A creative Fightins’ reader who goes by the name ‘Chinbeard Fever‘ linked to some of his work in the comments section of Chamo’s “The Brett Myers Chinbeard Press Conference” post earlier this evening.  I felt the need to give the ’shopped pics the proper forum (which would be a seperate post) because a.) it looked awfully time consuming, and b.) they are pretty fucking hysterical.

Behold; the vivid imagination of Chinbeard Fever and the remixed, All-Chinbeard 2008 Philadelphia Phillies:

For the third straight start, Brett Myers looked every bit like the Opening Day starter he was tabbed to be in the beginning of the season.  More importantly, he picked up the much-needed win and kept the Phillies a game ahead of the Metros for first place in the NL East.  So what made Brett flip out at Phils skip, Charlie Manuel last night?  Let’s review…

Having allowed only five hits and one run through 7+, Brett retired Freddy Sanchez for the second out of the eighth.  Clinging to a 3-1 lead with Chris Gomez on 2nd and lefty Doug Mientkiewicz due up, Charlie Manuel didn’t take any chances and emerged from the dugout to lift Myers in favor of lefty-killer, JC Romero.

This obviously perturbed Brett, who you could see mouthing “This is my fucking game” before handing Charlie the ball without even acknowledging him, tipping his cap to the crowd, and throwing a semi-tantrum in the dugout.  Take a gander:

By the sound of the post-game quotes, it appears as though the two kissed and made up.  Here’s Myers’ take,

“I’m a competitor, I like competing and I wanted to stay in and finish the game. But sometimes your emotions get the best of you and you might do something irrational out there. He thought I did. That’s part of the game. It’s all patched up now, though. We’re buddies.

I missed a month without being here with the team, and I wanted to try to prove myself again that I can pitch in the big leagues - and I wanted to stay out there as long as I could. He made the decision and that’s his decision.”

Now Charlie,

“He’s fine, he just wanted to stay in the game and I like that. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, if he didn’t want to stay in the game, I’d probably be mad.

I’ll tell you something: his confidence got back. That’s why I took him out of the game. I wasn’t going to let him lose the game. He was leaving on a high note, and there’s four left-handed hitters standing there. I wasn’t going to give him a chance to get hit. He already pitched a good game and did a good job.”

These two are so cute when they fight.

Myers, Manuel battle in Phils win | Inquirer

From Jim Salisbury’s Inqy column this morning:

Brett Myers’ next minor-league start will be Friday night in Florida for single-A Clearwater at Brevard County. The plan is to have Myers join the Phillies the next day in nearby Miami and return to the starting rotation July 23 against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

That same “baseball source” also said the Phillies are taking a look at Oakland righthander Joe Blanton. Which, imo, is a much better option than A.J. Burnett.

Here’s to hoping that brief minor league stint for Brett worked out for the better. Considering the July 23rd Mets game is shaping up to be pretty important, we should find out right away.

Myers set for July 23 return | Inquirer

When he’s not busy blowing saves, Billy Wagner will gladly offer his wisdom to anyone holding a notebook and pen. In fact, Wagner is known to bring spare notebooks and pens with him, handing them out to random strangers so he can begin spouting off when the spirit moves him.

This time, Wags has proffered his (unsolicited?) opinion on the recent minor-league demotion of the struggling Brett Myers. Kate Fagan, writing for the Inquirer, quotes New York’s outspoken flamethrower as he compares Myers’ situation to that of his former teammate, the late Darryl Kile:

Thanks for sharing, I guess.

(This may be the first post I’ve written where the title length exceeds that of the post itself.)

Phillies Opening Day starter Brett Myers has been optioned to the minors.  He is now a proud member of the Phillies AAA-affiliate, Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Myers was a lowly 3-9 for The Fightin’s this year, having given up 115 hits in just over 101 innings while posting an unimpressive 2-to-1 K/BB ratio.  He also gave up an MLB-worst 24 home runs.  Three more than his closet competition, Paul Byrd.  (Some people in Philly are actually open to the idea of trading for him, too.  I’ll pass.)

Myers, however, is being extremely cooperative with the whole thing.  Under MLB rules, a player with 5 or more years of service time has the right to reject any demotion to the minors.   His compliance was praised by GM Pat Gillick,

“I can’t say enough about Brett’s willingness to accept this assignment,” Gillick said. “He understood and is eager to get back on track again. He’s struggling right now, but he is a quality Major League pitcher who we are going to need in the second half of the season.”

Brett will take the hill on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Park in Lehigh when the mighty Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees roll into town.  His replacement in the Phillies rotation has yet to be named.

Phillies option Myers to Triple-A | Phillies.com
Brett Myers optioned to the minors | The 700 Level

Do you believe it’s already been 2 years since Brett Myers had an “altercation” with his wife on a street corner in Boston?

Me neither.

Well, Rich Rys of Philadelphia Magazine remembers exactly when it was. And to celebrate(?) the occasion, he has penned a reflection of sorts for Deadspin; along with a run-down on the recent history of domestic violence cases in the MLB.

Speaking as a Philadelphian and fan of Brett Myers, I think he gets treated FAR worse than any other wife-abusing athlete in the history of sports. The sole exception being Orenthal the football-playing murderer. Just take a look at the list of the other domestic abusers mentioned by Rys: Dmitri Young, Milton Bradley, Jose Canseco, Derek Lowe, Bobby Cox, and Alberto Callypso. The first three are basically just considered “eccentric,” the next two are known more for their on-field performance, and that last one is a fucking nobody.

Almost everything I have ever written about Brett has received some type of wife beating mention in the comments section. Some were funny, but most were just flat-out dickhead-ish. Is it completely unwarranted? I guess not. Do I condone what he did? Of course not. But Brett’s wife, Kim, forgave him. They are still married. And 90% of the public still won’t let him live it down.

I think it might just be time to let it go, people.

Smack My Bitch Up: Major League Baseball’s Continuing Domestic Abuse Problem | Deadspin

The man is infallible.

When he’s not terrorizing NL pitching or sculpting that Top 25 physique of his, you can find Chase Utley conducting benefits with his wife Jennifer for the Pennsylvania SPCA. Such was the case yesterday, when the NL home run leader got a rare night off.

And if Chase doesn’t rest, neither do his teammates.

A number of Phillies, including Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Greg Dobbs and Brett Myers joined Chase for his first ever “Utley All-Star Animals Casino Night” benefit held at a club in downtown Philadelphia.

See for yourself. That is, if RedLasso doesn’t crap out on you (casino pun!):

(Watch the video after the jump, RedLasso slows the homepage down) Read more »

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