Goodbye Moyer, How Quickly We Forget...

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the Phillies’ starting pitching rotation. Everyone wants to know who will remain in the rotation and who will go to the bullpen once future hall-of-famer Pedro Martinez is ready for the big leagues. According to local radio stations and Internet message boards, popular opinion seems to be that Jamie Moyer should be the one that is bumped from the rotation. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the Phillies’ starting pitching rotation. Everyone wants to know who will remain in the rotation and who will go to the bullpen once future hall-of-famer Pedro Martinez is ready for the big leagues. According to local radio stations and Internet message boards, popular opinion seems to be that Jamie Moyer should be the one that is bumped from the rotation.

Sure, Moyer’s start Tuesday night start against Colorado was a rough one, but before that, in the entire month of July, he had a 3.30 earned run average and a four and one record. Most teams would give the world for their fifth starter to put up those kinds of numbers.

Granted, Jamie Moyer struggled throughout the first half of the season, but other than a small hiccup earlier this week, seems to have righted the ship in the second half. Not even supposed “Ace” Cole Hamels has put together a stretch like Moyer did in July this entire season. Looking at the numbers and the logic, it simply makes more sense to put a guy like recently signed Pedro Martinez into the bullpen than it does a guy who is putting up some pretty stellar second half numbers like Moyer.

Think about it. Pedro hasn’t even thrown a Major League pitch this year and by all accounts, probably couldn’t go any more than five innings in a game while Moyer, in his last ten starts, has gone at least six innings in more than half of them. Pedro hasn’t even thrown more than eighty-two pitches this season, a feat that he’s only accomplished once. Not to mention the fact that Martinez even volunteered to pitch out of the bullpen if needed.

On a club that has been as fair as possible to everyone from Chan Ho Park, who no one actually thought would last as a starter, to Brad Lidge, who if not for a perfect 2008 season would be relegated to a mop up role and possibly booed out of Philadelphia, it seems completely ridiculous to simply bump Moyer because he had a shaky first half, especially since he’s been so solid of late.

To make a rash decision based on one poor performance, three nights ago, would be completely unfair to a guy who has done nothing but give everything he has to the Phillies and their fans, including winning sixteen games in 2008 to help lead the team to only it’s second world championship in franchise history. How quickly we forget.
Read more!

I Wouldn't Say Pedro is Old...

By Chris Pollay

The Philadelphia Phils recently attempted to bolster its pitching rotation by signing three-time Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez. In other news, they also hope to sign Cy Young and Satchel Paige.

Not only is it a risky maneuver, it is a potentially expensive one, as well. The one-year contract will cost them a cool million... and there were several unreported bonuses that sweetened the deal, as well.

Apparently, Pedro agreed to be a Philly only if the team would guarantee a “comfortable rocking chair” during home games. He also requires special travel arrangements. He plans to arrive at road games via the same mode of travel he enjoyed as a young boy: the horse and buggy.

I kid. I kid. I wouldn’t say Pedro Martinez is old... but when he and new teammate Jamie Moyer start discussing the economic recession, they mean the one that occurred during “The Champ’s” term. (That’s Franklin D. Roosevelt for anyone under 90.)

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but he has pitched for 17 seasons and 2,782 innings! He has also tabulated over 3,100 strikeouts and issued 752 walks. By now, he certainly must be on the waiting list for a second bionic arm.

I wouldn’t say that Pedro is old... but his $1 million contract today would be worth the equivalent of $5,325,753.09 during the year of his birth (1971). You know how much butter churning supplies a person can buy with that kind of cabbage?

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but his idea of “juicing up” means drinking a gallon of Metamucil.

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but he might still believe that the commissioner of baseball is Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but he doesn’t believe in scouting reports. After all, he already knows how to pitch to Garvey, Schmidt, Rose and Brett.

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but he once pitched for the Boston Red Stockings, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Montreal Expos and the New York Metropolitans.

I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... but he won his first Cy Young award the year Titanic was released. I’m talking about the ship, not the movie.

But, most importantly: I wouldn’t say Pedro is old... if the Phillies win the World Series again this year.

Read more!