Andrew Nuscis's Philadelphia 76ers fan blog

The Sixers accomplished a lot this offseason and they seem ready to battle for the East this year. The Sixers signed their star to a 6 yr 80 million dollar deal that locks him up for good in Philly. Philly also locked up Lou Williams to a deal so he is not going to bolt to play for Cleveland or Golden State. The Sixers signed that big post player they needed by picking up Elton Brand and the Sixers have a very solid team going into this season if everyone can stay healthy and Brand can return to form. Some people may criticize the signing of Iguodala because he got locked down in the playoffs by Detroit and he hasn't made an all star team yet. Many people do not think Iguodala is worth 80 million but many teams were trying to sign him or trade for him so he had to be worth something to all

Continue reading "Philly locks up Iguodala"

The Phillies had a miserable road trip on the west coast as they went 2-5 against the Dodgers and Padres. They could not hold 2 leads against the Dodgers and they lost in the ninth inning both games. Against the Padres though, they did a little better conserving leads. The offense is still sluggish and there is cause for concern in Philly with only 39 games left in the season and a rough schedule upcoming after the Nationals visit Citizens Bank Park. The Mets are playing great baseball and their schedule is pretty easy from here on out so the Phillies will definitely have to play solid baseball if they want to win the division or even the wild card for that matter.

In the first game the Phillies sent ageless wonder, Jamie Moyer to the mound against the Padres’ Greg Maddux. A pitcher’s battle it was the entire game, even after Greg Maddux gave up Pat Burrell’s bomb, his 28th home run of the year to break the scoreless tie in the seventh inning. This homer would prove to be the decisive factor in the game as the Phillies snapped their 4 game losing streak and beat the Padres 1-0. Moyer gave up only three hits in seven shutout innings improving to 11-7. Maddux gave up five hits and only the one run through seven innings as he dropped to 6-9. Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth and struck out two while picking up his 29th save in 29 chances this season.

Continue reading "Phis take 2 of 3 from Padres"

Man-ny! Man-ny! Man-ny! That is all that I heard while sitting at Dodger Stadium in my Ryan Howard jersey and my Phillies hat being heckled by most Dodger fans there. From the 2-run double that Manny hit in the first game to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead, to the 2-run homer he hit when the Dodgers were down 6-1 early in the game, you can just tell that Manny Ramirez has energized this team and also these fans. He has Dodger faithful believing that they can bring home a division title and play deep into the playoffs. With a sweep of the defending NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, they look well on their way. Manny is hitting near .500 since coming to Los Angeles after being exiled from Boston. Manny being Manny is still in effect here in LA as well because in the first game Manny was nowhere to be found in the top of the ninth inning when the Phillies were hitting down by two runs. Turns out Manny was in the bathroom and he was buttoning his jersey up as he rushed back onto the field. He thought he was taken out of the game, so he took his bats and everything to the clubhouse. These fans have gone crazy for Manny Ramirez ever since he arrived in LA. Ticket sales have gone through the roof since the trade and also merchandise sales have gone through the roof as well. Fans flocking to the gift shops to try and be apart of Manny Mania. The new Manny dreadlock hats will be coming in this weekend and they will go on sale for $25. Joe Torre wants Manny to cut his hair but he is hitting so well right now and the fans are having a field day with it, why would you want him to do that? Manny now has a fan club in left field where he plays. The seats from the middle of left field all the way around the foul pole into the left field stands are filled with Manny fanatics. If Manny gets a hit or if Manny catches a fly ball the fans erupt in celebration. This is very good for LA because the Dodger faithful have not had any real superstar since Mike Piazza left the city and Manny is energizing the team, just look at Jeff Kent’s stats now. In the series with Philly he had 3 multi-hit games, without Manny there Kent probably is pitched to a lot more careful than that. Other young players have also stepped up and have started to hit the ball. Russell Martin is hitting 8th in the order now which tells you something about the Dodger lineup. 1-8 the lineup is very solid and there isn’t much weakness there unless you count age and experience. Obviously the Phillies weren’t very happy about Manny mania because they drilled Manny in the second game drawing the ire from Dodger faithful. Manny stared down the pitcher but he kept his cool as he walked to first base. This is exactly what the Dodgers need from Manny. Manny has had no problems with LA and if he continues to play like this hitting astronomical numbers, then the Dodgers could be playing far into the playoffs come September.

Continue reading "Manny being Manny Mania in LA!!"

This is not a misprint, the Tampa Bay Rays have won 71 games this year already which is a franchise best. The team who was supposed to finish dead last in this division again and not even be competing for a playoff spot, much less a division title, has taken control of the AL East right now and continues to play solid baseball in the second half of the season. The Rays played the Seattle Mariners this weekend and took 3 of 4 from them, and they probably should have swept them, but red-hot Raul Ibanez hit a walk off home run in the first game of the series and the M’s won a pitching battle 2-1. Anyways back to the Rays, the Rays have the major’s best record at home with a record of 45-17, however if you look at their road record it shows that they still have some work to do but they seem to be getting on their feet in time. The Rays are 26-29 on the road this year but so far on this 10 game road trip to the West Coast the Rays are already 3-1 and they still have to go to Oakland for three and then over to Texas for three. With a good showing on the road the Rays could show that they belong at the top of the American League. With playoff positioning right around the corner the Rays need to show that they can win on the road because that is critical when it comes down to September where they will have to go to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and to Comerica Park to face the Yankees, Red Sox, and Tigers respectively.

Continue reading "Rays Win Franchise Best 71 games"

More rumors have surfaced about Philadelphia Sixers' backup point guard, Lou Williams. At first it was said that the Golden State Warriors were interested on extending an offer to Williams, but it was said that the deal couldn't be lucrative enough for Philly not to match. Well not the new rumors are out that the Cleveland Cavaliers are now interested in signing Lou Williams to an offer sheet, it is said that the Cavaliers would offer him 3.6 million but that wouldn't be enough because Williams already rejected the Sixers offer of 3.9 million earlier this year. Should be interesting in what the Sixers and Williams will do. Williams is a very young promising player who is a solid back up to Andre Miller at this point. The Sixers really need to re sign this guy and go ahead and work on a dea

Continue reading "Williams On The Move??"

We all wanted the Phillies to break out of their hitting slump and start pounding the ball well this weekend we definitely got our wish.  Twice the Braves took five run leads in both games and twice the Phillies battled back and took the games. 22 runs in the past two games is phenomenal, even if it is against the Braves who the Phillies have dominated all year long, but how about this stat line for you: the Phillies only hit 1 home run in the second game of the series that they won 10-9, which was the three run blast by Greg Dobbs, and the Phils hit 5 homers in the last game of the series, that they won 12-10. Chris Coste hit his 8th of the season, Victorino hit his 8th of the year also, Pat Burrell hit his 26th of the year, Jayson Werth hit his 14th, and Jimmy Rollins hit his 7th, s

Continue reading "Now That Is Some Offense!!"

So the Phillies had a chance to come in and get back on track against a team they have dominated all year long in the Braves and what happens? The Phils get dominated in the ninth inning to put what was a close game far out of reach. Another phenomenal pitching performance wasted as Kyle Kendrick pitched seven innings of one run ball giving up only four hits. That usually is a win for a pitcher but not tonight as Kendrick took a loss in this one because he gave up one of Brian McCann's two homers. In the ninth inning the game was tied at 1 and Brad Lidge comes in the game and serves up a grand slam for McCann's other homer as his ERA climbed to 2.36 with the 5 runs he gave up without retiring a batter. When are the Phillies going to break out of their slump? It has to be soon right? They a

Continue reading "Another Abysmal Performace!!"

You would think the Phillies would have built momentum off of their stunning comeback of the Mets in the first game of the series right? Well instead the Phillies made the Mets starters look like aces out there. John Maine who has been up and down all year long came in and gave up only three runs to the Phillies and then Oliver Perez who is the face of inconsistency fans 12 Philly hitters!! 12 strikeouts for Perez, that is unbelievable and with a lineup like this the Phils easily should be leading the East at this point. The Phillies continue to waste phenomenal starting pitching. Don't get me wrong, Brett Myers didn't look phenomenal at all but once he settled down he actually started looking half-way decent. Jamie Moyer came in and the Phils wasted another quality start out of him. Seven

Continue reading "Phillies In Trouble??"

The question is pretty simple now. With the addition of Elton Brand to the lineup, do the Sixers have enough to win in the East this year. The Sixers have a great starting 5 now with the addition of Brand. They have always lacked a physical post player who can score and now they have one. You have Andre Miller running point, Andre Iguodala moves to shooting guard, the young gun Thaddeus Young can play small forward, Elton Brand at the power forward position, and Samuel Dalembert at center. Sounds pretty promising with those players starting and then you have Lou Williams, Reggie Evans, Jason Smith, and the rookie Mareese Speights coming off the bench. The Sixers have definitely vaulted themselves into the top echelon of the East with the Celtics, Pistons, and Magic. The only issues surroun

Continue reading "Do the Sixers have enough to win in the East this year?"