Why Does Joe Morgan Even Discuss Baseball?

Not to bite off FJM's schtick, but this is too much. This is from Joe's chat today.

Chris (Tampa): Does adding Teixeira to the Braves lineup give them one of if not the most potent lineup in baseball?

SportsNation Joe Morgan: (11:23 AM ET ) No, there are better lineups than the Braves--the Tigers, the Mets. He may help their lineup, but it doesn't make them the best.

Oh Joe. You confound me. You know what is a good way to measure the offensive ability of each team's lineup? The amount of runs they score. And with a few simple clicks, I can determine that the Mets have scored 481 runs this season, good for 9th best in the National League. Which is also 25 runs less than the Atlanta Braves have scored before they even obtained Mark Teixeira, 36 runs less than the Florida Marlins have score, and 94 runs less than the Phillies have scored. But Joe has never let a fact get in the way of his ridiculous opinions.

Peter King is an Ass

Why he hates McNabb so much is beyond me. This is from his column today:

"I plan to win games every year I'm playing, and I plan on doing it here in Philadelphia. I'll be here in Philadelphia for years to come."

-- Donovan McNabb, with the hot breath of second-round quarterback Kevin Kolb breathing down his neck as the Eagles opened training-camp practice on Saturday.

What the hell is he even talking about? Kolb is breathing down his neck? He's going to be the #3 QB and is at least 3 years from being considered as the Eagles starting QB.

And that begins our Eagles preview.

This is an Offense

To follow up on last week, the Phillies are now averaging an astounding 5.50 runs per game. The Marlins, who are still second in runs per game, are avergaing 4.89 runs per game. For the mathematically inclined, the Phillies are leading every team in the NL by over 0.6 runs per game. That is quite a number.

And because they have been getting halfway decent pitching of late, they are winning more than they are losing.

These next four games are a big test as they face the Cubs who have the best rotation in the NL that isn't fronted by Jake Peavy. Fortunately they don't have to face Carlos Zambrano, but they can't avoid Rich Hill and Ted Lily. If there is any "flaw" with the current Phillies is that they occasionally struggle against left handers. They are hitting right handers with the same success, but it is much more impressive when compared to the rest of the league.

Injuries continue to take their toll. As soon as they got Howard back, Myers goes on the DL. Myers and Gordon come back and Utley breaks his hand and now Madson hurts his arm. Madson has been really good the last two months, especially in July. Hopefully they can weather the storm. If not, we can all just blame Pat Gillick. It is what I like to do.

It's The Pitching, Stupid

It really blows my mind that anyone in their right mind, or even their wrong mind, could put any blame for the Phillies’ mediocre record on the lineup. Without doing much research, anyone can observe the following:

• The Phillies rank 1^st in the NL in Runs Scored.

• The Phillies rank 2^nd in the NL in Batting Average.

• The Phillies rank 1^st in the NL in On Base Percentage.

• The Phillies rank 1^st in the NL in Slugging Percentage.

• The Phillies rank 1^st in the NL in OPS.

But the Phillies aren’t clutch. They can’t score with runners in scoring position.

• With runners in scoring position, the Phillies rank 4^th in the NL in Batting Average and On Base Percentage.

• With runners in scoring position, the Phillies rank 2^nd in the NL in Slugging Percentage.

The Phillies are averaging 5.42 runs per game. That is astounding. Here are the Phillies monthly runs per game averages:

• April: 4.92 runs per game

• May: 5.39 runs per game

• June: 5.11 runs per game

• July: 6.56 runs per game

This is a very, very good offense. The Marlins are averaging the second most runs scored per game at 4.91. More than half a run a game less than the Phillies. The only time in the last 30 years that a team has led the NL in runs per game by a margin of 0.5 runs per game was the Rockies in 1996 and 1997 (and obviously the conditions had something to do with that).

So why isn’t this the best team in the National League?

It definitely rhymes with itching.

They rank last in the NL in team ERA, Home Runs, and OPS against. Next to last in the NL in WHIP. Second to last in the NL in Starters' ERA, Relievers' ERA and BAA. They have lost 11 games when they score 5 or more runs. That is the difference between running away with the division and being a .500 team.

But hey, Pat Gillick is a genius. He’ll fix this team. Don’t worry about a thing.

Mocking Mark

My quick predictions:

1: Oden to Portland
2. Durant to Seattle
3. Horford to Atlanta
4. Noah to Memphis, first big surprise of the draft.
5. Yi to Boston, Pierce begs for a trade
6. Conley to Milwaukee
7. Brandan Wright to Minnesota
8. Sixers trade up. Take Jeff Green.
9. Bulls take Hawes.
10. Brewer to Sacramento.
11. Atlanta trades the pick to Toronto. Toronto picks Julian Wright.
12. Nick Young to Charlotte (from the Sixers)
13. Al Thornton to New Orleans
14. Acie Law to LA Clippers

Question of the Day?

Who is the worst Sixers draft choice of the last 15 years?

I presume the majority of people would answer Shawn Bradley, given the hype that came with him and the fact that if they had played their cards right, they could have gotten Webber instead, as Don Nelson was in love with Bradley.

But if you ask this fellow, I will argue Larry Hughes. This selection is why Larry Brown should never even be allowed in a building where a NBA draft war room is, let alone the room itself. The Sixers were coming off their second season with Allen Iverson, their first with Brown as the coach. It had become painfully obvious that Iverson was a shooting guard in the body of a point guard, which is why Jerry Stackhouse was shipped out of town. While Brown had not figured out how to properly use Iverson, he had learned that they could not build the team with Iverson as the PG and another slashing guard at the 2. Right?

Wrong. Sort of. Even as Paul Pierce made a monumental slide from a potential Top 3 pick to being available to the Sixers at 8, and even despite Billy King raving about this blonde kid from Germany who could shoot lights out, some guy named Nowitski, Larry Brown made the decision that Larry Hughes was the perfect back court partner for Iverson. Hughes would be a tall point guard and Iverson would be an undersized shooting guard. The only problem? Hughes wasn't a point guard. He was a 19 year old, slashing shooting guard who jump out of the gym but couldn't shoot.

So while Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitski became two of the top 15 players in the NBA in a few short years, the Sixers kept trying to jam the square peg into the circular hole with the Iverson/Hughes back court. Until the finally came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to work, and shipped Hughes out for Toni Kukoc.

And the decision that Larry Brown made on that fateful June evening in 1998 probably cost the Sixers at least one NBA championship, if not more. But hey, at least Jim and I got to see Larry Hughes throw out the first pitch at a Phillies game after he was introduced to the local media. So all was not lost.

MORE ON THE NBA DRAFT

Since Mark so deftly covered the Sixers, I'll only speak about them briefly. They have one obvious need at power forward, and they always seem to need help at the 3. And if they trade Andre Miller, they'll need a PG (Louis Williams is not the answer, at least not yet). I'll name the 3 players I'd love them to end up with and the 3 players I will cringe if I hear their name called-

Players I really want(non-sexually)(and other than the big 2)(parentheses)

1. Al Horford (if they magically trade up to 3)
2. Al Thornton (at 12)
3. Al Coholic, or maybe Julian Wright (at 12)

Horford is the best PF in the draft, an excellent rebounder and good defender with decent scoring potential. Thornton is a super-efficient scoring SF. Julian Wright is, from what you may hear, versatile. As is Jeff Green, who would be 4th on this list.

Players who will make me cry if the Sixers take them-

1. Mike Conley, Jr. (if they trade up for him)
2. Brandon Wright
3. Spencer Hawes

Conley would be a fine addition as a PG but I think teams are fooling themselves into believing he's a top-10 pick. So chances are if the Sixers get him it's because they reached. Brandon Wright is just another talented guy with no motivation; he can score, but is pathetic on the glass and on D. Spencer Hawes is 7 feet tall and white. And he plays like it.

Honorable Mention- Any SG they take with the 12th pick or lower.

Regarding their other picks, they need a SG or combo guard for the bench because Willie Green is awful, or hopefully is traded. If they can't get a good 4 at 12th or before (via trade), they'll need to pick one up. And if they can get a decent backup for Dalembert somehow, make the damn pick. Steven Hunter stinks. I'd be fine with Kyle Visser or Aaron Gray with the 30th pick; stiff white guys are fine to pick that low.

In other sports related news, I met Marty Schottenheimer this weekend when I called 911 for his grandson in a hotel lobby in Pittsburgh. Let's hope the little guy is okay.