Roy Oswalt Makes Funny Faces

http://www.twitvid.com/ABEUL

Due to my college obligations, I won't have any recap up tonight. Enjoy this video for the laugh and I will try to have something up by tomorrow night. Apologies for the lack of work on this blog in the past week, but between watching and live blogging the playoffs and hanging out with my family this past weekend, there really has been much time for me to write a quality piece.

MAKE IT 4 AHEAD!

COLE HAMELS! BRAD LIDGE! LOL HEYWARD!

ROYS IN THE HOOD ON THE MOUND FOR THE NEXT 2 GAMES! PLEASE EXCUSE ME WHILE I CLEAN UP THE MESS IN MY PANTS!

"Left Fielder, Roy Oswalt!"

Well that was a bizarre 5 hours of 20 minutes of baseball. In the bottom of the 14th inning, Ryan Howard was at the plate with 2 outs. After Ryan Howard got mad himself for swinging at a ball, 3rd base umpire Scott Barry (who just so happens to be a minor-league call up; I think I know where he will be finishing the year) took odd exception to it. 4 pitches later, Howard checked his swing, Berry said he went around, that was strike 3, Howard was visibly upset, threw his helmet, and for it was ejected by Scott Barry. By this point, the Phillies were completely out of bench players. When push came to shove, the Phillies moved Raul Ibanez to 1st base (Ibanez played some 1st base in the early 2000s, so the position is not totally new to him) and inserted their most athletic pitcher remaining, Roy Oswalt, in left field. It does not take a scientist to figure out where the 1st batter of the top of the 15th inning hit the ball.....

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HOWARD'S EJECTION, ROY OSWALT'S PLAY IN LEFT FIELD, AND RAUL IBANEZ PLAY A MEAN 1ST BASE!

The Phillies ultimately lost the game when Roy Oswalt, batting in the clean-up spot, grounded out to end the game after fighting valiantly to work the count. Tough loss, maybe one of the worst of the season. Alleviating that fact a bit, for the 9th consecutive the Phillies and Braves played on the same day, they earned the same result.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG (Roy Oswalt Edition!)

The Philadelphia Phillies have upped the amount of Roy on their team by 100%. Last last night, it was reported that the Phillies had an agreement in place to acquire Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros, pending Oswalt's approval. After a long wait and a conversation with his former teammate and close friend, Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt waived his NTC, thereby agreeing to the trade that will send him to the Phillies in exchange for Jay Happ, Anthony Gose, and Vance Worley Jonathan Villar (note: this is as of yet unconfirmed, but the most prominent rumor; the biggest news for the Phillies is Jonathan Singleton is NOT involved). Happ is a major-league ready pitcher who most will argue is more lucky than good. Vance Worley is a prospect who up until a week ago, had never played a game above the AA level. He was then called up by the Phillies, pitched an inning in relief in a blowout win against the Rockies, and sent to AAA Lehigh Valley immediately after. He projects as a bullpen pitcher, but if he stays on the current path he is on of starting pitcher, projects as a Happ-type pitcher. Jonathan Villar is a single-A shortstop prospect with not a lot of power and not very good defense. The power can improve over time and the defense will improve as he progresses through the system and plays on better fields, but losing a prospect who is years away and currently struggling is by no means a huge loss. Anthony Gose is a speedy outfielder, but is nothing special or unique. The Phillies are deep in the outfield at this level, and while some of that depth is taken away by losing Gose, this is nothing catastrophic.

As if this trade could not get any better, the Astros are eating $11 million dollars of Oswalt's contract.

This trade is official. I will update this post with a link to a report of the official deal. Also, because you know that people are going to throw the Phillies in there with the Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox in terms especially after this trade, I will examine how each team acquired their current starters and see if such comparisons hold any merit or not.

Danny Knobbler Would Like To Cause A Frenzy In Philadelphia

I believe I've gone on responsible reporting rants before so I won't do too much with this one other than point out the irresponsible reporting on the part of CBS's Danny Knobbler, who in writing about the Phillies interest in Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt has caused quite a bit of anger amongst Phillies fans. Which would be fine, if for a few seconds Knobbler thought about what he was writing and how he was writing it, something he clearly did not. That is not to say that reporters and columnists can't say bad things about Philadelphia, they can, but it has got to be something better than this, and something that can be proven as factual. From CBS.com.

Astros owner Drayton McLane told the team's website that "nothing's imminent" on the trade front, and suggested that any deal would wait until closer to the July 31 deadline.

A deal for Oswalt remains complicated, for all the reasons we explained last month and more. ESPN.com reported Wednesday that Oswalt would require a team to pick up his 2012 option as part of agreeing to any deal, and sources said the Phillies aren't inclined to do that. Oswalt may not really want to pitch in Philadelphia in any case, having told people in Houston that he would rather not go anywhere with a large and aggressive media contingent.

Notice something missing? Like, oh, I don't know, A DIRECT QUOTE! I have checked Houston media sources and Astros beat writers and I am yet to find anything about Oswalt not wanting to play for Philadelphia because of the "aggressive media." Knobbler indicates his source as "people in Houston." Well? Who are these people? Where can I go to confirm that Oswalt said such a thing?

And while the Oswalt-St.Louis trade talks may be very real, I am left wondering whether or not this would actually happen. After all, St. Louis has Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, and rookie sensation Jaime Garcia in their starting rotation. The last thing the Cards need is another starting pitcher, especially when their offense outside of Albert Pujols is not a very good one when facing teams not named the Philadelphia Phillies.