The Phillies Fan Union Newsletter The August 7th, 2006 Edition Membership as of August 6th, 2006: 107,277

___ FEATURE STORY Last week Pat Gillick relieved the Phillies of about $22.6 million in salary by dealing Abreu, Lidle, Bell, and Cormier, as well as the $17 million owed to Abreu in 2008. Gillick also said that it's a stretch to think that the Phillies going to "be there in '07." With Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brett Myers, and Jimmy Rollins, Gillick can begin the rebuilding process, but it won't happen fast. GET THE FULL STORY

 THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION Supporting the Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association ***Do whatever you can***This Week's Question: What was Phillies the attendance in 1971, the inaugural season for Veterans Stadium?

UNION NEWS:  NOT A MEMBER OF THE UNION YET? Join Us And spread the word! THE NATIONAL PUSH CONTINUES As we mentioned last week, the Union has been asked to anchor the movement of the National Fan Union in the Philadelphia area. This comes to us at a time when we are already in the process of enhancing our position in the Greater Philadelphia area. With this in mind, we will be working closely with the National Fan Union, at the present time, to begin to determine how the affiliation will work. The National Fan Union's initial press release can be found here. Their website can be found here. PFU HALL OF FAME VOTING - Have a favorite Phillie? Nominate him for the
PFU Hall of Fame. Feel free to use the Phillies All-Time Roster - Courtesy The Sports Cube THE NOMINEES ARE: Mickey Morandini 8,169 Votes Andy Seminick 7,793 Votes Dave Cash 7,601 Votes Jim Fregosi 7,023 Votes VOTE HERE RESULTS OF THE WEEKLY SURVEY Should the Phillies move more of the big contracts? Yes 77% No 14% Not Sure 09%  GET THE BEST IN PHILLIES MERCHANDISE
    PHILLIES NEWS: 
PHILLIES TRADE CORMIER The Phillies traded LHP Rheal Cormier to the Cincinnati Reds for 23 year old RHP Justin Germano. Comier, 39, ends a Phillies run that began in 2001 and included a career-best season in 2003. He was having a fine 2006 season, compiling a 1.59 ERA in 43 games. Cormier's 14 big-league seasons have included stints with the Red Sox, Cardinals, Expos, Boston again, and the Phillies. Earlier this week, Cormier gave his approval for a deal with the Cardinals, but it fell apart.
 
PHILLIES ACQUIRE GERMANO The Phillies acquired RHP Justin Germano from the Cincinnati Reds last Monday. Germano. 23, appeared in two games with one start this season for Cincinnati, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA. He spent the majority of the season with AAA Louisville, where he was 8-6 with a 3.69 ERA in 19 games. Germano was ranked as San Diego's 7th best prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2005 season. He was dealt to the Reds later that season.
 
PHILLIES CALL UP SANCHES The Phillies called-up RHP Brian Sanches from Scranton/Wilkes- Barre. A former starting pitcher, he has been almost exclusively a reliever since the Phillies traded for him, and for the most part has
posted good numbers. He was originally called up by the Phillies in early June, and did a respectable job before returning to the Red Barons. In his first game back with the team though, Sanches was less than respectable as he allowed two walks and three earned runs in the eighth inning against the Marlins on Monday. He has improved on that performance since then.
 
UTLEY IS NL PLAYER OF THE MONTH: STREAK ENDS Phillies 2B Chase Utley was named the NL Player of the Month for July. Although Utley's hitting streak has garnered the most attention, his success went deeper than that. In the 25 games the Phillies played in July, Utley recorded multi-hit games in 17 of them. Utley's average has gone from .298 to among the league leaders at .327. Earlier in the week, he was named co- winner of the Bank of America Presents the NL Player of the Week Award, along with Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran. Utley's hitting streak ended at 35 games on Friday in New York.
 
MADSON BACK TO THE PEN With Randy Wolf's return to the starting rotation, the Phillies have, once again, moved RHP Ryan Madson back to the bull pen. Primarily a reliever during his major league career, 2006 was to be Madson's first full season as a starter. Madson has pitched in 23 games, with 17 of them in as a starter, and has compiled a team-leading nine wins and a 6.02 ERA. Mainly employing a fastball and a changeup, he worked seven or more innings only four times this year. Madson will pitch the 7th or 8th innings and serve as a bridge to closer Tom
Gordon.
 
MANUEL WATCH So many of you have written in asking for this. Well, here we go again. We all know that the Phillies can do considerably better by upgrading in the dugout. We all know that a manager's job is to bring all his talent together. Of course, we all know that this did not happen in Philadelphia. Make all the excuses you want. Charlie didn't get the job done and there are so few who think he can. Credit Pat Gillick with being a nice guy. Now, let's get down to business and finish the house-cleaning. Charlie has to go. The watch begins.
ROLLINS/MADDOX CHARITY EVENTS ON TAP THIS WEEK - From
MLB and the Phillies FRANK DEFORD BOOK SIGNING AUGUST 10TH - From The Red Barons READING PHILLIES GO 20-9 IN JULY - From The Reading Phillies THRESHERS ONLINE STORE - From the Clearwater Threshers GET A MUCKDOGS CANDY BAR - From The Batavia Muchdogs BLUECLAWS PLAYOFF TICKETS  - From The Lakewood BlueClaws QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Realistically, I think it's going to take a little longer than that. We've got some younger people, specifically on the pitching staff, and with young people you
have inconsistency. They need time to get their feet on the ground. "I think it's probably going to be a little slower. I don't want to mislead anyone. I think it's probably going to be a little slower." Phillies General manager Pat Gillick on the Phillies PHIL-INS
 
After Monday's game, the Phillies recalled OF Chris Roberson and sent OF Michael Bourn to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 
The top three spots in the Phillies' order have contributed 57 of the Phillies' 60 stolen bases this season. 
Major League Baseball suspended Phillies minor leaguer Jesus Granado 50 games for violation of Major League Baseball's Venezuelan Summer League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. 
Chase Utley, who hit in every game in July, is only the fourth player in the last 20 years to hit in every game in a month. The others are fellow Phillie Rollins last September, Shawn Green of the Blue Jays (July 1999), and Albert
Belle of the White Sox (May 1999). 
Scott Mathieson recorded the first victory of his career after allowing three runs in five innings Tuesday against the Cardinals. 
Chris Coste homered in a second straight game Tuesday against the Cardinals. 
The Phillies sweep of the Cardinals was sweet revenge. St. Louis swept the Phillies in the first three games of the season in Philadelphia earlier this season. 
Jimmy Rollins has two career multihomer games, both this year. One happened on August 2nd against St. Louis. The other was June 13th against the Mets. 
The Phillies are the only unbeaten NL team when leading after eight innings, going 46-0. 
Cole Hamels limited the Cardinals to one run and struck out 12 in seven innings to win on Thursday night. Hamels has 44 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings in his last five starts, 
Randy Wolf took a no-decision against the Mets on Friday after lasting just four innings and yielding three runs on
seven hits. Wolf struck out four and topped out at 90 MPH in the outing, but he also walked three and gave up seven hits. 
RF David Dellucci is batting .333 with nine homers in 156 at-bats. 
Phillies RHP Jon Lieber has won once in nine starts since May 13th. He pitched a complete game in Saturday's loss to the Mets. He gave up four runs, one earned, in eight innings. 
Ryan Howard went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and a walk Saturday against the Mets. Howard's 38th homer gave the Phillies their only runs of the game. The big game pushed Howard's OPS over 1.000 for the first time since April. 
Going into Sunday's game, Abraham Nunez had a .162 batting average, with a .220 on-base-percentage, a .223 slugging percentage, and 8 RBI in 148 at-bats. 
Chase Utley's spikes from Friday night's game are going to the Hall of Fame. 
The Phillies have to decide what to do with RHP Ryan Franklin. If they can't trade him by Monday, he will
become a free agent. 
If the Phillies don't bring Charlie Manuel back next season, speculation on a new managerial candidate currently centers around Lou Pinella who managed for Pat Gillick in Seattle. 
The Phillies went into the weekend 2 1/2 games out in the NL Wild Card race. 
Ryan Howard has four home runs against the Mets this year. 
Chase Utley batted 62-for-158 during his hitting streak.
 PHILLIES DID YOU KNOW? Shibe Park Facts: The first concrete-and-steel stadium in the majors, it was completed in less than one year. City block on which the ballpark was built measured 520 feet along 21st and 20th Streets; 481 feet, 3 inches along Lehigh Avenue and Somerset Street. Named for Ben Shibe, an Athletics stockholder and baseball manufacturer. Renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953. Upper-deck and left field stands added in 1925. Mezzanine added in 1929. Before 1935, 20th Street residents could see games
for free over the 12-foot right-field fence & fans could see the laundry lines on the roofs of 20th Street houses. Connie Mack lost a lawsuit to prevent this, so he built the high right-field 'spite' fence. Site of the 1952 and 1943 All-Star games. Old Yankee Stadium score board installed in front of the right-center wall in 1956. In 1956 the normal backstop screen was replaced with see-through Plexiglas. The last game was played on October 1, 1970. Home plate was moved to Veterans Stadium in 1971. Damaged by fire on August 20, 1971. Torn down in June 1976, while the All-star game was being played at Veterans Stadium. Now the site of the Deliverance Evangelistic Church. Phillies 2006 Player Contracts - Courtesy Cot's Baseball Contracts MLB STANDINGS - Courtesy Sports Illustrated PHILLIES 2006 SCHEDULE/RESULTS - Courtesy USA Today UP-TO-DATE PHILLIES TRANSACTIONS - Courtesy Fox Sports PHILLIES 2005 SCHEDULE - Courtesy MLB and The Phillies BASEBALL STATISTICS 101 - Courtesy Baseball Almanac NL TEAM STATS - Courtesy USA Today PHILLIES FARM REPORT - Courtesy PhillyBurbs  THE PFU FEATURE OF THE WEEK - C.J. HENRY
 PHILLIES MINOR LEAGUE SS C.J. HENRY GET THE FOTW HERE! 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION: 
 1,443,738. 
 
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