Bubba Dogs

The Hero of Chappaquiddick and the true reason behind the endorsement…

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Brother-in-law Carl and my sis’ Mickey recently returned from a pretty successful Costa Rica excursion. They chartered the boat from some mutt named Bubba. At least the Costa Rican Bubba isn’t selling hot dogs yet, so the retirement plans are still intact. Big old marlin on the left and sailfish to the right. Cheer up, Carl. (Note lucky Bubba Dog hat on left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Friend Tommy Jordan, a HUGE Bubba Dogs fan when in Sea Isle, is currently a Londoner with a winter chalet in the French Alps. Here he is getting ready to hit it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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While the Phils starting pitching doesn’t equal that of the Mets, their offense is clearly better and so too might be their bullpen. In fact, the Mets best everyday player (David Wright), would be the Phillies fourth best. Rollins and Howard own the last two MVP’s, respectively, and Utley could very well win it this year. Much of the Phils season is riding on the play of Brad Lidge. If he can be the closer that he once was, the Phils will be in good shape and, who knows, with this being GM Pat Gillick’s final year, maybe we can finally get the splash starting pitcher prior to the July 31st trade deadline.

Pat Burrell is engaged. This is also the last year of his contract. Weird that picture was released for the public? Let’s hope he plays like he did in the second half of last year. He hit just .215 with 11 homers and 37 RBI before the All-Star break. After the break, he hit .295 with 19 homers and 60 RBI.

 

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Drown…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaq to the Suns?

Word on the street is that Shaq may be traded for Shawn Marion. 

Story:

MIAMI (AP) - Shaquille O’Neal is prepared for the Miami Heat to trade him, a confidant of the 14-time All-Star center told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.

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This from CBS News website. Unbelievable pictures. Imagine being the parents faced with actually having to follow through with dropping your kid out of a window…

A toddler plummets toward the ground after his father let him drop from the window of an apartment building in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Feb. 3, 2008, as fire engulfed the entire building. The young boy was caught safely by an off-duty police officer 40 feet below. It’s not known whether the baby’s parents survived.

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Radiohead to play Citizens Bank Park, August 4th.   More…

 

 

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2008 Phils

8 Days until pitchers and catchers 

 

 

Will the champagne be flowing again this year?  Check out Crashburnalley’s comprehensive synopsis of what we might expect.  I tend to agree with a lot of what he has to say about the upcoming season:

 

 

Well, Now That That’s Over

As the final seconds ticked off of the fourth quarter clock and the New York Giants earned victory in Super Bowl XLII, those of us who are more inclined towards baseball breathed a sigh of relief and marked another X on the calendar: A week and a half until P’s and C’s report; three weeks until exhibition games begin; seven weeks until the regular season begins.

The Phillies, for the most part, look like an improved team. Brad Lidge was acquired from the Houston Astros; Shane Victorino moved to center field following the departure of Aaron Rowand; Geoff Jenkins was signed to platoon with Jayson Werth in right field; Pedro Feliz was given red pinstripes as a hopeful answer to the team’s third base woes.

Meanwhile, the Phillies watched the Marlins pawn off their two franchise players, the Nationals sign and trade for no one important, the Braves lose Andruw Jones to free agency and trade Edgar Renteria to Detroit and replace them with weaker players. Oh, and the Mets traded for the best pitcher in baseball. The Johan Santana deal aside, everyone in the division either got weaker or stayed essentially in the same place.

Jimmy Rollins, almost a year after declaring the Phillies “the team to beat” in the NL East (and being proven correct on the last day of the regular season), claimed his team would win 100 games in 2008.

As I counted last August, the Phillies’ bullpen was responsible for at blowing at least 19 games between April and the end of August. Remember, this is a bullpen that featured — not just had; featured — Antonio Alfonseca, Clay Condrey, and Jose Mesa, among others, mostly due to the injuries to Closer #1 Tom Gordon, Closer #2 Brett Myers, and Ryan Madson.

Now, the Phillies feature a bona fide closer in Brad Lidge, a now-serviceable set-up man in Tom Gordon, and a surprisingly deep bullpen, now that Ryan Madson will once again be healthy, and the team kept J.C. Romero, who was stunningly effective since he arrived in Philadelphia in early June last season. The bullpen, barring injury, doesn’t figure to be a problem for the Phillies in 2008.

As always, the Phillies feature one of baseball’s best offenses. Shane Victorino, Carlos Ruiz, and the pitchers aside, the Phillies feature 20-25 HR potential at every position, and Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, and Chase Utley are three of baseball’s best at getting on base. Obviously, scoring runs won’t be a problem for the Phillies, either, but given that Pedro Feliz and his sub-.300 OBP will be playing every day, expect a very slight regression in runs scored from ‘07.

However, preventing them appears to be a problem for the starting rotation once you get past Cole Hamels and Brett Myers.

Jamie Moyer is 45, put up a 5.01 ERA, and averaged his highest base runners per inning rate since 2000. Age is less of a problem for a pitcher of Moyer’s ilk, since he relies not on speed, but purely on location and intellect. Either way, Moyer cannot be relied on anything more than league-average production.

Kyle Kendrick put up an impressing rookie campaign for the Phillies in which he revealed himself as a perfect fit for Citizens Bank Park and the Phillies. In 2007, more than 47% of Kendrick’s batted balls were of the ground ball variety, and in CBP, where the gusting winds push would-be fly ball outs halfway up the stands in left field, throwing ground balls creates a huge advantage for their Phillies and their now-great infield defense. Given Kendrick’s age and lack of MLB experience though, we can’t reliably predict a repeat.

Adam Eaton. Not much needs to be said about him other than that the sooner the Phillies get rid of him and his awful pitching, the better. Eaton might be the worst pitcher the Phillies have allowed to pitch 150 innings or more since Brandon Duckworth in 2002. The non-progressives in the Phillies’ front office likely don’t realize this and will try to justify paying him $24.5 million over three years by letting him take the mound once every five games.

Depending on how Kendrick pans out, and how quick the Phillies are to pull Eaton from the starting rotation, expect about average production from the Phillies’ rotation. Cole Hamels and Brett Myers will obviously be well above league-average but it won’t be enough to offset the lackluster performances from the others. If the Phillies can sign Kyle Lohse and bump Eaton from the rotation before the season even starts, that would be such a boon.

Defensively, the Phillies are easily above-average. Pedro Feliz is baseball’s best glove at third base, Chase Utley is a top-two defensive second baseman, Victorino is a gazelle with a cannon in center field, and Carlos Ruiz is one of the better defensive catchers in baseball. Pat Burrell and Geoff Jenkins lack range but both have strong arms, Jayson Werth has decent speed and a strong arm, and Jimmy Rollins provides average to slightly above-average shortstop defense. The only defensive curse on the Phillies is Ryan Howard at first base.

Overall, I expect the Phillies to have the National League’s best offense and Major League Baseball’s third-best, behind the Yankees and Tigers. Pitching-wise, overall, I expect a middle-of-the-pack performance, perhaps 9th out of the 16 National League teams. The starting rotation will rank about 10th or 11th and the bullpen will rank about 4th or 5th.

My prediction (with the roster as it is presently)

Phillies 2008 RPG:  5.42 (878 runs).

Phillies 2008 RAPG: 4.61 (747 runs).

Phillies 2008 record: 91-71, second in NL East behind the 93-69 Mets.

Bonus: Cole Hamels finishes a very close #2 to Johan Santana in Cy Young voting.

Bill Belichick, the Patriots head coach, was in dire need of consolation following his team being on the losing side of one of sports’ greatest upsets. His mentor and fellow curmudgeon Bill Parcells, was happy to oblige. Feel the love, baby.

But it wasn’t enough. Belichick needed some alone time and made his way back to the locker room to grieve all by his lonesome. Fortunately, a reporter had his cell phone handy and caught this short video. Poor Bill, he must have been really upset:

The Manning Brothers.  Cooper, Peyton and Eli. Cooper is 3 years older then Peyton, and seven years older then Eli.  He was a decent receiver at Ole Miss, but a back injury ended his football career. Now he sells oil in New Orleans while his little brothers are winning back-to-back Super Bowls (both of whom were MVP’s).  Dad was a great QB for the Saints and is also in the Hall of Fame.   Could be the proudest father in history.  

 

 Congrats hated Giants….You earned it.  You’ve come a long way, Eli. Cannot believe that Eli Manning is the Super Bowl MVP. Well deserved, however.

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Backdoor Pipeline: Hold on, bro….

Cool shot:

 

Now what? 

Listen closely…He actually says “Who let the dogs out?” That’ll get you the street cred you’re seeking, Mitt. Ridiculous..

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Check out additional photos of the November, 2007 fire that took place on the beach in Sea Isle:Fire on 65th Street

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McCain is surging, Obama closing…Tuesday is fast approaching.

Initial indications show support for John McCain is increasing following his win in the Florida presidential primary and the subsequent withdrawal of Rudy Giuliani, who endorsed McCain. Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from Jan. 28-30 shows McCain with a 15-percentage point lead over Mitt Romney.

The latest Democratic numbers show Hillary Clinton with a 43% to 39% advantage over Barack Obama among Democratic voters nationwide. That four-point lead is the narrowest since early January, and it is a continuation of gains by Obama. The impact of John Edwards’ exit from the Democratic race is less clear. Wednesday night’s numbers (the first with Edwards excluded from the ballot) show no clear indication that either candidate is benefiting disproportionately.