Well done Elliott

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 31, 2010 | 0 Comments

LONG POND – You’d be hard pressed to find a more popular winner than Elliott Sadler.

After years and years of struggles since what everyone thought was a breakout 2004 season in the Cup Series, Sadler returned to Victory Lane by winning the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Pocono Mountain 125 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday.

The victory was Sadler’s first since he won in the Cup Series at California in 2004 driving for Robert Yates Racing. Those days have to feel like ages ago as Sadler has switched teams and seen his results plummet, but that all changed Saturday when he dominated the 50-lap event at Pocono and made everyone take notice that he’s not about to go away quietly.

With no Cup ride for 2011, Sadler knew what a victory at Pocono could do to change the mind of those who thought he was washed up. He cited his close friendship with Jamie McMurray, the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner this year who at this time last season had no Cup ride for2010, as an inspiration and the reason why he should be hopeful for his future. Then he went and showed where it matters most, the track, that he has a lot of racing left in him.

I’ve interviewed Sadler on several occasions and you’d be hard pressed to find a nicer guy in NASCAR. He’s no robot. When you ask him something he looks at you, answers your question to the best of his ability and almost gives off a little smile like, “How cool is it that I’m a racecar driver and you’re a media member and this is what we do as our job?” He genuinely enjoys his career and it shows in his passion and desire to be good.

But even the most optimistic of people could have gotten bogged down with negative thoughts after experiences like Sadler went through the past six years. No victories, awful finishes in the point standings and fighting just to keep his ride at Richard Petty Motorsports for this season have been why Sadler has been noticed. That could be about to change and it would be hard not to root for him.

In a day and age where athletes seem to put themselves on a pedestal, Elliot Sadler is one of the people. You don’t get the sense that he thinks he’s better than anyone else and if he ever did his struggles surely brought him back to Earth. And now, perhaps like his good friend, it is Sadler’s time to show exactly what he can do in the right situation. He’ll have plenty of support.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

Back to Pocono

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 31, 2010 | 0 Comments

LONG POND – Just arrived here at Pocono Raceway, my earliest Saturday arrival time in the six years I’ve been coming to this lovely three-turn track.

The Camping World Truck Series is currently on the track qualifying for this afternoon’s Pocono Mountains 125. As noted before, the series is using a unique qualifying process, sending trucks out every 25 seconds to help speed things up a bit.

Earlier this morning, the Sprint Cup Series had their second practice at Pocono and Jeff Gordon led all drivers at nearly 168 mph. Aric Almirola, who will drive in today’s truck race, also got some time in the No. 24. After truck qualifying, the Cup Series will hold Happy Hour practice. I’ll be interested to see how well Jimmie Johnson, who was second in today’s first practice, does after a disappointing run in qualifying yesterday. Johnson sat atop the speed chart in Friday’s lone practice session, but will roll off sixth in tomorrow’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500.

I’ll be live blogging during today’s truck race, hopefully there will be some more interaction than during yesterday’s live blog from Cup qualifying. That’s all for now.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

Almost a wrap

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

LONG POND – Friday here at Pocono Raceway is just about done, for me anyway.

Tony Stewart was the unexpected winner, to himself and me, of the pole, edging out an even more surprised Juan Pablo Montoya, who figured his qualifying lap was good for around 15th. Stewart has a good history at Pocono, just not a good qualifying record throughout his career, but he and his Toyota were on their game Friday.

A lot of talk today has centered around the fines NASCAR is handing down discretely to drivers for bad mouthing the sport or its officials or I guess basically for saying anything not rosy and pleasant. To a certain extent I have no problem with the fining itself, but why do it behind closed doors? Ever other sport announces fines for the public to know about. What makes NASCAR above that?

Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman both admitted Friday that they were fined during the past week, but didn’t get into too much detail. I also heard that we (the media) and the drivers should be working together and not writing about things like empty seats and sagging ratings. Really? Isn’t a reporter’s job to tell the facts and not choose which ones to share or omit?

I’ve covered NASCAR since 2002 and really didn’t follow it too much before that, but I’ve heard stories about how accessible drivers, from the best of the best to the field fillers, were back in the day and how some would stand and sign autographs for hours and hours. Do some still do that now? Probably, but I’ll tell you one thing that’s a fact. You walk through the garage on Sunday morning before a race at Pocono and the only time you’ll see a driver is coming out of the driver’s meeting. They sign some autographs on their way back to their hauler or motorhome or wherever they’re going without breaking stride. You can almost see a vapor trail. Take a second, look someone in the eye, ask them a question. Acknowledge them!

Want to fix NASCAR? Worry more about how to engage the viewers and fans and not how the drivers and media should be “working together.” That should the be the least of the worries.

OK, rant over. Actually looking forward to Saturday’s Pocono Mountains 125. The trucks usually put on a good show and with just 50 laps and three Cup regulars (Kasey Kahne, Elliot Sadler and Hamlin) in the field it figures to be a shootout.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

Ah Pocono

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 30, 2010 | 0 Comments

LONG POND – I’m here at Pocono Raceway, listening to Kurt Busch do an interview session in the media center (he’ll be in the No. 22 car next season, but still driving for Roger Penske).

Not a whole lot going on up here, but I just arrived a few minutes ago so who am I to say what is or isn’t going on. I sure enjoyed the drive up 115, caught behind seemingly every slow driver in Northeast Pennsylvania, but it was that or be caught in what I was told was a parking lot on 380.

I’ll be here throughout the rest of today, live blogging during qualifying, and then back tomorrow for the Camping World Truck Series race at 1 p.m. I’m looking forward to that, the Pocono Mountains 125, with some Cup regulars (Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne and Elliot Sadler, who was fastest in Friday’s first practice, taking part). Qualifying for that race should be exciting, too, as NASCAR sends out two trucks, 25 seconds apart, to speed up the process starting at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

Phillies steal Oswalt

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 29, 2010 | 0 Comments

I didn’t think it could happen, but the Phillies got Roy Oswalt without giving up their top hitting prospect (Jonathan Singleton), pitching prospect (Jarred Cosart) or having to deal Jayson Werth for prospects that would have eventually been shipped to Houston.

Nope, Ruben Amaro Jr. did it again. Just like he did last year when he got Cliff Lee from Cleveland for four good but not great prospects (Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Jason Knapp and Lou Marson), Amaro got another frontline starter for peanuts. And to boot, Houston will be giving the Phillies $11 million to help offset the $23 million still owed to Oswalt ($5 million for the rest of this year, $16 million next year and a $2-million buyout of his option in 2012 should the Phils choose not to exercise it for $16 million).

Don’t get me wrong, the Phillies didn’t get away unscathed.

Anthony Gose (who Houston turned around and traded to Toronto for Brett Wallace, who was picked up by the Blue Jays for Michael Taylor, who was traded to Toronto for Roy Halladay; still following this?) is a toolsy outfielder (the Phillies love them) with good speed and raw power potential, but he’s at least three years away from playing in the major leagues. Jonathan Villar’s glove is ahead of his bat at this point, but the same can be said about Freddy Galvis and he’s further advanced than Villar right now. J.A. Happ is a serviceable major league pitcher (hard to say that with a straight face since he only has 31 starts under his belt) with a career record of 14-5 and 3.11 ERA, but he walks too many batters (3.5 per 9 innings), gives up too many home runs (1.1/9) and doesn’t strike enough guys out (6.6/9) to be anything more than a No. 4 or 5 starter. You don’t hang on to any of those players when you have a chance to get someone like Oswalt for almost half price.

Yes, the guy has had back issues and, yes, he’ll be 33 in a month, but Oswalt is a horse. He has started at least 30 games the past six seasons, owns a career winning percentage of .636 (143-82), gives up less than a homer per 9 innings (0.8) pitching in a home park just as small as Citizen’s Bank Park and allows less than 1.20 hitters to reach per inning (his WHIP is 1.19, outstanding for a starting pitcher).

Even with a trade like this, you’re always going to hear the cries that the Phillies already had a frontline starter (Lee) and traded him in the offseason. It happened. Get over it. Whatever the reason was (money or replenishing the farm system or both) Lee was traded and is no longer a Phillie. Oswalt is. Be excited about it. Amaro got him for next to nothing.

Posted in Phillies | 0 Comments

How classy

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 22, 2010 | 0 Comments

You just knew with how horrible the Phillies’ offense has been that someone was going to be the fall guy and it turned out to be hitting coach Milt Thompson, who was fired late Thursday night.

When teams slump and do it for as long as the Phillies have, a person in charge of whatever aspect has been going bad usually gets the blame. If the pitching was bad Rich Dubie might have been canned (of course, outside of Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels, the pitching has been pretty bad).

It must be Milt Thompson’s fault Jayson Werth is 0 for his last 27 with RISP and two outs. Yes, Milt, you’re to blame for the struggles of Raul Ibanez, who has been putrid all season long. And Milt, why won’t you teach Jimmy Rollins that taking a first pitch isn’t the end of the world? Oh yeah, Milt? Have you told Shane Victorino that he isn’t a power hitter?

Here’s some honesty the Phillies have probably accepted (and if they haven’t they’d better wake up): It’s not Thompson’s fault the team has been lousy for the past 60 games or so. It’s the guys with the bats in their hands (except for Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco, whose HR gave the Phils a gift victory today). Those guys, all making millions of dollars this season, have underperformed to the tenth degree, but of course they can’t be fired or released or left out to dry. Nope. It’s always the guy who shouldn’t be the one to blame who gets the heat.

This is meant as no disrespect to Greg Gross, one of the best pinch hitters in Phillies history and now the team’s hitting coach, but in his previous tenure as the team’s hitting coach the Phillies’ offense was decent at best. In 2002, 19th in all of baseball in runs scored, 19th in batting average and 19th in hits. Or 2003, 13th in runs, 20th in batting average and 18th in hits. And then 2004, 9th in runs, 16th in average and 12th in hits. Gross is supposed to do what now? Exactly.

Posted in Phillies | 0 Comments

Phillies trade talk

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 21, 2010 | 0 Comments

Is Roy Oswalt coming to Philadelphia? Will Jayson Werth be shipped out? Can this season be saved? All valid questions with very tough answers.

First on Oswalt. Obviously there is a connection with Ed Wade being a former Phillies GM and now the GM in Houston, but I’m not sure what that all means since Wade was basically chased out of Philadelphia by the villagers carrying pitchforks and torches (not that it wasn’t warranted.) Right now the biggest obstacle in the Phillies’ way to getting Oswalt is the rumor that he will only waive his no-trade clause if the team dealing for him picks up his 2012 option of $16 million. For a guy who has experienced back problems, isn’t overly imposing in stature and will be 33 this year that’s a tad steep in my eyes. So is Oswalt coming to Philly? Right now, if I had to say, my answer would be no. Too much money involved with $135 million already guaranteed to next year’s roster.

I think Werth is as good as gone. He’s been horrible the past two months, hasn’t hit with RISP all season and to make matters worse cursed out some dad (with his kid next to him) earlier this month for getting in his way trying to catch a foul ball against the Reds. I’ve also read on numerous sites that there are concerns Werth is hurting the chemistry in the Phillies’ locker room, but those are just rumors. One thing I do know is there is about a 2-percent chance Werth will re-sign with the Phillies after this season. He is going to be the only right-handed power bat on the market this offseason and the Phillies simply don’t have the room to sign him (or the bottomless wallet like some team in the American League’s East Division). The biggest questions regarding Werth is this: do you wait for him to turn it around, have him help the Phillies get to the playoffs, offer him arbitration which he’ll decline and pick up two draft picks? Or, do you say he is truly as lost as he looks at the plate, in the field and on the bases (he didn’t think Yadier Molina would try to pick him off the other night?), accept that he won’t re-sign and deal him for a couple prospects? If I’m running the show I’m going with the latter.

Now to the third and hardest question to answer. The Phillies go into tonight seven games back of the division-leading Braves. Atlanta has been playing way over its head for the past two months and the Phillies have been playing far below, well you know where, the past two months. It wouldn’t be outrageous to say the tables could turn, but what evidence have the Phillies shown that that could happen. Other than Ryan Howard and Placido Polanco, who has hit? Not Jimmy Rollins, who has been just awful since returning from the disabled list. Not Shane Victorino, who thanks to a career-high 15 home runs now thinks of himself as a power hitter. Certainly not Raul Ibanez, who seems to have a different swing every time he swings, which despite the gluttony of down-the-middle fastballs he sees, isn’t often enough. Wilson Valdez is a good utility man, but there is no way he should be playing every day. Ross Gload has been a big disappointment and Greg Dobbs seems to have found his swing, but he still isn’t getting enough chances to play. Carlos Ruiz has been average, but after last year’s postseason many expected more of him. Even though he was struggling mightily when he got hurt, not having Chase Utley really hurts lineup. He can hit for power, average (before this season at least), runs the bases well, will steal bases and goes all out from first pitch to last pitch. That style of play seemed to rub off on the Phillies the past three seasons, but there is none of that now with Utley on the mend. And I haven’t even talked about the bullpen, which is a mess from front to back, and the starting rotation, which after Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels is in shambles or terrible (see Blanton, Joe).

Do I think this season is over? No way can I say that after watching the Phillies battle to make the playoffs the past three seasons. This is a team capable of getting hot at the drop of a hat (although that is a hard thing to say after watching them the past 60 games or so). Getting Oswalt, shipping off Werth (and presumably calling up Dominic Brown and maybe even John Mayberry Jr.) and getting the lineup to start hitting would help, but what about the bullpen? With all the talk centered around trading for Oswalt and trading Werth, the bullpen hasn’t been mentioned once. It is just downright terrible. There’s no other way to put it right now. Even if the Phillies pull off the two previous mentioned trades, what happens in the pen? It surely can’t be left as is. A big reason why the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 was the bullpen. Obviously getting 48 saves in 48 chances from Brad Lidge helped, but Ryan Madson was throwing in the high 90s, Scott Eyre was as effective as you could hope for from a left-handed specialist and Chad Durbin was a valuable asset in the sixth and seventh innings. Those things don’t exist now.

Really hard to wrap all that up with something clever. There’s so much information to chew on. Breaking it down in simple terms: trading for Oswalt and trading Werth will upgrade the team, but not enough to make a third straight World Series. The ball is in your court Ruben Amaro Jr. Don’t forget about the bullpen.

Posted in Phillies | 0 Comments

You’re kidding right?

By Joe Miegoc | Published: July 9, 2010 | 0 Comments

OK, some late-night blogging going on and an interesting way to break another long, unexplained, inexcusable hiatus by me.

So all this LeBron talk has me well … honestly, I don’t know because I haven’t paid too much attention. I thought he’d stay in Cleveland, be close to home and finally (once the Cavs got him a good No. 2, ala Scottie Pippen) prove that the city known for so long as a loser could be a winner over and over and over. He obviously didn’t think the Cavs could do that and didn’t feel like waiting for them to make that happen so he went to Miami to play with Wade and Bosh. And to hang out at South Beach.

So why the blog? I was perusing Twitter when I stumbled upon a clip about a link between LeBron leaving Cleveland and Donovan McNabb leaving Philadelphia. Huh? How in the heck are the two related? Watch the video for 55 seconds and you’ll see. What a joke.

Are you serious ESPN? Philly fans turned on McNabb? Every single one? The whole city and fanbase forced Andy Reid to trade the only quarterback he ever identified with to a division rival? Really? Are you sure? Come on! Get real! What hogwash!

That is all.

Posted in Eagles | 0 Comments

No big surprises

By Joe Miegoc | Published: June 6, 2010 | 0 Comments

Another Pocono race ends with Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane. Truly shocking.

It’s hard to believe that in nine races at Pocono that Hamlin has won four times (he’s only won 12 races in his career). From the first lap, Hamlin easily had the best car. Nobody was going to run with him. The only way he wouldn’t win would have been by his own doing or if the race came down to fuel mileage. Neither happened and Hamlin sailed into the sunset with the win.

What did I learn from today? Not much to be honest. Always bring your sweatshirt with you instead of leaving it in the car. Luckily it’s not a long walk back from the media center, but it’s a bit chilly here now. I liked how Joey Logano reacted to Kevin Harvick spinning him out late in the race. When you’re 20 years old it’s a given that veterans like Harvick might give you a hard time, but there was no reason why Harvick did what he did and it was nice to see Logano, a future star, let Harvick know that wasn’t cool.

It’s really hard to say what today means in the grand scheme of things. Until someone steps up and takes on Jimmie Johnson, I don’t know if anyone else can win the championship. Hamlin may be the guy though. Remember, he’s driving on a surgically repaired knee that usually has athletes off their feet for months. And Hamlin’s no small guy like a Mark Martin or Casey Mears (those are two of the smallest men I’ve ever seen). Hamlin was asked how his injury, sustained playing pick-up basketball in January, has impacted his season and he responded by simply saying how it’s made him focus more. That might be the worst thing Johnson can hear.

I’m not sure anyone really had a shot at beating Johnson that past four years. Yeah, there were close battles (with Carl Edwards and Martin especially) but nobody took it to Johnson. The guy just dominated and nobody stepped up and made him really, really earn it. Did the other drivers let him have it? Of course not, but nobody took it from him. Maybe Hamlin’s ready to be that guy.

About to make my trek home, hoping that traffic has thinned out. That would be a surprise.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

More Internet woes

By Joe Miegoc | Published: June 6, 2010 | 0 Comments

Just like Friday, Internet is spotty up here. Maybe it’s because of the tornado watch we’re under at Pocono or the thunderstorms in the area. Then again it was pretty nice Friday and we still had the same problems.

Made my first trek through the garage and was immediately flagged down by a Pocono crony to check my passes. Got to love them. Not a whole lot going in the garage. Just the typical pre-race inspections of cars and such. There are the tours being given by certain sponsors (saw three UPS tours; maybe they could get David Ragan to stay on the track, I kid, I kid David).

Downed two donuts and working on a water (that was warm when I got it out of the cooler). Slammed down a brownie, too. Now that’s a breakfast of champions. Not sure what’s for lunch. I’m predicting some kind of chicken (usually chicken parm) and maybe sausage and peppers. I promised myself I’d get some green in my diet today, so I’ll be dishing up some salad, too. Don’t you love reading sports writers’ blogs where they tell you what they’re going to have for lunch? I do.

Not sure if you caught the Nationwide race in Nashville last night, but Brad Keselowski sure was impressive. Carl Edwards had himself a pretty good ride, but he had nothing for Keselowski. The kid won by almost 2 seconds, an eternity in NASCAR. Keselowski is going to be a good one on the Cup circuit. He had some issues in practice at Pocono (35th in the first and 32nd in Happy Hour; he was 17th in Saturday’s first practice), but he seems to be getting better every week. Wouldn’t be a shock to see him get at top 20 today.

Posted in NASCAR | 0 Comments

  • Blog Authors

    Joe Miegoc

    miegocj
    You can follow Joe Miegoc on Twitter @JoeMiegoc and you can e-mail him at jmiegoc@poconorecord.com. Joe has been at the Pocono Record since 2005 ... Read Full
    More posts by the Author ยป

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • RSS Related Content

    • Chance to Chase starts now
      It's crunch time for some of NASCAR's biggest names. With just six races left until the Sprint Cup Series begins the Chase for another championship, plenty of the sport's stars are on the outside looking in. […]
    • Big league slap to Stroudsburg's star shortstop Morgan Booth
      When I stumbled upon an All-State team named by the Pennsylvania Softball Coaches Association (PSBCA) I was sure I'd find Morgan Booth, Stroudsburg's star shortstop, on the first team. That wasn't the case. […]
    • Veteran coach is on his own now
      Tim Harris spent the past 34 years learning from some of the best basketball coaches Monroe County has produced. Now it's time to apply all that knowledge to his own program. […]