Welcome to Times Yours. I am Spike Gaskin. Of course, it's my podcast. It'd be weird if it wasn't on it.

My guest today is former co-host or at least I was your former co-host on a stat head on Philly's 24-7.

The owner and editor and publisher and also writer for Crashburn Alley and new author of 100 Things Philly's Fan Should Know and Do Before They Die is Bill Bear. Hello, sir.

Hey, Spike. I actually missed doing that head with you and Jeff Sawts with I miss those days.

You don't really miss it during with Sawts. Do you mostly miss doing it with me?

Yeah, yeah. Let's be honest here.

As long as we're, you know, calling a spade a spade, yeah, yeah.

Only, only honesty on Times Yours. You know, before we expect nothing, why?

Yeah. Before we get to the book, which I'm excited that it's finally coming out because I remember when you told me you were working on it,

just a quick Philly's off-season note. I imagine there was some kind of a post, or I'm not sure if you did a Philly's off-season wrap-up post on Crashburn Alley,

but I have to imagine if you were grading the Philly's off-season from the Crashburn Alley perspective, it had to be, I mean, I would have to guess you guys would give it a pretty low grade, yeah?

A little bit below average, I would say. The paddle-bond timing was really the meat and bones of it.

The huge contract, of course, given the paddle-bond for years, $50 million, that's a lot of money for a guy who's going to be pitching on average one inning every two games.

So that's definitely something to consider. And then, of course, yet to look at players like Jim Tony, like, where does he fit?

Does he help you enough to play in the field, and if so, is he just going to get one start per week, or is he going to play more?

What are you doing in the outfield? What are you doing in left field with Lance, Nex, and John May, very perhaps Ty Wiggington?

So I think there's a lot of questions going into 2012, and I'm not sure if they've answered them all.

It seems like those questions would have to be answered with a much more major move.

I mean, if you would say that their problem was that they didn't get on base enough during the playoffs, and their offense is kind of immovable.

The guys are who they are. It seems like it would have taken a, it would have taken losing a big piece and gaining a big piece.

But more than, more than even one, to really change the makeup of the team, if that's what you wanted to do.

I go back to the 2018, and you look at that bench. Everybody had a role. You have Eric Bromlett, utility infielder, often on pinch runner.

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