POSTGAME NOTES: Charlie Manuel calls Lincecum and Cain “good, not great” Posted by Andrew Baggarly on July 28th, 2011 at 9:27 pm | Categorized as Uncategorized The Philies aren’t accustomed to losing consecutive games at home. Until Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum pitched the Giants to victories the last two nights, the Phils hadn’t lost two in a row in front of their Phanatical Phans since April. The Giants also hadn’t taken a regular-season series here since 2004. They were 0-5-1 in their last six series at Citizens Bank Park. You had to wonder if the Giants would be able to get into the Phillies’ heads by winning a series here. After all, the Phillies still have more of a track record. Their top starting pitchers (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee) have dominated for a longer period than Lincecum and Cain. They should be confident, right? One series shouldn’t put them on edge, right? Well, it’s means one thing when you think those things. The truth might be something altogether different when you say them in front of a microphone at a podium, in front of a bunch of reporters on deadline. With no further delay, I give you Phillies manager Charlie Manuel: “They’re not in our heads. I don’t think so. Really, I don’t think so at all.” “I think we can get ‘em, if you want to know the truth. I know we can get ‘em. It’s just a matter of us putting it together and for us to play the right way. And that’s pitch, hit and play good defense. Yeah, I think we can get ‘em. “They’ve been playing us tough. They’ve got a good team. They’ve got good pitching. So do we. It’s just a matter of us outplaying them. Basically, the last two nights they took it to us.” Last year, during one of the NLCS workout days, Manuel got very defensive when asked another question about the Giants pitching staff. He didn’t like all the praise he was hearing from his own hitters. He thought maybe they were psyching themselves out, building up legends in their minds. He might be thinking that still. Asked how you solve great pitchers like Cain and Lincecum, here’s what Manuel said: “They’re good pitchers. You say they’re great pitchers. To me, I don’t know how great they are. I think as they move on into their careers, there’s the longevity part and things like that. I think that’s when the greatness might come by. This is a consistent game. When you say somebody is great … tonight I saw 90 fastball, 92 at the best. I saw a good changeup. I saw a breaking ball. I saw a cutter. Good pitching, but at the same time we can beat that. I’ve seen us do that.” “We can beat them. I know we can.” There’s a reason they call it “quiet confidence.” When spoken aloud, it seldom seems to feel genuine. LOL BRO YOU MAD ?
Dick Harden is like a penis. He goes hard for a little while and then he goes limp for a longer spell. I know Bourn was traded to Atlanta for Schafer and three minor league pitchers. That's what WFAN reported anyway. Were Vizcaino or Delgado in that deal? If so, then that was a good deal for Houston even if Schafer never amounts to much.
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/510/michael-bourn None of those pitchers were in it. Doesn't seem like a good deal for the 'stros if you ask me: RHP Paul Clemens, LHP Brett Oberholtzer, OF Jordan Schafer and RHP Juan Abreu. Also, Verlander loses the no-no with 2 out in the 8th.
hey, I thought I was the only one to call him Dick Harden! There's no way the Braves were parting with one of their top 4 prospects for Bourn. Houston got a decent package. I like Schafer.
I came up with that penis analogy while hearing Ed Coleman talk about Harden this morning. I just wrote "came" and "up" in that last sentence. Also, you wrote "package." As for the Bourn trade- ATL kept Vizcaino and Delgado, so I'd say it was a good trade for them. If one of the other guys amounts to being a worthy player, then it'd be a good trade for Houston too.
I agree, down only 3? Hell the guy got on, scored and started a 2 run rally. That was way more acceptable to me than the Tigers' two guys watching their homeruns for 20 seconds before running.
I would have drilled him in the face with a pickoff throw if a guy bunted that late into a no hitter. It's bush league. You want a hit? Then fucking swing the bat and earn one. I have no problem with Guillen though. He was making a point about Weaver getting on Ordonez, who didn't do anything wrong. His ball was right down the line, it could easily have gone foul. Weaver was just being a bitch because he gave up a bomb.
...didn't he earn at hit when he got on base after the bunt? It was a close game. I have no problem with the bunt.
No, it was an error. And a bunt isn't earning a hit, it's taking a pussy way to get on base when you know you can't get a real hit in that situation. In a regular 3-0 game, they are probably playing in a bit, making the bunt less likely to be successful. But in a no hitter they are going to stay back a bit more to get to more balls. Bunting in that situation is complete bullshit, and as a pitcher, this guy is getting drilled the next 3 or 4 times I face him.
If it is 10-0 sure, but in a close game you do whatever you can to win, hell he started a rally. as old friend Herm Edwards would say: YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME. Verlander is just being a vagina. Ordonez I don't mind, though even if it was a close fair/foul he still should have trotted his lazy ass to first. Guillen is a nobody, he was a bitch and in the old days his next AB someone would have had him eating out of a tube for months.
It was a hit, then an error. And as you point out, in a normal game you might try to bunt there, what because Verlander has a no hitter the guy should do him a favor? If a RB is closing in on record yardage do you not put 8 in the box. The no bunting in Nohitters is the stupidest thing ever, Play the game the way you normally would.
Baseball can be more faggy at times than non-American football. I am not sure what bothers me more- all the flopping I saw in the men's World Cup or this faggy sissy shit about how bunting is bad to do when your team is being no hit. I will mail a cork to Verlander if I have time tomorrow.
nothing wrong with bunting for a hit in a close game. I would expect to get drilled next time up, though. Bush league is Saduharu Oh intentionally walking that dude four times so he couldn't take a swing at his HR record.
