Results tagged ‘ Carlos Ruiz ’
Halladay Has the Stuffed Chooch
Yes, Roy Halladay has the Carlos Ruiz pillow/doll/toy/whatever-it-is at his home in Florida.
It’s in his youngest son’s bedroom.
Halladay shot a commercial for 2K Sports’ MLB 2K11 three or four weeks ago, and Phillies fans love it. Who knew Halladay could act? Who knew he had comedic timing?
“Are you guys saying I’m boring?” he said with a laugh.
Where Can You Get This Chooch?
I’m probably the last person to post this commercial on a Phillies blog (Saw this on The 700 Level via Phuture Phillies), but it’s too good not to post. I’ve got to say, Roy Halladay does a good job with it. Who knew the guy could act? And I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before people start calling the Phillies to see where they can get the stuffed Chooch in the commercial.
*
I’ve got a new Facebook page, where I’ll post stories, blogs, thoughts, etc. Check it out here. Follow me on Twitter.
More Ball …
Hola, amigos, we’re here at Bright House Field. It’s sunny and 66 with a strong breeze, but I think it’ll be in the 70s by first pitch. The Phillies play the Orioles this afternoon. Roy Oswalt makes his Grapefruit League debut.
Here’s the lineup:
- Jimmy Rollins, SS
- Placido Polanco, 3B
- Raul Ibanez, LF
- Ryan Howard, 1B
- Ben Francisco, DH
- Shane Victorino, CF
- John Mayberry Jr., RF
- Brian Schneider, C
- Brian Bocock, 2B
*
Carlos Ruiz has been in Panama since yesterday for personal reasons. He could be back Friday. … Forgot to mention this yesterday, but it was right-hander Nick Strincevich‘s birthday. He turned 96. Strincevich and outfielder Alex Pitko (11/22/14) are the oldest living Phillies. The Phillies released Strincevich June 11, 1948, to make room for Robin Roberts. Strincevich is the last player to wear No. 36 before Roberts.
*
I’ve got a new Facebook page, where I’ll post stories, blogs, thoughts, etc. Check it out here. Follow me on Twitter.
The Top 10 … Right Now
MLB Network has been running episodes of Top 10 Right Now, where they rank players at every position in the big leagues. The Phillies were well represented, so I’m running the lists here.
These lists should make for a good debate:
Starting Pitchers
10. Josh Johnson
9. Justin Verlander
8. Adam Wainwright
7. Cliff Lee
6. David Price
5. Jon Lester
4. CC Sabathia
3. Tim Lincecum
2. Felix Hernandez
1. Roy Halladay
Four Phillies Get MVP Votes
Joey Votto deservedly won the NL MVP with 31 first-place votes and 443 points.
Albert Pujols finished second with one first-place vote and 279 points. The rest of the top five included: Carlos Gonzalez (240), Adrian Gonzalez (197) and Troy Tulowitzki (132).
The Phillies had four players receive MVP votes:
- Roy Halladay finished sixth with 130 points.
- Jayson Werth finished eighth with 52 points.
- Ryan Howard finished 10th with 50 points.
- Carlos Ruiz finished 17th with 12 points.
Twenty-seven players received votes. The Phillies were the only team with four players receiving votes.
*
The Dodgers have hired Davey Lopes as their first base coach.
*
Halladay and Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young last week, which made the Phillies, Mariners and Cardinals the only three teams to win the four major postseason awards in the last 10 years.
The Phillies won the MVP in 2006 (Ryan Howard) and 2007 (Jimmy Rollins), Cy Young in 2010 (Halladay), Rookie of the Year in 2005 (Howard) and Manager of the Year in 2001 (Larry Bowa). The Cardinals won the MVP in 2005, 2008 and 2009 (Albert Pujols), Cy Young in 2005 (Chris Carpenter), Rookie of the Year in 2001 (Pujols) and Manager of the Year in 2002 (Tony La Russa). The Mariners won the MVP in 2001 (Ichiro Suzuki), Cy Young in 2010 (Hernandez), Rookie of the Year in 2001 (Suzuki) and and Manager of the Year in 2001 (Lou Piniella).
*
I’ve got a new Facebook page, where I’ll post stories, blogs, thoughts, etc. Check it out here.
*
Follow me on Twitter. My Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!
A Few Offseason Questions
I’ve been away for a few days, so I haven’t blogged since last week. My apologies.
I’ve gotten plenty of questions about the Phillies’ offseason since their season ended. I’ll try to answer some of those questions the best I can.
Question: Are the Phillies going to resign Jayson Werth?
Answer: No, I don’t think they will. Somebody is going to give Werth a big contract. I don’t think he’ll get the seven-year, $120 million contract Matt Holliday got from the Cardinals, but he’ll get paid. The only way I see Werth returning is if the market simply isn’t there for him and he surpisingly accepts salary arbitration from the Phillies (Kevin Millwood surprised the Phillies when he accepted salary arbitration in 2003) or the Phillies get him at a team-friendly price. I don’t see either scenario happening.
Ruiz Hits Record Heat
Carlos Ruiz hit a 103.5 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman for a double in the eighth inning last night in Game 3 of the NLDS.
Nobody has hit heat like that.
Let me explain. Pitch f/x data goes back to 2008, but SABR’s Trent McCotter found that nobody had hit a faster pitch than Ruiz. Here’s a look at McCotter’s list from the past three seasons:
- 103.5 mph: Carlos Ruiz v. Chapman, double, 10/10/2010
- 102.0 mph: Carlos Gonzalez v. Chapman, single, 9/6/2010
- 101.7 mph: Adam Dunn v. Joel Zumaya, single, 6/17/2010
- 101.5 mph: Derrek Lee v. Zumaya, single, 6/23/2009
- 101.4 mph: Mike Lowell v. Zumaya, single, 6/4/2009
- 101.4 mph: Alfonso Soriano v. Zumaya, single, 6/24/2009
- 101.1 mph: Scott Podsednik v. Zumaya, single, 6/11/2009
- 101.1 mph: Paul Konerko v. Zumaya, double, 6/8/2010
- 101.0 mph: Kazuo Matsui v. Zumaya, single, 6/26/2009
- 101.0 mph: Jason Kubel v. Justin Verlander, single, 9/19/2009
As McCotter points out, Ruiz’s pitch was 1.5 mph faster than Gonzalez’s pitch. That might not seem like much, but he said 1.5 mph is a significant gap when we’re talking about three years of data.
McCotter also found it’s the first time a 103+ mph pitch has been put into play. Of the 19 pitches that pitch f/x has record at 103+ mph:
- 12 were balls
- 3 were fouls
- 1 was a swinging strike
- 2 were called strikes
- 1 was a double (Ruiz)
*
The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. My Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!
Madson Loose Before Game 3
A little behind-the-scenes access for y’all:
MLB has press conferences before every postseason game and workout. Charlie Manuel attends one every day. (He loves it!) The Phillies usually bring in the next day’s starting pitcher, a key everyday player or somebody else who’s a hot story.
The press conference are helpful for reporters because we have no clubhouse access before games like we have during the season. But sometimes they can be a little boring. We’ve asked just about everything we can ask of these guys. They’ve answered the same questions a million times. We know this. They know this. But people are baseball crazy right now, so we’ve got to feed the beast.
So thank goodness Sunday for Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin.
Madson entered the press conference wearing a mask that looked like a little similar to Miguel Cairo. Durbin played straight man. Madson played funny man.
“I’ve been wearing it every day to the playoffs, so I had to wear it again today,” Madson said.
I asked Madson an important question: When does he wear the mask? Certain times? Certain moments?
“Hot tub is where it debuted,” Madson said. “That was cool. But the first guy that walked in was Charlie Manuel and he shook his head. But I kept with it. The guys encouraged me, and I guess my favorite place to wear it would be probably the shower.”
I wrote a week ago about how Carlos Ruiz is perhaps the most well-liked guy in the clubhouse, but Madson got a ton of votes in my highly unscientific poll. Madson is extremely well-liked because of his sense of humor.
“I knew it was (Madson),” Manuel said, asked if he knew who it was in the hot tub. ”I saw Chooch (Carlos Ruiz) with it on, too.”
*
The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. My Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!
Sounds Like Ruiz Is OK
Reached Ruben Amaro Jr. today and asked him about Carlos Ruiz, who got hit with a pitch in his left elbow Sunday in Atlanta.
Ruiz visited team doctor’s today.
“All good,” Amaro said.
It sounds like Ruiz will be OK to play Wednesday in Game 1. We should know more tomorrow.
*
The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. My Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!
The Phillies Love Broxton
Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton is 2-2 with a 9.82 ERA and one save in four opportunities against the Phillies from the moment Matt Stairs‘ home run landed deep in the right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS to the moment teammates mobbed Carlos Ruiz near second base last night at Citizens Bank Park.
(In between Stairs and Ruiz, Jimmy Rollins had a pretty big hit in Game 4 of the 2009 NLCS.)
*
The story and video from last night’s unbelievable comeback.
*
The Zo Zone is on Facebook and Twitter. My Phillies book “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” is available online, and at Delaware Valley bookstores!
Todd Zolecki
Recent Comments