Larry Brown Sports

Brandon Phillips made a truly special play in the field and delivered at the plate to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 at Great American Ballpark on Friday night.

The Reds were up 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning with one out and men on first and second following a pair of walks. Ryan Braun was up giving the Brewers the potential for a rally. Braun chopped the ball up the middle, and with his speed, you figure he would probably beat it out. But that’s not how Phillips saw it.

Phillips charged and fielded the chopper with his bare hand, alertly dropped down on his knee for the force out at second, and threw to first from his knees for the double play. The awesome play showcased most of Phillips’ tools; baseball instinct, range, and arm strength.

As if that play wasn’t impressive enough, Phillips homered as the second man up in the bottom half of the inning to give the Reds a 4-2 lead. He also had an RBI single in the third. Phillips entered Saturday batting .287/.331/.485 on the season.

The Reds have a crucial Game 5 of the NLDS upcoming against the Giants on Thursday afternoon, and Brandon Phillips looked ready for it on Wednesday night despite his team’s loss. After San Francisco defeated Cincinnati 8-3 to even the series at 2-2, Phillips rocked his Ray Ban sunglasses while talking to reporters.

Some of you may think this a good look, but others will probably point to the fact that Phillips was wearing his sunglasses at night, was indoors and was trying to make a fashion statement after a loss. Until he starts wearing gnarly jean jackets and ridiculous shoes to his press conferences after playoff games (win or lose), the Reds second baseman will not be on Russell Westbrook’s level. But wearing Ray Ban’s at a completely inappropriate time is certainly a start.

A day after furiously writing on Twitter that a Pirates player had said something racist to him during Monday’s game, Brandon Phillips proclaimed that he has no issue with Jared Hughes and that the two have sorted out matters.

Hughes hit Phillips with a pitch in the eighth inning of Monday’s game, and the two appeared to exchange words as Phillips headed to first.

According to a report from Deadspin, Phillips thought Hughes called him “boy.”

Whatever the case, Pirates MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen played mediator between the two by setting up a phone call for them on Tuesday. Both men were pleased with the results of their conversation.

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Bad blood has developed between the Pirates and Reds over the course of the season, as a number of players have been hit by pitches and taken exception to it. Another incident occurred on Monday night when Brandon Phillips was hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh hurler Jared Hughes, resulting in a warning for both teams.

It is unclear whether or not he’s claiming it happened before or after he was hit, but Phillips wrote on his Twitter account after the game that a Pirates player made a racist comment toward him.

#RealTalk… Not really surprised by what I heard come outta another player’s mouth tonite but DAMN… Still PISSED bout that $h¡+!! #Racism

— Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP) September 11, 2012

Phillips gave no clarification and simply followed up with a tweet about how pleased he was to get the win in extra innings. While we hope it’s not true, it certainly wouldn’t be the first case of racism or cultural insensitivity that we’ve seen in professional sports. Rivalries exist and tempers are going to flare, but there’s no excuse for any player to bring race into a disagreement.

UPDATE: Phillips talked with Hughes and they both say there is no issue.

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

The Reds have gone an impressive 19-7 since the All-Star break and even won 10 in a row at one point, but they were swept by the Brewers and have lost four in a row. All the winning must have made some fans lose perspective on how difficult it is to win consistently, leading second baseman Brandon Phillips to vent over Twitter:

#RealTalk… It’s funny when you’re #WINNING and the #RICHARD riders comes out! But when u start LOSING, they’re quick to hop off #DamnShame

— Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP) August 8, 2012

OK, so Phillips obviously doesn’t like the bandwagon fans. But don’t insult his intelligence by asking him a dumb question like “Does losing bother you?” That’s when you risk getting a salty response:

Are u serious? That’s like me asking you does having a small #RICHARD bother u RT @mize161: @datdudebp #RealTalk does losing bother u?

— Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP) August 8, 2012

Phillips has glowed about what Twitter has done for his playing career, but I’m not so sure he would say the same thing now. And what’s the deal with his “Richard” obsession? A little much, no?

H/T Hot Clicks

When the All-Star Game arrives in baseball each year, there are always a number of players, managers and fans who feel as though there were some mistakes in selecting the NL and AL rosters. Very rarely do we hear a player who was on the bubble admit that they did not deserve on All-Star spot, but Brandon Phillips broke the mold over the weekend. Dusty Baker and a number of fans feel that Phillips was overlooked by Tony La Russa. Not Brandon.

“I felt like I didn’t deserve to be an All-Star anyway,” Phillips told Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports on Saturday. I feel like if I did my job on the field, I would have been an All-Star,” Phillips said. “I don’t worry about what happened with the La Russa situation, I feel like I shouldn’t have been an All-Star in the first place. My job is to go out there and play the best baseball possible. The only ones I have to really get mad at are my fans voting — if they really wanted me there, they would’ve voted for me.”

Since Phillips is big on Twitter and says it has helped his career, you can understand why he’s disappointed he didn’t make the cut. A number of people felt as though La Russa left both Phillips and Johnny Cueto off the NL roster intentionally. Phillips may have admitted he didn’t deserve a spot, but he also said it bothered him earlier in July when the rosters were announced.

“I let it get to me on the whole California trip,” he said of Cincinnati’s 11-game road trip before the break. “I was struggling, I was like, ‘why am I not an All-Star, why am I not an All-Star?’”

Good for him for sleeping on it and talking about it rationally rather than coming out and crying like some other players who felt they were snubbed.

H/T Eye on Baseball
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

Those of us who follow baseball closely know better than to take Gold Glove Awards seriously. Although they are supposed to be given strictly based on fielding merits, Derek Jeter has proven multiple times that it isn’t that simple. If your batting average is less than .250, don’t expect to win a Gold Glove. Rawlings, the official sponsor of the Gold Glove Award, does not think they should be taken lightly. In fact, Rawlings does not want any other sporting goods companies manufacturing gloves with any type of gold on them.

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