PhoulBallz.com

With another Major League Baseball season ready to get underway, I inquired with several baseball aficionados this week, to investigate how the 2011 season will pan out in many aspects. The individuals I spoke with were all baseball experts in their own right...Tyrone Johnson, who hosts 97.3 ESPN's Weekend Sports Guide , Michelle O'Malley of the blog known as Chicks Dig The Long Ball , Bill Baer of CrashburnAlley.com , local sports reporter Kevin McGuire , Dick AKA "The Man With the Golden Arm" of 1BlueJaysWay.com , Peter AKA "Whole Camels" from TheGoodPhight , Pat Gallen of 97.3 ESPN and PhilliesNation , Mike Frohwirth from Philliedelphia.com and author of the new baseball themed mystery novel Game 7: Dead Ball Allen Schatz. I provided my own answers to the inquiries as well. In the graphic below, you will see each contributor's predictions for Phillies wins, how many games Chase Utley will play this season, playoff teams, World Series results as wel...

The following is my half of the content swap I did last week with Macho Row . The majority of this post appeared over on that site on Friday. I've updated it with details directly from the Phillies about the secondary voting process. Read and vote. Phans...want to have a say in Phillies' history? Do you feel like you know your team, and the sport, better than most people? Do you feel as though your loyalty through the years qualifies you to weigh in on historic team matters? Now is your chance. The annual Phillies Wall of Fame ballot is available online and voting is underway. The ballot is active through 5pm on Tuesday, March 23rd, so vote! The ballot, found HERE , lists 12 former Phillies. Some were players, some were managers. Phans are able to vote for three different Phillies alumni and each vote is applied points, based on placement. A first place vote gets 5 points, a second place vote gets 3 points, and a third place vote gets 1 point. Following the deadline, the top 5 ...

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was awarded his third National League Most Valuable Player award on Tuesday. The honor put Pujols in select company, as only Barry Bonds has won more. Stan Musial, another Cardinal won three NL MVP's also (1943, 1946, 1948). Pujols was also just the sixth player to win the NL MVP by a unanimous vote. Overall, there was no surprise in the announcement of Pujols as MVP. He led the Major Leagues in homers (47), runs (124) and slugging percentage (.658) and he did it while batting .327. Additionally, there were no surprises when Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and Troy Tulowitzki finished sprinkled behind Pujols, as their offensive numbers were all deserving of top 5 status, but not quite worthy of the top honor, by comparison. There were, however, stunning aspects relating to the voting announcements...one standout inclusion and one note worthy omission. Would anyone agree with Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that Giants r...

Jim Konstanty was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1948-1954. Early on, Konstanty, was assumed to have little shot at a real career in the Major Leagues. His scholarly appearance and small repertoire of pitches did little to instill confidence in the clubs he pitched for. Konstanty, whose real first name was Casimir, was a 4-sport athlete at Syracuse University. He did not begin pitching till he had completed college. Konstanty pitched briefly for the Reds in 1944 but Navy service interrupted his progress and the next few seasons in the minors weren't great. Eddie Sawyer took over as manager of the Phillies' triple A team, Toronto, in 1948. Sawyer moved Konstanty to the bullpen, and when Sawyer got promoted up to manage the Phillies, he brought Konstanty up along with him. In 1949, Konstanty had a break through season for the Phillies and went 9-5 with a 3.25 ERA. 1950, however, was the year that put Jim Konstanty in the history books. That season, the Phillies won their first ...

I guess this is news because of who said it. The statement itself is certainly not news to any of us. National League Championship Series MVP and World Series MVP Cole Hamels appeared on a New York radio show on Thursday, and when asked if the Mets are choke artists, he confirmed it. Colbert told one of the WFAN radio hosts, "That’s kind of what we believe and I think we’re going to always believe it until they prove us wrong." He went on to add, "Yeah, for the past two years they’ve been choke artists." The statement is undeniable. I am sure Mets players wouldn't object, if they were asked the same thing. But leave it to the sports media to try and bleed a story out of the Phillies/Mets rivalry. **Breaking news this morning** Raul Ibanez and the Phillies have agreed on a three year contract. This all but gives Pat Burrell a nice pat on the bottom on his way out of town. Ibanez, will get a 3 yr, $30 million contract. Ibanez's numbers are similar to, or bett...

Two days into the winter meetings in Las Vegas NV, and the Phillies' have made no additions. On day #2, the Phils retained the services of their manager, Charlie Manuel, for an extra season. Charlie's club option for 2010 will be picked up, and Manuel was extended through 2011. Manuel's 2009 salary will be $1.5 million, and just about double that by 2011. Day 1 of the winter meetings was fairly uneventful in Vegas, at least as far as the team roster and staff goes. There was some fun had here at home though. 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins attended the live World Wrestling Entertainment program Monday Night Raw at the Wachovia Center, where he was seated in the front row. A WWE star nicknamed "MVP", Montel Vontavious Porter, targeted Rollins with a Philadelphia diss-filled rant that saw Porter claim he was a real MVP, unlike the fluke J-Roll. Porter also claimed to be better than Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. It was a classic heel tirade. Insult the home crowd...

Albert Pujols won his second National League Most Valuable Player award on Monday. Pujols was the only NL player to appear on every submitted ballot. That's right, pholks. There were writers who did not even place as low as a 10th place vote toward the guy who led the majors in homeruns and RBI. Psst, that's Ryan Howard with 48 homers and 146 RBI, if you don't know who I was speaking of. This breaks the Phillies' streak of two consecutive MVP's. Howard won in 2006 and Jimmy Rollins won in 2007. Brad Lidge was the only NL player to receive a first place MVP vote, besides Pujols and Howard. Lidge finished 8th overall in the voting for the MVP honor. He also finished 4th in the Cy Young Award voting. Luckily, the World Champs are only coming up short when it comes to individual awards. Charlie Manuel finished second in NL manager of the year voting as well. Lou Pinella of the Cubs won that award. Side note...With Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley blocking the way...

Harry Kalas' famous quote is being used an awful lot these days. Even Kalas, himself, is saying it. Utley continues to make a serious bid for himself to become the Phillies' 3rd straight National League Most Valuable Player. For the second time this season, Chase has hit homers in five consecutive games. That feat has only been accomplished by three other major leaguers in the history of the game. Statement to ponder: Chase Utley could very well hurt his chances at being a league MVP by acting like a humble shy guy. While Utley's outstanding talent increases his popularity each day (Utley leads all ML'ers in votes for All Star voting), I can't help but feel he could be far more adored. Is it too much to ask for Utley to pump a fist, or tell the guys on Daily News Live that he's excited about this team's chances and how he's been playing? I want personality and I know I am not alone. I don't need a "hot dog" the likes of Manny Ramirez, I jus...