Ninety Days of Redemption for Myers

July 2, 2008.

That was the day Brett Myers became an IronPig. That was also the day a newly-signed on contributor to a popular local sports blog wrote this:

He says he’s healthy. Pundits around town are looking for any excuse that he might not be right physically, but there are no signs. I think it’s in his head. Brett can’t handle Philly anymore. Just like Gavin Floyd couldn’t handle it. There’s too much pressure in this city. Hey, some guys play better in other towns. I think it’s time we find out if Myers is one of those guys. That is….if anyone will take him.

What a difference three months makes.

A day after Cole Hamels got his Phillie moment, Brett Myers got his. The man who was on the mound – and at the plate – last night is not the same pitcher who was sent down to the minors ninety days ago.

After a second half of the season that had him considered among the top starting pitchers in the NL, Myers had back-to-back poor outings down the stretch. He pitched so poorly, we collectively lowered our expectations of yesterday's game. He was, after all, facing the only guy in the league who was consistently better than him in August and early September in CC Sabathia. A solid outing is all we were hoping for. If Myers kept it close, the Phillies could win, but realistically, nobody in this town thought the Phillies would win.

Perhaps the first inning was a sign. After punching out Mike Cameron on three pitches, he walked Ray Durham on four. Ryan Braun followed with a double and after walking Prince Fielder intentionally, the bases were loaded just that quickly. JJ Hardy drew a run-scoring walk and the air in Citizens Bank Park began to thicken.

I always wonder what a pitching coach says to a starter when they have to come out so early. They aren't asking if he's tired. They aren't reminding him of an at-bat earlier in the game. Maybe Rich Dubee went out to tell Myers a few dick jokes to loosen the guy up. Maybe he reminded him of long, hot bus trips to and from the Lehigh Valley.

Whatever he said, it worked. Myers got an impatient Corey Hart to tap back to the mound for the 1-2-3 double play. That seemed to settle Myers down. And changed everything.

After a solid second inning against the bottom of the lineup, Brett had a chance to come to the plate with two down and a runner on third. He battled. We laughed. He battled more. We cheered. He eventually drew the walk and we knew something was different. Can't explain why, but something was different. Jimmy Rollins came up next and showed outstanding patience to draw a four-pitch walk to load the bases.

Then Shane Victorino became a hero.

Brett Myers got his lead, he got his confidence and he got to first base as many times (two) as he allowed the Brewers to do in his last six innings of work. Seven innings, two hits, two runs. And a walk that changed everything.

The old Brett Myers would have unraveled in the first inning. The old Brett would have paced the mound after Braun's double and would have pierced daggers at umpire Mark Wegner after every borderline pitch that walked in the first of perhaps many runs. But the guy on the mound looked different yesterday. He looked like he was having fun.

We had fun watching him.

PLAYOFF LINKS:

Phillies-Brewers
• Phil Sheridan gets the story from the Flyin' Hawaiian.
• Bob Ford recaps the walk we'll never forget.
• David Murphy breaks down the managerial genius that is Charlie Manuel. I'm serious.
• Todd Zolecki looks at the other side of Manuel's genius...giving Jayson Werth some breathing room.
• Just wanted to note that Philly.com's coverage of the Phils is outstanding. Just top notch (hence all the links).
• Nothing ever goes according to plan in October, says Jayson Stark (and Cubs fans).

• Michael Hunt writes that the Brewers have relied too much on CC Sabathia and not enough on their bats. Ya think? I wonder how Benjamin Dover and Richard Hurtz feel. (Sorry, I had to).
• Prince Fielder thinks he's garbage. In his defense, his uniform does look like a giant trash bag flapping in the wind.

Rays-Chisox
• The Rays are more than just a good story...they are a good baseball team, writes Richard Justice.
• The Rays are keeping things the same in the playoffs. That includes big hits by stud rookies, I suppose.
• There was almost a fight. Orlando Cabrera was just trying to light a spark and battle Grant Balfour. He lost.
• Yes they are young, but the Rays act like this is old hat.

Cubs-Dodgers
• The Dodgers won again, and Russell Martin was the hero. 'Duk has it covered and you can follow his Twitter during games which has been a lot of fun.
• Rick Telander: "If Carlos Zambrano were any more up and down, he'd be a push-up." Oh, and the defense sucked too.
• Bill Plaschke puts on his homer pants to explain that the Cubs didn't lose. The Dodgers won.
• Your sky-is-falling message board post of the day, from Bleed Cubbie Blue:

This is such an embarassment
I’m 40 years old and this is the worst moment of my Cub fandom. This is worse than 2003. That team put some things together at the end but this team was a force all season long only to roll out this turd. I hate these guys. by jerry morales rules

Then the other, optimistic, side:

THIS IS NOT OVER
Alright, Im sorry but I never EVER intended the Cubs to sweep the playoffs. I always dreamed the Cubs would overcome ever odd and win every series as dramatically as possible. While the odds are against us, I highly advise all of you to go back and read Al’s summaries and remember this is a MAGICAL season. We have Harden and then Lilly over their 4 starter. If we can do that, it goes back to Wrigley. This is not over. Please have faith! by ssfsman

He never INTENDED them to sweep. For the record, I intend the Phillies to sweep.

VEEP LINKS:

• If you watched baseball and not the debate, you missed nothing. Palin didn't answer any questions. She waited her turn and read notes off a card. Or her hand, whatever. And if she said the word 'Maverick' one more time I was going to break my TV. Dirk Nowitski is a Maverick. Not John McCain. Oh, and it's nuclear. Nu-clear. New-clee-ar.

Biden wasn't much better. He had one or two sound-byte moments but must have mentioned how much he loved John McCain at least a dozen times. Love. He said he loved the guy he's running against. Then he hugged Palin's kids at the end. I thought this guy was a bulldog? Wimp.

He also at one point started to slur his words a little. I thought he was falling asleep on the dais. Just bizarre.

Anyway, recaps here and here from both sides.

Oh, and according to Tom Shales, Tina Fey has her work cut out for her.

Comments

[DLo34]

Wells Fargo Center?

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20081003_Wells_Fargo_acquires_Wachovia.html#comments

[Joe M]

I've always wondered what pitching coaches say at mound meetings too, so I was trying to read Dubee's lips when he went out that first time. I could swear that one of things he said to Myers was "Just pitch your pitch". Maybe Myers was just trying to do too much in that first inning. Maybe he just needed to be calmed down a bit, like you suggested.

[DLo34]

Brewers and Phils Game 4 if necessary is Sunday at 1:07. That other Philly team plays at the exact same time. WTF!

[ill]

I think we are going a little overboard with last night's performance, getting way ahead of ourselves. Yea, it was a great at bat and Myers pitched really well, but we still have a long ways to go. I think we are just riding an adreniline high. Let's get out of the NLDS first.

[GreggyD]

I think the Phillies will be getting better ratings on Sunday if they play. There will be a lot of flipping back and forth, but the Phils take precedence right now.

[GreggyD]

"I think we are going a little overboard with last night's performance, getting way ahead of ourselves. Yea, it was a great at bat and Myers pitched really well, but we still have a long ways to go. I think we are just riding an adreniline high. Let's get out of the NLDS first."

Look, I'm as much of a pessimist as anyone, but how can you not feel this good after last night's game? We all know that there is still a series to win, but can we bask in the glory of the win for once rather than saying, "Stop and check yourself." Breathe easy today. Worry about things tomorrow if you want.

[DLo34]

@ ILL

As a Philadelphia fan since the day I was born in 1983 I have seen a total of 6 Phillies playoff wins before this year. Also as someone who has played college baseball, I also think it is important to note: WE ARE NOT PLAYING IN THE BASEBALL GAME; WE ARE ALLOWED TO GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES.

In fact, if we are raving lunatics in the stands and the players feed off the energy as Rollins and Myers have noted, then that is the only good thing we can do.

As phenomenal as it was to be there last night, I was a little bit pissed off by people with the "let's not get ahead of ourselves" attitude. From innings 5 through 8 it sounded like Wrigley Field in there as if people were waiting for the other shoe to drop. WE HAD A 5-1 and 5-2 LEAD!!! Man up people, get loud, get crazy, fall in love with this team (if you haven't already), and live and die with them now. Stop with this oh poor me we're going to choke attitude so I'm not going to get my hopes up. Do you really think that Darren McCarty, Rhonde Barber, and Joe Carter have anything to do with the outcome of this game? NO THEY DON'T.

Man up, get fired up, and think about what CAN happen for THIS TEAM.

[ill]

Oh don't get me wrong, I am as optimistic as they come. I was right there in my living room giving Brett everything I had. I damn near stuck my foot through the screen door as I ran outside yelling at the top of my lungs when Vic hit the HR. I have nothing but faith in this team.

But I am a big picture guy right now. I am looking forward. This team is locked in and has the swagger a team needs to make a mark. Getting to CC in only the beginning IMO. This team is special, I have felt that way for a while. I loved the game last ngiht, but I am not getting hung up. We still have Saturday to win.

Go Phils!

[ill]

Oh, and I would have given my third leg to be in the stands for last night's game.

[will]

DLo is refering to the 'yay we win, boo we lose' 610 WIP mentality. It drives me insane (the angry kind). People sitting behind me were actually criticizing charlie last night. Without getting into a Charlie debate, he knows so much more about baseball than all these half-asses. DLo is right, optimism and insanity helped us win last night. keep er gooooin

[Bryan]

Seriously!!

The crowd was great at times last night, but at others we/they were piss poor.

When your pitcher has two strikes on anyone regardless of number of outs. GET UP AND BE LOUD!! I don't get it we did it for Cole on Wed. why didn't we do it for Brett last night?

[will]

p.s. we've put in too much blood and tears over the past grueling sprots seasons. we deserve the ADRENALINE HIGH

[John]

"...his uniform does look like a giant trash bag flapping in the wind." Made me laugh out loud in my constitutional law class...

[Mike H.]

Looks like the matchups against Dave Bush are pretty tight. .300 average, about ten home runs, etc. Then again, they have good numbers against Moyer, too.

[Dan]

From Stark's column:

"'No one's perfect,' said Phillies closer Brad Lidge, a man who ought to know since he hasn't blown a save all year."

Stark is a professional writer, and yet he completely bungles this sentence. The first part of the sentence is nullified by the second part. It might as well have said "'No one's perfect,' said the man who's been perfect."

[AZTerror]

OR....."No one's perfect' an ironic possible foreshadowing moment from the man who has been just that"

DAMNIT...there's that stupid pessimism again. I'm pretty sure I will be knocking on every piece of wood between now and November that's not in my pants, which will probably drive the dog nuts cause he will think someone is at the front door constantly. Oh well, I'll trade a month of barking for a parade right about now.

[AZTerror]

HAHAHAHAHA...Skip Bayless just called Evan Longoria a mentally tougher David Wright...He called David Wright soft...HAHAAHAHAHA

[Loqiel]

Yeah I caught Stark's mishap there. He's normally good so I forgave it :P

Let's see: cheer for a 2-2 team with an unclutch QB and a head coach who doesn't know you can use the whole width of the field at the goal line, or the team that's 2-0 in the playoffs and has a smart (yes, I said it!) manager willing to try different things to get his team going.

That's a REAL tough choice. /sarcasm

Full disclosure: I panned Charlie's move to move Shane Vic to the 2-hole. I thought it would render Utley and Howard useless. Well, they got punched out by lefties, but the right-handers in the lineup made up the difference, so that works for me.

[Loqiel]

By the way, over on Metsblog, they're suggesting they sign Manny for their LF hole. The problem is, they want Wright or Beltran batting third, instead of the greatest right-handed hitter of our time, and Delgado fourth. Manny hits fifth.

Idiots.

[Brendan]

If the Phillies continue to get this kind of pitching, there is no doubt they will go far and could win it all. Not to state the obvious, but in the playoffs you need good pitching, and they can def do this. And DlO....the wells fargo center sounds god awful...cant it just go back to the FU center, nothing is better than that. There is no doubt ryan and chase will come through on saturday againt a soft righty like bush, yo gotta love where this team is going....LETS GO PHILS

[AZTerror]

Mets fans cross their legs when they drive!

[will]

mets fans think you can trade or sign anyone you want while youre in NY. little do the mets know, they have vaginas on their face.

fuck 'em

[MSM]

Just to add to the Mets line of thinking, I happened upon this link today.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/09/30/2008-09-30_fan_yep_lost_my_head_over_mr_met-1.html

While we're giddy with winning, they're pleading guilty.

[Jon]

Can we just recognize the Wachovia Center or whatever it is as simply The Center? Lets not even give these companies the free advertising when its so annoying.