Earl's Not Stopping Phils Or Me

Remember those Phanatic Around Town statues I went around photographing? They've all been moved from the spots they stood at this summer, and they're going to be auctioned off to raise money for charity. But until that happens, all 20 statues are on display at Citizens Bank Park starting Friday. This is good because I'll be at the first game of this weekend's series against Milwaukee, and I can finally get a picture of the statue that was at the airport -- the only one I couldn't get, since it was behind the security lines and off limits to anyone without a plane ticket.

As I mentioned here, I got my ticket through a "Social Media" promotion and am supposed to get a "Life is Tweet" Phillies t-shirt. So I'll probably take a picture of that as well and tweeting during the game. If anyone's going to be there and wants to hang out, get in touch with me through email or Twitter. Don't worry about Hurricane Earl -- it's passing well enough offshore that any serious wind and rain will stay down by the coast. In a way, that's sad. One of the most amazing games I ever saw in person had a hurricane involved in the outcome. Here's my post about it on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog.

Meanwhile, the roller coaster ride continues. The same Phillies team that looked to be edging towards a fall when they were swept by Houston last week managed to win 6 of 7 on their road trip -- sweeping 3 from San Diego, winning 2 of 3 in Los Angeles and taking a wild 12-11 win at Colorado.
Tonight the Phils came back from a 7-3 deficit with a 9-run 7th (including a 2-run Ryan Howard homer, a game-tying Jayson Werth homer and a grand slam by Chase Utley to cap it off), and then had to hold on. Brad Lidge got into trouble in the 9th thanks to a Howard error and a broken-bat single, but got another save. (Remember what I said about Lidge: if he's healthy and gets regular work he'll be just fine.)

That 6-1 road trip only allowed the Phils to gain 1 game on Atlanta, so the Braves still lead the NL East by 2 games, but the Phils now lead by 2 in the NL Wild Card race.