It didn’t take youngster Domonic Brown all that long to get accustomed to major league pitching. 

In just his 11th — and what would wind up being his last — Grapefruit League game in ‘10, Domonic Brown had the unenviable task of going up against perennial Cy Young contender for the Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander.

In his first AB vs. the hard throwing righty, Dom got in a quick hole but stayed in there fouling pitches off until he finally worked the count full by laying off a pitch that was just a millimeter low and inside.  On the very next pitch, the kid caught up to a fastball middle-in and fucking WALLOPED it out of Bright House Field on into oncoming traffic on RTE 19.

It was a picturesque blast (that I tried to capture above, with his Strawberry-like swing and follow through) that made just about every Phillies fan in the world a little less worried that their team might be on the verge of losing Jayson Werth after this season.

Of course, I knew what kind of player Dom was cause I can spot raw talent a mile away, but at least the rest of you late comers got a glimpse of The Future®.  If you’d like to watch the officially licensed MLB video of his two homer, 4 RBI day, click HERE.  If you’d like to watch Dom talk, followed by Ryan Howard & Charlie Manuel practically salivating over the kid, click HERE.

See you in September (if not sooner), Domonic.

Oh yeah, and next time — spell his fucking name right.  Thanks.

On May 30th of last year, the Phillies were taking on the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in the second of a three-game set.  I remember how nice it was that day, so my buddies & I headed down to the sports complex sometime in the late afternoon and got intoxicated in the parking lot in preparation of Shairon Martis getting LIT UP by our Fightin’ Phils. And get lit up we he did.

After the Phils fell behind 3-0 in the top of the 2nd inning on the strength of a Wil Nieves 2-run double and Anderson Hernandez RBI single, power hitter extraordinaire Ryan Howard hit a solo shot in the bottom half the inning to trim the lead to 3-1. An inning later, in the bottom of the 3rd, Chooch walked followed by a Cole Hamels sacrifice and Rollins RBI single to make it a 1-run game. Then Victorino drew a walk, and with runners on 1st and 2nd, Chase Utley reached base on an infield single to load the bases.

So up steps Ryan Howard looking to add to his day’s RBI total. Martis, obviously still shaken up from the last time he faced Howard, threw a garbage first pitch changeup that landed in the dirt and made it a 1-0 count. At this point, it was quite obvious that Big Brown wasn’t gonna see a fastball for the rest of the at-bat, so he sat back and patiently waited for him to leave that shitty change up in the zone.

Turns out he didn’t have to wait long, because on the very next pitch…

HOLY SHIT RYAN HOWARD JUST KILLED A BASEBALL.

A 476 foot murdering of a baseball, to be exact.

I still remember the shit-eating grin on my face as they guy who caught the grand slam above the Powerade sign in Section 303 was escorted out of his seat to get the ball validated or whatever the hell they do with the people who catch home run balls. But I knew at that moment I had just witnessed the most powerful human being in baseball put all 250 lbs. of his behind a swing and absolutely CRUSH a baseball the way no one else can. And let me tell you, it was pretty fucking impressive.

The Phillies cruised from there, winning the game 9-6. But if you ask anybody that was at The Bank that day, they’ll tell you the game ended on a 1-0 pitch to Ryan Howard with 1 out in the 3rd inning.

<3 you, Ryan.

Albert Pujols is not coming to Philadelphia. Got it? Good.

Despite reports from ESPN’s Buster Olney that the Philadelphia Phillies had “internal discussions” about trading Ryan Howard for the St. Louis Cardinal’s first baseman, the reality of it actually happening lies somewhere between “in your dreams” and the third act from “The Matrix.”

But most of us are smart enough to know that. While the idea of adding Pujols to an already talented lineup is admittedly exciting, it would take nothing short of a miracle to convince John Mozeliak to jettison the game’s best position player at the risk of burying the franchise while single handily ostracizing a fan base.

However, these rumors tend to have a mind of their own, and once the internet caught wind, there was no stopping the tidal wave of speculation and misinformed logic that drew criticism from fans, players, and managers.

Tony LaRussa called the story “abusive.” Ruben Amaro, Jr. called it “ridiculous” and “unfair to Ryan [Howard].” Others dismissed it as nothing more than another instance of poor reporting and fact-checking.

Whatever the case, this has erupted a mini-firestorm among the sports blogging community (or more succinctly, just his column) about whether or not these types of rumors even deserve the bandwidth they consume.

To be fair to Olney, he made it very clear that the discussions were nothing more than fodder among the Phillies front office. For all we know, his source was the assistant to the traveling secretary who was chatting him up about how great it would be to add Pujols to the team, and it’s likely that Amaro wasn’t near the discussion. However, it’s not uncommon for this sort of internal discourse to occur every year. A lot of ideas are tossed around, and more often than not it doesn’t go anywhere, but on the rarest of occasions, it ends with Roy Halladay wearing red pinstripes.

But the issue isn’t whether or not Pujols would be a fit in Philadelphia, but rather, where do sports writers draw the line when reporting on rumors and speculation? Is there even a line? When you have an organizational source, what stops one from reporting on what he knows to be true, even in an instance such as this, when the basic notion of it is laughable?

Olney likely knows that this is just harmless and insignificant banter among a few front office executives, and that a trade of this magnitude is out of the question, but should that stop him, or other writers, from writing about it? After all, much of what a baseball writer does in the off season is speculate. Speculate about trades, about signings, and et cetera. I’ve done it, as have most others. Every June, this machine starts up and goes full bore until the trade deadline. There are websites built around this notion. It’s practically why Twitter was invented.

And as Phillie fans are well aware, one of the biggest stories in franchise history began as nothing more than a hunch, remember? Last December, Ken Rosenthal wrote a column detailing how Cliff Lee could be traded for Roy Halladay. At first, the idea was laughable. It was lampooned across the board. No one took it seriously. But in the end, Rosenthal was right. Despite having only referred to a “hunch” in his article, he was dead-on. It was a franchise-defining trade and one of the biggest stories of the off season, and Rosenthal’s article was nothing but speculation.

But when does the speculation become potentially harmful, both to the reputation of a writer and to the team and players involved? Can it? Neither Howard or Pujols were affected by the story, but that certainly doesn’t mean that others haven’t, or won’t. And it certainly begs the question of how much fact checking and due diligence is expected for any story, rumor or otherwise.

My question to you, readers, is this: Is Olney doing his job in reporting on this, or is he merely fanning the flames before there is even a fire? Where do sports writers draw the line in determining whether a story is worth reporting?

]]> http://www.thefightins.com/tr-pierce/buster-olney-just-doing-his-job/feed/ 61 http://www.thefightins.com/meechone/topps-confuses-roy-halladay-for-steve-carlton/ http://www.thefightins.com/meechone/topps-confuses-roy-halladay-for-steve-carlton/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:08:39 +0000 meech.one http://www.thefightins.com/?p=7702 If you thought the botched photoshop job on the 2010 Topps Cliff Lee card was bad, wait until you get a load of their interpretation of Roy Halladay in a Phillies uni. It’s a doozy:

Now as far as I’m concerned, Topps has the artistic freedom to make their Roy Halladay ’shop as ugly as they want — I’m not nit-picking that. BUT they gave the man the retired #32 jersey number of Phillies legend Steve Carlton! INEXCUSABLE! You would think that Topps employs the sort of baseball-knowledgeable folks who would catch such an egregious error before it made its way to mass production, no?

For shame, Topps. FOR SHAME.

Welcome to the area, Roy. We’ll be sure to stalk you.

The scores as of March 15, 2010:

Ryan Lawrence took the most points home this week, but the scores were definitely less lopsided than the previous two weeks, with all but one scoring at least a few. Scott Lauber made a nice push in his final week as a beat writer for the Phillies, breaking 20 points before pulling up stakes and heading to the Boston Herald.

And I’ve decided to give John Finger the very first “This Week’s Awesomest Tweet” award, good for +5 and a free small fries at the Roy Rogers by Exit 17 on the Garden State Parkway:

Ryan Lawrence +11

Gillies robs Howard at BP, Werth’s 1st HR, Polanco on a tear, Fake lineup, Happ to start, Amaro on Mathieson, Thome arrival, Lidge actually not pitching Monday, KK’s line, Moyer shelled, Moyer’s line

Matt Gelb +9

Lineup vs. ATL, Moyer pitched good, Bautista kills another Hamels pitch, Ransom – 2HR 2G 1 Day, Lineup vs. MIN, First cuts, Lidge pitching Monday, Doc allows 1st run, Polanco hurt(!)

Todd Zolecki +8

Moyer still favored for 5th spot, Lidge still on radar for OD, Rainout!, Bowa to hospital, Bright House Field’s attendance record, Madson to close if Lidge unable, Lineup vs. BAL, Lineup vs. PIT

John Finger +6

Happ’s line, TWAT

Scott Lauber +5

Lineup vs. TOR, Drabek starting, Amaro watching Lidge, Lineup vs. DET, Split squad

David Murphy +3

Phillies to face Drabek, Right knee strain for Polanco, NVM – Right knee SPRain for Polanco

Jim Salisbury +2

Doc’s line, Drabek pitched good