All-Star Game Thoughts

if all roy halladay needs is a helmet to come to the NL and play for the phillies, i will gladly purchase him one.

its weird to see a phillie (victorino) get a hit to advance a met (wright)

tim mccarver to joe buck: "we have been together for 14 years..." bromance, anyone?

i am enjoying the commentary on twitter much more than i am mccarver and buck. they are essentially doing what i am doing, but the people i follow, you know...have followers!

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!!!

Sigh Of Relief

from the inky:

It's good news for Cole Hamels.

The Phillies' ace has no structural damage in his left elbow, after undergoing an MRI today. The ligament is fully intact.

The Phillies are calling it a "very mild" elbow strain and have placed him retroactively on the 15-day disabled list. Hamels said he believes he will miss just two starts and can be activated Sept. 1.

Fabio Castro will start Thursday afternoon against the Dodgers. The Phillies also activated Shane Victorino from the disabled list. He will bat sixth tonight and start in rightfield.

king cole is the one player the phillies absolutely cannot afford to lose right now. and welcome back shane, we missed ye.

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.

Orel Hershiser Makes A Good Point

rarely, if ever, do sports announcers say something so meaningful during a game that makes you sit up and say "you know what? that guy is right on the money". last night orel hershiser did just that.

i can't remember if it was right before or right after the ryan howard home run (which was a MONSTER, by the way), hershiser made the comment that if the phillies lose this game its not because they failed to get a timely hit or anything like that, its because of the little mistakes they made on the front end (read: every play freddy garcia was involved in), and sometimes in the post-game analysis managers, coaches, and players will overlook what really lost the game (mental mistakes) in favor of saying "oh, we just didn't get the right hit at the right time".

that has been the problem the phillies have had all year, especially against the braves and mets, the two teams the phillies can least afford to lose to. the crazy thing about this team, however, is that statistically they should be doing much better: near the top of the league in runs scored, at the top of the league in outfield assists (another GREAT one by "sugar" shane victorino last night), and lead the NL in team on base percentage, but its the small mental errors (and on field errors) that have cost this team ballgames, and may ultimately cost them a shot at the post season.

10,000 loss countdown: 30

ps - always take what i say with a grain of salt because sometimes even the most obvious things escape my ever-watchful eye. all week i have been wondering why the phillies and the giants are getting the national ESPN game on sunday night. its not a rivalry, we aren't in the same division, and there is no history whatsoever between these two teams. then it hit me: it's ryan howard vs. barry bonds, stupid. see, i'm not as smart as i think sometimes :)

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!!!