Where's Our Parade?

WE WIN!

2008-10-29T22:19:00.002-05:00

Words can't describe. I remember 1983 well...

BTW: To answer the question....the Parade is on Friday at NOON!!!!!

Did That Just Happen?

2008-10-29T21:08:00.002-05:00

Chase That Dream: A Fan On Hold

2008-10-29T09:28:00.004-05:00

If I had taken the time on Monday to describe what I was going through, the description of how I was feeling about the Phillies chances on Monday night would have been positive anticipation.

Anticipation like the kind you have as a kid on Christmas Eve. Like the kind you have in high school when you know your prom date might let you go a little further than she ever did in the past.

The Phils were on the precipice of a championship, with their best pitcher, Cole Hamels, on the mound to put the series away. I was feeling pretty confident about things on Monday, as I had the wife get a babysitter for my 2 1/2 year old son so we could go out and enjoy the revelry that was supposed to be Philadelphia's first World Championship in 25 years.

Now as I sit at work two days later, how do I feel?

Not nearly so great as Monday.

To further my two previous analogies, it's as if you woke up on Christmas, and your parents decided to rethink how they feel about Christmas because of it's blatant commercialism. Or that your prom date decided that she justed wanted to be friends.

Frustration doesn't nearly describe how I feel right now. It's more like nervous angst.

The thought that the game on Monday, which had been setup so perfectly for the Phillies to succeed, did not end in the fairytale fashion we all had hoped has me thinking bad thoughts. Negative thoughts.

Thoughts that go back to prior situations where things seemed like they might work out for the Philadelphia team, but didn't quite end up our way. Thoughts of Mitch Williams, Leon Stickle, and the Legion of Doom-era Flyers teams have been dancing in my head as I type this.

I'm not trying to be negative; it's not hard to be negative after the way the game on Monday was allowed to continue past the point where it should have clearly been stopped (no way the Rays should have been allowed to bat in the 6th inning). Hell, even Tim McCarver has advocated starting Game 5 over again. Can you imagine the hate and discontent THAT decision would cause?

No, I'm not trying to be negative, but it is a little more difficult to be positive today than it was on Monday. As a fan, I'm going to need an early sign.....like a Jimmy Rollins base hit (he bats 2nd in the bottom of the 6th) or an early run, to get back that feeling on Monday like something good was coming my way.

One thing I can offer you as a Phillies fan, if you're in need of a pep talk is the following article from Rich Hofmann, who lays out the case for why the Phillies still have things going in the right direction for tonite.

For the sake of the collective sanity of the Delaware Valley, I hope Rich is right.

No Baseball Today

2008-10-28T12:19:00.003-05:00

Several WIP personalities are reporting that the resumption of last night's World Series game has already been pushed to Wednesday.

KYW-1060 is reporting that there will be no baseball tonite on the front page of their website.

Suspended Belief

2008-10-28T06:21:00.004-05:00

The Phillies and Rays had their World Series game suspended after 5 1/2 innings with the score tied 2 - 2.

The Phils struck first early on the strength of a 2-run Shane Victorino single that drove home Jayson Werth and Chase Utley.

The Rays finally got to Phils starter Cole Hamels in the 4th inning on a Carlos Pena double and an Evan Longoria single.

The Phils, meanwhile, had Rays starter Scott Kazmir on the ropes during his 4 inning stay in the ballgame, but failed to put him away on a couple of occasions. Kazmir walked 6, but the Phils failed to come up with the big hit to break the game open.

The Rays tied the ballgame as the rains really began coming down. Carlos Pena drove in BJ Upton from 2nd, tying the game at 2, and, after Evan Longoria flied out, the umpires finally suspended play.

As of this writing, MLB is unsure as to when they'll start up play again, as the forecast tonite in Philly doesn't look much better than last night.

Notes:

- I've waited this long....I can wait a little longer.

- Went to Finnigan's Wake on Spring Garden to catch the game. The place was packed and the crowd was into the game. The crowd reaction to suspending the game ranged from drunken anger at stopping the game to drunken anger at NOT stopping the game before Carlos Pena drove in BJ Upton in the top of the 6th. Yeah, people were pretty hammered last night and ready to celebrate.

Don't Ask About the "P" Word Yet

2008-10-27T16:16:00.004-05:00

I don't know when it will be if they win tonite and no one around City Hall is sayin'.

Blanton Brings Phils to the Brink

2008-10-27T08:00:00.003-05:00

Joe Blanton, take your place in Philadelphia Sports folklore.

Joe Blanton pitched 6 innings of 2-run ball and hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the 5th inning to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 10-2 win in Game 4 of the World Series. The win gives the Phils a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the best-of-7 series that continues tonight.

The Phils scratched out a run early as Rays' starter Andy Sonnanstine pitched like a deer in the headlights. A control pitcher, Sonnanstine gave up a double to Jimmy Rollins and two walks to hand the Phillies a 1 - 0 lead. The Phils increased their lead in the 3rd inning to 2 - 0, on an RBI single from Pedro Feliz, scoring Chase Utley, who had reached base on an Akinori Iwamura error.

After a Carl Crawford solo homer in the top of the 4th to cut the lead to 1, the Phils took the game (and the Series) by the horns. After another Iwamura error and a Jayson Werth walk, Ryan Howard launched a 3-run shot to left field to send the home crowd into a frenzy and gave the Phils a 5 - 1 lead.

The Rays' Eric Hinke went on to tack on another solo shot to bring the Rays back to within 3 runs, but that run was erased when Joe Blanton hit what might be the most improbable home run in World Series history.

Blanton, who had 2 hits in 33 ABs all year, deposited an Edwin Jackson offering well over the left field wall to rip out the Rays' hearts and extend the Phillies lead to 6 - 2. The Phillies then proceeded to beat up on the Rays bullpen in the 8th inning, with a pair of 2-run homers from Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard (his 2nd) respectively.

The Series will continue this evening, with Cole Hamels facing Scott Kazmir.

Notes:

- Jimmy Rollins....3 for 5 with 3 runs scored. That the Phillies won wasn't an accident when Rollins gets on base 3 times.

- I wonder how the game would have turned out had Pedro Feliz NOT gotten that basehit to drive home Utley in the 3rd inning. The Phils had runners at 1st and 3rd with no outs and to not get at least 1 run out of that siutation again might have hurt the team's confidence a bit. They had Sonnanstine on the ropes in the 1st inning, loading the bases with 1 out and let the young pitcher off the hook.

- Rough night for Akinori Iwamura with 2 errors.

- I'll have a report later today on my trip to Game 3 last Saturday. LONG day, last Saturday.....

The Eagles.......Remember Them?

2008-10-24T11:59:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I know right now the town is all Phillies, all the time, but let's not forget about the local National Football League squadron.

After having the bye last week, the Eagles jump right back into the fray this Sunday afternoon against those upstart Atlanta Falcons. You may have missed some of the following while you were getting your new Phillies gear at the Exxon on the corner of Rt. 70 and Springdale Road:

- No one seems to know how long Shawn Andrews will be out for, but at least everyone seems to agree that he had back surgery. If Andrews misses the remainder of the year, it would mark one of the most bizarre football seasons of any Eagle player since Randall Cunningham, what with the false rumors about Andrews' absence during training camp, which ultimately culminated in Andrews admitting his battle with depression.

- All signs are pointing to Brian Westbrook playing football this Sunday. Westbrook, you'll recall, broke a couple of ribs.

- WR Kevin Curtis looks to be making his 2008 debut this weekend.

- In case you haven't been following, the Cowboys are a hot mess right now.

- Eagles sign local kid, Naval Academy grad Kyle Eckel, to play fullback after cutting Tony Hunt.

Rays Even Series with Phils

2008-10-24T07:22:00.003-05:00

The Tampa Bay Rays held the Phillies offense in check last night en route to a 4 - 2 victory in Game 2 of the World Series. The Rays' victory evens the World Series at 1 game apiece as the Series heads to Philadelphia for the next 3 games.

The Rays jumped on the Phillies early in the first. Phils starter Brett Myers, in a continuing theme of having early game troubles, allowed the first two batters of the ballgame to reach base. Both of these batters ended up scoring on groundouts to give the Rays an early 2 - 0 advantage.

The Rays struck again in the 2nd inning, loading the bases with 2 outs for BJ Upton. Upton singled home Dioner Navarro, but fortunately for the Phils, RF Jayson Werth was able to gun down Rocco Baldelli at the plate to stop the bleeding and keep the score at 3 - 0.

The fourth Rays' run was scored on a safety squeeze whereby Jason Bartlett laid down a sacrifice and Cliff Floyd, on third after singling to lead off the inning, scored once determining the bunt was successful.

The Phils offense, meanwhile, continued to be stymied by a combination of bad luck and good pitching. Rays pitcher James Shields pitched well, but the Phils were able to run deep pitch counts on him. What the Phils were unable to do, however, was to get timely basehits to score runners. The Phils had leadoff baserunners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th inning while Shields was in the ballgame, but like Game 1, they were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

The Phils did not score until the 8th inning when Eric Bruntlett, pinch hitting for DH Greg Dobbs, hit the first pitch he saw from David Price over the left field wall to give the Phils some hope. The Phils threatened again in the 9th, with Carlos Ruiz stroking a double to lead off the inning and coming home after Evan Longoria booted a Jayson Werth shot, allowing Ruiz to score from 2nd base. The threat died, however, after Chase Utley struck out swinging and Ryan Howard grounded out meekly to 2nd, ending the ballgame.

The series continues (maybe) on Saturday, with Jamie Moyer facing Matt Garza at 8:20pm.

Notes:

- The last time I was this frustrated as a fan watching my team play in a Championship game was when the Eagles were wasting time during Super Bowl 39 and not running a 2-minute offense. The Phillies were consistently getting men on base, but just could not break through. This game was there to be had; instead, the Phils now have a dog fight on their hands.

- I know the Phils wouldn't be in the World Series but for the pinch hitting skills of Greg Dobbs, but Dobbs embarrassed himself in his first two plate appearances last night. He struck out his first time up and never took the bat off of his shoulder. He struck out again in the 4th inning, taking feeble cuts all the while. Maybe a change of scenery to Citizen's Bank Ballpark will help Dobbs, but the fact is, the Phils' DHs in the first 2 games are a paltry 1 for 7 in the series.

- Phils batters left a combined 24 runners on base last night. Pedro Feliz left 6 runners on by himself last night.

- Chooch Ruiz was the only one who could seemingly find his bat last night, getting two doubles and walking twice. He also performed a text book block of home plate to enable the Phillies to get Rocco Baldelli at the plate in the 2nd inning.

- What in the hell was Jayson Werth doing in the 5th inning allowing himself to get doubled off of first base? Inexecusable.

- Jimmy Rollins is now 0 for 10 in the World Series. His reputation for coming up big in big spots is looking unearned in the first two games.

Phils Take Game 1

2008-10-23T06:35:00.008-05:00

The Phillies took the initiative in Game 1 and took out the upstart Rays by a score of 3 - 2. They lead the World Series by a count of 1 game to none.

The Rays got their nose bloodied early in the first inning, when, with 1 out, Jayson Werth walked, bringing up Chase Utley. Utley took a 2-2 pitch from Scott Kazmir over the right field fence to give the Phillies a 2 - 0 lead.

The Phils added a third run in the 4th inning by virtue of a Carlos Ruiz ground out, scoring Shane Victorino from third.

The Rays, meanwhile, were stifled by Cole Hamels for the most past. Carl Crawford took Hamels deep to make the score 3 - 1 in the bottom of the fourth inning and Akinori Iwamura doubled home Jason Bartlett in the bottom of the fifth to draw within a run. Other than those two threats, however, the Rays didn't really make a lot of noise offensively. Hamels went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out 5.

The Phillies, meanwhile, seemed to allow Scott Kazmir to pitch in this game far longer than he had any right to. After taking a 2 run lead in the first, the Phils had lead off baserunners in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th inning, but failed to get anyone home. The closest the Phils came to getting another run early was squandered in the bottom of the 2nd when Shane Victorino, on third because of an infield single, was thrown out at the plate by BJ Upton on a shallow Jimmy Rollins fly out.

Hamels gave way in the 8th inning to Ryan Madson, who pitched a scoreless 8th inning and later, to Brad Lidge, who closed out matters gaining his 6th save in the post-season.

The series continues tonite with Brett Myers facing James Shields.

Notes:

- Loved the attempted bunt by Chase Utley in the first. What is with that shift they are playing on Utley? I guarantee he will drop a bunt down the third base line in this series.

- No more Ryan Howard at first base. Please. I can't take it anymore. He. is. TERRIBLE in the field. DH him in the AL ballparks. Whatever. But no more.

- Howard also struck out 3 times and left 4 men on base.

- Jimmy Rollins. 0 for 5. Left 5 guys on base.

- While I'm on the topic, the Phillies batters were responsible for leaving 21 runners on base last night. This game should have been a laugher. Instead, it was a nailbiter that tested both my nerves and my liver.

- Shane Victorino really seemed to get under the Rays' skin on the basepaths.

- What was with the BJ Upton glare while at the plate in the 3rd inning? I particularly enjoyed his two GIDPs.

Picture: Yahoo.com(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

Hey America.....Why Not Us?

2008-10-22T04:35:00.005-05:00

I almost forgot how much fun it is to get to a championship round of one of the four major sports. Since the Phillies got into the World Series last week, it's amazing how much it's done for the morale of people who live in and around Philadelphia. Everyone is wearing red to work, people are a little nicer, the sun is shining just a little brighter.

The one interesting thing I've found so far? A vast majority of people outside of Philadelphia are rooting for the Tampa Bay Rays. Hell, a vast majority of the major media outlets (*cough*ESPN*cough) have (anecdotally) spent more time highlighting the Rays than they are the Phillies. This is remarkable, if only because the Phillies have the last 2 NL MVPs on their team and a third guy, Chase Utley, who is easily the best 2nd baseman in all of baseball. You would think this would make the Phillies the more prominently featured of the two teams, but this has not been the case.

Now, some of these people rooting against the Phillies are rooting against the Phils strictly for one reason: scheudenfreude. And believe me, I get that one. I spent the better parts of 10 years at a certain Wall Street firm and most of my co-workers were either Yankee fans and Mets fans. I would rather gargle a bottle of Pine Sol than to go through the 2000 Subway series again. That World Series featured two of the most annoying fanbases in all of sports bickering over who had the better team, the better stadium, everything. This was akin to watching the Two Corey's discuss who had the better movie career.

But some of you good people of America are rooting for the Rays strictly out of the good, altruistic reasons. If you fall into this category, you probably are rooting for the Rays because they have been perennial losers, they have interesting players, etc. I want to try to sell you on the idea that if you are rooting for Tampa based on these factors, that NO team deserves your rooting interest more than the Philadelphia Phillies.

1.) The Perennial Loser Factor. Are you aware that the Philadelphia Phillies franchise has more losses than any team in the history of professional sports in North America with over 10,000 losses? That's a mind boggling number of losses. When the Phillies registered their 10,000th loss, I compiled a lineup of Phillies who represented losing baseball to me since about 1977. Fact is, I probably could have compiled several lineups worth of really bad Phillies players going back to 1883.

You like the Rays because they have been perennial losers? Hell, from the perspective of a Phillies fan, the Rays are spoiled, having been to 1 World Series in their 10 year history. The Phillies have been around since 1883, and have been to only 6 of these things; that's one World Series every 21 years!

2.) Compelling Players. The youth and skill of BJ Upton, Evan Longoria, and Scott Kazmir have really drawn people to this team. Even guys who haven't even pitched 10 regular season innings like David Price are getting a ton of press leading up to the World Series.

Not to brag, but the Phillies have quite a few pretty good players on their team. As mentioned previously, the Phillies have the last two NL MVPs on their team in 1B Ryan Howard and SS Jimmy Rollins. If you never saw great left-handed sluggers like Willie Stargell or Willie McCovey hit, Ryan Howard is a worthy successor to that lineage. Jimmy Rollins has a style all of his own and a knack for coming through when the Phils need him most (see the leadoff homers he had in both clinching playoff games the Phillies have had this year as reference). Both Rollins and Howard are just short of 30 years old.

The Phillies also have a 3rd guy just short of 30 that could win the MVP any year now in 2B Chase Utley. People in Philadelphia already love Utley, but you may not know much about him. Check out this article as a primer on a guy many consider to be one of the best all-around players in the game.

And don't forget about the energy of CF Shane Victorino, the quiet confidence of young SP Cole Hamels, and skill and sagacity of 45 year old starting pitcher SP Jamie Moyer.

3.) Committed Fanbase. You don't need me to get into the attendance figures from Tampa's history from when they were bad. I'll simply use this year as an example.

The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays drew only 1.78 million people this year; well below the AL average of 2.46 million. Also to be considered in Tampa's attendance are the number of northern transplants from places like New York and Boston who go to the ballpark to see the Yankees and the Red Sox more than the Rays. And this was in a year when the Rays were good.

The Phillies fans, on the other hand, have been coming out in droves this year. The Phils drew 3.4 million fans this year; well above the NL average of 2.75 million people.

The point? If people in Tampa have barely cared about this team this year, why should you?

4.) Entertainment Factor Upon Victory. The city of Tampa had the Buccaneers, which won the Super Bowl in 2002. They have the Lightning, which won the Stanley Cup in 2004. Both of these championships were won by going through a Philadelphia sports team.

Tampa does not need another championship. Philadelphia NEEDS a championship much like a junkie needs their next fix. This much is well documented.

If the Phillies win this World Series, there is no telling what will happen in the city if they win. I'm not saying rioting or looting, but I'm sure they'll be enough jackassery that will occur and get posted on YouTube such that bloggers will be kept busy making fun of Philly fans for the next month.

And if the Phils win, and we get made fun of? Well, that'd be just fine.

Phils Rally Planned for Tomorrow

2008-10-21T05:44:00.002-05:00

The City of Philadelphia will hold a rally for the Fightin' Phils tomorrow at Noon at Dilworth Plaza.

If you're thinking of going, it's going to be a nice crisp, Fall day tomorrow:

So, now we know.....Phils vs. Rays

2008-10-20T07:37:00.004-05:00

Last night the Rays finally settled things with the Red Sox, winning Game 7 of the ALCS by a score of 3 - 1. Starter Matt Garza got the win and was the MVP of the ALCS.

So, with that, let the speculation and predictions begin. Tim Kurkjian of ESPN breaks down the Phils and Rays and predicts the Rays will win in 7 games. In general, the ESPN experts are all picking the Rays (except for Peter Gammons). That's fine. Alot of those same pundits all picked the Dodgers in the NLCS, so I'm not too concerned about what they think.

I will say this about the matchup; it is going to be much closer than a lot of people think. There is a lot of love for the young talent of the Rays and rightfully so. They are good; but they are not ready, I think. This has the look of a team that is just happy to be in the World Series. I just wonder if everyone is predicting the Rays to win this series, not so much because of the actual state of the talent on the two teams, but on what the Rays COULD become one day. Rays' 3B Evan Longoria is only 23; BJ Upton is only 24. They will both be good for a long time.

The Phillies don't need to be better than the Rays 10 years from now to be the 2008 World Champions; they just need to be better than the Rays 10 days from now.

The Eagles Can't Lose This Weekend

2008-10-17T07:29:00.008-05:00

The Eagles are guaranteed not to lose this weekend....this is the hated bye weekend on the schedule. Yeah, I know these players, who routinely get into collisions every week comparable to an auto accident, need some time off. Frankly, if it wasn't for having a rooting interest in college football and the ubiquity of fantasy football leagues, I'm not sure how I would get through the weekend.

But if you don't have a rooting interest in college football or if you are one of the five sports fans left NOT in a fantasy football league, the following is a list of suggestions to get you through the weekend:

1.) Buy that Halloween pumpkin. I went last weekend, but this weekend is probably the last, best time to go. I spent about $70 all together, between the hayride for me, my wife, and kid, the pumpkins we picked, and all of the other halloween stuff we typically buy. Next weekend, not only do the Eagles play next Sunday, but it's the last weekend before Halloween. The places that sell pumpkins will be crazy crowded and all the good pumpkins will be picked over. Knock this task out this weekend; you'll look like a real mensch to your significant other and your kids.

2.) Negotiate for Phillies World Series tickets. The cheapest general admission tickets on StubHub as of this AM? $425. Per Ticket. And guess what? That's probably what I'll be paying as I didn't get picked in the ticket lottery.

3.) The Flyin' Hawaiian! Wanna meet Shane Victorino? Apparently, he'll be signing autographs this Sunday at the Forman Mills on Grant Avenue from 4pm to 6pm on Sunday.

4.) Check out UPenn Football. The University of Pennsylvania will be playing Columbia at historic Franklin Field on Saturday at 1pm. If you've never been to Franklin Field, you should check it out. It's the site of the Eagles' 1960 NFL Championship victory and as historic of a sports landmark as we have in the city.

5.) Homecoming in Happy Valley. Don't care for Ivy League ball? Head on up to beautiful State College, PA to watch the Penn State Nittany Lions curb stomp Big 10 rival Michigan. It is Homecoming at Penn State this weekend, so hotel rooms will be tough to come by, but it will be a perfect fall day in State College this weekend and great football weather.

I'll actually be heading up to Penn State for the weekend to go to the game and meet up with some old friends, get called "sir" by co-eds young enough to be my daughter, and tell the same 5 dick jokes we've been telling each other for the past 15 years.

Phillies Rally Being Planned?

2008-10-16T14:46:00.004-05:00

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, a rally is being planned by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.

I'm not sure how I feel about the concept of a "rally". The Phillies haven't really won anything just yet. Would a rally anger the sporting gods?

Let's never forget the Flyers jersey on the William Penn statue and how that worked out for the Flyers (swept by the Red Wings in 1997).

Phillies Beat Dodgers; Advance to World Series!

2008-10-16T05:33:00.002-05:00

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the LA Dodgers by a score of 5 - 1 to win the NLCS and earn their 6th National League pennant in their 126 years of existence.

Jimmy Rollins quieted the crowd right out of the gate by slamming a lead off homer to give the Phils the early lead and the early momentum.

The Phils extended their lead in the 3rd, when with one out, Jimmy Rollins singled and stole second. After a Jayson Werth strikeout and a Chase Utley walk, Rollins scored on a Ryan Howard basehit. Pat Burrell plated Chase Utley with a single of his own, giving the Phillies a 3 - 0 lead.

The Phils extended their lead in the top of the fifth. With Howard on 1st and Utley on 2nd with 1 out, Pat Burrell hit a nubber to Rafael Furcal. Furcal booted the ball, and Utley, seeing Furcal lose the ball, ran hard all the way around 3rd and came home safely to extend the Phillies lead to 4 - 0. Furcal was also charged with a throwing error in a vain attempt to throw out Utley at home, allowing Burrell and Howard to advance. The Phils were able to get Ryan Howard home on yet another Rafael Furcal throwing error with two outs to make it 5 - 0.

Cole Hamels, meanwhile, went 7 strong innings giving up 1 run and striking out 5. The only run he gave up was to (who else?) Manny Ramirez on a solo home run. Hamels turned it over to the bullpen, which meant Ryan Madson in the 8th inning and Brad Lidge to close matters out in the 9th.

Notes:

- Because David Boreanaz announced the Phils starting lineup for Fox, Channel 6 weatherman Dave Roberts, who is Boreanaz's father, got a shout out from announcer Joe Buck during the telecast.

- Good to see Scott Boras in the crowd last night. How does he hide his Satan horns and where does he keep his pitchfork?

- Great turn by Jimmy Rollins on that double play the Phils turned in the 5th inning.

- Tremendous running catch by Burrell on Ethier's drive in the bottom of the 6th. Did not think Burrell would come up with that ball.

- Why wasn't Russell Martin thrown out after vehemently arguing balls and strikes with the home plate? Loved the Fox replays of Martin slamming his equipment after the discussion. If Martin could hit with the same aplomb that he threw equipment around in this series, the Dodgers might still be in the series.

- Can't believe that Dodger fans cheered when they thought Victorino got hurt sliding back into first on a pickoff attempt late in the game. I've written it in comments over at 700level.com and I'll write it again: if that had happened in Philly, the announcers would have made a point to mention it and it would have been a much bigger deal. The stories about Dodger fans in this series have not been good ones.

- Great diving grab by Chase Utley on Furcal's shattered bat shot in the bottom of the 8th.

- Lidge gave us a couple of "moments" in the 9th; both "moments" disappeared into the glove of Shane Victorino, deep in center field.

- NLCS MVP: Cole Hamels.

WORLD SERIES BOUND!

2008-10-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

Flyers Drop 3rd Straight

2008-10-15T07:34:00.004-05:00

The Flyers came out last night against their cross-state rivals and dropped a 3 - 2 decision in overtime. The Flyers have yet to get their first victory in three attempts so far on the young season.

The Flyers fell behind in the 2nd period 2 - 0 on a couple of goals where the Flyers play in their own zone was somewhat lacking. The Brook Orpik goal was screen shot and probably preventable had someone been pressuring Orpik on the shot. And on the goal where the Flyers fell behind 2 - 0, it was a case of an unchecked player being able to camp out near the faceoff circle and take a pass from behind the net.

The Flyers did bounce back before the end of the 2nd period, with a fluky goal by Jeff Carter that bounced off of Pens defenseman Hal Gill, and a Simon Gagne tip goal that was originally credited to Mike Richards.

Antero Niittymaki was in goal last night and looked good for the most part, but he did appear to go down a bit too early on the shot from Pascal Dupuis that ended the game in OT. Dupuis' goal may have been a perfect shot from where he took it (coming down the half boards at full speed), but still believe Niitty could have stopped it had he stayed up.

The Flyers will try to bounce back on Thursday, when they travel to Colorado to take on the Avs at 9pm.

Photo: yahoo.com (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Shane, Stairs Power Phils

2008-10-13T19:35:00.005-05:00

The Phightin' Phils came back from a two-run deficit late in Game 4 to come back and win by a score of 7 - 5. The win allowed the Phils to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the best-of-7 NLCS with the Dodgers.

The Phils came out of the gate quickly in the 1st inning, with Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth both getting on with singles. Then, Chase Utley dropped the bat head on a ball and drove a double down the right field line, scoring Rollins and putting Werth on 3rd. Werth came home on a Ryan Howard ground out to make the score 2 - 0, but the threat ended when Shane Victorino grounded into a double play.

Phils starter Joe Blanton gave one of runs back in the first, off of a James Loney double, which scored Rafael Furcal, making the score 2 - 1.

The game coasted along until the 5th inning, when Phils starter Joe Blanton put the first two men on base and gave up an RBI single to Manny Ramirez, tying the score at 2. A Russell Martin ground out gave the Dodgers a 3 - 2 lead. Blanton got out of the jam by inducing Blake DeWitt into a double play.

The Phils fought back in the top of the 6th, putting men on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but could only get Ryan Howard home on a Chan Ho Park wild pitch, tying the game at 3. Only a great play by Andre Ethier out in right field kept the game tied at 3, as he made a sliding catch on a So Taguchi blooper.

The tie was short-lived, however, as Casey Blake greeted Chad Durbin in the bottom of the 6th inning by going deep to break the tie and give the Dodgers a 4 - 3 lead. The Phils coughed up another run on a Ryan Howard throwing error when the Dodgers were trying to give the Phillies an out on a sacrifice. The thowing error allowed Juan Pierre came around to score to make it 5 - 3 Dodgers. Ryan Madson was able to stop the bleeding, when he induced Russell Martin to line out to Chase Utley, who deftly dove to second base to double the runner off of second base.

The 8th inning saw the Fightin' Phils pound their way back from a deficit. After a Ryan Howard single and a Pat Burrell pop out, Shane Victorino hit Cory Wade's first offering over the right field wall for a 2-run shot to tie the game at 5. Then, after a Carlos Ruiz single, pinch hitter Matt Stairs hit an absolute titantic shot out to right field off of reliever Jonathan Broxton to put the Phils up 7 - 5.

The back-end of the Phillies bullpen took over from there. JC Romero got Andre Ethier to ground into a double-play setting the stage for Brad Lidge to record his first 4-out save as a Phil.

The series continues tomorrow night, with Cole Hamels facing Chad Billingsly at 8:22 pm.

Notes:

- Another big, tough Dodger threw a temper tantrum in the dugout; this time, it was Derek Lowe after he gave up 2 runs in the first.

- Phils put Manny on first base in the 1st inning....I'm actually OK with it, as long as they are confident they can get Russell Martin out on a regular basis. Especially with the crazy numbers Manny has against Blanton. Ramirez hits at a .560 clip in 25 career at-bats against Blanton.

- For what it's worth, both Manny Ramirez and Hiroki Kuroda got fined a nominal amount of money for last night's stupidity.

- Jimmy Rollins has to come up with that ball in the 2nd inning off of Derek Lowe.

- Ryan Howard's defensive woes continue.

- The Shane Victorino homer underscored the stupidity of having Victorino bunt the runners over in the 6th inning. Yeah, Howard came around to score in that inning, but could Victorino have done more damage?

- Utley went 3 for 5 with an RBI....Phils could use the April and May version of Utley right now.

- Matt Stairs is a Philadelphia folk hero if the Phils hold on in this series.

- Notice Shane Victorino glaring menacingly at the Dodgers from his dugout after the homerun? Big hits like the one Victorino got should be how you make a team pay for throwing at your head.

Phils Thumped by Dodgers

2008-10-13T07:54:00.000-05:00

The Phils dropped Game 3 to a highly motivated Dodgers team by a score of 7 - 2. Even with the loss, the Phillies are still up in the NLCS 2 games to 1, with Game 4 this evening.

Phils starter Jamie Moyer did not come out and have the kind of 1st inning the Phillies were looking for. Moyer gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and generally did not look sharp. Even as semi-interested in sports as an LA crowd can be, even that crowd was cheering pretty wildly and giving the Dodgers the boost they needed.

The Phils were able to respond in the top of the 2nd, with Pedro Feliz delivering an RBI single, scoring Ryan Howard, who had doubled and advanced on a Jayson Werth fly out.

Moyer was pulled, however, in the 2nd inning after giving up a home run to Rafael Furcal. He was relieved by Clay Condrey, who, while pitching to Russell Martin, threw one high and tight during an at-bat that Martin ultimately grounded into a double play on. Martin, furious because he had been hit (weakly) by Jamie Moyer in the first inning, threw a hissy fit in the dugout.

Upsetting the catcher virtually guarenteed a Phillie would be thrown at the next inning and sure enough, Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda threw over Shane Victorino's head in the next inning. Victorino eventually grounded out during the at-bat, but after Victorino exchanged words with Kuroda, the benches emptied. Most of the pointing and shouting was done by the coaching staffs, but it was funny to watch Manny Ramirez attempt to push through a crowd to get at a Phillie.

After the "gathering" in the middle of the field, the game settled in, with the Phillies batters seemingly doing everything possible to make Hiroki Kuroda's life much easier by swinging at bad pitches and not working the count. When Kuroda departed in the 7th inning, it was after throwing only 84 pitches.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, managed to tack on a 7th run off of JA Happ in the 4th inning, who came on and pitched pretty well in 3 innings of relief, all things considered.

The Phils did manage to scratch out a second run in the 7th inning, when Chase Utley led off with a double and was eventually chased home on a single from Pat Burrell to make the score 7 - 2.

The series continues tonight with Derek Lowe pitching on short rest against Joe Blanton.

Notes:

- The entire notion that the Dodgers somehow needed to get "revenge" against the Phillies by throwing at Victorino's head was just ridiculous on every level. Even if Myers was throwing at Ramirez in Game 2, did anyone associated with the Dodgers stop to think that it was maybe because Ramirez sat there and preened after he hit that long double against Hamels in game 1? Most players actually do get thrown at for that sort of thing, but Ramirez is consistently allowed to get away with it.

And I don't care what anyone says or how they couch it; Russell Martin embarassed himself with his behavior last night. He got hit on the knee by a guy who was obviously wild in Jamie Moyer. Furthermore, Moyer hit him with a breaking ball and Moyer couldn't break a pane of glass with his stuff even in his younger days. For Martin to pout like he did after getting pitched up and in was a joke.

The fact that the Dodgers seem to think that every inside pitch is an attempt to hit them is in the Phillies favor as it is obviously in the Dodgers' heads. The Phils need to keep pounding the inner half of the plate.

- Could someone let Jimmy Rollins know the NLCS has begun?

Eagles "D" Comes Alive; Beats Niners

2008-10-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

The Eagles saved themselves 2 weeks of grief and went out and beat the San Francisco 49ers by a score of 40 - 26. The Eagles played this game without Brian Westbrook (broken ribs), Shawn Andrews (back), and Reggie Brown (groin). Now, with the Eagles bye week, it is hoped that they Eagles can get their wounded healthy, and possibly, get Kevin Curtis back from his sports hernia.

The score itself was somewhat deceptive. San Francisco had control of this game for a good portion of the 2nd half, before the Eagles defense finally asserted itself.

The scoring opened in the 1st quarter with a San Francisco field goal with the big play being a 45 yard punt return from ex-Eagle Allen Rossum. The Eagles responded with a big kick return of their own (courtesy of Quintin Demps) that culminated in a 1 yard Correll Buckhalter plunge.

After another San Francisco field goal to make the score 7 - 6, the Eagles drove the ball 78 yards in just over 5 minutes. This time, they scored on a fade pattern from Donovan McNabb to Hank Baskett from 5 yards out.

After a Niner punt, the Eagles drove the ball once more on the strength of two McNabb to DeSean Jackson connections that totalled 53 yards. The Eagles' red zone woes continued, however, as all the Eagles could muster on the possession was a 19 yard field goal from David Akers to make the score 17 - 6.

The Niners did manage to tack on another field goal before the Eagles took over on their final drive of the first half. They drove the ball to the San Francisco 36 yard line where they attempted a field goal with 1 second remaining. The field goal was blocked and picked up by ex-Eagle Donald Strickland, who took the ball into the endzone for a San Francisco touchdown.

The blocked field goal set the tone for the 2nd half as the Niners held the ball through most of the 3rd quarter. The Niners came out for the 3rd quarter and went right down the field, scoring a touchdown on a Frank Gore 6 yd run, giving San Francisco the lead at 23 - 17. After an Eagle punt, the Niners took the ball again and held it for over 6 minutes, but could only cobble together another Joe Nedney field goal to make the score 26 - 17.

The Eagles finally fought back in the 4th quarter, taking advantage of a short field from a poor San Fran punt. The Eagles only had to drive 38 yards to bring them within 2 points on a pass from McNabb to LJ Smith from 2 yards out. Another San Francisco punt later, the Eagles drove 31 yards, which was enough for a successful David Akers field goal try to put the Eagles in the lead by a score of 27 - 26. Niners coach Mike Nolan did unsucessfully challenge the field goal, which seemed to be well above and barely within the uprights, giving the impression that the field goal was no good.

At about the 7 minute mark of the 4th quarter, the Eagles defense finally asserted itself. Quinton Mikell intercepted a JT O'Sullivan pass and took it all the way back to the Niner 7 yd line. This enabled the Eagles to tack on another Akers field goal to make the score 30 - 26.

The defense got the ball back again, this time on a Trent Cole sack and strip of quarterback JT O'Sullivan. Chris Clemons recovered the fumble and the turnover led to another Akers field goal to make the score 33 - 26.

The final nail in the coffin for the Niners was when Juqua Parker intercepted a poorly executed screen pass from JT O'Sullivan and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown to make the score 40 - 26 and to put the game completely out of reach.

The Eagles will now enter their sorely needed bye week, in which they'll get some of their offensive weapons when they take on Atlanta at the Linc on October 26th.

Notes:

- "Most drops in the NFL"....Thanks Andy for bringing "5" some playmakers.

- I know the announcers cried about Baskett's first quarter reception not being a catch, but there was not nearly enough to overturn the call. Actually, it looked to me like Baskett had his arm under the ball the entire time.

- The blocked field goal leading into the end of the 1st half was bad enough. Watching the Eagles defense get pushed around for the 2nd week in a row was much more tough to take. Frank Gore did rush for 101 yards and the Niners ran successfully on the Eagles. They can count on teams following that blueprint for the rest of the season.

- Takeo Spikes picking McNabb.....some sort of karmic middle finger?

- LJ Smith....who knew he was still on the team?

- The tackle on DeSean Jackson at the 10 minute mark of the 4th looked worse than it was; it wasn't a clothes line, per se. A clothesline tackle is around the neck....this was across Jackson's chest.

- Congrats to Donovan McNabb for breaking Ron Jaworski's all-time passing yards record with the Eagles. Question: Why was Dick Stockton so reluctant to refer to Jaworski by his given nickname when it was brought up? Jaws' nickname was "The Polish Rifle"....Stockton shortened it to "The Rifle". Clearly, Jaws doesn't mind the nickname...he incorporates it into some of his autographs.

- Not sure it was the right play for Nolan to challenge the field goal by Akers, but according to the rules, it IS challengeable, despite what the announcers said.

- Nice play by Juqua Parker blowing up the end around with about 6 minutes left in the game. This was right before the Quinton Mikell interception. Parker had a huge game, in general, with 4 tackles, a sack, and an interception for a touchdown.

- Huge game from Correll Buckhalter, playing in place of Westbrook. He 18 carries for 93 yards to go with 7 receptions for 85 yards. Very much Westbrook-like numbers.

- DeSean Jackson: 6 catches for 98 yards along with a 19 yard punt return in the 2nd quarter.

Flyers Drop Opener

2008-10-12T15:22:00.007-05:00

The Flyers, playing in their first regular season game of the year, dropped a strange game to the New York Rangers by a score of 4 - 3.

The Rangers, already playing their 4th game of the season, came out and blitzed the Flyers to the tune of 4 goals in the first period. Two of them were absolutely stoppable by goaltender Martin Biron, who was ultimately pulled from the game in favor of Antero Niittymaki.

Ultimately, however, the Rangers dominance had more to do with the Flyers looking as if they were still playing in the preseason. A couple of Flyers attempted to wake up the team; specifically, Riley Cote, who took on Colton Orr, and Mike Richards, who traded fives with Brandon Dubinsky.

Ultimately, however, it took until the 2nd period for the Flyers to wake up and get on the board. Scott Hartnell converted a Glen Metropolit face off win for a shorthanded goal early in the 2nd period by shooting high over Stephen Valiquette's glove hand. The period also featured Mike Richards flying around the ice; he drew two penalties in the period and seemed determined to dig the Flyers out of the hole they dug for themselves.

The Flyers struck again towards the end of the 2nd period when Simon Gagne batted in a Danny Briere rebound to chalk up his first goal in forever. For the game, I thought Gagne looked like a guy who hadn't played in awhile, but more importantly, he didn't look timid, which was a good sign for a guy coming off of post-concussive syndrome.

The third period was all Flyers, but they could only dent the Ranger net once on a Mike Richards goal from a sweet cross-ice feed from Danny Briere. The Flyers certainly had their opportunities in the 3rd period; they had a 2 man advantage with a little under 10 minutes left in the game, but they were turned away.

Notes:

- It's hard to understate how poorly the Flyers looked in the 1st peroid; the only consolation you can take from this game is that when they got their skating legs, they dominated the Rangers.

- Danny Briere....2 assists.

- Lasse Kukkonen was a -2 in the game and was the guy that got beat wide when Sjostrom scored.

- Luca Sbisa wasn't bad in his debut. He was a -1, but the whole team was so bad early, it was difficult to tell. By the end of the game, Sbisa was carrying the puck up ice confidently and even pursued on the forecheck at one point.

- Nice work from Glen Metropolit last night. One of the few Flyers that showed energy early on in the game and he got some increased ice time during the game.

- Stephen Valiquette? Again? Really? You gotta be kidding me.

- In case you missed it, I wrote a preview of the 2008-2009 Flyers season for The700level.com.

- Sarah Palin dropping the puck got alot of press after the game. I don't care about the home crowd booing her; what angers me is that she was there to drop the puck in the first place. I'm not angry about her presence at the game because of her politics; I'm angry that Owner Ed Snider would use his hockey team as a bully pulpit for his political views.

Many of us go to the hockey games to forget about politics and the real world for awhile. While I have no problem with highlighting the contributions of the armed services during the game (as the Flyers are wont to do), I am appalled that Snider, a known McCain donor, would push his choice for President under the disingenuous guise of inviting a well-known "Hockey Mom" to drop the puck. I don't care for it when Rock Stars prosthelize their political beliefs during a concert I pay to attend and I don't like it when rich hockey owners do the same.

Photo: yahoo.com....(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Jackson, Demps Fined

2008-10-11T16:25:00.004-05:00

DeSean Jackson and Quintin Demps have been fined for that silly, arms crossed, head bobbing thing they did when Jackson scored last weekend on that punt return against Washington. They had been doing the head bobbing thing all through preseason where both of them returned kicks for touchdowns.

I don't know what's worse; the celebration itself or that the NFL thought to fine them for it. Furthermore, I don't recall a flag being thrown on the play for excessive celebration.

Phils Take Game 2

2008-10-11T06:24:00.003-05:00

Brett Myers: Dangerous Offensive Weapon?

That might be exactly how we need to start thinking about Myers. Amazingly, he was the Phillies' best offensive weapon last night in the Phillies' 8 - 5 triumph over the LA Dodgers. The Phillies lead the best of 7 series 2 games to none, with the series shifting back to Los Angeles.

It all started with Myers in the second inning, where, with the game tied 1 - 1, Myers stroked a single with 2 outs, scoring Chooch Ruiz from second base to put the Phillies ahead 2 - 1. Myers would eventually come around to score in that inning courtesy of a Shane Victorino 2-run single.

Myers did it again in the 3rd inning; this time with 1 out and the bases loaded. With the Dodger infield in a bit at the corners, Myers laced a single down the right field line, scoring 2 runners and putting the Phillies out in front by a score of 6 - 2. Victorino eventually drove in Myers (and Ruiz) with a 2-run triple making the score 8 - 2.

In terms of his pitching, the best that could be said of Myers was that he hung in there for 5 innings. He had an interesting moment in the first inning, when a ball "slipped" out of Myers' hand giving the appearance that he was throwing at Manny Ramirez. Ramirez eventually got payback for the pitch in the 4th inning, hitting a liner out to left that landed in the flower box, cutting the Phillies lead to 8 - 5.

After the 4th inning, both teams' bullpens took over and Brad Lidge closed out the game for the Phillies.

There was a moment in the 7th inning, where every Phillies fan's heart skipped several beats. With two on and two out in the 7th, Casey Blake sent a drive to deep center field (roughly the same part of the park where Manny hit his double in Game 1)) that sent Shane Victorino feeling his way towards the fence and warning track before he finally made a leaping catch in front of the wall to preserve the lead.

The series picks up again tomorrow night, with Jamie Moyer facing Hiroki Kuroda at 8:22pm EST.

Notes:

- Myers is the story of the game, but Shane Victorino was amazingly clutch both at the plate and in the field. Shane went 2 - 5 with 4 RBI.

- Chase Utley was 0 for 1 with 4 walks.

- Pat Burrell's night was a bit rough....1 for 4, with 3 Ks and 4 men LOB.

- Interesting reference today in the LA Times from TJ Simers....he mentions towards the end of the piece that the local Philly fans might "burn the place down" if the Phils win the World Series. I guess if anyone would know if a local populace might riot, it would be a writer from Los Angeles.

- By the way; if Manny Ramirez had entertained thoughts of rushing the mound after Myers' "mistake" pitch in the first inning, he was smart to reconsider those thoughts considering Myers' amateur boxing experience.

Charlie Manuel's Mother Passes Away

2008-10-10T12:28:00.003-05:00

According to the Delco Times, Charlie Manuel's mother passed away today. No word on if Charlie will be with the team tonite. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Manuel family.

Update: According to Todd Zolecki, Charlie will manage the team tonite.

Phils Take Lead in NLCS

2008-10-10T08:13:00.005-05:00

Chase Utley and Pat Burrell both hit homers and Cole Hamels went 7 strong innings as the Phillies beat the Dodgers last night in Game 1 of the NLCS. The win gives the Phils a 1 - 0 series lead, with the NLCS continuing this afternoon with a Happy Hour starting time.

Hamels struggled a little bit in the early going of this game, giving up consecutive doubles in the first inning to Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez to give the Dodgers a 1 - 0. The Dodgers extended the lead to 2 - 0 in the 4th inning, off a double from Matt Kemp, who was eventually advanced and chased home on a sacrifice fly from Blake DeWitt.

Offensively, the Phillies struggled mightily to do anything with Derek Lowe in the early going. The made some noise in the bottom of the 5th, getting two out singles from Chooch Ruiz and Cole Hamels, before Jimmy Rollins flied out to end the inning. That set the stage for a 6th inning of fireworks from two of the Phillies big guns.

Shane Victorino led off the inning by getting on base via a Rafael Furcal throwing error. Chase Utley then hit the first pitch of his at bat into the first couple of rows in right field, evening the score at 2. Utley's homer revived the home crowd, who was put to sleep by the Phillies pounding the ball into the infield for the better part of 5 innings. The Phillies eventually took the lead in the 6th inning, when Pat Burrell took a 3 - 1 pitch out of the yard to left in what could be charitably described as a flower box shot.

Hamels, meanwhile, got through the 7th inning by striking out two of the three batters he faced and that ended his evening with 8 strikeouts and 2 runs allowed. Ryan Madson pitched the 8th inning and Brad Lidge closed matters with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

As mentioned earlier, the Phils and Dodgers play again today at Happy Hour (4:35pm) with Brett Myers facing Chad Billingsly.

Notes:

- Like you, I thought Manny Ramirez's double in the first inning was out of the park from the bat. Apparently, so did Manny. If he had run that ball out, it would have possibly been a triple and he might have scored on the passed ball incurred by Chooch Ruiz in the first inning.

- TJ Simers is trying his best to take shots at us in his columns of late (today's offering is here). And for the record, I'd much rather live in a passionate and substantive city like "Angryville" than the shallow and fake "Fairweatherville" that is the city of Los Angeles.

- Good offering in yesterday's USA Today on some of the previous playoff clashes between the Dodgers and Phillies. The symmetry of Davy Lopes and Larry Bowa's careers is something I touched on here in the beginning of the season.

2008 Phillies: Why Not Us?

2008-10-08T07:38:00.003-05:00

As we focus on MLB's final four teams, I feel sort of lucky that a second of my four favorite sports teams were able to make it to their sports final four participants (the Flyers being the other). If your team is out of the hunt for the World Series right now, I think I can break it down for you and let you know why you should most assuredly be rooting for the Phillies.

1.) The Other 3 Cities Have Recently Won Stuff. Think about it.

Tampa won a Super Bowl after the 2002 season and they won the 2004 Stanley Cup. And by the way: they won both of those championships by going through a Philadelphia team. Besides, no one in Tampa gives a damn about sports when their team isn't good. Do I have to remind you there is no income tax in Florida?

LA? They had the Shaq and Kobe years, which like, just happened 5 minutes ago. And LA has all the hot actresses you can gape at in addition to beautiful weather. Not worthy.

And do you really need me to get into it about Boston???

Trust me, Philly needs this championship more than Wall Street needs more cheap loans.

2.) The way the team was built. I wish I could say it was by design that the Phillies are in contention. The previous GM did not really have a plan for the Phils, but the Phils were built through the draft (5 of their starting 8 were Phillies draft products), sound free agent acquisitions (namely, Jayson Werth and Chad Durbin), and shrewd trades (getting Jamie Moyer from the M's, Brad Lidge from the 'Stros). Furthermore, there are no Alex Rodgriguez-like salaries on this team.

It's funny, but the Tampa Bay Rays are often lauded for having developed their own talent, but you could make this same case for the Phils. Where would the Phils be without Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Ryan Madson, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Brett Myers, and Shane Victorino (Rule 5 draftee)? All of those players were drafted by the Phils and figure prominently in their success.

3.) The Phillies players are really a likable group. Hate on the fans all you want, but these Phillies players are a great group.

Rollins may have called out the fans earlier this year, but he comes up big on the bigger stages and does everything with style. Shane Victorino is such a ball of energy, that the manager needs to remind him to tone it DOWN once in awhile. What is not to like about the short, crisp swing of Chase Utley? And the Big Man, Ryan Howard.....outside of Albert Pujols, he is as powerful a hitter as there is in baseball. Who wouldn't want to sit and have a beer with Pat Burrell as he tells you how he REALLY feels about Billy Wagner?

And don't forget about Brad Lidge, coming back from the baseball dead, Jayson Werth overcoming years of injury problems to realize his potential, and our ace in the making, Cole Hamels.

We may boo, cajole, complain, and catcall on occasion, but Phillies fans genuinely like this team.

So feel free to hop on the bandwagon, America*. Beers at McFadden's are on me**.

* Note: Offer does not apply to Mets fans.
** Note: I really can't afford to buy America beer.

Glad Hockey is Almost Back

2008-10-06T21:51:00.002-05:00

After the bitter shot that was the Eagles game, this little video is the refreshing lime wedge to remind us that hockey is around the corner. The video is a great commercial for Versus featuring our own Braydon Coburn, reminding us of the abuse hockey players can take. Eat your heart out, Anquan Boldin....

Westbrook Has Broken Ribs

2008-10-06T12:51:00.004-05:00

If I could take back that headline, I surely would, but according to the Eagles' official website, Brian Westbrook has two fractured ribs that he sustained in the game on Sunday and I find it very hard to believe that he won't be out for the forseeable future.

Phils Advance to NLCS

2008-10-06T03:00:00.000-05:00

The Phillies powered past the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 6 - 2 yesterday to win their best-of-5 game series with the Brew Crew 3 games to 1. The Phils advance to meet the LA Dodgers, who swept the Cubs in their NLDS series last night.

Phils starter Joe Blanton pitched 6 strong innings, giving up 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 7. The Brewers hitters continued to be patient, running several deep counts with Blanton, but Blanton was able to get the outs when he needed them. Blanton did come out to pitch the 7th inning, but after two straight hits (one of them a Prince Fielder homer), Ryan Madson came on to relieve Blanton. Madson did give up a run, but at the point of the game that Madson entered, the Phils were up by a score of 5 - 1, so Madson was simply collecting outs to get the game to Brad Lidge.

Offensively, the Phils came out of the gate swinging, getting a homer from Jimmy Rollins to lead off the game. Seeing your team down a run before you even get to your seat can be terribly debilitating to a fan and that is what Rollins' lead off homer was able to accomplish.

The big blow, offensively, came from the bat of Pat Burrell. Burrell, who had been struggling coming into this game, came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd, with 2 on and 2 outs. Burrell took a 2 - 2 offereing from Jeff Suppan and drove it to left center field for a 3-run home run that effectively broke open the game and gave the Phils a 4 - 0. Jayson Werth followed up Burrell's homer with a solo shot of his own to extend the lead to 5 - 0.

As an encore, Burrell hit yet another homer in the 8th inning to close out the scoring.

The NLCS starts this Thursday in Philadelphia, with Cole Hamels facing Derek Lowe.

Notes:

- Can't stop now! I like the matchup against the Dodgers and I'll say why a little later this week.

- If there was an MVP in the NLDS, it would have to be Shane Victorino. Victorino scored or drove in a run in all 3 Phillies victories, including the decisive grand slam against CC Sabathia in Game 2. For the series, Victorino hit .357 with 3 doubles, a homer, and 5 RBI. He also had an OPS of 1.256 for the series.

- Between the Phillies still being in action, the Eagles playing on Sunday afternoon, and the Flyers starting regular season play this Saturday, in addition to all of the college football action, how much marital discord will this coming weekend cause?

Photo: Yahoo.com....(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Redskins Thump Eagles

2008-10-05T12:25:00.007-05:00

As the famed Bill Parcells quote goes "You are what your record says you are".

The Eagles are now a 2 - 3 ballclub and are in danger of becoming an afterthought in the NFC East after a 23 - 17 loss at home to the division rival Redskins.

This game started out well enough for the Eagles. On the Eagles' first offensive possession, they drove right down the field with a variety of well-called plays (loved the WR screen to Jackson). The drive culminated in a Brian Westbrook run from 9 yards out. That first drive did a lot to assure Eagle fans that Westbrook was fine, as he had 5 touches for 39 yards in that first drive.

The Eagles' second score came courtesy of a 68 yard DeSean Jackson punt return, where he went across the field, used his blocking well, and took the kick back to the house. The only catch? The Eagles appeared to be flagged for a block in the back; the refs ultimately picked up the flag, but it appeared that the block in the back did indeed occur, although it could be argued that the block did not affect the return. Regardless, the Eagles definitely got a break.

On offense, the Redskins tried to pass the ball on the Eagles, but Jason Campbell got batted around pretty good on the Skins' first couple of possessions.

This led the Redskins to try the running game to good effect. While the Redskins were only able to cobble together field goals in the first half, they held the ball for the majority of the 2nd quarter, relegating the Eagles offense to the sidelines.

The Redskins continued their offensive assertiveness into the second half, this time converting their drives into touchdowns. In the third quarter, the Skins only took 7 plays to go 75 yards for a Chris Cooley touchdown catch from wideout Antwaan Randle-El. The Skins struck again on a shorter drive to end the third quarter, as Clinton Portis, who had 145 yards in the game, took advantage of the great day his offensive line seemed to be having, and punched the ball into the endzone from 4 yards out.

Meanwhile, the Eagles' offense, stagnant for 2 quarters, seemed to come to life in the fourth quarter, but only to have their redzone woes continue as the Eagles, on a 3rd and inches call from the 2 1/2 yard line, called a play that was a predictable as tax time in April. The play lost 3 yards and brought on a field goal try from a distance that is apparently amenable to David Akers' current skillset to bring the score to 23 - 17.

Unfortunately, that field goal drive was the last time you saw the Eagles' offense the whole day. The Redskins simply shoved the ball down the Eagles' throat for the final 7 minutes of the game to secure the victory.

Notes:

- Greg Lewis should have come up with that 3rd down catch towards the end of the 1st quarter. I know that Troy Aikman said nice things about him during the broadcast, but I don't think I'll ever be sold on Lewis for anything more than a spare receiver.

- David Akers missed another 50 yarder and it was a momentum killer. Akers' long distance struggles were underscored by the fact that the Redskins' kicker, Shaun Suisham, was able to hit 3 field goals, all from over 40 yards (including a 50 yarder just before the half).

- Brian Westbrook left the game during the Eagles' drive toward the end of the 1st quarter. He appeared to have something wrong with his chest. Pam Oliver lated reported it as a rib injury.

- Sav Rocca....great 53 yard punt that put the Skins on their own 2 yard line at the 10:15 mark in the 2nd quarter.

- What a horrible challenge on the Chris Cooley touchdown. The brain trust thought that Randle-El was past the line of scrimmage, but it wasn't really even close.

- Eagle defenders have done just a brutal job of getting off of blocks in this game. The entire defense looks a step slow.

- The Asante Samuel penalty for defensive holding was a killer. That allowed the Redskins to convert a 3rd and 9.

- Where was the Eagles' linebacker corps in this game?

- The Redskins rolled up 203 yards rushing on the Eagles defense. This led to a 10 minute time of possession discrepancy in favor of the Redskins and frankly, this was the story of the game.

Phils Drop Game 3 to Brewers

2008-10-05T08:00:00.004-05:00

The Phils dropped a choppy, strange Game 3 to the Brewers in Milwaukee by a score of 4 - 1. They still lead the best-of-5 series 2 games to 1.

Starter Jamie Moyer did not fare well in this game, going only 4 innings before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the 5th inning. Moyer had a hard time getting a handle on his control, as he walked two in the first inning and threw a wild pitch, before giving up a sacrifice fly to Prince Fielder and an RBI single to JJ Hardy. While the Brewer lead was only 2 - 0, it could have been much more. Moyer continued to struggle, putting runners on base in the 2nd and 3rd inning. He had a quiet 4th inning, but at this point, he had thrown 90 pitches and seemed unable to pinpoint home plate umpire Brian Runge's strikezone.

By contrast, Brewer starter Dave Bush had Phillies batters flailing away at his sharp curveball. Bush gave up only 1 run over 5 1/3 innings and could have pitched deeper, but Brewer manager Dale Sveum smartly pulled Bush in favor of his bullpen, whom the Phillies had not had much success with the series so far.

The Phillies looked to finally break through in the 9th inning against Brewer closer Salomon Torres. The Phils had the bases loaded and no one out, for Pedro Feliz, who turned over on a ball that squirted to the third baseman for a double play. That play was not enough to score the run from 3rd, however, as Ryan Howard was ordered to go back to third base as Shane Victorino was called for interfering with second baseman Craig Counsell, whom Victorino clipped as he was trying to turn a double play.

The series continues today at 1pm, with Joe Blanton facing Jeff Suppan.

Notes:

- The umpiring was abysmal in this game for both side. Home plate umpire Brian Runge's strike zone was inconsistent at best.

- Ryan Howard was absolutely safe on that ground ball he hit to third that drove in the Phils' only run of the game. Television replays proved that he was safe. Just the fecal icing on the crap cake that was baked for the Phils by the umps last night.

- Strange game....it didn't flow well and the Brewers could not really deliver the knock out punch. Don't think this flows over into Game 4.

Deep Thoughts on the Phils' Game 2 Win

2008-10-03T11:11:00.002-05:00

Couldn't get a post done earlier this AM, as my boss did the one thing I will never do myself as a boss: call an 8AM meeting. What's worse, is that he called the meeting and was 15 minutes late. After that meeting, I was caught up all AM in other people's drama. God, I hate work.

Some Thoughts on the Phils and the NLDS series so far....

- So far, so good for the Fightins. If I had a criticism offensively, so far, is that they have only scored in two innings of this series so far. It just so happens that when they scored in those innings, the aggregation of runs was such that it rattled the Milwaukee starter and whomever the Phils were starting made that big inning stand up.

What I am getting at here, is that it would be nice once the Phils got into the other team's bullpen that they would actually score some runs when they got baserunners. They seem unable to put the kill shot to Milwaukee when they get men on base. I am hoping that this is a function of a good Milwaukee bullpen and not some weird state we are getting into with this Phillies lineup.

- Thank you, Brad Lidge, for not killing me in game 2 the way you killed me in game 1. If I was anywhere near a bar, reputable or otherwise, watching game 1, I would have gotten hammered just during Lidge's ninth inning, let alone from the previous 8 innings of play. He threw only 12 pitches last night, and should certainly be available on Saturday.

- Brett Myers' ABs in Game 2 of this series will go down in Phillies lore as two of the greatest ABs to not produce a hit. What they succeeded in doing is making CC Sabathia, pitching on 3 days rest for seemingly the last three months, work much harder on what should have been automatic outs. Myers worked a 9-pitch walk that kept the Phillies big inning going in the 2nd inning and later, in the 4th inning, made Sabathia throw 10 pitches before eventually flying out to center. The 19 pitches Sabathia threw to Myers represent almost 20% of the pitches Sabathia threw for his 3 2/3 innings he could stay in the game. Sure, Shane Victorino was the offensive star of the game for his grand slam, but don't overlook Myers.

- Was it me, or do the Brewers just not look comfortable trying to be patient (passive?) at the plate? They look like they're going up against pitchers like Myers and Lidge with a game plan of being patient, but they looked slow once Myers and Lidge eventually started pounding the strike zone instead of nibbling around.

- Chase Utley did not look good at the plate yesterday and neither did Ryan Howard. They struck out a combined 6 times and collectively left 6 runners on base.

Hamels Hurls Gem; Phils Win Game 1

2008-10-02T07:22:00.003-05:00

The Phillies, behind the dominant pitching of Cole Hamels, took game one of the 2008 NLDS by a score of 3 - 1. They lead the best-of-5 series 1 -0 and the victory marked the first post-season victory by the Phillies franchise since the 1993 World Series.

On a windy and rainy day in South Philly, Cole Hamels was positively dominant. In his second ever post-season start, Hamels did not give up a basehit or a baserunner until the 5th inning. He only gave up two hits in all during his 8 innings of work and also struck out 9.

The Phils scored their only runs of the game during a weird 3rd inning that started with a Carlos Ruiz single. Cole Hamels successfully attempted a sacrifice to move Ruiz over, but the Brewer covering 1st base (Ricky Weeks) failed to secure the ball to force Hamels, giving the Phils two men on and no one out. After Rollins flew out and Werth struck out, Chase Utley hit a ball in the left centerfield gap that Mike Cameron appeared to get leather on, but could not control. The ball fell on the outfield grass as two Phils scored and Utley stood on second base. Brewers starter Yovanni Gollardo then proceeded to intentionally walk Ryan Howard, and then walked two more batters to give the Phils their 3rd run.

Hamels was lifted after the 8th inning and Brad Lidge provided yet another eventful save, giving up a run on two hits, but he also struck out the side to preserve the victory.

The series continues today at 6pm, with Brett Myers facing CC Sabathia.

Notes:

- When did Brad Lidge turn into Mitch Williams? Did I miss the memo? And since he threw 35 pitches, is there anyway that Lidge is available today? I can't see it.

- If Utley had kept his feet when receiving the relay throw from Jayson Werth in the 9th inning, Ray Durham either stays at 3rd or gets cut down at the plate. As it was, when Utley did lose his feet and Durham broke for 3rd, a decent throw might have gotten Durham.

- Speaking of Utley, he made a great play on Tony Gwynn Jr's attempted bunt in the 8th inning.

- Pedro Feliz left 6 men on base in going 0 for 4. He'll probably play again today, with lefty Sabathia on the mound.

- The Brewers practically emptied their bullpen yesterday after Gallardo could only go 4 innings; they better hope Sabathia eats some innings today.

Photo: Yahoo.com ((Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images))

Eagles-Bears: A Post-Mortem

2008-10-01T07:29:00.005-05:00

Didn't get a chance to write up a game report from the Eagles' 24 - 20 loss to the Chicago Bears last Sunday night, but I did want to mention a couple of pertinent things to take away from the game.

In short, the game against the Bears represents a missed opportunity on a couple of levels. It was a winnable road game that would have nicely position the Eagles for the 2nd quarter of their schedule. Unfortunately, there is not much to be done about it now, but to break down what went right and what went wrong.

Offense. 1.) I felt that Donovan McNabb actually had about as good of a game as you're going to have when you're missing your best wide receiver, your best running back/offensive weapon, and your starting tight end. In going 25 for 41 for 262 yards and a touchdown, you can't lay this loss at McNabb's feet. He spread the ball to an astounding 9 different receivers.

2.) The offensive play that probably garners the most attention will probably be the call on 4th and 1 to run Buckhalter up the middle. I have no problem with the call to go for it on 4th down in that spot. What I will take issue with is putting the ball in Buckhalter's hands rather than McNabb's. To reiterate what John Madden said during the telecast, you put the ball into the hands of your best player and the Eagles' best player is McNabb (at least he is as long as Westbrook is hurt).

3.) Another thought that struck during the game on Sunday night and during the final drives during the Dallas game is how much better the Eagles would be with a dominant wide receiver or tight end they can count on when they need a crucial 3rd down late in the game. I think DeSean Jackson is going to be a weapon on this team this year, but I don't think he's at that stage of utter reliability late in a game just yet.

Defense. 1.) The defense played well for the most part, but when they didn't get through on the blitz, they got burnt badly. They did force Kyle Orton to turn the ball over 4 times, but I wonder if they waited too long to dial things back and make Orton work for his touchdowns a bit more.

2.) If you give Kyle Orton 10 opportunities to make that throw that he made to Devin Hester when they hooked up for a touchdown, he misses that pass 8 times out of 10. It was a heckuva throw by Orton and a good grab by Hester, with Asante Samuel trailing in his wake.

3.) The defense did not come through after they Eagles offense whiffed on that 4th down by the goalline. They allowed Matt Forte to run through them at key situations. While Stewart Bradley played OK, he has to step up in that spot as the leader of the front 7 and make sure that doesn't happen.

4.) Omar Gaither was a beast in this game with 9 tackles and a recovered fumble.

Special Teams. 1.) The area I think Andy Reid will only address after it is too late is the matter of David Akers not being a trustworthy kicker from over 40 yards. Akers' two misses, one of 50 yards and the other of 47 yards, has a direct effect on the decisions to made by Reid during the game (HINT: the 4th down call at the goalline might have been a field goal at that stage of the game). If Akers hits even one of those two kicks, the Eagles probably win this game.

I don't want to put the whole loss on Akers; they had other opportunities to win it. But during the NFC Championship years, Akers used to be an absolute weapon from over 40 yards and ever since Koy Detmer stopped holding on field goals, he's gone downhill. This has got to be a mental thing at this stage for Akers; he needs to solve it before the weather gets colder outside and long field goals become even more difficult to hit. I wouldn't mind seeing Reid bring in a kicker who can hit those longer field goals if Akers is unable to get it done from long distance anymore.

Getting back to DeSean Jackson, it was pointed out during the telecast that he wasn't quite the same player, offensively, after he put the ball on the turf early in the 2nd quarter. Hard to disagree with that; it seemed that he and McNabb were not on the same page on the interception that McNabb threw in the 2nd half. If Jackson is going to be an offensive weapon this year, he can't take mistakes he might make on special teams with him into the offensive huddle.

Lidge: NL Comeback Player of the Year

2008-09-30T13:19:00.002-05:00

Brad Lidge was honored by baseball for his perfect 41 for 41 season and given the NL Comeback Player of the Year award.

Congrats to Brad for shaking the spector of that awful Albert Pujols homer from many moons ago and putting things back together.

NL East Champs: September 2008 By the Numbers

2008-09-30T07:23:00.002-05:00

Ok, now is the time to come clean. Did you EVER think this Phillies team would actually cross the finish line this year as the NL East champs back on August 31st?

C'mon.....be truthful.

I mean, the Phils were a game back in the NL East of the Mets, they weren't hitting consistently, and their starting staff was starting to get a little inconsistent. And seemingly, whenever the Phillies were winning, the Mets were winning too.

And then, September happened and the Phils flipped a switch many of us believed this team was not talented enough to have. How much did having the heartless Mets in our division help? Probably quite a bit, but as a Philly fan, I'll take my successes where I can get them.

By the Numbers:

17

The number of wins the Phils chalked up in the month of September. This was exactly what they needed to do in September, as the Mets, with their bullpen imploding and their key players not hitting with men on base, barely played .500 ball (13 - 12).

That was more of less the difference this year; the Phils got it done when it counted and the Mets did not.

1.274

Ryan Howard's OPS for the month of September. If you're not a stat guy, let me just tell you that's about as good as it gets for an offensive player. Howard had an other wordly OBP of .422 and he hit 11 homers and 32 RBI. He carried this team offensively in September and has been garnering a good bit of MVP talk (misguided, though it may be).

.411

The OBP of leadoff man Jimmy Rollins. It has been said many times; the Phillies go as Jimmy Rollins goes. When Rollins is getting on base 41% of the time, this gives Howard and Utley so many opportunities to do damage. While it did not happen as emphatically as last year, Rollins once again came through in September when it mattered.

It was particularly fitting that Rollins made the diving/sliding stab of a grounder that closed out the Nationals last Saturday and gave the Phils the NL East crown. He stood up for his teammates very publicly in a way that could have backfired and held back a lesser player. Rollins did not shrink from the spotlight when he put it on himself by criticizing the fans; the exact opposite occurred.

.344

The BA for Shane Victorino in the month of September. I've never been a Victorino guy, insomuch as, I've never believed he was cut out to be a full-time starter. While he may not be a full-time centerfielder, he certainly proved himself a player that deserves at least 500 ABs regardless of the outfield position.

.172

The combined BA for Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste in the month of September. I understand that these guys have done a pretty decent job in handling the pitching staff, but they have to do a little better than a .172 batting average if the Phils are to make any noise against the Brewers in the playoffs.

4

The number of wins for 45 year old Jamie Moyer in the month of August. What more can I say about the old man that hasn't already been said? He finished the year with an astounding 16 wins and I see no reason for him not to return next year, barring some sort of offseason physical problem.

6.94

The ERA for Chad Durbin for the month of September. The Phillies do not win the NL East without Chad Durbin. Other than Brad Lidge, he's been their best reliever all year and I'd like to think that some of his usage this month was because of the circumstances, but they will need the pre-September Chad Durbin to progress in the playoffs.

Summary

Thanks to their first baseman and 45 year old starter, the Phils are once again NL East champs. You could make the argument that these two players represent the co-MVPs of the 2008 Phillies team. You would have to include Brad Lidge in any case for team MVP. He finished the season going 41 for 41 in save opportunities, despite the fact that his last few saves have been of the high wire variety. Contrast that with the Mets who lost Billy Wagner and seemed to never find a replacement closer.

Quick Weekend Review

2008-09-29T07:32:00.003-05:00

If there has been a weekend where there was more to see than this past weekend, I can't think of when that weekend took place. For now, this is just a quick overview of the weekend's events, but I'll do a deeper dive on each of the biggies as it pertains to the Philly sports scene.

The Phillies. Wow. Don't make it easy on us or anything. When Lidge was on the mound over the weekend, doing his best Mitch Williams impersonation, I thought for sure I was witnessing a meltdown. Jimmy Rollins' sprawling effort to gain control of a grounder up the middle and his flip to Utley, who turned a game ending double play was as big of a defensive play as you'll see.

The Phils clinched their second consecutive NL East division championship and have earned themselves an NLDS series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who made the wildcard, after battling the choking Metropolitans of New York.

The Eagles. Great game last night, but in losing to the Bears, they definitely left a win out on the field. David Akers can seemingly no longer be counted on over 40 yards out and the red zone woes of last season returned for another night.

The Flyers. Went to the last Spectrum game on Saturday and saw the ceremony. I have some pictures to post when I get around to writing about it. The Flyers did a tremendous job and it was nice to see Bobby Clarke get a nice standing ovation after the way his tenure as GM ended. It would have been nice to see Eric Lindros make it to the ceremony (he was invited), but he had another engagement to attend to, but he did apparently record a video that I'm trying to get a hold of to post.

Penn State. Ranked No. 6 in the country and are especially being viewed differently after USC lost to Oregon State. The Big 10 is theirs to lose right now, if they can survive road trips to Columbus and Madison.

Get to Know The Bears

2008-09-26T08:40:00.000-05:00

The Eagles' opponents this week hail from the fine city of Chicago. One of the most storied franchises in the history of the NFL, the Chicago Bears feature one of the toughest defenses in the league. Chicago is also my second favorite city in America after the City of Brotherly Love. The Chicago style hot dog is a work of art, in my opinion, with all of the food groups represented.

What else do you need to know about the Bears and Chicago?

1.) The most famous neck beard in football. One thing the Bears have over the Eagles as they go into their matchup is they have as their QB the owner of the most famous neck beard on the Internet, Kyle Orton. As Eagle fans, we know from neck beards. Remember Koy Detmer?

Honestly, though. Does this look like someone Brian Dawkins and the crew should be concerned with? He looks like a cross between the Unabomber and that guy we all knew in college that drank the bong water.

2.) Cro-Magnon Man is a Linebacker. Now we come to everyone's favorite member of mensa, Brian Urlacher. Don't you just get the feeling that if there wasn't such a sport as football, that Brian Urlacher would be a bouncer at a bar, with the high hopes of owning his own bar someday? He's the kind of guy who would probably look at "Roadhouse" as not so much cheesy entertainment as a career plan.

The guy also needs to be a bit more discriminating with his women. I mean, this is the same guy that "hung out" with Paris Hilton and had a kid out of wedlock with a broad that should be the poster child for why athletes should stay away from groupies. Setting his own dick on fire might be a more expeditious solution to whatever it is he's trying to do himself by being tied to these two cumdumpsters.

Urlacher also has the distinction of an uncanny resemblance to our forebears on this Earth. See the picture below? One is of a violent, monosyllabic creature who procreates indiscriminately and the other is of a model of what scientists figure cro-magnon man look like.

Go ahead, Darwin. Tell'em apart, if you can.

3.) The Lance Briggs Driving School!

Lesson #1: If you've been drinking Irish Car bombs since happy hour, by all means get behind the wheel of your expensive Italian sports car.

Lesson #2: If you wrap it around a pole, just leave the fucker there.

Lesson #3: Lie about how the car got there and because so much time will have passed, you won't get charged with DUI or any other offense you may have been charged with or any other embarassing piece of information that may have come of such an incident.

On the other hand, maybe Lance Briggs lent his car to his little brother who went joy riding with Jeff Spicoli. Yeah, things didn't work out too well for Lincoln High that week, did they? Let's hope Lance is no longer bitter about crashing his car, which I am absolutely sure was done under the most innocent of circumstances.

4.) Team Fight Songs. Did you know the Bears have a fight song? I didn't know before I wrote this piece, but yes, the Bears do have a fight song. It seems a bit more involved and arcane lyrically and it actually looks like work to sing the song. I think the whole "Bear Down" lyric gives the song a bit of a downer quality whereas the Eagles fight song with "Fly Eagles Fly" evokes more a soaring imagery, but hey, judge for yourself:

Not a bad song, but don't you think it's a long? Good to see George Wendt hasn't eaten himself to death. Let's hope we don't hear too much of this song on Sunday, but if you're travelling to the game, I'm sure you'll be subjected to it.

For my money, the Bears fight song has WAY too many lyrics to remember when you're at the game and you're hammered. I'm convinced, however, that the composer of the Eagles fight song took that into account when writing the lyrics. Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever sung the Eagles fight song sober.

5.) Chicago is Bi-Polar. Did you know there was a North Side and South Side to Chicago? It's true. While both sides of town seem united behind the Bears, I think it's important to know that each side of town has different tastes with respect to the baseball teams they root. The following video demonstrates the sort of debating one usually only finds during an Eagles-Cowboys game. Notice the eloquence of the guy in the Jim Thome jersey.

Phils Drop Series to Braves; Mets Lose too

2008-09-25T07:47:00.003-05:00

This Phillies team does not want to make it easy on themselves or their fans.

The Phils dropped the rubber match of their final 3 game set with their personal whipping boys, the Atlanta Braves, by a score of 10 - 4. But because the Mets lost to the Cubs last night, the Phils' magic number managed to get down to 3.

It was obvious from the first inning that starter Brett Myers did not have his best stuff. He gave up 2 early runs and struggled with the location of his fastball through his entire time on the mound. He did not make it through the 5th inning, and ultimately, he was charged with 6 runs, 2 of which were not earned because of a throwing error by....wait for it.....Ryan Howard.

The bullpen was not of much help last night either. Chad Durbin was only able to get one out last night and Scott Eyre came in and gave up a 3-run bomb to Chipper Jones.

Offensively, the Phils hung in the ballgame until that fateful fifth inning. They got on the board after being down 2 - 0 on a Pedro Feliz RBI single. Down 3 - 1, the Phils got solo homers from Chase Utley in the 3rd inning and Ryan Howard in the 4th inning to even the score at 3. The Phils got an excuse-me run late in the game, when Pat Burrell scored from 3rd on a passed ball.

The Phils have an off day today to think about how they are driving the entire Delaware Valley to drink and start with their last series of the year against the Washington Nationals.

Pitching Matchups:

Friday: Joe Blanton vs. John Lannan
Saturday: Jamie Moyer vs. Odalis Perez
Sunday: Cole Hamels vs. Shairon Martis (hopefully, they don't need to win this game and they can rest Hamels)

Notes:

- Anyone hear that in-game interview with Davey Lopes? Tom McCarthy, Sarge, and Davey Lopes were talking about Shane Victorino's outfield defense and Lopes intimated that the Phils would bring in a centerfielder in the offseason and move Victorino to right field and Jayson Werth to left field. You might recall that Pat Burrell is the current left fielder and a free agent at year's end. Did Lopes just tip the Phillies hand for this offseason last night or was he just speculating?

- There was a gathering of players late in the ballgame in the 8th inning, when Shane Victorino was leading off of 3rd and, because of a defensive shift, no one was holding Victorino on. Braves reliever Julian Tavarez, obviously not bright, decided with a 6 run lead, to chase Victorino back to third base himself. Victorino said something to Taverez (probably questioning his intelligence in that situation) and the benches cleared and players milled about for a few minutes before order was restored. Despite his diminutive stature, doesn't Victorino strike you as one of those little guys you just wouldn't really want to eff with?

Photo: Yahoo.com....(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

Flyers Enter 2008 Exhibition Schedule

2008-09-23T20:03:00.004-05:00

The Flyers started training camp last weekend and even had their 1st preseason game last night. I didn't watch it, because it wasn't on TV, but the Flyers did attempt to webcast it.

For whatever reason, I couldn't get it to work, but I applaud the idea and hope they can get the kinks worked out of televising NHL games over the internet.

Just off of the top of my head, here are 10 storylines to monitor as the Flyers progress through their camp and preseason schedule:

1.) How will Simon Gagne play as he gets back into the grind of the NHL schedule? Will he play tentatively, or will he come back as the 40+ goal scorer we've seen in the past?

2.) How will Mike Richards adjust to the burden of the captaincy?

3.) Will Jeff Carter earn his new contract? You can argue he is slightly overpaid right now, but might be a bargain by year 3 of his deal if his upside is what everyone believes it to be.

4.) Which young Flyer prospect will make the team out of camp? Steve Downie or Claude Giroux?

5.) Can Scott Upshall stay out of John Stevens' doghouse?

6.) Of the gaggle of defensemen that GM Paul Holmgren acquired during the off-season, which ones will make the team?

7.) Can Braydon Coburn build off of his success from last year?

8.) Which goaltender is Martin Biron? The one benched in favor of Antero Niittymaki during stretches of the regular season or the one that practically stole a playoff series from Montreal all by himself?

9.) How much will the Flyers miss assistant coach Terry Murray, who did a great job with the defensemen last year? Murray has moved on to become head coach of the LA Kings.

10.) This team could very easily have missed the playoffs last year and it would have probably resulted in John Stevens' firing. If the Flyers struggle in the first half of the year, will the Flyers fire Stevens?

One more important item: Tim Panaccio, formerly the Flyers beat writer for the Inquirer, is now blogging over at HockeyBuzz.com. According to what I read over there, Panaccio took a buyout from the Inky. Panaccio was always one of my favorite writers (even when he covered the Eagles beat for the Inky), so I'll look forward to checking out his work over at HockeyBuzz.

Phils Magic Number at 4

2008-09-23T07:37:00.002-05:00

Phils rookie JA Happ pitched another fantastic game and Pat Burrell provided late inning fireworks, as the Phils beat the Braves by a score of 6 - 2. Since the Mets lost (again) last night, the Phils now own a 2 1/2 game lead in the NL East with 5 games left in their regular season (the Mets have 6 games left).

JA Happ pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up only 2 runs, with the big blow being a Kelly Johnson homer. If you watched the game, it was apparent that Happ was going to have a tough inning. After putting 2 men on in the fifth, but wriggling out of trouble, Happ walked Martin Prado on 4 straight pitches. The next batter, Kelly Johnson, crushed a ball to right field, tying the score at 2. Happ went on to allow one more basehit to Jeff Francoeur before getting Casey Kotchman to fly out to deep right field on a ball that made me glad the athletic Jayson Werth was in right. Werth had to track the ball to the wall and did a little half leap, having a sort of controlled collision with the right field wall while making the catch.

Offensively, the Phils busted the game open in the 8th inning. Leading 3 - 2, Pat Burrell sent a 3 - 1 pitch over the left field wall for a 3-run homer, giving the Phillies the final margin of victory.

The series with the Braves continues tonite, with Cole Hamels facing Jo-Jo Reyes. As a side note, Johan Santana is going tonite for the Mets against the Cubs.

Notes:

- Chase Utley collected his 100th RBI last night. After watching him in April and May, I would have never guessed it would have taken him this long to get to this point.

- Scott Eyre collected his 5th win last night coming on in relief. It was his 3rd win since he arrived from Chicago on August 7th.

MRI: Westbrook Has Ankle Strain

2008-09-22T12:10:00.004-05:00

According to an AP story (linked here from ESPN.com), an MRI showed that Brian Westbrook has an ankle strain, with no ligament damage.

That's about the best possible scenario after watching Westbrook land awkwardly on his ankle as he tried to avoid stepping all over a prone Tra Thomas.

According to the report, Westbrook is listed as day-to-day, but I still wouldn't be surprised to see him sitting this weekend.

Eagles Bludgeon Steelers

2008-09-22T07:35:00.004-05:00

In a defensive performance reminiscent of the Buddy Ryan defenses of the late 80's, the Eagles beat the cross-state rival Steelers by a score of 15 - 6.

The Eagles sacked Steeler quarterbacks 9 times and forced 3 turnovers, all 3 of which came from Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger. Even the sacks and turnovers don't tell the real story; Roethlisberger was harrassed and harried the entire time he was in the game and the Eagles simply beat him up. Eventually, Roethlisberger injured his throwing hand, and came out of the game to be replaced by Byron Leftwich.

Offensively, the Eagles moved the ball easily during the 1st half, only to be undone by mistakes such as a Tony Hunt fumble or the McNabb interception towards the end of the first half. The Eagles did manage to punch the ball into the end zone during the 2nd quarter on a pass from Donovan McNabb to Correll Buckhalter.

Ultimately, however, injuries also played a part in the Eagles' offensive woes as they lost all-World RB Brian Westbrook towards the end of the 1st quarter to what appeared to be an ankle sprain (post-game X-rays ruled out a break).

The injury bug bit the Eagles coming out of halftime as well, as Donovan McNabb did not come out with the team to start the 2nd half for what was reported as a chest injury. Kevin Kolb came on and, after having a ball tipped for an interception on his first attempt, settled down and looked Ok, going 2 of 3 for 18 yards.

When McNabb did come back, it was to loud cheers and he replaced Kolb at around the 10:00 minute mark in the 3rd quarter.

The special teams also played a significant role in the second half, in the form of the punting of Sav Rocca. Rocca punted the Eagles out of a hole from deep in their own territory at the start of the 4th quarter, effectively, reversing the field position on a 64 yard effort from his own 11 yard line.

Rocca also nailed two punts that pinned the Steelers to within their own 10 yard line. The fruits of Rocca's labor was realized when the Eagles induced Ben Roethlisberger into an intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety. While the intentional grounding call itself may have been questionable (Roethlisberger appeared to be outside the tackle box), replay did show that Roethlisberger was actually tackled down in the endzone before he threw the ball anyway.

Next week, the Eagles face another tough defense, when they travel to Chicago to face the Bears. In the meantime, the entire city will be focused on Brian Westbrook's MRI to determine how long he will be out.

Photo: Yahoo.com (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

And now McNabb.....

2008-09-21T16:59:00.003-05:00

McNabb is NOT coming out for the 2nd half against the Steelers. Preliminary reports are that he injured his chest. Possibly an injured rib?

UPDATE: McNabb did come back. That would have been horrible had he been out for the game.

NOOO!!!!!

2008-09-21T15:53:00.002-05:00

Westbrook limped off during the 2nd quarter of the Steeler game after coming down awkwardly on his ankle.

Welcome Yinzers!

2008-09-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

I would like to be the official welcome wagon for all of you Stiller fans coming to the City of Brotherly Love and Lincoln Financial Field to see your Stillers face our Iggles. After all, we're from the same state. Here's photographic proof:

I feel I am very qualified to give you a bit of an orientation to our fine city. I am an alumni of THE Pennsylvania State University, so I have hung around with my fair share of denizens of the 'Burgh such that I feel I can adequately translate things you'll see in Philadelphia with those things you might already be familiar with and maybe some things you may not be familiar with.

If there is one thing I have learned about native Pittsburghers is that you folks are very proud of Pittsburgh. Huzzah for you! As such, I would like to provide a little primer on some of the things we are proud of and relating them to your Western Pennsylvania experience.

History/Identity. Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in America and is full of history. The signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was written here. The home of Ben Franklin. Basically, Philadelphia is the cradle of liberty, if you will. Much like Pittsburgh, the city has undergone changes from industrial powerhouse to center of finance, healthcare, and communication.

Pittsburgh does not have near the history of Philadelphia, but is now counted amongst the best places to live by magazines such as Forbes and Money magazine.

Of course, these were the same magazines that were saying things in 2007, such as "Merrill Lynch is in damned good shape!" and "AIG is a stock to buy now!", so I'm quite sure those livability rankings are nothing short of iron-clad.

Fresh Air. I know all about Picksburgh, n'at. Learned it from Sienna Miller. She sent me the following picture taken, no doubt, from her high powered Hollywood camera:

Wow, that picture looks like the city of LA farted on top of the Monoghehela.

So, feel free to enjoy the fresh air here in Philadelphia, as it appears that Pittsburgh has the worst air quality in the USA according to the American Lung Assocation. Philadelphia may have one of the highest murder rates in the country, but at least you don't have to worry about the air you breathe while you're here.

Transportation. I've seen the movie "Witness". I know you Western Pennsylvanians travel a little differently than we do.

So, just to let you know, my Yinzer friend, we have the sort of transportation you don't have to feed oats to; as a matter of fact, we have a state funded organization that will take you to the game for a small fee using a mode of transportation that is futuristic and such. Like, George Jetson futuristic. Enjoy the ride! Afterall, SEPTA is a good example of your Western PA tax dollars at work!

Baseball. There is this whole other sport called "baseball", where a guy standing 60 feet from another guy tries to use a round bat to hit a round ball that one guy throws at the other. Pretty cool sport. Our local team, the Phillies, are in a pennant race right.

Just thought I'd bring you up to speed on this, because I'm fairly certain you guys don't have a baseball team anymore.

Current Pop Culture. Philadelphia has a long pop culture history, ranging from the early days of rock and roll, with Bill Haley and the Comets getting their start here all the way to current times, with Actor Will Smith and Director M. Night Shyamalan hailing from Philly. The FX show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" has proven to be very popular and seems to be getting stronger with each season. And, of course, there are the "Rocky" movies.

I'm sure you, the native 'Burgher, can relate to this rich and deep pop history, with movies based in Pittsburgh such as "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh" and TV shows such as "Queer as Folk".

Musically, Donnie Iris heads up the Pittsburgh hit parade and I can only guess that the Village People are from Pittsburgh, based on the obvious homage to that 70's supergroup from your hometown Stillers:

You see? We're not so much different, my Yinzer friend. I hope that this little guide has helped you, my Iron City drinking amigo become a little more familiar with our fair city. Who knows? Maybe the next Governor of PA will like you guys as much as the current Governor likes Philadelphia.

Flyers Sign Backup Goalie

2008-09-18T15:13:00.004-05:00

Hockey posts two days in a row, sportsfans. Must mean training camp is around the corner.

The Flyers signed a backup goaltender to Martin Biron today, when they inked Jean-Sebastian Aubin to a one-year deal.

Why do they need a backup you ask?

Because Antero Niittymaki will be out of commission for up to 6 weeks to have some more work done on his hip. Heard this one before with Nitty? Don't forget in 2006-2007, he had torn his left hip labrum and was so bad as he tried to play through it, the organization (but NOT John Stevens) lost confidence in the goaltender and brought in Marty Biron.

Hopefully, fixing this injury now will allow Niittymaki to somehow regain the early momentum he had in his career when he led Finland to a Silver medal in the 2006 Olympics.

Phils Happ-y to be in 1st

2008-09-18T05:21:00.004-05:00

The Phils, behind early offense and the starting pitching of JA Happ, beat the Braves by a score of 6 - 1. The win allows the Phils to remain in first place in NL East, as the Mets also won (albeit they made it interesting on their fans, winning 9 - 7 over the Nationals).

The Phils jumped on a wild Jair Jurrjens early, scoring 4 runs in the 1st inning on run scoring singles from Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz. Jayson Werth scored on a stolen base, and a throwing error from catcher Brian McCann.

Phils starter JA Happ, substituting for an ineffective Kyle Kendrick, made those 4 runs stand up, pitching 6 strong innings. He gave up only 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 2. All in all, a performance that should at least earn Happ one more start.

The bullpen held down the fort the rest of the way, and the Phils tacked on a couple of excuse me runs late, in the form of a Matt Stairs PH home run and a Pedro Feliz RBI single to round out the scoring.

The series concludes tonight with Cole Hamels going against Mike Hampton.

Notes:

- Shane Victorino just wears the Braves out. He was 3 for 4 last night, and for the year, he's hitting .339, with 6 steals, and an OPS of 1.010.

- And by the way, Victorino was safe on that infield single he beat out in the 6th inning after taking a ball off of his thumb while at the plate. The ump got that one right, IMO.

- Has anyone heard Chris Wheeler mention that the Phillies don't have a lot of speed in their lineup? He's said this before, and I don't understand why he says it. Victorino, Rollins, Utley, and Jayson Werth can all run really well. The stolen base figures:

Rollins 43
Victorino 33
Werth 18
Utley 12

Three of these 4 players play "up the middle" and the fourth is a corner outfielder. Has anyone heard why Wheeler thinks the Phillies don't have a lot of speed? I'm not saying they are the '85 Cardinals, but they have as much speed as anyone and probably use it better than anyone, thanks to Davey Lopes' tutelage.

Photo: Yahoo.com...... REUTERS/Tami Chappell (UNITED STATES)

Flyers Name Richards Captain

2008-09-17T15:30:00.003-05:00

In the most anti-climactic news of the Flyers offseason, Ed Moran of the Daily News is reporting that Mike Richards will be named the next captain of the Flyers.

Richards was the obvious choice for the role, given his unselfish game and team-first attitude. Not that there weren't other alternatives, such as Kimmo Timonen or even Simon Gagne, but given the Flyers' history of employing a captain with sandpaper to their game and the sheer magnitude of his contract (12 years, $69 million), Richards seemed to be a natural to follow into the role.

Howard Hauls Phils into Phirst

2008-09-17T05:30:00.003-05:00

Ryan Howard is seemingly dragging this team on his back offensively right now.

Trailing by a score of 7 - 4, Howard hit a triple to knock in a run in the 6th inning and hit a 2-run bomb in the 7th inning to lead the Phillies to an 8 - 7 win. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Nats, pushed the Phils into first place in NL East by a 1/2 game.

Starting pitcher Jamie Moyer struggled to get through 5 2/3 innings. Moyer lacked command on his pitches; most notably in the 3rd inning, where he hit one batter, walked another, and generally ran some deep counts en route to giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in the inning. He settled down in the 4th and 5th inning, but had problems in the 6th inning that he was unable to overcome when he loaded the bases on a couple of walks and a single. Chad Durbin was of little help, in allowing Moyer's inherited runners to score and giving up a run of his own.

In addition to Howard's heroics, Jayson Werth continued his amazing season by going 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Werth hit his 23rd homer in the 3rd inning to give the Phils what was, at the time, a 3 - 0 lead. Shane Victorino (single), Chase Utley (double), and Carlos Ruiz (homer) also knocked in runs for the Phils.

The series continues tonite, with JA Happ taking Kyle Kendrick's spot in the rotation against the Braves' Jair Jurrjens.

Notes:

- Rollins dropped a throw from Carlos Ruiz in the 3rd when the Phillies had Josh Anderson dead to rights at second base. Anderson, naturally, went on to score.

- Speaking of that 3rd inning, the Phillies seemingly had about 10 mound conferences. It was obvious that Moyer did not have his best junk last night.

- In the month of September to date, Ryan Howard is hitting .354 and slugging an astounding .917. And yes, he continues to lead the NL in both HR and RBI.

- Pat Burrell....0 for 5 with 5 strikeouts. Should. Be. Platooned.

Cowboys Outlast Eagles

2008-09-16T04:30:00.003-05:00

A late Donovan McNabb fumble while the Eagles had the ball in Dallas territory proved to be the pivotal play in a wild, back and forth Monday Night Football game that the Eagles dropped to the Cowboys by a score of 41 - 37.

When McNabb fumbled, the Eagles were leading by 3, and had just had a long kickoff return from rookie Quinton Demps put the ball into Dallas territory. Just as it looked like the Eagles were poised to at least put up another field goal, a botched handoff lay on the turf to be picked up by the Cowboy defense.

The Cowboys then took possession and drove the ball right down the field, eventually scoring the winning touchdown on a 1 yd Marion Barber run.

This game between 2 bitter rivals started out innocently enough, with the Eagles taking the ball and driving for a field goal, and then got goofy on the next possession where Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens with a 72 yd bomb to put the Cowboys ahead 7 - 3.

After another Akers field goal, the Cowboys returned the subsequent kickoff for a touchdown as rookie Felix Jones took it to the house to make it 14 - 6 Dallas.

Late in the 1st quarter, the Eagles benefitted from Asante Samuel's first Eagle interception as well as a fluky pass interference penalty to give the Eagles the ball at the 1, where, after a false start, Brian Westbrook caught a 6 yd pass from Donovan McNabb to pull within 1.

The next possession, after a botched Dallas kickoff return that pinned the Cowboys deep in their own territory, Tony Romo somehow managed to drop the football all on his own in his own endzone. Romo gathered the ball in his own endzone and was looking at his options, when Brian Dawkins busted in and knocked the ball away from Romo, causing a fumble ultimately recovered in the end zone by Chris Cocong for a touchdown and a 20 - 14 Eagles lead.

The next possession, the Cowboys methodically drove the ball down the field for yet another Terrell Owens touchdown, this time from 4 yds out to go up by a point.

The following possession by the Eagles could have been one of the most controversial ones of the year had they not scored on it. Eagles' rookie DeSean Jackson gathered in a Donovan McNabb pass and was coasting in for a touchdown, when, he inadvertantly flipped the ball before he went into the endzone. The ruling by the officials gave the Eagles the ball at the 1 yd line where Brian Westbrook took Jackson off of the hook, by punching the ball into the endzone for a 27 - 21 Eagles lead.

The two teams traded field goals as the half ended, with Eagles leading 30 - 24.

After an exchange of punts to open the 2nd half, the Cowboys struck first on a 17 yd pass from Tony Romo to Marion Barber. Barber earlier had a 20 yard burst to go with a Trent Cole roughing penalty that put the Cowboys in position in Eagle territory. The Eagles answered with a drive of their own that culminated in another Brian Westbrook touchdown as the 3rd quarter was ending to make the score 37 - 31 Eagles.

After the Cowboys drove and settled for a field goal to start the 4th quarter, the Eagles could have really salted the game away with another touchdown. Instead, we got the McNabb fumble and a hearty handshake.

Notes:

- Yup, still hate TO.

- Brian Dawkins....burnt on the TO slant for a TD and again on a post route from Jason Witten on the winning Cowboy drive.

- Sean Considine.....bit HARD on the Tony Romo shoulder fake on the 72 yd bomb.

- Speaking of the TO bomb....hey LEE-toe...what happened?

- Donovan....please learn to throw the ball away a little sooner. This indecision twice cost them on their final drive.

- DeSean Jackson....we love you and all, but don't EVER pull that stunt again.

Phils Sweep Brewers

2008-09-15T07:44:00.003-05:00

The Phillies swept a day-night doubleheader from the Brewers yesterday and in doing so, moved into a tie for the Wildcard lead with the Brewers. Additionally, the Mets ended up losing to the Braves yesterday, which means the Phils are now 1 game back of the Mets for the lead in NL East.

Game 1 of the doubleheader saw the Brewers jump out to an early 2 - 0 lead on Phillies starter Joe Blanton in the first inning. Blanton did manage to settle down and allowed only 3 runs over 7 innings of work.

The Phillies overcame a 3 - 1 deficit when, the sixth inning, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run homer to tie the game. They went on to take the lead for good in the 8th inning on a Pat Burrell single and a Shane Victorino 3-run homer to make score 7 - 3, which the bullpen made stand up.

Game 2 was the Brett Myers show. Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter was (rightfully) the top baseball story yesterday, but Brett Myers pitched pretty well in his own right. Myers gave up only two hits en route to a 6 - 1 complete game to finish the series and doubleheader sweep of the Brewers.

Offensively, the Phillies jumped on the Brewers early, scoring 1 in the 1st and 3 in the 2nd inning. One of the run scoring hits was by Brett Myers himself, who singled to score Pat Burrell.

Jimmy Rollins was on base in all 5 plate appearances in this game, going 2 for 2, with a single, double and 2 walks. Shane Victorino also contributed 4 hits and Pat Burrell hit his 31st homer of the year.

The Phils now go on to play the Atlanta Braves in a series that starts on Tuesday.

Notes:

- Chase Utley was hit (again) with a pitched ball in game 1, making it 26 on the year. This needs to be addressed next year.

- Jimmy Rollins was caught stealing in game 2 for only the 3rd time all year.

Phils Chug Brew; Gain Ground

2008-09-14T05:53:00.004-05:00

The Phillies jumped on the Brewers early and captured a 7 - 3 win in front of 45,000 folks at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The win, coupled with a Mets loss to the Braves, puts the Phils 2 1/2 games behind the Mets in NL East and only 2 games behind the Brewers in the Wild Card race.

The Phils wasted little time in this one, sprinting out to a 3 - 0 lead in the first inning on the strength of run-scoring hits by Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, and Shane Victorino. They struck again in the 2nd inning on a Ryan Howard 2-run single, giving Cole Hamels an early 5 - 0 lead.

Cole Hamels, while not dominant, pitched more than well enough. He had baserunners on in every inning but the 2nd and the 6th, but managed to strand most of the men he put on base. The 2 runs he did give were ultimately preventable, in that the ball that Jason Kendall hit to left to score the first 2 Brewer runs should have been caught by Pat Burrell. Burrell misjudged the fly ball, took a bad angle, and allowed the ball to get over his head.

Hamels ultimately gave way to the bullpen in the 7th inning.

Offensively, the Phillies were led by their catalyst, Jimmy Rollins. Rollins, in addition to getting on base and scoring in both the 1st and 2nd inning, hit a 2-run homer to put the game out of reach in the 6th inning, when it looked like Hamels was tiring a little and the Brewers seemed to be getting a little frisky. Chase Utley also went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

As a result of Friday's rainout, the Phils and Brewers will play a day-night doubleheader. For the Phils, it's their second Sunday in a row playing a doubleheader and for a Philly fan, it's just as well as the Eagles don't play till tomorrow night anyway.

Pitching matchups:

Day game: Joe Blanton vs. Dave Bush
Night game: Brett Myers vs. Jeff Suppan

Notes:

- I was critical of Cole Hamels when he lost that game against the Mets on 3 days rest; this game is probably the biggest game that Hamels has won in his young career. Contrary to what I read in some outlets describing Hamels as "sharp", I would contend that Hamels can pitch much better. All in all, though, the outing was a positive step in Hamels' development as a big game pitcher.

- With Pat Burrell's struggles, there is no way he should be batting 5th as he did yesterday. Right now, I'd put him no higher than 6th. I'd even rather see Pedro Feliz or Victorino batting 5th right now. Burrell and Ruiz were the only starters to not get basehits yesterday.

Photo from Yahoo.com....REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES)

Phils Rained Out; More Urgency, Please.....

2008-09-13T08:07:00.005-05:00

The Phils were rained out last night and hopefully, the time off last night allowed some of the players on this team some time for some introspection. This is specifically required after 45-year old Jamie Moyer turned in 5 2/3 innings of gutty pitching on 3 days rest against the Brewers the other night. I don't know how vocal Moyer is behind closed doors, but if a 45-year old man can pull that sort of effort out of his aged body, some of the younger guys on this team who make considerably more money than Moyer need to start selling out on the field a little more.

While I'm not outright suggesting that some players are somehow jaking it, this team would benefit greatly from playing with a greater sense of urgency. It is this lack of urgency offensively, as much as anything, that will be blamed as much as anything in this coming offseason should the Phils fail to make it to the playoffs. Every month, starting in June, when the Phils started sliding off the map offensively, all of the pundits (and losery bloggers like myself included) always felt the offense would come along as the summer proceeded along and into September. Well, we're still waiting for some sort of consistency offensively and it's now September 13th. I'm not saying it can't happen, but time is slowly running out on this team.

As for the makeup of last night's game, it will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader tomorrow. Pitching matchups the rest of the Brewers series:

Today: Cole Hamels vs. Manny Parra, 3:55pm
Game 1 Tomorrow: Joe Blanton vs. Dave Bush, 1:35pm
Game 2 Tomorrow: Brett Myers vs. Jeff Suppan, 7:35pm

Dallas Week: I can FEEL your ANGER!

2008-09-12T05:06:00.006-05:00

The NFL, in it's infinite wisdom, has given us a gift from the scheduling gods on Week 2 this year. A Monday night tilt between our Eagles and the hated Dallas Cowboys.

Furthering this gift? The fact that some on the Cowboys, such as Pacman Jones and Terrell Owens cannot keep their mouths shut and are feeding the Eagles and their fans some good bulletin board material. Not helping matters, is Tony Romo's girlfriend, who informed an Eagles fan in a live performance for "Good Morning America" that the Cowboys would kick the Eagles' butts next week.

Yes, Eagle fans......Let the hatred flow! This is "Cowboy Week"! It's practically a local city ordinance to actively hate the self-styled "Ammurica's Team" this week.

For those of you that are new, "Cowboy Week" is the week leading up to the game versus the hated Dallas Cowboys. It features a build-up of all the vitriol Eagle fans have held for the team of guys who wear stars on their helmets. This hatred of the Cowboys can go all the way back to the sixties for the long time fan. The most oft-quoted incident from the old-timers? The 1967 incident when Cowboy Lee Roy Jordan smashed Eagle halfback Timmy Brown's face with a forearm shiver, causing him to lose his teeth and the Eagles to lose their best weapon and the game.

As an Eagle fan growing up, I had a dislike for the Cowboys team, but it was more of something you just were supposed to do; kind of like the peer pressure of drinking your first beer. You just did it. After all, when I was coming of age following sports, in the late 70s, early 80s, the Eagles had begun beating the Cowboys. There was the Monday night game when Tony Franklin kicked the 59 yard field goal, the glorious 1980 NFC Championship game, and with Dick Vermeil holding down the fort, you could rest assured that the Eagles would not get kicked around by the Cowboys.

When Vermeil left, so did the recipe for beating Dallas, apparently. Until James "Buddy" Ryan came to town. Buddy was smart enough to tap into our insecurity about the Cowboys....he made it his number 1 priority to humiliate the Cowboys and we ate it up.

It is during this period, I can trace back to when my Dallas hatred became most vivid. It was during the 1987 NFL players strike, of all things. Buddy Ryan had no love for replacement football; he openly disdained it. That was a good "attytood" to have in a blue collar, union town like Philadelphia. It helped galvanize that 1987 team into becoming division winners in 1988.

During the course of the strike, several players, realizing they couldn't make due without the paycheck, began crossing the picket line. None on the Eagles, mind you. But on the hated Dallas Cowboys, many of their star players such as Danny White, Tony Dorsett, Too Tall Jones, and Randy White crossed the picket line and played in an October 11, 1987 replacement game against a team of replacement Eagles. As you could imagine, the Scott Tinsley-led Eagles were no match for the Scab Cowboys led by their regular stars and they lost 41 - 22. Losing to Dallas never goes over well here. Losing to a handful of Dallas stars while the Eagles fielded all replacement players took the insult to another level entirely. This was my personal ground zero for Cowboy hating.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one that didn't like it.

Buddy Ryan did not forget this indignity.

When the real players came back that year, the Eagles played the Cowboys their first week back on October 25, 1987. They were beating the Cowboys late in the game by a score of 30 - 20 and simply running out the clock, when suddenly, instead of taking a knee, QB Randall Cunningham attempted a long pass to Mike Quick that drew a pass interference call with very little time left. The Eagles went on to score on the next play and you knew that Buddy enjoyed pissing off Tom Landry as much, if not more, than we did.

Thanks to the following sources for refreshing my memory on some details: "The Great Philadelphia Fanbook" by Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano and "The Eagles Encyclopedia" by Ray Didinger.

Marlins Take Series From Phils

2008-09-11T03:47:00.003-05:00

In a game that strangely started when we were all trying to escape from the hell that is work, the Phils dropped a game, and the series, to the Florida Marlins by a score of 7 - 3. These two losses in a row have managed to drop the Phillies to 3 1/2 games back of the Mets in NL East with 16 games to play.

The Phils were flummoxed by the pitching of Ricky Nolasco, who in 3 outings against the Phils, has a 2.75 ERA with a .197 batting average against him. Nolasco went 7 1/3 innings in this game to give the Marlins all they needed off of the mound.

Brett Myers went for the Phils and while he pitched into the 8th inning, he did manage to give up 4 runs, including a 3rd inning 2-run shot to the corpse of Luis Gonzalez.

When Myers gave way in the 8th inning, reliever Chad Durbin was uncharacteristically unable to shut the door, allowing a 2 run double to Josh Willingham in the 8th (both were Myers' baserunners that scored). There were more bullpen shenanigans in the 9th inning where Durbin gave up a lead off single, only to intentionally walk Hanley Ramirez (why did we walk Hanley Ramirez again?) . JC Romero came in the game and gave up a 2-run double to Dan Uggla that essentially broke open the game and clearly angered Chris Coste, who could be seen bickering with Romero.

Offensively, the Phils were paced by Ryan Howard's 42nd homer of the year and by Chris Coste, whose 5th inning double cut a Marlin lead to 3 - 2, before scoring on a Jayson Werth single to tie the game at 3 going into the 6th inning.

From here, the Phils take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4 game series. The game plan is to pitch a couple of guys (notably, Jamie Moyer and probably Brett Myers) on 3 days rest. This is the most desperate move the team has made all season in a season where desperation was required in the Summer months, when the Phils forgot how to swing the bats.

Notes:

- Didn't write on Tuesday's game, but I'm done with Kyle Kendrick for the year. I like him as a pitcher, but they can't afford another outing where he doesn't get out of the early innings. I'd rather see Happ at this point than Kendrick.

- Pat Burrell was in the lineup and did manage a basehit and a walk in 4 plate appearances.

- From the bickering between Coste and Romero to the lack of hitting on this team right now, the season is palpably slipping away from these guys right now. Anything less than a split with the Brewers and you can put a fork in the 2008 Phillies.

Phils Filet Fish

2008-09-09T06:51:00.003-05:00

Jimmy Rollins had 3 hits and 3 steals and provided the offensive spark needed to drive the Phils to an 8 - 6 win over the Florida Marlins. The win put the Phils within 1 1/2 games of the Mets in NL East.

Joe Blanton had the ball last night for the Phils and was not very good in his 5 innings of work. He gave up 4 earned runs during the start, but he seemed all over the strike zone. He had real control problems in the 2nd inning, walking the first two batters, both of whom went on to score. The frustrating part of this is that the Phillies had just tacked two runs up on the Marlins and Blanton's lack of control put the Phils right back to square one.

After the Phillies put up 3 more runs in the 2nd inning (one of them thanks to a Joe Blanton SF), Blanton walked Hanley Ramirez to lead off the 3rd and was made to pay for that walk when Mike Jacobs hit a big fly to cut the Phils lead to 5 - 4. Blanton was eventually lifted after 5 innings for Chad Durbin, who turned in his usual stellar effort.

Offensively, the Phils were paced by their leadoff man, Jimmy Rollins, who knocked in a run and scored 2 more runs to go with his 3 hits and 3 steals. Jayson Werth hit a 3-run bomb that gave the Phils an 8 - 4 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Marlins did manage to get 2 runs off of JC Romero before Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge closed them out.

The series continues today with Chris Volstad facing Kyle Kendrick.

Notes:

- Pat Burrell was not in the lineup last night, nor should he be. He's got 8 strikeouts in his last 22 ABs and he's hitting .222 over that stretch. A pennant race is no time for being sensitive to a players feelings; Werth is playing well right now, so he has to be in the lineup.

- You could tell by watching JC Romero that he was going to give up that homer to Cody Ross. Anytime Romero nibbles around the plate with his pitches, you can tell he's not confident. Romero needs to pound the strikezone to be successful.

- The 6th inning was closed out by the Phils with a pretty 3 - 6- 1 double play, with Durbin covering first base.

Phils Split With Mets

2008-09-07T16:31:00.006-05:00

As if the real "opening day" of the NFL wasn't enough for sportsfans yesterday, Phillies fans were treated to a day-night doubleheader yesterday because of tropical storm Hanna cancelling out Saturday's Phils game.

The Phils managed to split the day-night doubleheader with the Mets and in doing so, took 2 of 3 from the Mets and now trail them by 2 games in NL East.

The Phils took Game 1 of the day night doubleheader by a score of 6 - 2.

The Phils were paced by the brilliant pitching of Jamie Moyer, who went 7 innings and gave up a scant 2 hits in boring the living hell out of the local patrons at Shea Stadium.

Once again, the Phils' offense was paced by supersub Greg Dobbs. Dobbs, who on Friday hit a 2-run homer to nudge the Phils to victory, hit a 3-run homer in this contest off of Pedro Martinez to put the Phils ahead by a score of 5-0.

The Phils jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead in the 2nd inning on a Matt Stairs sacrifice fly and a Carlos Ruiz single. Ruiz had a nice day offensively, going 3 for 4, knocking in a run and scoring another.

Game 2 saw Cole Hamels and Johan Santana match up in what was supposed to be a pitching duel between two of the best lefties in the game today.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Cole Hamels.

The Phils dropped game 2 of the doubleheader by a score of 6 - 3.

Hamels got knocked around pretty much from the beginning. Hamels had to have his hand held just to get through 5 innings and apparently, he doesn't have a pitch that can get Carlos Delgado out. Delgado hit approximately 900 feet of home run off of Hamels, in going 3 for 3, with 2 homers and 4 RBI.

Johan Santana, on the other hand, wasn't his usual dominant self, but was good enough to go 7 1/3 innings in giving up only 2 runs. The bulk of the Phillies offense was provided by Ryan Howard, who had an RBI single in the first and hit a solo shot off of Santana in the 3rd.

Next up for the Phils: The Florida Marlins and a healthy dose of scoreboard watching.

Mini-Rant:

- Look, I like Cole Hamels as much as the next Phillies fan, but the next time Hamels opens his mouth about his contract, the fans, or a needing a chiropractor, he should be reminded about how small he came up, not only in the game last night, but in the playoffs last year against Colorado. Please, Cole....do your defenders a favor....when you go into your next prima donna rant on whatever is on your mind, at least have one clutch win under your belt when you do so.

McNabb, DJax Batter Rams

2008-09-07T13:32:00.011-05:00

The Eagles jumped on the Rams from the opening possession and never looked back in beating the Rams by a score of 38 - 3.

The game featured a return to form for Donovan McNabb, who hit 7 different receivers en route to a 21 for 33 day, good for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns. The game was also something of a coming out party for the rookie receiver out of Cal, DeSean Jackson. Jackson caught 6 balls for 106 yards and made his presence felt on special teams with a couple of good punt returns.

The Eagles opened the scoring on the first drive of the game on a 1 yd shovel pass from McNabb to Brian Westbrook. That drive took 6 plays to go 80 yards and the Eagles made it look easy. After a subsequent Rams possession and punt, the Eagles scored again, this time on an 11 play, 52 yard drive that culminated in a 5 yd TD pass from McNabb to LJ Smith. These two scoring plays accounted for all of the scoring in a crisply played 1st quarter for the home team.

The 2nd quarter featured possessions on both sides, where the teams just traded punts. It was difficult to tell if the Rams were that bad offensively or if the Eagles played that well defensively. The Eagles got the lone TD of the 2nd quarter on a 90 yard catch and run by WR Hank Baskett. The score took place with about a minute to go in the half and the Eagles took a 21 - 0 lead into halftime.

The 3rd quarter opened and was all Eagles. Tony Hunt scored on a 1 yard plunge culminating a 9 play, 56 yard drive that was keyed by a 25 yard pass down the right sideline from McNabb to DeSean Jackson.

Jackson was also prominently involved in the Eagles' next scoring, when he returned a punt 60 yards to the Rams' 9 yard line. Unfortunately, the Eagles could not punch it in and had to settle for a 23 yd Akers field goal.

The scoring continued in the 4th quarter with a Brian Westbrook 6 yard run that finished a 7 play, 76 yard drive to make the score 38 - 0. From this point, the Eagles put in the 2nd team to finish up the game.

While the offensive exploits will grab all of the headlines, the defense compiled some pretty good numbers. They allowed only 8 first downs and 166 yards of total offense. They did not force any turnovers, but did manage to sack Mark Bulger 4 times. MLB Stew Bradley was active throughout the game, with 8 tackles and a sack.

Did You Notice?

- 3 Eagles receivers with 100 yards games (Jackson 106 yds, G. Lewis 104 yds, Baskett 102 yds).

- Sheldon Brown CRUSHED Stephen Jackson on a pass that Jackson caught down the seam in the 2nd quarter. Jackson lost his helmet on the play and danced around like he scored a touchdown, but make no mistake, Jackson felt every bit of that shot.

- DeSean Jackson's first career catch: 47 yards. Remember when we thought that Jackson wouldn't make much difference as a receiver his rookie year? Remember?

- Speaking of Jackson, he almost took a punt to the house at the 10:28 mark in the 3rd quarter. A shoestring tackle was all that was between Jackson and a punt return TD. He almost had another TD later in the 3rd quarter at the 3:26 mark when he turned in a 60 yard return to set the Eagles up with 1st and goal at the Rams' 9 yardline.

- That interference call against Quinton Mikell in the 2nd quarter, with the Rams backed down to their 2 yard line, was a ridiculous call.

- Asante Samuel should have had a pick 6 on the Rams' second possession in the 2nd half.

- Mark Bulger looks like a QB waiting to get hit as he sits in the pocket. If he's your fantasy football QB, go ahead and feel free to drop him.

- On the drive that the Eagles settled for a field goal, McNabb had an opportunity to run the ball in for a TD, but tried a shovel pass that (obviously) did not work. I suspect if the score were closer, McNabb would have run that ball.

- The Eagles ran (sort of) a jumbo backfield with both Tony Hunt and Dan Klecko in the backfield when they scored their 4th TD.

- Kevin Kolb doesn't look half-bad in doing some mopup work. This game definitely had the feel of a 5th preseason game, so I guess it was appropriate that Kolb spelled McNabb at the end.

Photo...yahoo.com (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Eagles Preview 2008

2008-09-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

After this season, we will have seen a full decade of the Andy Reid era in football here in Philadelphia. Every one of those years, Andy Reid has been tied at the hip with one Donovan Jamal McNabb.

Last season, McNabb endured one of his tougher seasons. He was slow to return to form after ACL surgery and offseason rehab during a year where he endured his first threat on the depth chart since he arrived in 1999 in the form of 2007 2nd round pick QB Kevin Kolb. McNabb also missed two games due to a sprained ankle and a bad thumb. Sprinkle in last season's injury woes to those of 2002 (broken leg), 2005 (sports hernia), and 2006 (torn ACL) in addition to a bright eyed new QB on the roster and it gets people whispering.

Will this be the last year of the Reid-McNabb partnership?

The Eagles enter this season in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL and if they are going to be successful, they are going to have to overcome playing the Super Bowl champions and the team everyone is predicting to go to the Super Bowl (the hated Cowboys) a total of 4 times.

They made a couple of acquisitions during the offseason to bolster the offense, but they never did what the fanbase wanted: a trade for a marquee wide receiver. For their part, the Eagles almost seem defiant in their stance that they indeed added playmakers, in signing CB Asante Samuel and DE Chris Clemons to contracts to help the defense to get back to it's glory from the NFC Championship years.

Samuel and Clemons aside, the Eagles seem to be counting on one big addition this year: a healthy Donovan McNabb.

Positional Breakdown

QB: As previously stated, the Eagles' offensive hopes are more or less pinned to a healthy and successful season from starting QB Donovan McNabb. The Eagles felt confidence enough in QB-in-waiting Kevin Kolb to make him the #2 QB this year. While Kolb did look better than his rookie year in preseason action, I don't think anyone believes he's quite ready for the starting job. AJ Feeley returns as the 3rd stringer and probably still pulls prime time poon from the Olde City bars.

RB: The only injury that might come close to crippling the Eagles offense as much as losing McNabb would be to lose Brian Westbrook for an extended period of time. Westbrook was rewarded with a re-structured contract that helped in making Westbrook somewhat whole financially for being one of the top 3 or 4 backs in the league in the past 3 years.

The Eagles also added Lorenzo Booker into the mix from Miami in a draft day trade in a move that should allow the team to spell Westbrook every now and again. And yes, Correll Buckhalter is still around. In a slightly dubious move, the team is attempting to turn Tony Hunt into a fullback. In fairness, however, the Eagles haven't had a significant fullback in their offense since Jon Ritchie.

WR/TE: A lot of contention here. Given that this team passed the ball 60% of the time last year, one would think that the team would invest time and energy into either acquiring an elite receiver or developing one on their own. They have been either unsuccessful in attempting the former (they flirted with Randy Moss during his contract negotiations with the Pats) and have been historically unable to do the latter.

One could make the case that Reggie Brown went backwards last year, and despite Kevin Curtis' good numbers, he is probably better suited lining up in the slot. No matter what you think of Curtis' work, you won't even have Curtis to kick around in the immediate future, as he will be out with a sports hernia (seemingly, the injury of choice for the Eagles). Couple this with Brown fighting a bad hamstring, and this leaves the Eagles incredibly thin at WR as they enter the season.

Enter rookie DeSean Jackson, whom many believed would not make an impact at receiver his rookie year. Now, with the dearth of good health at the WR position, there is no choice but to rely on him. The Eagles will need Jackson to carry his preseason success (16 rec., 189 yds) into the regular season for the passing game to be successful. Hank Baskett and Greg Lewis will be around for another year, showing off their utter mediocrity.

Underacheiving TE LJ Smith (yeah, I said it) will be back this year, in a contract year, fully healed from a sports hernia that hindered him last season. He has looked downright spry in preseason action and I look to him fulfilling his potential this season. Brent Celek will look to spell Smith and looks to be a good prospect.

OL: Only one of two ways for the tackles on this unit to go. They will either be praised for their continuity if they are good or they will be criticized for their age if they are bad. Tra Thomas (yes, he's Tra again; he confused too many people changing his name to "William Thomas") and Jon Runyan are back for another season at the tackle positions. It was probably hoped by now that Winston Justice would provide a credible challenge at either of these positions, but he has been unable to do so and you wonder if he'll ever shake off the effects of the "Osi Umenyioura Game" last year, where Umenyioura had 6 sacks, a few while Justice was (attempting to) block him.

It was an eventful offseason for All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews, who publicly battled depression and missed time at camp. It is thought that this should not affect Andrews' play, but that remains to be seen. Todd Herremans is probably better suited to tackle than guard. Max Jean Gilles is probably ready to start in one of the guard positions if needed.

DL: The DTs, Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley, were solid, if unspectacular last season. Look for Bunkley to build on his sophmore season, where he seemed to finally "get it".

The top dog at DE is none other than Trent Cole, who compiled 12.5 sacks last year, building on his 8 sack season in 2006. With the underacheiving Jevon Kearse now gone, Juqua Parker (formerly Juqua Thomas) will take the other starting DE nod. Parker is probably holding this spot until injured 2nd year man Victor Abiamiri comes back from a wrist injury, possibly this season.

FA acquisition Dan Klecko, rookie Trevor Laws, and veteran Darren Howard round out the DT rotation.

LB: In my opinion, there is some misplaced optimism about this group. MLB Stew Bradley parlayed two starts in his rookie year into a starting job on the team. Not only is he starting, but he's calling defensive signals. You wonder if it's too much for the 2nd year guy out of Nebraska.

And are we really ready to consider Chris Gocong a success? Gocong had a passable year last year, but certainly not world beating. I think Gocong was just stunned to be on the field and healthy.

The only sure thing on this unit is the move of Omar Gaither from the middle to the weak side, where he can use his speed a bit more than he could at MLB, where he was undersized.

DB: This is probably the strength of the defense. When the QB called for the organization to sign some playmakers, I don't think the signing of CB Asante Samuel to a 6-year deal was quite what DMac had in mind. You would think that this signing would make the oft-injured Lito Sheppard expendable in trade to shore up another area of weakness on the team or would perhaps allow the team to facilitate a move of the physical Sheldon Brown to safety, but apparently, the game plan is that Samuel and Brown are the starters and Sheppard is the nickel corner.

Making things even more complicated is the fact that Sheppard was displeased with his contract status BEFORE the Eagles made the move to acquire Samuel. Now that he has not been traded to a team willing to re-do his deal AND been displaced from his starting job, he and his agent Drew Rosenhaus have taken to carping either directly to the press or via YouTube as witnessed below:

It would probably behoove Sheppard to play out the season and see how things work out, but with the influence of Drew Rosenhaus, this situation could become toxic in short order. Note that Rosenhaus, only recently hired by Sheppard, only gets paid when his client gets a new deal.

The safety position is one that could use a bounce back year. Brian Dawkins' 2007 season began in personal turmoil, with Dawkins dealing with complications over the birth of his twin daughters. He also battled age and a variety of injuries causing BDawk to miss 6 games. He did not seem himself last year even when he did play, but with Dawkins' daughters' problems behind him and a new year to begin with a relative clean slate, health-wise, look for Weapon X to make a comeback this year.

When Dawkins was unavailable last year, Quentin Mikell took his spot and performed reasonably well. Mikell has been around seemingly forever and he'll slide over to the strong safety position this season, that was held down by a combination of Sean Considine and JR Reed last season. Both Considine and Reed will be backing up this year, which is a far more appropriate role for both players.

Special Teams: This area of the team cost the Eagles the first game of the year against the Packers, when various players, miscast as return men, dropped a couple of punts handing the ball (and the win) over to the Packers. The situation with punt returners got so bad they had to re-sign Reno Mahe off of the street just to get a guy that could secure the football on a punt. Mahe, a middling talent in the best of circumstances, has never really been a field changer as a return man.

Enter rookies DeSean Jackson and Quinton Demps; both of whom returned kicks in the preseason. Look for the return game to be energized by the emergence of these two players on special teams.

Kicker David Akers, once considered one of the premier kickers in football, fell off of the map a little bit last year. Akers was still steady from within 40 yards, but outside of 40 yards, his percentage of FGs made fell off from 75% (6 for 8) in 2006 to 20% (2 for 10) in 2007. This could be attributed to a new holder, punter Sav Rocca, but some could be due to a tangible decline. The Eagles did not have a kicker in camp who gave Akers a serious run for his money, so the Eagles are clearly counting on a bounce-back year from Akers.

Punter Sav Rocca performed capably during his inaugural year in American Football, after starring for years in Austrailian Rules football. He needs to be a bit more consistent, but otherwise, he seems to have a real strong leg.

Coaching: I'll be the first to admit it; I'm not an Andy Reid fan. I know he's the most successful coach (in terms of wins) in the history of the Eagles, but his recent inability to incorporate better talent in the draft and his stubbornness with respect to the offensive play calling make me want to wretch. As de-facto GM of the team, he seems stubborn with respect to his ideas on his "system" being so good, it seems he believes he can just plug any player into his vaunted "system" and they should suceed.

As an offensive coach, his predilection towards the forward pass seemed to cool down last year, but the Eagles still pass the ball around 60 percent of the time. I'd personally like to see more balance in the offense. And before you remind me that Marty Mornhinweg is the offensive coordinator on this team and needs to shoulder that blame, please hold your breath. Andy Reid still calls plays occasionally and if you think he doesn't have significant input into the offensive game plan, you're kidding yourself.

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is still a pretty good coach. Not nearly enough is made of the fact that his disciple Steve Spagnuolo went on to be the defensive coordinator of the Giants and won the Super Bowl using most of Jim Johnson's blueprints (but with better personnel).

The special teams have fallen off under coach Rory Segrest, but that has as much to do with personnel as it does with anything else. Segrest suffers from comparison with former Eagle special teams coach John Harbaugh, whose special teams always were highly ranked and contributed regularly to the success of the team those years where the Eagles were going to the NFC Championship with regularity.

Schedule: The schedule this year is pretty much middle of the road. The average 2007 winning percentage of the teams they are playing this year was about .520, good for 15th in the league in terms of toughest schedules.

Outlook and Prediction: The Eagles have tough September matchups against Pittsburgh, Dallas, and Chicago. October brings the bye week and 3 weaker opponents (Washington, SF, and Atlanta). By the end of October, the Eagles should be no worse than 5 - 2.

November will be their toughest month of the year, with having to travel to Seattle and back-to-back road matchups against Cincinnati and Baltimore. Mix in a home games against the Champion Giants and the high powered offense of Arizona. I don't think it's unreasonable for this team to be 7 - 5 after this stretch of matchups.

December brings matchups against each of their NFC East opponents and the Cleveland Browns. These matchups feel like a split to me.

2008 Prediction: 9 - 7 and a Wild Card playoff berth.

Phils Drop Series to Nats

2008-09-04T07:28:00.003-05:00

The Phillies, allegedly girding themselves for a run at the NL East lead, dropped a series they easily could have won last night by losing to the Nationals by a score of 9 - 7.

The game got off to a good start, with the Phils posting 2 runs in the top of the first on a home run from Ryan Howard. But starter Joe Blanton, who only lasted 4 innings last night, gave those 2 runs back in addition to 2 more runs before giving way to Ryan Madson and bullpen in the fifth inning.

The bullpen, led by Chad Durbin, has been one of the most reliable parts of the Phillies this season. Not last night. Durbin came in during the 7th inning and gave up a bomb to straightaway centerfield to Ryan Zimmerman. He combined with JC Romero to give up more runs in the 8th inning allowing the Nats to salt the game away, despite the Phils scoring 2 in the top of the ninth.

Offensively, the Phils were led by Ryan Howard's 2 homers and Chase Utley's 2 RBI.

The Phils begin probably their most important series of the season this Friday at Shea Stadium when they take on the Mets. According to various reports, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is looking to move up Cole Hamels' start so he gets the opportunity to face the Mets in what will be his first start against them this year. Anything less than taking 2 of 3 and the Phils are putting themselves in a mighty big hole down the stretch.

Probable Starters:

Friday: Myers vs. Pelfrey

Saturday: Moyer vs. Martinez

Sunday: Hamels vs. Santana.

Notes:

- The whole business with the Nationals having to make sure they got their pound of flesh from Chase Utley for bowling over their catcher was astounding. For one thing, Utley never went at the guy's head; it was a shoulder to shoulder hit. Secondly, let's not forget it was Nationals starter John Lannan who hit Utley with a pitched ball last year, shelving Utley for period of time down the stretch last year. So if any team should have had a beef, it should have been the Phillies.

Back to last night....Utley was hit by a pitched ball from Odalis Perez and was upended on a hard (clean) take out slide by Lastings Milledge. Hmmmm......

Let's add on that Chase Utley leads the league in being hit by pitched balls and frankly, I think it's now time for the Phillies pitchers to begin protecting the All-Star second baseman. Interestingly, Washington comes to Philly for the last series of the year. If the Phils are out of the race by then, things could get nasty.

Photo: Yahoo.com....(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

Post-Labor Day Musings

2008-09-03T07:53:00.003-05:00

- I need a vacation from my labor day weekend. Between the family BBQs and Fantasy Football drafts (3 of them on consecutive days), I'm spent.

- Speaking of Fantasy Football, a couple of observations from the 3 drafts I participated in:

1.) Nobody trusts Earnest Graham to be a big time back yet;
2.) Nobody trusts Eli Manning, despite winning a Super Bowl;
3.) During a draft, it's always easy to tell the guys that don't know the NFL very well, as they almost always fall back to take someone from their favorite team when they are stuck. I love being in leagues with these people.
4.) I had one draft where LaDainian Tomlinson fell to the 6th pick. No one could believe it, but the first 6 in that draft went: 1.)AP, 2.) Westbrook, 3.) Brady, 4.) Moss, 5.) Romo, 6.) Tomlinson.

And no, no one was drunk (at least at that point).

Eagles preview stuff all week starting later today/tonite

Phils Acquire Matt Stairs

2008-08-29T10:27:00.004-05:00

The Phils acquired left-handed OF Matt Stairs from the Blue Jays, presumably for a bucket of clean batting practice balls. I guess he takes Geoff Jenkins' slot in the lineup for now and eventually plays the role this year that Russell Branyan played last year: occasional pinch hitter who does nothing but uppercuts for the fences or strikes out.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-29T06:11:00.003-05:00

The Phils dropped a 6 - 4 decision to the Chicago Cubs last night and the Eagles dropped their preseason finale to the Jets by a score of 27 - 20.

I'm going to be going away for the next couple of days down the Jersey Shore to the lovely town of Brigantine. That's right; 3 days of sunning at the "Cove" and drinking at the Rod'N Reel. I'll be back Tuesday AM, September 2nd with an Eagles season preview.

If anything significant does happen over the weekend, I'll post, but otherwise, have a safe Labor Day weekend.

Phils Stun Mets; Back in First

2008-08-26T17:49:00.005-05:00

There was a feeling that the Phils HAD to have this game, given that Santana is pitching tomorrow night and has generally pitched well against the Phillies. Who knew the lengths they had to go to in order to accomplish that feat.

The Phils beat the Mets by a score of 8 - 7 in 13 innings, but had to do it by coming from behind and overcoming a 7 - 0 deficit in order to do so. The win catapaults the team a half game into first place in NL East.

The Mets jumped out to a 6 - 0 lead off of Phils starter Jamie Moyer, who had his shortest outing as a Phil. Moyer gave up 2 homeruns; one to 2B Damion Easley, and a more controversial one to Fernando Tatis. Tatis, a few pitches before he hit the homer, hit a fair ball off of his own man, Carlos Beltran, who was leading off of 3B and was in fair territory. By rule, he should have been out and Tatis awarded first. Instead, Moyer continued to work to Tatis, who eventually took him deep to make the score 6 - 0.

From that point, the Phils bullpen put a stopper on things, giving up just 1 run in 10 innings of work.

Offensively, the Phils finally woke up a bit in the 4th, scratching out a run on a Pedro Feliz sacrifice fly. The 5th inning saw the Phils get a lead off double from pitcher Clay Condrey, followed by a 2-run homerun by Jimmy Rollins. After a Chase Utley walk and a Pat Burrell strikeout, Ryan Howard took Pedro Martinez to the opposite field to pull the Phils within 2 runs and Citizen's Bank Ballpark seemed to coming alive.

After threatening in the 6th inning, the Phils scraped together another run via a Jimmy Rollins single that scored Carlos Ruiz to draw them within a run.

The 9th inning called for desperate measures with 2 outs. Jayson Werth kept the game going with a single up the middle that was off of the end of his bat. The next batter, Eric Bruntlett, was the last position player off of the bench and he responded with a double, scoring Werth and tying the game. Werth appeared to almost run over the plate without actually touching it the first time (fortunately, he had time to double back and touch the plate).

In extra innings, the Phils threatened in both the 10th and 11th inning, but to no avail. The Phils bullpen, led in extra innings by Ryan Madson, JC Romero, and Rudy Seanez held down the fort allowing scant opportunities for the Mets outside of a stray walk or basehit, which was left stranded.

In the 13th inning, the game was over for all practical purposes when Shane Victorino led off, shearing a triple to right field. From that point, the Mets loaded the bases by walking Bruntlett and Werth intentionally in order to trigger a double play. After an "interesting" strikeout by PH Brett Myers, Chris Coste sent a 1-0 Scott Schoeneweis offering over CF Carlos Beltran's head to score Victorino and send the Phils into first place.

The 2-game series ends tonite with Johan Santana possibly facing Kyle Kendrick. I say "possibly", because, in this bizarre game, Kendrick was warming up in the bullpen to possibly enter the game. You wonder if the Phils still intend to pitch Kendrick today.

NOTES:

- Jimmy Rollins' offensive numbers: 5 for 7, a double, a homer, 3 RBI, and 3 SBs. This is the type of performance that earned the MVP and it's what's been missing from the Phils offense for most of this season.

- Bruntlett and Coste, entering the game late, ended up going a combined 6 for 6 with 2 RBI, in hitting the game tying and game winning hits respectively.

- Unforgivable slip by Tom McCarthy in the bottom of the 12th, continually referring to CBP as "Shea". Tom, please just head back up the turnpike and tell Scott Graham to please come back.

- Not sure it was possible for Pat Burrell to have a more feeble night at the plate in striking out 4 times in 7 ABs and leaving 10 men on base.

- The home plate umpire, Mike Everitt, had a tough night. By the 12th inning, I had no idea what a strike was and the way he blew that call in the 3rd inning, where Tatis hit a fair ball off of Carlos Beltran, leading off of 3rd base in fair territory, was unconscionable.

- Carlos Ruiz played 3B last night; the first time he has done so in the Majors.

- Can you imagine trying to keep score of this game?

- Big outfield assist from Jayson Werth in the 11th inning on a hit by David Wright. The ball kicked off the stands just right, Werth was in the right spot to pick up the ball, and gunned out Wright, who appeared to injure his hand on the play. It'll be interesting to see if Wright, who earlier fouled a ball off of his foot, will play tonite.

- Myers' AB in the 13th inning was comical. He did a bunch of posturing, as if he was going to take his hacks, when in reality, it seems he was just sent to stand there and maybe draw a walk with no outs and the bases loaded. The strategy almost worked. Myers went to 3 - 2, before he struck out looking.

Pic from Yahoo.com ((AP Photo/Tom Mihalek))

Phils Complete Sweep of Dodgers

2008-08-26T07:27:00.003-05:00

Brett Myers' star crossed rollar coaster ride of a season continued last night and Jimmy Rollins awoke from a long offensive slumber to lead the Phillies to a 5 - 0 shutout win over the Dodgers last night. The victory completed a 4-game sweep of the Dodgers and allowed the Phillies to remain within a half-game of the Mets, who also won last night.

The offense last night was paced by Jimmy Rollins, who went 3 for 3, including a 2-run single that opened the scoring for the Phillies. Also providing a crucial offensive spark was Jayson Werth, who not only drove in Ryan Howard (lead-off double) in the 7th inning, but scored from 2nd base on a Chris Coste ground-out. Werth was actually running on the play, which was a high bounding ball to the 2nd baseman who had to wait for the ball to come down. Werth was able to get a good read on the ball and went hard around 3rd to score the 5th and final run of the ballgame.

Brett Myers' return to form continued last night, as Myers did pitch with men on base (12 baserunners on 9 hits and 3 walks), but he managed to keep the Dodgers from scoring. He also struck out 8 and lowered his season ERA to 4.49, which is impressive, considering his ERA was approaching 6 when the Texas Rangers knocked him around back on June 27th.

The Phils open up a crucial 2 game series against their archrival New York Mets this evening at Citizen's Bank Ballpark. The pitching matchups:

Tonite: Jamie Moyer vs. Pedro Martinez

Tomorrow: Kyle Kendrick vs. Johan Santana

Notes:

- Pat Burrell left 6 runners on base last night. As for the Dodgers, between Jeff Kent and Manny Ramirez, they left 13 men on base.

- You won't see a smoother doubleplay started by a 3rd baseman than the one Pedro Feliz started in the 6th inning, when he went to his left, calmly scooped up the Casey Blake grounder and fired to Utley, who turned the doubleplay. Feliz made it look easy. His aggressive bat wasn't the only thing the Phils missed during his stint on the DL.

Photo from yahoo.com: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Craptacular Writer Series: Greg Doyel

2008-08-25T08:31:00.002-05:00

I am about as sick of the whole Jimmy Rollins business as the next guy. I would like to concentrate on just seeing this team make a run in September, as it is definitely in the realm of possibility.

Furthermore, I am aware that Philadelphia fans are not exactly innocent. We've done some pretty stupid things that we deserve blame for (behavior at the Vet necessitating a on-site courtroom for one), but I know we're not as bad as portrayed in the national media. I grew up here and know these people and they're good people. Sometimes, a bit overserved and a bit too passionate, but at heart, no one here means anyone harm, fan-wise. That's one of the weirdest things about the Rollins attack on the fans; we really like Jimmy here.

The media reaction to Rollins' outburst has ranged from reasoned, with historical context (Bill Conlin) to the subject of this particular post. Sportsline's Greg Doyel wrote about the hackiest opinion of the Philadelphia fanbase that I have ever read and that's saying something. It reads like a Philadelphia fan defiled this guy wife and forced him to watch. Basically, it's just an uninformed rip-job on a fanbase that has sold out Citizen's Bank Ballpark all summer long.

I thought I would provide a little running commentary to my favorite parts of the "column".

All front-runners are, by definition, soft. A front-runner is gutless. A front-runner gets behind a winner, sure, but only gets on a loser. A front-runner takes the easy road. That's what a front-runner does.

Really? Who wrote this definition? Webster? According to wikipedia, the term "frontrunner" can also be used to describe a type of sports fan who likes only the team that is winning. The Phillies are losingest franchise in professional sports. Shouldn't we actually have a winner to jump on first, so then we can front run it?

Look, Philly fans, you can't have it both ways. If you're going to dish it, you have to be able to take it.

No, Greg, I or any other fan doesn't have to "take it" from an overpriveleged, overpaid professional athlete. Now or ever. When is it EVER acceptable for a consumer to take shit from a paid entertainer? This isn't the Little League World Series! These are highly compensated individuals. At least that's what I figured after seeing Jimmy Rollins on MTV Cribs. This is a billion dollar business and fans are consumers. Maybe CBS Sportsline applauds when you hand in your shitty columns, but we don't applaud here for dogshit play and piss poor effort.

Flick a player in the nose all you want, but when one of them flicks you back, you have to smirk and let him know it didn't hurt. Otherwise, you're nothing but a schoolyard bully -- strong because you have all that size, but weak as soon as someone fights back.

Flick a player in the nose? You must fight like a girl! Look....no one has "flicked" Rollins' nose this year. He's generally been a pretty popular player here (you may heard the MVP chants last season before he won the award). Look, Greg. Don't know where you come from, but when someone "flicks me back" as you suggest, NOT retaliating only invites more disrespect. That's not a bully acting; that's just intelligence. Rollins is a handsomely paid professional who said something incredibly stupid to the local consumers. Rollins (and the front office) need to understand what is and what is not acceptable.

Charlie Manuel knows what Philly fans are like. Everyone knows what Philly fans are like. They're brutal. They're relentless. They're happy when things are going well, sure, but they're miserable at all other times. It's a stadium full of your mother-in-law.

What? No Santa reference? Yeah, maybe you heard. Been a LONNG time between championships around here. 100 seasons to be exact and the way this Phillies team is playing, it's going to be 101.

Whatever the case, Rollins spoke the truth -- and he continued to speak the truth after he returned to town Tuesday. Rollins said the behavior of Philly fans hurts the team's efforts to pursue the best free agents on the market.

Of course Rollins is going to say that. Naturally, Doyel couldn't or wouldn't get corroboration from an athlete who turned down the best offer in their free agent year to come to Philly. That would actually take work, which this column clearly didn't demand. With professional athletes, money talks and bullshit walks. If the Phillies show a free agent the money, it's amazing how much they take to the town. Just ask Brad Lidge.

Right, Philly fans? You idiots. There are lots of reasons your town hasn't won a championship in football, baseball or basketball since 1983 (ArenaBowl doesn't count), and why the Phillies specifically have won a single World Series (1980) in 124 years in the big leagues -- and you, the Philly fan, are one of them.

Wow, this sentence is yesterday's flecks of corn in this pile of shit of a column. I don't recall a fan dropping a single pass, throwing a single interception, making a single error, blowing a sacrifice attempt, or any other act on a professional field of play. I didn't even know I was under contract. Perhaps I need to talk to my agent and get my deal renegotiated, because after witnessing all 25 years of Philly sports since the last championship, I can say with certainty that if I can't have a championship, at least I can get a nice set of rims on my escalade.

This stuff isn't rocket science.

Clearly not, but coming up with a cogent opinion might seem like it to you, Greg.

At the highest level, sports are as much mental as physical.

Now he's resorting to plagiarizing Yogi Berra badly.

When everyone on the field is a professional athlete, and the skill level is roughly even, the mental side will decide things. Any idea how hard it must be -- mentally -- to compete on a daily basis, over a grinding 162-game schedule, knowing the home crowd is ready to pounce? It's not easy. It's why Yankees fans were stupid to boo A-Rod into oblivion two years ago, turning his physical battle into a mental one that had him throwing baseballs away and batting eighth in the lineup.

Of course it's hard. If it wasn't fucking hard, everyone would be doing it. The MINIMUM a major league player can make is almost $400,000. Geez, I didn't realize we were hurting their feelings, what with, patronizing their sport the way we do and expecting them to actually perform consistently on the field. I mean, Geez, should I pay more money? Would that help? Cry me a fucking river for today's professional athletes.

Furthermore, to compare Yankee fans and Phillie fans is beyond stupidity. The Yankees are the Rolls Royce of baseball sports franchises, with 26 World Series titles, including 1 at the expense of the Phillies in 1950. The Phillies, on the other hand, are more like the Edsel. They have won 1 title in their mostly futile history; a history which goes back to the late 1800s. The Phillies eclipsed 10,000 losses last year; by contrast, the Yankees have about that many wins (@9500) in their franchise history.

And Yankee fans may or may not be stupid, but they are dead-on about ARod. ARod is about as clutch as an automatic transmission.

You were just booing what you don't understand.

No, I understand pretty clearly. A guy hitting .255 blaming his problems and the problems of the team on the fans. That TOTALLY makes sense to me.

Phils Fall to Nats

2008-08-21T19:59:00.005-05:00

Ryan Madson was tagged for 2 runs in the top of the 8th as the Nationals came from behind to beat the Phillies by a score of 4 -3. With the Phils loss and a Mets win (over the Braves), the Phils now fall 2.5 games behind the Mets in NL East.

The game began as a pretty good pitchers duel between Jamie Moyer and Tim Redding, who has pitched pretty well in 4 starts this year against the Phils. Washington drew first blood against the Phils in the 6th on a Chase Utley throwing error. Utley did manage to get the run back, with an RBI single to center to tie the game at 1. The Nats tacked on another run in the top of the 7th, chasing Moyer, who gave up only 5 hits.

The bottom of the 7th featured Shane Victorino getting on base with an infield hit and advancing to 3rd on a two base error. Dobbs chased Victorino home on a groundout, setting the stage for Carlos Ruiz. Carlos Ruiz, the author of more key ground outs than any man in major league baseball, managed to hit his 3rd homerun of the year to put the Phils ahead 3 - 2 in the bottom of the 7th. The lead evaporated however, in the 8th, when Ryan Madson gave up a couple of fluky hits and leading to 2 runs and the difference in the ballgame.

The Phils now welcome the Dodgers to Philly for a 4 game set.

Notes:

- Great play by Anderson Hernandez to save a run in the 7th on Greg Dobbs' chopper that drove in Shane Victorino. It saved a run, because it occurred just before Ruiz's homer.

- Jimmy Rollins (another collar last night) needs to sit down for a day or two. Rollins' problems offensively are so beyond hope right now, and with the crowd still letting him have it, I can't believe Charlie Manual is still running him out at the leadoff spot.

- Ryan Madson.....thought he pitched OK but had a bit of bad luck.

Myers, Phils Shutout Nats

2008-08-21T07:30:00.002-05:00

Brett Myers threw a complete game shutout as the Phils blanked the Washington Nationals by a score of 4 - 0.

The story of the game was the mercurial Myers, as he threw his first complete game since 2006, which was also the last year he spent as a full-time starter. Myers struck out 9 batters and walked only one. He did have some early inning trouble, allowing multiple baserunners in each of the first two innings, only to get bailed out of trouble either through an outfield assist (courtesy of Pat Burrell) or via the strikeout (Emilio Bonifacio in the 2nd).

Offensively, Greg Dobbs, starting at 3b, hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to give the Phils a 3 - 0 lead. Jayson Werth also knocked in a run in a fifth inning that could have been even bigger, had Jimmy Rollins not gotten caught stealing on a play where he overslid second base.

The series continues tonite with Jamie Moyer facing Tim Redding at 7:05pm.

Notes:

- Yes, Rollins was still getting booed, but the booing lacked a certain vitriol. I'm getting to the conclusion that gauging the booing of a crowd is like judging a fine wine or a good cigar.

- Chase Utley had 2 base knocks hitting the ball to the opposite field. Why is this a big deal? Teams had begun shifting infielders to the second base side of the diamond on Utley as they do with Ryan Howard. Utley seems to evolved into a dead pull hitter (like Howard) because of his early season power binge. Utley is too good of a hitter to be that one-dimensional, which is a conclusion I would hope Ryan Howard would come to as well. Both players adjusting their stroke to defeat the shift can only make defenses play both players a little more honestly.

- Brett Myers' curve ball was his big pitch last night and it was the rare at-bat where he pitched behind in the count. From Myers' perspective, I wish this game could be bottled and enjoyed at a later date.

- Anyone know what the Phillies were trying to do in the 8th inning with Chris Coste trying to steal second with Brett Myers trying to lay down a bunt? Obviously, Coste got nailed. Why did Coste run? I think the Phils got a little too cute there, in an attempt to get a man on 3rd with 1 out.

Photo: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Kevin Curtis Out Indefinitely

2008-08-20T17:09:00.006-05:00

An already suspect receiving corps lost their best player today to what is being termed a sports hernia.

The Philadelphia Eagles are reporting that WR Kevin Curtis will be lost for a significant period of time due to a sports hernia that Curtis incurred in the preseason game last week against Carolina.

The Eagles' receiving corps, already a bit of running joke to most Eagles fans since Terrell Owens left, is now officially scraping the bottom of the barrel. They now must go get help at this position and as far as most fans are concerned, anything less than someone of the calibre of Anquan Boldin (who has told Arizona that he wants out) will not be acceptable. I cannot accept that either Hank Baskett or Greg Lewis are adequate replacements for Curtis, who had over 1000 receiving yards last year.

The skeptic in me will not hold my breath to see Anquan Boldin in Eagle green.

Phils Win; Rollins Jeered

2008-08-20T07:35:00.002-05:00

The Phils pulled out a 5 - 4 win over the Washington Nationals last night on the strength of a Jayson Werth home run in the bottom of the 8th inning. The homer capped a comeback for the Phils, who were down in the game 4 - 1 after the 4th inning.

But the big story of the game was the return to Philadelphia of one James Calvin Rollins, who recently made some comments you may have heard about.

In a purely unscientific guess as to the ratio of cheers and boos when Rollins first came to bat in the first inning, I'd have to guess it was about 60 or 70 percent booing, with the rest of the folks cheering.

Let there be no doubt, however, that in the 5th inning, when Rollins hit into a rally killing 4-6-3 double play, the natives were pissed and reacted accordingly and loudly. There was no mixture for that particular slice of fan reaction; the Phils had just scored on a sacrifice fly from the bat of Geoff Jenkins and had just turned the lineup over, when Rollins (batting left) rolled over on an 0-1 pitch.

The crowd did give Jimmy a nice hand when he smoked a 3-2 pitch from Steve Shell for an apparent home run, only to have the wind knock the ball down for a long, loud out.

In non-JRoll news from the game, Joe Blanton pitched 5 innings and seemed to labor. He seemed to be high in the zone and fortunately, the wind kept balls in the park last night, or else the score might have been higher for both sides. Blanton gave up all 4 runs and struck out 3. He gave way to Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson, who kept the Nats at bay and Brad Lidge came in to nail down save number 31.

The series continues tonite with Brett Myers facing Collin Balester. However, I suspect that the focus will continue to be on how the crowd reacts to Jimmy Rollins. I suspect that the vitriol will subside as the days go by, but this self-inflicted wound will heal much quicker if Rollins creates the kind of offensive wave we all know he's capable of.

Notes:

- Greg Dobbs and Chris Coste accounted for the other Phils RBIs.

- Donovan McNabb felt the need to render his opinion on the Rollins situation to Philly.com. Mostly empathetic to JRoll......

- Mike Missannelli had two interesting guests in the past few days weigh in on the Rollins situation. Both have had unique relationships with the Philadelphia sports fans over the years. Former Phil player and manager Larry Bowa weighed in, and I'm paraphrasing here, saying that playing in the Northeast can come with a bit of fan negativity. Charles Barkley weighed in with a very similar sentiments (audio link not up on 950's website....I'll post it if it goes up).

Photo: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Eagles Preseason...What Have We Learned So Far?

2008-08-19T07:33:00.006-05:00

The Eagles have played two preseason games to date and have another preseason game this Friday up in Jeffrey Lurie's beloved New England area against the Patriots. This is a good time to sort through the rubble of the first two games and find a couple of nuggets of information that an Eagles fan can take into the season. Today, I'll stick to the offensive side of the ball.

DeSean Jackson: Better than originally expected as a wide-out. Two games into the preseason and rookie DeSean Jackson has made 12 catches in limited action over the course of the first two preseason games. Clearly, this is a departure from the conventional wisdom that had Jackson contributing mostly as a special teamer and possibly as a wide receiver during his rookie year. You don't want to put too much into preseason performances, but Jackson doesn't look the least bit intimidated or overmatched against NFL defenses so far and will only see more action in the preseason with injuries to Reggie Brown and Jason Avant. It would be ideal for Jackson to enter the season as the 3rd or 4th wideout and return punts, even if it's in "slash" role, where they lineup him up in all sort of alignments to get his speed on the field. If he rises higher than 3rd on the depth chart, the only downside to that scenario is that you probably don't want him returning kicks at that point and you have to find another kick returner not named Reno Mahe.

Kevin Kolb is better, but still not there. Kolb's numbers, through 2 preseason games where he took a good number of snaps, aren't bad, but they aren't great either. Kolb has a 54.2% completion percentage, which you would like to see a bit higher if you expect Kolb to take this team over next year. I realize that the last game was played in an electrical storm, but in the last two preseason games, I'd like Kolb to throw for a much higher completion percentage and engender a little confidence that he could be "the guy" in the event McNabb goes down again.

Winston Justice. Any Good? Last year's game against the Giants seems to be defining Winston Justice as a player. Justice came out of USC a highly touted offensive lineman, but seems to be going backwards as a player. Now, they are trying him at right tackle instead of his more familiar left tackle position. It would be a shame to see a pick that high go to waste.

Lorenzo Booker: Need More Information Booker is the second guy the Eagles have brought in and has been compared, either in the press or among the fanbase, to Brian Westbrook (Ryan Moats also comes to mind). Westbrook should start taking offense to these comparisons. Booker should see all of the snaps in the final preseason game and we will see if his performance rises to Booker's own professed enthusiasm to playing in Andy Reid's offense.

Phils, Rollins Come Home To Take Medicine

2008-08-18T07:25:00.003-05:00

Maybe Jimmy Rollins should give Mike Schmidt a call to see if he still has that wig Schmitty wore when he ripped the fans way back when.

After a lousy 2 - 5 road trip, the Phils are coming home from California a bedraggled group of underacheivers. That is no exaggeration; they scored only 6 runs over the weekend over the course of 3 games and they are hitting .202 for the month of August so far. And don't forget; all of the pre-season pundits predicted that hitting would be the part of the game that would not leave the Phils this season.

Further compounding issues is their wayward MVP shortstop, Jimmy Rollins, whose ill-timed and inaccurate pronouncements that Philadelphia fans are "front runners" will only exacerbate the emotions of a fanbase who know passionless athletic displays when they see it. This Phillies team has been the model of inconsistency this year and their MVP and leadoff man has been the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to coming up short this season. That Rollins called out the fans is a classic case of denial. If there is one player who needs a healthy dose of introspection, it's Rollins. Relative to last year, he is having a disappointing season replete with high profile benchings for being late and for not hustling. If there is one player who should be keeping his mind on his business on the field instead of what goes on in the stands, it's JRoll.

The fascinating thing to me is that I can think of no other entertainment medium where the performer actually calls out the fans that paid to be in attendence. No where else would this be acceptable; the closest I can think of is the heckler in the comedy club, who gets publicly put down by the comic. Can you imagine movie goers disliking a movie and the star of the movie coming out in the press and ripping the movie going public? That's career suicide, right?

Apparently, it's OK to criticize Philadelphia fans. We've all seen the hack, "they threw snowballs at Santa" articles. Rich Hoffman, a veteran sportswriter who should damned well know better, wrote an article that somehow, Rollins a "victim" who should be allowed to have "his say" when it comes to the fans. A "victim"? Really? Let's review Rollins salary:

2001 Philadelphia Phillies $200,000
2002 Philadelphia Phillies $355,000
2003 Philadelphia Phillies $450,000
2004 Philadelphia Phillies $2,425,000
2005 Philadelphia Phillies $3,850,000
2006 Philadelphia Phillies $5,000,000
2007 Philadelphia Phillies $8,000,000
2008 Philadelphia Phillies $8,000,000

Anytime anyone wants to "victimize" me in this fashion, please give me a call. I'm available, trust me.

Also, Hoffman asserts, Rollins should have his "say". Good. No problem. He has every opportunity in the world to mouth off to the press, like he did on "Best Damned Sports Show". He has the opportunity to speak to the press everynight. But guess what? Because he's having a miserable year, he hasn't been talking much, so says Mike Radano of the Courier-Post.

Rollins has been different this year -- from the third game of the season, when he bailed on a postgame interview session to the countless times when his only postgame comment was "peace and out."

Ok, so he doesn't feel like talking and he's having a bad year, but this is somehow the fault of the fans? Not one fan has struck out this year and not one fan has hit into a rally killing doubleplay or failed to hustle out a ball. But Rollins has. The second you accept money to play a child's game, being criticized and booed is part of the deal. If you don't want to be booed, feel free to give up the paycheck and play slow pitch softball.

But until that day, feel free to shut up and play.

Phils Swept; Out of First Place

2008-08-15T07:24:00.002-05:00

The Phillies were ignominiously swept out of Chavez Ravine by the Dodgers last night by a score of 3 - 1. The loss, coupled with another Mets win, puts the Phils 1 game behind the Mets for 1st place in NL East.

The story of the game was the inability of the Phillies to solve Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda, who pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball. The Phils' lone run came from the bat of Ryan Howard, whose sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth, who had doubled to lead off the 7th inning. This game was just another in a long string of games where the Phils played lifeless offensive baseball. They continue to occupy the basement in the NL in in team BA (.206) and hits (86) in the month of August.

The lone bright spot came from perhaps the Phillies' biggest pain in the ass. Brett Myers pitched 7 effective innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and striking out 8. Myers has now gone 7 innings in 3 of his last 4 starts and appears to be gaining confidence down the stretch, in direct contrast to some of the Phillies' offensive "stars".

The Phillies' battan death march out west continues tonite in San Diego, where they have a ballpark that fly balls go to die. A Geritol matchup is on tap with Jamie Moyer going up against Greg Maddux.

(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Dodgers Walk Off on Phils. Again.

2008-08-13T23:20:00.004-05:00

For the second night in a row, the Phils jumped out to a lead on the Dodgers. And for the second night in a row, they couldn't hold the lead and lost on a hit in the bottom of the 9th. The Phils dropped their 3rd straight to the Dodgers by a score of 7 - 6 on a Nomar Garciaparra walk-off homer. The loss dropped the Phils back into a tie with the Mets in NL East.

Like with Tuesday night, the lineup featured some new twists, with Jayson Werth batting second and Greg Dobbs starting at 3rd. Both of these moves paid off as both players hit a 2-run home run to help the Phils get out to a 6 - 1 lead after 2 innings. Ryan Howard supplied the other 2-run dinger.

From that point, the Dodgers chipped away at the Phils with homers from Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier. Neither pitch was a pitch where you figured the opposing player would crush the ball, but on the other hand, it seems the Phils can't generate offense unless the opposing pitcher gives up a cookie, so perhaps we're not used to seeing that type of hitting.

From there, Jeff Kent hit a 2-run double off of the oft-used Chad Durbin to tie the score at 6, setting the stage for Garciaparra's heroics.

The series concludes tonite with Brett Myers going against Hiroki Kuroda at 10:10pm.

Notes:

- Phils could have salted this game away for good in the 6th. Burrell struck out with the bases loaded against Chan Ho Park, a pitcher I could have hit a couple of years ago.

- Greg Dobbs' error in the 7th....guh! The ball went 5 hole on him. When will Pedro Feliz be back again?

- Nomar Garciaparra? Are you kidding me? I thought he died or something.

- Chase Utley was hit twice. Looking forward to a key Dodger eating one tomorrow night against Brett Myers.

- The homeplate umpire was terribly inconsistent last night for both sides, I thought.

- Good catch by Werth in the 8th with 2 on and no one out. Even though Kent came on to eventually tie the game, that catch was big at the time.

- Can we agree that Chad Durbin has been overused? I can see the duct tape on his arm from my couch.

- Once again, no Brad Lidge last night. Thanks Clint Hurdle!

Phils Bow to Dodgers

2008-08-13T07:14:00.004-05:00

The LA Dodgers scored 3 unanswered runs to come from behind and beat the Phillies last night by a score of 4 - 3. This loss, coupled with wins by the Mets and the Marlins, cuts the Phils' lead in NL East to a game and a 1.5 games, respectively.

The Phils jumped out to a 1 - 0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a home run from Chase Utley. Cole Hamels gave that run back in the bottom of the 1st, but the Phils battled back to go up 3 - 1 after 3 innings on the strength of a Cole Hamels RBI single and a Pat Burrell sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers, however, chipped away at the lead, scoring in the 6th off of Hamels, in the 8th off of Chad Durbin, and finally, in the 9th off of JC Romero. It is unclear to me why Romero was in the game, as Lidge is supposedly OK to pitch after taking last weekend off. Regardless, Romero gave up the game winning hit to Andre Ethier, scoring Russell Martin.

The Phils will try to bounce back tonite, with Joe Blanton going up against Brad Penny at 10:10 pm.

NOTES:

- Yet another tough luck outing for Hamels: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K's and a ND.

- Shane Victorino was pulled from the game because of back issues.

- Anyone notice Manny Ramirez glaring at Chad Durbin after Durbin hit him with a pitch? What has Ramirez done that everyone thinks he's so tough? I'd love to see him actually charge the mound once and have some pitcher give him the Robin Ventura treatment.

- The lineup was a bit different last night, with Shane Victorino leading off and Jimmy Rollins batting 3rd. I'd even consider batting Utley at leadoff and Rollins second until they can, somehow, get Rollins (1 for 4 last night) going.

- Speaking of Utley, he made a tremendous diving grab of a Russell Martin line drive to save further damage in an inning where the Dodgers had already scored and were threatening for more.

- Because of elbow and arm problems, Tom Gordon is likely done for the year and probably, his Phillies career.

Sixers Sign Iggy

2008-08-12T18:49:00.006-05:00

ESPN is reporting that the Sixers have signed SG/SF Andre Iguodala to a 6 year, $80 million dollar contract extension. This move, along with the resigning of Lou Williams back in last Monday, brings back two of the younger, more exciting components of last year's emerging Sixers team.

Couple these moves with the signing of Elton Brand and Sixers fans have plenty of reason for optimism this fall.

For all of Iguodala's problems in the playoffs, I have always like Iguodala as a player, but did not want to see him get a contract that would cripple the Sixers in the immediate future.

This contract, while probably slightly more than I would place his worth, is probably the right thing for the organization to do. If the Sixers hadn't resigned him, it is uncertain as to how the Sixers would have replaced a player who has generally gotten better in his first 4 years in the league and plays hard defensively every night. Best case scenario is that Iguodala becomes a full-time shooting guard (with Thad Young moving to SF) and improves his jump shot to the point where he is outperforming this deal 3 years from now. Worst case scenario, he's the same player he is today and at his number, he still wouldn't be as grossly overpaid as Samuel Dalembert.

With the core components of both the Pistons and the Celtics getting another year older and the Cavs refusing to get LeBron James any meaningful help, the relative youth and athleticism of the Sixers makes them an intriguing team to watch in a relatively weak Eastern Conference.

Dodgers Bash Phils

2008-08-12T07:11:00.003-05:00

The Dodgers used a 6-run 3rd inning off of starter Kyle Kendrick to propel them to an 8 - 6 victory over the Phils. The Phils lost no ground in NL East, however, as both the Mets and Marlins lost.

Kyle Kendrick got pounded in the 3rd inning of this game like the AV kid during study hall. When he wasn't walking people or hitting batters (like he did with Jeff Kent), he was giving up gappers to Manny Ramirez and long home runs to Casey Blake. Charlie Manual let Kendrick start the 4th, but Kendrick allowed 3 of the first 4 batters he faced to reach base, upon which time, Manual had no choice but to go get Kendrick. The bullpen, led by Les Walrond and Clay Condrey, did do a nice job of keeping the Dodgers in check the rest of the game.

The Phils did manage to make some noise offensively in the late innings. Jimmy Rollins (2 for 5) hit an RBI triple in the 7th inning and Chase Utley (3 for 5) hit a 2-run single in the 9th inning to close out the scoring for the Phils.

First baseman Ryan Howard reached the 100 RBI plateau on the strength of two groundout RBIs. It marked the 3rd consecutive season he eclipsed the 100 RBI plateau and he is now tied with Houston's Carlos Lee for the NL lead.

The Phils will try to bounce back tonite at 10:10pm with Cole Hamels facing Clayton Kershaw.

NOTES:

- Hey, what do you know? A "Manny being Manny" moment. When the Dodgers came out for the 9th inning, Manny Ramirez was not in his customary LF spot. Whether he was taking a dump or enjoying a post-game adult beverage is unknown, but apparently Manny thought that Dodger manager Joe Torre pulled Ramirez from the game after he ran the bases in the 8th inning. So, when the inning started, the Dodgers had only 8 guys on the field. Fortunately for the Dodgers, they found Ramirez (was that toilet paper on his spikes?) and he did eventually assume his position in the field, smiling sheepishly.

- I hate these West Coast games. Hate them.

(AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)

From the Weekend

2008-08-11T07:20:00.003-05:00

The Phils

- The Phillies managed to remain in 1st place after the weekend, taking 2 of 3 from the Pittsburgh Pirates. This series was, of course, on the heels of dropping 2 of 3 at home to the Florida Marlins. Sandwiched in with all of this was the embarassment of getting shut out at home for 2 straight games (Thursday 8/7 vs. Florida and Friday 8/8 vs. Pittsburgh).

Since May, I believe watching the Phillies offense has been added in the latest editions of the KUBARK manuals. Since the Phils, as a team, hit .273 in May, they've hit .232 in June, .270 in July, and so far in August, they are hitting an NL low of .211. They are as consistent as a ferret addicted to meth. That they are in first place speaks as much of how lousy the NL East is as much as it does about the Phillies.

The Eagles

- Tough to pull out any one thing you can take from the Eagles' 16 - 10 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers from last Friday. Donovan McNabb looked confident in the pocket and DeSean Jackson caught 5 passes. The first team defense, however, got pushed around a little bit. That said, these teams are slated to play each other in the regular season during Week 3, so it wasn't as if either team was going to show much in the way of scheme.

- Shawn Andrews has finally reported to camp. Also, Asante Samuel is reportedly back to practice after tweaking his hamstring 2 weeks ago.

The Shore

- Nice weekend down the shore until the drive home yesterday. Coming home down the Atlantic City Expressway, I encountered marble-sized hail as I was driving through Hammonton. I cut through Hammonton, because the Expressway began backing up due to the inclement weather and the large volume of cars slowing down. The rain and sleet had been coming down so forcefully, there were downed branches from some of the trees lining Route 54.

Juan Samuel Night

2008-08-08T06:41:00.000-05:00

No recap of last night's game, although mention of last night's game will be part of a longer, angrier post sometime today.

Down at Citizens Bank Ballpark tonite, the Phils will be honoring one of the most dynamic Phillies of all time, former 2nd baseman Juan Samuel.

"Sammy" came up to the major leagues during the Phils' stretch drive in 1983. Their second baseman at the time was future HOFer Joe Morgan, but you just knew watching the dynamic Samuel run the bases and swing the bat, that Morgan's services would not be required in 1984.

Juan Samuel was the 2nd baseman and leadoff batter starting the 1984 season and he did not disappoint. He hit .272 with 15 homers and 69 RBI, which were pretty good numbers for a middle infielder in 1984. While not a huge OBP guy, Samuel did manage 191 hits in his rookie year, but it was what he did when he did get on base is what made Samuel a special player. He stole 72 bases that year, a Phillies team record that still stands today. Additionally, he hit 19 triples, which was a Phillies team record until Jimmy Rollins hit 20 last year in his MVP season.

Samuel's rookie year was good enough to earn second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind some guy named Dwight "Doc" Gooden.

In addition to Samuel's acumen on the diamond, he was one of the few players to actually look like he was having a good time out on the field. This was in direct contrast to some of the Phillies players from that era such as Mike Schmidt and Von Hayes, whose icy personas gave the impression that they were going in for root canal rather than playing a game for money.

Perhaps Samuel's best statistical season was 1987, where Samuel hit .272 with 28 homers and 100 RBI. His OBP that year was his highest as a Phil at .335 as he hit out of the 2 and 3 hole for some of that season in addition to a healthy number of starts where he led off. He didn't run as much as he did his rookie year, with only 35 steals, but it wasn't because of a lack of speed. Sammy still managed 15 triples that year. Like his rookie year, he represented the Phils at the All-Star game and even managed to finish 13th in the MVP voting.

Samuel's tenure in Philadelphia would end just 2 years later, when he was involved in one of the most infamous trades in Philadelphia sports history only for the reason that the Phillies actually came out on the right side of the trade. Samuel, by this point an outfielder because his fielding was never all that great, was traded to the Mets for Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell. McDowell was a pretty good reliever for parts of 2 seasons with the Phils and Dykstra was the backbone of the 1993 Phils.

As for Samuel, he was never the same player with the Mets that he was with the Phils. He did not stay in New York long and bounced around the league until finally retiring in 1998 in Toronto.

But the Samuel that should be commemorated on the Phils' "Wall of Fame" is the young second baseman who ran his way into the Phils' record books and looked like he had a good time doing it.

Kendrick, Howard Hooks Fish

2008-08-07T07:19:00.003-05:00

Ryan Howard went 2 for 5 with a solo home run and Kyle Kendrick pitched 6 shutout innings as the Phillies beat the Marlins last night by a score of 5 - 0. The win put the Phils 2 1/2 games ahead of the 2nd place Marlins in NL East.

Kendrick, despite not giving up a run, really didn't have great control last night in uncharacteristically walking 5 batters. Usually when Kendrick gives up baserunners, it's on basehits, as Kendrick is a groundball pitcher who pitches to contact. Some might say he was "effectively wild" last night. Others might say he pulled this game directly from his ass, as he allowed baserunners in 5 of the 6 innings he pitched. He was also aided by fantastic plays in the field by Eric Bruntlett in the fifth inning (playing a pretty good third base in Pedro Feliz's absence) and Jimmy Rollins in the 4th.

The offense was fairly evenly distributed last night, which was a good sign. Ryan Howard's opposite field bomb game the Phils a 4-run lead in the third inning. Eric Bruntlett had 2 hits and his 9th stolen base, in addition to his fine glove work. In addition to Bruntlett and Howard, Utley, rookie Mike Cervenak, and pitcher Kyle Kendrick all knocked in runs.

The series concludes today at CBP in a Business Person's special with Cole Hamels facing Chris Volstad at 1:05pm. Today will mark the first game I will have attended all year.

Notes:

- 31 year old Mike Cervenak got his first major league basehit last night, in driving in Eric Bruntlett in the 6th inning.

- Chad Durbin got an AB last night and almost smoked a double down the right field line. Mike Jacobs had to make a great defensive play to keep the bullpen stalwart off of the basepaths.

Picture: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Phils Fall To Fish

2008-08-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

On a night where Jamie Moyer struggled with his control and the humidity, the Phils sure could have used some of their offensive prowess to bail out their 45 year old starter.

Didn't happen.

The Phils lost to Florida last night by a score of 8 - 2. Moyer struggled to go 5 innings last night and gave up only 2 earned runs. Moyer battled himself and his control all evening, walking 3 and hitting 2 batters (side note: as slow as Moyers pitches, it couldn't have hurt much). The bullpen, especially JA Happ, did not fare much better. Happ gave up the final 4 runs over the final 2 innings of the game as the Marlins smelled blood and appropriately salted the game away.

The only Phils offense came on a 2-run Shane Victorino homerun that was actually a foul ball. Third base umpire Dale Scott flat out blew the call, but the break did get the Phils within 2 runs at the time. They were unable to capitalize on the gift however.

The indication that this game was just not going to go the Phils was not going to go the Phils' way was the 3 double play balls the Phils managed to ground into everytime they seemingly tried to get anything going with men on base. All 3 double plays were hard hit grounders or liners hit right to a fielder, who happened to be in the right position for a variety of reasons (luck or good positioning).

The series continues tonite with Kyle Kendrick facing Anibal Sanchez at 7:05 at CBP.

Notes

- Ryan Howard is the worst fielding first baseman in baseball. Period. In the fourth inning, he misplayed a Hanley Ramirez cueshot, allowing the dangerous Ramirez to reach base when he shouldn't have (who went on to score). Subsequently, had a Mike Jacobs ball go right through his legs for 13th error on the year. I'm going to go out on a limb, without looking it up, and guess he's leading all first basemen in errors this year.

- Another ridiculous bunt play last night. This time, it was Florida. With pitcher Josh Johnson on 2nd after stroking a double, the Fish had Hanley Ramirez, with no outs, attempt to bunt Johnson to third. If Hanley Ramirez is your MVP candidate, you should have him swinging away in that circumstance. Instead he laid down a bunt that was fielded and the Phillies got Johnson going to 3rd. Brutal play by Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Photo: (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

Phils July 2008 By The Numbers

2008-08-05T23:55:00.002-05:00

One of the nicest things you can say about the month of July for the Phillies is that....well.....at least wasn't June.

You might remember that in June of this year, the Phils got their guts stomped out by the American League and it cast a negative pall on the Phils season.

July saw the Phils climb out of that June funk somewhat, but they still do not look like that confident team that worked like a buzzsaw through the NL East. They did manage 11 wins in the month against NL East opponents, but 8 of those wins were against also-rans Atlanta and Washington. For the month of July, the Phils were 3 - 10 against Florida and the hated Mets. That is significant, because they are the two teams that are chasing the first place Phils as of this writing.

So, with that, onto the numbers for July.....

The number of wins for the Phils in the month of July 2008. As previously mentioned, the Phils racked up 11 wins against the NL East; most of those against the weaker sisters of the division. They dropped 5 of their 7 games against the Mets, but I wonder if that doesn't have more to do with how well the Mets are playing and not so much about how the Phils are playing.

The Mets probably played among the best baseball in the Majors in the month of June. The Mets managed to lead all of the Majors in team BA in the month of July, hitting .304 (a full 37 points higher than their season average) and amassed 18 wins during July.

So, while the 15 wins is definitely an improvement over June, there is definitely room for the Phils to pick up the pace. And once they do, you have to figure that the Mets won't be playing at the .692 clip they played to in the month of July.

.333

The July 2008 batting average for Shane Victorino.

Victorino was arguably the Phils' best player in the month of July, hitting 7 homeruns and accounting for 20 RBI. He also had a hefty (for him) 1.000 OPS for the month.

.208

The July 2008 batting average for Chris Coste.

Pick up the pace, old man. Between you and Carlos Ruiz (.224 in July), the catcher's spot in the lineup is quickly becoming a black hole.

Wins in the month of July for Jamie Moyer. The ageless wonder did it again in July, pitching at least 6 innings in every July start. He won starts against the Cardinals, Marlins, and Nationals and had an ERA of 2.76 for the month. You shudder to think where the Phils would be without their pitching Yoda.

11.95

The July 2008 ERA of Adam Eaton. This ERA was good enough to get Eaton sent down to the minors, where he will probably be relegated for the forseeable future. Eaton will go down as Pat Gillick's worst move during his tenure as Phillies GM and it would be a mercy move to release Eaton in the offseason.

Incidentally, when Eaton was sent to the minors, he went to Class A Lakewood, where he got raked in his only appearance to date, giving up 4 earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. You have to believe he's thrown his last pitches at the major league level for the Phillies.

The number of players the Phillies sent to the All-Star game in July of 2008. It was not a memorable showing for the Phils' representatives Brad Lidge and Chase Utley. Lidge took the loss for the NL and Utley, upon being booed during intros before the HR derby, dropped an "F" bomb on national television.

Summary

While it did feel like the Phillies pulled themselves out of whatever doldrums they were wallowing in during the month of June, the offensive components of this ballclub still do not feel like they are firing on all cylinders. That the Phils considered trading for Manny Ramirez at the trade deadline should tell you that the front office has significant questions about the Phillies' ability produce consistent offense.

Maybe it's the heightened expectations from last year and maybe we're expecting too much out of a flawed ballclub. Regardless, the Phillies seem far too caught up in trying to set themselves up for the 3-run homerun, rather than getting themselves on base and putting pressure on the opposing pitchers by extending pitch counts, etc. Honestly, some of this begins with the NL MVP. Rollins' OBP is about where his career OBP sits, but his BA (.263 for the year) is 13 points below his career average and 33 points behind last year's totals. His power numbers are way down, with his slugging percentage down around his 2005 totals (.431 slugging percentage with 12 homers in 2005). Rollins has been the engine that has made the Phillies' offense go in the past two years, and he has just not played to expectations so far this year.

Going forward through the month of August, the Phillies should concentrate on finding some consistency in their offense and try to battle through two really tough 4-games series on the road against the newly rejuvenated LA Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs. That consistency more than likely begins and ends with getting Rollins back on track.

Andrews Battling Depression

2008-08-05T07:44:00.003-05:00

According to the Daily News' Les Bowen, it appears that Shawn Andrews is battling clinical depression and should be in camp shortly. That is good news, both that Andrews got the help he needed and for the Eagles to get their All-Pro guard in camp.

Some thoughts this story:

1.) If you haven't heard the rumors that Andrews is gay, you probably don't go on a lot of blogs. Les Bowen referenced the internet rumor mill, without getting into specifics, but it is obvious he was referring to rumors of Andrews' sexual preference being one of the reasons for the absence.

This sort of rumor mongering likely feeds into why mainstream media outlets constantly demonize blogs and blog commenters. It's a very different beast, speculating on someone's personal problems than it is, say, speculating on why Brett Myers threw a 2 - 0 fastball in a particular situation. Hopefully, that difference is clear.

2.) I mentioned this elsewhere yesterday, but I'll mention it again: does this mean that "clinical depression" will now show up in NFL injury reports?

The Eagles should do Andrews the favor of levying a nominal fine against Andrews and donating that money to charities related to mental illnesses. That will tie up the loose ends between Andrews and the team, but the big question going forward the league needs to ask itself is do they recognize clinical depression as being a very real, treatable illness that can affect how you perform on the field? There is research (too lazy to reference, but I will find it when I get a chance) to suggest that depression in some athletes is a result of frequent, untreated concussions.

I'm not suggesting Andrews is suffering from post-concussive syndrome (it could be), but it's not out of the norm for football to get concussed and come back far too soon, likely resulting in other problems (see the story of Teddy Johnson for details on that).

Later today: Phillies July 2008 "by the number"

Philadelphia Fandom According to Buzz

2008-08-04T11:38:00.004-05:00

Say what you want about Buzz Bissinger, but the guy is just a tremendous writer.

Case in point: the op-ed piece he did on Saturday for the New York Times the futility that is being a Philadelphia fan is about as well-written of a piece on the subject you'll ever read. (link copped from TheBigLead.com)

Not only was it an honest treatment of Philadelphia sports fans (we don't always behave well, let's be honest), but he managed to describe the mania we feel in such a way to elicit affirmative nodding throughout the whole piece from AND he got a tremendous shot in on New York fans (bold emphasis mine):

Contrary to the tired rap Philadelphia sports fans get as being seriously deranged maniacs, the vast majority of them are smart and discerning. They do have an inviolate demand of players that they go at after it hard, which fewer and fewer do, which is why their frequent booing is utterly appropriate.When it comes to knowledge, they make New York fans look like one big, collective Borat. Mets fans have cross-eyed looks of imminent criminality; Yankee fans are the most arrogant in the solar system; Giant fans are backstabbers; Jets fans are, well, Jets fans; and anybody who cares about the Knicks and Rangers needs immediate intervention.

Another plus? Not one tired "throwing snow balls at Santa" reference.

Thanks Buzz. Now, please go to work on figuring out how to write the expose' on the sham that is Phillies ownership such that they feel compelled to sell and have Pat Croce can come back and finally take over that franchise.

Nice Weekend for Phils; The Shawn Andrews Mystery

2008-08-04T05:06:00.004-05:00

- Nice weekend for the Phils, taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis, including last night's come from behind 5 - 4 win. Shane Victorino is playing real good baseball right now and it looks like our boy Chase Utley is getting his timing back. Joe Blanton pitching 7 innings of 1 run ball was a good sign as well.

- Great article in the Inquirer yesterday from Bob Ford about Shawn Andrews. He's a big hearted, sensitive kid, but that can work against you at times if you're an NFL lineman.

This is one of the few times I'm happy with Andy Reid's strategy of stockpiling linemen through the draft, because it sounds like Max Jean-Gilles is more than holding his own in Andrews' spot while Andrews sorts out just whatever his problem happens to be.

Had a chance to listen to Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times on 610 WIP yesterday in the car, and Eckel, who is as hard boiled as they get when it comes to NFL beat reporters, has no idea what is going on and actually has indicated he believes Andrews' agent when he says this is not related to Andrews' contract. This is, indeed, one of the stranger chapters in Eagle history and surely would be a bigger story, if not, for the Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard contract situations.

- Speaking of Shawn Andrews, I wonder if Andrews had anything to do with the water main break that occurred at Lehigh over the weekend, cancelling practice for the Eagles?

- Programming note: Finishing up a book review and a "by the numbers" Phils review for July.

Phils Complete Sweep of Nats

2008-08-01T07:15:00.004-05:00

The Phils went down to DC and did what a team that is allegedly a contender is supposed to do. They kicked the snot out of a weaker sister for 3 games.

Behind the pitching of Kyle Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins' 3 RBI, the Phillies beat the Nationals last night by a score of 8 - 4. The win put the Phillies a full game ahead of the idle Mets in the NL East.

Kendrick pitched a pretty ballgame to earn his 9th win, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up on 2 earned runs. The Phils' bullpen, with a couple of exciting moments from Rudy Seanez, got the Phils the final outs they needed to complete win.

Offensively, the Phils hung 3 runs on John Lannan in the 2nd inning on a Jayson Werth solo home run, a Jimmy Rollins ground out, and a Ryan Zimmerman throwing error. The offense further produced on the strength of a 2-run home run from Jimmy Rollins in the 4th inning and in the 6th inning where the Phils strung together 5 hits to score 3 more runs.

Now that this series is over, the Phils travel for 3 games in St. Louis. Probable starters:

Fri: Cole Hamels vs. Kyle Lohse; 8:15pm

Sat: Joe Blanton vs. Braden Looper; 7:15pm

Sun: Brett Myers vs. Todd Wellemeyer; 8:05pm

Notes:

- Great hustle by Jimmy Rollins in the 6th inning, scoring from 2nd base on Shane Victorino's infield single and Rafael Belliard's throwing error.

- Rudy Seanez has given up 8 hits in his last 6 appearances. He has given up earned runs in 2 straight appearances. Weak.

- Victorino getting caught stealing 3rd base with 2 outs in the 4th inning with Pat Burrell at the plate defies all logic. He's got to sit down a game for that one. It erased the good will built up on the picture perfect bunt he laid down to get on base to begin with.

Moyer, Bats Dumps Nats

2008-07-31T07:27:00.004-05:00

Jamie Moyer pitched craftily for 6 innings in the DC heat and the bats came alive last night for the first time in awhile as the Phils beat the Nationals by a score of 8 - 5. With this win, and last night's loss by the Mets, the Phils are in first place by a half game.

The Phils jumped out to a 2 - 0 lead in the 1st inning thanks to a Pat Burrell 2-run single. The Nats did manage to go out in front in the bottom of the first inning, however, touching up Moyer for 3 runs. But that was all the light hitting Nationals would get from Moyer, as the old guy kept the Nationals off balance before giving way to the bullpen.

As for the moribund Phils offense, it came around against a pitcher who had given them fits in previous outings this year. Tim Redding seemed to be getting into the groove after a rough first inning, until he got to the fifth inning. That's when the Phils put together 4 hits to score 5 runs. The biggest blow came courtesy of Chase Utley, who hit a 2-run bomb to left center. Utley went 2 for 4 in the game and has now homered in consecutive games.

Shane Victorino capped off the scoring for the Phils when he hit his 9th home run on the season. Victorino went 3 for 5 last night with 3 RBI and pushed a modest hitting streak to 10 games.

The series concludes tonite, with Kyle Kendrick facing John Lannan at 7:10pm.

Notes

- The non-waiver trade deadline is today and the Phils had been rumor grist in recent days as a potential trade destination for Manny Ramirez. Would love to see the Phils get Ramirez and wouldn't care if they included Burrell in the deal, but I can't help but wonder if the best option for the Red Sox wouldn't be to keep Ramirez through the reminder of this year and let him walk in the off-season. I can't imagine them parting with Ramirez without having someone of reasonably comparable ability to replace him so they can still challenge for a World Series this year. My prediction? Manny will stay put in Boston and the Phils may add some bullpen help, but can't imagine the Phillies making a big splash today.

- Another crappy outing last night for Ryan Madson. In his last 4 relief appearances, he has given up 6 earned runs.

Mid-Week Eagles Camp Report - 7/30/2008

2008-07-30T12:01:00.008-05:00

Been on the Phils so much, wanted to get a quick post in on the Eagles.

Apparently, it gets a bit on the stuffy side in Lehigh in July.

Free agent acquisition Chris Clemons, who, no doubt, is not used to actually being forced to do physical activity in training camp after spending last season with the Raiders, was sent to the hospital yesterday for heat exhaustion.

Maybe his wallet is weighing him down after signing in the off-season for 5 years/$18.5 million dollars.

Other Eagle Camp News:

- This is a few days old, but Victor Abiramiri dislocated a bone in his right hand on Sunday. He is probably out for at least half of the season, with pins in his hand and maybe more.

- Nobody knows what the hell is up with All-Pro guard Shawn Andrews, who still hasn't shown up to camp as of this writing. Honestly, if Eagle fans want to get worked up over something, get worked up over the whereabouts of Shawn Andrews. He is considered one of the top two or three at his position in the entire league. Hopefully, whatever his problem is, it's not too bad. And I further hope that he's staying away from the buffet lines.

Photo: (SCOTT ANDERSON / Courier-Post)

Myers, Phils Beat Nats

2008-07-30T07:20:00.003-05:00

Brett Myers pitched 7 of the strongest innings he's pitched all year and Chase Utley hit his first home run since July 7th to beat the Washington Nationals by a score of 2 - 1.

This was, far and away, Myers' best outing of the year. He pitched into the 8th inning and probably could have gotten through the inning, if not for a Chase Utley error on a ball that was a dead double play ball. He only struck out 2, but was consistently ahead in the count against most of the hitters he faced. His slider to right handed hitters seemed particular effective last night.

After Utley's error in the 8th inning left the Nats with runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out, Manuel brought in a combination of JC Romero and Chad Durbin to limit the damage to only 1 run. Brad Lidge came on in the 9th inning to notch his 25th save on the year.

Offensively, the team was, again, somewhat dormant. Chase Utley finally got off the schneid with respect to hitting the long ball and he even got an "excuse me" basehit on a half-hearted swing in the eighth inning. Pat Burrell also chipped in with 2 base hits.

The series continues tonite with Old Man Moyer facing Tim Redding at 7:10pm.

Notes

- The Braves traded Mark Teixera to the Anaheim Angels for Casey Kotchman and a prospect. That effectively ends the Braves' thoughts of contention this year. Now, it's just the Mets and Marlins to worry about.

- Brett Myers managed to hit 2 batters during the game, but fortunately, he was able to force the next batter to hit into a DP both times.

- What a stupid, dumb, ridiculous base running mistake by Ryan Zimmerman in the 7th inning after Milledge pounded the ball off of Eric Bruntlett's glove. After the ball hopped away from Bruntlett, Rollins picked the ball up, noticing Zimmerman had taken too wide of a turn off of 2nd. The ball was quickly thrown to Utley at 2nd, who tagged out Zimmerman out. Just. Dumb.

- Before the game, Pedro Feliz was put on the 15 day DL for back issues. Bruntlett and Dobbs will reportedly split time at third base in the meantime.

- Apparently, Greg Maddux has no interest in pitching for Philly, according to CBS sportsline's Scott Miller.

Photo: Yahoo.com (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Phils Send Eaton To Minors

2008-07-29T09:58:00.003-05:00

Post is a little late today...had an early meeting today that I called and chaired, so I needed to concentrate on work. Stupid work......

In a move that is stunning only because it didn't involve an outright release, the Phillies and Adam Eaton have agreed that it's best for the highly maligned pitcher to work his issues out at the Triple A level.

The Phils have called up JA Happ to take Eaton's roster spot.

What is not immediately clear is that if there is another shoe to drop here. What could potentially occur here is that this move could open up what other fans (not me) have been clamoring for all along: moving Myers back to the bullpen.

Theoretically, Happ could slide into Myers' spot in the rotation and Myers could slide back into a bullpen role, albeit, not as the closer. On some level, this would make sense; the bullpen, while a bulwark in the first half of the season, has faltered lately.

Another shoe that could potentially drop here is a trade; either of Happ or of Brett Myers. There were rumors involving Myers, and his unhappiness, during his minor league stint. With the July 31st non-waiver move trade deadline approaching, maybe the Phils are looking to accomodate Myers.

Meanwhile, Happ and the Phils will start a 3-game set in Washington against those pesky Nats. The Phils are only a 1/2 game behind New York, courtesy of a Mets loss to the Florida Marlins. If the Phils take care of the Nats, they could make some hay in the standings as the Mets and Marlins beat each other up.

The pitching matchups are as follows:

Tonite: Myers vs. Balester; 7:10pm
Tomorrow: Moyer vs. Tim Redding (who has owned the Phils this year); 7:10pm

Thursday: Kendrick vs. Lannan (the guy who hit Chase on the wrist last year); 7:10pm

Photo: (Tom Mihalek, Associated Press / July 7, 2008)

Congratulations Philly Soul, but......

2008-07-28T10:27:00.002-05:00

.... it doesn't count against the 25 year drought. Sorry Soul (and AFL) fans!

Eagle Training Camp 2008: Plan On Going?

2008-07-27T10:56:00.000-05:00

Certainly by now, you must be aware that training camps have begun all around the NFL and we'll even get something resembling an actual NFL game on Saturday, August 2nd, when a bunch of guys wearing Colts and Redskins gear that you won't see on an opening day roster play in the Hall of Fame game.

Always love this time of year....the opening of training camp is pretty much the go-ahead to start planning for Fantasy Football season. The Eagles even held their first team practice on Friday. Doesn't get any better than the start of football season.

One thing you probably won't catch me doing unless I have absolutely nothing to do (almost never happens if you have a wife and kid), is making the trip to Eagles training camp. I have quite a few reasons for this stance. First and foremost, is what, if anything would I be going up there to do? I love to watch football, but not necessarily football practice. I can sort of live without those amateur scouts who believe that when they go to camp, they can see things that the actual NFL coaches cannot. Let me help you out; you're not going to learn a thing about Trevor Law watching him hit tackling dummies, I assure you.

There was a time, when NFL teams actually tried to accomplish things at a training camp. Camp was used by some players to get into shape and for coaches to evaluate and get ready for the season.

Training camp is now used as much for selling merchandise (the Eagles have a merchandise tent at Lehigh) and publicizing the start of the NFL season as it is used in deciding whether or not a late round draft pick like King Dunlap is good enough for the NFL (Not that Reid would play him if Dunlap did make the team. Afterall, Dunlap is a rookie and Reid rarely plays rookies). Even the autograph sessions are orderly affairs that are setup ahead of time at a predetermined time and date. You can't just go up to Stewart Bradley at camp and get his autograph; you have to go on the assigned day he is scheduled to sign in order to meet Bradley.

And yes, the players still bitch about camp. Even playful complaints have seedling of truth, just like Takeo Spikes did last year about not having 300 count toilet paper. But let's face it, training camp for a team like the Eagles only runs about 3 weeks, before the team breaks camp and they start doing some of the more significant work at the NovaCare center, away from annoying fans and press.

Can you imagine these guys having to deal with a Dick Vermeil training camp from circa 1976? Those didn't run on the order of weeks.....they ran as long as two months. From a 2007 Vince Papale interview:

"You know, Dick really pissed a bunch of guys off when he first came in. I mean, he ran that brutal training camp, just brutal. It was eight full weeks of double sessions."

8 weeks? Double sessions? Now THAT'S a camp I want to see.

Now, Andy Reid makes allowances for the vets over 30 to not participate in certain morning contact practice sessions.

So, just to review....I have a 3 week window to see the Eagles in camp, where, quite possibly, I won't see some of the older, marquee players on the team? So you could conceivably make the long trek to Lehigh only to see......AJ Feeley throwing to Jason Avant?

As hot as it is and with gas at $4/gallon, I'll pass.

Phils Fall; Rollins Benched Again

2008-07-25T07:36:00.006-05:00

It was bad enough that the Phillies wasted a stellar effort from Jamie Moyer yesterday, en route to losing to the hated Mets by a score of 3 - 1 to fall out of first place in the NL East.

What exacerbated things even more was that Jimmy Rollins, the reigning NL MVP, was a late scratch in the lineup before the ball game. The reason?

He was late to the game.

This means that Rollins has now broken both of manager Charlie Manuel's rules for the team:

1.) Hustle

2.) Be on time.

Remember, that incident back in June? The one where Rollins didn't run out a ball that ended up falling in for a hit and Rollins, one of the fastest players in the league, only managed to get to first because he didn't run things out? Manuel benched Rollins then in favor of Eric Bruntlett and he did it again yesterday.

And I have no problem with it.

Rollins personifies the type of season this team is having right now. Rollins is incandescent at times and invisible other times. And if we really want to start naming names, let's talk about the second baseman. Chase Utley is hitting a mere .217 since the All-Star break and frankly looks lost at the plate. He and Ryan Howard combined to go 0 for 7 with 6 strikeouts between them.

No, there is something wrong with this team. And what is scary is that it's the part of the team that is supposed to be automatic, which is, the offense. While it is a bit too early to hit the panic button, it is not too early to be very, very concerned about the direction of this team from now until the end of the year. The offense has still not come around and the best part of the team in the 1st half, the bullpen, has now surrendered two straight losses.

This team will hit; no doubt about that. But when they start, will it be enough?

As for yesterday's game, Moyer went 7 strong innings, giving up 1 run on 2 hits. The game was lost when JC Romero came in, gave up a two-out, 2-run double to Carlos Delgado in the bottom of the 8th inning. The only Phils offense was supplied by (surprise!) a solo home run (from Jayson Werth).

The Phils come home for a weekend series with the Atlanta Braves this evening. Probable pitching matchups:

Fri: Kyle Kendrick vs. Jair Jurrjens
Sat: Cole Hamels vs. Jo-Jo Reyes
Sun: Joe Blanton vs. Jason Campillo

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Phils Lose; Tied for First

2008-07-23T21:20:00.003-05:00

The Phils fell in Flushing last night by a score of 6 - 3. The loss dropped the Phils back into a first place tie with the Mets in the NL East.

The game marked Brett Myers' first start since a June 27th loss to the Texas Rangers. Myers managed to go 5 shaky innings and was lucky to have only given up 3 runs. He started off on a bad foot, walking the first 4 guys he faced. Myers managed to settle down somewhat, but could not consistently locate his fastball.

The pivotal inning in the game, however, was the 6th inning, when the ball was handed to reliever Ryan Madson. Madson gave up two hits and, after an aborted sacrifice, coughed up a 3-run bomb to Jose Reyes. Reyes then managed to perform about a dozen celebratory handshakes and gestures enroute from home plate to the dugout. I thought Reyes was having some sort of epileptic seizure, but apparently seizures are not a symptom of assholery.

Offensively, the Phils could only manage a couple of a solo homers (Victorino and Jenkins) and an RBI double from Rollins. Can anyone remember the last hit of consequence from Chase Utley?

The series concludes tomorrow at 12:10pm, with Jamie Moyer taking the ball against the Mets' Oliver Perez.

Notes:

- I liked the move to pull Myers after 5 innings. Let him leave without the possibility of taking a loss. He wasn't great, but it could have been worse.

- Please someone tell Chase Utley the second half has begun.

- Ryan Howard was not charged for an error on that ground ball in the first inning that he should have caught to start a double play (which would have prevented a run), but he should have been.

- Ryan Madson. Not good.

- Can't believe I'm about to say this: Chris Wheeler made an excellent point to Tom McCarthy during the broadcast about Carlos Beltran. Beltran, a player who makes $18.6 million dollars a year, laid down a sacrifice bunt with nobody out during the 8th inning last night. That was, as Wheeler said, a dumb baseball play. A hitter of Beltran's calibre (and payscale) should be swinging away in that situation.

Feels So Good! Phils Rally to Beat Mets

2008-07-22T19:59:00.004-05:00

For 8 innings, it looked like the Phillies were going to go down meekly against the Mets and the great Johan Santana. The 9th inning almost seemed a matter of course and the Phillies would relinquish 1st place to the hated Mets. Even though the Mets were without closer Billy Wagner, the Phils showed little life all night. Frankly, I was ready to turnover to the "Office" rerun on TBS.

That is, until temporary closer Duaner Sanchez came into the game and the Phillies promptly mowed through the Mets bullpen to the tune of 6 runs in the 9th inning en route to a 8 - 5 win. The win was stunning in light of the Phillies inability to solve Santana.

That the Phils did manage to scratch out 2 runs against Johan Santana is a bit deceiving. Santana cruised for much of the game, with the top of the Phils' lineup (*cough* Rollins and Utley *cough*) not doing much of anything in going 0-for-Santana.

But in the 9th inning, the Phils finally came back to life, stroking 5 hits. The killing blows were delivered by the oft-maligned So Taguchi, who hit a 2-run double to tie the game, and Jimmy Rollins, who hit a 2-run double to give the Phillies the lead. This game and this rally could have been the shot in the arm the moribund Phils' offense has been looking for.

The game marked the debut of the Phils' new starter, Joe Blanton. Blanton, obtained in a deal with Oakland looked OK. He gave up two very damaging 2-run home runs (one to Delgado, the other to Ramon Castro) in going 6 innings, throwing 100+ pitches. All in all, Blanton looked just OK. After the Phils came back in the top of the 9th inning, Brad Lidge came on to record a nerve racking save.

The win puts the Phils alone in 1st place, a game ahead of both the Mets and the Marlins. The series continues tomorrow, with Brett Myers returning from his minor league hiatus to face John Maine.

Did You Notice?

- The Phils' defense recorded 2 big time outs at the plate; one from Werth and one from Pat Burrell (via Jimmy Rollins). Great job on both plays by Carlos Ruiz of blocking the plate. Coincidentally, both times, it was Endy Chavez they got at the plate.

- Speaking of that fucktaster Chavez, what's gotten into him since he's been with the Mets? He hit .215 with the Phils in 2005, but has managed to hit .318 with a .348 OBP against the Phils this year.

- What was Johan Santana staring at when he walked in the 6th inning? It's called "pitching inside", Johan. It's legal; you can look it up.

- I'm sorry, but Carlos Delgado was struck out in that at-bat in the 3rd inning. He did not check his swing and Charlie Manuel rightfully argued the call. Naturally, Delgado managed to hit a 2-run homer in the same at-bat.

- Speaking of arguing balls and strikes, the home plate umpiring left a lot to be desired.

- Horrible play by Reyes in the 9th inning, where he tried to start a 6 - 3 double play on a ball hit by Carlos Ruiz. As he reached for the high bounding ball with his bare hand, he got beat to the 2nd base bag by the speedy Shane Victorino. The failed play at 2nd base allowed Carlos Ruiz to reach first safely. Just a dumb play when your team is up 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning (he obviously should have gone to first on the play). And yes, you could say this play opened the flood gates for the Phils.

- Good game from Victorino; the aforementioned hustle play in the ninth inning and a solo homer off of Santana.

From the Weekend

2008-07-21T06:25:00.005-05:00

- The Phillies continue to make life on themselves difficult. Sure, yesterday's game was close, but they desperately needed a series win within their division. This series against the Mets this week will be intense, and they will be throwing Brett Myers right from the minors and into this series. Yes, I am concerned.

- Another of the Eagles' divisonal rivals got better over the weekend. This time, it was the Redskins, who traded for Jason Taylor. Yes, I am concerned.

- Because of the soaring temps yesterday, I took my son to the Flyers' rookie "scrimmage" yesterday as it was held in an air conditioned hockey rink. BORING! They didn't actually scrimmage, so much as just do drills for the session I attended. I enjoyed the air conditioning, but I essentially wasted my time. My son, however, enjoyed the arcade area.

- As of this AM, I'm still on child care duties, but I should have a book review later in keeping with the start of NFL training camp.

Phils 2008 2nd Half Begins

2008-07-18T05:00:00.001-05:00

The Phils begin the 2nd half of their season by playing their divisional foes. They go on the road to play Florida and New York. They come home for a weekend series with the Braves and then head down to DC for a mid-week series with the Nats.

Now is a good time to think back about what happened in the first half of the season and a couple of predictions on what it is to come.

1st half MVP: The Phillies bullpen. Possibly a bit of a cop out from selecting a single, individual Phillie to represent their team MVP, but you can find some sort of inconsistency with just about every player on the roster (including our beloved St. Chase of Utley).

The bullpen as a unit, on the other hand, is probably the biggest reason why the Phils are in a tie with the Mets for first place today. The bullpen ERA of 2.71 leads all of Major League Baseball

The fact is, despite the Phils being tied for first place, I don't think we've seen the best baseball, offensively, from this team yet.

Biggest 1st half disappointment: Brett Myers. His status as "staff ace" was scoffed at by the fanbase in the beginning of the season and Myers then went on to show the fans how right they were. His 3 - 9 record is bad enough. Couple that with his brutal ERA (5.84) and he has single handedly assisted in killing the Phillies once every 5 days.

Personally, I still can't believe the way Myers came out and pitched this season, as if he was unprepared for the mental and physical rigors of starting pitching. Hopefully, his little trip down to the minors helps him get his mind and body back into starter mode for the second half, either with the Phillies, or as part of a trade to another team.

Predictions:

1.) I know the Mets are playing good ball right now and have won 10 in a year. I think with this winning streak, coupled with how inconsistent the Phils have been to date, is about as close as the Mets are going to get this year. Once the Phils start hitting (which history says will happen in the 2nd half), this division race will be over.

2.) Ryan Howard will get his average up around .260 for the year.

3.) There will be hue and cry for Shane Victorino to lose his starting job as his numbers drop as the season wears on. I do not like Victorino's future as a starter.

4.) Cole Hamels will win 20 games.

5.) Because of the Joe Blanton trade, Brett Myers will be traded in a deal that will help the Phillies plug the hole in their outfield caused by the departure of Aaron Rowand. And yes, I do believe the Phils miss Rowand FAR more than the front office would like to admit.

6.) Jamie Moyer will be within 15 points of Carlos Ruiz' batting average by the end of the year. Other than Victorino, there is better than 50% chance that Carlos Ruiz will either lose his job or lose significant playing time.

Phils Trade For Joe Blanton

2008-07-17T19:08:00.004-05:00

The Phillies, in a deal that's been rumored for a couple of days, have traded 3 minor leaguers to the Oakland A's for SP Joe Blanton. The minor leaguers sent to Oakland are 2B Adrian Cardenas, RP Josh Outman, and OF Matt Spencer.

My initial gut feeling on this trade is that the Phillies overpaid for Blanton. Blanton is 5 - 12 with a 4.96 ERA. Before this season, he had records of 12 - 12, 16 - 12, and 14 - 10. He ERA last season was a full run lower than it is right now. Another interesting stat: He has thrown almost 600 innings in the last 3 years.

I can't help but wonder if the decline in his numbers is due to some sort of breaking down due to overuse. There have been no reports of injury, but he seems to have fallen off of a cliff, statistically.

Furthermore, both Cardenas and Outman have been highly thought of in terms of potential down the road. Even if the organization had no plans for these guys with the Phillies because of other players in their way (especially in the case of Cardenas), you wonder if these guys wouldn't have been better utilized as trade bait for a better talent. I mean, is Joe Blanton really the best we could do for Cardenas, a .300 hitter with speed at single A Clearwater, and Outman, a lefty reliever many believe is ready for the majors now?

There is no doubting that the Phillies needed some starting pitching help, but I really would have liked to have seen it come from within in the form of JA Happ or Carlos Carrasco.

Also: is there another shoe to drop from this trade? Will either of Adam Eaton or Brett Myers get packaged in another deal? Myers has been rumored to be unhappy now that he is no longer the closer, and won't be in the immediate future, with Brad Lidge singing a 3-year deal.

Photo: Yahoo.com (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)