Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’XsE98fEBSQ5pIBkPSflW4Q’,sig:’KwrbFoU6fHixKjpj861b9Zl3GdnT9HPz-IuR0nMntjg=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’1126510427′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});
Jake Arrieta looks to a better season with the Phillies this year
The Phillies are back on the field in Clearwater and within the blink of an eye, we are on the doorstep of yet another baseball season now that the Spring Training season has kicked off. Does it feel like a whole off-season has went by already? This was one of the fastest times for me between the end of the season and today.
What we saw today was a very different Phillies team with some exciting players that aren’t named Harper or Machado. The Phils really picked up some good players with promise with
Realmuto, McCutchen, and Segura. Do the Phillies need anymore upgrades? Tonight, the wild rumors persisted, the Phils were still pursuing Harper with the owner John Middleton apparently still courting Harper late today.
Andrew McCutchen signed for many young fans prior to the game. Many McCutchen Pirates shirts and jerseys in the house today. pic.twitter.com/2L1EDlXBim— Frank Klose (@FrankKlose) February 23, 2019
One thing that I really like about the Spring Training of baseball is that there isn’t a long wait until games actually begin. Unlike football, where there is a long period of training and conditioning before games generally start, baseball is kind of an opposite of that. Players are expected to be in playing condition upon reporting and the games just get underway.
Hearing John Kruk, Tom McCarthy, and Ben Davis call the game was good as well. Kruk grew his hair just a bit and of course we had to put up with Murph’s interview, that may be a bit interesting but has no place going so long during a game. We are tuning in to hear and watch the game. Save that interview stuff with people in the stands for Phillies Weekly that they run on occasion.
Well, let’s take just a bit about the game. It was the Phillies taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates, or my old buddy and friend who started off the Phillies Talk Podcast, Mr. James Mulry, would refer to as ‘those pesky Pittsburgh Pirates who seem to always play pretty good despite not having a roster of superstars. Yes, they did beat the Phillies today.
We’ll see some players on the team that don’t make it on the team, this could be the closest they ever come to playing for the big club. So, it’s always interesting to take note of those things as well when these ‘meaningless’ games are played. It’s just more than a month from now when the games will count and the long road from late March to the end of October begins for a new baseball season.
A lot to talk about so, I hope you’ll stop back frequently and even leave a comment or two this season. Check out the offer below for ESPN+
LIVE SPORTS – Thousands of games and events from professional leagues and
international sports as well as college sports from nearly two dozen conferences across
the country, including:
• MLB – A daily game, seven days per week, throughout the regular season for
more than 180 games that will include every MLB team.*
• NHL – Beginning with the 2018-19 season, a daily game throughout the
regular season (in keeping with the NHL schedule) for more than 180 hockey
games* – as well as on-demand replays of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
• MLS – the entire MLS LIVE out-of-market schedule with more than 250 games
this season, as well as the local-market home for the Chicago Fire, exclusively
bringing 23 Fire matches to fans in Chicago.
• College Sports – thousands of live events – including football, basketball,
baseball, softball, soccer, track & field, gymnastics, swimming & diving,
lacrosse, wrestling, volleyball, golf and more – from 20 conferences across the
country.
• Top Rank Boxing – Hundreds of live boxing matches, including exclusive Top
Rank ESPN+ main fights and undercard fights, throughout the year.
• PGA Tour Golf – 50 days of coverage from 20 PGA tour events, including the
RBC Heritage, THE PLAYERS Championship, the Memorial Tournament
presented by Nationwide, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the FedExCup
Playoffs and more.
• Grand Slam Tennis – Hundreds of men’s and women’s singles and doubles
matches, from the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
• Cricket – Hundreds of Test, ODI and T20 format matches from New Zealand
Cricket and Cricket Ireland.
• Rugby – Hundreds of matches from SANZAAR Rugby, the HSBC World Rugby
Sevens series, and Major League Rugby.
• Canadian Football League – Approximately 200 games from Canada’s
professional league.
• English Football League – Approximately 200 total matches, including an
average of four per week from Sky Bet Championship Playoffs, League 1 and
League 2, plus six matches per month from the EFL Cup (beginning in August)
and 16 matches per month throughout the EFL 2018-19 season.
• UEFA Nations League – Over 100 live matches from the newly created
tournament. Pay TV customers with an ESPN+ subscription will be able to
access the entire tournament including the 36 UNL matches on ESPN linear
networks and ESPN3.
• United Soccer League – Approximately 450 USL matches this season.
PROGRAMMING
ORIGINALS – Exclusive, original content developed specifically for ESPN+, including
original documentaries, docu-series and more.
• Draft Academy – Exclusive access to ESPN’s series that delivers a personal,
behind-the-scenes look at top prospects leading up to the 2018 NFL Draft.
• 30 for 30 Documentary “The Last Days of Knight” – The first film in the
award-winning series to appear exclusively on ESPN+.
• Quest for the Stanley Cup – Weekly behind-the-scenes documentary series
that goes on the ice, in locker rooms, inside the minds of the players and
coaches for an all-access pass during the high-stakes NHL Playoffs.
SHOWS – New and exclusive ESPN studio programming devoted to multiple sports
and sports topics, including:
• Detail (NBA) – Written, produced and hosted by Kobe Bryant, this basketball
analysis show will provide his unparalleled insights and game observations
about an ESPN-covered game played the day before.
• In The Crease (NHL) – A nightly hockey show co-hosted by ESPN’s Linda Cohn
and Barry Melrose providing comprehensive highlights and an analytical deep
dive.
• ESPN FC (Soccer) – ESPN’s daily soccer news and information, highlights and
analysis program hosted by Dan Thomas joined by top analysts and ESPN’s
renowned journalists from around the globe. New shows will be available
weekdays and Sundays only on ESPN+.
LIBRARY – An unmatched sports archive featuring thousands of hours of on-demand
programs and past sporting events. At launch, this includes:
• 30 for 30 Archive – The entire archive of the award-winning documentary films
(more than 100 in total). ESPN+ will be the only platform where fans can access
the full library.
• E:60 and SC Featured – The best of ESPN’s award-winning newsmagazine
program, E:60, and storytelling brand, SC Featured.
• The Masters Films – Annual recaps of 57 years of The Masters, beginning with
Arnold Palmer’s 1960 victory, and going right up until 2017.
• Becoming – A program for youth and families, profiling the journeys of some
of today’s top athletes and how they got their start. Executive produced by
LeBron James and business partner Maverick Carter.
• Jon Gruden’s QB Camp – More than 60 episodes of Jon Gruden working with
and talking to top QB prospects before they played a snap in the NFL. Among
the subjects: Jimmy Garoppolo, Case Kennum, Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck,
Cam Newton, Derek Carr and Dak Prescott.
• Indy 500 – more than 50 annual documentaries capturing the stories of one of
the world’s greatest auto racing events, from the 1960’s to present day.
• Boxing Libraries – an unmatched, on-demand treasure chest of the greatest
fights of all time, including hundreds of fights from the ESPN Big Fights Library
and the Top Rank archive, such as Ali vs. Frazier I-III, Ali vs. Foreman, Duran vs.
Leonard I-III, Hagler vs. Hearns, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, among many, many
more.