Maple Street Press Phillies Annual 2011 – The Phillies Fan’s Equivalent to Spring Training

Once the Super Bowl ends there are certain signs that I look for that tell me that baseball is close to starting again. The obvious first one is the date pitchers and catchers report, which appropriately fell on Valentine’s Day this year. The next is when the first game of spring is played in either the Cactus or Grapefruit circuit, which is a nice tease and helps me to ease into what will be roughly an eight-month cowhide bender starting in April that would impress the man who played Ricky Vaughn.

I have now officially added a third marker to my countdown compliments of the fine people at Maple Street Pres,s who sent me a copy of their 2011 Phillies Annual to review. What makes this great is that it is the first tangible object that tells me that it is almost time for Opening Day and I feel like a little kid when it appears in the mailbox.

I am also here to report that MSP again did a fantastic job of turning out a high-quality publication no matter what type of Phillies fan you are. The previous two annuals were edited by the Phillies blog the “BeerLeaguer” and this one was more than capably taken over by a new editorial staff at the Phillies site “The Good Phight.” The 2011 issue is every bit as good, if not better, than the 2010 issue.

Let’s get right down to why the 2011 annual is such a quality must have regardless if you just made your way onto the bandwagon, or if from a historical perspective, when you hear the phrase “Black Friday” you don’t think about the day after Thanksgiving but the Dodgers instead. Despite the new editors, the annual retains what I find to be the most interesting part which is the player profiles. We are not talking about profiles that you find in the team issued yearbooks where you can see who likes puppies, rainbows and enjoys long walks on the beach. These are the in-your-face ones with stats that will make your head spin; you get a baseball centric write up to go along with charts that show for hitters – “Hit Zones” where you will see where they like the ball in the strike zone and where outside of it they will chase, “Leading Indicators” which is where they rank among others in the Majors in certain categories, the always tantalizing “Splits” and a “Scouting Report” that goes into impressive detail on the pitches they see the most and the outcome. The pitchers, you may not have heard but they have four good ones this year, get just as much detail with the “Pitch Zones” where you will see their favorite pitch locations in and out of the strike zone, a “Scouting Report” showing their pitch preferences and the results along with the “Splits” and a “Leading Indicators” chart so you can see how they measure up against their peers.

A piece I enjoy looking at is the “Bill James 2011 Phillies Projections” where each member of the expected roster has his projected numbers given. It hurts to look at Chase Utley’s projections for 2011: 146 Games, 26 homers, 99 runs scored, and 94 RBIs. Will the Phillies even see him before the All-Star break? Bad situation. It is a good time, though, to look at each player and do a bit of an over/under with some of the numbers posted.

The articles are top notch throughout and the annual goes beyond what you would read in a newspaper and most publications. The best way to describe it is that there is a level of depth to each, where no matter how big a fan you are, you will come away with something that you did not know before.

If I had to pick my three favorite pieces they would be; “Return of the King: How Cole Hamels improved his game in 2010, and what that means for the future,” “Ten Years On: How the Phillies flipped the script from doormat to dynasty” and “Diagnosis: Dominance –An examination of Roy Halladay’s 2010 no-hit masterpieces.” The Hamels piece was surprising because it made a convincing argument that his 2010 season was not that different from his much-criticized 2009 one, the second one is a trip down memory lane to how the Phils have gotten here over the past 10 years, and the final one is simply Doc. Come on, can you ever get enough of Doc and his regular season perfecto and post season no-no? Exactly.

Being a minor league junkie I must say that their minor league piece is solid. A clean and simple look is given at how each level did in 2010 along with a preview of their Top 30 Prospects heading into 2011. There is potential brewing at the lower levels and a piece on the Lakewood BlueClaws shows this. Take the time to read this section, because as all the favorites continue to age, these are the kids you will be hearing from next.

Don’t be scared off by the $12.99 price. Between the written pieces and the stats this will keep you busy until April 1st and beyond. If you care just about the Phillies, invest in this in place of other Major League previews because I cannot imagine getting such focused writing anywhere else on the hometown squad. Not to mention you are going to want to soak in everything Phillies that you can while leading up to what is being considered a season for the ages.

Matt Aber is a baseball enthusiast who cannot figure out why Charlie Sheen’s buzz word is “winning,” yet saw him being photographed wearing a Cleveland Indians hat. Indians? Winning? Tiger’s Blood must make you delusional. Matt is an advocate of the national organization called The Miracle League which allows special needs children to play baseball. He encourages you to support this worthy cause and learn more at www.miracleleague.com.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of the book being reviewed by the publisher, but received no payment or other consideration for this review.