The Pigs won in a walk off finish giving a capacity crowd a thrill when Cody Ransom homered to beat the Yankees 2 to 1 tonight!
The bigger news comes via Twitter (Thanks to Dean for letting us know) from a Todd Zolecki tweet.
ToddZolecki – The Phillies have elected not to renew the contract of triple-A manager Dave Huppert.
So Huppert won’t be back… a lot of people have been calling for this and I suppose it is a bitter sweet moment. The question I ask myself is Who’s next?
We all know baseball is a business.. interns come and go.. execs move up and on.. who’s next?
The past two nights the fireworks shows have been better than normal. Accompanying movie skits pre-show led nicely into the fireworks themselves. Last night a Field of Dreams skit featuring James Earl Jones narrative about how timeless baseball is and tonight looked like a scene from the Natural… with a player hitting a fantasy home run to kick off the first explosion in the sky. Good stuff!
I also stayed to watch the kids run the bases. The line was by far the longest of the season. I really like to see the kids enjoy the game.
One particular funny moment was when a lady walking by the Noise Nation during a strikeout… Yelled “FIRE!!!” when she saw the coffee cup start steaming. It took a couple minutes to explain to her it was supposed to be smoking and I don’t think she was thoroughly convinced but did walk away less upset.
Tomorrow is the last game of the season… what to do during the winter?
Well some of us Noise Nation members have decided to work on our own off season fitness program. Feel free to join us. There will be more info to come but have already gotten our favorite professional nutritionist to sign on to help us out. A friend is trying to convince me to do yoga.. I’m still not sure about that though…
To join in on the Noise Nation Weight Loss/Gain Challenge.. follow this link to Facebook and stay tuned to the blog.
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=141769079198559
Also look for more volunteer and charity type events and opportunities. We aren’t going into the off season without something good to do!
See you tomorrow!
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
I’ve been calling Huppert being gone since a third of the way through the season. He has just not proven to the organization that he is a valuable enough asset. The team has not had a winning season ever. I know there were a lot of call ups, and players leaving this year, but it is his job as a manager to get the team to be a TEAM, and I just didn’t see that. They went out and played on the field like individuals.
I’m just wondering if Andy will retire or not.
Yoga is very good for flexibility and toning…not to mention extremely relaxing! You should totally do it Dan.
You missed about Noise Nation member, Tyler Mastropieri, did the Tyke on the Mic. 🙂
Seriously though….yes, we have all said Huppert needs to go. You are so right. It is a bittersweet moment. He’s been the only head coach we know and he only works with the talent he’s given. I just hope we get someone who proves himself and can get this team a winning record.
LMAO at the lady with FIRE!
I hope everyone has a great offseason. I was very happy to see the IronPigs win tonight via walk-off HR ! Just think – the IronPigs own the SWB Yankees this season. So far, they lead the season series – 9-6.
I also saw the IronPigs are the AAA attendance season championship this year ! Way to go Fans !!!
I’m also not surprised with Huppert – it was time for something new or fresher air.
The Renegade, Cody Ransom.
He gets kicked out of international league games, he tells fans to f— off.
He hits walk-off home runs to let the world know who the REAL # 1 AAA team in Pennsylvania is.
Something to hang the hat on = a season series victory over the dreaded, in-state arch-rival from up north, Scranton.
Hard to imagine anything but overconfidence on the Baby Yankees part (everyone else pounded Lehigh Valley), but, it is better than no place to hang a hat for the IronPigs, to be certain.
Woo Hoo!
Offseason? What’s that? Once the World Series is over I start checking daily to see which free agents are going where. The Hot Stove League is like an extended spring training! Baseball is a way of life around here and the season never ends.
Can’t say I’m surprised about Huppert either. It was time for a change. While I’d rather see the Phillies go outside the organization for an experienced manager, I’m guessing Steve Roadcap gets promoted from Reading. He’s a native of Pottsville, PA and has been managing in the Phillies organization for the past 5 seasons.
And kudos to Derrick Loop for throwing 3 solid innings and getting a win in his first AAA game. The book on Loop says he has one of the best pickoff moves in baseball and he proved that by picking off the first baserunner to get on base against him.
It was your pre-game article, Kehl, that did the trick to do in the evil Yankees…
…proud Moms, what can you do with them?
The Phillies have finally made a gesture that they understand just how bad the last three years have been.
Kudos to Ruben and the Phils management for finally figuring out the source of the lackadaisical play.
Guaranteed the next manger will not be a players manager like Huppert. They will bring in a Bowa style ball breaker.
Dave Huppert was not the problem here. If you think there is a problem, it is the Phillies organization not Huppert that caused it. The Ironpigs functioned very well in supporting the needs of the Phillies as Huppert did what he was told to. The Phillies organization however did not do the best job of serving the Ironpigs. The key question is whether AAA game results really matter or whether a AAA team is meant to be a spare parts bin of a few healthy players with moderate talent who can hold the line at the Major League level until the first team “cavalry” refits and returns. Until, and if, some of the younger Phillies Minor League prospects work their way into AAA it will be more of the same regardless of who manages as long as the Phillies organization maintains its present point of view. I have followed the Phillies Minor League teams for many years and this is nothing new. With the exception of a relatively few successful season records, it was the same story when the Phils had their AAA franchise in Scranton.
“Until, and if, some of the younger Phillies Minor League prospects work their way into AAA it will be more of the same regardless of who manages as long as the Phillies organization maintains its present point of view. ”
No way.
How many times this year have the Pigs not been able to move runners into scoring position because guys can’t lay down a bunt?
I’ve seen more than 12 and I haven’t been to all the games. That comes from the coaching staff not stressing and reinforcing fundamentals and that is a direct reflection on Huppert.
The Pigs have had a serious problem on offense this year with getting runners on base and then with actually doing something with those runners.
A lot of the teams offensive issues can be traced back to Huppert. Like not being able to sacrifice and his reluctance to ever play anything other than station to station baseball.
The hit and run is apparently radical.
The definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over and expect a different outcome.
Also the teams fielding is an issue.
Ransom has made 23 errors this year.
Bocock has 12. And the 2B combo of Dorta/Chavez has 20.
55 errors from 3/4 of your infield is crazy.
The Phillies by comparison at the same three positions have made 35.
Regardless of what you think, the team has looked outcoached, outplayed, and outhustled the whole year up until about the last two weeks.
The Phillies will bring someone in here that is not a players manager who is softer than the Mr. Softee truck.
It’s clear that the guys laid down and died on Huppert this year and most games were not playing with any fire or intensity.
That all reflects back on him 100%
Lefty you make some valid points but please tell me how you would play better small ball with the Pigs roster as it was constituted over much of the season? How many times in close games in late innings was the runner on base a slow running player like Andy Tracy or one of the catchers and the only available bench player was the other catcher or a pitcher? What move would you have Huppert make there? The situation clearly called for a pinch runner and there was none to be had. When the team was struggling to find consistency at the lead off position, the geniuses who run the organization sent our most consistent lead off hitter and aggressive base runner Rich Thompson down to Reading and left us with a couple of bigger name has-beens who all eventually failed. What was Huppert to do about that? I have no problem with the Phillies removing Huppert because changing managers with losing records is an accepted part of baseball. I just don’t think there are going to be much different results at the AAA unless the parent organization changes the way they construct the roster. Huppert is only a small part of the bigger issue of how the Phillies use their AAA teams. But then again that AAA team provided exactly the kind of players the big club needed to stay in contention despite a bad run of injuries in 2010.
Also the teams fielding is an issue.
Ransom has made 23 errors this year.
Bocock has 12. And the 2B combo of Dorta/Chavez has 20.
55 errors from 3/4 of your infield is crazy.
I can’t believe you criticize Bocock for his 12 errors. Of all International League shortstops with at least 300 assists only Zack Cozart had a better fielding percentage than Bocock. Cozart is at .978, Bocock is .977. I’ll bet nearly half of Bocock’s errors in 2010 came in April in games when the temperature was under 50 degrees. He’s the best defensive shortstop I’ve seen in the IL this year and I’d gladly welcome him back again for 2011.
Huppert was not the only problem, but was the BIGGEST PROBLEM. The Phillies mistake was keeping him too long…
Right, I mean, don’t other teams use their AAA teams as “spare parts” as well? Don’t other teams lack enough bench to make substitutions? It’s not like we’re up against a different level of competition.
I can’t get over the 1-run games. I can make excuses for 2008. I can look at 2009 through rose-colored glasses (Lefty knows I have them: we had a winning record at home last year), but those 1-run games are where moves need to be made with the pitchers before the inning’s over, and where runners need to be moved into scoring position.
Maybe the new manager will be hamstrung by the Phillies organization as well–but maybe he’ll get his players to play hard regardless and maybe he’ll show a winning attitude from the bench by promoting a more positive approach.
I had known this was coming for awhile but couldn’t say anything. Not that this was a huge surprise to anyone. I agree with some of the comments on here that the past three seasons have not been all Huppert’s fault.
Thanks for a great blog this season. Wish I was there today for the final game. I joined that weight loss thing!
“What move would you have Huppert make there? The situation clearly called for a pinch runner and there was none to be had.”
Use a pitcher why not? If a guy like Mazone/Savery is good enough to use as a pinch hitter than maybe they or someone else is a good enough athlete to also be used as a pinch runner.
All I’m saying is that Huppert’s style to me is far too vanilla and if you know that you’re limited offensively already than you need to try to do things a little bit differently to shake it up instead of being passive and just saying, “oh well poor us”, in every tricky situation.
“What was Huppert to do about that?”
Stop hitting Chris Duffy in the lead off spot when it was obvious that he didn’t make enough contact to be there and that after April he was awful at the plate.
He was easily the worst hitter that I have ever seen against left-handed pitching maybe ever. But yet every game there he was in the lineup and batting leadoff.
Huppert’s biggest crime is that too me his style of managing makes it look like the losing is alright. Far too passive.
Do something, do anything, try anything to make the fans/players think that you’ll do anything to win with what you’ve got instead of just trotting out the same nine every day and hoping that things will get better
“(Lefty knows I have them: we had a winning record at home last year)”
As well you should have had those glasses on. 2009 actually looked like things were turning around.