Billy Paultz Reconsidered

I’m excited about the Phillies. Philly’s excited about the Phillies. We’re all excited about the Philies. That doesn’t excuse some of the dumb, breathlessly overreaching stuff I’ve heard/read lately. Exhibit A: On “Daily News Live,” the other day, somebody said that somebody who should know said Ryan Howard is “on a path to be the […]

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Forget who’s starting game three. Should Cole Hamels have started game two? I recall too well my mental and emotional state the day my first kid was born, and let’s just say anything I would have tried to write that day would have read like Sylvia Plath on an ether binge. Plus there’s this issue […]

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The Phillies are 3-8 since they got Cliff Lee, and Lee is 2-0 since he got here. Perhaps the explanation is that the Fightins can’t get over their shock and awe over the Lee deal.
We could be seeing the beginning of the end of Jamie Moyer’s remarkable career, although Orel Hersheiser says a six-man rotation, […]

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Back from an eventful (in sports, not for me, especially) week off…
Whether they get Roy Halladay or not, right now, at this moment, the Phillies are the best team in baseball. Yes, the Yankees are also 10-1 since the all-star break in a better league, but the Yankees haven’t faced better competition during that stretch […]

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You may, with ardent surfing, find your live blogs on the Home Run Derby, or the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, or, oh, I dunno…. pro wrestling.
But I say without fear of contradiction that nowhere else, in the entire world wide interwebs, will you find all three in one place. We’re coming at you live from Chez Gross, […]

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The weather, the food, the general sense of bonhomie…. it’s been a delightful Fourth of July weekend. Howevah…..
Ryan Howard should not be going to the all-star game. The National League is going with four first basemen- Howard plus Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder. Dumb.
Howard has an .845 OPS. Gonzalez’ is .969 is a […]

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Just because it’s an obvious idea doesn’t mean it’s not a good one: “Remembering Harry Kalas - Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life” is a new book I’d recommend even if Friend of BPR Gordie Jones wasn’t involved in the project. It includes remembrances from everyone from Harry’s kids to a frat brother […]

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Today’s Sunday News column, plus a couple additions observations at the bottom:
 The Phillies’ Raul Ibanez has 21 home runs through Friday, among overall offensive numbers that, if the season ended today, would make him a serious candidate for National League MVP.
He’s 37, and has never hit more than 33 homers in a season, and more […]

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Welcome to the latest attempt to revive this blog, which, it’s fair to say, is now on life support, a victim of shocking neglect…. It’s not that I’m in any way “Old Media,” or anti-blog or any of that nonsense. I’m just too dim, unfocused, disorganized, lazy….
It’s been a fun read so far, hasn’t it?
The […]

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This really is one of the best sports days of the year, the culmination of The Madness plus real Opening Day for baseball.
I say real Opening Day because of what an abomination it is that ESPN messes things up by pushing a game to Sunday. This is the day you call in sick (if you work […]

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