That Balls Outta Here » Jose Contreras

Jose Contreras Not Just Injury-Related Headline Anymore

Justin Klugh — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:00:38 +0000

After what felt like a career’s worth of promising that Jose Contreras was a real person, and not just another name trapped forever on the Disabled List, the Phillies welcome back late-inning reliever Jose Contreras to the roster. Thanks to what doctors called “elbow problems,” Contreras has been away from baseball for many months, undergoing surgery and staying away from all those elbow-intensive everyday tasks that exist.

Now, however, is a different story. Instead of being a far off shadow on the horizon, Contreras will be here. With the team. Chances are he could even be used to pitch, but then again Charlie Manuel has been showing a particularly folksy affection for a dust pan from the clubhouse broom closet, so he may just give that the ball in 8th. Or heaven forbid the $50 million closer enters a game once in a while.

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Dom Brown Starts Off Preseason With Resounding Statement to Jose Contreras

Justin Klugh — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 19:16:58 +0000

Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

We seem to have our first simmering player rivalry boiling over into a full fledged attack.

We don’t know what started it. We don’t know who started it. What we do know, however, is that Dom Brown has fired the first shot in what is surely to be turmoil season-long with Jose Contreras. And that shot was a home run ball into Contreras’ truck.

The incident was immediately suspicious. If Brown can hit home runs so “accidentally,” what’s stopping him from hitting them on purpose? And don’t tell me that doesn’t make sense.

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Pete Orr’s Canadian Heritage Not Enough to Keep him on Phillies

Justin Klugh — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:04:39 +0000

Do you like Pete Orr? You probably do. He’s one of the few unhateable people walking the earth.

But this is offseason baseball, when we don’t have a keen slide or a quirky smile to distract us from the numbers. So at this point, nothing Pete Orr does can change his perceived skill level. Who cares if he brings an aura of raw Canadian wilderness to the clubhouse?

Ruben has decided to outright Pete to Triple-A, where he will earn the respect of his peers by being weirdly fast and sort of sometimes competent at the plate. We shall look forward to seeing him again the next time something awful happens to a middle infielder. (more…)