MLB to Air Reality Series Following the Phillies' Bullpen

Who are the World F*cking Champions?

By Seth Freilich | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (37)

World Fucking Champions, ladies and gentlemen. That’s what the Philadelphia Phillies are. And when you are the World Fucking Champions, which is what the Philadelphia Phillies are, people start actually paying attention to you (as opposed to those seasons when you’re piling up the losess to hold on to your title of the losingest franchise in American sports history). And so the MLB Network is going to be airing a reality show about the bullpen of the Philadelphia Phillies, your reigning World Fucking Champions.

What caught me off guard about yesterday morning’s press release is that the show starts airing this Sunday night (June 14). The MLB has, apparently, been filming this thing since spring training. How did I not hear about this during any of the game broadcasts, or on any of the Philly sites and blogs I peruse?

Anyway, “The Pen” will air for the next six weeks, following bullpen players from spring training through next month’s All Star Game break. If it weren’t for the fact that the Phillies are now the World Fucking Champions, it would kill myself and millions of others that “The Pen” is being narrated by Mitch Williams (for those not in the know, he devastated the City of Brotherly Love by blowing the lovable 1993 team’s World Series run, and was literally ran out of town with a police escort).

One possibly interesting storyline will be the suspension and return of J.C. Romero, a reliever who got a 50-game suspension for violating the league’s drug policy despite following the league guidelines and being told by the league’s hotline that he could take the supplement that got him suspended. The show will also discuss the sorely missed Harry the K (longtime Hall of Fame announcer), so fans can get their weeping rags ready.

They apparently have a ton of great in-depth coverage, including from a camera installed in the bullpen to pull practice and in-game footage. An MLB Productions exec talks about this being the most open access they’ve ever had to a team during Spring Training or the regular season. Which makes it too bad that the show is being co-produced and aired by the MLB Network, because that means there will certainly be an amount of self-censorship and “blemishes”; the J.C. Romero thing will surely be watered down (while I’m sure the network would say it did not allow itself to be influenced at all by the league, I say hogwash).

In any event, for the small minority of us who are fans of baseball, and the even smaller minority who are fans of a certain team of World Fucking Champions (did I mention that was the Phillies?), this should be interesting show to help pass the summer TV doldrums.

“The Pen” airs on Sunday nights from June 14 through July 26, at varying times of either 8, 8:30 or 9 p.m. Eastern (adjust accordingly for your time zone).

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Comments

Uh, that's World Phucking Champions. With a PH.

Posted by: Whorish Mouth at June 11, 2009 10:05 AM

3 hours after that picture was taken, the World Series trophy was melted down, portioned out, and given to fans to be used as projectiles in the upcoming season.
Philly fans are crazy.

Posted by: Kballs at June 11, 2009 10:06 AM

Us Philly fans are crazy?! I've never heard that accusation before!

:drinks paint, beats coworkers unconscious with asthma inhaler:

I didn't know about this show either Seth, I'm surprised it never came up on the news around here. I'm completely psyched.

On a slightly related subject, Mac and Dee from It's Always Sunny were on Preston and Steve (a local radio show) earlier this week, and Rob McElhenney mentioned that in an episode in the upcoming season Charlie as Green Man is going to challenge the Phanatic to a mascot duel or something of that nature. That makes me so happy I could throw a box of kittens.

Posted by: Julie at June 11, 2009 10:14 AM

How did I not hear about this during any of the game broadcasts, or on any of the Philly sites and blogs I peruse?

Probably because the people who have deluded themselves into being big enough phillies fans that they'd actually blog about them are too busy trying to see images Ibenez juicing in their cheesesteaks like some sort of re-re version of the Virgin Mary to take notice.

God, that didn't even make sense. I'm sorry, I'm so twisted up about Big Papi I can't think straight.

Posted by: Marra at June 11, 2009 10:14 AM

Reasons why baseball is boring:

1) There are too many games and a league never seems to end

2) They won't play in the rain!

3) Complicated point system

4) Fantasy baseball. What the fuck is that shit?

5) Worst of all: the players ain't fit! It's a wonder they call themselves athletes and no wonder some of them need drugs to keep up. They look like fat fucks.

God, you need patience to watc h this game. Lots of it.

Posted by: barf at June 11, 2009 10:16 AM

How did I not hear about this during any of the game broadcasts, or on any of the Philly sites and blogs I peruse?

Well, you're obviously not a real fan.

Posted by: Kolby at June 11, 2009 10:19 AM

Seth has killed people for less, Kolbs, watch yo-self.

Posted by: Julie at June 11, 2009 10:21 AM

Barf:

[1) There are too many games and a league never seems to end]

Too many games? Haven't you ever wanted to see more than one football game a week? We get baseball every night.

[2) They won't play in the rain!]

Well, duh! The uniforms would get all muddy!

[3) Complicated point system]

Excuse me? How stupid do you have to be not to be able to add one each time someone crosses the plate? I think you've got baseball mixed up with tennis here.

[4) Fantasy baseball. What the fuck is that shit?]

Who knows? Who cares?

[5) Worst of all: the players ain't fit! It's a wonder they call themselves athletes and no wonder some of them need drugs to keep up. They look like fat fucks.]

Go up to Nolan Ryan and say that. Then duck! I will admit that you don't see the bulk in the arms that you did a few years ago, (wink, wink), but the younger players are in shape.

[God, you need patience to watc h this game. Lots of it.]

You say that like it's a bad thing.

-Ralphie

Posted by: Ralphie at June 11, 2009 10:26 AM

Barf, have you seen pittsburgh's d-line? Like football, baseball has some positions you can look like Sabathia and some positions you have to be ripped like David Wright. Plus, football also has fantasy leagues.

And what the fuck is so hard about step on white plate = run?

Posted by: Marra at June 11, 2009 10:27 AM

"including from a camera installed in the bullpen to pull practice and in-game footage."
---
Of what? Seven guys, the bullpen coach and the bullpen catcher sitting around scratching their balls and spitting sunflower seeds for eight innings? Occasionally warming up and then sitting back down?

They shouldn't focus on a GOOD team. They should focus on a team like the Pirates, which uses its bullpen a hella LOT. Then you'd see some action, not much of which is any good baseball-wise.

Trust me on this.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at June 11, 2009 10:29 AM

Seth, you see that trophy right? It says 2008. I believe you are using the wrong tense and you mean "Former" World Champions.

Posted by: admin at June 11, 2009 10:30 AM

Also, you want to talk about endless seasons, may I remind you they are STILL playing hockey and STILL playing basketball a week before fuckin' summer starts. And the Super Bowl is in fuckin' February.

They're ALL too damn long.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at June 11, 2009 10:32 AM

Wheeeee!

That's all I've got.

P.S. - Jules, I heard Rob Mac talking about that on P&S the other day and I CAN'T WAIT.

Posted by: Nicole at June 11, 2009 10:45 AM

"Haven't you ever wanted to see more than one football game a week?"

Um, no. One a week is too much.

"How stupid do you have to be not to be able to add one each time someone crosses the plate?"

Not if you keep falling asleep throughout the game.

Posted by: barf at June 11, 2009 10:46 AM

Oh, barf. You really should quit while you're ahead, and still have all your appendages.

Posted by: Nicole at June 11, 2009 10:47 AM

"Haven't you ever wanted to see more than one football game a week?"

Um, no. One a week is too much.
---
Gotta say I'm with barf on this one.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at June 11, 2009 10:52 AM

My roommate loves baseball almost as much as I do, but she complains about how many games there are too. Not me. I love that I almost always have something to watch when I get home from work on weeknights in the spring and summer...and early fall.

I can how people would get bored with baseball though. I sometimes read my book when the opposing team is up at bat. It's all a matter of taste, basketball and hockey bore the living fuck out of me.

Posted by: Julie at June 11, 2009 11:03 AM

Happy Birthday anyway, darlin.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at June 11, 2009 11:06 AM

I love baseball, and live games stimulate all the senses. Hockey's the same - you have to be there. I can't stand watching hockey on TV, it just doesn't fully capture the experience. Football, on the other hand, I prefer to watch at home, unless it's a college game, where, once again, the atmosphere is almost as entertaining as what's happening on the field.

Posted by: Kolby at June 11, 2009 11:08 AM

Kolby,
You nailed it about seeing hockey in person. No other sport has a bigger gap between watching on TV and being there.
Also nailed it about college football. I went to Tennessee for a short time and went to a lot of home games. I get chills thinking about hanging out with 108,000 of my closest friends.

And the NFL is fantastic with fantasy football pushing it over the top. You don't like it? Good.
More! Football! Pussy! For me!

Posted by: Kballs at June 11, 2009 11:28 AM

Hey Barf first off fuck you. Second off, as a baseball lifer, do not comment on things that you do not understand.

Reasons why baseball is boring:

1) There are too many games and a league never seems to end----Really? While I would not mind a dial back to the 154 game schedule, have you looked at Basketball or Football. Basketball starts in October goes to the middle of June. Football training camp July, pre-season August, games from September to late December and they want to lengthen the season. Playoffs to early February, Pro-Bowl, the most useless of all-star games in Mid-Feb. Draft in April, "volunteer camps in May and June." Stupid quotes by Terrell Ownes and OchoCinco, year around. Yep baseball is the issue.

2) They won't play in the rain!---The pitcher is throwing a deadly object you ass. Yep I want a fastball to get away from a guy throwing 95, just to liven up the death quotient a little.

3) Complicated point system---You score enough runs you win, win enough games go to playoffs, yep tough.

4) Fantasy baseball. What the fuck is that shit?---Comics for baseball nerds.

5) Worst of all: the players ain't fit! It's a wonder they call themselves athletes and no wonder some of them need drugs to keep up. They look like fat fucks.---Amazing how most of the drug users have been some of the more fit players. (Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens.)

**As for the show, all we are going to see is Brad Lidge the arsonist. He keeps coming into games a blowing saves and losing games, being a Chicagoian (thankfully I hate the Cubs) I can watch that on WGN and not miss a beat.

Posted by: richmac at June 11, 2009 11:36 AM

you whiny girls, the phils are the word champs... not former, current. They look, act, talk, play and even fucking smell like the world champs. I've never seen so many people bent over and fucked about a team being the champs. I guess they'll have to do it again to convince y'all. Or, not, because no one gives a shit what you think.

and Seth, they announced this reality show in January, when the MLB network launched. They had 3 or 4 teams, and narrowed it down. I guess no one cared because it was january.

Posted by: Todd at June 11, 2009 12:05 PM

Football is appointment viewing because of it's relative scarcity. You watch college on Saturday, pro on Sunday and Monday and that's it. Miss a baseball or basketball game, so what? It's on TV every night. Most NFL fans can watch four full games each week. You can watch four MLB games in two days.

The difference, I think, between the fact we pay attention to the NFL all year long and the feeling that the baseball season is interminable, is strictly the number of games. Every NFL game is critical. A two-game losing streak in September can doom a team. A two-game losing streak in May for a baseball team? Meh. They'll play three more before week's end. I find it impossible to care about a sport that can be safely ignored for two-thirds of the season.

Baseball does have it over basketball in terms of the playoffs. The NBA needs four months to determine which half of the league is too shitty to go to the playoffs and another two months of playoffs to determine a champion. End that shit already.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at June 11, 2009 12:07 PM

They look, act, talk, play and even fucking smell like the world champs.

I'll take your word for that. My nose is going nowhere near Joe Blanton.

Posted by: branded at June 11, 2009 12:16 PM

Baseball continues to be the one sport I refuse to watch on any occasion for multiple reasons. I never played it, I don't respect it at all as a sport, it's worse than the NBA in kneecapping itself with stupid rules, and of any sport on the planet it wastes more money on signing players than should possibly be allowed (European soccer is second, basketball is a far distant third)

The sport wastes more than any, is boring as all hell to watch, and refuses to acknowledge that the steroids era saved the sport. Instead of trying to regulate the "issue" that pulled all of these old rich fogeys out of the fire, they go on a witch hunt for people who use steroids. It's stupid, people who regulate sports at the ripe young age of 80 shouldn't be allowed, especially when their silly preconceptions about whats cheating and what isn't are retardedly contrived. (I have another rant backed up about how David Stern is ruining the NBA, but thats not the subject here)

Posted by: Braski at June 11, 2009 12:47 PM

Why are they calling themselves World Champions if the rest of the world doesn't even compete? Isn't that a tad hyperbolic?

Posted by: FabMax at June 11, 2009 12:58 PM

Braski,

"I never played it,...." AAAAAAND you're done. Now everything you're say is just being blown out your ass. Thanks for playing!

Posted by: Alex at June 11, 2009 12:59 PM

Why are they calling themselves World Champions if the rest of the world doesn't even compete? Isn't that a tad hyperbolic?

Posted by: FabMax at June 11, 2009 12:58 PM

We let Canada play, so America + America Jr. = The World.

This sounds sort of dumb to an outsider, but it's important to remember that as a country, we sort of suck at math, so this still counts.

Posted by: Marra at June 11, 2009 1:04 PM

Yeah Alex I didn't really make it clear, I never played it, which is probably why I have no respect for the game.

And I'm not talking out of my ass because I didn't make any points that would imply that I was assuming something about playing the game. I said what I said from what I saw happen to the game. Don't be a prick and actually read what I wrote.

Posted by: Braski at June 11, 2009 1:10 PM

Even as a BoSox fan, I don't really start following the season until AT LEAST August, unless a major injury occurs or we're kicking the shit out of the Yankees. 7-0 bitches!!!

Posted by: Kballs at June 11, 2009 1:28 PM

Are they going to have an episode featuring Brett Myers' advice on maintaining a happy marriage?

Posted by: Dristan at June 11, 2009 1:56 PM

Oh, this sounds cool. I don't really care for professional sports in general, but I love behind-the-scenes looks at them. It's such a crazy little world, and this should be a lot of fun, even if I don't know whoh any of them are. And baseball is a hell of a lot more fun to watch than American Football. Or basketball. Or anything else except soccer.

Posted by: figgy at June 11, 2009 2:04 PM

branded, but your nose would go near chase utley, wouldn't it.

Posted by: Todd at June 11, 2009 3:22 PM

I don't begrudge people for their individual taste, but baseball is the very definition of boring. Sure, runs scored are easy enough to calculate, but could someone please explain what the hell defines "game behind," exactly? Or why they even bother with "wildcard" playoff berths? Sure, some baseball players are musclebound, but that doesn't make them athletes. The most they have to do is jog lightly on and off the field, swing a stick a couple times a game, and run their asses off if they're lucky! I will give pitchers a pass, because they have to pace themselves otherwise they'll literally wear out the one limb earning them a livelihood.

I've got more patience for football, but agree once a week is plenty. If nothing else it can be an incredible amount of wear and tear on a body. Basketball is a game of constant motion and actual teamwork rather than the "look at me" prima donna parade that is baseball. It doesn't really get exciting until the last few minutes, at which point the flow of the game gets all shot to hell with innumerable time-outs that seem to multiply like rabbits.

Leaving aside the issue of the difference of watching a game in person versus on TV, this brings us to hockey (sorry soccer/futbol, yours is the only sport where someone can stand on the field for 45 minutes with minimal movement, and never see the ball, then take a kick to the knee and fall down clutching your face in agony). Hockey brings intense speed, deadly projectiles and blades, requires incredible strength and agility, and demands every player's 100% such that the longest shifts are usually under 2 minutes, and often under 1. Sure the season is long and demanding, but playoff eligibility is straightforward and the playoffs grueling. Solid teamwork is a must, and any one individual can sink a team by slacking off. At the end of the playoffs, you get to hoist a 36-pound silver behemoth that is the oldest and most elusive trophy in North American sport. You'll be hard-pressed to find a hockey team with the number of felons on a football team, or druggies like on a baseball team. The game demands much more than that. And, because the hockey gods have smiled on us this year, we get a pivotal game 7 tomorrow night featuring a handful of world-class athletes, playing in an Original Six city. What more could you want? Cheerleaders? Umm, that's not a bad idea, actually.

Posted by: lordhelmet at June 11, 2009 3:27 PM

The Phillies suck. Without the Mets annual rollover-and-die routine, the Phillies are second rate losers. Just like the entire city of Philadelphia...second-rate in every way.

Posted by: The real Lenny Dykstra at June 11, 2009 8:40 PM

So last summer I was seeing this guy who didn't like baseball. We met one night at a bar and I told him I was excited because I was going to my first Cards game of the summer the next day (I usually try to make it to at least 10 per summer). He was like, oh, that's nice. Then when he called me a few days later and asked what I was doing, I said just watching the Cards game. This guy asked me "didn't they just play the other day?!" Needless to say, that definitely did not work out. So, I sat there after this particular phone conversation and tried to think of all the people I knew who didn't like baseball. I seriously couldn't think of one, not one person I was even friendly acquaintances with who didn't like baseball. Yeah, I have a very select few friends who are cubs fans, but still, they respect the game. I've tried to relate to people who say they don't like baseball, but I honestly don't get it. How the hell can you not love going to a game? A fresh beer in the bleachers with ultimate nachos? I cannot think of a happier place.

Posted by: Austin asking for trouble at June 12, 2009 12:43 AM

And baseball is a hell of a lot more fun to watch than American Football. Or basketball.

Posted by: figgy at June 11, 2009 2:04 PM

A fresh beer in the bleachers with ultimate nachos? I cannot think of a happier place.

Posted by: Austin asking for trouble at June 12, 2009 12:43 AM
---
My people.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at June 12, 2009 1:10 AM

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Who are the World F*cking Champions?

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