There is no doubt that Jim Thome has had a Hall of Fame career. But the one glaring omission on his impressive resume is a World Series title.
Thome is hoping 2012 will be his year.
The 41-year-old slugger agreed to a $1.25 million, one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, marking his return to the franchise for a second time.
Not only does Philadelphia provide Thome an excellent chance at finally capturing that elusive title, but he played for Philadelphia from 2003-05 and has remained close with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, his hitting coach for several years in Cleveland.
“When a team like the Phillies called, that’s a great opportunity to be in,” he said. “There was history here. I think to me, it was a good decision.” Read more...(257 words, 2 images, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)
During the bottom of the fifth inning of the NLDS matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals, a baseball-loving squirrel just had to have some face time.
For the second straight game of the series, a squirrel (presumably the same one) made a cameo in Busch Stadium. This time, the squirrel ran right across the batter’s box just moments after Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt had delivered a pitch. For whatever reason, Oswalt tried to argue the call (claiming interference?), but the ump ruled that the runaway squirrel had no bearing on the play.
The location of the now infamous squirrel, who mysteriously disappeared into the first few rows of seats behind home plate, is unknown at this time. Lucky for him, the series now shifts back to Philadelphia and he’ll one again have Busch Stadium all to himself. Read more...(142 words, estimated 34 secs reading time)
After just two innings in Game 2 of the NLDS, the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t have liked their chances in the game already being down 4-0 with Cliff Lee on the mound.
First Roy Halladay, now Cliff Lee? It almost seems unfair. After all, Lee is the same guy who was 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA in his first eight playoff starts—4-0 with the Phillies in 2009. But despite being down 4-0 and down 1-0 in the series, the Cards weren’t so quick to throw in the towel.
Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning after Lee blew a four-run lead, and the Cardinals rallied past Philadelphia 5-4 Sunday night to even their NL playoff matchup at one game each. Read more...(300 words, 2 images, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)
There was one thing that the recent Braves/Phillies showed me – and that was that the Braves have no answer for the Phillies top 3 pitchers. As a Braves fan, this is a very distressing realization.
While the Braves have played well this year, they are currently 84-60 on the season and a 90 win season is not out of the question. By most teams standards, that’s a really good season. It’s a good season for the Braves and they will make the playoffs, all things staying equal. But once they get there, the hopes of getting much past the first 3 games are really dwindling at this point. Read more...(537 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)
With Aaron Rowand having been been cut by the San Francisco Giants, rumors are starting to run rampant in Philadelphia that the Phillies are planning on picking up the seasoned veteran.
Since the Phillies recently waived Andrew Carpenter, the club now Phillies now has an open spot on the 40-man roster and Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly speculates that spot might soon belong to Rowand.
Although it never hurts bringing a veteran presence into the locker room, the Giants’ releasing of Rowand wasn’t by accident. The 34-year-old Rowand was batting .233 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 108 games this season. His struggles at the plate mounted prior to his being released when he was mired in a 1-for-24 (.042) slump. Read more...(234 words, 2 images, estimated 56 secs reading time)
However, things boiled over when PhiladelphiaPhillies center fielder Shane Victorino charged the mound after being hit in the back by a fastball from Giants pitcher Ramon Ramirez.
Victorino is now appealing a three-game suspension imposed Monday for his part in the bench-clearing brawl at AT&T Park.
Still guessing? Well, if you said Jair Jurrjens, you either are a nut for baseball stats or you cheated and googled the question.
If you don’t know who Jurrjens is, you soon will. Not only are his 12 wins tops in the NL, his incredible 1.87 ERA is also the best in the National League.
The 25-year-old righty is having a career year for the Atlanta Braves, but is it good enough to earn him the starting spot at the 2011 All-Star Game? Read more...(212 words, estimated 51 secs reading time)
Coming from the South, I often heard the phrase from my older relatives, “I’m down in the back.” This had the meaning of having a back problem, pain, soreness, something worse. It just meant that there was something wrong with their back. Roy Oswalt of the Phillies is once again, down in the back.
Not the first time for Oswalt and probably not the last, he is about a step away from heading to the DL once again this season for back problems. He spent time on the 15-day DL earlier in the season with low back inflammation. It has been an ongoing issue for him. The Phillies have retained their hold on the top of the NL East despite his absence and the less than stellar fill in by Kyle Kendrick, but the Braves are inching ever closer to the top spot and another DL stint for Oswalt may not be what the Phillies need right now. Read more...(566 words, 1 image, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)
On Tuesday night, it wasn’t exactly pitching that ruled the day. It was the wood. A few teams put up a lot of runs and even more hits showing that even with some of the great pitching in baseball right now, the bats can still get moving.
The Orioles put up 11 runs on the Twins. They also held the Twins scoreless on the game. Guerrero homered for the Orioles and had 3 RBIs on the night. Andino contributed 3 hits as well. Weiters had 4 RBIs on the night. The Orioles put up 13 hits. Twins starting pitcher Carl Pavano lasted 4.2 innings. While the Orioles Arrieta went for 6 scoreless. Read more...(439 words, 1 image, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)
Jayson Werth had quite a night against his former team the Phillies. He had a homer, a double and a stolen base as Livan Hernandez pitched a very good game to down the Phillies 7-4.
The Nationals came out the winner despite the Phillies having more hits on the night, thanks largely to Werth but also to the poor pitching performance of the Phillies’ Joe Blanton. Werth took every advantage he could of Blanton and the Phillies paid the price.
Livan Hernandez pitched quite well for the Nats giving up only 1 earned run on the game. Blanton on the other hand gave up 5 in only six innings of work. Werth made it a night to remember for Nats fans and one to forget for the Phillies, his former team. It also showed what the Phillies are now missing from the lineup. The ability to make something happen. Without Utley, they are really lacking in that department especially with Werth now gone too. Read more...(210 words, 1 image, estimated 50 secs reading time)
There is no doubt that Jim Thome has had a Hall of Fame career. But the one glaring omission on his impressive resume is a World Series title.
There was one thing that the recent 
Coming from the South, I often heard the phrase from my older relatives, “I’m down in the back.” This had the meaning of having a back problem, pain, soreness, something worse. It just meant that there was something wrong with their back. Roy Oswalt of the 
Jayson Werth had quite a night against his former team the 
