AGRI Biz

There can be no doubt about it: the cream of the Philadelphia Phillies minor league crop is none other than Domonic Brown. A potential five-tool star at the major league level, Brown was recently promoted from Double-A to Triple-A and will probably get a September call-up with an eye towards making the Big Club in 2011. But Brown isn't the only reason to get excited about the Phillies' minor league ...

In a recent column, I set out to provide an Adjusted 400 Home Run Club , with alterations made based on era, missed time, and favorable vs. non-favorable home ballparks. Humorously, this simply raised more questions about the 500 Home Run Club than it did answer questions about the 400 Home Run Club. So, maybe we should adjust that club as well. (Eek, eek. Twitch, twitch.) Are we about to change the baseball world? Probably ...

In a season in which the Philadelphia Phillies have made Ryan Howard one of the richest first basemen in major league history, the unexpected has happened in the minor leagues: left-handed hitting first baseman Matthew Rizzotti has turned into a legitimate major league prospect. Phillies fans will recall that Rizzotti was Philadelphia's fourth round pick in the 2007 draft.  He is a lumbering giant of a player, standing 6'5" and weighing ...

When you are a fan of a team like the Philadelphia Phillies, sometimes you'd rather score 10 runs and lose than score one run and win, particularly when your team has been struggling to score runs. Saturday was one of those days. The Phillies lost to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon by a score of 13-10 in a wild game in which the Phillies led 9-4 going into the ninth inning ...

Cal Ripken, Jr., is one of the most celebrated players in baseball history.  Practically the Patron Saint of the state of Maryland, Ripken was beloved by home fans and road fans alike.   Towards the end of his career, fans would flock to the ballpark in droves in order to catch a glimpse of what was palpably a living legend. Why?  Because he played the game the right way, he showed up ...

In 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies fully anticipate making the playoffs for the fourth straight year, and for many Philadelphians anything less than a World Series appearance would be a disappointment. The Phillies have gotten to this point, in part, on the basis of the best left-handed hitting in the National League. There was a time, however, when dominant left-handed hitting by the Philadelphia Phillies was incredibly deceptive and actually masked severe deficiencies ...

For once, Jamie Moyer knows what it takes to pitch well and lose. Oh, the irony Moyer was brilliant for the Phillies as they faced the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, allowing only two earned runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings, while striking out seven and lowering his ERA to 4.30, in the rematch of the teams that faced each other back in 1986 when Moyer made his ...

When Roy Halladay joined the Philadelphia Phillies, I made a comment on local sports-talk radio that Halladay immediately joins the Phillies' Mount Rushmore of starting pitchers. Was this hyperbole? Could a guy in his first season with the Phillies ( a team founded in 1883) possibly be one of the top four starting pitchers in the team's history? Let's take a look at the All Time Phillies pitching ...

By now the amazing season that Justin Morneau is having isn’t just a well-kept secret in the Minnesota area. Indeed, there are dozens of baseball fans outside of the Twin Cities buzzing about Morneau’s performance.  But there is more than meets the eye to the season Morneau is having, and Morneau's numbers are, I dare say, more impressive than they seem. For the record, Morneau is currently the American League leader in all of your ...