Monthly Archives: December 2010

Brandon Duckworth signed with the Red Sox. Looks like no more duck pond..

Gustavo Chacin elected to be a free agent from the Astros.

Fabio Castro signed with the Mariners

That’s all we got so far. No word on Andy Tracy yet.

Reminder – still collecting recipes for our charity cook book. Send them over 🙂

OinK

Some notes from yesterday…

Phillies retained Kyle Kendrick and Ben Fransisco.

Ryne Sandberg and Charlie Manuel confirmed to be attending the Phillies Caravan event on January 27th. It’s a fun time, it really is.

A lot of good comments on recent posts. Appreciate you all reading and sending in good thoughts.

OinK!

Yeah, it’s not looking good for Jayson Werth to return to the Phillies in 2011.

I try to look at stuff from a less emotional point of view when it comes to money. Really, that’s all this is about.

Money.

Jayson Werth wants it. If he wanted us, meaning Phillies fans, he would have accepted a contract already.

Putting into that line of sight.. if Werth doesn’t want us, cares more about money than us… should we really want him?

Sure he was on our team since 2007 and had a breakout year in 2008 when the Phillies took the World Series title. He helped the Phillies to 4 straight post season appearances. But do we really, and I mean Really, want him back if he’s going to snub us for the glittery gold and attention received of a media fueled free agency?

Looking at his stats:
Prior to 2007 he hit over .250 just once, .262 in 2004 with the Dodgers.

He has not hit over 100 RBI in any season, his high being 99 in 2009. He drives in runs, but not big time.

He has never hit over .300. He hits well, but not great.

He has only a handful of triples and hasn’t gone beyond 20 stolen bases in any season. He has speed but not great speed.

He struck out 119 times in 2008, 156 in 2009 and 147 in 2010.

The only aspect of Jayson Werth that could be deemed as great is his fielding. Strong arm and solid instincts in the outfield.

Looking at what I just typed.. you could say Werth is a one tool player.

A Kindergarten grade scale consists of 3 grades. (At least it did when I was there)
O for Outstanding
S for Satisfactory
N for Not Satisfactory

My grades for him would be:
Fielding – O
Hitting for average – S
Hitting for power – S
Driving in runs – S
Speed – S
Strikeout ratio – N

Seems pretty average when you look at it. Slightly above the average MLB player but well below the superstar status that the media has given him.

A lesson I learned early in my Marine Corps career was that rewards are not based upon what you have done, they are based upon what your potential for the future is.

What is Jayson Werth’s potential? Could he be the level of Babe Ruth being sold to the Yankees or could he be another Dontrell Willis who gets paid and cut soon after.
Werth is 31 now.. of average age in the Major Leagues nowadays. A youngster by Jamie Moyer standards. How many years does he have left?

What I believe will happen is that Werth will get paid. He will get a multiyear multi million dollar contract from someone. He will have to adjust to a new team, new coworkers, a new manager and possibly a new league.

So to answer my own question.. “Do I want Jayson Werth?” My answer is no. If money is all that matters to him.. he can have it. I will keep my Phillie hat and jersey and root for whoever stands tall in right field at Citizen’s Bank Park.

OinK!

Per the GameOps.com website, The Ironpig’s front office has received a Best Team Operations award. The criteria for this award is:

Which team is doing the best job in their game operations and game presentation. Consider creativity, value to fans, overcoming sport and budget limitations, quality of presentation, and attention to detail. We level the playing field by considering budget constraints to minor league teams.

The award citation reads:

Leigh Valley Iron Pigs are top notch staff dedicated to providing their rabid fans with fresh entertainment every single game. The Triple-A All Star Game in Allentown this season showcased the organization’s commitment to an all-encompassing entertainment experience. It’s no wonder this team leads all of MiLB in attendance…they keep giving fans more and more reasons to make the trip to Coca-Cola Park.

Coming a close second were none other than the Richmond Flying Squirrels:

The Flying Squirrels returned to Richmond after a one-year absence prompted by the relocation of the former Richmond Braves. The Flying Squirrels rebranded and took the team to new heights with a great focus on game entertainment, clever use of the mascot in the community, well-rounded entertainment, an aggressive use of promotional nights and an impressive social media and web iniitivitves to engage their fan base.

Completing the top three was the UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship

Per the Gameops website their mission is:

Gameops.com is a resource web site designed to connect teams and event producers with ideas and tools that will enhance the entertainment value of their events. The site is produced and managed by Mark Out Productions, Inc.

Congrats to our friends over at Coca Cola Park!

OinK!

Over three years we had a lot of good memories. These 10 are among my favorites and still make me chuckle when I think back…

10. When Wawa sponsored the OINK sign. – Yeah, I miss the Oink… I really do but for a company to recognize us like that is great. We wondered if anyone was watching.. and there was!

9. The Horns. – Love em or Hate em.. we had a good time with them. One game in particular the Pigs were behind late in the game. Surprised right? The Pigs came to bat and we started blaring on the horns. The opposing team’s pitcher walked the first batter. We got louder. He walked the second batter. We got even louder. The pitcher balked moving runners to 2nd and 3rd. We went crazy. The manager came out to the mound and the pitcher was furious. He was waving his arms and pointing at us and complaining to the manager and umpire. That pitcher was pulled and the Pigs rallied for the win. I like to think we had an impact.

8. The smoke screen – On a damp windless summer night this past season the button on our smoke machine got stuck. (Also compliments of Wawa) The smoke made a quick line down to the field and formed a cloud over the opposing team’s center fielder who started waving his arms and yelling up to us. He was laughing and later in the inning Ironpig centerfielder Chris Duffy came out looking confused at us. We had a lot of fun with that.

Photo by George Kordalski

7. Bubba Bell – Yeah, an opposing player. Bubba recognized us at the All Star game autograph session and we promised not to hassle him as he was on our team for that day. Bubba came out to a great Noise Nation cheer and during the game we yelled for a strikeout… “Give me a K!” and everyone yelled “K!” except Bubba. We yelled down “Bubba! You didn’t give us a K” and he turned around and yelled “K”. The rest of the game he helped us out with the K.

6. Matt Joyce – Another opposing team Noise Nation favorite. Matt came to town and was a lot of fun. He danced around, gave out autographs freely and although he didn’t sign “his” K… we had a lot of fun with him.

5. The All Star game home run derby. It rained. It rained a lot the whole time. We all took cover under the K sign and had a great time. My umbrella exploded and we watched home run after home run fly into our area. The incredible boo that followed the late appearance of the magician was possibly the loudest I’ve ever heard the fans at Coca Cola Park. We had fun.. but we were wet and wanted to go home.

4. John Rodriguez Dancing – Scranton’s John Rodriguez had a lot of fun with us. See video below:

3. John Rodriguez Moonwalk – I had to give J-Rod more than one spot here on my list. Great times. Here he does the moonwalk for us. Quite difficult in cleats on grass:

2. Philly Force – We had so much fun at the now defunct softball team part of the National Pro Fastpitch league. We cheered, they joined in. After their last game they asked for our autographs.. took photos of us and invited us out to their afterparty. Details of the party shall be deemed inappropriate for this blog 🙂

1. Drew Stubbs – Stubbs was playing for the Louisville Bats in centerfield. Early in the first game of four we started our traditional LEFT RIGHT LEFT chant and it annoyed Stubbs. He was not having it. During the game he struck out and another tradition is to try to get the centerfielder to sign “his” K if they strike out. Stubbs adamently refused. Before the next game one of our younger members went to ask him again.. “Pweeese Drew.. sign your K.” (Ok we’re bad, I know) He got even madder. One of his teammates signed the K happily and that night Stubbs went 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. On the third game we made some room and created a K sign specifically for Stubbs.. with all 5 of his K’s from the series attached. It is considered the ultimate taunt to have a player’s team mates laughing at them.. and his team mates were besides themselves in laughter. He left the field that day upset and unimpressed.

Should have signed the K..

I know some of these things sound immature and juvenile.. but we do try to act as good as we can. We enforce a family environment policy in our area of right-center field and cursing and other insults are off limits. We sure do have a good time.

These are my top 10… what are yours?