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Ugly But I’ll Take It
2008-04-03 22:24
by Mike Carminati

The Phils won ugly on a bases-loaded walk to Jason Werth in tenth in their is my TV out of focus or are they wearing slightly retro uniform. Along the way they fell behind 5-0 in the first and were trailing by five run into the top of the sixth, they committed four errors, and used seven pitchers, including newly acquired Rudy Seanez, who was in line to pick up the win after their sixth inning rally until Ryan Madson gave up a game-tying run in the eighth.

On the plus side, the Phils bullpen allowed just five hits and one run in their six and a third innings of work. Every starting position player got a hit. Even Tom Gordon had some plusses: he pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied including working out of an admittedly self-induced (2 walks) bases loaded stuation.

For two-thirds of the game, the Phils were on track to join an elite group of teams. They were on track to become the first team since the 1992-'94 Royals to start three, count 'em three, straight seasons with three consecutive losses. It's something that aside from the Royals hasn't been done in 28 years and has only occurred eight times since 1900.

Here are the only clubs to do it. The 1904-'07 Dodgers did it four straight years:

FranchiseYr1WLPOSYr2WLPOSYr3WLPOS
Kansas City Royals199272905199384783199464513
Atlanta Braves197869936197966946198081804
New York Mets196240120101963511111019645310910
St. Louis Cardinals195872825195971837196086683
Minnesota Twins194064907194170846194262897
Boston Red Sox1931629061932431118193363867
Los Angeles Dodgers192970836193086684193179734
Los Angeles Dodgers1905481048190666865190765835
Los Angeles Dodgers1904569761905481048190666865

The seven errors that the Phillies have amassed in their first three games is the most since the 2000 White Sox. The last time that a team collected more in their first three games was thirteen years ago (9 by the 1995 White Sox).

Here are the teams that collected at least seven errors in their first three games in the last twenty years.

YrTeamErrorsWL
2008Philadelphia Phillies7??
2000Chicago White Sox79567
1998Cincinnati Reds77785
1995Chicago White Sox96876
1994Colorado Rockies75364
1992California Angels77290
1992Minnesota Twins99072
1990San Francisco Giants98577
1989Los Angeles Dodgers77783

Speaking of Seanez, it should be remembered that while he is yet another recycled veteran brought in to stop the bleeding in the bullpen, he is a cut above the typical pickups like Joe Table, Roberto Horrendous, El Pulpo Alfonseca, or Mike Williams. Seanez has had two very respectable seasons in the last three, which either means that he still has something left in the tank or that he is due for a bad year, especially at 39. Seanez also struck out 73 in 76 innings and had a park-adjusted ERA 21% better than the league average last year. In '05 he was even better: 84 Ks in 60.1 innings and an ERA 43% better than the park-adjusted league average.

He might be another bust, but he has a much better resume than the typical Phillies pickup.

Comments
2008-04-05 12:19:45
1.   berkowit28
The Los Angeles Dodgers really did all that 1904-29? Odd, I thought there was no major league team out west back then... Oh, OK , I see we have the Minnesota Twins back in 1940, too. Must be all right, then.
2008-04-05 21:46:45
2.   Mike Carminati
Allow me to explain the concept of franchise: A franchise can transcend one city or one nickname. So yes, for the franchise that was known as the Brooklyn Robins or Dodgers or what have you for those years, we refer to them as the LA Dodgers. You can call them the Brooklyn Dodgers or Franchise X or Team That Branch Built. Who cares? A rose by any other yudda yudda yudda...

Don't you think you have some more substantive way to express yourself than by splitting hairs about something you don't truly understand?

2008-04-07 00:01:12
3.   berkowit28
You really insult readers of your blog like that? You should be ashamed of yourself. Take a look at some of the other blogs on the toaster. I don't think any other blog owners would do that.
2008-04-07 22:25:55
4.   Mike Carminati
It's not an insult. It's an explanation and an appeal. And how can you take the moral high ground after your snarky original comment?

Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.