MixBlog 7-27-11: Eagles, Phils, Softball, Etc.

Just a few quick things, since I'm sitting here listening non-stop to a playlist comprised of 70 of Madonna's most famous songs...

Eagles: Now that the lockout is over, putting together the team has begun. Kevin Kolb has finally been traded -- to Arizona for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick in 2012. In other words, for more than they got from Washington for Donovan McNabb (who's now going to Minnesota). And rumor has it that Vince Young might come in to back up Michael Vick at quarterback.  But of all the players who are leaving, the one I think they'll regret losing is kicker David Akers, who's signed with San Francisco. The kicker the Eagles drafted, Alex Henery, might be great someday, but if he starts off poorly he'll cost them some games. By the way, individual game tickets go on sale Tuesday at 10 am. (It's so weird to have that happen in August instead of June.)

Phillies: Just lost two in a row to the Giants in the teams' first meeting since the 2010 NL Championship Series. It's the first time the Phils have lost a series since mid-June and the first time they've lost two in a row since early June. Granted, neither Roy Halladay nor Cliff Lee started in this series, but the fact that the offense was nonexistent the last two nights again emphasizes this team's Achilles heel and portends what could happen in October. Memo to GM Ruben Amaro: Go get Hunter Pence from Houston. Now. Whatever it takes.

Softball: Time goes by so fast. We have just one game left in the season (we're 7-8, so a win would put us right at .500), so you have just one chance to surprise me by showing up. Sunday, 9 am at Dairy Fields #2 in Fairmount Park. Followed by the league's All-Star game. (I'm not in that one.)

Etc.: Still -- still -- need to post about July 4th, plus the long day in East Rutherford while my friend Kurt auditioned for "The Voice." Plus more comics stuff. And I went to see the final Harry Potter movie. Did I like it? You'll find out...hopefully sooner rather than later. Oh, and I really want to head down to Wildwood or somewhere else along the shore. Deep fried Oreos are calling me...

Worrying About The Phils?

It's been a while since I've said a whole lot in depth about the Phillies, so let's do so now, in a point-counterpoint deal as my mind just goes back and forth with their issues...

Point: The Phils are 55-33, the best record in the majors.
Counterpoint: They had the best record last season, and look where it got them.

Point: The offense continues to struggle way too often. Of their 88 games going into this weekend's series with Atlanta, the last three games before the All-Star break, they've scored fewer than four runs in 46 of them. That's over half, if you're math-challenged.
Counterpoint: In those 46 games they're 18-28. That's a .391 win percentage, which is much better than most, if not all, teams. That's a testament to the performances of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. In their other 42 games, the ones where they've hit the magic four-run target, they're 37-5 (with two of those losses coming this week, oddly enough).

Point: That rotation is so formidable.
Counterpoint: If the offense continues to put pressure on them to be excellent instead of merely good so often, might they not weaken just enough so that, come October, they're not quite as excellent as they need to be? And with Roy Oswalt out with his back problem and Joe Blanton (remember him?) not yet ready to return, the Phils have to keep Kyle Kendrick in the rotation along with youngster Vance Worley. (By the way, with all the praise of Worley, how do we know that Worley 2011 isn't Kendrick 2007 -- promising now but ultimately not all that great?)

Point: The hitters who have been slumping so much will come around. And they'll get a big right-handed bat at the trade deadline to help protect Ryan Howard.

Go To Hell, New Era

Is the New Era cap company owned by NBC (which is now owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast)? I saw this ad a little earlier while watching the Yankees and Red Sox on MLB Network. It features two NBC sitcom stars, Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" and John Krasinski of "The Office." trash-talking via phone about their teams. Baldwin is a Yankees fan, while Krasinski is a Red Sox fan. I don't know if these two are actually fans of those teams or are merely spouting lines because they were paid, but they're talking trash in the ad. But Baldwin's reply to Krasinski's opening jab (about Cliff Lee) is a shot at Philadelphia...



Time for another Public Service Announcement. Here's something to remember when you're buying baseball caps: if it says "New Era" it's most likely a cheaply-made, poorly-fitting piece of crap.

My 2011 Phillies/MLB Predictions

Ignoring the fact that I still have to turn on my heat, and that areas to the north of the city might get a little snow mixed in with rain tomorrow night, it's spring. And tomorrow (in some cities) and Friday (in others, including Philadelphia), the 2011 baseball season begins. Here are my predictions for the division and wild card winners. Keep in mind that I'm going basically on what little knowledge of other teams I have in my head. I used to avidly follow every little transaction and study up on the teams and their prospects. That was before there was the Internet and a zillion cable television channels and the occasional real-life event to dilute all of the information I may try to gather. I can speak in some detail about the Phillies (and will do so below), but not much about other teams. So these are nothing more than very slightly educated guesses...

American League East: Boston
American League Central: Minnesota
American League West: Oakland
American League Wild Card: New York Yankees

And in reverse order...

National League Wild Card: Atlanta
National League West: Colorado
National League Central: Cincinnati
National League East:
5. New York Mets
4. Florida
3. Washington
2. Atlanta
...and the Phillies to win the division for the 5th year in a row.

That, of course, will take some things going the right way. While I'm amused that, from what I've heard, a lot of the so-called "experts" are picking against the Phils, I'm not surprised.

I'm Not Saying We're Demanding, But...

The other day, in the midst of all the celebration over a certain major league baseball transaction, and inspired by that transaction as well as a certain TV commercial for car insurance, I had an idea. I was going to get a friend to help me with it but he left to visit his BFF out of town before I could fully flesh it out, so I did the vocals all by myself. And now, without further adieu, I present to you...pure comedy genius! (Just a warning: the volume might be a bit loud. At least it is on my computer.)







Lee! Lee! Leeeeeeee! by Joe Guckin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

MixBlog 12-15-10

The usual 1:20 am blogging time slot. So awesome. Anyway...

• Yesterday (Tuesday) I made a small donation to a toy drive for BEBASHI, a local HIV/AIDS services organization, after a column last week in the newspaper that said their donations were falling well short from previous years. Considering my financial situation I didn't spend much, but I still felt it was necessary. If you read this quickly there's still time to donate before Thursday's deadline. Information is here.

• After that I went down to Citizens Bank Park hoping to run into Cliff Lee. However, he hadn't arrived in town yet. Then I tried to see Roy Halladay but, as you can see from the picture, he was not around either. Okay, actually I was at the ballpark because the Phils were running a "12 Days of Christmas" promotion at the Majestic Clubhouse Store. Different discounts each day and other special things, and today the special was a free tour of the team's clubhouse. Here's a tip from the employees giving the tour: go for the full ballpark tour, during the season when the team is on the road. Then you see the players' cubicles with their uniforms and other stuff inside. They really have a nice facility. I took a few other pictures with the camera in my phone and I'll post them somewhere sometime.

• It was quite a day sports-wise. Besides the big Cliff Lee news,

Phils Sign Some Guy. Something Lee. Sounds Familiar...

I was going to write a "MixBlog" post touching on a few different things. I may still do that tomorrow. The following paragraph is something I planned to mention...

So there are these rumors going around that the Phillies are still in the running to sign Cliff Lee. It's ridiculous that people are actually getting their hopes up. How can the Phillies sign Lee if they couldn't sign Jayson Werth, whose pricey new deal still isn't going to earn him as much as Lee? The Phillies traded Lee a year ago because they didn't think they'd be able to sign him to a long-term deal. The Yankees have already made their typical big-money offer, and the Rangers are really trying to keep him in Texas. If the Phils didn't want to give Werth more than four years, and they definitely don't want to give pitchers such long-term deals, and Lee has been angling for five or more years, why anyone is getting excited about this "news" is beyond my comprehension.

Oops.

They got the back page online before 2 a.m. Impressive.

More On Sports Talk, Plus Some Sports Talk

Yesterday I talked about the local sports-talk radio stations. One thing I didn't mention in that post, but was reminded of today, is that the stations and their callers often seem to be stuck in a time warp, endlessly discussing/arguing/screaming the same tired points. An example of this was the constant whining about the Phillies not keeping Cliff Lee this season.

Now, I mentioned that I listen to WIP when my clock radio goes off and when I'm in the bathroom. When the radio clicked on today (well, after I turned it off and went back to sleep for a while and then turned it on again) there was a caller complaining about how "people talking about not wanting to sign Michael Vick to a long-term extension because he might get hurt" (like he did against Washington) are way off because Brett Favre gets hurt all the time. Favre hasn't missed a start since 1992. Vick, just this year, missed three full games and part of a fourth, and might have been out another game had it not been for the bye week. In other words, you dare not say anything negative about Vick, in this guy's mind. The next caller called Vick "sub-human," doesn't think he should be allowed to play football, etc. So the whole debate over Vick and his crimes and his punishment just goes on, and won't end until whenever he stops playing for the Eagles.

Or will it? A while ago

Phillies, Yankees Still Alive

The hopes of those people who wanted to see a rematch of the 2009 World Series (not to mention my predictions for the League Championship Series) took a pair of deep hits this week, but both the Phillies and Yankees are still alive. I'll deal with the Phillies in a moment.

I didn't really expect, after their hideous collapse late in Game 1, blowing a 5-0 lead after 6 and losing 6-5, that the Texas Rangers would bounce back so well. They scored early in Game 2, rolling to a 7-2 win. Then the series shifted to Yankee Stadium, and the Rangers took Games 3 (8-0) and 4 (10-3), with Cliff Lee again displaying his mastery of the Yankee hitters in Game 3. The Yankees rebounded in Game 5 with a 7-2 win despite the Rangers picking up 13 hits -- 11 off CC Sabathia in 6 innings. What disturbed me was a quote I read in today's paper, from Rangers manager Ron Washington after Game 4: "We are not thinking about how we are going to close anyone out. If it happens, it happens. And if it don't, it doesn't happen."

That just sounds a little too casual for my tastes. The experience of the Yankees over the years means that they weren't just going to roll over and die. If you have a team like that down, you have to keep them down. Sure enough, now the series goes back to Texas. The advantage the Rangers have, on paper, is that even if they lose Game 6, they'll have Yankee-killer and postseason stud Lee pitching Game 7. Then again, too often in sports such advantages aren't worth

Some Sports Illustrated Stuff

A week ago tomorrow, the cover of Sports Illustrated featured a headline for an article on baseball's spring training: "The Unlikely Genius Behind the New Moneyball." I wanted to vomit. Wasn't the old Moneyball bad enough? The premise of "Moneyball" -- that a focus on statistics, including newly invented and bizarre statistics, is more important in building a great team than things like scouting, watching games and actually seeing how players perform, not to mention spending lots of money -- has always been flawed. The main practitioner, the Oakland A's under general manager Billy Beane, won a few division titles but never got into a World Series, and haven't been a winning team in the last three years.

So what of this "new" Moneyball? The article itself, while it does delve into some statistical stupidity, actually makes a good point. It features the Seattle Mariners and their GM, Jack Zduriencik, and the team's concentrating on defense, leading to improvement overall (from 61 wins in 2008 to 85 last year). Good defense makes the pitching staff better, and we know how important good pitching is. And what Zduriencik says his team is doing is blending the old and new -- using some statistical analysis while still relying on good scouting. This seems to me like good common sense. With the M's getting Cliff Lee from the Phillies, they should be even better in 2010.

As for the SI that will arrive in my mailbox tomorrow, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that this is the cover:

 

The good news is there's this thing called the Sports Illustrated cover jinx...

Shut The Hell Up! Two Things I'm Tired Of Hearing On WIP

Presenting a pair of rants on topics that I no longer want to hear discussions about on our sports-talk radio station, WIP:

One: the endless Donovan McNabb debate, which goes a little something like this: The Eagles should get rid of him and give the starting QB job to Kevin Kolb. The Eagles should keep McNabb, Kolb sucks and/or isn't ready to be the starter. McNabb is a lousy quarterback. McNabb is a future Hall of Famer. McNabb isn't an accurate passer. McNabb throws interceptions much less often than almost every other QB. McNabb isn't a good team leader. McNabb's teammates love him. McNabb doesn't win the big games. McNabb's won plenty of big games. McNabb can't let go of the booing he got when he was drafted. McNabb always says how he loves being an Eagle and wants to remain an Eagle. McNabb threw up at the end of the Super Bowl...and on and on and on...enough! This is the one compelling reason I have for hoping the Eagles do part ways with McNabb: so this debate will end once and for all. Over a decade of this, thanks to Andy Reid (the one who really should be going, but isn't) -- I'm sick of it! Shut the hell up!

Two: the continuing occasional comments (and, with the recent signing of Joe Blanton to a 3-year deal, plus spring training being less than a month away, we'll hear this more and more) about how the Phillies should have kept Cliff Lee as well as acquiring Roy Halladay, especially because they're paying Joe Blanton almost as much as Lee is getting for 2010. If I could call the station and make this point without being interrupted or disconnected, I'd say the following: "Listen up, morons: in an ideal world, yes, it would've been great for the Phils to keep both Lee and Halladay. But this is NOT an ideal world. Time to face reality. Lee's ability to become a free agent after 2010 means he'll be likely to get upwards of $15-20 million per year after 2010. That's much more than the Phils will be paying Blanton, who is now signed through 2012. The Phillies are NOT the wealthy teams the Yankees and Red Sox are, and can't afford to pay top dollar to every single player. There was no way the Phils could afford to give up more minor league talent in exchange for Halladay, especially after giving up some players to get Lee last year. You have to keep some talent in the minor leagues to replace older players and to use for future trades when a need suddenly arises due to an injury. And with the salary Lee is expected to get in his next contract, the Phils would be almost guaranteed to lose him after 2010. That's why the Phils traded Lee after getting Halladay. It was the right decision. Now shut the hell up!"

Paraphrasing Madonna: Halladay! Celebrate!

On June 3, 2009, the day after Roy Halladay struck out 14 Angels en route to his 9th win of 2009 (at the time that total led the majors), and well before the rumors and trade talks heated up, I posted the following in the Toronto Blue Jays thread on the Outsports.com Discussion Board: "Does Halladay have a no-trade clause? Is there any chance that he would be traded if the Jays are well out of the playoff race by the trade deadline? Preferably to a team that plays its home games in the 215 area code?"

Phillies fans, no need to thank me. Just doing my job. (Although gifts and monetary donations are always welcome.)

Essentially, the two trades the Phils made are in actuality a straight-up deal of Cy Young award winners: Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay. There's no way of knowing how the careers of the three prospects the Phillies sent to Toronto for Halladay, or those of the three prospects acquired by the Phils from Seattle for Lee, will turn out. All the "experts" can make projections but we won't know which players will succeed and which will fail for a number of years. So there's no reason to fret over that now.

Halladay, needless to say, is an excellent pitcher whose work won't suffer from coming to the designated hitter-less National League. Everyone wanted him last year but the Blue Jays' price was too high. The Phils then got Lee from Cleveland. Toronto had to trade Halladay in this off-season, knowing that no team would give up much without signing Halladay to an extension, and that Halladay wouldn't negotiate such a contract once spring training rolled around. So the Blue Jays lowered their asking price to something the Phils could live with.

I've heard a lot of complaints from callers to sports-talk station WIP that the Phils should have kept Lee even after getting Halladay. This is nonsense. Like it or not, the Phils are limited in how much they can spend. They spend much more than they used to, but they don't have the nearly infinite financial resources the Yankees and Red Sox have.

Lee was clearly bound and determined to test the free agent waters after the 2010 season and get a maximum salary in a long-term contract. Outside of a deal similar to, if not more expensive than, the CC Sabathia contract, the Phils weren't going to sign him. So, as great as Lee was after coming from Cleveland, and as exceptional as he was in the 2009 postseason, the Phillies had to do something. Halladay wanted to come here, to be on a team that has won two NL championships and a World Series in the last two years and looks to seriously contend for a few more years. And the Phils' spring training home of Clearwater is close to his home in Florida. The stars were in perfect alignment.

Halladay signed a three-year extension for a lot of money, but an amount the Phils figure they could fit into their budget. Lee was not going to do that. With the other large contracts they have (Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard) and other players whose salaries will rise in the next year or more (Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino) there is simply no chance that the Phils could keep both Halladay and Lee, as much as the idea of such a dominating one-two punch in the starting rotation is enticing.

In essence, since there was an even exchange of prospects coming and going in these two trades, the Phils got Roy Halladay for the next 4 years, a few months' great work from Cliff Lee, and Ben Francisco for 4 minor leaguers (the number of players the Phils sent to Cleveland to get Lee). All in all, GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. did a fine job.This assessment may have to be adjusted if some of those ten minor leaguers involved in these trades become great major league players, but for now, well done.

My dream, about 6 1/2 months in the making, has come true.

You're welcome.

Phillies Post-mortem

If you're wondering how I'm feeling in the wake of the Phillies' World Series loss at the hands of the Evil Empire, to be honest the cold I'm currently battling feels worse -- and it isn't that severe a cold.

The 2009 Phillies were a team whose bullpen was beset by injuries and inconsistency; whose young pitching ace apparently spent the offseason making stupid commercials for Comcast instead of working out; whose other starting pitchers at the beginning of the season were serving up runs at a ridiculous pace; whose leadoff hitter -- the so-called catalyst -- spent three months in a hitting "slump" (a week or two is a slump; half a season is a disaster); whose pinch-hitters were feeble pretty much all year; whose high-priced new outfielder got hurt and essentially stopped producing on offense after the All-Star break.

A team with such problems has no business contending, let alone winning the NL East for the third consecutive season and appearing in the World Series in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history, with one championship to boot. So who can feel that bad that they lost the World Series to a team that isn't capable of winning without spending hundreds of millions of dollars to buy up every possible player on the market?

So here's to the 2009 Phillies. It was quite a ride. Actually, the last three years combined have been quite a ride -- no Phillies team has ever accomplished this much over a three-year period -- and this particular one doesn't have to end just yet. With so many key players locked into contracts for at least the next year or two, if the Phils make the proper moves to shore up some weaknesses there's no reason they won't be back in the World Series again in 2010. The deal to get Cliff Lee prior to the trade deadline, without giving up their most promising minor league talent, indicates that such retooling is in capable hands. What needs to be done? Glad you asked...

The bullpen: The struggles of Brad Lidge, whether due to knee problems or not, and the multiple absences of J.C. Romero (suspension and injury) had a domino effect on the rest of the relief corps. They need Romero for the full season as the lefthanded set-up option, especially if fellow lefty Scott Eyre retires. More importantly, they need Lidge to return to something close to 2008 form -- or they need Ryan Madson to step up and become consistent enough to take Lidge's place.

The starters: Not much change here. Cliff Lee stabilized the rotation. J.A. Happ may end up as NL Rookie of the Year. Despite his 2009 problems, Cole Hamels isn't going anywhere. I think Joe Blanton is good enough for one of the remaining two spots; for a while he was the only decent starter. The Phils will have to decide on the final spot. Do they bring back Pedro Martinez for another year? See if Jamie Moyer can bounce back from his demotion and season-ending injury? Or will highly touted minor leaguer Kyle Drabek make the leap to the parent club, either at the start of the year or later on in the season?

The bench: Another year of Matt Stairs probably wouldn't hurt, as a lefthanded bat to provide the occasional home run, but if there's a better option -- someone who can also hit for average as well as having some power -- the Phils should explore it. For righthanded hitting, though, they absolutely need better options than Miguel Cairo and Eric Bruntlett. Sure, he scored the winning run in the 2008 Series and turned an unassisted triple play to end a game this year, but Bruntlett's got to go.

The lineup: The only possible change is at third base. Pedro Feliz is an excellent fielder but his hitting leaves much to be desired. The Phils have a 2010 option to keep him at $5.5 million, and it's not out of the question that they could decide against picking up that option. A better bat can be found in free agency, but it would have to be someone who has decent fielding skills as well. And he'll have to be a righthanded hitter, because there are enough (too many?) lefthanded bats already.

Philly Sports Update: The GBU

"The GBU" stands for, in case you haven't figured it out, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Bad and Ugly are pretty much interchangeable, though.

Good: The Phillies, a team that seems to be able to shake off adversity with no problem. Lose Game 2 of the NLDS and then have to play two in frigid Denver? No problem. Blow a 1-0 series lead in the NLCS due to poor managing, poor fielding and poor relief pitching? Meh. Just send Cliff Lee out there to pitch 8 shutout innings and roll to an 11-0 win to take a 2-1 lead over the Dodgers. The Phils are two wins away from a second consecutive World Series appearance. This is unprecedented, given their history. The Phillies have only been to the World Series 6 times, and in four of the previous five, they didn't even make the playoffs (of course, the first two times there were no divisions and no postseason other than the Series).

1915 -- lost World Series; 1916 -- 2nd place in NL
1950 -- lost World Series; 1951 -- 5th place in NL
1980 -- won World Series; 1981 -- 1st place in NL East pre-strike, lost in Division Series
1983 -- lost World Series; 1984 -- 4th place in NL East
1993 -- lost World Series; 1994 -- 4th place in NL East

Bad: The Flyers. After two strong wins to start the season, they split a pair of high-scoring games against Washington and Pittsburgh. After that they blew a 2-0 lead late in the game and lost in a shootout to Anaheim. That was a week ago Saturday. Since then they're in an 11-day stretch where they play once, despite the tighter schedule caused by the 2010 Olympic break. That one game was a lackluster 4-2 loss to a Florida team that came into the game 1-4-0. For all the hype, so far it looks like the same inconsistent, ultimately underachieving Flyers team from last year.

Ugly: The Eagles. Oh, where to begin after a 13-9 loss to the lowly Oakland Raiders, a team that lost to the Giants 44-7 a week earlier? No touchdowns; 52 pass attempts to 14 running plays; two missed field goals; wasting all three first-half timeouts early and then, after driving deep into Raiders territory, calling a timeout when they had none left; six sacks allowed by their offensive line, just two sacks for their defense; 2-for-16 on third downs...one of the more disgraceful, embarrassing losses in the Andy Reid era.

Phillies may be in trouble

The NL Division Series got off to a spectacular start for the Phillies, with a 5-1 complete game win by Cliff Lee on Wednesday. However, the Colorado Rockies bounced back Thursday, taking a 4-0 lead against Cole Hamels and hanging on for a 5-4 win.

The series shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4 -- Saturday at 9:37 pm ET and Sunday at 10:07 pm ET. These starting times are ridiculous, especially considering the weather forecast Saturday calls for temperatures around 30 degrees with possible snow showers or freezing drizzle. The blame goes to MLB and to TBS (whose performance in televising the playoff games has been pathetic, by the way).

This weather may be a factor for the Phillies, but a bigger question is who will start those games. Hamels was lifted for a pinch-hitter after 5 innings Thursday. The Phils then used both Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ in relief. Blanton only threw 19 pitches and Happ threw 4, with the fourth being lined off his left leg. He has a contusion and x-rays are negative. He says he can pitch Saturday but the Phils are planning to go with either Blanton or Pedro Martinez (as I write this, the decision hasn't been announced). Martinez has struggled in the first inning of most of his starts. With it being so cold in Denver, it'll be that much harder to warm up.

Happ is lefthanded and the Rockies have more trouble with lefties, so if he's healthy enough and doesn't start Saturday he'd better be pitching Sunday. It could be that he'll be kept in the bullpen, but if he enters a game early because the Phils have fallen behind (the way Blanton did today), the Phils are in trouble.

Phillies: Time To Panic?

There seems to be a new trend for the Phillies: injuries to pitchers' obliques. Clay Condrey has been out since the end of July and is seemingly less likely to return at all this season. Today it was reported that Ryan Madson was unavailable for the four games the Phils just lost in Houston, and may not be able to pitch tonight in Washington. Most alarmingly, rookie J.A. Happ was supposed to start yesterday but suffered his oblique strain on Saturday -- during batting practice, of all things.

In addition, there's some concern about whether J.C. Romero will be ready soon, and today there are Twitter posts from local beat writers that Scott Eyre, who's inherited Romero's lefty specialist role, felt a pain in his left elbow. He said he's not worried about it, as it was "sharp and quick." The rest of us will be plenty worried for him, though.

Jamie Moyer stepped in as an emergency starter yesterday and, as he did with his three previous bullpen outings since being removed from the rotation, did a fine job. However, the team has stopped hitting. They've scored 4 runs or fewer in their last 13 games. They were 5-4 in the first 9 thanks to strong pitching. Then came the mess in Houston. Cole Hamels regressed (again), Brad Lidge blew a save (again), Cliff Lee got smoked for the second consecutive start, and yesterday Chan Ho Park coughed up the game in the 7th inning.

Despite all of that, the Phils maintain a 6-game lead in the NL East (7 in the loss column). The question is, assuming a Mets-like collapse isn't in the offing (and it likely isn't, because their opponents the rest of the way aren't that strong and the Braves and Marlins have weak spots as well), will this team be ready for the playoffs? The Phils were knocked out of the first round in 2007 by a red-hot Colorado Rockies team. That was not deeply depressing at the time. A similar result this year, after their championship run last year, will not be taken with good humor.

Phillies-Mets: The thrill is gone

It's getting late here in August. The Phillies are headed to BrokeBank Field for a four-game series with the Mets. It's a crucial series that will help determine who will win the NL East.

Except, it won't -- at least not for the Mets. The injury bug, shoddy defense and assorted dramas on and off the field have destroyed their season almost before it got started. Going into tomorrow's game the Mets are 14 1/2 games behind the Phils. It's a stunning fall for a team that choked away the division in 2007, responded by acquiring ace starter Johan Santana, lost the division again, responded to that by getting Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz to bolster the bullpen and Gary Sheffield to strengthen the bench, only to see everything fall apart.

I certainly think player injuries are unfortunate, but beyond that, I can't say I'm the slightest bit upset by the Mets' downfall. ;-)

The defending World Series champion Phils, meanwhile, are rolling again. A three-game sweep at home over Arizona puts them at 69-49, a season-high 20 games over .500, and gives them a 6 1/2-game lead over Florida and Atlanta. Pending the outcome of the Dodgers-Cubs game out west, the Phils are now just a half-game behind LA for the best record in the National League. Ryan Howard, as he's done throughout his career, is heating up right in time for the stretch run. The starting pitching has been greatly improved -- in large part because Cliff Lee has been an absolute beast! Check out the stats here. If they can get Brad Lidge straightened out (or replace him...Brett Myers?) they'll really be primed to repeat.

This weekend could have been incredibly tense. The games may still entertain, but it just won't be the same.

Moyer and Lidge

Jamie Moyer told reporters today that he feels "misled" after the Phillies decided to put him in the bullpen. Then he has the nerve to say, "I most certainly do not want to be a distraction." Which is exactly what he's become.

The Phillies signed Pedro Martinez to join the rotation. He would've replaced Rodrigo Lopez, but then they traded for Cliff Lee without having to give up J.A. Happ. That means someone else had to go. Based on performance, it had to be Moyer.

If he's so unhappy that he's been demoted from the rotation BASED ON PERFORMANCE then he should find a way to give back the money the Phillies are obligated to pay him for the next year and two months and leave. Otherwise he should shut the hell up.

Speaking of leaving, Brad Lidge blew yet another save tonight. With each lousy performance it seems less likely that he'll regain his 2008 form. It is beginning to look like Brett Myers will be back with the Phils in September and if so, he should be the closer, not Lidge.

Fortunately, the Phils won 4-3 in 12 on a homer by Ben Francisco. They had just 3 hits all night and still won. Their first 3 runs came on a 2-run homer (after a walk) and a bases-loaded walk (after two walks and a HBP). Highly unusual, to say the least.

Phillies vote for Pedro

Well, the Phillies have made one sensible decision: Jamie Moyer will go to the bullpen as Pedro Martinez will make his first start on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. The question is why Pedro is going Wednesday and not Tuesday. J.A. Happ threw 127 pitches in his last start, and perhaps would benefit from an extra day's rest, but he's going on Tuesday, and Cliff Lee is being held back until Thursday, giving him 6 days off between starts. My guess is that ESPN bribed the Phils to hold Pedro until Wednesday, since they are televising the game nationally.

After being swept by Florida over the weekend the Phils' NL East lead is down to 3 1/2 games (since the Marlins won tonight). They continue to struggle at the plate, which is putting more pressure on the pitching staff. Cole Hamels still is floundering and Moyer, well, the fact that he's out of the rotation tells the story. The Phils are fortunate that Lee, Happ and Joe Blanton have pitched so well lately. The bullpen will get help as Chad Durbin is back from the disabled list, but J.C. Romero is going to rest for about a week before throwing again, so he won't be back soon.

Phils slumping before Gay Night

The Phillies finished their western swing with a 3-4 record, losing 4 of the last 5. Cliff Lee's complete game victory Friday in his Phils debut was their only win in four games at San Francisco; they played two sloppy games mid-week and didn't hit much with runners in scoring position the entire road trip. One night after 2008 AL Cy Young winner Lee shut down the Giants, his NL counterpart, Tim Lincecum, stymied the Phils. Cole Hamels was smacked around again in the series finale. It seemed he was getting his act together, but...still, the Phils lead the NL East by 5 games. No reason to push any panic buttons just yet.

Their first game back home is Tuesday, and it's the 7th Annual Gay Community Night. The Phils lost the first five Gay Nights before finally breaking through last year; perhaps that was a precursor to their eventual championship. Sadly, I won't be there on Tuesday unless someone has a ticket for me. The game is sold out. So, let's take a trip down memory lane with the article I wrote for Outsports after the first GCN in 2003 -- the only one held at the Vet.