Game Thoughts

Like the Phillies offense, even with a revamped lineup, I have not much to say about this game. Of course the built in excuse of the 4am arrival time is there and they used it. Came across an article that finally put in print what nobody in the Philadelphia media establishment has the courage to say, that the bullpen is not good. Matt Gelb of the Atlantic:

The Phillies have played 11 games, won eight of them, and about the only constant is Alvarado. He has pitched in six of the wins. The rest of the bullpen is hanging by a thread two weeks into the season because the Phillies cannot avoid playing tight games.

The article is focused on Alvarado’s role as a closer, and how having a specific role in the bullpen for him has brought him relief and a routine which is working. The other theme is that the hitting, or lack thereof, is stressing out the bullpen, allowing no room for errors. I would argue that the bullpen has low quality pitchers, and seeing Jeff Hoffman walk in the offseason really hurts in retrospect.

If the Phillies don’t show up today I have a scathing idea for an article tomorrow. I am praying this team can get it together.

Cards

The 1993 Bicycle set of Baseball Aces is hard to find information on, but not a rare set by any imagination. There are a few checklists here and there, but not much information on the origins of the set. Don’t worry if you are confused about the order of the cards in the images, they are not in order of league. Description by KeyMan Collectibles:

The 1993 U.S. Playing Cards, Major League Baseball Aces set consist of 53 standard size (2 1/2″  x 3 1/2″) cards. The “Bicycle” brand deck of baseball cards are made by the 
U.S. Playing Card Company of Cincinnati, Ohio and include a full deck of 52 playing cards, plus a Wild card. 
The full bleed, rounded edge cards are unnumbered and are arranged in alphabetical order by player, followed by the playing card designation. 

Doing a search on Bicycle’s involvement in baseball versions of their cards, I came across the Negro League set that I’ve never seen before. Those were released in 2012, and now are a collectible item.