The Zo Zone

Amazing how bad the team looks right now. How is that possible after last weekend? And as I said a few weeks ago: looks like Howard is headed for that Pat Burrell .209 season of a few years ago. Come to think of it, Pat the Bat might join him. The idea that the league MVP sits against lefties is a total embarrassment. He's clearly not the only problem on the team, but Baby Shaq admitted about a month ago that he spent the offseason eating prime rib at dinners in his honor instead of working out.

Much as it pains me to admit it, Gillick is a failure as GM. That article yesterday about the pitchers that have headed on to greener pastures... ugh.

I was worried about Jimmy Mack after one of his last posts; I'm with you now, pal.

First of all, it was great getting a chance to talk to you on the radio on Thursday! I appreciate the insight & behind the scene info you provide here.

Unfortunately, I attended 3 of the last 4 Phillies games. I was "lucky" enough to have won tickets for 2 of them. This team is so frustrating to watch. It looks like the only player on the team that might care is Dobbs.

I think Charlie might have been trying to get the team fired up by getting thrown out last night, but obviously it didn't work. From my left field seats (far away from the first base umpire) it appeared to one of the lamest manager arguments I had ever seen. I felt sorry for Charlie trying to kick the dirt. I don't think he moved any of it.

Being at 3 games and paying attention to the pitch speeds, I noticed a few things. Freddie Garcia did not top 90 MPH and it looked like his change up was ONLY 8 MPH slower at 80 MPH than his fastball. That doen't seem like much of an adjustment for a hitter. However, in by contrast, in last night's game Morris was threw 69 MPH on one pitch and 88 MPH on the next. He only gave up one hit! Can any of the starters top 90 MPH on a fastball???

On the hitting end, I watched Nunez get walked last night only to see Jimmy Rollins swing on the first pitch and fly out. Morris did walk 3 before giving up his first hit, but the batters seemed not have any patience. Watching Howard this week was interesting too. He often would swing at the first 2 pitches and get into an 0-2 count. Then he would work the count full. I don't know if he is doing this dilberatly to try to get pitchers to throw him a 3-2 fastball. (If so that strategy did lead to a home run on Monday). Are the coaching addressing any of this?

The batting order is another issue. Just out of curiosity, does any other team have a regular line up where the 7 and 8 hitters have a higher average and more home runs than the the #5? Does Pat Burrell have pictures of somebody in a comprising position that keeps him in the starting line up every day batting in the fifth position.

Sorry for the long post, but this was an extremely frustrating week to be a fan and an even worse week to spend that much time at the stadium. At least the weather was nice for most of it.

Thanks for the shout out, much appreciated.

Howard I don't know about sports Eskens
is the biggest loser on planet.
Not only does he hate philadelphia sports, He tries single handed to show why fans shouldn't attend games.
way to go howard. marketing is about showing fans why they should go. by the way, who is in second place, just 2 games out of first....answer. philadelphia.