The Good News?

i don't think the past, present and future MVP's (howard, rollins, and utley) will go a combined 0-11 with 8 strikeouts again.

Just When I Thought I Was Out They Pull Me Back In

after the phillies crapped the bed against the padres last week, i was ready to call it quits. they looked done. their pitching, for lack of a better word, sucked. cole hammels was on the DL. chase utley and shane victorino were still on the DL. ryan howard was slumping. it just seemed like their goose was cooked. they had a golden opportunity to gain ground on the wild card leading padres and let it slip through their fingers. they were headed in the wrong direction with a 4 game series against the mets looming ahead of them. then...

...utley returns. howard hits. victorino is back. hamels feels good. even adam eaton pitched well! they won the last game of the padres series then rode that momentum to take the first two from the mets. they are only 4 out of the division. the team is feeling good.

i hate to admit it, but i was about to jump ship. with all the emotional energy i have invested in this team, it was a hard choice, but it seemed like the rational choice. i don't know how i would have dealt with another september of "almost". but, you know what, this team does have a chance now. they are fighting. they have overcome adversity. they have what it takes. utley is back. jimmy is still leading by example. ryan howard is willing them to victory. cole is on the hill. the pieces are there.

LETS GO PHILLIES!!!

Sunday Baseball

since i can't watch the phillies on my TV, although i am thinking about getting the 1 month MLB TV package for september, i decided to do the next best thing: watch the little league world series. the little league world series is a blast to watch. the kids actually play an entertaining style of baseball and i am always amazed at the skill level of these 11 year old kids. i mean, some of them put up video game numbers. you always get a kid who bats .600 and hits a ton of homeruns or some pitcher who throws 3 no-hitters in a row while striking out 16 (its only a 6 inning game). and, did you see the catch that kid made the other night? that was stellar!

more impressive, in an odd sort of way, is the list of "favorite MLB players" as given by the walpole, ma team, the regional qualifier from the new england region:

Vlad Gurerro (3)
Derek Jeter (3)
Mike Lowell (1)
Jason Varitek (1)
Jonathan Papelbon (1)
Big Papi (1)
Albert Pujols (1)
Ryan Howard (1) - that kid rocks, by the way
David Wright (1)

notice anything interesting about those names? keep in mind, this is from the new england team, the one from walpole, ma, the geographic center of red sox nation. 3 kids said derek jeter? are you kidding me? what would bill simmons say about this? granted, (as i am typing this they just ran a clip of carlton fisk talking to the team and having some kid tell him jeter was his favorite player, but that the red sox were his favorite team...fisk has no idea how to respond...i think this kid should be worried about his safety when he returns to walpole, ma. he clearly has not taken his loyalty oath) the red sox were mentioned (4 mentions: lowell, varitek, papelbon, papi) more times than the yankees (3 mentions: jeter), but still. i just kinda find it amazing ANY yankee could be mentioned.

clearly, though, there is only 1 correct answer: ryan howard. congtrats, kid. you passed!

holy mother of god

ryan howard has "it" again. i remember last season when ryan howard had "it". i remember last season when ryan howard was a living baseball god.

didn't it seem like ryan howard could do anything he wanted last year? well, he has that "it" to him again. that homer he hit last night against the nationals was howard pulling out his dick and saying "yeah, well mine is bigger than yours". it was monumental. earth shattering. he is amazing.

i remember watching him last year when he went off. i was at rfk when he surpassed mike schmidt for all time homer runs in one season with 49. he was amazing. couldn't be stopped. and he is in that zone again. it is a thing of beauty. baseball at its best. i am going to watch as much of ryan howard as i can over the next month.

here's to hoping they can pull it out.

note: i will post the video as soon as it comes available.

Root, Root, Root For The Home Team

the phillies set a record for citizens bank park last night and had a walk up crowd of 11,300 for the game last night. that is awesome! its nice to see all the phans sticking with this team. yeah, they got off to that atrocious start, but they are really coming together as of late. late inning heroics the past 2 games. chase utley on pace to hit 500 doubles this season. rowand still batting around .35o. and they are doing this with ryan howard on the DL. lets hope when he gets back to full strength he will be the ryan howard he knows he can be. the phils still have quite a way to go to catch the mets and the braves, but at least they are on their way.

Monday Phillies Post

good win for the phils last night. fortunately the errors by wes helms and the mistakes in the outfield didn't come back to hurt the team. bourn's running in the 7th was awesome. how much hotter can "sugar" shane get? good to see howard hit one out, but he is still flirting with the mendoza line. jimmy is still backing up his words. even burrell, although he is not hitting, is getting on base. things might be starting to fall into place, but we are still 6 back and nothing is for sure.

one more scary thought from the game. ESPN flashed a graphic about cole hamels and how is #6 on the most strikeouts through his first 30 starts list. ok, thats cool. but the company he was with? doc gooden, kerry wood, mark pryor, some jewish dude i had never heard of, and the fifth name escapes me. im sorry, but that is NOT the company i want cole hamels with. doc gooden was a great pitcher but flamed out. kerry wood and mark pryor are two of the biggest "what coulda beens" in the history of baseball. the jewish dude i had never heard of before, and the fifth, while the name escapes me, i remember not liking it, so, cole, please, please, please, please don't let those guys into your head. keep on listening to jamie moyer.

Wow Am I Prophetic

i guess i cant really prove it (just like like joseph smith) but on my walk to work this morning i was wondering what would happen if the red hot aaron rowand batted in the two hole while the slumping victorinio was moved to the back of the lineup. and you know what? that is just what the phillies did last night. rowand batted 2 and victorino hit 7. and they won. rowand was 2-4 and shane was 0-1, but was left on base twice. i think this is a good move by charlie, especially while rowand is so hot. it makes things so much easier for jimmy and chase.

NOW WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH RYAN HOWARD?!? i mean, its not like last year was a fluke. he had a killer 2005. he IS the player he was those two years, but jeez, what the hell is going on? i wonder if a player like frank thomas, jim thome, albert pujols, and the other marquee first basemen of this era ever went though something like this. if they did, that would give me hope. my faith in the great one is starting to falter. i do not want to lose my faith.

but, hey, a win is a win. we finally beat the braves. monkey off our back.

I Never Thought I'd Say This: Let Burrell Play!

the game is in the 6th inning. phils are up 7-4. pat the bat is 3-4 in the game and hitting .333 for the season, so, why in gods good name does sorry charlie pinch run for him with michael borun? does sorry charlie remember any of those other games this year where the phillies have been leading only to have the bullpen blow it and how we might need pat's bat again? i hope this doesn't come back to bite them in the ass tonight.

UPDATE: my dire predictions were wrong. burrell's bat was not needed. i'll gladly be wrong on this one. another big game for rollins, victorino, and utley. ryan howard went 1 for 5 with 3 strikeouts and is now batting an anemic .218. he really needs to get on track soon because this team will need him if they ever want to climb out of the hole the dug themselves. they have now won 3 in a row and 4 of their last 5. lets sweep the nats!!!