AGRI Biz

When Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel needed to motivate his team, he gained inspiration from the Bible, stating: "If the Mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the Mountain." The Philly boys responded with two straight wins over Houston to clinch their third straight National League East Major League Baseball crown. The defending World Series champions will face the Colorado Rockies in the opening round of the Major ...

The Major League Baseball playoffs are taking shape in the final weekend with only two spots left to be decided in each league. In the National League, all four playoff spots are taken: Phillies in the East, Cardinals in the Central, Dodgers andáRockies in the West.áWhoever doesn'táwin theáWest will be the Wild Card. In the American League, the Yankees won the East andáthe Angels the West.áIn the Central, the Tigers lead the ...

These are heady times to a be a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies. With their 10-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night, the Phillies clinched their third straight National League East crown. They have not accomplished the three-peat since 1976-78, then winning again in 1980. Why not 1979? I was in college during this time and got tickets to the Pittsburgh Pirates National League Pennant clinching game against the Cincinnati ...

He sure doesn't look like Superman, but Ryan Madson sure is pitching like him. With a fastball reaching 97 to 98 mph in the ninth inning, Madson pitched a two-inning save to preserve the Phillies 7-4 victory Tuesday over the Houston Astros. Phillies rookie left-hander J.A. Happ improved to 12-4 with the win. Coupled with the Florida Marlins' 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies' magic number dropped from three to one. A ...

How important was it for Ryan Madson to strike out Mike Cameron to preserve the Phillies' 6-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday? The Mets' 4-0 victory over the Florida Marlins officially eliminated the Marlins from overtaking the Phillies for the National League Eastern Division championship. The Phillies finish up the season with a three-game series against the Marlins, and if the Marlins were even one game from elimination, they would ...

While most cities would be happy about the Philadelphia Phillies' march toward their third straight National League Eastern Division Championship, the fans of this city have one thing foremost in their mind. Get rid of *^&*^(^%(^(*^)*&^ Brad Lidge as the closer of this Philles baseball team. To get a pulse of the guys who are in he midst of Philly sports, past and present, this Bleacher Report writer imagined a query of ...

I am tired of putting Brad Lidge's picture at the top of my stories, so I reached down to just beyond recent memory to give an answer (LOL) to the quagmire that the Philadelphia Phillies closer situation has become. This Phillies pitcher, shown at right, won the Cy Young Award in 1987, when he recorded 40 saves, went 5-3 with a 2.83 ERA. This pitcher had 184 career saves. Who is he? I ...

Mitch Williams was probably not the best number 99, but had the most personality, and personally, is my favorite number 99. All apologies to the most talented number 99, hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. Williams, a closer by trade, pitched for six major league teams, including the Cubs and Phillies. Former Cubs teammate and friend Mark Grace said that Williams pitched "like his hair was on fire." It didn't hurt that he had a ...

The Philadelphia Phillies have an eight-game lead in the National League East and their magic number to clinch the division is down to six with 14 games to play. Sound familiar? It should. The Mets were something like seven games up with a week to go in 2007 and lost the NL East crown to the Phillies on the last day of the season. But for fans who know their Phillies history ...