Everybody Hates Steve
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Steve Phillips has only been on Sunday Night Baseball for two short months, and already he's causing Sports writers around the country conniptions. Both SI and the NY Daily News to umbrage with a recent Phillips exchange with Joe Morgan on Carlos Beltran, and both writers of the pieces (Joe Posnanski and Bob Raissman) took Steve to task....
Posnanski: My point is not to say that Carlos Beltran is above criticism. My point is to say that ... well, yeah, at the moment, Carlos Beltran is above criticism. Are you kidding me? A brilliant defensive center fielder who hits, hits with power, steals bases, runs the bases, draws walks ... and this year, so far, he's hitting .367. Is he perfect? Of course not. But if you want to judge him by certain criteria ... well, hey, wait a minute, here's some criteria right here, courtesy of Steve Phillips himself (quotes from this insightful article from the typically insightful Ted Berg):This has always been the case with Steve Phillips. He never seems to think about what he's said in the past, then just shoots off at the mouth and contradicts himself. That being said, trying to slide into a spot in between a duo that has been together for 20 years, can't be easy. Hopefully Phillips can find his way, but it's not looking good for the trio.
"That guy who's a good base runner, a good defender, doesn't give up at-bats, gets the hit when you need the hit, drives in a run when you need the run, always seems to be in the right position. I think the good teams have that guy ... that singular flawless player that in every aspect of the game, lead."
Raismann: "After Phillips said Reyes and David Wright are part of the Mets long-term solution, he suggested that GM Omar Minaya (he referred to Minaya as "they") might want to start thinking if Carlos Beltran has a future with the Mets. For "the $17-plus million they have invested in him," Phillips wondered if the Mets were getting enough "game-winning plays" in return.
"I definitely would disagree," Morgan said. "You want more from Beltran, but you can't deny he's put up the numbers."
In all this back-and-forth, Phillips showed no spine. No one is suggesting that these debates should be taken to an extreme. Nonetheless, every time Morgan shot down Phillips there was little response. Phillips needs to counter-punch. That would make the television more compelling.
Defending Carlos Beltran from the Steve Phillips screwdriver (SI)
Steve Phillips Leaves Bat On Shoulder In ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Booth (NY Daily News)
19 Comments:
Phillips isn't qualified to mow my lawn.
Phillips is good when he is trying to be an analyst. When he is trying to say what a GM would do in a situation, he is obviously not good at it. He needs to talk about how guys play and not what decisions GM's should make.
I have a roommate named Steve and I hate him too.
I think it's just a poor decision to have Sunday Night games involving the Mets with Big Steve (lol) in the booth.
I can't believe that ESPN actually expected success by putting two of the worst analysts in baseball together.
Since ESPN covered Mets games, both on Wednesday and Sunday, Steve Phillips has gotten into a 2-inning long discussion about the "leadership" or lack thereof on the Mets team.
It is time to get over the fact that you are no longer with the club and just call the damn game. Please stop having the same conversations about the same teams week after week.
One thing that would help is TO SHOW OTHER TEAMS not named Yankees, Mets, or Cubs.
The only positive thing about Steve Phillips in the booth is that it means less talk from Morgan. Morgan is a buffoon. Take a drink every time he says "consistent" or a variant thereof and you will be hammered by the sixth inning.
P.S. GMoney, you avatar is hilarious.
There's nothing compelling at all about two blowhards who argue for an inning and a half about something quite insignificant to a national TV audience and don't let people watch the game.
Doesnt anybody care what Joe Morgan said a few weeks back when the Red Sox were playing Tampa Bay? Bottom 9, 2 out, runners on 2nd and 3rd for Crawford. Papelbons on the mound, and Morgan is telling everyone they should walk Crawford to get to Longoria. WALK Crawford, to get to the MLB leader in RBI with the game on the line. I dont like Phillips, I done hate Phillips, but at least he has baseball knowledge. Morgan is just an idiot who doesnt understand baseball.
Fire
Joe
Morgan.
There were two or three times during Sunday's game when I found Morgan correcting Phillips or taking a valid counterpoint to one of Phillips' inane points. It was surreal.
You know you're bad when you make Joe Morgan look good.
Hey, maybe that was ESPN's idea from the start...pair someone up with Morgan who's even worse than he is so people will lay off Joe.
I really think Steve Phillips needs a gag order on all things Mets. I'm a Mets fan and everytime I know he's about to talk about the team I just roll my eyes because I know whats coming. The man is jealous. And the little I've listened to from him not regarding the Mets hasn't sounded too bright either. ESPN has a lot of fairly talented guys working Baseball Tonight. Use them!
Not only that, Jon Miller is a non-stop talker and mispronounced Carlos Beltran's last name.
As there were two conflicts of interest -- Miller still does San Fran Giants radio PxP IIRC -- ESPN should have had Dan Shulman and Morgan in the booth.
I just mute the sound so I don't have to listen to Joe (I'm too lazy to properly prepare for the game and so I say stupid things) Morgan, or Steve (I hate the Mets b/c they realized I was a terrible GM and fired me) Phillips.
I have a good idea. Get rid of both Phillips and Morgan. Phillips loves the sound of his voice at actually thinks he knows what he's talking about. Morgan thinks it's necessary to talk as much as humanly possible. What genius at ESPN hired these two bozos. They should be replaced, but we know that's not going to happen. That would just make too much sense.
Phillips barely played the game, never managed at any level and was among the worst GM's ever (Mo Vaughan?!) so he has no more qualification to judge the managerial or strategic moves than any of us do. Worse still, his track record as an evaluator of talent is notoriously poor and therefore he has no qualification to evaluate talent on the field. So beside having a face and a voice, why does Steve Phillips have this job?
If not for the Beltran/Mets nonsense (which really seems to stem from Wainwright freezing him in 2006 and totally ignores his historic raking in 2004), I have enjoyed Phillips' addition to the booth. It has perked up Morgan and added some juice during the weekly NY/Boston broadcast.