Phils-Mets 2008 - It Begins Today....

Thankfully, the Phils did manage to get their split in the 4-game set in Cincinnati by winning yesterday by a score of 5 - 3, on the strength of a 2 homer game from Pat Burrell and 7 strong innings of work from CMH. Jimmy Rollins led off the game for his second homer of the year and Geoff Jenkins hit his first as a Phil.

Now today, in yet another afternoon game that threatens to completely cripple my work productivity for the beginning part of this week, they go to very aptly named Flushing, NY to play the hated New York Metropolitans.

In case you didn't know, today is the home opener for the Mets, who have managed to compile a 2 - 3 record to date, and are fittingly tied with the Phils and Atlanta in the division in the very, very early going. This is supposed to be the last opening day in Shea Stadium history as that toilet will finally be relegated to history and the Mets (thankfully) will get a new ballpark next year and stay the fuck away from our ballpark.

I am actually very happy that the Phils are going to New York so early this year and will get the Mets back at our place next weekend. If the Phils are in any way nonchalant about the start of the season, that will end today. The Mets always seems to get the Phillies' attention and if any Phils are sleep walking right now (Shane Victorino, I'm looking at you), opening up the Mets' ballpark for a new season is the right way to wake up.

One player who has not been sleep walking has been noted Met-killer Pat Burrell. Burrell carries a lusty .435 avg. with 3 homers and 9 RBI into Shea Stadium. For his career, in 134 games, Burrell has hit 41 homers, several of the dramatic variety, and 102 RBI, while slugging .559.

The pitching matchups are just OK for the Phils (not in love with Thursday's matchup), but the Phils do miss Johan Santana on this trip:

Today (1:10pm): Jamie Moyer vs. Oliver Perez
Tomorrow (7:10pm): Kyle Kendrick vs. Doug Pelfrey
Thursday (7:10pm): Adam Eaton vs. John Maine

As for this being the last opener in Shea Stadium history, as I've never been to Shea, I don't really have any personal memories of the place. So, for every series we have this year in Shea, I'm going to try to come up with a shitty Mets memory to commemorate the closing of one of the worst ballparks in recent athletic history.

Today's memory is also Phillies related and comes up every year around Father's day...... the famous Jim Bunning perfect game against the Mets in 1964.