Situation Normal All F*ck@d Up
According to many reports, including this one from The Houston Chronicle, the G20 Summit has forced the Philadelphia Phillies inter-league series originally scheduled in Toronto, Ontario for June 25-27 to be moved to Philadelphia. The games will be played in the Phillies home ballpark, Citizens Bank Park, but will be “road” games for the Phillies. The DH will be used and the Toronto Blue Jays will be considered the “home” team and will bat last.
NLEC blog Phillies Phandom adds their own unique twist.
14 comments
ceetar
5/11/2010-4:46pm at 4:46 pm (UTC -4)
Well, the Blue Jays agreed to this, for one.
I think the biggest advantages are batting last, and the DH, and the Blue Jays will get b oth.
Fans? eh.. I think the crowd advantage is vastly overrated, maybe the Jays feel energized by playing in that environment since they don’t exactly have rabid fans at home.
stickguy
5/11/2010-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
to be fairer, they should have found a neutral site, preferably one convenient to Toronto.
Actually, Buffalo would have been perfect. I am sure the Bisons would not have minded. ANd the damn park is probably bigger than CBP anyway!
at least there any Toronto fans interested could have seen the games.
I wonder though how tickets will be sold? I assume it will have to be through the normal Phillies channels.
GravediggerHebner
5/11/2010-4:53pm at 4:53 pm (UTC -4)
I have no official reliable sources for this but from what I understand the ticket revenue will be split as if the Blue Jays are the home team and that is why the Jays agreed to this, because they are assured to receive the majority of the ticket income for 3 sell outs of CBP. That is better for them than selling out the minor league ballpark in Buffalo. FWIW the Bisons are on the road then. Whether they considered the Bills football stadium I do not know.
ceetar
5/11/2010-4:58pm at 4:58 pm (UTC -4)
Ooh, that’s a good point. They would get a ton more money at CBP than even Dunn Tire Park (or whereever the Bills play) and probably even more than if they hadn’t moved it.
stickguy
5/11/2010-5:08pm at 5:08 pm (UTC -4)
well, considering Toronto has no hope of making the post season, and the commisioner is not big on fairness among teams, then of course it makes sense to choose the option that will line someones pocket with the most cash.
and screw the toronto fans. there may not be a lot of them now, but they should still count.
stickguy
5/11/2010-5:14pm at 5:14 pm (UTC -4)
anyway, back to the mets. Saw this on spyder (I like that tool!), and copied from Mack’s mets.
Catcher Jean Luc Blaquiere Promoted to Bisons
Mets Release Bisons’ C Shawn Riggans
The Buffalo Bisons today announced that C JEAN LUC BLAQUIERE has been promoted to the Herd from the Single-A St. Lucie Mets. He will fill the roster spot as the Mets released C SHAWN RIGGANS today.
Blaquiere, 24, hit .203 (15-74) with two doubles, one home run and 11RBI in 21 games with St. Lucie of the Florida State League. He’s averaged .261 (6-23) while hitting with runners in scoring position.
Blaquiere joined the Mets as a non-drafted free agent in 2004. Last season, the catcher hit .238 (57-240) with 11 doubles, five home run and 21RBI in 70 games with Single-A Savannah.
Riggans played in just two games for the Bisons with one hit in five at-bats. Monday night’s game with the Herd was his lone start with the club.
Posted by Mack at 1:01 PM
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anyway, was riggans hurt, since he only had 10 ABs all year in 2 cities?
and calling up a guy hitting .204 in A+ ball to bugffalo, instead of Santos?
and why now, since they are short a catcher? maybe someone was ready to move from SS ball to A ball?
Or, they needed a 40 an roster spot? Another move coming perhaps? ALthough any move on the ML level should free one up..
GravediggerHebner
5/11/2010-5:42pm at 5:42 pm (UTC -4)
I’m not sure.
As far as the 40 man roster the one currently up at Mets.com shows 39 players, Riggans is not among them (I don’t think he was on it previously but I’m not sure).
As you have suggested many times they should have the option of opening a spot by placing Escobar on the 60 day DL if they need to. He is currently shown on the 15 day.
This is totally a wild guess but I suppose there may be some rule that they cannot move Santos back up to Buffalo so quickly after he was sent down unless someone goes on the DL in Buffalo, and to my knowledge no one has (I know there is a rule in the majors that you can’t recall someone who has been sent down until 10 days pass unless there is a DL situation).
Why in that instance they would not just take one of the other 3 catchers from Binghamton (1 of whom is on the DL) I also do not know.
stickguy
5/11/2010-5:44pm at 5:44 pm (UTC -4)
no idea what calling up the catcher from Lucie has to do with cutting riggans. Maybe he just was misc. dead wood that they were clearing out?
GravediggerHebner
5/11/2010-6:00pm at 6:00 pm (UTC -4)
That I do have a thought about. Once they decided to cut Riggans they were left with only one catcher at Buffalo, so they had to promote someone at least while Thole is up here due to Blanco’s bereavement leave. That bit makes sense to me.
Why Blacquiere over anyone else is the part I don’t, and likely will never, get. But while it is fun to discuss it really defines minutiae and I likely will never learn the reasons behind their minor league roster manipulations.
stickguy
5/11/2010-5:42pm at 5:42 pm (UTC -4)
more theft. got this 3rd hand for a commentor over at FWICG.
And it makes me hate this FO and manager even more.
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There’s an article on FanGraphs about the NL ROY race that mentions Davis, Mejia, and Niese. Here’s what they have to say about Mejia:
“Jenrry Mejia | RHP | New York: I cannot adequately express how disappointing it is to see Mejia being misused in New York. The 20-year-old right-hander has appeared in 15 games out of the bullpen and currently has a 4.61 BB/9 rate, as well as a strikeout rate of just 5.93 K/9. He’s shown a respectable fastball-slider combo, but his change-up (along with his overall control) is not getting any better by pitching a total of 13.2 innings in just under six weeks.â€
GravediggerHebner
5/11/2010-5:56pm at 5:56 pm (UTC -4)
I can only hope they feel/felt the same way about Neftali Feliz, Joba Chamberlain, and any other minor league pitching prospect who is capable of throwing more than one pitch and who is used in the major leagues in relief by their organization. Otherwise I cannot adequately express my disappointment in them.
trs86
5/11/2010-6:28pm at 6:28 pm (UTC -4)
To me except for stats fangraphs has no purpose to me. Their commentary is usually not worth my time.
Hazmet
5/11/2010-7:06pm at 7:06 pm (UTC -4)
Ehhh to comment or not comment, what the heck: Do the Phillies have film of Bud getting a hummer from the Philly Phanatic or something? Unbelievable. I know JC Romero was exonerated so to speak of knowingly taking Steroids based on his different labeled bottle from GNC but I still can’t get over how he wasn’t suspended on the spot for the second failed test in mid Sept 2008. Do they ever not catch a break?
metsfan4decades
5/11/2010-7:17pm at 7:17 pm (UTC -4)
I was just thinking the same thought myself. Is it me or does it seem the Phils get all the breaks lately? The Mets, not so much.