Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are pitchers on a level with very few other pitchers.

However, they can’t pitch every game so the rest of the pitchers in the Phillies starting rotation were   Kyle Kendrick,  Vance Worley, Joe Blanton and a variety of other pitchers.

Kyle Kendrick

Photo Credit: Steve Trapani

I have serious issues with Kyle Kendrick.  I mean, I have written often about my despise for him and well, it’s still there.

However, I have to give credit where credit is due:  Kendrick pitched pretty decently for the most part in 2012. (Pauses to stop the convulsions that accompanied with writing that statement.)

Ok, I’m back.  And still alive, I think.

Kendrick bounced between the bullpen and the starting rotation all season, finally solidifying a spot when Joe Blanton was traded to the Dodgers.

He finished the season with 3.90 ERA and stepped up at times when the Phillies had serious needs.  He pitched a couple of games with 5 or less hits including 1 Complete Game Shut-out.  He definitely had a career year and for that I congratulate him.

And I beg Ruben Amaro Jr to break whatever hold KK has over him and TRADE HIM!!!

» Continue reading “Reflection On 2012: Kendrick, Worley And Other Starting Pitchers”

We all kind of saw this coming.  So when the trade deadline came and went and right-hander Joe Blanton was still on the Phillies, I was kind of surprised. But he’s gone now.

Joe Blanton – photo credit: Steve Trapani

According to WPVI-Action News, Blanton has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a later named player or cash considerations.  Blanton was slated to start tonight when the Phillies open up a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Kyle Kendrick will now start.

The 31-year-old Blanton is 8-9 with a 4.59 ERA in 20 starts and one relief appearance. He is making $8.5 million and, like Victorino, can become a free agent after the season. – WPVI.com

Blanton joins fellow former Phillie Shane Victorino, who was also recently traded to the Dodgers.  Blanton was a key player in the Phillies 2008 World Series Championship and with him leaving, the number of current Phillies who were apart of that 2008 team is dwindling.

Photo courtesy of Steve Trapani – Flickr Follow him on twitter: @Trap_33

Heather Carnassale is Contributing Phillies Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at viewfromsection116@gmail.com, or follow her on twitter @heatherc531 and @viewfromsec116.

In one of the strangest games this year, the Phillies walk-it-off against the Colorado Rockies.

In a night when Joe Blanton was, well, Joe Blanton and gave up 3 home runs (ok, that’s normal) the strangest plays came through.

Let’s start with a Michael Martinez 3-run homer, which is, well, odd.  I believe that he is a waste of roster space, but he came through tonight.

Jonathan Papelbon came in the top of the 9th and the Rockies scored the go ahead run off of him.

Then the bottom of the 9th happened and things got strange.

The Rockies’ Rafeal Betancourt quickly got Jim Thome and Jimmy Rollins out.

Ty Wigginton comes up and hit a single into left field.  Hunter Pence then hits a ball to deep left field that bounced off the wall.  Wigginton chugged around the bases to score on the hit.

Game is now tied.

The Rockies choose to walk Carlos Ruiz to put runners on 1st and 2nd.  Shane Victorino hits an infield single.

Well, kinda.  Marco Scutaro made a bad throw and Todd Helton did not make a good pick.  Oh, and Victorino is quite fast.

Bases are now loaded for Placido Polanco.  And Twitter started to call for a shrimp. Well, they didn’t walk Polanco, he put the bat on the ball.

Scutaro again fielded the ball, but he had to double-clutch before he could throw.  Helton seemed to forget how to play first.  He couldn’t find first base and Polanco was called safe, Pence scores.

Phillies win!  Just an odd night and I will take it!

Helton looks for the base after Polanco crosses it.

Karilee Jeantet is Lead Contributor for A View From Section 116.  Follow her on Twitter @kjeantet and @viewfromsec116 and e-mail her AViewFromSection116@gmail.com.

My Burrell #5 Jersey - Photo credit: HCarnassale

Last night in South Philadelphia, the Phillies lost to the Boston Red Sox.  But though I wanted them to win, the night in my eyes belonged to Pat Burrell.

Last season when rumblings came out that Burrell was more than likely going to retire, my mission was to make sure that this happened in Philadelphia.

Now I don’t take sole credit for Ruben Amaro, Jr. and company giving Pat the opportunity, but I surely made my opinion known.  So about a month and a half ago, when it was announced that the Phillies were going to sign Pat to a one day contract, I for one was giddy beyond belief.  And things only got better.

I found out that the game that Pat and the Phillies chose was the May 19th game during the Boston Red Sox series.  I immediately called my father, who buys the partial season tickets and asked if he had tickets for that specific game.  He did but…he had already given those tickets away (before the Burrell announcement came out).  My heart sunk, but I surely didn’t expect my Dad to ask for the tickets back, so I basically resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t see Pat retire in person.

Well, my parents, being the most kind and generous Mom and Dad a girl could have, decided to purchase tickets for the game and gave them to me.  I was so grateful, appreciative, and VERY happy.  So I want to make sure to give a huge THANK YOU shout out to them for getting the tickets for me.

Now the tickets weren’t for Section 116, as my Dad had given those away, so technically my view last night was from Section 243 by Harry the K’s restaurant.  Having never sat out there in left field, I saw the game from a whole new perspective.  And sadly the Phillies game itself was a major bust after Joe Blanton, who had been looking very good, pitched awful.  He had 102 pitches by the fifth inning…YIKES!  But the Phillies battled back to some extent, however as many of you probably know, I consider myself a huge jinx when it comes to the Philly teams, so being my second Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park this season, I am 0-2.  Not exactly helping my case.

Anyway, back to Pat Burrell.  As I stated here, I never considered myself a “Burrell Girl” I was more a “true” fan who supported him through slumps, through the bashing from fans, and pretty much everything he did or didn’t do on the field.  So last night I proudly wore my Phillies #5 Pat Burrell shirt and while walking through the turnstile, the ticket attendant gave me a thumbs up.  I saw quite a few others adorned in their #5 shirts as well.  Some even donned Burrell’s original Phillies number which was #33.  The support and admiration for Pat could definitely be felt throughout the park.

So when the time came for Burrell to be announced, the stadium was packed with fans, ready to cheer for the man many either loved and/or at times hated.  But everyone last night agreed on one thing, that Burrell coming back, putting on the red pinstripes, and retiring in Philadelphia was the way it was meant to be.

» Continue reading “Pat Burrell Retires As A Phillie”

After the Phillies took the first game of a three game series, it looked like the Phillies were

Photo Credit: Steve Trapani

on the way to taking the 2nd game.

The Phillies gave Roy Halladay a 6-0 lead by the 4th inning.  In Halladay’s career, he was 107-0 when given a 4-run lead.  Until his perfect record, wasn’t anymore.

He gave up six runs in the bottom of the fourth, including a Grand Slam to Brian McCann.

Then the game got out of hand.  The scoring went back and forth until the Braves walked it off in the bottom of the 11th.

The two teams met again today at 12:10 to square off in the rubber match.  (Which I may or may not have put on during my last period of the day because my students were annoying me.)

Joe Blanton vs Randall Delgado.

Not exactly a marquee match and one that I could see going either way.

The Phillies jumped on Delgado early with Jimmy Rollins showing why he belongs in the lead-off spot.  He singled, advanced on one fly-ball and scored on another.

That lone run is how the score stood until the 7th inning when Laynce Nix hit a solo shot.  The Phillies tacked on two more in the ninth with a 2-run homerun by Shane Victorino.

The Phillies won, but their victory is not the whole story or even the main story.  That belongs to Joe Blanton.

Yes, I did say Joe Blanton.  For the second game in a row, Blanton 2.1 showed up.  And this version was even better than the 2.0 version.

Blanton thew a Complete Game Shut-out.  His first complete games since 2007.  Oh, and it was just a shut-out, it was done with only 88 pitches and in 2 hours and 2 minutes.   He only gave up 3 hits with 6 strike-outs.

Let me get recap:  Roy Halladay got shelled in his worse outing in a Phillies uniform and the next day, Joe Blanton gets a 3-hit shutout in his best start in a Phillies uniform.  Yup, that’s definitely a bizzarro time in Atlanta.