Our next show features former Cy Young winner Dr. Mike Marshall

 

        Opening Day  for the Phillies was a bust, but don't throw in the towel just yet! There is 161 reasons to stay on board as a fan. We'll talk about the Phils Opener as well as many more Phillies notes.      

        Our next show features one of the greatest relief pitchers from the 1970's and early 1980's, Dr. Mike Marshall. He'll be joining us to talk about his method of pitching that he says will help eliminate pitchers having arm problems like they encounter today.

         Here's a passage from Wikipedia on Dr. Marshall:

           Marshall won the National League Cy Young Award in 1974 as a member of the Dodgers as well as being named the NL Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. He was a member of the National League All Star Team in 1974 and 1975. Marshall was also named Fireman of the Year by TSN with three different teams: in the NL in 1973 with the Montreal Expos and 1974 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a third time in 1979 in the American League with the Minnesota Twins (sharing the award with Jim Kern).

Marshall led his league in games pitched four times, saves three times, and games finished five times. He is the major league record holder for most appearances (games pitched) in one season with 106 in 1974, 12 more than the next highest total.

Marshall attended Michigan State University, earning three degrees, including a Ph.D. in kinesiology.

Marshall teaches and advocates a pitching method he developed that he "believes could completely eradicate pitching-arm injuries" [1]

Here is the link to Dr. Marshall's website:   www.drmikemarshall.com

                  You can join our show live as well, just come to our page here at 6:45 pm and click the 'Live Now' button on our player and with your microphone enabled computer, you'll be able to join us on the show with your questions.

                             Rich Baxter   /  Philly Sports Talk Now!

 

           

                 

    

First Phil's BPS for me this season, sweep? Say it ain't so!

My first game in attendance for 2007 was today's BPS at 3:05 pm, and hats, mittens, and scarves, where really needed! The wind whipped around the stadium in the lower level concourse areas so badly your teeth chattered, and that was before the Phil's took to the field! It was 43 degrees at game time, but with the wind chill and overcast skies it felt like 32 degrees. As strange as that was, the game followed suit. The Phil's looked listless, like they couldn't fight their way from a paper bag. The bright spot was Pat Burrell today, he got a small amount of boos here and there upon a strikeout but when he hit the ball, he ignited the crowd! A double off the Southwest Airlines sign in center sent the fans into fits, they clapped cheered and all of his 'sins' if you can call them that were forgotten.

I also heard something today, I didn't think I would hear from the crowd, booing last year's MVP Ryan Howard. Can this be possible? Even on the radio broadcast, Larry Anderson couldn't believe it, and mentioned this on the air. Are people that critical in Philly? They boo Santa, so they would boo the King of Homeruns too? I saw Howard angrily react after a strikeout in the dugout by throwing a cup in disgust. This is not good. Is this why the Phillies only won 1 more game than they lost last year at home? They wouldn't get this bad a treatment on the road for crying out loud. I can see being disappointed as a fan but to boo your own players in their home stadium is beyond me. The fans should stand by their players, maybe their in a slump, maybe they had a bad day at home, whatever! I am sure anyone reading this has had bad days and for someone to kick you when your down, that is inexcusable.

Yes, the Phils got swept at home. The first three games are history. Now they go down to Florida to play the hungry Marlins. Thank god, there is only 6-7 thousand people in that stadium and chances are they won't be booing the Phillies. Something is wrong, I don't know if is all the players fault. It does speak volumes when you go .500 at home but you win more games on the road that much is for sure.


Rich / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Phils Notes from Athlon Sports and my rant on the start of the season!

One of the best things I like about the Spring Training season is the bountiful supply of MLB fantasy guides, baseball preview magazines, and books that are available at the local bookstores. During the past few seasons I've participated in fantasy MLB baseball leagues and it's always lots of fun to keep up with your favorite players and all the players around the league for that matter.

I've picked up my fresh copy of the 2007 Athlon Sports Baseball preview magazine tonight. It is full of info and stats and other news that you can use to increase your knowledge about what is going on in baseball at this moment. This is Athlon's 40th season of making these guides available for people to read. It features some cool articles about the Phillies, with depth charts and some nice commentaries on the Phils and all the teams for that matter. My copy features the Mets, David Wright on the cover and overlooking that obvious oversight that Ryan Howard should have been on the cover, I none the less plunked down my $6.99 for the copy and here's some of what I found inside. (I also like the CBS Sportsline edition of the MLB Fantasy preview magazine as well for anyone out there looking for a great individual player fantasy guide)


Athlon picks the Mets to repeat as the NL East Champions. The Phillies are picked to come in second place, but they are the pick for the NL Wildcard winner. Athlon picks the LA Dodgers over the NY Mets for the NLCS and a NY Yankee vs. LA Dodger World Series. I don't like either of those picks myself for the World Series or the NLCS, but that is who they like. I predict the NY Yankees to sink again and fold up like an expensive house of cards that they are. I like Abreu still though, in my opinion he is the most underrated superstar in MLB, even though he still takes home a nice fat paycheck! I think pitching will fail the Mets as they sink to second in the NL East. I like the Phillies to win the division for the first time since 1993. That said I like the Mets for the Wild Card. The Phillies have finished second in the division for the past three seasons despite the call from Phils ownership all three years that "This will be the year."

Pat Gillick deserves great kudos for putting this bunch together as a team for 2007. He brought us a mix of old and new. Some of the kudos go to prior Phils GM Ed Wade, for the Utley, Howard and Hamels homegrown Phils stars though. All of this goes together like a fine recipe for success in '07 for the Phils. All of this pending the health of the team of course. The long season of 162 games will have it's share of injuries and win streaks that is for sure. If the Phillies can stay healthy, the stage is set for them to make the playoffs for the first time in ... dare I say... 13 years! Wow, the Phillies faithful or phaithful (to put it more like a Phillies pundit) are a loyal bunch. Never mind the booing of their own players and the harsh criticism that is thrown at their own players throughout the season by some of the more vocal fans, this season should leave all the Phils fans more satisfied that is for sure.

Back to Athlon Sports 2007 MLB preview for a moment. They point to Tom Gordon as the reason that the Phils may have the roughest time at winning games consistently. I personally wish they would have went out and got a marquee closer over the winter but I guess we'll have to see on this one. Athlon also sours on Freddie Garcia as they call him a 'sell' recommendation in fantasy team player selections. They contradict themselves though in the same preview also calling Garcia on the the best pitchers in the NL. So how can Athlon say that about Garcia and then tell readers not to pick him in their fantasy team? Go figure.

Athlon also has a nice few statistician entries for each team. The Phils were interesting, noting that 63 is the number of times Pat Burell watched a called third strike last year. I am predicting that Pat the Bat will improve on the and hope he would cut that down by a third or better. There is nothing I hate worse than watching a called third strike against a Phillie batter! How about this stat, 5 is the number of games Wes Helms started at third base for the Marlins last year. Athlon doesn't tell you at what base he did start in the other games, but I looked it up myself and he played in 24 games at third but only started 5 of them. This of course is because the job for the Marlins is handled at third by the young 23 year old phenom, Miguel Cabrera. Wes only had 2 errors at third base though in those games, Cabrera had 17 Errors in 157 games at third last year for the Marlins. Other places Helms played for the Marlins was: 1st Base - 42 games started in '06 and 88 games played overall at first ( no errors in those 88 games at first base ) and the other spot Helms played was left field for a cup of coffee with only 2 innings of one game at that position.

More posts to come in the coming days as Spring Training continues. Of course more podcasts, or netcasts as well to listen to with Phillies Sports Talk Now! The Podcast -the next one slated for Thursday, March 1st that coinsides with the start of the Phillies Spring Training schedule in Florida.

Rich Baxter / Philly Sports Talk Now!

Best of Philly Sports Podcasts on WPEN 950 AM

Be sure to tune into a special show on WPEN 950 am (Date to be announced) - Philly Sports Talk Now! to be on a special segment on 950 am WPEN's look at the best sports podcasts of the Philadelphia area. The show is from 11 pm to 12 midnight local Philly time and you can tune into that broadcast via the link below at 11 pm (Date to be announced)

http://www.wpen.com/

Philly Sports Talk Show 31 (Feb 15 2007)

The Phillies Spring Training special! See what the future holds for the Phils with all the new players and the brand new 2007 season! Rich, Jim 'Dog' and our special guest, Mike Berquist of A Citizen's Blog, one of the best Phillies blogs out there,talk about Charlie Manuel, Homerun King Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and the rest of the 2007 Phillies.

Phillies Single game seats are on sale this coming Wednesday at 7.30 a.m. at Phillies.com or on the phone at 215-463-1000 starting at 9 a.m.



MP3 File

Special Show set for this Thursday - Feb. 15

Phillies talk will become the hot topic in the weeks to come. This next edition of the netcast we will look at the new Philly players on the team and check on the Phils that are no longer on the team. J Roll says the Phils are 'the team to beat'. Is this a jinx for the Phils or does he know that the Phils will dominate this upcoming season?

All this and more this Thursday night when our next podcast will be on the net! Look for it around 10 pm Thursday night, Jim Dogg and Rich are raring to go on the next Philly Sports Talk Now!


Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training in 3 days on Feb. 15 and mandatory reporting for the rest of the team is 15 days away on Feb 27. It was reported over the weekend that several trucks left Citizens Bank Park for the trip down to Clearwater! Spring here we come...