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Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies fans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies fans. Show all posts

Sunday, 28 August 2011

October Collision Course












Two teams had walk off wins today that were thrilling and made me really hope they face off, for many different reasons.

The Giants won this afternoon thanks to a pair of home runs by Pat Burrell, a shot by Sandoval and a walk off by Torres.

I guess all of my begging and pleading for the Giants to sign Johnny Damon wasn't necessary. Torres has done the job just fine.

And Pat Burrell has turned into the best mid season pick up for the Giants that I can remember since Rick Reuschel in 1987.

Meanwhile, across the country, the Giants arch rival Dodgers had their season basically end in a disastrous 9th inning that was partially caused by the spell and hexes cast onto the the L.A. Bullpen from this young Phillies fan.

As gruesome as the 9th inning was for Los Angeles and it seemingly will put a nail in the coffin of the Joe Torre era in Chavez Ravine, it also shows that the Phillies are peaking at a very advantageous time.

Any time you are down 9-2 in the 8th inning and can pull off the win, against a team with a winning record no less, it is time to pay attention.

I think the Phillies and Giants are on a collision course that will meet in October.

Now there is one problem with that prediction... as of this writing, both teams are in second place. The Giants and Phillies are tied in the loss column for the Wild Card.

Maybe that is where the collision will be.
Imagine a Wild Card play in game with Tim Lincecum versus Roy Halladay or Roy Oswalt.

But truth be told, I think both teams are making the post season. It will be only a matter of time before the Phillies leap frog the Braves.

And we'll see what happens with the Giants after this weekend's series with San Diego.

But Holy Cats, I want to see the Giants and the Phillies square off for meaningful games in October.

Not only will there be the intrigue of two teams with multiple aces...
Not only will there be the return of Pat Burrell to Philadelphia...
Not only will there be two passionate fan bases playing in new beautiful ballparks...

But my dad is a huge Giants fan.
And his brother, my uncle Don is a huge Phillies fan.

The potential fireworks between the brothers with meaningful games in October is too wonderful to avoid.

Now a potential Giants/Phillies showdown was thwarted before... in 1993 when the Giants won 103 games and missed the postseason because they were inexplicably in the same geographical division as the Braves.

So once again the Braves could stand in the way of a Giants-Phillies showdown.

Let's go Giants and let's go Phillies... if the Red Sox can't make it in October, I had better experience some other family fireworks!!!





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Sunday, 21 August 2011

THIS ISN’T GOING TO HELP MATTERS FOR THE PHILLIES


I wrote earlier that Phillies fans should refrain from nagging their team regarding Cliff Lee.

They know they screwed up… they’ve brought you flowers and an expensive gift (Roy Oswalt) to make up for it.

Well any hope I had for the “Why didn’t we just keep Lee?” rumblings to stop caught a giant snag.

Yup, Roy Oswalt got his butt kicked tonight by the “Currently Waving a White Flag” Washington Nationals.

OK, 6 innings, 4 earned runs isn’t a whippin’s but it isn’t what the Phillies were hoping for, especially facing a line up that didn’t exactly resemble the Big Red Machine.

With the offense reduced to a Jayson Werth homer (I thought they were going to trade him) they needed a pitcher to shut down the opposition.

Like how about J. A. Happ? He went 6 shutout innings for the Astros against Milwaukee.

You remember Happ? He’s the Phillies pitcher who was sent packing in the Oswalt deal… whom the Phillies could have kept in they also kept Cliff Lee.

Oh Phillies fans won’t be forgetting this any time soon.









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Who are you and what have you done with the Phillies?

Somewhere the REAL Philadelphia Phillies are bound and gagged in a basement.

The team that was a consensus LOCK to win its 4th straight NL East title and the odds on favorite to win their third straight National League pennant and shoot to the top of the "All Time Greatest Philadelphia Team" list has been replaced.

I think it is an Invasion of the Body Snatchers situation.

A Phillies team devoid of emotion (and talent) has been hatched from pods and placed in the city of Brotherly Love and we have a team stumbling into the last stretch of July looking like an also ran.

Seriously, this was the team that people thought was built like an American League team, signed up Ryan Howard long term and brought Doc Halladay to Philly.

And now they sit a mere 2 games over .500, 7 games behind the Braves in the NL East and in 6th place in the Wild Card chase.

Is it ALL the injury to Chase Utley?
They are 8-12 since losing him to injury, but even on his last day, the Phillies were 3 1/2 out of first.

On May 17th, the Phillies were in first place with a 5 game lead, looking like they were about to pull away and make a mockery of the NL East race.

Since then, they are 24-32. Only the Diamondbacks, Nationals and Pirates have been worse since then.

And if they lose tomorrow afternoon to the Cardinals and the next day to Colorado (neither an outrageous possibility) then the Phillies will be at even .500 a week before the trade deadline.

If the Phillies lose the next two games and the Marlins win the next two games, then both teams would be tied for third place at an even .500.

The Marlins are supposedly going to shop Dan Uggla, Ricky Nolasco and probably a few more players.

If the two teams are tied, does that mean the Phillies should be trading veteran players? Should they be sellers?

It's tough to say. I still think the Phillies still have a good run in them. I still think that people like Jimmy Rollins (who has been grotesque this year) and Raul Ibanez and Cole Hamels have a hot streak in them.

And my friend Michael Ferraro and I think that Jayson Werth could be dealt to a team that needs a bat (San Francisco anyone) and maybe flip the young player acquired for Werth in exchange for a reliever... and start minor league phenom Domonic Brown.

Maybe a young spark is just what this team needs... that and a reliever or two

Otherwise... find the pods. YOU'RE NEXT!




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Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Phillies fans... you are welcome















Back on July 22nd, I wrote about how the Phillies were playing so poorly that I accused them of being pod people, replacing the actual Phillies with soul less replicants.

They were a mere 2 games over .500 and were in danger of hitting break even if they lost to St. Louis and Colorado.

And they were 7 games back of the Braves. They were dead in the water when I called them out.

What's their record since that 5-1 loss to St. Louis?

13-2.

Granted one of those wins was aided by a horrible call in Florida the other night

But in just a little more than 2 weeks, the Phillies have nearly made up a week of games. And it can't all be attributed to the Roy Oswalt trade. They started this tear before his arrival.

I think the Phillies read my post and finally woke up and played as they are capable of doing.

And now I think they will take the division under their arm and run away with it.

I'll take the credit.

I can't think of any other reason for the turn around.


You are welcome.

I should get a playoff share.

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