Well I made it to the game tonight. Bowling was ok.
My first game was embarrassing. Ever toss a 110 when everyone else is over 200? I did tonight. Second and third games were better.
Around the 5th frame of the third game my phone went crazy with text messages about Worley being pulled early and the scoop is that he will be in Philly soon, probably to make a start.
I got to the game at the top of the 6th with the Pigs up 4-0. By the bottom of the 6th they were down 4-5. Leave it up to me to bring in the bad luck.
So after all the jinx jokes from friends.. the Pigs did end up losing. The fireworks show has a cute skit with a James Earl Jones impersonator reciting lines from the movie Field of Dreams just prior to the fireworks that was pretty cool. It seems they usually save the best stuff for the end of the season. Also thought the sing along competition was pretty cool. Very active and energetic crowd tonight.
Heading to Pitchers tomorrow for the last pregame radio show there. Starts at 5:00 and you can meet the radio team and win some prizes with trivia. You can also treat me to a $5 pitcher of beer if you’d like.
See you tomorrow..
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
You come and they loose. You should have stayed at bowling. lol. I’m so just kidding, Dan!!
See you tonight at Pitchers!!!
The game last night was very interesting.
Mayberry hits a three run homer only to have it taken back. (From where I sit, I have a great view of the left field fair pole and the umps got it right the second time. The ball was foul by a good three or four feet and never should have been a homer to begin with.)
The homer run that Ransom hit was easily one of the longest if not the longest that I’ve ever seen hit to LF in three years.
As usual, the Pigs blow it with walks and bad defense.
Savery just about got tossed anyway after the last batter he faced as he slapped his glove and yelled an obscenity that I know I heard and based on the two steps the home plate ump took towards Savery, he heard it too.
To me the Pigs lost again based on the same problems that they have had all year.
Lack of fundamentals, the errors, mixed with poor pitching, the walks, combined with a weak lineup of non-AAA caliber hitters, Bocock, Chavez, and whomever the Pigs have had at catcher all year with Sardinha, Hoover, or Suomi.
That’s funny…you say Bocock is not a AAA caliber hitter, but the guy has come through when he’s needed to, he is tied with Tracey for RBIs when the bases are loaded!
Bocock is hitting .228 this year and in 5 minor league seasons he is a career .228 hitter including hitting .171 last year in AA and .163 at the AAA level in 2008.
I’ll stop there.
He’s not a AAA caliber hitter.
The Pigs are at an offensive handicap when they start guys like Bocock at .228, Sardinha at .208, and Chavez at .222.
So when you add the pitchers spot, except for when maybe Savery still pitches and as a long shot Mazone, the Pigs are offensively playing five on nine most nights.
Plus Hoover came through quite a few times this season…obviously he was doing well enough to no longer be in LHV but down in Philly…
Hoover is a very good defensive catcher.
That is why he was called up. At least he is throwing out 30% of would be base stealers and he calls a good game.
He’s currently hitting .247 with 2 homers.
Let me help you out Amanda, he wasn’t called up for his offense.
He is a poor hitter and Sardhina and Suomi are clueless at the plate against AAA pitching.
Look at Suomi’s numbers against AA pitching.
Not too bad. Against AAA he’s a mess.
Sardinha hasn’t hit over .225 at the AAA level since 2004.
That’s why Hoover was called up. He’s a poor hitter but the other two suck. If they can’t can’t hit at the AAA the Phillies are smart enough to realize that they would just embarrass themselves at the next level.
Dan already knows this, but for some of the rest of you:
Degler is with the Lehigh football team at a road game, which will be piped back to 69WFMZ.
So the game will only be on TV2, with Provence (according to his Twitter) filling in for Degs.
Provence reports Tommy Viola will guest star on radio.
A rather accurate assessment from Lefty…
An 80th RBI from ANDY TRACY, though, the worthy warrior forever indentured by the ineptitude of Philadelphia Phillies management to fight losing battles on the whole of his IronPigs career.
20+ HR, 80+ RBI all three years with AAA Lehigh Valley for Achilles then.
Philadelphia, who never seemingly never saw a hot prospect they didn’t want to peddle for a new pitcher, need to do a much better job augmenting the IronPigs by signing players who can give credible performances at the AAA level, such as Andy Tracy.
Gwinnett and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre are two teams that seem to consistently sign players in the off-season winter who will most likely NOT make a contribution to the Major League club but WILL do well in AAA…
…and yet the Pigs struggle but the call-ups usually make an impact with the big Phillies. Interesting…
…interesting, indeed.
Perhaps the Major League money inspires the players to dig down deeper and try harder.
If that is the case, it only begs the question — why not whoop ass all the time for the AAA IronPigs so as to get called up and get some of that Major League money ASAP?
If a player whoops ass for the IronPigs but does not get called up by Philadelphia, surely other teams will take note and try to acquire that player…
I believe one of the AAA manager’s biggest functions, outside of being a teacher of the game, is to constantly and incessantly remind AAA players why it is important to whoop ass in AAA, what is at stake.
I was taught to believe in ideology such as “you play the way you practice” and “it’s not a light switch you can turn on and off”
Therefore, I believe if one jogs after balls in the outfield or swings at bad pitches in AAA…
One thing is certain — historically speaking, the IronPigs on-field record is miserable.
I will definitely laugh robustly if the Phils miss the playoffs…