GaryMrMets
08-01-2004, 07:41 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9276968.htm
Posted on Fri, Jul. 30, 2004
On Baseball | No fightin', just futility in Florida
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
MIAMI - The Florida Marlins have two words for the Phillies.
Thank you.
For being such a compliant opponent.
For the laughs.
And most of all, for helping save their season.
The Marlins completed a four-game sweep of the lifeless and fast-falling Phillies yesterday. They pounded Paul Abbott, one of the Phils' varsity pitchers - as opposed to one of their triple-A pitchers - for eight runs in three innings.
In four games, the Marlins outscored the Phils, 32-9. Phillies starting pitchers recorded an 8.55 ERA, mostly the result of shaky starts by Abbott and Kevin Millwood.
After the sweep, desperate Phillies manager Larry Bowa called a closed-door meeting in an attempt to rally a sagging team and save a capsizing season.
Bowa's job security has been questioned, and his future probably rides on the team's performance in the remaining nine games of this road trip, which winds through crumbling Wrigley Field in Chicago today.
Phils general manager Ed Wade, still trying to pull off a trade before tomorrow's deadline, is not planning to be in Chicago this weekend.
Given the opportunity to comment on his skipper's status yesterday, Wade essentially took a pass.
"Just because a couple of players expressed their frustrations this week, I'm not going to get into I'm-satisfied-I'm-not-satisfied talks on a daily basis," he said.
Hmmm.
The Phillies, losers of 11 of their last 17, are a team in trouble with the pitching-rich Cubs waiting and West Coast contenders San Diego and Los Angeles looming.
Meanwhile, the Marlins are whistling a happy tune.
The sweep saved their season, for now at least. Anything less than winning three of four would probably have turned the Marlins into sellers - goodbye Carl Pavano, Armando Benitez and possibly Brad Penny - before tomorrow's trade deadline.
But, thanks to their uncanny dominance over the Phils, the Marlins are trying hard to add talent for another run at the postseason. And you know what happened the last time they made the October dance.
The ease with which the Marlins swept this series was astonishing. It never felt like the Phillies had a chance. They are a team with holes, and it's up to Wade to try to fix them. Still, this team looked lifeless against the Marlins. Maybe it was the lack of offense. Heck, more Phillies bats landed in the stands (Pat Burrell and Jason Michaels both lost the handles on their lumber yesterday) than baseballs. They hit just one homer in the series.
The Marlins are 11-1 against the Phils this season. The Fish have won 23 of their last 26 games against the Phils.
The Marlins and their fans are very much aware of that dominance and they seem giddy about it.
To wit:
Manager Jack McKeon openly encouraged a South Florida reporter to wear the same colorful shirt for every game of the series because the skipper believed it was good luck.
"We won't let him change it," McKeon said yesterday.
The trivia question on the Marlins' television broadcast yesterday seemed to poke a little fun at the Phils: Which NL team has the most last-place finishes, it asked. Answer: the Phils, with 26.
The final indignity came in the fifth inning. Every time the Marlins get 12 hits, fans can redeem ticket stubs for a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. When Alex Gonzalez stroked the Marlins' 11th hit the fans immediately began chanting, "We want doughnuts! We want doughnuts!" The organ player even joined in with some accompaniment.
The next batter, Mike Redmond, obliged, and you've never heard 20,391 happier people.
No one was happy in the Phillies dugout, particularly Bowa, who has endured criticism from players and seen his job status bandied about in newspapers.
"Am I concerned? No," Bowa said. "It's been like this for three years."
Bowa is taking a lot of heat, but it should be noted that this game is and always will be about the players. If these Phillies don't start playing better, a trade or a firing isn't going to help because they'll be too far gone.
Yesterday was Abbott's turn to come up short. He gave up seven runs in the third inning, including a bases-loaded double to Miguel Cabrera on the first pitch after a conference with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.
Three batters later, Abbott gave up a grand slam to Alex Gonzalez on an 0-2 pitch. Those are the types of mistakes that a losing team makes.
"I tried to front-door him with a cutter," Abbott said. "Obviously, it didn't surprise him."
No one was surprised that Bowa called a meeting after the game. It's what a troubled team does when its season is slipping away. Players were tight-lipped about the content of the meeting. Bowa didn't do all the talking, though.
"Some guys got some things said," Abbott said.
Judging from players' comments after the meeting, one topic apparently was team pride. Several players mentioned that the team needs to have some cockiness and swagger heading into Chicago. You can infer that someone, maybe Bowa, told them they looked like lambs being led to slaughter in Miami.
Come to think of it, they did.
Posted on Fri, Jul. 30, 2004
On Baseball | No fightin', just futility in Florida
By Jim Salisbury
Inquirer Columnist
MIAMI - The Florida Marlins have two words for the Phillies.
Thank you.
For being such a compliant opponent.
For the laughs.
And most of all, for helping save their season.
The Marlins completed a four-game sweep of the lifeless and fast-falling Phillies yesterday. They pounded Paul Abbott, one of the Phils' varsity pitchers - as opposed to one of their triple-A pitchers - for eight runs in three innings.
In four games, the Marlins outscored the Phils, 32-9. Phillies starting pitchers recorded an 8.55 ERA, mostly the result of shaky starts by Abbott and Kevin Millwood.
After the sweep, desperate Phillies manager Larry Bowa called a closed-door meeting in an attempt to rally a sagging team and save a capsizing season.
Bowa's job security has been questioned, and his future probably rides on the team's performance in the remaining nine games of this road trip, which winds through crumbling Wrigley Field in Chicago today.
Phils general manager Ed Wade, still trying to pull off a trade before tomorrow's deadline, is not planning to be in Chicago this weekend.
Given the opportunity to comment on his skipper's status yesterday, Wade essentially took a pass.
"Just because a couple of players expressed their frustrations this week, I'm not going to get into I'm-satisfied-I'm-not-satisfied talks on a daily basis," he said.
Hmmm.
The Phillies, losers of 11 of their last 17, are a team in trouble with the pitching-rich Cubs waiting and West Coast contenders San Diego and Los Angeles looming.
Meanwhile, the Marlins are whistling a happy tune.
The sweep saved their season, for now at least. Anything less than winning three of four would probably have turned the Marlins into sellers - goodbye Carl Pavano, Armando Benitez and possibly Brad Penny - before tomorrow's trade deadline.
But, thanks to their uncanny dominance over the Phils, the Marlins are trying hard to add talent for another run at the postseason. And you know what happened the last time they made the October dance.
The ease with which the Marlins swept this series was astonishing. It never felt like the Phillies had a chance. They are a team with holes, and it's up to Wade to try to fix them. Still, this team looked lifeless against the Marlins. Maybe it was the lack of offense. Heck, more Phillies bats landed in the stands (Pat Burrell and Jason Michaels both lost the handles on their lumber yesterday) than baseballs. They hit just one homer in the series.
The Marlins are 11-1 against the Phils this season. The Fish have won 23 of their last 26 games against the Phils.
The Marlins and their fans are very much aware of that dominance and they seem giddy about it.
To wit:
Manager Jack McKeon openly encouraged a South Florida reporter to wear the same colorful shirt for every game of the series because the skipper believed it was good luck.
"We won't let him change it," McKeon said yesterday.
The trivia question on the Marlins' television broadcast yesterday seemed to poke a little fun at the Phils: Which NL team has the most last-place finishes, it asked. Answer: the Phils, with 26.
The final indignity came in the fifth inning. Every time the Marlins get 12 hits, fans can redeem ticket stubs for a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. When Alex Gonzalez stroked the Marlins' 11th hit the fans immediately began chanting, "We want doughnuts! We want doughnuts!" The organ player even joined in with some accompaniment.
The next batter, Mike Redmond, obliged, and you've never heard 20,391 happier people.
No one was happy in the Phillies dugout, particularly Bowa, who has endured criticism from players and seen his job status bandied about in newspapers.
"Am I concerned? No," Bowa said. "It's been like this for three years."
Bowa is taking a lot of heat, but it should be noted that this game is and always will be about the players. If these Phillies don't start playing better, a trade or a firing isn't going to help because they'll be too far gone.
Yesterday was Abbott's turn to come up short. He gave up seven runs in the third inning, including a bases-loaded double to Miguel Cabrera on the first pitch after a conference with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.
Three batters later, Abbott gave up a grand slam to Alex Gonzalez on an 0-2 pitch. Those are the types of mistakes that a losing team makes.
"I tried to front-door him with a cutter," Abbott said. "Obviously, it didn't surprise him."
No one was surprised that Bowa called a meeting after the game. It's what a troubled team does when its season is slipping away. Players were tight-lipped about the content of the meeting. Bowa didn't do all the talking, though.
"Some guys got some things said," Abbott said.
Judging from players' comments after the meeting, one topic apparently was team pride. Several players mentioned that the team needs to have some cockiness and swagger heading into Chicago. You can infer that someone, maybe Bowa, told them they looked like lambs being led to slaughter in Miami.
Come to think of it, they did.