The Phillies, for whatever reason, altered their fantastic outfield scoreboard
When Phillies fans flock to Citizens Bank Park next month, the ballpark will look a little different.
The Phils’ typical right field scoreboard that featured a mix of an old-school setup with digital numbers is being completely overhauled. It appears that it will be entirely digital going forward:
I’m a modern baseball fan (and I’m not just talking about the beloved Philly emo band). I like the DH in both leagues. The pitch clock last season made a world of a difference when it comes to how long games felt. This though? It’s a bridge too far for me. Perhaps this is just me entering “young millennial screams at cloud” mode, but it feels wrong. I can’t wait to see some gigantic ads for VR companies, artificial intelligence and other nonsense on it!
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Phillies’ pursuit of Yamamoto shows they want to be serious about Japan
One cannot say the Phillies do not spend money. Over the last few years, owner John Middleton has shown a willingness to open the wallet and dole out big money to free agents to come play in Philadelphia. It has been that willingness to spend that has opened this current World Series window for the Phils, and that willingness will likely prop that window open for the foreseeable future.
A frustrating aspect of the Phillies, however, has been their perceived lack of interest in signing Japanese players. At no point over the last 20 years have they displayed a true desire to get involved in the higher-end imports from the Far East, despite the success of players like Ichiro, Ohtani and others. It feels as though they’ve been skipping rocks past this pool of talent.
It appears they’re done with that.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber reported Tuesday that it was the Phillies, not the Dodgers, Yankees, or anyone else, who made the highest bid for 25-year-old starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto this winter.
It had been previously reported the Phils made a significant offer to Yamamoto, over $300 million, but it wasn’t until now that it was made known Middleton’s offer was the highest on the table. And while it’s unfortunate Yamamoto had set his camp for the Yankees or Dodgers before the process ever began, it is exceedingly encouraging that, for the first time ever, the Phillies were willing to back up the Brinks truck for a Japanese superstar.
This is really good news, and one can’t help but think this won’t put them in an even better position to compete for the next great player(s) from Japan. Word has undoubtedly gotten out in Japanese circles that the Phils made the highest offer, and given their ascension as one of the premier teams in baseball, playing spine-tingling baseball the last two Octobers in front of a national audience and a rabid Citizens Bank crowd, one can’t help but think Philadelphia will be on the radar of the next great Japanese talent, whoever that may be.
One also must credit the Phils for not whining and complaining about Yamamoto choosing another team, and it’s to their credit they didn’t come out afterwards and try to convince the fanbase they had outbid the other teams. Fans know the Phillies are trying, and the fact they were in at all was a complete surprise.
The Phillies have mistakenly ignored the Japanese market for too long, but it’s clear that is now changing. The team is deploying additional scouts to the country, and one can only assume they will be major players for future Japanese stars that are made available down the road.
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