The700Level.com - Philly Sports & Minutiae

Predictably, McDougle Heads to Giants

I think we all saw this one coming when the Eagles cut Jerome McDougle... The Giants have signed the former Bird to a 1-year deal worth $1 million. Les Bowen aptly summarized the feelings of most Eagles fans here:

OK, the chances of Jerome McDougle playing a huge role in beating the Eagles this season for the Giants aren't that great. But it sure looks as if the downside of cutting McDougle Saturday is going to be exactly what a lot of us thought it was going to be -- helping out a hated divisional rival at its biggest position of need.

It's not going to be like watching TO catch TDs in Dallas, but you hate to see former Eagles stay in the division.

Big Z Scratched, So It's Moyer Vs. Marshall

Citing a case of the Crazy Eye Tired Arm, the Cubs are sitting Carlos Zambrano today, replacing him with Sean Marshall. Not bad news if you're a Phillies fan, although the Phils did get out the paddle on Big Z last outing, and he hasn't been terribly effective lately. 

Still, we'll take it as a sign of good things to come because that's how we're feeling after Jayson Werth's two homers of heroism and JC's Danny Jackson impersonation yesterday. We certainly wouldn't kick a series split at Wrigley out of bed.

The slow-pitch hardball gets underway at 2:20 this afternoon.

Mr. Anna Benson: Released

Todd Zolecki over at The Phillies Zone reports that Kris Benson has officially been released.

Benson was signed earlier this year, in the hopes that he would eventually find a place in the major-league roster. But it never happened, and during his injury-plagued attempt at a comeback with triple-A Lehigh Valley, Benson was 1-4 with a 5.52 ERA.

Sorry, boys: Looks like we'll have to keep falling back on Google Images for any future glimpses of Anna.

So Why Not Wear Manager and Journeyman Middle Reliever Jerseys?

It's always good to peek some Phillies red in the stands at away games, or in the bars around the park if you happen to be there. Usually, you can count on a few Utley, Howard, and Hamels jersey tees to get caught on camera in the event the Phils do hang a few homers on the Ted Lillys of the world.

But these two guys weren't content to support only the popular kids.

I think it's pretty safe to say that these are the first pieces of Charlie Manuel and Rudy Seanez flair I've seen. Thanks to Benjamin for sending this in.

EMA: Sunday Edition

Morning. Quick set of links for you.

• Phils win. Mets lose. That's a good combination. The story coming out of the game was Brett Myers pitching a seven innning gem. Oh, but he was out there for the eighth too. Thanks to the roller coaster that is JC Romero, the Phils got the game to Brad Lidge who shut the door.

• The Eagles trimmed their roster and as Enrico wrote yesterday, Jerome McDougle got cut. So did 11 other players. I was so looking forward to Matt Vasgersian calling a play involiving Mike Gasperson.

• So many people want to see the Flyers play in the Spectrum, they've added a second game there. You know, before they blow the place up. Still not sure how I feel about that. Sad, mostly.

Jerome McDougle Gets the Axe

The Eagles have announced their final cuts to get down to a 53 man roster and Jerome McDougle's career as an Eagle appears to be over. Being the 15th overall selection in 2003 and notching just 3 career sacks does Jerome rank anywhere in the Mike Mamula category? [FH]

Myers Takes the Mound in Chicago As Phils Try to Find Winning Ways

The Phils haven't had much luck in the first two games in Chicago this weekend and are looking up at the Mets in the standings. Brett Myers and the boys take on Ted Lilly and the Cubs on FOX today. First pitch is at 3:55. Hopefully Jimmy Rollins can continue to find his groove a bit and get things back on track for the Fightins.

EMA: Saturday Edition

I figured I'd toss up some quick links for those of you checking email and the weather to see if your BBQ is about to get ruined.

• The Phils lost to the Cubs, with the bullpen AGAIN taking the loss. I'm going to say this and it's not groundbreaking news, but I hope that someone with some decision-making power reads it and realizes that at the very least they aren't fooling anyone.

Clay Condrey and Rudy Seanez cannot be on the mound in close games against contending teams if this Phillies team expects to get to the playoffs. If they are up by eight runs or down by eight runs (b/c they can come back from seven as we've seen) should be the only times we see those two on the mound.

Would you see a basketball team skip the sixth, seventh and eighth men to put the tall, white stiff at the end of the bench in during crunch time of a close game? No, he's a mop up guy. That's what Condry and Seanez are on this team for. Maybe, in a pinch, they can be a long man, like Condrey the other day when you figured the Mets game was over.

Never should they come in when the game is on the line. (Yes, I know that Madson and Durbin combined to blow the game two nights ago. And yes, I know that recent Cubs castoff Scott walked in the tying run. It's not making me feel any better realizing that).

Game story here.

J-Roll: Take Note

To those who believe we Philly fans are of the bandwagon variety, look no further than Matt Mosley's article on ESPN.com, which ranks the fan bases of all 32 NFL teams. We, the Eagles faithful, placed fourth. (Raider fans, based out of Rollins' hometown, came in ninth.)

These rankings, I should admit, are based on intangibles such as "Live And Die Factor (LDF)," "Loyalty When Team Sucks," and "Hate" (meaning how many other fan bases hate yours). On a scale of 1 (best) to 5 (worst) Philly scores no lower than a 3 (just once, for "Traveling").

Despite the fact that we follow the only team in our division without a Super Bowl trophy, our fan loyalty ranks higher than the Redskins (6), the Giants (10), and the Cowboys (12) -- proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that too much success can make you jaded.

Thank God we here in Philly haven't had that problem. Thank... [drinks gasoline]... God.

After the jump is an excerpt from Mosley's article...

Battle of the Beane Castoffs

Thankfully, my 12-hour flight home was far more uneventful than Enrico's, although when I finally fell asleep, it wasn't long before I woke up to the sound of four Japanese stewardesses taking apart the seat next to mine, which was stuck in "Bed" mode. Fortunately, I was able to get one of them to give it up and go get me another Asahi.

I didn't make it through last night's game before passing out, which is surely for the best given the implosion by the recently shaky bullpen. The late runs blew another gem by Cole Hamels, and got an already tough series off to a bad start. Today the Phils see Rich Harden, who absolutely dominated them the last time they faced him. It was flat out embarrassing, with the Phillies netting only two hits with 11 strikeouts against Harden's former Oakland squad.

So What's Better: Prison or Iraq?

What's better, prison or Iraq?

That question will be answered by this gentleman, Michael Redrow, who was sentenced yesterday after being convicted last month of simple assault and criminal conspiracy. Well, I supposed he wasn't sentenced at all. Redrow, a member of the NJ National Guard, was given a year of "nonreporting probation" which, according to the report by DN's Jason Nark, means that he is now able to be deployed to Iraq.

"That is more punishment than any probation or any period of incarceration," attorney Vincent Campo said in court yesterday. "He'll be told what to do, when to do it and why, by the U.S. Army."

So what did the guy do?

A Surefire Method to Make a 12 Hour Flight Even Worse

High school girls.

For real. My 12-hour flight from Seoul, Korea to LAX was straight out of a nightmare scene in a Judd Apatow movie. Only worse than anything he could imagine. I swear I'm not embellishing in the least when I tell you these two high school juniors played "tickle each other" for the better part of three hours. Like, WTF is wrong with you people. When they weren't tickling each other and elbowing me in the head as I tried to watch Drillbit Taylor and The Bank Job in peace, they were talking about how Jimmy is kinda cute but texts her too much. Plus, with all of the distractions from swimming practice, SATs, their parents, etc., she just might not have time for Jimmy. Also, Robbie is cuter!

Holy shit balls.

If anything, this most miserable of 12-hour flight rides did bring me to one enlightening realization: all women were once 15 year old girls.

And with that, I'm back in the U.S. of A. I missed this place and you guys. Big ups to Matt, Kulp, Dan, Clare, Chamo, and all for keeping this place entertaining. You guys rock.

I will probably now retire from blogging, because, well... I'm a frontrunner and the Phillies aren't in first.

EMA: Bullpen Woes, Birds and Barry

For those who may be wondering what EMA stands for, it's "Early Morning Aggregator" which I thought may help people know that they can find good links in here. If you want to send me links to make this place more diverse (as I'm only going to link to stuff I see or my friends), email me here.

Two games in a row now where the bullpen blows a lead? What, did the Mets sneeze on you guys or something? Up 4-1 and Cole was dealing, so I went upstairs and turned on Barack Obama. Well, that sure sounds awkward when taken out of context.

I thought the game was in tow. But the usually steady combination of Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin went, as Todd Zolecki's game story put it, "Boom."

The Phillies Win Streak Is Over, But Mine Is Just Getting Started

Last night was unfortunate, but there is no time to cry with the club heading to Chicago for a four game trip against the Cubs, who are riding a 5 game win streak.  The magnificent Cole Hamels (11-8, 3.20) takes the mound tonight for the Phillies.  In his last appearance against the Cubs, Cole pitched 7 innings of no run ball to pace the Phils to a 7-1 victory back on April 12.

He'll be up against the Cubs All-Star righty Ryan Dempster.  Dempster has been having a career year, sporting a 15-5 record and 2.85 ERA with 153 strikeouts.  How's this for some strange trivia: the only player on the Phillies roster with a home run against this guy is Eric Bruntlett.

The good news for the Phillies is they have still won the last 5 when I post the game thread, so I feel really good about this one.

Eagles Gameday: Your Last Chance to See Therrian Fontenot in Action

The Eagles finally wrap up their preseason tonight at 6:30 against the Jets, and I am sad to inform you that I will not be doing a game report.  For one thing, ESPN opens the college football schedule, so my DVR is full with games that actually count.

The other reason is the final exhibition contest has very little intrigue to it.  Most of the starters will not play, or will see their action limited to a series or two.  There are also very few roster battles remaining at this point, which means by the second half you will see nothing but the 22 players who will not make the roster.

The closing minutes of this game are among the least exciting in all of sports, unless of course A.J. Feeley throwing a TD to Shaheer McBride to win the game 13-9 is exciting to you.