Former Phillies News

Some players from the former Phillies rosters made the latest baseball headlines:

Matt Stairs signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.

The deal has a major league invitation to spring training. With a weak hitting Padres club, Stairs has a good chance to make the big league roster as a left-handed bat off the bench.

The Padres also signed Jon Garland.

The Washington Nationals reached a one-year agreement with Tyler Walker.

Walker, 33, pitched well in 35.1 innings with the Phillies in 2009. In July, I was surprised a team like the Nationals, who had a weak bullpen, didn’t take a chance on him when he was designated for assignment by the Phillies. Instead, he stayed in the Phillies system and pitched well down the stretch.

The Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays are among teams looking at Chan Ho Park. The Cubs also signed Xavier Nady.

Park was a huge factor in the Phillies bullpen last season, and it’s a shame the Phillies can’t bring him back. Park mentioned that he wants to start again, but he was more effective in the bullpen last season.

The New York Yankees acquired former Phillies prospect Greg Golson.

Golson was designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers last week. After being designated for assignment, a team has a certain amount of days to trade the player. The Rangers are trading Golson to the Yankees for Mitch Hilligoss and cash considerations.

The Minnesota Twins and Jim Thome agree to terms. No terms were announced, but the deal is one-year, with incentives.

The Phillies claimed Brian Bocock, a 24-year old, off waivers. Bocock was an infielder on the Blue Jays. Bocock brings the Phillies 40-man roster up to 37.

In other baseball news, the Athletics signed Ben Sheets, and are thinking about Johnny Damon. Sheets will get $10 million in 2010 without even throwing a pitch in 2009.

Lastly, the Cardinals signed Rich Hill.

Player Recap: Matt Stairs

This article was featured on Phillies Nation as part of the 2009 Player Reviews.

When Matt Stairs sent Jonathan Broxton's pitch "deep into the night" during the 2008 National League Championship Series, he became a hero in Philadelphia. When Stairs smashed a game winning home run off Huston Street on April 12, there was no doubt that he was the go-to guy for a pinch hit situation. However, major league pitchers learned something: do not throw a fastball to Matt Stairs.

And that was the story for 2009. Stairs rarely saw a fastball that he could drive. But if he got one, it left the yard for good.

It may be thought that most of his home runs were meaningless. Afterall, he only had five. There was a ninth inning home run against the Pirates that made it 7-4. There was a ninth inning grand slam against the Nationals which made it 8-6. He also broke up Dave Bush's no-hitter in the eighth inning. If anything, these were far from meaningless; it gave the Phillies hope and potentially started a rally.

The home runs and hits just didn't come as often as he would have liked. Stairs infamously went "0-for-the-summer," going hit-less for 30 straight at-bats.

Stairs found another way to get the job done: he drew walks. Stairs' on-base percentage was .061 points higher than Jimmy Rollins'. Consider the fact that Stairs' batting average was also 0.56 points lower than Rollins.'

Stairs may not have gotten the clutch hit, but he drew key walks. Many of the walks he drew started big innings for the Phillies. A prime example is game four of the NLCS. With one out in the ninth inning, Stairs drew a pinch hit walk against Broxton. The walk started the rally, and the rest is history.

Stairs finished the year with 129 at-bats, a .194 average, .357 on-base percentage, 5 HR, 17 RBI, and a .735 OPS.

Part I: NLCS Preview: History

Originally featured on Phillies Nation.

When the term "rivarly" comes to mind, the Philadelphia Phillies think of the New York Mets while the Los Angeles Dodgers think of the San Francisco Giants. The truth is, the Phillies and Dodgers have bad blood between each other, and it goes beyond Tommy Lasorda beating up the Phillie Phanatic. Their historical meetings in the National League Championship Series are the roots of a Phillies/Dodgers rivalry.

In 1977, the Phillies and Dodgers first met during the League Championship Series. That year, the Phillies won 101 games, a franchise best. The Phillies took the first game of the series, 7-5, but the Dodgers answered with three consecutive wins. Dusty Baker was named the Most Valuable Player, but it was game three that stirred controversy.

The Phillies had a comfortable 5-3 lead headed into 9th inning before a huge turn of events. Davy Lopes hit a ground ball that deflected off Mike Schmidt. Larry Bowa bare handed the ball in mid-air. In the same motion, he fired to first. Lopes was ruled safe, although the replay clearly showed that Lopes was out. Instead of ending the game, the tying run scored. Bill Russell's RBI single scored Lopes. The Dodgers won the game and eventually the series. October 7, 1977 will forever be known as "Black Friday."

1978's NLCS featured a rematch. Once again, the Dodgers won the series, 3-1. Steve Carlton was unavailable until game three because he pitched the National League East clinching game a few days before the NLCS. Game three was the only game that the Phillies won. For the second year in a row, Russell drove in the game winning run.

In 1983, the Dodgers dominated the Phillies in the regular season, winning 11 of 12 against their cross-country rivals. However, the Phillies won the games that mattered most, winning the NLCS in four games. Carlton shutout the Dodgers to open the series. The lone run came on Mike Schmidt's home run. After losing the second game of the series, the Phillies rebounded and won the final two games. Gary Matthews crushed three home runs during the series, earning the NLCS MVP.

In each of these series, the team that won the NLCS lost the World Series. That changed in 2008.

In game one, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell's sixth inning home runs off Derek Lowe led to a victory. Brett Myers drove in three runs during game two. In game four, Shane Victorino, still furious about a fastball that almost nailed him in the head, homered in the eighth inning to tie the game at five. Matt Stairs had no problem sending Jonathan Broxton's fastball "deep into the night." Stairs' game winning homer gave the Phillies a 7-5 win. Cole Hamels, the NLCS MVP, shut down the Dodgers en route to a 5-1, clinching victory.

This series will feature many familiar faces. Former Dodgers Davy Lopes, Chan Ho Park and Jayson Werth are against their former team, much like Larry Bowa, Mariano Duncan, Jim Thome, Vicente Padilla, and Randy Wolf.

As the saying goes, history repeats itself. Will Matt Stairs be the new Bill Russell? Will Cliff Lee's unavailablility until game three prove to be costly like Steve Carlton in 1978? The umpires have missed several calls throughout the postseason; will there be another missed call as big as "Black Friday?" These two teams can't look at the past. They are looking to build their own legacy, and the Phillies hope it's the same as 2008. As Jimmy Rollins said: "it's going to be one of those epic series."

Amazing 9th Inning Comeback

Also seen on Phillies Nation.

Over the years, the Phillies have taught us to never give up on them. We may not always listen, but even if they are down 5-0, they are capable of a big comeback.

Good start. Bad start. Good start. Bad start. That has been the pattern for Cole Hamels and Ross Ohlendorf. If the pattern continued, Hamels was due for a bad start, and the opposite for Ohlendorf. That was exactly what happened.

The Pirates took a 5-0 lead on home runs by Garrett Jones, Delwyn Young, and Andrew McCutchen. Cole Hamels' line: 6 innings, 7 hits, five earned runs, no walks, six strikeouts. The long balls hurt him.

The Phillies didn't get to Ohlendorf until the sixth inning. In his first start since coming off the disabled list, Raul Ibanez's RBI double put the Phillies on the board. Greg Dobbs' sacrifice fly and Paul Bako's RBI single made it a 5-3 game. Ohlendorf's line: 5.2 innings, five hits, three earned runs, four walks, five strikeouts.

The bullpen was not able to have a "shutdown inning" in the seventh. Chad Durbin loaded the bases (with the help of few mental mistakes by third basemen Dobbs), and Scott Eyre could not clean up his mess. The Pirates extended their lead, 7-3.

Trailing in the ninth, the Phillies had no chance against Matt Capps. It would take a miracle. Matt Stairs hit a meaningless home run. 7-4. But was it? The rally caps broke out and the fans rose to their feet. They didn't sit for the remainder of the game.

Jimmy Rollins walked and Chase Utley singled. With one out and two on, Ryan Howard gave us all a preview of the Home Run Derby. His three-run home run tied the game at seven.

Ibanez followed with a double and Pedro Feliz singled. With runners at the corners and one out, Bako was due up, with Stairs on-deck. It was time for Bako to show why the Phillies kept him on the roster. Bako's walk-off single scored Ibanez to cap off an unbelievable five-run ninth inning.

Bako was deservedly mobbed at first base by his teammates. The 8-7 come-from-behind win once again proved why to never give up on the Phightin' Phils. Will Pittsburgh's announcer be walking home tonight?

Stairs Does Best NLCS Impression

Matt Stairs was the hero in the 2008 National League Championship when he crushed a 2 run home run off Dodger's closer Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning, giving the Phillies a 7-5 lead in game four.

Stairs heroics were familiar in the Phillies 7-5 win over the Colorado Rockies for their third win of the season, almost exactly six month after his butt was hammered in the visitors dugout at Dodger Stadium.

In his first start of the season, Chan Ho Park struggled and surrendered four earned runs in the first inning. Park lasted just 3.1 innings, allowed 5 earned runs on seven hits and three walks. He allowed a home run to Dexter Fowler.

Like game four of the NLCS, the Phillies were trailing, but kept chipping away. Jayson Werth's 2 RBI put the Phillies within reach. Similar to the NLCS, the eighth inning was key to keeping the Phillies alive. Shane Victorino tied the NLCS with a two run home run, but Chase Utley would take over his role in Sunday's game, tying the game at 5 with his first home run of the season.

In the ninth inning, Pedro Feliz lead off the inning by blooping a double down the left field line. Chris Coste bunted him over to third, and all Matt Stairs, the pinch hitter, needed to was get the ball in the air to the outfield. He did more than just that. In his best NLCS impression, he got a hold of a fastball and crushed a two run home run off the Rockies closer Huston Street.

Like game four, Ryan Madson earned the win, and Brad Lidge recorded the save in the Phillies all too familiar win.

One Win Away

A National League Pennant is just one win away for the Phightin' Phils. Just one win away. That's it.

The Phillies will have a chance to clinch tomorrow with their 24 year old ace, Cole Hamels.

Hamels dazzled the Dodgers in game one of the series. He allowed just 2 earned runs in 7 innings of work. He struck out 8 and walked 2.

Hamels will face off against Chad Billingsley. The Phillies rocked Chad in game 2 of the NLCS. Billingsley gave up 8 runs, 7 earned, in 2.1 innings. Billingsley will try to redeem himself, and he will sure be happy that he won't have to pitch against Brett Myers.

So far, the Phillies are 2-0 at home, and 1-1 at Dodger Stadium in the NLCS. Their loss at Dodger Stadium included some drama, and their win included some fireworks.

In game 3, the Phillies lost 7-2, but it was the incident involving Shane Victorino and Hiroki Kuroda that took the spot light.

Flash backing to game 2, Brett Myers threw a pitch that "slipped" behind Manny Ramirez. Ramirez was clearly upset. He was upset that Billingsley didn't retaliate.

Russell Martin was plunked twice in game 2. Martin, Ramirez or the Dodger's bench, must have told Kuroda to throw at somebody, and he did.

A fastball sailed over the ducking Victorino's head. Victorino was mad, saying "You can throw at my chest, but not at my head." After a few words with Martin, the game went on, Victorino grounded to first, but it still wasn't over. Victorino repeated what he said to Kuroda, and the benches cleared.

Manny Ramirez wanted some action, but he was restrained by his teammates. Romero, a close friend of Manny, was also restrained as well as other players. 7 players and coaches in uniform were fined for their actions. Warnings were issued, and no other problems to this point occurred.

The Phillies ended game 4 in dramatic fashion which let everybody know why they are called the Phightin Phils.

The Phillies and Dodgers' lead went back and forth. With a Dodger's 5-3 lead in the 8th inning, the Joe Torre decided to go with Corey Wade instead of a 2 inning save for Jonathan Broxton. And boy did the Dodgers ever pay.

Shae Victorino hit a 2 run homerun to tie the game. Matt Stairs followed with a 2 run homerun of his own that gave the Phillies a 2 run lead. Stair's homerun was a moonshot, measured at 360 feet into the Pavillion bleachers.

"I swing for the fences," he said. "That's how I've been my whole career. I
think of home runs. It carries over from batting practice. I try to hit every
ball out of the ballpark. I'm not going to lie, it's fun when you're there and
you're hitting balls out of the ballpark. The biggest thing is to see how far
you're going to hit the ball."

Lidge recorded his first 4 out save of the season as the Phillies are taking a stairway to the World Series.

Picture Courtesy of Philly.com

Quote Courtesy of Phillies.com

Phillies Aquire Matt Stairs

With the non-waiver deadline approaching, the Phillies acquired Matt Stairs from the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Fox Sport's Ken Rosenthal.

Phillies GM Pat Gillick has not made an official announcement yet.

The Blue Jays will receive a prospect to be named later.

Stairs will be a backup outfielder and give the Phillies a lift off the bench. He will benefit by hitting at Citizen's Bank Park.

Stairs has 6 homeruns and 10 RBI at Citizens Bank Park in his career.

Stairs is hitting .250 this year with 11 homeruns and 44 RBI. He has an OPS of .736.

He is a career .266 hitter with 252 homeruns in a 16 year career.

The Blue Jays will rely on their prospect Travis Snider to take over in right field. The 20 year old was drafted in 2006, and jumped from A-MLB in a matter of a season.

A good addition for the Phillies, who lost today to the Cubs 3-2, after the bullpen blew the lead one again.