What was your New Year resolution? We all know the drill. I'm gonna lose 40 pounds. I'm gonna make it rich. I'm gonna ask that girl out in the office. Whatever the goal was, few of us have pulled through on the big plans. We have hope.
The Philadelphia Phillies begin their new season this year with a new batch of members that they hope can get us over the hump this year. The Sound of Philly is here now to give you a rundown of the newest members of the team. Please hold your applause until the end of the lineup...
Roy Halladay - If you don't know who this man is, then you must have been out of the country for a while (and Canada), but we’d be glad to fill you in. Halladay has been the ace of the Toronto staff since about 2002. His record since 2002 has been 130-59 with an overall career E.R.A. of 3.43. Impressive stuff considering that he has been pitching in the more offensive American League. The Phillies may have had to give up a bunch of prospects, including pitching stud Kyle Drabek, and they had to depart with ace Cliff Lee in the blockbuster three team trade done this offseason, but the Phillies have stated that they are committed to winning during this golden window of opportunity that they have. The front office made a move that will ultimately save money (Cliff Lee is looking for Sabbathia money next year) and in return for making the move, they are getting arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the peak of his career who has not been injury plagued. Knock on wood.
Danys Baez - Welcome to a below .500 pitcher lifetime with a journeyman status. A defector from Cuba, Baez hopes to resurrect his career with the Phillies and give a much needed boost to the setup position now that Scott Eyre is gone.
Juan Castro - This 37 year old is out trying to prove that he has something left in the tank. Castro is a journeyman that we hope can give help to the bullpen in case one of our beloved starters has a bad game.
Placido Polanco - Polanco is a new third baseman for the Phils that will give a little umph to the bottom of the lineup. Last year, I know that some of us were a little frustrated with the way that the old third baseman showed up to the plate in the postseason. Fingers crossed again.
Jose Contreras - The 38 year old is ready to help out in anyway he can. Born in Cuba, like Baez, Contreras is going to play any role that the Phillies give him at pitcher. He can start, although he will most likely relieve, the team needs a healthy Contreras to make it through the season if the team looks to improve.
The Phillies have decided to make moves this postseason. All last year, we were screaming for a bullpen that we didn't have to worry about. Ultimately though when Lidge came into the game, we held our breath, which was uncharacteristic due to his performance in 2008. The Phillies lost over 10 games that they had the lead in going into the ninth inning last year.
The Phillies new additions this year included three bullpen pitchers. We gained a phenomenal starter in Halladay, and we picked up a good position player. The other three are pitchers that are hiding an inconvenient truth.
The truth is, is that the bullpen will be considered great if Brad Lidge gives us a great year. In the end, we are going to be giving the ball to the guy that our skipper has the most trust in. It reminds me of how we gut out every game with McNabb at quarterback because he is all that we have at that position right now for who can give us the best shot at winning.
Is Lidge the Phillies equivalent to McNabb? I wouldn’t say so. Lidge has a ring, but when meeting our new Phillies, I think that we can see the management trying to build a more solid support group around “The Weakness” in the hopes that a strong offense will carry him.
Nothing was done to fix the closer position, except a hope that Lidge will be better. In the end, we have what we had. Solutions to the problem may be that we need to make a deal for a new reliever at some point during the season. They say that once a closer loses it, it’s gone, but can the men in the front office make the business decision when the time is necessary for Mr. Lidge to have a seat or find another place to go? We shall see, but we may have to play the first few games before making any brash decisions.
And we have to hope that he pitches lights out.
Play Ball.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
start your engines
today, i turned on the computer to begin my journey. if i am to run for office here in sarasota, i need to start making some serious moves. as google came up on my screen, i sat wondering what to put as my search. i decided that i needed to speak to someone, but i didn't know who. so i did a search for the state of florida and obviously i was brought to stateofflorida.com. i clicked on contact us and came to a page with a bunch of links offering me different groups of phone lists that i could click and see. unfortunately, everything that i clicked on did not load, so i was back to the drawing board. in the back of my head i made a mental note that when i had the power to do so, i would fix that webpage.
after a moment of perplexion, i decided that if i was going to do this, i would start with the most basic question. i typed into the computer: how to run for office. i pressed enter.
the first link that i saw was for a website that was called runforoffice.org. jackpot! i went to the page and filled out some basic information and was able to see what was available for me to run for this november. they included: governor, state senator, state representative, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, state attorney, justice of the supreme court, circuit court judge, and school board member.
a couple of these i threw out right away since i haven't passed the bar exam. i was left with governor, state senator, state representative, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, and school board member. i then realized that i am going to be doing this locally so i could throw out governor and state senator since i wouldn't be able to campaign all over the state.
even though originally i am from the garden state of new jersey, i know absolutely nothing about agriculture except what old macdonald had on his farm, so i dropped that effort and seeing how i am not skilled in the art of bookkeeping, i stopped considering chief financial officer. i was left with two choices: state representative and school board member.
i had a decision to make. i had to figure out if i was going to go for it really, or was i just going to keep it extremely local. a school board member is admirable because you can shift the lives of tomorrow's leaders by making good decisions, but i just don't see myself being taken seriously by parents since i don't have children myself, or ever even attended the schools in florida as a youth. i think i can do better with getting a younger vote by just going for the gusto and trying to become a state representative. so that is what i chose.
what are the requirements was my next question. well, i saw that right off the bat i had to be 21. check. then it said that i have to have been a resident of the state for 2 years prior to the election. check.
the next two were tricky. i have to pay as a filing fee 6% of my annual salary to the state to declare that i am running and i have to receive the certified signatures of 1% of the registered votes in the state. now, i am not sure if that means in my district that i am running, so i have to find that out. the filing fee is going to be a tough task. i might need to see when the deadline is to pay that fee, but seeing how i don't have a high paying job at the moment, that fee could be minimal. also, it says that if i don't get all those signatures i might be able to pay a qualifying fee. i need to see how many people exactly would have to sign and how i certify them.
hey, i am on my way!
while perusing the internet, i went to craigslist to check out some part-time jobs because my dad was saying that he would help with some classes in september if i got one on the weekends or something. i stumbled across the u.s. census bureau and decided to click on what they were hiring for.
i called up the number and a woman named nancy answered and told me that they were looking for help going door to door this year to help calculate the actual census. cool, i thought. she asked if i was interested and i said that i definitely was, so she told me that tomorrow morning there was going to be a test administered at an office building near where i live. it is a two hour test on who knows what, but she gave me the link to a practice exam that i am about to tackle. she said that if i do well on that then in late february i could be hired to do the job!
i thanked nancy and closed the laptop. it was a productive morning. i bundled up my things, i grabbed my lunch from the refridgerator, and i drove myself to work. let's see what tomorrow brings.
after a moment of perplexion, i decided that if i was going to do this, i would start with the most basic question. i typed into the computer: how to run for office. i pressed enter.
the first link that i saw was for a website that was called runforoffice.org. jackpot! i went to the page and filled out some basic information and was able to see what was available for me to run for this november. they included: governor, state senator, state representative, lieutenant governor, attorney general, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, state attorney, justice of the supreme court, circuit court judge, and school board member.
a couple of these i threw out right away since i haven't passed the bar exam. i was left with governor, state senator, state representative, commisioner of agriculture, chief financial officer, and school board member. i then realized that i am going to be doing this locally so i could throw out governor and state senator since i wouldn't be able to campaign all over the state.
even though originally i am from the garden state of new jersey, i know absolutely nothing about agriculture except what old macdonald had on his farm, so i dropped that effort and seeing how i am not skilled in the art of bookkeeping, i stopped considering chief financial officer. i was left with two choices: state representative and school board member.
i had a decision to make. i had to figure out if i was going to go for it really, or was i just going to keep it extremely local. a school board member is admirable because you can shift the lives of tomorrow's leaders by making good decisions, but i just don't see myself being taken seriously by parents since i don't have children myself, or ever even attended the schools in florida as a youth. i think i can do better with getting a younger vote by just going for the gusto and trying to become a state representative. so that is what i chose.
what are the requirements was my next question. well, i saw that right off the bat i had to be 21. check. then it said that i have to have been a resident of the state for 2 years prior to the election. check.
the next two were tricky. i have to pay as a filing fee 6% of my annual salary to the state to declare that i am running and i have to receive the certified signatures of 1% of the registered votes in the state. now, i am not sure if that means in my district that i am running, so i have to find that out. the filing fee is going to be a tough task. i might need to see when the deadline is to pay that fee, but seeing how i don't have a high paying job at the moment, that fee could be minimal. also, it says that if i don't get all those signatures i might be able to pay a qualifying fee. i need to see how many people exactly would have to sign and how i certify them.
hey, i am on my way!
while perusing the internet, i went to craigslist to check out some part-time jobs because my dad was saying that he would help with some classes in september if i got one on the weekends or something. i stumbled across the u.s. census bureau and decided to click on what they were hiring for.
i called up the number and a woman named nancy answered and told me that they were looking for help going door to door this year to help calculate the actual census. cool, i thought. she asked if i was interested and i said that i definitely was, so she told me that tomorrow morning there was going to be a test administered at an office building near where i live. it is a two hour test on who knows what, but she gave me the link to a practice exam that i am about to tackle. she said that if i do well on that then in late february i could be hired to do the job!
i thanked nancy and closed the laptop. it was a productive morning. i bundled up my things, i grabbed my lunch from the refridgerator, and i drove myself to work. let's see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
my new year's project
well, it's the new year. last year wasn't the greatest year for many reasons, but i don't want to delve too much into that, and by not too much i mean at all. so, with that being said, i would like to jump straight into this fresh new year feet first. i'm not holding my nose first either because it's not cool.
i haven't posted much recently because i had been on a rollercoaster of a vacation. i went back home to visit family in new jersey. it was a blast, but it was a lot of late nights and a lot of driving around. that was cool and all, but it definitely was not like a corona commercial. living in florida is kind of funny. most people in new jersey would take a vacation in florida to get away. i got away from florida by going to new jersey. it was perfect.
before my trip, i thought of something that may be fun and interesting for me to do this year. fun for the reader and fun for me to try. something that will keep my attention and, hopefully, help the community. i'm going to run for a public office position.
yup. this year is a voting year and the elections come up in november. i better get a move on it. i need to do a bunch of things here in these first couple of weeks. i need to see what kind of seats are up for election and what my eligibility would have to be to secure a place in the debate. i need to find out where to debate!
i know what you may be thinking now and that's, "oh, that's just mike being mike." nope. i am serious. i talk all the time about what i would do or what i think is wrong with the world. well, i'm here now to do something about it. it is as grassroots as it can get. i have to do this with as little personal money as possible and i have to get the word out to start with just my sole voice. i think i can win. win what? i don't know yet, but i will, and you can follow my adventure here with me, on twitter, or on facebook as i make my way through the trials and tribulations of what it takes for the average everyday american with little social standing to become a voice for the people.
also, i think at some point, i may need to get married because from what i have seen there aren't too many single politicians and i'm going to need to get the senior vote by showing everyday family values. i am in florida, you know. i will have to deal with later down the line if my campaign gains momentum, which it will.
so, first things first will be to see what kind of seats are going to be open this fall when the public casts its' vote for who they want and think is right for the job. let me be the first to tell you florida that i am here to do your work and i will not stop campaigning to win your trust! except at first i can't really campaign monday through friday from 12-7pm because i have to work. you see, i truly am the everyday man looking to make a difference. i will have to take on this task at first by working hard in the mornings and getting the word out on the weekends to take down my opponent, whoever he or she may be.
i'm ready to make that splash. join me in the pool. the pool of democracy. where everyone is invited in and it's only an adult swim! splash!!!
www.facebook.com/hendrimike
www.twitter.com/judenewcomb
i haven't posted much recently because i had been on a rollercoaster of a vacation. i went back home to visit family in new jersey. it was a blast, but it was a lot of late nights and a lot of driving around. that was cool and all, but it definitely was not like a corona commercial. living in florida is kind of funny. most people in new jersey would take a vacation in florida to get away. i got away from florida by going to new jersey. it was perfect.
before my trip, i thought of something that may be fun and interesting for me to do this year. fun for the reader and fun for me to try. something that will keep my attention and, hopefully, help the community. i'm going to run for a public office position.
yup. this year is a voting year and the elections come up in november. i better get a move on it. i need to do a bunch of things here in these first couple of weeks. i need to see what kind of seats are up for election and what my eligibility would have to be to secure a place in the debate. i need to find out where to debate!
i know what you may be thinking now and that's, "oh, that's just mike being mike." nope. i am serious. i talk all the time about what i would do or what i think is wrong with the world. well, i'm here now to do something about it. it is as grassroots as it can get. i have to do this with as little personal money as possible and i have to get the word out to start with just my sole voice. i think i can win. win what? i don't know yet, but i will, and you can follow my adventure here with me, on twitter, or on facebook as i make my way through the trials and tribulations of what it takes for the average everyday american with little social standing to become a voice for the people.
also, i think at some point, i may need to get married because from what i have seen there aren't too many single politicians and i'm going to need to get the senior vote by showing everyday family values. i am in florida, you know. i will have to deal with later down the line if my campaign gains momentum, which it will.
so, first things first will be to see what kind of seats are going to be open this fall when the public casts its' vote for who they want and think is right for the job. let me be the first to tell you florida that i am here to do your work and i will not stop campaigning to win your trust! except at first i can't really campaign monday through friday from 12-7pm because i have to work. you see, i truly am the everyday man looking to make a difference. i will have to take on this task at first by working hard in the mornings and getting the word out on the weekends to take down my opponent, whoever he or she may be.
i'm ready to make that splash. join me in the pool. the pool of democracy. where everyone is invited in and it's only an adult swim! splash!!!
www.facebook.com/hendrimike
www.twitter.com/judenewcomb
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