$11 Parking

Games 30, 31 & 32: Time For Jamie To Hang ‘em Up?

2009-05-14T20:13:00.002-04:00

The Phils lost two of three against the Dodgers this week at Citizens Bank Park. Throughout the series, the Phillies were plagued by a fairly putrid offensive output. Among the culprits, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino have not hit nearly as well as they did earlier in the season. Rollins, however, did have a hit in each game of the series, an encouraging sign that maybe he’s primed to break out of his season-long slump.

Aside from the Jayson Werth’s exciting steal of home in Tuesday night’s game, the biggest story from this series for me was Jamie Moyer’s continued ineffectiveness. Jamie gave up 7 earned runs in 4.1 innings to take the loss in Wednesday night’s game. This follows his last two starts, both against the Mets, in which he gave up a combined 12 earned runs in only 8 innings of work.

When a 46 year old pitcher looks that bad in three consecutive starts, one has to question whether age has something to do with the poor output. Jamie was never a power pitcher, but he thrived on hitting his spots. Maybe that 46-year-old arm isn’t as accurate as it once was. The Phillies better hope Jamie gets it right soon or they will be put in a tough situation. If this rough stretch continues for Jamie, the Phillies will need to face the unenviable task of telling 20 some odd year big leaguer that he just doesn’t have it anymore. As a Jamie Moyer fan, I hope this never comes to fruition, but reality is reality.

Game 27,28, and 29: The Good and the Bad

2009-05-11T21:38:00.003-04:00

For the second time this season, Atlanta came into Philly and took two of three from the Phighins. Were there any new developments in this series? Nah. The Phillies confirmed their mediocrity to this point in 2009. Let’s take a quick look at one extremely encouraging and two extremely discouraging players from this weekend’s three-game set.

I guess we’ll start with the lone point of comfort from the weekend:

Cole Hamels: The ace is back. At least, we think he may be back. Hamels secured his first win of the season on Friday by allowing only 2 earned runs on 3 hits and 2 walks over 6.0 solid innings. Even more encouraging, Hamels left the game on his own terms and not via freak injury.

And, of course, the not-so-good:

Jimmy Rollins: Rollins hitting woes continued over the weekend. Rollins managed only 1 hit in 14 plate appearances during the three-game stretch. Although Charlie asserts he has no other option for the lead-off spot, he must consider dropping Rollins down in the order at this point. Rollins can’t ignite an offense with the ice-cold bat he’s had all season.

Brad Lidge: What’s up with the closer? So far this season, I can’t remember a Brad Lidge outing where he did not give up at least 1 run. After entering the game with a 10-3 lead on Friday night, Lidge managed to give up a three-run homer to Casey Kotchman. Then, Lidge gave up another run in Sunday’s loss. Lidge’s ERA has ballooned to 8.53. Unlike last year, Lidge has not been ‘lights out’ so far this year.

Manny Ramirez (wait, nevermind) and the Dodgers roll into Citizen’s Bank Park for the three-game series starting tomorrow night.

Games 23,24,25,26: I guess 2-2 Ain’t Bad

2009-05-07T22:01:00.002-04:00

So, here's the quick and dirty rundown of the Phillies week. I'm far too lazy to go into detail right now. All in all, it’s not too bad to split four games on the road against two good teams, the Cards and the Mets. However, it surely would have been nice to grab a win in New York.

The Phillies stormed into St. Louis and took both games against one the best teams in baseball so far this season. Joe Blanton gave the Phils a much-needed quality outing from a starter on Monday when he pitched 6 innings while giving up on one earned run on the way to a 6-1 win. The Phils also benefitted from a Ryan Howard grand slam and a Jayson Werth two-run homer.

In game two of the St. Louis series, the Phils needed far more offense to overcome Brett Myers shaky outing. This time Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth provided the bulk of the offense in the Phils 10-7 win.

Then, the Phils ran into a wall named Johan Santana as they lose 1-0 to the Mets. The encouraging news coming out of this one though was Chan Ho Park’s solid outing. It’s about time this guy put together a decent game. Without it, he probably would have been on his way out of the rotation. He still may just be a shaky start away from assuming a role as long reliever.

Tonight, Jamie Moyer couldn’t get out of the third inning as he gives up 7 early runs. The Phils clawed their way back and made the game close. However, they still fell short in a 7-5 loss.

Game 22: Walk This Way

2009-05-03T22:53:00.003-04:00

So, today’s Phils-Mets rainout bought me a little more time to write about yesterday’s wild game at Citizen’s Bank Park. I was planted in section 202 for yesterday's game and, to be quite honest, I was far too tired and lazy to post anything last night. Thus, I’m writing now.

Before I get to the game, I will say I had two very pleasant experiences at the ball yard this week. First, I grabbed myself a Charlie Manuel bobblehead on Tuesday night. I also able to get close enough for some pretty good pictures of the World Series trophy that night. I'll post those when I get I can. Then, yesterday, I had the chance to watch the Phils beat the hated Mets in a bizarre, yet extremely exciting game. All in all, a pretty good week for me personally.

You probably know by the now the Phillies beat the Mets 6-5 on a walk-off walk by Shane Victorino. What a marathon. The game clocked in at 3 hours 43 minutes, which could be the longest Phillies game I’ve ever attended. Of course, 18 total walks between the two teams tends to put a drag on the game.

Anyway, this game drives home even further how deep-routed the Phillies pitching problems are this season. The Phils put all sorts of runners on base in the early innings against a ridiculously wild Oliver Perez. In fact, Perez issued six BBs in just 2.1 innings. Yup, six walks.That’s how wild he was. You would think, considering the lackluster Mets pitching, the Phils should have ran away with this one. However, that was not the case as Jamie Moyer allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 5.2 innings of work. Once again, Charlie had to go to an over-worked bullpen probably about an inning earlier than he wanted. In all, the Phils used 5 relievers over the final 4.1 innngs to finish off the Mets. Like I said before, this bullpen will be fried and utterly useless in a few months unless these starting pitchers can get it together in a hurry. These 4 or 5-inning outing won’t cut it for too much longer.

Well, enough complaining. We did beat the Mets so I shouldn’t dwell on the little things too much. It shouldn’t matter how they do it, but as long as the Phils beat up on the Mets I should remain happy.

Game 21: The Pitching Struggles Resume

2009-05-01T23:00:00.001-04:00

It looks like the Phillies fooled us during the last two series. For a few games this week, we forgot about the Phillies horrific start to the season. After a sweep of division leading Florida and a series win against Washington, I thought the Phillies of last year returned and I temporarily forgot about the pitching woes that have plagued this team throughout the early portion of this season.

Then, Chan Ho Park took the ball tonight and I was suddenly reminded of the first two weeks of April.

Park gave up 7 earned runs tonight in 4.2 innings as the Phillies lost to the Mets 7-4. Once again, the bullpen was taxed as it had to clean up the mess Park left by throwing a combined 4.1 innings. At this rate, the bullpen will be dead by mid-July. These short, lackluster outings by the starting pitchers can’t continue much longer, especially from the two biggest culprits, Chan Ho Park and Country Joe Blanton.

The only Phillies player who may have had a worse night than Chan Ho Park was Jimmy Rollins. Rollins took the collar tonight, going 0-4. At what point does Charlie need to shake up the lineup? With Rollins struggling so much in the leadoff spot, shouldn’t Charlie consider moving him down in the order? After all, if your lead off guy isn’t getting on base, he can’t really set the tone for the rest of offense effectively. If I was Charlie, I’d bat Victorino leadoff, followed by Werth, Utley, Howard and Ibanez, Rollins. This way, Rollins can work out his struggles in the lower half of the lineup and wouldn’t prevent the big bats from getting RBI opportunities early in the game. Your leadoff hitter is supposed to get things started. Right now, Jimmy Rollins isn’t the best candidate for that.

Game 13: Hot & Cold

2009-04-22T22:02:00.002-04:00

11 runs last night. Only 1 tonight.

The Phillies offense couldn’t get anything going tonight as they drop the second game of the series 3-1 to Milwaukee tonight. The Phils only run came via a Jayson Werth solo homer in the ninth. The Phillies threatened later that same inning by putting runners on the corners with two outs. However, Chris Coste struck out to end the game.

Posting may be light through the weekend as I attempt a paint job in my house. For most this would probably be a one-day project. However, judging from my last painting exploits, I have a feeling this may turn into an all weekend project.

Game 8: Blanton Can’t Deliver

2009-04-16T22:03:00.003-04:00

Joe Blanton’s Goldberg-like Phillies undefeated streak came to an end tonight as he takes a loss in tonight’s game in Washington, 8-2.

In what has been the recurring theme for the Phils this season, they fell behind from the get-go when Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer in the first inning. It seems as if every time I turn on the game this season, the Phils are already down by two or three runs. Yes, this team is one of the best come-from-behind teams in baseball. However, they need to jump out front more often. This team can’t play catch up all season.

The Phillies return home tomorrow night to start a four-game series with the Pads. Of course the highlight of the weekend will be the planned festivities for the great Harry Kalas. Much like the season’s opening series, we are looking at a pretty emotional homestand for the Phightins this time around. Unfortunately, this one won’t be as cheery.

Harry Kalas 1936-2009

2009-04-13T19:58:00.003-04:00

The Phillies won today thanks to a Ryan Howard three-run homer in the 7th. However, that was the secondary story of course. Phillies longtime play-by-play man Harry Kalas died today before the game in Washington.

I never met Harry Kalas personally. However, like a lot of people in this area, Harry served as the soundtrack to my summer for years. So, today's news comes as quite a blow. In my 26 years, I listened to Harry call countless games on the radio and TV. It’s hard to imagine a Phillies game without Harry’s presence.

I can’t really say any more than what has already been said and what will be said over the next couple days. So, thanks to Youtube, I’ll post some of my personal favorite Harry moments.

Game Four: Hamels Roughed Up

2009-04-10T21:39:00.002-04:00

Whether we want to admit or not, most of us had our qualms about Cole Hamels’ first start this afternoon in Colorado. After all, he didn’t pitch all that much during spring training as a result of the elbow stiffness he experienced in mid-March. Plus, when we last saw Cole in Saturday’s Spring Training finale against Tampa, he didn’t exactly look sharp.

Well, after today, we can draw one fairly obvious conclusion: Cole Hamels is not ready for regular season baseball. In 3.2 innings, Hamels allowed 7 earned runs on 11 hits and a walk. This wasn’t exactly the outing we had hoped for from our World Series MVP. Hamels’ velocity wasn’t where it needs to be for him to dominate a game like he did last postseason. Couple that with the fact he left a good number of pitches in the middle of the plate today, where I could even hit the ball hard and you have all of the elements that lead to that kind of line.

Cole’s struggles today fit perfectly with the subpar starting pitching we’ve seen all week. This team needs to get this starting pitching conundrum solved before it isn’t ‘early’ anymore.

Next up, Brett Myers tries to even his record when he makes his second start of the season against Colorado tomorrow night.

Game Three: The Comeback Phils

2009-04-08T20:55:00.005-04:00

If you turned off the TV or radio or left CBP early today, you missed one hell of a game. We’ll look back at this game as one of the highlights of the 2009 season without a doubt.

The Phillies used an eight run 7th inning to beat the Braves 12-11 and save a game from this opening three game series. Most impressive, the Phils proved they can play small ball. They didn’t hit one homerun within that monster inning. In fact, they used a smattering of singles, walks and a hit batsman to churn out those eight runs. An inning likes this gives me confidence this team can find a way to score some runs even if the big bats aren’t clicking.

Three more quick thoughts after today’s big win:

He still has a ways to go, but Raul Ibanez certainly has started to win over the extremely tough Philly fans. He contributed 2 hits, including a two-run homer, 3 RBIs and scored three runs in the win today. If he can come through like that on a consistent basis, he’ll surely serve as an adequate replacement for Pat the Bat.
Not to take away from the big win, but for the third straight game the starting pitching turned in a subpar performance. Once again, the Phillies found themselves trailing 2-0 before they even took their first cuts at the plate. These pitchers need to figure out a way to get out of the first inning unscathed. Hopefully, Cole Hamels can jump start the rotation with a solid start Friday in Colorado.

When did Ryan Howard learn to play defense? He’s played spectacular D through the first three games. Apparently, the Big Boy brought the leather this season.
I might be in the minority here, but I didn’t really understand all of the hype about what the rings looked like. I loved the ceremony and I definitely I wish I was there to see it. However, why do I care how many diamonds the ring has? The Phillies aren’t giving me one. Maybe if the team decided to give me a ring, I’d care.

Now the Phillies head out to Colorado to take on the Rockies in a three game series. Early April baseball in Colorado should be quite the adventure. Colorado shouldn’t play a home game until June.

Game Two: Frozen Bats

2009-04-07T22:16:00.005-04:00

Windy and cold. Yup. I love April baseball.

The Phillies left 11 men on base as they lost to the Atlanta Braves 4-0 tonight at CBP. Offensively, the Phillies slugged six hits and created a few opportunities to score. However, as Chris Wheeler pointed out in the telecast, most of those opportunities came with two outs.

In his first start of the year, Jamie Moyer fell behind right from the outset as he let up a leadoff solo homerun to Kelly Johnson in the top of the 1st. From there, Moyer allowed three more earned runs on 8 hits over five innings.

My take: Since it’s only game two, we’ll use the cold as the excuse for the lack of offensive production tonight. However, that excuse will only go so far. The fact is the Phils left 11 men on base tonight. They need to chase some of those runners home.

The Phillies will try to avoid a sweep by the Braves tomorrow in the hyped ring ceremony game.

Game 1: Hands Off the Panic Button

2009-04-06T21:55:00.002-04:00

Phillies fans, welcome back to reality.

Brett Myers returned to early 08 form and the offense couldn’t figure out Derek Lowe as the World Champion Phillies dropped their first meaningful game since last October’s World Series 4-1 to division rival Atlanta.

As the radio hosts and bloggers have said all day long, last night’s game was only the first of 162. Clearly, we shouldn’t panic or jump off the bandwagon just yet. Just like one win can’t make a season, one loss won’t kill it either. If you find yourself panicked at this point, relax. This team will be fine.

However, the game turned out to be a letdown coming off the world championship celebration of the past five months. We were amped up and ready to go only to watch Brett Myers let up three homeruns and the Phils offense squeeze out a meager four hits. Perhaps, the Phillies suffered from a bit of a championship ceremony hangover. That’s understandable. As long as it doesn’t extend too far into April, this team will be fine.

Much of the talk today focused on the left-left-left middle of the order the Phils currently feature. This was one of the few concerns a lot of us had coming into this season. Well, it took one game for this potential downfall to rear its ugly head. Braves left-handed closer Mike Gonzalez made Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez look silly in the bottom of the ninth with runners on base. The quick fix is probably to move Jayson Werth down into the 5-hole and move Victorino to the 2-hole. This lineup might not be ideal, but it breaks up those left-handed bats and forces the opposing manager to game plan more instead of sticking with a tough lefty in the late innings.

Problem solved. Now, we must figure a way to get Brett Myers out of the first inning.

The Beer List

2009-02-22T17:25:00.010-05:00

About a month ago, I went to the Saint Joe's-Penn game at the Palestra with my buddy, Gary R. Butterworth. (By the way, if you're looking for an enlightening read, you may want to check Gary's post on his blog about how former Jeopardy champion, Ken Jennings, measures up against his favorite game show contestant, Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry from the original American Gladiators. Here's the link. For some reason, I remember toasting "Two Scoops" quite a bit during my Bachelor Party.) After the game, we decided to walk back to 30th St. Station and grab a beer at the bar. This bar had some different stuff on tap so I ordered something off the chalkboard in front of me and Butterworth did the same. As the bartender went to get our beers, Butterworth pulls out a pen and piece of paper from his wallet and starts writing something. Intrigued, I asked him what the hell he was doing. He told me he was writing down the name of the beer he had just ordered because he keeps an excel spreadsheet of all of the beers he's had in his lifetime. Just as I started to make fun of him, I stopped. I realized how genius this was. It's essentially a log of debauchery. I love it.

I told you that story because I've decided to blatantly steal Butterworth's idea and keep a tab of all the beers I have tried. I don't know why I didn't think of this first. Every time, I walk into Total Wine off of Naaman's Rd. in Claymont, DE, I always think to myself how great it would be to be a real beer connoisseur. That's pretty yuppie, I know, but it's a dream nonetheless. To be perfectly honest, I know nothing about beer. I only know I like it. So, this might be a good way to expand my horizons a little bit.

As far as my current list goes, it's a little pathetic. Right now, I only have 22 official entries. I know I've had a lot more. However, since I started the list well after my beer drinking career began, I know I'm missing quite a few. I included only those I have had since I stared the list about a month ago. Plus, I went back to Maxim's recent 99 Best Bottles (And Cans) On Earth (January 2009, Hilary Duff) and used it as a guide to add those beers I know I have had.

What's the connection to this blog? Well, most of my beer consumption comes while watching sports, so there you go. Plus, to be quite honest (and a bit pompous), I don't really need a connection. This is my blog.

I invite any who reads (if anyone reads) to suggest something they like. I don't know if anything will trump Yuengling as my personal favorite, but like I said I'm willing to branch out a bit. While I'll keep the master list on an excel spreadsheet, I'll periodically post updates here.

So, here's it goes. The Beer List...

Blue Moon
Coors Light
Corona Extra
Dogfish Head - 90 Minute Imperial IPA
Flying Fish - ESP Amber Ale
Flying Fish - HopFish India Pale Ale
Heineken
Heineken Lite
Magic Hat Number 9
Miller Lite
Natural Light
Newcastle Brown Ale
Olde English
Pilsner Urquell
Rolling Rock
Sam Adams - Boston Lager
Sam Adams - Irish Red
Saranac Irish Red
St. Pauli Girl
Stella Artois
Yuengling Light
Yuengling Traditional Lager

Cole Hit the Big Time

2009-02-18T21:35:00.004-05:00

I found this on the700level.com today. Forget about curses. That's a pretty nice cover, if you ask me. I'll hit Barnes & Noble tomorrow to pick grab this one. Here's a link to the article.

By the way, I took advantage of the Phillies single game pre-sale last night and bought a pair of tickets for Saturday, May 2nd against Jose "they always say something about us and we don’t even focus on them" Reyes and the Mets. I'm stoked.

Flyered Up!

2009-02-16T19:56:00.000-05:00

I watched about two and a half periods of the Flyers this weekend, which is about two periods more than I had watched all season until this point. Apparently, I picked a pretty good weekend to jump back on the Flyers bandwagon, as they took care of the Islanders 5-1 at home on Saturday and then embarrassed the Rangers 5-2 at the Garden on Sunday. That's a combined 10-3 bludgeoning of both New York teams in just over 24 hours. It doesn't get any better than that.

I'm the furthest thing from a hockey analyst. So, I can't really say much more than what's already been said. Marty Biron played exceptionally well in back to back starts. He stopped 38 of 39 shots in Saturday's win against the Isles. He, then, followed that performance by stopping 35 of 37 total shots. Rookie Claude Giroux looked impressive as he chipped in with a total of two goals and two assists over the course of the weekend. Plus, Mike Richards set an NHL record on Sunday by netting his third career three-on-five shorthanded goal. Overall, not a bad weekend.

Maybe now that we're creeping up on March and the playoffs are around the corner, I'll start to get a little more Flyered Up. I just needed to force myself to sit down and watch some hockey to realize how much I've missed the Flyers since last May.

Anyway, I don't think I've posted a decent hockey fight yet on this blog. So, without further ado, here's a pretty nice Arron Asham beatdown from Saturday's game. I guess when you can't think of anything else to say about hockey, you might as well end with a good hockey fight.

Reuben Amaro…The First 100 Days

2009-02-10T21:46:00.003-05:00

I heard on WIP this afternoon that today marks exactly 100 days since Reuben Amaro took over GM responsibilities for our Phils. Apparently, this is some kind of new benchmark as the media has adopted the 100 day mark as the first milestone for our new President. So, I thought we should take the opportunity to look at the progress of our new GM after his first 100 days in office. Overall, I’m pretty impressed.

First of all, I commend Reuben for nailing down deals with both Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard. With brand spankin' new deals, both players can avoid the annual albatross of the arbitration process for the next three years. Nothing good ever comes out of an arbitration hearing, so the Phillies definitely didn’t need that distraction to plague them every offseason for the foreseeable future. Hamels, Howard and the Phillies organization can now worry more about the task at hand than on a pending gruesome arbitration process. With these deals, Reuben was able to prevent a great deal of headache down the road.

Secondly, Reuben was also able to lock down three more important second-tier players as well, by signing Jayson Werth , Ryan Madson and Jaime Moyer. The deal with Moyer was especially important because I think Moyer probably had a lot to do with Cole Hamels development so far. Moyer brings a lot of experience to the table so keeping him around to mentor the young pitchers will pay huge dividends.

As far as the Ibanez deal, the jury is obviously still out on that one. Yes, I think Ibanez serves as an upgrade over Pat Burrell. I don’t think anyone will dispute that fact. However, as I wrote before, I have a problem with the economy of the deal. I’m not convinced the additional output we’ll get from the left field position will be worth the $36 million over three years the Phils spent. Ibanez will be 39 by the end of this deal. Will he still have the numbers at that point to justify his contract? Eh, I’m not sure. I think the better move was to keep Burrell for two more years at the discounted price Burrell accepted with Tampa.

Plus, Burrell would have provided the right-handed bat the Phillies desperately need. Although the numbers show Ibanez can hit lefties, I still don’t feel completely comfortable with the 3-4-5 part of the lineup all hitting from the left side of the plate. This might pose a problem for the Phils in the late innings of a tight game. With the middle of the lineup full of left-handed hitters, they may find themselves on the short end of a matchup war in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. This lack of a solid right-handed bat is my main criticism of the Amaro era this far.

I give Reuben a solid A- for his first offseason in the corner office. He didn’t exactly inherit an easy situation with so many key pieces of a championship team arbitration-eligible. However, he was able to avoid a lot of bitterness and provide some solid peace of mind by lock up some of his biggest talent. With the payroll now north of $130 million this season, the Phillies will surely pay for it though. I guess that’s the price of a champion. Now I know how the Red Sox feel.

The Boring Days of Winter

2009-02-09T20:51:00.005-05:00

I've watched very little sports since the Eagles lost in the NFC Championship Game three weeks ago. Sure, I watched the Super Bowl and I even caught a Saint Joe’s basketball game at the Palestra. Other than that, though, I would probably put the over/under on the number of hours Comcast SportsNet has graced my television at 2…and I’d take the under. The Eagles absolutely killed me. The game in Arizona sucked the passion right out of me for a while. Before the Phillies won, I guess I went into all big games with a certain understanding that I would probably be disappointed. But when the Phillies won the World Series, I started to expect to win the big games. That’s probably why this game felt more like a stomach punch than even the Tampa Bay game did in 2002/03. For about three weeks now, I’ve been searching for air and I’ve still yet to find it.

Aside from the tough Eagles loss though, my complete disinterest might be product of the very boring month of February. The sports calandar just doesn't give me anything to keep me watching right now. In the last ten years or so, I’ve become pretty casual about the Flyers and Sixers so I won't get too charged about about either of these teams until playoff time. Also, I don't jump on the NFL draft and fee agency bandwagon like many others. I can't get excited about football when we're about six monthes away from the start of training camp. I like college basketball, but I’m mostly interested in the local teams. Unfortunately, most of their games aren’t even broadcasted. So, here I am, stuck in the sports black hole I like to call February. I try to turn on the TV or WIP, but I can only listen to so much fallout from the Eagles season and I don’t need to psycho-analyze Donovan’s comments about the Eagles defense blowing the game in Arizona. It’s just not that interesting to me at this point. Oddly enough, I find myself much more engaged with President Obama’s economic stimulus that the happenings on Broad and Pattison.

Yesterday, though, I did see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I was washing my car in the 65 degree weather, the excitement of the upcoming baseball season really hit me. Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater on Saturday and I count this as one of my favorite events of the year. Everything's fresh during Spring Training. From, here on out, we'll have a game just about every night. Plus, the start of the baseball season signals the arrival of warmer weather, lazy days, BBQs, Harry Kalas and all of the other cliched, sappy things I love about summer. Plus, we're the defending World Champions. How sweet is it this year that the Phillies are being chased and not doing the chasing?

Five days and counting.

Do It For Dawkins

2009-01-15T21:58:00.004-05:00

I have to give my buddy Dan credit for finding this video. He sent me this link yesterday afternoon. If this video doesn't pump you up for the Eagles game this Sunday, nothing will. Enjoy.

All In the Meatballs

2009-01-14T22:44:00.006-05:00

A lot of sports fans hold certain superstitions when they watch their teams. Some people sit in the same chair for every game. Others, and I include myself in this group, will not wash their game day jersey throughout the entire season if the season happens to be going well. Each fan has their own unique habits, but the motivation is the same. They do whatever is in their power to help their team win. Like I said, I can’t say I’m above these routines. In fact, in the last three weeks, I have developed a new one and it revolves around meatballs and homemade sauce.

In our year and a half of marriage, my wife has used Sundays as her day to experiment in the kitchen. During this time, she tries all sorts of recipes and 99% of the time they end up tasting pretty good. The week of the Dallas-Eagles “win and in” game, she took a stab at homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. The meatballs and sauce turned out pretty well and, more importantly, the Eagles won and somehow snuck into the playoffs.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but the sauce and meatballs may be the key to the Eagles pretty incredible run over the last three weeks. These delightful Italian staples continue to serve as game day food of choice in the Maiese household throughout the playoffs. Each time we’ve indulged, the Eagles find a way to win a must-win game. During Wildcard Weekend, we had meatball sandwiches; the Eagles beat Minnesota. This past Sunday, we ate leftover baked ziti drizzled with more homemade sauce and a few more meatball; the Eagles beat the Giants. You see the common denominator here?

Am I crazy? Absolutely. However, I can guarantee you that at about 3PM this Sunday, I’ll be gnawing at a meatball while I’m watching my Birds beat up on that fraud of a playoff team, the Arizona Cardinals.

Now that I’m finished with the meatball and sauce story, let me run through some thoughts on our revitalized Birds:

I don’t mean to belabor the point, but who saw this turnaround coming after the Cincinnati and Baltimore game? Honestly, after the Ravens game, I started to count down the days until Spring Training. I never imagined I would write about the Birds in the NFC Championship game.
This will mark the fifth time in eight years the Eagles will play in the NFC Championship game. When you think about it, that stat is really remarkable. During the rough patch in midseason when we were calling for Andy Reid’s head, I think we lost sight of just good of a track record this guy has. Sure, we Philly fans subscribe to the ‘what have you done for me lately?’ philosophy. However, you can’t argue with wins and, as evidenced by the above stat, Andy Reid wins.
I love to watch this defense right now. They are all over the field on every play. Of course, you can’t talk about the defense without singling out the heart and soul of that squad, Brian Dawkins. He looks like he turned back his internal clock about six years. He’s all over the field on every play. Plus, that guy can hit.
I really didn’t see the big deal with Donovan picking up the phone on the Giants’ sideline at the end of the fourth quarter on Sunday. The move showed Donovan is loose and I like that. Surely though, I wish the play didn’t result in a 15 yard penalty, but sometime’s a little fun is worth it.

I heard an interesting little tidbit on mid-day show on WIP. Before the Phillies won this year, the last time they won it all was ’80. Rotate that year 180° and you get ’08. Now, take the last time the Eagles won the NFL Championship, ’60 and rotate that number 180°. Amazing.

Sunday can’t come fast enough.

Pat…It’s been fun

2009-01-05T22:06:00.004-05:00

We officially reached the end of an era in Phillies baseball today. Pat Burrell (and Elvis the dog) has left the building.

Burrell signed a two-year deal reportedly worth about $16 million today with the Tampa Bay Rays. I can’t blame Burrell for inking the deal. He needed to move to an American League city where he could find his niche as a full time DH. He fits the DH role perfectly – a marginal, at best, defensive player with bad wheels who processes the ability to provide a little pop in the middle of the order. I think he’ll do well down in Tampa. Good luck to him.

I have my reservations about how the Phillies handled the Burrell situation. I can’t help but feel the Phillies bowed out of the Burrell race much sooner than they should have. Obviously, Burrell’s initial asking price of 2 years $22 million (or something along those lines) was a little steeper than the Phillies were willing go. However, I think they made a huge mistake by passing on Burrell so quickly and jumping on aging outfield Raul Ibanez. The Phils could have put forth a little more effort in the negotiation process to see if they could secure Burrell at the much more economical price Tampa paid. On paper, Ibanez might be an upgrade. However, I think I'd much rather have a 32 year old Burrell on the books for two more years versus a 36 year old Ibanez for three years.

Either way, I’ll miss Burrell next season. Despite his knack for looking at third strikes, Burrell stood as the consistent force in the lineup for the Phils over the past nine seasons. I’ll find it extremely weird to look at the Phils starting lineup without Pat the Bat penciled into the No. 5 slot.

Still Not Sure How We Got Here

2009-01-04T20:39:00.003-05:00

Ummm…I still don’t fully understand how they got to this point. Why am I writing about an Eagles playoff game? This time two weeks ago, we had pretty much written the post-mortem on the 2008 Philadelphia Eagles. I thought Reggie Brown’s catch one yard shy of the end zone sealed this season’s fate. Then, the inexplicable happened. Every piece fell into place ever so perfectly. The Texans found a way to beat the Bears and, more surprisingly, the lowly Raiders found a way to beat the Bucs on the road. From there, the Birds took care of business against the Cowboys and, somehow, in miraculous fashion, the Eagles found themselves in the playoffs.

“Playoffs?!?!?!?!”

Yes, Coach Mora. Playoffs.

Even more surprising, the Eagles found a way to win a game in said playoffs today in Minnesota. It surely wasn’t pretty, but I’ll take it. I’ll take everything I can get at this point, considering where this team was six weeks ago.

I haven’t watched any highlights, listened to any postgame or looked at any stats yet, so I’m writing this completely blind. However, here are the two main thoughts running through my head right now after the win.

First of all, the defense played pretty well today. Again, I haven’t looked at the stats yet so I don’t know if it translated statistically. Of course, Adrian Peterson was going to get his. He’ll light up just about any defense in the league. However, the Eagles were able to get at TAR-varis (as Barkann likes to call him) Jackson. Moreover, Asante Samuel had that key interception return for a touchdown, which stood as the Eagles only TD until the fourth quarter. With the inconsistent offense the Eagles throw out there every week, the defense continues to be the consistent driving force for Eagles’ success over the last few weeks.

Speaking of the inconsistent offense, the Eagles certainly struggled to put the ball in the end zone today. Clearly, one offensive touchdown won’t get it done against the Giants next week. Before the Westbrook touchdown, I had serious reservations about weather this team even deserved to move on to the divisional round, considering the putrid offensive output. The touchdown helped, but I’m still a little stressed about that heading into next week’s Giants game.

So, I guess it’s time for a third go-round with the Giants next Sunday. Winnable? Sure. Will a win require a just about perfect effort in all facets of the game? Most definitely. Let the countdown begin.

A Glimmer of Hope

2008-12-09T21:41:00.003-05:00

Well, well, it looks like we have a football team to care about again. After a couple of ridiculously frustrating weeks, the Eagles finally decided to put together a couple of nice performances against one pretty good opponent and one pretty damn incredible opponent. Can we call it a fluke? Eh, we’ll see in another 3 weeks. I’ll just enjoy the fact I still have some meaningful football to watch over the next few weeks.

Heading into the Arizona game, I figured the Eagles were pretty much done. Most agreed. They still had a potent Cardinals team on the schedule followed by the NFL’s best team, the Giants (I hate to admit that. Ah, what the hell? They still suck.). Somehow, they managed to come away from those two games with two very nice-looking Ws. Now, they have three extremely winnable games up next. They should roll over Cleveland at home. We need not worry about that one. Then, they must survive two division games against the floundering ‘Skins and Cowboys. If the Birds somehow find a way past the Redskins on the road, there’s no way in hell they lose at home against Dallas. No way! This place would be too fired up for that game. How great would it be to secure our playoff spot against T.O. and the Cowboys at home? I’d sure take it.

Like I said, at least the Eagles have kept this season interesting for now and I’m pretty excited about that fact. A part of me, however, feels kind of torn about this whole scenario. Of course, I would much rather be in the playoffs than not in the playoffs. But, can they really make a legitimate run? Nah, I don’t think so. The Giants and Carolina are both way too strong in the NFC. Plus, if the Eagles do advance to the postseason, we’re looking at least another year of the Andy Reid era. Granted, we were probably headed that way anyway, but another playoff year may delay his eventual exit for another year. So, we have quite the catch 22 this season.

Time’s yours.

Benched

2008-11-24T23:21:00.003-05:00

I don’t even have words for the performance the Eagles put forth yesterday. This team looked absolutely pathetic. So pathetic, in fact, they couldn’t even put together one offensive scoring drive. No touchdowns. No field goals. It was downright disgraceful.

Yesterday’s benching of Donovan further points toward the fact that his tenure with the Eagles is over. Yeah, he’s going to start this week against Arizona, but that’s probably just out of habit. His time here skidded to a halt at halftime yesterday.

Let me just take one last opportunity here to beat the dead horse about Donovan and Andy Reid.

I’m not a huge Donovan supporter. I’ve bashed him countless times for his inconsistency and the fact that, save for one NFC Championship game, he never came up big when it was needed. However, I also don’t think its fair Donovan will end up being the scapegoat for the ineptness of this team over the last few years. He’s simply a victim of Andy Reid’s flawed system. How did we expect him to win when he was asked to throw the ball 70% of the time? That said, how did we expect him to be successful when he was supposed to throw to guys like James Thrash, Jason Avant and Greg Lewis? How did we expect him to establish a decent passing game when he had a completely non-existent running game? The answer to these questions is simple. We couldn’t.

Look what happened when the Eagles armed Donovan with a good receiver. He won, thus proving that Donovan isn’t completely at fault here. Andy Reid’s system put unrealistic expectations on Donovan without even giving him any of the tools needed to carry out that system. Considering what Donovan has had to work with over the course of his time here, I think he’s done pretty well.

The bigger problem with this team is Andy Reid and his stubbornness. For the last four seasons, we’ve watched this guy undermine one of the most solid principles of winning football: You set up the pass by establishing a good running game. In all this time, Andy dismissed this notion despite the fact that his pass-first philosophy clearly hasn’t worked. He’s refused to change his thinking and that has killed this team. Unfortunately, I don’t think the front office understands this. Andy is their boy and he will probably remain the coach. The Eagles won’t publically say it, but the implication will be Donovan couldn’t handle Andy’s system. Then, Andy will spend the entire off-season telling us Kevin Kolb is perfectly suited to handle the West Coast offense. With that, the process will start over again. Andy Reid is here to stay. We need to get used to it. Also, on 950 tonight, Sal Pal made a great point by citing the fact that Andy has three years left on current contract. You think the Eagles brass will part with this guy when they are still on the hook for three years? I don’t thinks so. We’re in for at least another year or two of the Andy Reid show.

Alright, there’s my final rant on Andy and Donovan. I don’t think I can say anything new about this situation at this point, so hopefully the subjects of my posts vary a little bit in the coming weeks.

Tie Eagles Tie...You Don't Get a Victory

2008-11-19T20:54:00.006-05:00

This week, the Eagles invented a new way to make themselves look stupid – a tie with the lowly, 1-8 Cincinnati Bengals. The loss, I mean tie, just about puts the nail in the coffin for this Eagles season.

Listen to WIP for five minutes and you’ll realize we’re all pretty sick of the Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb show. This era needs to end now. Ten years is enough. The Eagles won't regain any trace of their early 00s sucess with a coach as stubborn as Andy and a QB as inconsistent as D-Mac. The philosophy of this team is tired and needs a change. That much is plain to see. Now, someone needs to convince Jeff Laurie of this. So much for the gold standard.

Anyway, here are some thoughts on Sunday’s disgusting Eagles tie:

Where is the logic in throwing the ball 58 times in that kind of wind? I’ve never played or coached a minute of organized football in my life, but I know enough to realize if the wind is swirling around like it was in Cinncinnati the other day, the passing game probably won’t be too effective. Somebody should let Andy know that.

Speaking of bad play calls, Andy Reid pretty much waived the white flag when he decided to punt on 4th and 1 with about a minute and half left in overtime. By punting, Andy proved he has no confidence in the offense and he was content to settle for the tie. I still don’t think he understands how detrimental this tie was for the Eagles.

Once again, Donovan gets off to a slow start and the offense suffers. He kills this team with his erracticness (if that’s a word). Like most fans, I think we’ve seen the end of the Donovan McNabb era in Philly. I volunteer to help pack his bags and drive him to the airport.

As for the D-Mac exit plan, I sit on the fence between starting Kolb now or letting McNabb play out the remainder of the season. On the one hand, I’m anxious to see what Kolb has. And if it turns out he doesn’t have anything, we’ll at least know that heading into the draft. However, I also tend to think sitting McNabb now might lower his trade value. Maybe now that the season is virtually over and the pressure is off, he can go on some kind of out-of-world tear. If so, the Eagles could fool some team into over-paying for him.

The penalty on Sheldon Brown for the hit on Fitzpatrick was ridiculous. Apparently, you can’t even sneeze on a QB anymore without getting a personal foul.

Finally, how do NFL players not realize the game can end in a tie? And if you didn’t know it, why would you admit in the press conference? Donovan just made himself look ridiculous in that press conference.

Andy Reid...Worst Coach in the League

2008-11-13T21:38:00.008-05:00

I planned to lay out about 500 words tonight on why Andy Reid needs to go after this season. Then, I came across Jason Whitlock's piece which ranks Big Red as the worst coach in the NFL this far in 2008. Generally, I'm not a huge Jason Whitlock fan, but, in the interest of my laziness tonight, I think I'll just paste his description here. In this case, he's right so I'll go with it. Plus, he gets paid to write about this stuff. I don't so here is goes:

"Twice this season Reid has taken the game out of the hands of Donovan McNabb and tried to win at crunch time with his running game. Here's a coach who loves to throw on damn near every down except when the game is on the line. I also blame Reid for the Eagles failing to trade a second-round draft pick for Tony Gonzalez. Other than the one season with Terrell Owens, McNabb has made a living throwing the ball to the James Thrashes of the world. It's ridiculous. I'm convinced the Eagles don't want to win it all.

More Disappointment

2008-11-10T18:38:00.005-05:00

Different game, same result for the Eagles last night in a 36-31 loss to the Giants.

Yet again, short yardage kills this team. A team with playoff hopes must be able to pick up crucial yardage in a key situation - whether it be puching one into the end zone from the goal line or moving the pile for a key first down. This season, the Eagles have failed in both of those instances. The latest being last night's 3rd and 4th down debacle in the fourth quarter. For plays like this, a team needs a legitimate power back (duh, maybe a fullback??) who can plow through the pile and pick up those last few needed yards. Until arrogant Andy and Joe Banner realize the value of a runner like this, we should expect the same results in this type of situation.

Now, the Eagles must fight an uphill battle to even make the playoffs. To get to 10-6, the Eagles must go 5-2 the rest of way, which won't be an easy task. They should bounce back next week and grab a win at Cincy. However, the Birds still have the Giants, Washington, Baltimore and Arizona remaining on the schedule. So, they definitely have a tough road ahead.

Eagles Vs. Giants

2008-11-06T21:39:00.010-05:00

By 11:30PM Sunday night, we should have a much clearer picture of where the Eagles stand in NFC race. With a win against the 7-1 Giants, the Eagles can solidify themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. A loss, while not season-killing, may reveal this team just isn't among the top tier of the NFC.

For the Eagles to win this game, they must stop the run and force Eli to throw the ball. Most of the Giants' success this season has come from its stellar running game led by Brandon Jacobs. If the Eagles can at least contain Jacobs and make Eli throw, the Birds stand a pretty good chance in this game. Of course, the easiest way to accomplish this is to jump to a early lead and make the Giants play catch up all night.

The line has the Eagles favored by 3 and I'm pretty comfortable with that. If you ask me, the Eagles are a good bet in this one. I'll take the Birds 20-16.

Phillies Hangover

2008-11-04T20:48:00.007-05:00

Have you come down from week-long Phillies high yet? Although I've started my descent back to reality, I still plan to ride the excitement a little bit longer. The last eight days have been quite the euphoric blur. From the wash out on Monday to the cold celebration on Wednesday to the historic parade on Friday, the week provided quite the whirlwind of excitement.

As far as the celebration goes, I chose the quiet route. On Wednesday night, I just watched the TV coverage after the last pitch and traded phone calls and text messages all night. I didn't feel the need to rush out to streets. I was content to just sit home and enjoy everything from the comfort of my own couch where I watched so many games this season. For most of Thursday, I debated the parade and even took Friday off just in case I decided to go. Ultimately, though, I realized I would be absolutely miserable in a crowd of that magnatude. Again, I was perfectly fine watching the coverage from home on Comcast Sportsnet. I did, however, start to drop on small fortune on championship gear. To be honest, I think that habit will continue for weeks to come. I still think the World Champion flag will look pretty good in my garage.

Anyway, as we return to earth almost a week later, here are a few thoughts on the whole experience:

Amazingly, Phils fans took a complete 180 in their view of Charlie Manual. We finally warmed to this guy a little bit and I'm glad we did. I think he understands the comittment and hustle we demand from our teams. Granted, Charlie will never be a strategic baseball genius. However, Charlie's gut-instinct approach has worked out pretty well so far.

Who would have thought pitching would carry this team through the World Series? Earlier in the season, I wrote the Phillies would not win many 3-2 or 2-1 games. Like most, I thought this team needed to score 8 runs a night to win. Well, I was wrong. The Phils lacked big-inning punch during the series and, thus, relied heavily on small ball. The stellar pitching during the series enabled the Phils to win those games despite an abysmal offensive output for the most part. So, here's to Cole, Jamie, Joe, Ryan, Brad, Brett and the rest of the staff. Well done, fellas.

I never thought I'd say this, but a huge thank you must go to Chris Wheeler for not ruining Harry's last out call. Wheels maintained his vocal composer and let Harry handle the call for the historic strikeout. As much I love LA, I'm not sure he could have pulled this off if he was along side Harry. Plus, we got a youtube video that will provide entertainment for years to come. Everybody's doing the Wheeler.

Judging from the TV coverage, the parade was everything we hoped it would be. Some of the aerial shots of the crowd along Broad St. were downright jaw-dropping. Throughout my entire sports fan life, I heard about the Phillies 1980 parade and the Flyers parade that drew over 2 million people. Now, our generation has a parade of our own. I loved Pat Burrell on the lead float too. That was a fitting gesture for a guy who endured a lot of ups and downs during his time in Philly. I'm glad he finally secured a decent spot in Phillies lore.

Sure, the Chase Utley comment was inappropriate, but it was fun wasn't it? Chase definitely capped off the day with that speech. Of course, that's definitely easy for me to say since I'm not the father of some 7-year-old kid who now is dropping the F-bomb every other word. I'm sure that guy has a different opinion.

Now, new GM Reuben Amaro has the unenviable task of keeping this team together despite the huge raises a good number of guys will require. For the record, the Phils need to back the truck up and drop loads on dough on Cole Hamels' lap. That guy will dominate for years to come. The Phils need to commit to this guy and give him whatever he wants. Even if that means hiring a team chiropractor. Whatever happens though, we will witness one helluva off-season.

Oh yeah...

WORLD PH*CKING CHAMPIONS!

National League Champs!!

2008-10-15T23:57:00.005-04:00

I don't need to rehash the glorious details of tonight's big Phillies win. The only thing we need to know is the Phillies are back in the World Series for the first time in 15 years. I still can't explain how this happened. I wrote this team off approximately 48 times throughout the course of the season. Yet, somehow, they battled back from all of the seemingly insurmountable struggles they faced during the season and clinched the National League pennant. We couldn't ask for anything better than this.

We can start to analyze the Phils chances in the World Series later. (For the record though, I think the Phils have a pretty good shot regardless of who they play. Like Mitch and Ricky Bo said in the post-game, I don't think either Tampa or Boston could take this team in a seven game series.) However, we need to live in this moment for a while and celebrate this team's huge accomplishment. Tonight, this team took the next step in removing the proverbial monkey off the collective back of this city. Let's enjoy it without reservation.

Anyway, I'm bleary-eyed, tired and downright too pumped to sit behind a keyboard and type so I don't have much else to offer tonight. We'll get into the nuts and bolts of this series as well as the World Series in the next week.

Let's go Phils!

A Typical Eagles Move

2008-10-14T21:30:00.003-04:00

The NFL's trade deadline came and went today. Did you hear Dallas traded for WR Roy Williams? That's right, the Eagles division rival went out and added another playmaker to an already potent offense. Sure, the quarterback's injury puts this team in quite a predicament over the next month. However, at least they still try to adjust as the season moves along.

Meanwhile, on the Eagles front...crickets.

No.

Wait.

Hold on.

The Birds did make a move today. They released their 2007 third round pick, tailback (errr fullback?) Tony Hunt. They also picked up journeyman special-teamer Tracy White.

I can't sit here and argue Tony Hunt would play a huge part in the Eagles future. However, I can stew about the fact the Eagles never really gave Hunt a fair shake. Instead, they tried to convert him to a fullback, a position he was clearly not cut out to play. How could anyone profit from a situation like that? I am too lazy to look up the stats at the moment, but wasn't Tony Hunt one of the leading rushers in Penn State history? Wouldn't it stand to reason then the Eagles would work with Hunt as a tailback? Of course, history has shown college success doesn't always translate to pro stardom. Some guys just can't make the transition to the NFL and Tony Hunt may or may not have fallen into that category. However, the Eagles decision to force a less than ideal situation by converting Hunt to a fullback was just completely arrogant and insane.

Even more frustrating though is the fact the Eagles cut another high-round draft pick. Doesn't that just reaffirm what we have argued for the last 9 years? Andy Reid can not draft. Again, I don't have the facts in front of me, but how many high draft choices have actually made an impact during the Andy Reid era? I'm willing to bet the Eagles have one of the lowest draft success rates in the league.

I guess this is our life with the Eagles though. Until the front office undergoes a dramatic overall and the coach is gone, we're in for more of the same.

Stairs Steps Up

2008-10-14T20:43:00.006-04:00

Once again, the Phillies found heroism in an unlikely source. Matt Stairs ripped a huge two out homer in the 8th to put the Phils ahead for good in their 7-5 win over the Dodgers last night in Game 4 of the NLCS. The win gives the Phils a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the series.

Stairs' homerun will definitely find a spot in the highlight reel of big time Phillies playoff moments. Not only did it win the game and putthe Phils on the doorstep of their first World Series in 15 years, but the blast was also quite the moonshot. Stairs gave a free clinic on how to throughly crush a baseball. Take a look for yourself.

Perhaps even more amazing, Charlie Manuel had the foresight to hold Stairs' big bat for that situation. Earlier in the game, Charlie bypassed Stairs and opted for Geoff Jenkins instead in the hopes he could use Stairs against the hard thrower, Broxton. Add this move to Charlie's scary knack for putting Victorino and Werth in the right spot at the right time and suddenly we find Charlie Manual managing like he invented the game. He even knew the right time to use Lidge for four outs. Maybe, we should give Charlie some credit after all.

Of course Matt Stairs isn't the whole story of last night's game. Shane Victorino also hit a huge homerun in the 8th to tie the game at 5. Shane has put together a tremendous post-season so far. He's turned in two of the biggest clutch hits in the Phils post-season run - the grand slam off of Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS and of course last night's two run homer to tie up the game and bring the Phillies back from the dead. The entire league should take notice of Shane Victorino.

The Phillies are now in the driver's seat. They have their best chance to close out the series tomorrow night with Cole Hamels throwing. Hopefully, we will all celebrate a Phillies trip to the World Series. Wouldn't that be something?

This Wasn't In the Script!

2008-10-02T23:29:00.002-04:00

In the various scenarios I ran through my head prior to this series, I never imagined these first two games would play out quite like they have. I figured Cole Hamels would give the Phils a quality start in Game 1, which he clearly did. Cole simply dominated the Brewers lineup yesterday. However, I did not, for one second, believe the Phillies would chase C. C. Sabathia out of the game in the fourth inning tonight. Surely, I didn’t think a crucial Brett Myers walk would open the floodgates to a big inning for the Phils. Unfortunately, Dane Cook might have been right. You can’t script October.

I can’t say enough about the Phillies pitching so far in this series. First, Cole turned in the type of performance you need out of your ace in a big situation. Clearly, he’s solidified his place as the ace of this staff and I have a feeling he’ll be one of the big stories of these playoffs. We also saw the Brett Myers of August and September tonight and not the “16 runs in his last two starts” Brett Myers we saw over the last week and a half of the regular season. For this team to make any more noise in these playoffs, we’ll need these two to continue down this path. Plus, Brad Lidge didn’t have to pull out his best Mitchy-Poo impression to get though the ninth tonight, which allowed me to breathe a little easier.

If the Phillies continue to get this kind of pitching and perhaps, sprinkle a little more offense in the potion, we may have a legitimate contender on our hands.

Looking In the Mirror

2008-09-30T21:09:00.001-04:00

Now that the celebration has subsided, at least somewhat, we can finally focus on the task at hand for the Phils – namely, the Milwaukee Brewers in the Divisional Series. This definitely won’t be an easy series for the Phils, but I’m confident this team will put forth a better showing than they did against Colorado in last year’s Divisional Series. My reasoning won’t be the most in-depth, statistical-driven, or scientific analysis you’ll hear over the next few days, but here it is anyway.

This 2008 Brewers team mirrors the 2007 Phillies pretty closely. Much like the last year’s Phillies, the Brewers were pretty much left for dead with two weeks left in the regular season. Granted, they were not 7 out with 17 left to play, but their momentum had clearly plummeted after dropping 4 straight to our Phightins. The Brew Crew fell into panic mode, even firing manager Ned Yost with roughly two weeks left in the season –all of this while still in the midst of a wild card chase. Then, suddenly the Brewers surged when it counted and squeaked their way into the playoffs in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season. During that last day of the season, the young and inexperienced Brewers felt the highest of highs. Sound familiar? But, maybe the Brewers peaked that day. It sure is possible, isn’t it? We saw it with the Phils last year. It sure looked like the Phillies thought they won their World Series on that Sunday afternoon against the Nationals. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Brew Crew head down the same path.

Meanwhile, our Phillies have been there before and you can’t discount experience in postseason play. (I can’t believe I just wrote the Phillies have been there before. Still hard to believe this team has won two straight division titles.) I imagine they have churned last year’s embarrassing showing in the NLDS over and over in their minds throughout the past twelve months. Now, they have the chance to do something about it and I think they ultimately will. The Phillies had the past three days to come off their division-winning high. They had the opportunity to relax on Sunday, which enabled them to set the rotation as they saw fit. All of this should breed far better results than last year.

Of course, in order for the Phillies to take this series, I still think they need to jump on the Brew Crew in Game 1 and then finish it off within 4 games. If the series comes down to a Game 5 and the Brewers throw big C. C. out there for the second time, the Phils chances decrease dramatically. Presented with that situation, not even I, the quintessential optimist, would not like the Phillies’ chances. However, if they jump on this kid tomorrow and take advantage of every non-C. C. day, the Phils may just punch their ticket to the NLCS.

Gulp...

2008-09-23T23:39:00.003-04:00

Panicked? Nah. A little more concerned than I was three hours ago? You betcha.

I guess I spoke a little too soon. Maybe, I even counted my proverbial eggs a little prematurely. With tonight's loss, coupled with a Mets win, the race for the division just became a little more interesting. I knew the Phillies couldn't coast into the playoffs. That just wouldn't be their style. By now, I'm used to nervous final weeks of the season. Why should this year be any different?

Should I Be This Relaxed?

2008-09-23T19:49:00.004-04:00

I hope the Phillies don't blow the division lead over the next 5 games. If they do, I can only blame myself. I sent the following text message to my buddy Dan today:

"So, we're going to win the division. How about that? I
have tix for Friday so I hope they clinch it then."

Followed by this:

"Now that I said that they will lose 5 straight and the
Mets and Milwaukee will pass them."

Dan's Response:

"Yea, if that happens, I'm gonna have to forward these
text messages to W.I.P."

Nothing like throwing me to the wolves.

On a serious note though, something seems extremely weird about the way the last two weeks of the season have played out so far. Here's a brief rundown of the questions racing through my head:

Aren't we usually the team chasing?

How did we end up out front?

And why aren't we clinging on for dear life?

We actually have a magic number?

Quality starting pitching?

Timely hitting...from Pedro Feliz?!!?!?!?

You mean we may have to watch the final regular season game this Sunday with sweaty palms and a knot in our stomachs?

This is craziness. My head is spinning. I need a drink.

Here We Go...

2008-09-15T18:56:00.003-04:00

Counting down. 90 minutes until kickoff and I can barely sit still enough to write this.

I figured I'd go on the record with my pick for tonight's game.

Clearly, the Eagles face a much tougher test tonight then they faced last week. We're not talking about the Rams anymore. Dallas surely is a pretty good team...as much as I hate to admit it. However, this is definitely a winnable game for the Birds. To do so, the Eagles will need to find a way to confuse the hell out of Tony Romo. If they are able to throw the house at this guy, they should be able to pull this one out. I see Jim Johnson using all sorts of blitz packages and schemes tonight and I think this ultimately bodes well for the Eagles.

So, here it is. My optimistic prediction: Eagles 20, Dallas 13.

Apparently, Jessica Simpson doesn't agree with my pick. God, they make me sick.

By the way, today is my 1 year wedding anniversary. I guess I should put a note in here about how my wonderful wife insisted we stay home, order some wings and watch the Birds tonight. That's why I married her.

Go Birds!!

A Tale of Two Seasons

2008-09-14T22:40:00.007-04:00

I'm sure glad last year's Brett Myers is back. Since returning from the minor leagues around mid-summer, Brett has been nothing short of dominant. Tonight, he continued that trend by throwing a gem in the second game of today's doubleheader...on three days rest, mind you. We always knew Brett was an emotional pitcher. He's at his best when the pressure mounts. And, despite his early struggles, Brett looks like he will continue that trend this season. Simply, you can't say enough about what this guy has accomplished in the second half this season. Brett definitely has my vote for MVP of the second half.

***

Amazing.

Just this past Thursday, I had pretty much given up on the Phils for the season. They sat three games behind the Mutts and, I believe, four behind the Brewers for the wild card. Clearly, their playoff hopes looked pretty grim.

Then, in the most unlikely of scenarios, the pull off a four game sweep of the Brewers and insert themselves back into the race. Somehow, this team seems to do this every year. They wait until just about everyone counts them out and then somehow find a way to sneak into the playoff picture. Clearly, this team is more comfortable when we don't pay as much attention. Either way, I'll take it.

We still have 13 games left, so I'm not getting too excited. This team has had a way of letting us down through the years. And, like most, I'm still not convinced last year's division title was anything more than an aberration and, quite frankly, most luck. However, the schedule sure looks pretty favorable for the Phils down the stretch. Hopefully, we'll have some fun over the next two weeks.

1-0

2008-09-11T23:19:00.000-04:00

I know it was four days ago and most of you are already focused on next week, but I never got a chance to throw down my thoughts on the big Eagles W this past Sunday. The Birds were quietly getting a lot of buzz heading into week 1, but I didn't expect what I saw on Sunday. This team looked pretty impressive. Sure, they only beat the Rams, arguably the worst team in the league, but a win is a win.

Anyway, here's the three thoughts that ran through my head after the game on Sunday:

First, I'll take my shot at the dead horse here and start with how unbelievable DeSean Jackson looked in week 1. DeSean really impressed just about every Eagles fan in the area this week. But, I'm still not exactly ready to put too many expectations on him just yet. Afterall, it's only been one week. However, even if he doesn't catch another pass this year, you have to be excited about the possibilities this guy brings to special teams. The Eagles finally have a legitimate chance to take one to the house on every punt return. Reno Mahae didn't exactly give us that.

The quarterback finally looks like he's in 2004 form again. He moved pretty well when he had to (which wasn't all that often) and he looked confident in his options, something he definitely lacked last season. Just think, if DeSean Jackson does blossom into the kind of threat a lot of people think he can be, Donovan may be looking at a pretty productive season. We'll see what happens, but starting the season with a 21-33, 361 yd, 3 TD game can't hurt, right?

Finally, buried in the game story was the performance of Stewart Bradley. This guy is really opening some eyes. Hopefully, this is the only the start of good things for Bradley and the rest of the young linebackers. If we're lucky, maybe this situation with young, unproven linebackers will turn out like 2004 when Lito and Sheldon were young, unproven corners. That ended up pretty well for us.

One down. Fifteen more to go. And now...Dallas week. Thank God football is back.

Back to Business

2008-09-10T21:01:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I know. It's been awhile.

But I finally think things are settling down enough to get back into the blogging thing.

Summer's over. The Eagles have started. Much to talk about. I can't make any more excuses.

I should be able to write something of substance tomorrow night. I appreciate the patience...if anyone's left.

Lazy Days...

2008-08-19T20:09:00.003-04:00

I've spent the last few days reading and preparing from my fantasy draft this Wednesday night. Hence, I haven't spent much time with the blog. Once that's over, I should have a little more time to devote to it.

Granted, it's been pretty boring the last couple of weeks. Other than the Shawn Andrews thing, not much to talk about out of Eagles camp. And the Phillies are in the process of gift-wrapping the division for the Mets. So, there's no sense in beating that dead horse.

Unless you're a huge Theo Ratliff fan, you really don't have much to get excited about until Sept 7th when the Eagles finally play a real game. So, I admit, until that time, things may be a little slow on here as well. I can guarantee things will surely pick up though leading up to the Eagles opener.

Front-runners

2008-08-14T20:35:00.003-04:00

What planet is J-Roll living on these days? Seriously. Is he purposely trying to run himself out of town? And if so, why after his MVP season last year?

Just some of the questions rattling around my head after this latest J-Roll incident in which he called Philadelphia fans "front-runners" on BDSSP. Maybe, we're all making too much of this. I didn't see the show, but perhaps Jimmy just got a little too laxed on the show. Without the local beat writers shoving a tape recorder down his throat at his locker, maybe Jimmy just got a little too comfortable on the set and let something slip. Who knows?

What we do know is Jimmy got this whole thing wrong. For a bunch of front-runners, we sure do buy a lot of tickets. We sure do spend a lot of time on debating our teams on message boards and on WIP. All of this amid the longest four-sport championship drought in pro sports. Yeah, I guess we're front runners. Good to know our MVP shortstop appreciates the sell out crowds that have filled the seats at CBP this season. Thanks, Jimmy. Maybe instead of questioning the fans' loyalties, you should work on that .260 batting average and try and help this team end the 28-year championship drought. Hmmm...28 years without and championship and we're still filling those seats every game. Yeah...Front-runners.

Whatever his intentions, Jimmy Rollins appears pretty disinterested in playing for this team and this city this season. Maybe George will finally get his wish and Rollins finds himself playing somewhere else soon.

B-West Gets His Due

2008-08-10T17:39:00.006-04:00

I imagine just about every Eagles fan in the area - myself included - breathed a huge sigh of relief when the Eagles announced they had signed Brian Westbrook to a new contract on Friday. Now, we have B-West locked up for the next three seasons, which should carry him pretty much through the reminder of his prime. With the signing, the Birds not only keep their star RB happy, but they eliminate the possibility of the situation festering and leading to a messy breakup down the road.

You can't mistake Westbrook's value to this Eagles offense. He's one of the more versatile backs and the league and gives this team it's most legitimate offensive threat. So, I think we're all pretty glad he's going to be around for awhile.

To get ourselves pumped for some more Brian Westbrook over the next few years, here's some of B-West's greatest hits. Enjoy!

Slacker

2008-08-05T22:25:00.010-04:00

Admittedly, I have been rather remiss in posting lately. For the record, I’ll blame this on a hectic work schedule over the last two weeks, but in all honesty, I can’t claim anything but pure laziness.

In any event, over the last couple of weeks, we saw a few developments with the Phillies and Eagles worth a mention:

First, we’ve witnessed two quality starts in a row from Brett Myers. Sure, it’s a sad state of affairs when we’re excited about two decent starts in a row from our Opening Day starter. But, considering the season Myers has put forth thus far, I’ll take it. This team could really use the old Brett through the last two months of the season.

Staying with the Phillies, the baseball non-waiver trade deadline came and went last week. What did the Phillies do? Well, absolutely nothing. Honestly, this kind of surprised me considering Pat Gillick is a lame-duck GM. With a clean break after the season eminent, I thought Pat may be willing to go on in on some kind of deal for a marquee player. What would he care about the mortgaging the future of the organization to make a title run when he’s out of here next year anyway? The lack of a large-scale move surprised me a little, but such is life with the Phillies organization.

The Eagles reported to camp last week. Yes, Brian Westbrook showed up. Thank God. So, did Lito Sheppard. For some reason, I haven’t followed training camp as closely as I have in years past. While I’m excited for football season to start, I just can’t get too pumped for a Birds team destined to go 8-8 or 9-7 and possibly finish last in the division for a second straight season.

The big story out of camp has been this whole Shawn Andrews situation. MIA since the start of camp nearly a week and a half ago, Andrews finally admitted he is battling depression. I’m not sure what to make of this story yet. I’ll echo many posters to various websites and say I would probably be depressed too if I had to spend three weeks living in a dorm room and participating in two-a-days in the heat of mid-summer at Lehigh University. But that’s just me.

So, that basically sums up the last two weeks. Regular posting will resume this week.

And one other thing: Brett Favre needs to give it up. I am really sick of this story. Brett needs to grow up and move on. His selfishness will most definitely kill the Pack this season. It’s really time for one of the most over-rated quarterbacks in history to step aside.

What's Up with J-Roll?

2008-07-24T22:21:00.004-04:00

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Jimmy Rollins found himself on the bench for today’s series finale against the Muts at Shea. Apparently, Rollins rolled into the ballpark just a tad too late and Charlie decided the offense was enough to warrant some time on the pine. Surely, this isn’t where we want to see our MVP shortstop, but I guess rules are rules in the Charlie Manual clubhouse.

The reports state Rollins opted out of the team bus and drove his car to the game today. I just don’t understand the logic in this. Why wouldn’t you take the team bus for the short ride from the hotel to the game? It looks like Rollins’ decision to fly solo came back to bit him. This simple fact makes this story frustrating. The whole mess could have been avoided. The Phillies have enough to worry about now without Rollins stirring the pot.

Normally, this is probably a brush-off story. Player was late. Player was benched. The End. But, today’s incident marks Rollins’ second benching of the season and the latest chapter in an extremely strange 2008. Of course, Rollins’ numbers are way down compared to last year. That’s understandable though, considering last year was a standout, MVP year. He was bound to experience a letdown this season. Add to that though the incident on June 5th against Cincy when he was benched for not hustling down the line on a routine groundball. Then, just last week, Rollins found himself the focus of some ire on WIP for a lack of hustle in a base running blunder during the Florida series. Now, he shows up late to the ballpark in one of the bigger games of the season, thus far? Something just seems off with shortstop. Is he just completely disinterested with the season?

The Rollins story overshadows the Phillies loss to the Mets today. The loss drops the Phillies to second in the NL East. My frustration level continues to rise with this team. But, I’m not ready to toss it in just yet. After all, we do have a lot of baseball left to play. But I think what we’re seeing now may ultimately prove last year’s division win was the aberration and a pure stroke of luck. This team simply may not be good enough.

So (Taguchi) Nice To Beat the Mets

2008-07-23T19:55:00.003-04:00

Last night, I was ready to fire off a heated post declaring the Phillies dead in the water and running down the reasons this team will never win as constructed.

Then, Jason Werth leads off the ninth with a single…

Then, Greg Dobbs and Shane Victorino…

Next thing you know, I’m watching So Taguchi hit a game-tying double over the right fielder’s head, followed by a go-ahead double by Jimmy Rollins. Go figure.

Somehow, the Phillies pulled out some of that 2007 magic and managed to squeak out a win against the Mets after a pretty lifeless 8 innings last night. I couldn’t be more excited about this one. For the first time in two monthes, this team showed signs of the team we came to appreciate late last year and through the early part of this season. Now, they just need to build on this momentum and not lay an egg the rest of this series.

Unfortunately, in order to do so, they must rely on their troubled ace, Brett Myers, tonight. I can’t say my confidence is all that high in the potential for tonight. But, judging from some of his quotes from earlier in the week, Brett sure seems confident.
Let the yelling at the TV and the throwing of the remotes commence.

Some Cosmetic Stuff

2008-07-21T20:36:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted anything in the last couple of days because I have been spending my free time looking at the different settings and options for the blog. Basically, when I created this thing, I just clicked on the template I liked best and started writing. Everytime I post something, I tell myself I will take the time to customize the blog a little. That never happens. So, this weekend I decided I better take some time and and add some links, feeds, etc. That process continues tonight. Hence, probably nothing meaningful posted tonight. I'll probably play around a little bit more tomorrow night and then get back to full-fledged posting by Wednesday. I'm sure by then I'll have plenty to talk about with a huge Mets series on the horizon, Joe Blanton's first Phillies start and Brett Myers' first start after his minor league stint (I'm breaking out in sweat just thinking about it.)

But just in case you slept through the weekend, here's a rundown of what we're looking at heading into this week:

Phillies lose two of three to Marlins, dropping them into a tie with the Mets for first in the division. Makes this week's series in New York all the more meaningful.

Apparently, Pat Burrell isn't too happen about Elmer Fudd's usual tactics of pulling him for defensive replacement late in a close game. I don't blame him. I've said this for years. I can't prove this numerically, but I'd venture to say the probability that Pat contributes to a close win with a big hit late in the game far outweighs the probability that he loses a close game with a defensive blunder. I'd always be willing to trade a potential defensive gaffe for the his bat when the game is on the line.

The Eagles open training camp today. All indications are B-West will report to camp despite his unhappiness with his current contract. I sure hope the Eagles don't let this situation fester. Normally, when players start crying about their contracts, I generally take the 'shut up and play' stance. However, given the fact the Eagles are roughly 182M under the cap and always seem quite proud of it, I have to side with 36 on this. I'm not breaking any ground here. Without Brian Westbrook, this offense goes nowhere. Pay the man!

More to come later this week.

Joe Blanton Arrives

2008-07-18T16:22:00.001-04:00

In their annual shopping trip for mid-level pitching talent, the Phillies acquired A’s right-hander, Joe Blanton. To land Blanton, the Phils shipped minor league prospects Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman and Matt Spencer to Oakland.

While many have already trashed this deal, deeming the cost too-high for what looks to be a mediocre starter, I am taking a wait-and-see attitude on this one. Clearly, Blanton has struggled so far this season in Oakland. But, like most of the published reports today say, throw out Blanton’s four worst starts and he comes in with a pretty respectable ERA of 3.58. Maybe the clichéd “change of scenery” argument works here. Plus, Blanton most likely will take Adam Eaton’s place in the rotation. How much worse can this guy be? At the worst, we may have just acquired the lesser of two starting pitching evils.

As for the price tag, we can’t judge that until these prospects shake out. Second base prospect, Cardenas, is the prime piece of this group the Phillies shipped in this deal. Most criticize the Phils for not holding on to this guy. However, with Chase Utley blocking his path to the bigs, there was a good chance Cardenas would be moved at some point anyway. That leaves the question – did the Phillies receive enough value?

Of course, we must take solace in the fact the Phillies didn’t give in and move a more defined prospect in pitcher Carlos Corrasco. I’m no expert, but I imagine it’s easier to replenish position players in the system than stud pitchers. Even if this deal totally tanks, I have to believe the risk is worth taking.

I guess chapter 1 of the Joe Blanton story will be written sometime this weekend when it looks like he’ll get a start against the Marlins.

End of an Era

2008-07-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

“They’re tearing it down now, But it’s just as well”
-Bill Joel

These Billy Joel lyrics nail my thoughts on the demolition of the Spectrum following the 2008-2009 season. Yes, I will miss the place. It stands as a landmark in South Philly and as a significant part of our sports history. Many, including myself, saw their first Flyers and/or Sixers game or concert there.

But, as I texted to my friend Dan the other day, I enjoy the “new” sports complex too much to not be excited about the potential plans for the site. I love hitting McFadden’s or Chickie’s & Pete’s before or after a Phils game so I welcome any new restaurants or bars Ed Snider wants to bring into that spot. These types of places add to the atmosphere and make attending a game much more enjoyable.

Plus, in recent years, the Spectrum has become more and more depressing. Housing only the Phantoms, Soul and Kixx, the building sits idle most nights. And when they added the black curtain that covers the top level and the upper half of the second level, it solidified the fact the building was now only a trace of its former self.

Anyway, I know we’ll see tons of lists appear on TV and on the internet counting down the best moments in Spectrum history. So, I figured I’d give my personal favorite Spectrum moments here. The key word – personal. These probably have no significance to anyone else I’m sure. Just some of the more memorable nights I’ve spent at the Spectrum.

Jerry Stackhouse’s First Game: Stackhouse was supposed to be the next MJ when the Sixers drafted him with the 3rd overall pick in 95. Too bad that didn’t turn out as planned. But I did get to go to opening night that season though. Spirits were high. The air was filled with optimism. The Sixers beat the then-Washington Bullets that night along with their new superstar, Rasheed Wallace. Unfortunately, I think they only won 17 games after that.
The Shawn Antoski Fight: This is as obscure as it gets. In the first Flyers game I ever attended, former Flyers enforcer Shawn Antoski cleaned somebody’s clock in the best hockey fight I ever saw in person. I admit the details are sketchy at best, but the image of Antoski holding this guy up just to pound on him some more continues to stick with me.
Bulls/Sixers game: In January of 93, I got to see Michael Jordan and the Bulls play the Sixers from the 3rd row off the floor. This was before Jordan’s first retirement so he was still in his prime. The lady next to me went on and on all night about meeting MJ in the hotel before the game. She even passed a Polaroid of she and MJ around the section.

Ah, memories.

I hope both the Sixers and Flyers honor the old place by playing one last home game there this season. I don’t know if it would be logistically possible, but I’m sure the gesture would be extremely popular with the fans want to see one last game in the old building.

Too Tired...

2008-07-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

Too tired to contribute anything coherent tonight.

Thoughts on Spectrum demolition coming tomorrow.

That's How You Hit A Homer...

2008-07-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

Well, our boy Chase Utley didn't fare so well in tonight's home run derby. But we did get to see quite a show from the comeback kid, the Rangers' Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton belted 28 home runs to set a new single round home run derby record. More impressive though was the distance his homers traveled. Hamilton's story is definitely one of the better comeback stories in recent memory so it was nice to see this guy have his moment.

As I write this, we're still in the second round of this thing. Regardless of who ends up winning, Josh Hamilton will definitely be the highlight of this year's derby. Surely, we'll see these highlights for years to come.

The Donovan Question

2008-07-14T18:44:00.000-04:00

Since we have a much-needed breather from the Phillies season with this week’s All-Star break, we might as well fill the time with some Eagles chatter.

As we inch closer to the start of training camp next Tuesday, our attention, inevitably, turns toward our erratic QB 1, Donovan McNabb. Clearly, as D-Mac goes, so goes the Birds offense. Which D-Mac will we see this upcoming season? Will we see the return of the pre-ACL injury Donovan of 2006 when he was throwing up some pretty respectable stats, and, in the process, propelling my fantasy team to the top of the Tartan Football League standings? Or, will we see the tentative, immobile, post-ACL surgery Donovan from last season?

Hopefully, now that Donovan is nearly two full years removed from that injury, we’ll see Five return to his old self. No doubt, Donovan spent last season breaking in his surgically-repaired leg. You couldn’t mistake the tentative nature of his play. However, with two full off seasons of healing and strengthening behind him, Donovan should regain some of his previous mobility as well as the confidence to plant and make the tough throw – something clearly missing from his game last year.

Of course, we always wonder about McNabb’s durability moving forward and, rightly so, since he’s missed significant time in three of the previous six seasons. Add to this the fact he missed two games last year and sat out part of this year’s minicamp with shoulder tendonitis and the cause for concern grows. Obviously, we need a healthy Donovan to keep pace in a pretty strong NFC East.

To put it simply: McNabb finds himself in a “put up or shut up” year with the Birds in 08. If he’s able to start strongly and put the Eagles in position to make a serious run at this division, he may force us to renew our faith in our franchise QB. If not, Kevin Kolb better drop the clipboard and grab a helmet.

That's the Way to Close Out the First Half...

2008-07-13T19:45:00.000-04:00

When your Phighin Phils need a big hit, leave it to Pat the Bat to deliver.

The Phillies got a huge three-run homer from Pat the Bat today as they trounce the D-Backs 6-3 today in front of another huge crowd at the CBP.

Burrell’s clutch hit today further solidifies the fact he was royally snubbed for the All-Star game. While Pat has struggled recently, one cannot deny the fact that he has elevated his game tremendously in the second half of last year and the first half of this year. His bat really helped the Phils in their divisional title run last year and he continues to spark the Phils this season. We’ll see how the front-office handles the Burrell situation this offseason as Pat tests free agency for the first time in his career.

Today’s win was huge since it guaranteed the Phillies first-place heading into the All-Star break. Also, the series win over the D-Backs should give the Phils something to build upon heading into the second half of the season. Clearly, this team has struggled in the last month or so. Maybe this series win along with the R & R of the All-Star break will allow the Phils to regain some of the swagger they had from mid-May through mid-June.

Moreover, the Phillies impressed me this week with the way they took the two games from the Snakes. Aside from Pat Burrell’s homer in today’s game, the Phillies used some good old-fashioned little league small ball in Friday night’s game. In the sixth inning of Friday night’s win, Pedro Feliz scored on a ball Arizona catcher, Miguel Montero, couldn’t handle. Then, later in the same inning, Carlos Ruiz attempted to steal second which drew a throw from Montero and allowed Shane Victorino to score from third. You know you’ve seen that play in little league and apparently it still works in the big leagues. Both plays showed some great heads-up baseball and prove this team can manufacture runs and does not need to solely rely on the three-run homer to win games.

Hopefully, the Phillies can pick up a full game on those irritating and, unfortunately red-hot New York Mets tonight. The Mets take on Colorado in the ESPN game.

The Elton Brand Deal

2008-07-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

I'm sure I don't have to waste the space detailing the events and the ensuing controversy of the Elton Brand signing this week. Quite frankly, the questions about who's to blame for Brand breaking his verbal committment to the Clippers and inking a deal with the Sixers is played at this point. The bottom line: EB will suit up for the home team next season.

I can't say I'm as giddy as the rest of the Delaware Valley about the deal. Yes, the Sixers took an aggressive approach to free agency this year and landed, arguably, the best free agent on the market. In doing so, they addressed one of their most glaring needs by picking up an established PF. On paper, the starting lineup looks as exciting as any in the league with Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Sammy Dalebert, Thaddeus Young and now EB. I can't argue the fact that the Sixers improved the team with this move.

But, I can't help but wonder if the Sixers overpaid for marginal improvement. Does the additon of Elton Brand to this lineup push them that much closer to competing with the Celtics and Pistons for dominance in the East? Something tells me it doesn't. Considering this, my stomach churns when I look at the numbers the Sixers agreed to. Five years for roughly 80 million seems kind of steep for a guy who's pretty close to the wrong side of 30. Plus, Brand is coming off a year in which he only played 8 games due to a stress facture. If I'm the Sixers, I don't know if I can make that kind of committment to a guy who comes into this year with so many question marks.

Anyway, I hope I'll look back at this post next June when the Sixers are deep into the playoffs and laugh because I was totally off base with this apprehension.

Freak Out

2008-07-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=kuharsky_paul&id=3469725

I stumbled across this interesting piece by Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com today. The story discusses Javon Kearse's attempt to return to his "freakish" ways as a member of the Tennessee Titans this upcoming season. Clearly, Kearse wants to forget about the mostly dreadful four seasons he spend with the Eagles and renew his career with the Titans with whom he found succcess early in his career.

I particularly love this quote from Kearse:

"They'll say, 'Why the hell did we let that dude go? What were they thinking?'"

Let me take you through the Eagles thought-process, if I may, Javon. They realized they had an injury-prone, unproductive former star on their hands, who was owed way too much money coming off a season in which he only registered 3.5 sacks. They also realized they had a budding superstar in Trent Cole and it was time to move on from the "Freak" era. Think about it Javon. Your play last season didn't exactly solidify your place on this roster.

I wish you well, Javon, but Eagles knew what they were doing in this case. You made their decision quite simple.

I figured I would just throw that article out there to jump-start the football chatter. Training camp opens in a few weeks and I don't think I could be more excited. Of course, there are plenty of question marks surrounding the 2008 edition of your Philadelphia Eagles. We'll address those in the blog as we get closer to the season.

In another note, related to the start of football season, but completely unrelated to the Eagles, I registered for my annual Highland Tartans Class of 2001 (with special guest Matt Rocky) fantasy football league this week. Last year, I admit I practically quit on my team in week 4. It just didn't feel like my team. I had some technical issues the night of the draft and, therefore, couldn't be an active participant. (Yes, I was THAT guy. I was forced to rely on the old "we'll draft the best player on the board" routine. This year, though, I'm armed with a new laptop, a stack of magazines and plenty of free time and I plan on winning the league for the third time in its 8-year history...and talking plenty of trash while doing it. Look to the blog this fall for updates on my progress.

Maybe the Phillies should just play in Hotlanta every night.

Tonight, the Phillies completed a 4-game sweep of their National League East rivals behind another gem from their ace Cole Hamels. Having scored 19 runs in the three-game set with the Braves, the Phillies finally look like they are waking up after falling into an offensive coma during the recent interleague portion of their schedule.

The main ingredient in tonight's win though was definitely the dominence of Cole Hamels. Hamels threw 8.2 innings while giving up 1 Earned Run, 2 walks and striking out 7. The lone run came in the ninth on a Brian McCann double down the right field corner. Unfortunately, Uncle Charlie decided to take Hamels out after that run and disrupt Cole's shot at the complete game. You could definitely tell Hamels was disappointed Charlie was taking the ball from him and he should have been. Hamels gave the Phillies 8.2 solid innings and, yet, Charlie decided to yank him when he is one out away from a complete game masterpiece. I understand Charlie wanted to avoid any potential problems by bringing in Tom Gordon's fresh arm; but give Hamels his due. Cole should have finished what he started. But, who am I to complain? I mean, the Phillies won right? Oh wait...I'm from Philadelphia cough suburbs cough. It's in our blood to find something to cry about even after a three game sweep against a division rival.

Meanwhile, down on the farm, Brett Myers made his first "rehabilitation" start for the IronPigs last night. Of course, AAA baseball isn't televised in this area so I didn't see how Brett's stuff looked but his line didn't impress me all that much: IP 5 ER 3 K 6 BB 2. Certainly commendable, but I guess I expected much more from Brett in his first start minor league start since roughly 2002. I probably just set my expectations way too high. Either way, we'll see how Myers does in his next start sometime next week.

Tonight, we finally found out who will throw for the Phillies in the series-opener Friday night against Johan Santana and the hated New York Mets. J. A. Happ will get the start for the Phils. Personally, I hoped the Phillies would bring up Carlos Carrasco from Reading for the next few weeks. His name is the most prominent name featured in any discussion about the Phillies pitching prospects in the farm system. However, since Carrasco was scratched from his last start early this week due to shoulder stiffness, the Phillies probably made the right move in choosing Happ over Carrasco.

I guess that's it for tonight. Big series against the Mets this weekend. Honestly, does it get any better than this for your Fourth of July weekend? Our most hated rivals, the Mets, come into town for a four-game set over the long holiday weekend. Truely, this is what America is all about. So, take some time this weekend to grab a hotdog, maybe some potato salad, and watch our Phightin Phils mow down the Mets in the birthplace of our country.

Enjoy everyone (all three of you who read this blog)!

Myers Demoted

2008-07-02T21:02:00.000-04:00

Since last Friday night, we have debated the issue: What should the Phillies do about Brett Myers? Well, now we have our answer. Yesterday, the Phillies finally addressed the stuggles of their Opening Day starter by optioning Brett to their AAA affliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Personally, I think the Phillies made the correct move in this situation. Look at the options. They could have tried to trade Brett before the July 31st trade deadline, but, most likely, they couldn't command a quality return for the right-hander. Just a hunch, but I would venture to say most teams aren't knocking down the door for a 3-9 pitcher with a 5.84 ERA. Many also wondered if the Phils would move Brett to the bullpen where he pitched extremely well last season. While I agree Brett's pitching mentality resides more along the lines of a relief pitcher, the Phils made the correct decision in not disrupting the chemistry of a bullpen, which has actually held its own thus far this season. Instead, Brett's time with the IronPigs will allow him to work through his season-long problems while, hopefully, simultaneously give him back the confidence he once possessed.

As to how long Brett will spend in Lehigh, no one really knows. In his blog, Daily News beat writer, David Murphy, reports Charlie Manual initially said Brett could make as many as 3 or 4 starts for the IronPigs but GM, Pat Gillick, indicated Brett could return to the big club before the All-Star break. Frankly, the Phillies shouldn't rush this. Let Brett use his time in Lehigh to get some quality starts under his belt and clear his head of the demons from the first half of the season.

We won't have to wait long to see how Brett fairs in his new, albeit temporary, digs. He starts tonight for the IronPigs against former Phils AAA affliate Scranton/WB.

Odds & Ends

2008-06-29T21:18:00.000-04:00

Admittedly, I didn’t watch too much of the Phils this week. I just can’t get into a late-June interleague series against Oakland. First of all, the games start at 10 PM which doesn’t bode well for me when I have to get up at six for work the next day. Secondly, I just can’t get myself too juiced for these road interleague series. What do I care about the Oakland A’s? Chances are we won’t see them at any time in the next 3-4 years. There just isn’t much there to connect to. The print media and TV personalities try to throw out the “Jimmy Rollins returns home” or the "Phillies-A’s both from Philly" angle, but I don’t buy it. I didn’t spend any time with Jimmy Rollins in high school and the A’s left Philly 60 years ago. I don’t mind the history. No doubt, baseball is full of great history. Just don’t pretend these 2008 teams are renewing a rivalry. It’s a stretch.

Since I don’t have much to offer as far as new insight on the Phillies, I figured I’d just tie up some loose ends tonight. So without further adieu…

Let me start by offering my apologies for a huge oversight in my previous post about the potential C. C. Sabathia trade. I failed to mention the most recent Phillies pitching bust: Freddy Garcia. Take a look at the line on this guy last season: GS 11, W 1, L 5, IP 58.0, H 74, R 39, ER 38, ERA 5.90. This was coming off a season in which he posted a 17-9 mark. Granted, you can’t fault Pat Gillick for making the move. He needed to bolster the rotation and we sure know Gavin Floyd wasn’t getting it done. But c’mon. How can he be this bad? Then, this whole thing about a possible hidden injury during his physical came out and he was history. Just another entry in the Phillies encyclopedia. However, Garcia further proves my point that the Phillies shouldn’t sacrifice too much to acquire a starter. There’s a 98% chance the move will bite them in the long run.
Speaking of bad Phillies pitching, the Brett Myers BP Tour rolled into Texas on Friday night and surely didn’t disappoint the Rangers’ offense. Myers went 2 innings while giving up 5 hits, 4 walks, 5 Earned Runs and a homer. Currently, Myers’ ERA stand at a lofty 5.84 and his record sits at 3-9 after 17 starts. Given this current situation and taking into account the Phillies’ lack of pitching options, I propose MLB institutes a Brett Myers Rule. Basically, when Brett Myers starts, the Phillies should be spotted 3 runs. Just like that. That way, we have a chance to come out of the first inning tied at 3. It’s the only way to give the team a Phightin’ chance since Brett seems to enjoy getting shelled early in every game. Either way, it looks like we may get a chance to put away our alkaseltzer tablets soon. Reports indicate the Brett may be headed to the bullpen. Let’s just make sure we’re up by 6 runs before we insert him in the game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3465606

Ed Stafanski made his first draft selection as President and GM of the Sixers on Thursday night, opting to take Florida big man, Marreese Speights. Honestly, I can’t say I followed too much of the draft this year or any year for that matter. I find it extremely hard to get excited to sit around and watch a bunch of guys in suits shake hands with the Comish and fake a smile. I’ll get excited when the season starts and I can see how this guy plays. On the surface though, it looks like the Sixers made a pretty good pick. They needed some help in the paint and they definitely addressed that. Although, according to this clip, he may be a work in progress:
My friend Dan texted me on Friday afternoon about this whole Ed Wade choking story. All weekend I’ve turned this thing over and over in my mind and I just can’t come up with anything witty or poignant to say. The whole thing is just so insane. I just can’t shake the image from my head of Ed Wade berating and then tussling with one of the players. The whole scene is just infathomable. How does Ed regain the respect of his club after a mess like this? There’s nothing more I can say.

No, No Sabathia

2008-06-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

When Dan Dean sent me a text message this afternoon to get my thoughts on the C.C. Sabathia trade rumors, I realized I hadn’t written about it all week. Not wanting to let Dan Dean down, I figured I’d address this whole C. C. Sabathia situation.

It’s easy to get caught up in the trade deadline hoopla, especially when your team is in the hunt for a playoff spot as the Phillies are. Normally, the Phillies frustrate me by not making a move or making a soft move. This year, though, I hope the Phillies keep relatively quiet at the deadline. I know I am in the minority with that statement, but let me explain my reasons.

Yes, I admit a proven starter like Sabathia could bolster the Phils starting rotation. I stress the word could. The Phillies don’t exactly own the best track-record when it comes to acquiring veteran pitchers via trade or free agency. Remember Kevin Millwood…Eric Milton…Andy Ashby? In the Phillies hitter-friendly digs, starting pitchers struggle as soon as they put on the Phillies uniform. Who’s to say Sabathia would not fit this mold?

With that in mind, consider the price tag to nab Sabathia. In the most likely scenario, the team would part with proven major leaguer Shane Victorino as well as stud pitching prospect in Carlos Corrasco. I have no problem if the Phillies bait the hook with Victorino. They have depth in the outfield. They could compensate for the loss of Victorino. However, I don’t like the idea of moving a solid prospect like Corrasco. Take a look at the Phillies pitchers who have enjoyed even mild success in the past few years: Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Randy Wolf, even Kyle Kendrick. What do they have in common? They are all a product of the Phillies farm system. I don’t suggest the Phillies farm system is a pitching factory. However, when you play in a hitter’s park like CBP, it’s tough to bring in a dominant starter via free agency or trade. Instead, the Phils must product their own top-flight pitching. We can’t risk a potential stud starter for an uncertain veteran.

Plus, the Phillies currently win games with offense. As we march through the summer and toward the playoffs, the Phillies will continue to win with offense. So far, the lackluster starting pitching has not hindered the Phillies. Why mortgage your future to fix something that isn’t broken?

To me, it just doesn’t make much sense.

Time’s yours.

Ooops

2008-06-24T20:52:00.000-04:00

Proof-positive I am still learning this blog thing. My links did not work in the today's orignal post so here ya go:

Kobe-Shaq Video:

http://www.tmz.com/2008/06/23/shaq-attacks-kobe-you-ruined-my-marriage/

David Murphy's blog:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/

Enjoy!

2008-06-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

Every night, I complain to my wife about how I have already run out of ideas for the blog. In this age where everyone writes a blog, I wonder how long I keep this thing interesting and read-worthy. Then, I wake up to this little beauty and I realize I'll never run out of material.

How great is this? I found myself singing this to myself all day today at work. When a sports rivalry crosses over into the celebrity gossip pages, you know we have something entertaining on our hands. Kobe vs. Shaq has crossed that line.

In fact, being the pro-wrestling nerd I once was (and admittedly still am sometimes), I realized we have the makings of a great pro wrestling storyline. Think about it: the heel (Kobe), slowly grows jealous of his more successful babyface tag-team partner (Shaq). Throw in the whole "Kobe caused my divorse" angle and Phil Jackson as the guest referee and I'll pluck down $40 bucks to watch that. Don't kid yourself. You would too.

Moving along.

I'm sure you're tired of the media bombarding you with stats about the Phillies offensive futility over the last couple of weeks. However, I still feel the need to point out Daily News beat writer David Murphy's blog post yesterday. He threw out an alarming stat about the Phillies run production this year. Basically, the Phillies have scored 30% of their 303 runs scored in only 11% of the games. Murph explains this much better than I could so I'll just link to the blog. Either way, that stat really made me think about the inconsistency of this offense. Sure, they'll throw 20 runs on the board some nights, but if they come back with 1 or 2 the next, is it worth it?

Here's the link to High Cheese, David Murphy's Phillies blog:

>

The Phils begin their 9-game road trip in Oakland tonight. Of course, Oakland isn't exactly the ideal location for an offense in need of a jump-start, but the Phils will need to figure some way to get things going tonight or things could get ugly for this team. Anyway, I hope to see the following out of our beloved Phightins in tonight's game:

Jimmy Rollins sparks this offense in his hometown of Oakland.
Jamie Moyer turns in a solid outing that allows the Phils to get on the board first and play with a lead for once.
Chase Utley builds on the double he hit in Sunday's game and find that "Chase Utley" groove once again.

Follow this recipie and the Phillies should come away with a "W".

Time's yours.

And the Struggles Continue

2008-06-22T16:31:00.000-04:00

The Phillies offensive struggles continued this afternoon as the L.A. Angels beat the home team 3-2 today. The Angels' win polished off a three-game sweep of the Phightins and dropped the Phillies to 1-5 for the homestand.

I realize the point has been beaten to death over the past week, but this team really needs the offense to break out of its funk. Since their 8-2 win over Boston on Monday night, they have averaged just 1.8 runs per game. That's not going to get it done. Granted, they did face some great pitching over the course of this homestand in John Lester, Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders. However, if this team wants to not only make the playoffs, but make some noise in the postseason, they need to hit the quality pitching.

On the brightside, Brett Myers pitched pretty well in Saturday night's game. He did give up three homeruns, but two of them were to Vlad Guerrero so that doesn't count. (Vlad absolutely kills the Phillies. It doesn't matter who we throw out there. We could bring Lefty back in his prime and Vlad would still find a way to get 3 hits. I'm glad this guy is in the AL West now and we only have to see him once every three years.) Perhaps, Jim Salisbury's column in Friday's Inquirer rattled Brett enough. Of course, he still took the loss, but he pitched into the 8th and kept the Phillies in the game. Hopefully, he can build on this and regain his old form.

The Phillies need to get it together on this upcoming road trip or they may come home to a chorus of E-A-G-L-E-S chants.

Bumps in the Road

2008-06-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

When you come into another team's home park and outhit the home team 17-2, you'll probably come away with the "W". That's exactly what the Los Angeles/Anaheim/California Angels did tonight in front of another sell-out crowd at Citizen's Bank Park. The loss drops the Phils to 1-3 on the current homestand and 3-7in their last 10.

The Phillies offense continues to struggle in this homestand. In the last three games, the Phillies have scored only 5 runs. Hardly enough for a team so reliant on their ability to score in bunches. It's no secret the Phillies starting pitching is suspect. The team relies on one dominant lefty ace in Cole Hamels, one seasoned veteran who can give you a solid outing most of time in Jamie Moyer, two guys who, on a good night, may be able to pitch well enough to keep you in the game in Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton and one fallen Opening Day starter who can't find his way since rejoining the starting rotation after spending last season in the bullpen in Brett Myers. With a starting rotation that looks like that, this team must score a ton of runs to win games. They won't win many 1-0 or 2-1 games. Instead,they must count on that loaded offense to score 6, 7, 8 runs a game. If the offense slumps, the Phils sputter. We see evidence of that now.

Make no mistake about it though this offense will find its groove. It's too potent not to. When you have 2 former MVPs in Howard and Rollins and a potential MVP in Utley, you will hit the ball eventually.

On another note, Jim Salisbury of the Inquirer penned a great piece in today's paper which essentially called out Phillies struggling starter, Brett Myers. Salisbury did not mince words in the piece. Instead, he decided to get right to the point:

"Yo, Brett, you stink. You're 3-8 with a 5.58 ERA in 15 starts. Your club is 4-11 in those starts. You're supposed to be better than this. Are you?"

That about sums it up for me. We'll see what Myers does tomorrow night against Vlad's Angels in game 2 of the series. Good luck Brett, you'll need it. Anyway, here's the link to Salisbury's story:

www.philly.com/philly/columnists/20080620_Jim_Salisbury__Trade__Phils_just_need_Myers_to_improve.html

Goodbye Curt

Today, former Phils starter and ego-centric blabber-mouth, Curt Schilling, called it a season, and, quite possibly, a career, when he announced he will undergo shoulder surgery early next week. Schill grated on the nerves of many, but I always liked the guy. Sure, sometimes we all wanted him to shut up, but you can't question the guy's intensity. He brought everything he had to mound every single night. He was the perfect fit for Philadelphia when he was here and, if he does decide not to resume his career, I'll miss watching him pitch.

Red Sox Nation Arrived

2008-06-17T20:58:00.000-04:00

We knew it was coming and it finally arrived.

After a whole lot of hoopla, Red Sox Nation finally invaded Philadelphia last night. For the next three days, we will need to endure those annoying Red Sox fans lining the stands of Citizen's Bank Park. On the bright side though, we won't have to listen to Wheels or Harry the K constantly promote Red Sox tickets via six-game packs, four-game packs or special pre-game tailgate packages anymore this season.

Seth Everett of MLB.com put it best yesterday morning on WIP when he said this series with the Red Sox and the next series with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (what a name!) will serve as a good litmus test for the Phils. We may get a good look at the true makeup of this team it takes on the best the American League offers.

Last night's game showed the Phillies can, indeed, hold their own with the defending World Champs. Jimmy Rollins jumped-started the offense, as only Jimmy Rollins can do, by drilling a homer to the second deck in right field. Ryan Howard also charged the offense last night with two homers and a triple. Couple the Phils' almost-nightly offensive surge with a strong perfermance from the ace, Cole Hamels, and you have the ingredients for a solid Phils win.

Of course, these are the Phils we know and love and things can come crashing down rather quickly. As I write this, the Phils trail the BoSox 3-0 in the bottom of the 7th of tonight's second game of the three game set. I still hold hope the Phils can nab 2 of 3 from the Sox and then another 2 of 3 from the Halos this weekend. Then, we'll know we have a series contender on our hands. For the time being though, I'll enjoy the ride.

Speaking of laying our playoff hopes on this Phillies squad, I found this beauty on Youtube tonight. Quite frankly, it doesn't have much to do with the rest of this post, but it's my blog so I will post it anyway. Enjoy!

Time's yours.

Leading Off...

2008-06-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking about blogging my thoughts on the happenings of the Philadelphia sports world for some time now. I like to write and I love sports, so it only seems natural for me to put the two together. I kept putting it off with various excuses such as a lack of solid ideas and a lack of time. However, my wife tells me that I will have plenty to write about and Neighbor Dave insists I have the time. I quit arguing with them. So here I am.

I'll write as often as possible. Although I am sure the demands of the real-world will get in the way some of the time. If I had to venture a guess this early in the process, I would say most post will center on the Phils or Birds. However, I definitely sprinkle some tidbits about the Sixers and Flyers as we go along.

I realize the title is a little weird, so I guess I owe an explanation. It comes from the fact that the parking at the sports complex is now $11. I find this completely ridiculous and I haven't shut up about it for the last month and a half. What bothers me about the whole $11 thing is not the increase from $10 to $11. That's life. Prices increase. See gas prices. Instead, it's the inconvenience of $11. I now have to pull out a $10 bill and a $1 bill to pay for my rented parking space. If I don't have a $10 bill and a $1 bill, I'll probably have to resort to giving the parking attendant a $20 and then wait while he/she counts out $9 in change. Think about how much time and effort this is costing the parker and the attendant. Who are they kidding anyway? We expect to be ripped off when parking at the stadiums. Why not just go through with it and raise the price to $15. That way, I can hand the guy my $20 and he only has to find a $5. Much easier. Anyway, now that I've wasted a good 30 seconds to 2 minutes of your life, I'll quit my tirade about parking at the sports complex. I just find this whole situation amusing and completely ridiculous which mirrors the Philly sports landscape pretty well so I decided to name the blog after it.

For now, I really just wanted to write a brief intro about the blog and the content you can expect to see in it. Hopefully, I'll at least be able to keep this up through the summer. I'm sure I'll come up with something witty, insightful, or outright ridiculous for my next post. Considering this area's sports history, it shouldn't be too hard.