Here's the poop.The Chicago Tribune column logs only go back so far, about three months or so.
Phil Rogers' columns with free access are disappearing into the ether. And I ain't payin'.
So instead of doing a midseason review of Phil's preseason blatherings, here's a list of Phil's baseball acumen from the beginning of the year until now. At midseason, we'll review Phil's opinions, predictions and prognostications with, you know, statistics and such.
It's BRG's own little retrospective. Sort of a second-order self-referential retrospective (say that five times fast). BRG's format change makes some of the earlier entries hard on the eyes. I'll get to it. Or not.
Here we go:
Jan. 4, 2008 - The trade of Gio Gonzalez, Fautino De Los Santos and Ryan Sweeney for Nick Swisher is a sign that the White Sox don't know what they're doing.
Jan. 7, 2008 - Phil gets his ass handed to him in the Chicago media about the Swisher analysis and becomes mildly capitulatory. In an effort to show he doesn't hate the Sox, Phil comes up with the stupidest mathematical gauge for offseason success in a generation.
Jan. 13, 2008 - Phil forgets to vote for Andre Dawson on his Hall of Fame ballot, realizes that it will probably be revealed and attempts to absolve himself from his own dippiness.
Jan. 22, 2008 - The Blue Jays' acquisition of Scott Rolen makes them a contender. Phil proves he stopped watching baseball in 2004, the last time Rolen was relevant to the baseball discussion.
Jan. 27, 2008 - Right after Soxfest, Phil inexplicably writes about Jeremy Affeldt making the Reds a better team as a starting pitcher.
Jan. 31, 2008 - Johan Santana is Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson wrapped into one, making the Mets the bestest of all bestest baseball teams.
Feb. 3, 2008 - C.C. Sabathia is going to command 100 bazillion dollars on the free agent market, causing Phil to make dubious payroll analyses for the whole league.
Feb. 10, 2008 - Phil regurgitates all the unused material from the Sabathia article and says the Indians have the best pitching in the AL because Jake Westbrook is the #3 starter.
Feb. 13, 2008 - Cubs Preview. They'll be good because of Ryan Theriot's scrapiness and Kerry Wood's conviction.
Feb. 14, 2008 - White Sox Preview. Uses Mike Caruso to make his point.
Feb. 18, 2008 - White Sox Preview Part Deux. Tries to compensate for his initial crappy one by making up payroll numbers.
Feb. 21, 2008 - The White Sox will rue the day they traded Jon Garland.
Mar. 1, 2008 - The Rays should sign Bonds because it would be fun to see him hit in Fenway and Yankee Stadium.
Mar. 3, 2008 - Tigers Preview. The addition of Dontrelle Willis makes the team's starting rotation 'a lot of fun'.
Mar. 6, 2008 - Twins Preview. Says they have a chance to win 90 games because they're scrappy a little over a month after saying they'll struggle to reach .500 after losing Santana and Hunter...three games into spring training.
Mar. 10, 2008 - Corey Patterson reunites with Dusty! Phil slips Dusty a note saying, "If you like me, check this box. Jimmy is bleech!"
Mar. 16, 2008 - The Yankees aren't taking the Red Sox seriously this year because they signed Billy Crystal to a one-day contract in spring training.
Mar. 16, 2008 - Teams will be bad in the regular season because they have losing records in spring training.
Mar. 23, 2008 - Shame on the Red Sox players for making sure the staff gets a fair cut of the Japan trip.
Apr. 7, 2008 - Phil watches five minutes of seven games on TV for an opening day retrospective. Livan Hernandez makes the Twins not miss Johan Santana and Felix Pie is the key to Cubs success.
Apr. 10, 2008 - Power Rankings for Morons.
Apr. 14, 2008 - More Power Rankings for Morons. Dartboard involved.
Apr. 20, 2008 - Phil revises idiotic remarks made before the season w/r/t the AL Central.
Apr. 21, 2008 - Phil's whispers give us vital information about the entirely inconsequential.
Apr. 27, 2008 - The Blue Jays will rue the day they let go of Frank Thomas. More potshots at Schilling and Dunn. Justin Upton and Nick Markakis early favorites for MVP.
Apr. 28, 2008 - Power Rankings again. It's a roller coaster, my friends. Hold on tight.
May 1, 2008 - Phil says the Brewers' chances this year relies on their best pitcher being healthy, uses the 1988 Orioles to set things up.
It's been fun. Like Rex Morgan, MD, Phil's always has the cure for the daily blues.
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