On the Beat: Phillies Hire Sandberg to Manage Triple-A Iron Pigs

PBR - The Phillies announced yesterday the hiring of Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg to manage their Triple-A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.


Sandberg, 51, was drafted by the Phillies in 1978 and played in the minor leagues before being used as a throw-in for the 1982 trade that sent Sandberg and Larry Bowa to the Chicago Cubs for shortstop Ivan DeJesus. The trade is widely considered one of the worst in the history of the franchise, as DeJesus was a bust and Sandberg went on to hit 282 home runs for the Cubs en route to his hall of fame career.


"Ryne impressed us in so many ways, but as we told him at the start of the interviewing process, we weren't going to dwell on his Hall of Fame status," Phillies assistant general manager Chuck LaMar said. "We're here to hire the best Triple A manager and the best player development person for the Philadelphia Phillies, and obviously he is that."


Sandberg was named the 2010 Pacific Coast League manager of the year after leading the Iowa Cubs to a share of the North Division title in his first season as a Triple-A manager.


"In a lot of ways, I feel like a young kid again with this opportunity," Sandberg said. "I couldn't be happier about the situation."

On the Beat: Phillies Sign Two Year Contract with Contreras

PBR - The Phillies have signed a 2 year, $5 million contract with right-handed relief pitcher Jose Contreras.

Contreras, 38, pitched in 67 games for the Phillies last year, posting a 3.34 ERA and striking out 57.

“Jose was as consistent a reliever as we had last year,” Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a statement. “We were pleasantly surprised by his durability since it was his first full year in a relief role. Jose has fit in extremely well in our clubhouse and he is a quality, back-end of the bullpen pitcher who showed versatility in a variety of roles in 2010. We’re pleased to have him on board for the next couple of years.”
Contreras and fellow Phillies' right-hander Chad Durbin are both free agents this offseason and were the most often used pitchers in the bullpen last year.

With the loss of J.C. Romero, expect the Phils to pursue a veteran left-handed arm on the market as well. Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs is the biggest name on the market, however the Phils are reportedly already looking at Mets' lefty Hisanori Takahashi.

On the Beat: Temple Baseball Signs Five to Letters of Intent

PBR - Temple baseball head coach Rob Valli announced the signing of five student athletes, RHP Adam Dian, OF Kevin Gilbert, SS Kyle McCrossen, and twin brother starting pitchers Eric and Patrick Peterson, to National Letters of Intent.

Dian (6'3, 210) went 4-2 with 62 strikeouts in his junior season at the Vincentian Academy in Pittsburgh, PA and was named to the 2010 All-State tournament team.

Gilbert (6'1, 185) is a corner outfielder from Hunterdon Central High School in New Jersey. He was named second team all-West Jersey as a sophomore and first team all-conference as a junior.

McCrossen (5'9, 180) is left-handed hitting shortstop from Archbishop Wood. He is a three-time first team all-catholic, all-county, and all-city selection.

The Peterson brothers are entering their senior years at the Charter School of Wilmington. Eric (6'4, 180) is a right-handed pitcher who tied a Delaware state record with 20 strikeouts in a seven-inning game last year. Patrick (6'3, 190) is a left-handed pitcher who went 5-1 as a junior to go along with a 2.32 ERA. He was named as a second team all-conference player in Delaware.

"We are extremely excited about our recruiting class," Valli said. "All five student-athletes display tremendous character and work ethic to go along with their athletic accomplishments. "


The five players will begin their careers at Temple at the start of the 2012 season. 

Is This the Year?

The recent history of the Eagles success (or lack thereof) is impressive or depressing, depending on who you are and how you look at it. In the 2000's decade, the Eagles made the playoffs seven times, including five NFC Championship game appearances and a Super Bowl loss. This may qualify as an impressive resume to any team in any city in the entire country. But not the Eagles. Not in Philadelphia.

The Eagles were bashed by the local media, and Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid specifically received scorn for a lack of leadership and inability to perform under pressure. Yet, through it all, each new season provided a new opportunity for hope. Even during the Eagles' steak of three consecutive NFC Championship games losses combined with a Super Bowl meltdown, Eagles fans consistently began each season thinking, "This is the year."

Last year, the Eagles made the playoffs as a Wild Card team for the first time since 2000 and were handed one of the worst losses in franchise postseason history, a 34-14 blowout, at the hands of arch-rivals Dallas Cowboys.

As a result, the Eagles seemed to take on a new identity. They got rid of McNabb and handed the ball to their 2007 2nd round draft pick, Kevin Kolb. They seemed to be in re-building mode coming into this season and postseason expectations were low. Most people predicted the Eagles to win under ten games this year and miss the playoffs.

Most people, however, failed to take into account the play of Michael Vick.

When Clay Matthews drove Kevin Kolb's head hard into the ground in week one against the Packers, it may have been the best thing to ever happen to the Eagles. Vick took over at quarterback, and after a brief three week stint in which he was sidelined with a ribs injury, he has lead the Eagles to a 3-0 record in which he has passed for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns to go along with the best passer rating in the NFL (105.3). 

It is clear that Vick is playing the best quarterback of his career. He has combined his always threatening ground game with an unprecedented sharpness in his passes. He has developed an impressive resume with Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin in just three games started and has not thrown an interception all season.

With such a formidable assortment of weapons being led by one of the most talented players in the history of the game; it leads me to wonder...why not this year?

The Eagles are 5-3 and are in second place in the NFC East. They have already overcome the more difficult half of their schedule and their destiny is in their own hands as five of their final eight games are against NFC East opponents.

They have the most dynamic offense in the league and their defense demonstrated in the week nine win against the Colts that they can play with anyone. 

It is clear that fate has played a large role in the Eagles' success. Seemingly, the Eagles were never meant to win a Super Bowl under Donovan McNabb. Maybe their destiny was to bring in a man who dealt with problems in his past and was looking for someone to reach out to for a second chance.

The Eagles have given Vick that chance, and the fact that the stakes are so high for him, and are at the level always applied by Eagles' fans, might just mean that he was meant to come here and find his redemption, and in doing so, redeem an entire city's brutal past. 

Ice Hockey Overcomes Third Period Deficit to beat St. Joseph's Hawks

In a game filled with 21 penalties, heavy physical play and bad blood, the ice hockey team pulled out a win Saturday.

Senior forward Ryan Frain scored two goals, junior goalie Will Neifeld made nearly 40 saves and the Owls rallied to overcome a 1-0 deficit in the third period to beat St. Joseph’s, 3-2.

“This was a huge statement for us,” coach Jerry Roberts said. “We’ve had a lot of challenges in the early portion of the season as far as our players having the ability to play 60 minutes and stay focused and be a mature team. I think they made a huge statement to themselves tonight, showing what they’re able to accomplish when they have mental toughness.”

WALBERT YOUNG TTN

The Owls lacked mental toughness in the first two periods. Despite dominating puck control early on and registering 14 shots on goal in the first period, Temple’s offense was consistently crippled by penalties. The Owls had to kill four penalties in the first 20 minutes, and the first period ended scoreless.
“A lot of it had to do with the dumb penalties we were taking,” Frain said. “We weren’t really playing smart hockey.”

The second period saw a shift of momentum toward the St. Joe’s side. A superior St. Joe’s checking game led to almost total control of the puck. Temple committed seven penalties, and St. Joe’s registered 23 shots on goal. But the Owls’ penalty kill, along with Niefeld’s play bailed them out. The game remained scoreless after the second period.

“Our defense was unbelievable on the [penalty kill],” senior forward and team captain Jordan Lawrence said. “[Niefeld] played unbelievable. He really saved us in the first two periods. We broke down a lot with penalties. It was a great team effort in the first two periods defensively.”

In addition to the penalties, Temple’s offense struggled mightily in the second period. The Owls registered only three shots on goal for the entire period and failed to capitalize on their lone power-play opportunity.

“We weren’t taking any shots or generating any offense,” Frain said. “Penalties killed us the first two periods. We were playing awful.”

“We weren’t executing,” Roberts added. “It was beyond the penalties. We weren’t playing our style of hockey. The penalties were frustrating, but the bigger concern we had coming into the locker room after two periods was the fact that we weren’t playing our game.”

It was a physical game for the first two periods. There was a scuffle involving two Temple players and two St. Joe’s players after a Hawks player crosschecked Lawrence from behind after play had stopped. There were four offsetting roughing penalties distributed between the two teams.

“It’s pretty fun. A lot of guys in the locker room after the first period were saying this was the most fun they’ve had,” Lawrence said. “It gets cheap sometimes, but that’s part of the game. You just deal with it.”

“Temple and St. Joe’s has been a rivalry for as long as we’ve played,” Roberts added. “It’s one of those situations where, when you get in the rink with them, no matter what the standings are or how your seasons are going, it’s always going to a battle. It’s always going to be a close game. It’s one that the locker room gets up for. It’s pretty exciting.”

Temple came out in the third period looking like a new team. The Owls’ offense immediately set up a scoring chance, and after just 55 seconds, Frain put back his own rebound to tie the score.

“I think the light kind of went on in the locker room,” Roberts said. “We just had to get back to playing our style of game and not get caught up in their antics.”

“That first goal when we came out in the first minute of the third really helped us out,” Lawrence said. “We took off from there.”

Temple continued to control the puck and set up the offense early in the third. After two minutes and 40 seconds, senior forward George Rutter scored a rebound goal off sophomore forward Chris Hacken’s shot to give the Owls the lead.

“All four lines contributed,” Frain said. “We got the puck in deep. We generated offense. We got a couple goals. They weren’t able to touch us down there.”

Frain added his second goal of the game on a power play with 8:43 left to give the Owls a 3-1 lead. St. Joe’s scored a power play goal with 4:04 left to make it interesting, but Neifeld shut the Hawks down for the final four minutes. The Owls won the game, 3-2.

The Owls won six of their last eight games and are 8-2-0-1 on the season and 3-1 in the Mid-Atlantic College Hockey Association Northern conference. A win against the in-conference rival provided a momentum boost for the team.

“Next weekend we play UMBC, who’s No. 1 in the region and arguably one of the top teams in the country,” Roberts said. “It’s a great stepping stone going into next week.”