My favorite Phillies blog is pretty easily Crashburn Alley, so whenever Ed Wade completes his weekly signing of an ex-Phillie, I'll generally see what they have to say.
With the blurb from Myers' press conference that he'd like to "stick it" to the Phillies, I was curious what Crashburn Alley thought. They didn't disappoint:
I don’t have a problem with what Myers said. In fact, I like it and we should expect no less from a player as competitive as him. And I’ll be honest: I’ll be rooting for the guy when he’s not pitching against the Phillies.
On the domestic abuse incident:
First of all, his wife has forgiven him and has stayed with him through it all. Secondly, he showed genuine remorse and went to marriage counseling to try to resolve his issues. I figure that if his wife can forgive him, so can I.
On his work ethic:
He has worked his tail off to return to the baseball diamond not once but twice ahead of schedule. Last season, Myers could have taken it easy and played it safe, but he wanted to help ensure the Phillies’ success in September.
On his teammatability:
Myers went from a position of comfort to a position of uncertainty to help the team out. There was no guarantee that Myers would have been as successful as he was, and it was more likely than not that Myers would fail, potentially costing himself millions of dollars. He did it anyway.
These are just snippets, and you should head over and read the entire thing. But this could be the signing that pushes the Astros to, say, 76 wins.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
