Sports Stuff

Well, break is over, and it went by way too quickly. It’s refreshing to get new classes, I was pretty sick of Contracts and Civil Procedure, but some of these classes last for an hour and forty minutes. That’s way too long. I really miss the 42 minute long classes from high school.

Anyway, on to important things. Saturday I watched a baseball game. Rays at Phillies, a spring training rematch of the World Series. It was awesome. Not that it really matters, but the Phillies won, smoked the Rays, it wasn’t close. The Fightins put up about five runs in the first inning off back to back doubles a from J-Roll and Shane, and then three home runs, from Howard, Mayberry, and Cairo. The Phils never looked back from there, putting up more runs as the game progressed to keep the Rays from even getting close.

Kyle Kendrick pitched pretty well, getting the start and going 2 and 2/3rds innings. But I really don’t want him to be the fifth starter. I know that he racked up a decent amount of wins over the last two seasons, but his benching last year was absolutely merited. Opposing hitters have figured him out, and he doesn’t have the stuff to make that a non-issue. With Brad Lidge, you can know the slider is coming, but you’re still not going to hit it. Kendrick can’t get by like that at all. He doesn’t have a put away pitch, and gets absolutely killed by left-handed hitters. He gets a decent amount of ground balls, but when he leaves pitches up in the zone they invariably end up in the outfield seats. He’s not starter material, as much as the Phillies seem to be trying to convince themselves that he is.

The other contenders for the fifth spot in the rotation are Chan Ho Park, JA Happ, and Carlos Carrasco. Park is just generally underwhelming, and I think that he needs to start the year in the bullpen. As for Carrasco and Happ, I would be content with either of them in the rotation, but would prefer it if the role went to Carrasco. He has the stuff to be a second or third starter; plugging him into the last spot in the rotation would let him slowly grow into that role. Happ is probably just as capable of starting as Carrasco is, but I would rather see him in the bullpen. First, I would rather have three RHPs in the rotation; adding Happ to Moyer and Hamels would make the rotation a too heavy on lefties. Plus, with Romero forced to serve this bullshit 50 game suspension, Scott Eyre is the only lefty reliever the Phils have right now, and although he pitched well last year I’m still not sold on him. Happ could step in and work either long relief or as a lefty specialist.

Ruben Amaro has said that the Phillies are pretty much done with free agency, so I guess they will fill out their roster from within. The starting lineup is pretty much set, and a handful of players are all but guaranteed bench spots. I’m curious about what the Phillies are going to do about adding a right-handed bat to come off the bench: Dobbs, Jenkins, and Stairs are all lefties. Bruntlett is a righty, but doesn’t really offer much power. This need may be filled by Chris Coste, who seemed to have been replaced when the Phils traded for Paulino. However, I would like to see the roster spot go to John Mayberry. He’s a former first round pick, acquired this winter for Greg Golson, with pretty good power, and decent athleticism too. I would like to see what he can do if given a shot at the majors.

The other sports story that has captivated me centers around Steve Downie. I love Steve Downie. I remember watching the draft as the Flyers selected him, and even though the announcers said they went off the board to get him, it seemed like a good pick. I can’t say that I was especially upset when he crosschecked his juniors teammate, Akim Aliu, in the mouth, cause he probably deserved it. When Downie made the Flyers last season, I was thrilled. But the NHL had to ruin that, suspending him for 20 games because he made Dean McCammond cry. After serving his suspension, Downie spent some time with the Phantoms before being called back up. In another career highlight, he punched Jason Blake in the face while officials were restraining both of them. Blake whined about it, as did TSN, but I was ok with it. Anyway, early this year Downie was sent to Tampa, along with Steve Eminger, for Matt Carle, a great trade for the orange and black. The Flyers came out so far ahead in that deal that I wasn’t even that upset to see Downie go. It’s not like he’s been staying out of the spotlight.

Yesterday Steve Downie was indefinitely suspended by the AHL for abuse of an official. I can’t find the video anywhere, but apparently during a faceoff he slashed a linesman across the shins. He was immediately ejected from the game, and now faces another twenty game suspension. This is bullshit. Yeah, Steve Downie is a little bit crazy. Also, again, I haven’t seen the incident. But seriously, fuck this. There’s no doubt in my mind that Downie was going for the puck. It was a faceoff, these things happen. The refs just overreacted because of Downie’s reputation. If Downie had actually wanted to hurt the linesman he’s crazy enough that he would have just punched him in the face. People need to lay off Steve Downie