, ever face a LHP, but against RHP, he belongs in our starting lineup.

That said, there is nothing bizarre about the disdain. For one thing, while a .780ish OPS is good enough to warrant a spot in our lineup against RHP, it's not the kind of exceptional split I would expect out of someone who's a pure platoon hitter. For another, a .288 career OBP is unfathomably hideous. His occasional homerun comes at the expense of a huge number of outs. Not to mention that he's another extreme streak hitter. When he's running hot, it's all well and good. But when he isn't, he will just suck the life out of your lineup for 3 months straight -- as he did to the Nationals in the second half of 2011.

[Raul's grandpa]

Bedrock,
Rube is lining up to sign Carl Crawford when his deal is up.

[NEPP]

***NEPP, do you have ANY idea how much war materiel the Soviets received from the West in WWII?***

Yes...I was trolling. My degree is actually in history and I did an entire course on Russian Studies as part of that.

[Raul's grandpa]

Some random unnamed NL GM "dissuaded" the Sawks from looking into Roy O to ease their pitching woes.

http://calltothepen.com/2012/04/08/roy-oswalt-rumors-red-sox-dissuaded-from-signing-oswalt/

[Willard Preacher]

I'm cracking up that RG throws Coach K in among a list of fascist dictators and all around evil dudes.

[Willard Preacher]

I suspect that the unnamed GM is Alderson. We all know that his scouts have already debunked the myth of the Phillies greatness (once you get past Halladay, Lee and Hamels...).

Sandy probably just passed along some top secret Mets scouting report that paints Roy O in a negative light.

[Willard Preacher]

I know we're a few years past the point that it's feasible, but how crazy would it be if the Red Sox signed Pedro? Boston's collective head would explode (and presumably spew clam chowder and Sam Adams all over the place).

[Bedrosian's Beard]

90%(?) of German military men killed in ww2 were by the Soviets.

[awh]

Wow. This is a different take on Guillengate.

Greg Gouch over at foxsports doesn't think guillen will survive this:

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Ozzie-Guillen-Miami-Marlins-five-game-suspension-not-enough-for-careless-remarks-toward-Cuban-community-041012

[NEPP]

***90%(?) of German military men killed in ww2 were by the Soviets. ***

Which is the main slant of the argument that the Russians won the war. They also faced over 2/3 of the German army and most of their elite divisions while the West was defended by conscripts, non-Germans and reservists with a small sprinkling of SS units to give them backbone.

[goody]

BB: I always thought Vic Morrow killed 90% of the Germans on Combat.

[Vidkun Quisling-Rodriguez (Miami Beach,FL)]

I never posted here before but I felt compelled to. If Loria brings Ozzie back, I will be fine with it.

[awh]

NEPP, yet much of the German war effort was directed at the West. About half the Luftwaffe was deployed to protect against Allied bombing raids. The Germans built over 1,000 U-boats. A U-boat cost nearly 50 times as much as a tank, so 50,000 tanks that didn't exist couldn't be deployed in the East.

What happens if Rommel and his divisions aren't in North Africa? What happens in Churchill isn't British PM and a feckless leader like Chamberlain sues for peace after the fall of France (as Hitler had hoped for)? What happens if they used the 400,000 troops deployed in Norway against the Soviets? What happens to the Soviets if the full Nazi war machine is directed at them?

[GTown_Dave]

For all the talk about the Phillies' offense, the Braves have only scored 10 runs in four games.

That's still more than the Phillies, though, right?

NEPP: A such I'd argue the Germans lost the war more so than the Russians won it. Hitler overreached. Badly.

[NEPP]

***What happens to the Soviets if the full Nazi war machine is directed at them? ***

The same thing that would have happened had Hitler simply focused his energies on the UK instead of building up his army in the East for Barbarossa. Of course, the Soviets were planning to attack at some point anyway so either way Germany probably would have lost.

Sea Lion very easily could have succeeded if not for a couple fortuitous events and a lack of real commitment/planning on Hitler's part.

[Lake Fred]

Nice thread header, Jason. Atlanta lost last night to the Lastros and our former Phil J.A. Happ. Sucks for them. I'm glad they are losing. I hate the gNats and the Fish, so I'm glad that they are sucking, too!

[NEPP]

***NEPP: A such I'd argue the Germans lost the war more so than the Russians won it. Hitler overreached. Badly.***

That would be a fair argument...and an accurate one.

[GTown_Dave]

Now lemme see if I'm reading Miami's Cuban community correctly:

"If Ozzie Guillen isn't fired we won't attend the Marlins games we've never bothered to attend before, anyway!"

The overriding unreported story here is that placing a Major League Baseball franchise in S. Florida -- or anywhere in Florida, for that matter -- was a bad idea, & building a new ball park will not change that fact.

[NEPP]

Florida will be averaging 15K a game in short order.

[Willard Preacher]

"That's still more than the Phillies, though, right?"

And they're at least getting their aging star offensive player back tonight, too...

[Willard Preacher]

"Florida will be averaging 15K a game in short order."

Yeah, but that was going to happen anyway. Guillen can't be the scapegoat for South Florida sports apathy.

[goody]

I worked for a man who was a member of Hitler's army. Lots of interesting stories.

[Jbird]

If General Frost counts as a Russian, then yes, they did quite well over there. He did a bang up job against Napolean too.

[Willard Preacher]

Wow, I knew today's off day would be rough on comments, but I had no idea we'd go this direction.

Are we sure no one saw Ryan Howard at Dorney Park or anything this afternoon?

[Bake McBride was Here]

On another topic, there looks to be an interesting Orioles-Spankees game shaping up.

[Willard Preacher]

Bake, thanks for the heads up. I love those old school Orioles hats.

[Raul's grandpa]

I am still waiting for them to bring me the g8ddamn keys to the city! Winter,schminter.

-Napoleon

[Bake McBride was Here]

Nick Johnson's working the nostalgia angle pretty hard, what with the old-school hat, his li'l moustache, and his high socks.

[Willard Preacher]

Update: Russell Martin's face is as punchable as ever.

[Brett]

Are the Marlins the Nazis in the game of major league domination? Spread too thin? Quick rise to power under a delusional leader?

[Willard Preacher]

Johnson appears to have dropped a few pounds, too. He's clearly going for the 70's porn star look (and pulling it off swimmingly I might add).

[Bake McBride was Here]

"Update: Russell Martin's face is as punchable as ever."

Last time I was at Camden Yards, it was for the O's-Spanks and there were a few Yankees fans with punchable faces--which were unsurprisingly punched in due course (not by me, mind). Hate to admit this, but it was not an unpleasant sight to behold.

[Willard Preacher]

I know it's old hat to continue to bash TMac, but listening to Gary Thorne do the O's broadcast just instills faith in me that your TV play-by-play guy doesn't HAVE to be an insufferable rambling douche bag.

Thorne does a great job of letting the action speak for itself when it should. And it doesn't feel like he's trying to force dialog with Palmer (who's also good at making sure his words actually MEAN something - not just talking for talking's sake).

[Willard Preacher]

Bake, I think the Yanks lead the league in punchable faces, if I'm not mistaken.

Martin is certainly among the league leaders (though Cody Ross probably just beats him out). However, Nick Swisher has rapidly ascended the ranks of the list, and Teixeira will always be a contributor, as well.

[Willard Preacher]

When did Freddy Garcia turn into RJ Swindle? That's some serious garbage he's lobbing in the general direction of home plate.

[GBrettfan]

Now lemme see if I'm reading Miami's Cuban community correctly:

"If Ozzie Guillen isn't fired we won't attend the Marlins games we've never bothered to attend before, anyway!"

Posted by: GTown_Dave | Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 07:02 PM

* * *
Hilarious, GTown!

[kuvasz]

NEPP: I stand with you on the Soviets; their blood and guts won the war.

WW II Casualties.

US Pop. 131,028,000,Dead 418,500,% 0.32

USSR Pop.168,524,000,Dead 23,400,000,%13.88

One of seven Soviets died in that war, one in 300 Americans died.

Back to baseball, its only slightly less jingoistic.

[awh]

"The overriding unreported story here is that placing a Major League Baseball franchise in S. Florida -- or anywhere in Florida, for that matter -- was a bad idea, & building a new ball park will not change that fact."

tru dat.

[Sophist]

Gary Throne is probably better at his job than anyone else in a similar line of work at the moment.

[awh]

Note to Dave Montgomery:

Please trade TBag for Gary Thorne. PLEASE!

Pretend you're talking about extending Ryan Howard or signing Cliff Lee.

Please, PLEASE, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE offer relief to long-suffering Phillies' fans by putting someone in the broadcast booth that isn't so insufferable.

[goody]

I'm watching "Jews in Baseball" on Horizon. The mastermind of the "Blacksox Scandal" in 1919 was a Jew. In true Ozzie fashion, Henry Ford said America's problem is too many Jews.

[aksmith]

Henry Ford was a well known Jew hater. He actually wrote a book about it, which he published in 75 different languages. And he rented a huge ship to sail to different countries to tell them how awful Jews were. He also imported about 1 million Arabs to live in the Detroit area, believing that there being so many Arabs would keep Jews away. (It didn't work, but there is still a huge Arab population in the Detroit area.)

Yeah, he was a real sweetheart. But he was no Ozzie Guillen.

[Bake McBride was Here]

Willard, Garcia is definitely bringing back his vintage Phils-era form in this game.

Which reminds me, what's A. Eaton up to these days?

[awh]

Henry ford, and otherwise brilliant man, was a douchebag anti-Semite and IIRC a supporter of Hitler. He also received awards from the Nazis.

[Sophist]

The Phil and O's should combine teams to be the Orillies this year. Would be an exciting team to watch.

[Phillyinnyc]

Henry Ford spewed more hatred in his newspapers and books than his cars spewed pollutants into the air...

[Fatalotti]

Man, this thread has been equal parts history lesson, equal parts comedy club.

Glad I stopped by.

[NEPP]

Anti-Semitism was still fairly commonplace in the 1st half of the 20th century...there was a lot more support for it than is generally remembered given the extreme end to which Hitler took that viewpoint.

Linbergh, Ford, Henry Cabot Lodge, etc were all noted American anti-semites.

[NEPP]

Freddy Garcia is having one hell of a game here.

5 wild pitches now.

[NEPP]

Lindbergh, not Linbergh obviously...

[Bedrosian's Beard]

Hitler had a picture of Henry Ford in his desk.

[Mick O]

#1 Anything that keeps Gary Thorne away from a hockey rink is good -- my most hated announcer of all time. I notice there is an option to watch that Yanks/Orioles game with just the ballpark sounds. Wonder why that option's not in all the parks.

#2 For mobile users looking for an app it may be a good time to remind users of the Beerleaguer mobile site. Definitely not a slick app, but it makes reading it on a phone slightly more bearable. YMMV

http://www.beerleaguer.com/.m/

#3: The traditional abbreviation, I believe, is N_E_CCCP_P

[Hugh Mulcahy]

I'm easily 4 threads behind and I skipped 2 to get there. Just wanted to repost a classic Beerleaguer post:

"I'm not going to get into a long-winded debate about [who bears the burden of proving the existence of a god or the closer's mentality ] when it's probably better to talk about T. Gillies, but some argue that talk of "burdens of proof" is best relegated to places like courts of law -- contexts where they settle where they do as a matter of practical convention -- and that in more shambolic conversations nothing is rejected as unjustified without an argument against it. ?

Posted by: Sophist | Monday, April 09, 2012 at 10:11 PM

This affirmed the dictum of O. W. Holmes, Jr. posing that it be better that a principle of law be settled, than that it be settled correctly. (stare decisis). And, it added shambolic to my vocabulary.

[limoguy]

'Anytime your closer's name is in the same sentence as Dr. James Andrews, that's never a good sign.'

Well said, Drew, and oh so true!

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Stupid detail dept. On his way off the field on Easter, Shane Victorino rolled a ball across the top of the dugout toward my daughter. She, having had no interest in the proceedings of the previous 3 hours that didn't involve the activities of the Pirate Parrot or the cotton candy vendor, ignored him. I intercepted it and took the opportunity to ask him to please win at least 2 games in Pittsburgh next year. He didn't respond. I don't blame him as he was clearly being nice to my daughter, not the disappointed ticket holder. Anyway, it's the ball that McCutchen hit off the wall, if anyone wants it.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Fatalotti - I wanted to add, to teh extent still relevant that I still agree with using Blanton on Saturday, and I was adamant that they use Papelbon on Sunday from the 8th inning right up until McCutchen came to bat. And, I deny any contradiction in my positions.

[AL]

Kuvasz: small sample size

Orioles blew the game when they left their starter in like 3 batters too long. It was a shame too because the rookie had a nice game until that point.

Also the O's announcers are awesome. I miss Thorne on ESPN he was great at hockey too.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

Drew S. - Kudos on a classic entry in the Beerleaguer log. Perspective is key and you provided it somewhat succinctly.

[Bubba]

Keeping with tonight's theme?

Was it over when the Nazis bombed Pearl Harbor?

Well it's not over just because we lost 3 games in April.

[gobaystars!]

I never minded Thorne. I remember him doing Mets games on Ch 9 for a briefly when I was a kid. It was weird. I watched the Mets on 9 and Yankees on 11 every single night as a kid and rooted for whoever they were playing. So weird. That's devotion to baseball right there. Also, Phillies on WOGL.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

"it's not over just because we lost 3 games in April."

Are you asserting this as a matter of fact or opinion? Hell, I'm not even sure what "it" is. It might actually be over for all I know.

[Jack]

It is most definitely over.

[Hugh Mulcahy]

That clears it up.

[STS]

Hugh - I attended Sat & Sun with family, and our seats were a gift from a family friend. He's a long-time Pirates fan, so I'd be happy to pass along the ball as a thank you.

If that's of interest, post an email address? Thanks.

[baseball fan]

I have just one thought on the Ozzie Guillen suspension. Why is even any reasonable reporter even asking Ozzie Guillen what he thinks of Fidel Castro instead of sticking to baseball-related questions?

[mm]

Ozzie Guillen has a pitcure of Ozzie Guillen in his desk. I don't think he really mean't anything severe by it, he just lacks any verbal filter whatsoever.

[Dragon]

Ozzie said it was the British and not the Americans or Russians who won the war. You could look it up.