phillies

Comparison: 1990 Mets and 2011 Phillies

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The 1990 Mets looked great on paper, headed by what looked like the best starting rotation seen in Flushing since the days of Seaver, Koosman, and Matlack.

It looked like this:

1. Dwight Gooden
2. Frank Viola
3. David Cone
4. Ron Darling
5. Sid Fernandez
6. Bob Ojeda

Doc was 100% healed from a shoulder injury that marred his 1989 and at 25 years old, and primed to regain dominance as the most feared righty in baseball. Viola was only 30, two years removed from a Cy Young Award, and considered the top lefthanded starting pitcher in MLB. Cone was coming off a so-so year (for him), but put up numbers similar to those that helped him go 20-3 in ’88. Both Darling and Fernandez were coming off of 14-win seasons, and seemed to be turning a corner — many thought ’90 would be the “breakout year” for each of the previously inconsistent pitchers. The rotation was so deep, Ojeda was banished to the bullpen, despite still having enough stuff to be a #3 or possibly #2 on another club.

On offense, the Mets had returning

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Done Deal: Phillies Sign Cliff Lee

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Perhaps feeling pressured by the Mets’ rabid activity over the past two weeks (signings of DJ Carrasco, Boof Bonser, and Ronny Paulino; hirings of Dave Hudgens, Jon DeBus, Ken Oberkfell, and Mookie Wilson to coaching staff), the Philadelphia Phillies responded by signing Cliff Lee to a 5-year, $120M contract. Interesting … so all along, it … Read more

Cliff Lee to Sign with Phillies?

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Throughout the Cliff Lee Pursuit of this offseason, a “mystery team” has been mentioned as an afterthought while the Yankees and Rangers seemed to be the frontrunners. In some ways, it reminded me of the 1992 Presidential election between George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, with Ross Perot running on the Independent ticket. Except, Perot … Read more

NL East Activity

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As we roll into the annual winter meetings, I thought it would be a good idea to take a quick look at what the teams in the NL East have been doing since the end of the 2010 season. After all, the Mets play each of the teams in their division 18 times — that’s 72 of their total games — so it’s helpful to keep an eye on what those teams are doing.

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Phillies Tickets Sold Out

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Not sure how well the Mets are doing with their ticket sales this winter, but it’s interesting to see that the Philadelphia Phillies have completely sold out their season ticket plans (full and partial) for the 2011 season — and this happened after they increased individual ticket prices. The increase in prices ranges from $2 … Read more