Ode to the Umps: Thanks for a Great Series

My Fellow Phans,

I'm sure I am not the only one who absolutely adored this latest umpiring crew in our series against the Astros. They're great calls and lack of attitude made it a great series for all. So, I thought I would just write a little thank you to the umps involved. (PS: That was total sarcasm and this post will be the final one concerning these umpires, I just need to vent about them before I consider it finished. Oh and this post may not be G rated so be warned now). So without further adieu, here it goes:

Ode to the Umps: Thanks for a Great Series

When the series began, I couldn't name a single one of our beloved umpires that would be overseeing these four games and nor did I really care. However, after this series, the names of Greg Gibson, Sam Holbrook, Scott Barry, and Brian Knight will live in Philadelphia history forever.

We didn't hear much from him; at least not as much as we did from the terrific trio. However, Knight is not exempt from this post by any means. During the third game of the series, Knight made a call on Shane Victorino. After Victorino was hit by a pitch, Knight decided to call that Shane had stepped into the pitch.

Despite the fact that this may or may not be true, the point is how do you call this bullshit? Players make a living on this stuff even a fellow Phillies player. I love Chase Utley, but how many times did he get hit without budging an inch and how many actual times was he called for it? None! But since it was f*** the Phillies week in the umpiring guild, he was called for that. To complicate matters, he decided to confer with his fellow associates. Now of course, we know that they weren't going to overturn the call. It seemed just a feeble attempt to rub it in the Phillies faces even more. 

Next comes our old buddy and the Crew Chief of this group, Mr. Sam Holbrook. Sammy played a vital role in this whole thing as he cited a non-existent rule to keep his umpires from facing the firing squad that is the media. He stated that it was "MLB policy that umpires did not have to face the media or speak about the previous game." Don't make me laugh, Mr. Holbrook. Umpires are always on TV discussing calls like this. You didn't see Jim Joyce give an interview after what may have been the worst call of the baseball era? I think the difference here is that Joyce is a quality ump and a classy man; both seems to be qualities that you lack.

You were just protecting your crew from bombardment after they made horrific calls or were complete jack***** during a game. Why protect guys like that unless you were in acceptance of what they were doing. I mean why wouldn't you be? The fabulous foursome clearly did not like Philadelphia for some reason..? I would love to know what that reason was, but sadly we cannot since you protect your little boys like you were their daddy. 

Greg Gibson's actions is the third member of the fabulous foursome. I can understand making a tough call and a questionable play as he did in the opener with the Michael Bourn bunt. However, what I question is how you make the exact opposite call just months before on the same exact play. What is the only other connection between the two calls? Well, they both occurred in Philly and the Phillies were victimized both times by these calls. How is he safe at one time and out at another? Do you have a rulebook do you follow or do you just go on you whims? Apparently your whims say, don't give the Phillies a call. I would have loved to hear you explain this call, but once again, Daddy Sammy protected you from that.

My biggest problem with General Gibson is the conspiracy between him and Bully Barry to set Ryan Howard up in that extra inning affair. Now we all know the story. The first check swing was close and did warrant the appeal to Bully Barry at third. However, after witnessing the check swing part 1 and seeing the mounting tension, you didn't have to appeal again. Everyone following knew what was going to happen if you appealed again to third. You could have put a temporary stop to it then by making your own call. 

This is what I would have liked to hear you explain. Why did you appeal again? It wasn't as close of a call as the first check swing was. Were you oblivious to the the situation or were you expecting it? Explain that one to me General. Why would you set up a player like you did Ryan Howard in that game? Maybe you are just as bad at reading people as at knowing the baseline? Of course, we will never hear your BS excuse as Daddy Sammy has your back covered during everything. 

Now comes to my favorite umpire of them all. He is the worst umpire I have ever seen in my life and is the most hated man in this city. That is of course, Mr. Scott Barry. I know my love for him is clearly evident as I dedicated a whole post to this garbage. Want to know the problem with umpires these days? Bully Barry proved that perfectly. Umps and generally young, cocky SOBs who think they're above the rules and since umpires are usually never disciplined, they can act this way. They are apparently gods and can do no wrong. They can control even facet of the game and throw anybody out for no good reason at all. Who needs a reason to toss a team's first baseman out of the game besides the fact that I am a hot tempered umpire whose panties were on too tight. 

Ryan Howard did nothing wrong, but The great Scott Barry believed so. How dare someone like Ryan Howard show any emotion towards the great Scott Barry. We should be praising the great Scott Barry for not doing more in the scenario besides being a scrawny little punk. We all know he's a bully. After he ejected Howard and then Howard charged him (not the other way around Yahoo who reported that Howard charged and than got tossed which a complete bunch of BULLSHIT), but after Howard came out there, Barry apparently ran down the third baseline like a little b****. Bullies are all talk and no action and Scott Barry proved that. Maybe Howard should have strangled the little pipsqueak, he probably would have been commended for doing so. MLB needs to send the great Scott Barry where he belongs; to the unemployment line. I have another place he can go, but I will let you use your imagination on that one.

Oh and to everyone at ESPN who blames Howard for all this; get a freaking clue. If it was someone from their beloved Red Soxs or yankees, they would be praising the player. Put Derek Jeter... wait, scratch that.... better yet someone like David Ortiz or A-Roids in Howard's position and I think the response would be different. But sadly, once again, Philadelphia has to be the bullies, the bad guys in all these kinds of situations.

Alright, I hope this is the last I post of this. I have completely vented and it didn't turn out as bad as I though.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

16 Inning Marathon Ends in Phillies' 4-2 Loss. (Part 2; The Scott Barry Show)

*Disclaimer: I know some of you do not like posts on which I want and rave on the Phillies or a particular topic, well if you are one of those people, then do not read this post and I apologize in advance for what I might say. 

My Fellow Phans,

So, now the fun begins. I really dislike dedicating a whole post to this one man, because it seems that it is exactly what he wanted; he wanted to be the center of attention and, boy, did he get his wish.

So most of you know the story by now. Ryan Howard took a check swing and , our new buddy, Bully Barry, said he went around. Howard showed frustration and Barry stood glaring in at Ryan Howard who was clearly frustrated with the situation and the game. Barry was just itching for a fight and when Howard delivered another check swing, we all knew Barry was going to ring Howard up and he did. Ryan tossed his bat away and Barry immediately tossed Howard. We all knew that was coming. See the play here.

Let the floodgates open. Scott Barry injected himself into a game on which he had no business being into. He may be the most hated man in Philadelphia right now and maybe that is how he wanted. I mean this is not the first time, he pulled this crap. Barry throws out Ryan Zimmrman here after he does even LESS than Ryan Howard does; another attrocious call!

Scott Barry is the epitome of what is wrong with major league umpires. They are obnoxious, arrogant and want nothing, but to steal the spotlight from the players. 5 years ago, I couldn't tell you the name of a single umpire, but now I know a load of names all due from horrific calls made on the baseball diamond and their deep desire to have their names known.

Now it doesn't help that umpires are treated like gods. There is little to nothing done about situations such as this that are occurring more and more frequently. They act like they are the kings of the world and can do no wrong. What actions will Bud Selig or anyone take this? None, if anything, he will issue Ryan Howard a suspension or fine and if that does happen my friends, that post will be R rated. Players and managers will be in serious trouble if they touch of "bump" an umpire. How can an umpire touch a hold back a player? What is this hypocrisy that emerges? Howard told off General Gibson when he tried to do just that last night after the ejection. Just hear the Phillies' Radio Call of the Play

I'm not saying that this guy lost the game for the Phillies as I have mentioned before that we should have scored more runs, but the umpires injecting themselves into a game of this nature is disgraceful. Years ago, the umpire's job was to be seen and not heard. Nowadays, they are doing their best to been seen and heard more-so than the people that matter, the players.

I'm trying to avoid serious name calling, but let's face it, it cannot be helped in this case. Scott Barry is trash. Bully Barry, you are garbage and need to be booted from umpiring any type of baseball game. You are a disgrace. It doesn't help when General Gibson seemed to set up Ryan Howard on the second check swing as he knew Barry was ready to start something. Gibson was frustrated from his blown call last night, and they double teamed the slugger and eventually got what they were itching for.

I said yesterday that nobody could pass C.B. Bucknor as the top umpire on my s*** list. Well, Bully Barry just surpassed that and now sits on top. Congrats, Scott, you got your wish. You are well known, and arguably the most hated man in the city. I actually fear for your safety while you're here as Philadelphians are known to do stupid and irrational things. There is a reason you were in AAA and calling you to the big leagues was a horrible decision. We don't need anymore diva umpires and you may be the biggest one of them all. Thanks for ruining a classic game with your own personal agenda, you d*****bag.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

16 Inning Marathon Ends in Phillies' 4-2 Loss. (Part 1; The Game)

My Fellow Phans,

First I want to end some confusion. I referred to Greg Gibson yesterday as "General Gibson" in my post and never really explained why. I was asked about it later so I thought I would explain my reasoning. A General is a high ranking official in the army who has a prominent say in decision making. Now as our buddy, Mr. Gibson has proven this year he changes the rules, calling different results on the same play, when he feels like it. So, technically, he is "making rules" like a General does and that is why I gave him that nickname.

Now, I will get into my new favorite umpire, Mr. Scott Barry, in my next post. But for all that occurred in last night's game, I am breaking it into two parts. This part is about the actual game itself.

So, there was a lot lost in this game by the time it was over after certain events involving attention-whore umpires.

The first of which was that the Phillies are, once again, in one of their little hitting slumps. During those extra innings, the Astros threw crappy reliever after crappy reliever at the Phillies lineup and we did absolutely nothing about it. They were not superstars out there on the mound and they were making us look like chumps. When the Phillies are not hitting, any pitcher can make them look bad and that is what happened last night. We would get into fastball counts and dribble the fastball down the first baseline. That is the type of night it was.

Cole Hamels was amazing last night. He made one mistake, and you have to give Carlos Lee credit for guessing correctly to hit that home run. Bud Norris was solid as well, but the Phillies slumping bats did help him in the long run. Our bullpen was amazing as well. Herndon struggled in that last inning, but you were asking a lot from a young pitcher and he did hang in there and got his ground balls, they just hit them in the right spots.

I know this a short post, but the game did not have little much to talk about outside of the Scott Barry incident and that I will get to that in Part 2.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Stupidity Thwarts the Phillies

My Fellow Phans,

I'm sure most of you by now saw the debacle that was last night's game. Now my computer isn't back yet, but I got up early today and I needed to throw a few comments down about last night as it was extremely frustrating to observe from a Phillies fans standpoint. As badly as that call in the 8th inning was, and I will touch on that a bit later, the Phillies lost this game from their own stupidity.

It has been obvious for awhile that Jayson Werth just doesn't care as much this season as in year's past. Anyone remember when he stole home against the Dodgers? how alert on the base-paths that one had to be to even attempt such a feat. It was sheer brilliance. He read the situation and took full advantage of what he was given.That's the old Jayson Werth that we used to know; an alert and good base runner. What happened to that guy?

Nowadays we have that same Werth, the same alert and smart runner getting picked off of bases at least once every few games or so it seems. Last night, Werth gets picked off at second during an intentional walk! An Intentional Walk! A play during which you know exactly what is going on. You don't even need to be a good base-runner to get it. You don't mosey back to your base with your head down assuming that the play is over, but sadly, that is the type of plays that Werth has been making this year.

We all know he has his mind on the contract he may obtain at the end of the season, that is evident, but at least he could act like he cares about this season. I have been an avid baseball fan for many years and that may have been the worst baseball play that I have ever seen in my life.

Before I discuss the Bourn play and why Mr. Gibson is making himself look like a crooked umpire, I will discuss another error of stupidity that occurred. I have seen plenty of replays of this play by now and excluding the fact that it does appear that Howard tags him out, I also notice that he has ample time to throw it to first base. Why even take a risk in trying to tag the speedy outfielder when a simple flip to first base would do just as well. Instead Howard made a stupid play and it cost us majorly. 

But as it stands, we are discussing this type of controversial call that seems to occur a lot more frequently in baseball the past few seasons. I'm not going to explain the play again as you probably have seen multiple replays of it as I have. Well this play is nearly identical to a play that occured on June 24th of this season with Shane Victorino running to first base. The most curious part is that it is the same umpire who called Victorino out of the basepaths, but allowed a young Michael Bourn to reach first base safely last night eventually costing the Phillies the game.

Victorino stopped to talk to Gibson on his way into the dugout. He reminded Gibson of that play and asked how this was any different. Gibson told him "Carmona had established the tag attempt and Victorino was more than three feet away from it." I still don't see the difference from last night. Howard established the tag attempt, by tagging him! Bourn was tagged out and Mr. Gibson missed so many things on this play.

Now in the past, umpires often talk to the media about controversial calls such as this one.  Jim Joyce did it after the call that ruined a perfect game and Bob Davidson talked after making the call earlier this year in Florida that cost the Marlins a game against the Phillies. I'm sure we all remember that lucky break. So when a reporter came up to Gibson after the play to ask about it after the game and Crew chief Sam Holbrook said Gibson was not available and said only this: "Per MLB policy, we're not allowed to talk", it is kind of suspicious.

I'm not saying that there are biased umps out there, but I have a new ump on the top of my sh** list. He is 2nd behind C.B. Bucknor, who may never be surpassed. He ranks just ahead of the guy who threw Victorino out from center-field a few years back. I mean the guy totally contradicts himself making one call against the runner and then the same call for the runner (both of which go against the same team) and than refuses to comment. What does that say to you? I really hope he is not behind the plate tonight. I wouldn't want any Phillies to be swinging out of the base-paths which I am not sure if even a rule, but with General Gibson on the case, you never know what is going to happen.

The bottom line is that stupidity lost the game for the Phillies, not the atrocious calls of a questionable ump. It doesn't help though.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Roys Are A Joy to Watch

My Fellow Phans,

I know my posts have not been as frequent as they once were and I apologize for that. As most of you know, I have had a computer malfunction which disabled my ability to get online daily to post. However, as school is about to start, my computer is on the brink of getting fixed and should be ready this week sometime. Once that occurs, I will do my best to post more often than I have been.

But I digress...

Over the weekend, I had the honor of seeing Roy Oswalt pitch for the first time as a Phillie and boy was I impressed. There seems to be something about the name Roy and being a complete pitcher.

As a baseball fan, I love seeing quality pitchers with 4+ quality pitches they can use and the pair of Roys in the Phillies' rotation seems to fit that bill. Granted he struggled in the start, but Oswalt settled down and pitched shut out ball for the Phillies as like Roy Halladay had done just 2 days before. This weekend, the Roy Duo allowed zero; 0 earned runs in 14 innings against the pesky Nationals. That was impressive. Oswalt is a quality pitcher and I hope he keeps up this good streak.

Next up for the Phillies is the Houston Astros. Now the Phillies handled the Astros back in the beginning of the season, but this is a different Astros team. They are actually hitting now.

This should be a good series. A pair of former Phillies' starters will be facing their old club and a pair of former outfielders also make their reappearance in Philadelphia.

Here are the pitching matchups for the upcoming series at Citizens Bank Park:

Monday: Brett Myers vs. Joe Blanton
Tuesday: Bud Norris vs. Cole Hamels
Wednesday: J.A. Happ vs. Roy Halladay
Thursday: Wandy Rodriguez vs. Kyle Kendrick

Synopsis: I can see the Phillies winning 3 of 4 here. We have a pair of our aces going along with our two more inconsistent starters. I think the Phillies will be amped up to face their former mates and we should know what to expect as having had these pitchers pitch for us the past few seasons. The Astros are a below average team, but they are perfectly capable of playing spoilers. The Phillies can't look ahead to the Padres this weekend or they may falter big time. Regardless, it should be a good series.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies! 

Two Phillie Greats Return Tonight

My Fellow Phans,

Coupled with this Phillies/Giants Preview is a brief note on what plans to be a terrific week as two Phillie greats from the '08 World Series team plan to return; although their tales are entirely different.

Over the weekend, the Phillies received what may be the best news that any person in the organization has muttered all year and that is the possible return of Chase Utley tonight, August 17th, versus the Giants at Citizens Bank Park. As I finish up this piece, I give you great news as Utley is indeed in the starting lineup tonight and hitting second. Its actually quite an odd lineup at that too, we can dissect that at a later time.

Tonight's lineup: Rollins, Utley, Polanco, Werth, Victorino, Sweeney, Ibanez, Ruiz, Oswalt

The other man that I referred to in the title will be here for sure, and that is Mr. Pat Burrell. Now Burrell is not returning from injuries; he is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and is returning as an opposing player while playing for the Giants.

Now, I know that I am not the only one who is delighted to see Pat back in town; despite the fact that he is technically the enemy. Regardless of the uniform that Burrell wears, he will always be a Phillie to me. I think this will be his first game in Philly since that clutch double he hit in the 7th inning of Game 5 of the World Series. Nobody in this area will ever forget what he has done here for us and I don't see any reason to dislike the man. He was a class act during his time here and I am happy to see him succeeding once again.

That doesn't mean that I want to see the Giants succeed this weekend while they play here. Here is a look at the upcoming series:

Pitching Matchups:

Tuesday: Roy Oswalt  vs. Barry Zito
Wednesday: Joe Blanton vs. Matt Cain
Thursday: Cole Hamels vs. Jonathon Sanchez

Synopsis: The Phillies will need to beat at least one tough left hander in order to win this series. Can this be done? I see no reason it cannot be done. As long as our pitching keeps us in the game, we have a chance to win this series. Watch out for the return of Utley and see if he can pick up and play at an All-Star level once again. Expect low scoring games all around and tightly fought battles until the end. This will be a series between two teams that are both good enough to make the postseason.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

Wow!

My Fellow Phans,

Before I begin, I would like to mention that I tried something new this post by adding pictures and links to my post. Let me know what you think!

Anyways,

So how many of you watched the entire Phillies game last night? Well for those who raised your hands, you were treated to what may have been the best Phillies game of this season; despite the fact that the first 7 innings may not have appeared to be so. When the bottom of the 8th inning rolled around, things began to change and in a hurry. With the Phillies trailing 9-2, they put together a succession of hits to rally together and get the score to 9-6.

I'm not one to say that the Phillies are in the head of Jonathon Broxton, but he was far from unhittable when he entered the game in the 9th inning. The usually strong closer proved, once again, that he cannot retire the Phillies in a big game. Broxton was all over the place and allowed 4 runs which was capped off by a walk-off double by Carlos Ruiz off the left-center-field wall.  Of course, a critical error by third baseman Casey Blake on a sure double play ball opened the flood gates just a bit more.

So are the Phillies in the head of Broxton, or was he being hexed?

During the 9th inning, the camera repeatedly flashed back to this kid who was doing his best Phanatic Impression in an attempt to jinx the Dodgers' pitcher. I recall telling my mom that if the Phillies win, this kid is going to be the talk of the town. The "Hex Kid" as he is being called is being sought by every media outlet and even being stalked by Fox, which I cannot say I am surprised at, just check out Fox's Twitter feed. ( http://twitter.com/fox29philly ).

Either way, Broxton seems to be frazzled by the Phillies. Since game 4 of the 2008 NLCS, , when Matt Stairs hit an eighth-inning home run, Broxton is 2-2 with a 9.82 ERA, one save and three blown opportunities against the Phillies. 


But back to the more important part of this game which was the fiery comeback that the Phillies served to the Dodgers. This is the type of game that we haven't seen from the Phillies in a long time. This is the type of game that the 2008 and 2009 teams threw at you from time to time; it was that passion, that fire that this year's squad had seemed to be lacking. Not too shabby from a team missing its two top hitters due to injuries. The way this team has adapted since Howard went on the DL has been unbelievable. 


All the players have contributed, whether it would be new guys like Mike Sweeney and Domonic Brown to mainstays Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth, Jimmy Rollins, everyone has played their part recently. 

I would like to offer a special mention of Placido Polanco and Carlos Ruiz; whom, despite how bad the rest of the team was playing, always seemed to keep their heads in the game. You want me to pick an MVP for the Phillies? Well, I honestly cannot. However, I have to nominate those two guys are Co-MVPs on this team up to this point in the season.   


I think there is nothing else to say, but lets hope they keep this up. Just imagine what this team could do with a healthy Ryan Howard and Chase Utley.. I guess we will have to wait and see....


Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

Phillies Sorry Excuse for Bullpen Implodes....

My Fellow Phans,

I'm sure that most of you know about the various trash receptacles around Citizens Bank Park. However, the biggest trash holder is a large rectangular area in center field where the Phillies relievers sit each game and that is of course, the Phillies bullpen.

If the Phillies don't make the playoffs this year, don't blame the offense or the defense or the starting pitching. The bullpen would be responsible for such occurrences. Last night's game was the epitome of this point.

Kyle Kendrick struggled, no doubt about that. He's Jekyll and Hyde these days; he can be really good or really bad depending on the night. It almost looks like his problems are mental at the point as his demeanor dictates how he will pitch. But I digress.

So Kendrick departed, honestly earlier than I expected as Manuel has a habit of leaving pitchers in too long sometimes, and the bullpen entered. As bad as Kendrick was, the bullpen was even worse. The pen came in to give up 9 runs in 5.2 innings. I think its say to say that that is bad.

Bastardo came in first and allowed all the inherited runners to score including his own batter. Now during the 4th/5th innings, the Phillies made a valiant attempt at a comeback getting it to 7-4, after it had been 7-0. All the bullpen needed to do was hold it and not give up 9 runs.

Herndon came in and imploded in his second inning of work allowing 4 runs in a single inning. He got behind in the count and when he actually got ahead of hitters, he threw cookies that were launched into right field for doubles. It was truly a horrible inning. All the work the Phillies had done to make it a 3 run game was washed away in a heartbeat.

The Phillies continued to try to comeback scoring a few runs here and there. Meanwhile, the man who may be the worst reliever in baseball, Dannyz Baez came in and surprise surprise gave up a pair of runs in an inning of work to raise his amazing ERA to 5.54 which is the 2nd highest ERA in the NL amongst relievers with at least 52 appearances.

By the time, Baez had finished yet another bad inning, it was 13-5. The Phillies scored a pair in the 7th and in the 9th, but not before J.C. Romero gave up another pair of runs in just a third of an inning. What gets me about that inning was that Romero was left in to face the right handed hitting Casey Blake, who proceeded to homer off of him and than walked the pitcher, who was left handed, before being pulled. At this point, it seems Romero couldn't hit the plate if he was standing in the damn batters box. Does anybody know what the word control means?

Yes, he walked the relief pitcher, George Sherrill. Sherrill, who was just standing at the plate waiting for the at bat to end. All you had to do was put the ball over the plate. He wasn't going to swing at it. Talk about sad.

The only pitchers who weren't scored upon tonight are the only two relievers that I have any confidence in right now and they are Jose Contreras and Chad Durbin. Kudos to you guys on actually pitching respectably.

Also congrats to young Domonick Brown on hitting his first major league homer and to Ross Gload for hitting a pair of homers. Together, they knocked in 8 of the 9 Phillies runs. Thank you guys for showing up to play last night when a lot of other people seemed to stick their heads in the sand.

I sure hope Roy Oswalt is ready to go tonight since we will need him to pitch a lot of innings to rescue and help us avoid this trash dump that is our bullpen.

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

And So It Begins Again......

My Fellow Phans,

So it begins again. Tonight's game begins yet another chapter in the recent Mets and Phillies rivalry. Over the years, the battles between this two historic franchises have developed into a series of duels between two teams whom have very negative feelings towards each other.

The results are knock-out, drag out fights that are frequently close and constantly go down to the wire. Does anyone see this weekend being any different? The best rivalry, and second best in all of baseball, is taking place this weekend and if you're not packing the adrenaline, than you may not be a true fan.

There is something extra special when it comes to playing and, hopefully, beating the Mets here in Philadelphia. Maybe its the loathing for players like Jose Reyes or Fernando Tatis, who act like the greatest show on Earth simply after getting an RBI. Maybe its the fieriness and overzealous, over-cocky attitude that pours out of their closer Francisco Rodriguez every time he records a strike. These are just a few of the reasons to get yourself "pumped" when our neighbors from the north come to town. This weekend should be no exception.

Are the Mets the most hated team by Phillies fans? Take my poll over on the right if you haven't already to let me know what you think.

So after all that comes my preview for this upcoming weekend and the pitching matchups are as follows:

Friday: Joe Blanton vs. Jonathon Niese
Saturday: Cole Hamels vs. Johan Santana
Sunday: Roy Halladay vs. R.A. Dickey

Synopsis: The Phillies have two of their 3 aces going in this series against the Mets. There is no reason that they cannot win 2 of 3 this series thus burying the Mets deeper in the NL East. However, it is never that simple in this rivalry games. Both teams come to play and both teams seem to play their hardest against each other. Expect three close, and well-played games. Hopefully the Phillies can be on the winning side....

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!

A Few Words on the Phillies....

My Fellow Phans,

My apologies for being post-less for so long. I took a reprieve, a vacation if you will down to the fine state of New Jersey. A lot has seemed to change since I left.

I recall going down the shore with the Phillies sinking with a 7 game deficit in the division. Now they have seemed to turn things around (knock on wood).

I have to give credit where credit is due. Our offensive has been impressive this last week. Raul Ibanez has shown that he still has some offensive talent and Jayson Werth decided to pull his head out of his behind and play baseball. The starting pitching deserves some kudos too as they pitched well for most of the week.

The Washington series was a bit disappointing. The first two games were filled with questionable starting pitching and resulted in losses. Thankfully we were able to salvage the last game of that series. The Phillies still have 9 games left with the Nats this season, we can't afford to be scraping out the final games of each of those series.

I did want to make a few comments on a few players.

- Ryan Howard was hurt on Sunday and it is reported that he is on his way back to Philadelphia to have his leg examined. Lets hope and pray that this precautionary. Can the Phillies win without their two top hitters injured? Yes, they can. Sadly, it will be very hard to accomplish. However, the Phillies have the lineup to compensate with the potential loss of Ryan Howard. Werth and Ibanez will need to continue to do what they're doing and Rollins, Polanco and Domonic Brown will have to contribute at a steady. However, until we know the whole story, these ideas are just premature.

- Speaking of Domonic Brown; this guy has been impressive since the day he was called up. He is already a fan favorite even though he has not really done anything in the majors yet. From what I've seen this guy has the talent to be quite a player in the big leagues. With the possibility of losing Ryan Howard, Mr. Brown may have an even bigger role than he expected coming back. Let's hope he lives up to the hype.

- Brad Lidge is the weak point of this Phillies team. Most of our bullpen has struggled this year, but even those other guys have had their good innings. Outside of Sunday's shutdown inning, which I am still amazed to have scene, Lidge doesn't seem to have many good innings. I would just like to point out that Lidge has 4 blown saves this year and that we trail in the division by 3 games.. hmm..... Maybe its time for option # 2?.....

- The final comments, I will save for the new guy; Mr. Roy Oswalt. Now, we cannot judge a book by its cover so I think he needs to be cut some slack for his first start. Granted, he struggled against a weak hitting Nationals team. I think his next start is against Florida and it will be his next chance to prove to Philadelphia that he was worth giving up our prized left hander who will be sorely missed around here.

I would like to conclude by thanking J.A. Happ for all he did around these parts. Granted, he was hurt this season, I would like to offer my thanks for the strong showing he put up start after start while wearing a Phillies uniform. Thank you J.A., you will be surely missed around here. Good luck in Houston!

Until we meet again Phillies Fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!