Phillies 2012!

The season begins tomorrow in Pittsburgh. The Phillies go after a sixth consecutive National League Eastern Division title, on the road to a third World Series appearance and their ultimate goal, a second World Series championship in five years. I think there's a lot to worry about, especially early on with both Ryan Howard and Chase Utley out with injuries. If games are close because the offense is struggling, the Phils will need their bullpen to do the job and I'm not sure they're up to it right now. Then again, it seems like the bullpen has always a concern and somehow things work out.

They seem to have dodged a bullet by letting Ryan Madson go away and signing Jonathan Papelbon to be the closer. Madson had Tommy John surgery and is out for the season after signing for one year with Cincinnati. But if the guys in front of Papelbon can't hold leads for the monster starting rotation...anyway, although it's tempting (particularly for those national "experts" I love so much) to say that Atlanta or Washington or Florida Miami will overtake the Phils, I'm going to do with the Phils what I did with the Braves for all those years in the 1990s and early 2000s: keep picking them to win until they don't. So I present my picks for the divisions and wild cards (yes, two...ugh...). I again present my disclaimer that I don't have a deep awareness of what's going on with each team, so these are very uneducated guesses:

NL East
1. Phillies
2. Miami
3. Atlanta
4. Washington
5. New York Mets

NL Central: St. Louis
NL West: San Francisco
NL Wild Cards: Miami, Arizona
AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Detroit
AL West: Los Angeles Angels
AL Wild Cards: Texas, Tampa Bay

A Phillies So-Right-Yet-So-Wrong Stat

This stat was just tweeted by MLB.com Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki. Here are the Phillies leaders in runs batted in for the month of July:

Raul Ibanez - 14
John Mayberry Jr. - 12
Michael Martinez - 11

Ibanez -- I didn't think he was having such a big month. Mayberry -- great news if he can keep it going. They need a righthanded bat, and since the Phils are unlikely to bring back Ibanez in 2012 there's a job for Mayberry if he can prove he can hit major league pitching. Martinez -- well, that's just ridiculous.

What's really ridiculous is: where's Ryan Howard on this list? Where's Chase Utley? Are you kidding me? These are supposed to be the biggest run producers. (Granted, Utley got a huge game-tying two-run double tonight in the 8th, which set up Martinez to do the same in the 9th to win the game.)

It still amazes me that the Phillies are winning so many games -- tonight's was win number  60 -- with their offense continuing to be so inconsistent. And what could potentially happen in October still scares me. As we head towards the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, it's going to be really, really interesting to see what, if anything, the Phils do.

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.

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.

Philly Fans Pushing Panic Buttons?

Surprise: sports content on my blog! It's been a while. However, there are a few things that need to be discussed.

First, let's not go overboard on the Flyers just yet. Sure, they had a four-game losing streak before last night, losing to teams ranging from middle-of-the-pack to the bottom of the standings (including a 7-0 embarrassment against the New York Rangers). And the win that broke that string wasn't exactly impressive (after a dominating first period, they allowed the poor Edmonton Oilers to stay in the game right to the end). But they're still in first place in the Eastern Conference and it's best to get the bad games out of their system before the playoffs start. Also, apparently a combination of a flu bug and -- believe it or not -- too much practice took a lot of energy out of them last week.

On the other hand, it might be time to worry about the Phillies just a little. I repeat: just a little. For now.

Chase Utley hasn't played in a game all spring due to a right knee problem. While it doesn't seem to be getting worse (it's not getting better, either, which is the problem), the pronouncements from the Phillies seem to get a little less optimistic each time. It's gone from "just sore and needs a day or two of extra rest" to "MRI shows tendinitis, needs more rest" to "getting a cortisone shot in the knee" to "doing another MRI, mild patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia." Some (and by "some" I mean rabid talk-show callers) have decided it's time to make a major trade because Utley's out for the season. This is soooooooo way off in the future. They're going to give the knee rest and treatment and worry about possible surgery if that doesn't work.

But it does seem likely that Utley won't be in the lineup at the start of the regular season. The Phils already have the Jayson Werth hole to fill. That right field job seems to be Ben Francisco's to lose, since Domonic Brown went 1-for-16 to start the exhibition season before breaking a bone in his hand and undergoing surgery that will have him out for up to 6 weeks. After that, I'm sure Brown will go to the minors until either Francisco (and other possibile fill-ins such as Ross Gload and John Mayberry Jr.) fails or Brown is crushing triple-A pitching so much that the Phils bring him back. If Utley misses significant time, it'll add a little more pressure on Ryan Howard and the rest of the lineup. Even the Phils' mighty starting pitchers can't win games if the offense struggles.

Although there's no panic button being pushed here, I have to mention the 76ers. They've been on quite the run. They lost tonight in overtime, letting a 5-point lead get away in the last minute, but they've still got a winning record (33-31, 30-18 since their 3-13 stumble from the gates). Everyone who follows basketball says that right now they're a fun team to watch, but that fun isn't selling tickets as their attendance is still terrible. I have a dream, though: that the Sixers knock off that ridiculous Miami Heat team in the first round of the playoffs. It's likely a pipe dream, but wouldn't it be awesome?

Phillies: The U Word Resurfaces

The end of the Phillies' season played out very much like most of the season itself: with a lack of offense. So often the team's bats went south this year that it shouldn't have been a surprise when it happened in the playoffs, especially against the solid pitching of the San Francisco Giants. And yet, somehow, it was. Because they told us all year long that when it really mattered, they'd be fine. After the three consecutive shutout losses against the Mets at Taxpayer Bailout Field. After losing three of four to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates (the worst franchise despite the best ballpark). After losing 6 of 7 coming out of the All-Star break. After falling 7 games behind Atlanta in the NL East. After the four-game sweep at home against the also-ran Houston Astros. They always told us they'd turn it around.

And they did, for a while. The Phils roared to their 4th straight NL East title and the best record in the major leagues. And you couldn't ask for a better beginning to the postseason than Roy Halladay pitching a no-hitter in his first-ever playoff start. But during the entire postseason the team struggled to score, often needing subpar fielding from the Reds and Giants in order to get some runs. Their lack of hitting with runners in scoring position was excruciating, especially in NLCS Game 6, in which the Phils scored twice in the first, and Giants' starter Jonathan Sanchez was so shaky that he was removed before getting an out in the third inning. But they never scored again. They were 2-for-11 with RISP and both of those hits came in the first. Making things worse, the Phils' own fielding let them down at times.

And so I feel the need to use a word to describe this team that hasn't applied in a few years now:

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

More Randomness: Phils, Birds, Softball...Yarn? Chicken?

Submitted for your approval...or not...

• The Phillies finally had a day off after 24 games in 23 days. In that stretch they went 15-9 and have regained the NL East lead for the first time since May. The lead is now a game over Atlanta. Still, with Brad Lidge having elbow issues and Jimmy Rollins leaving their last game with a hamstring problem (that Charlie Manuel says wasn't serious and was due to dehydration; of course, he also said Ryan Howard's ankle injury wouldn't cause him to miss any games just before Howard went on the disabled list for nearly three weeks), and Placido Polanco's saying his elbow is broken (though he continues to play), and the team's general inconsistent hitting all season, it won't be smooth sailing the rest of the season.

• Meanwhile, the NFL is back. The Eagles start on Sunday, and that day they're wearing 1960 throwback uniforms as part of the commemoration of their 1960 championship team. Yes, that was 50 years ago. And yes, that was the last time the Eagles won a championship. So if you wonder why Eagles fans get a little (a lot) crazy, wonder no more.
  
  
  
  

Hating The Phils -- On TV, That Is

Way back in that magical year of 2008 I did a series of posts on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog in which I reviewed a game broadcast of every major league team (thanks to my subscription to the MLB Extra Innings package that year) as well as nationally televised games on ESPN, TBS and Fox. A summary of my grades for every broadcast can be found here. For the Phillies, I assigned a C-plus grade to the Comcast Sportsnet broadcast of a Phils-Nationals game. One key quote from my writeup: "It’s impossible to imagine a Phillies broadcast without Harry Kalas. It’s unfortunate that the Phillies haven’t built a better broadcast around him."

Sadly, the "impossible to imagine" became the norm in April 2009 when Harry Kalas died. Since then, Tom McCarthy has exclusively done TV play-by-play. Chris Wheeler (1st-3rd innings, 7th inning on) and Gary "Sarge" Matthews (4th-6th innings) handle the "analysis." And the broadcasts have, of course, suffered. McCarthy continues to talk and talk and talk, especially rambling during his innings with Sarge. Matthews still hasn't met a cliche he doesn't like. Wheeler, unpopular as ever, now is even getting on my nerves at times.

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.

Phillies Are Oscar-Worthy

Websites such as Philly.com need to be a little more careful when they update their home page for breaking news -- or breaking sports, in this case...

Perhaps it was intentional, though. Tonight's comeback win would make for one epic movie. (No, not Epic Movie. God forbid.) Down 9-2 going into the bottom of the 8th the Phillies scored 4 runs in the 8th and had the potential tying run at the plate before the inning ended. After Danys Baez pitched a scoreless 9th (that's a shock in itself) the Dodgers brought in their closer, Jonathan Broxton. You may remember Broxton from such spectacular choke jobs as 2008 NLCS Game 4 and 2009 NLCS Game 4. Broxton proceeded to hit a batter and walk the next two to load the bases. Two runs scored on an error by Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake, and Carlos Ruiz hit a two-run double off the fence in deep left-center -- the only base hit of the inning -- to win it.

The Phils have now won 16 of their last 20 to move within 2 games of Atlanta in the NL East and 1 game of San Francisco in the NL Wild Card race (although a fourth straight division title is greatly preferred). Shane Victorino is back from the disabled list. By the end of the month both Ryan Howard and Chase Utley should be back as well. They still need better work out of the bullpen (Brad Lidge's recent resurgence is very important) but things continue to look up.

I Think I'm Right About Brad Lidge

Remember last week when I wrote about the Phillies' issues, one of them being the struggles of Brad Lidge? I pointed out that he hasn't gotten regular work: just 3 appearances in 13 days from June 20 through July 7, and 2 appearances in 13 days (including the All-Star break) from July 12-24. I wondered if that wasn't at least part of the problem.

Let's look at what's happened since then. In the 6 days from July 25-31 Lidge pitched 4 times, struggling to get two saves vs. Colorado, pitching a scoreless inning against Arizona in a tie game in extra innings (after Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero combined to blow a 9th-inning lead), and giving up the walkoff 3-run homer to Washington's Ryan Zimmerman to lose a game in the 9th. His totals: 3 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts.

However, after that walkoff homer, Lidge got to pitch again the very next day, and three more times in the next 5 days (including tonight's game). Look at the difference in the numbers: 3 1/3 innings, 1 hit, no runs, no walks, 4 strikeouts, 3 saves in 3 opportunities.

It seems pretty clear to me now: as long as Lidge is healthy, if he gets regular work he'll have the command of his pitches he needs to be successful. I hope Charlie Manuel realizes this, because no one else on the roster except Brad Lidge has the ability to be a consistent closer right now.

Just one note on the offense: they're doing a nice job manufacturing runs without Ryan Howard, especially during tonight's 8th-inning rally to beat the Mets (and move to within a game of Atlanta for the NL East lead): seven singles (one on a bunt), a walk and a sacrifice fly produced six runs. This bodes well, and anything they get from the just-acquired Mike Sweeney will be a bonus (Sweeney got the first and last singles in the 8th, scoring a run and driving in another).

Phillies Causing Mood Swings

Maybe it's the age we live in, where information is constant and reaction is instant and both pour in from  multiple sources -- 24-hour sports on TV and radio, websites, blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds. But the 2010 Phillies have turned into even more of a roller-coaster ride. The slump followed by the 8-game win streak is nothing compared to the daily developments since Thursday: the trade for Roy Oswalt, Oswalt losing his first Phils start, Brad Lidge blowing another save, a comeback win with a Lidge 1-2-3 save, Ryan Howard hurting his ankle and being put on the 15-day disabled list. The ups and downs are tough enough to take for well-adjusted people, but for rabid fans? Insanity.

Once again the Phils have three members of their starting lineup currently on the DL -- Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and now Howard. And Howard has probably been the most consistent hitter of the three, and probably the most important. Besides those three, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, Brian Schneider, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ (traded in the Oswalt deal), Jamie Moyer, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin, Antonio Bastardo and Lidge have all spent time on the DL.With all the inconsistency and underachieving and slumps and these injuries, after tonight's win at Florida (behind Roy Halladay) the Phils are just 2 games out of first place. How is that possible?

The thing I like about tonight's game: of their 13 hits, nine came from Ben Francisco, Carlos Ruiz and Wilson Valdez. They still need Jimmy Rollins to get back to his form of the opening week of the season and for Raul Ibanez to keep up his recent resurgence. But they need as much offense as they can get from these other guys as well, especially with Howard out.

The Hot Word And The Cold Phils

Thanks to the "word verification" procedure to cut down on spam on blog comments, I now have an entry in the Urban Dictionary. When I was replying to a blog post by my friend Walt the generated word I had to enter in order to reply was "fabylla." So I claimed it as my own and gave it a definition...

fabylla (adj.) Fabulous to the extreme; more wonderful than even chocolate chip cookies: "That party was so off the hook, it was fabylla!"

It's the hot new word, darlings! I don't care if two miscreants on UrbanDictionary.com gave it "thumbs down." They are clearly not fabylla like the rest of us.

Also not fabylla, not remotely fabylla: the Phillies. They've been swept by the Atlanta Braves, they finished the road trip 2-7, they've lost seven of their last 9 and 11 of their last 15. With today's 2-1 loss they've scored a grand total of 14 runs in the last 11 games...although they finally got a home run last night, from Ryan Howard, for the first time in a week. The Braves now lead the Phils by 2 1/2 games in the NL East. It's early June, it's hardly an insurmountable gap, they haven't had Placido Polanco the last few games, they're still missing Jimmy Rollins, there's clearly no reason to panic just yet, but it's still incredibly annoying. The Phillies are unwatchable right now, unless Roy Halladay is pitching, and for a team with this much talent that is unfathomable.

Random 3 a.m. Stuff

Because it's late at night and that seems to be when I finally push myself to post something...

• The Phillies are 3-5 on their road trip with one game left. Not a lot of hitting, and the pitching is inconsistent. Even Roy Halladay finally lost a game. But it's still way too early to panic. Meanwhile, they signed Ryan Howard to a 5-year, $125 million extension that will keep him a Phil through 2016. There's a fair amount of naysaying about it for various reasons. A lot of it comes from those obnoxious stat geeks who are trying to ruin the game. Ignore them. This is a risky deal, but better than letting Howard walk after 2011. Still, as much as I hate the rule, I really think the Phils should push to get the National League to adapt the designated hitter.
• The state of Arizona has gone nuts, with recent days bringing an anti-immigrant law, a law placating the birthers, and the governor's  removing domestic partnership rights from state employees. Perhaps we should have seen it coming when John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Clearly there's something in the water out there. I feel for the people I know who live there, although one or two don't hold the same viewpoints as I do.
• I gave "Glee" yet another chance. I am still ambivalent. Tonight's episode started slow but improved as it went on. Maybe I'll watch again next week. I just don't know if I will ever become a "Gleek." I am becoming a fan of Kurt (Chris Colfer), though. Maybe that will be the hook that gets me to keep watching.
• And finally, the following is from former Eagle Dhani Jones of "Dhani Tackles The Globe" fame, on his Twitter feed: "What's wrong with chest hair. It wasn't to (sic) long ago that men wore beards, had chest hair and were warriors. I will continue the tradition!"
  
  Amen, Dhani, Amen!

Phillies' bullpen pain

Yes, I know that the Phillies still lead the NL East by 7 games, and that Ryan Howard is bombing opposing pitchers right now (9 HR, 25 RBI in the last 13 games). But unless they find a pitcher who can reliably close out a tight game, how are they going to repeat as champions? Their last two games in Pittsburgh both featured blown saves. Last night it took Brad Lidge just 6 pitches to give up 3 runs and blow a 4-3 lead in the 9th. Tonight, since Lidge had pitched 4 days in a row, Ryan Madson came into the 9th with a 1-0 lead and promptly served up a game-tying homer.

Howard's 3-run homer in the 10th saved the Phils tonight, but someone has to come in and close games. Lidge has been horrendous all year, even if he was bailed out by the Eric Bruntlett legendary unassisted triple play on Monday. Madson was throwing hard -- 99 mph according to the TV graphic -- but decided he needed to throw a changeup to Brandon Moss of the Pirates tonight, and the slower pitch was sent over the fence. And Madson's failed a number of times filling in as the closer this year, even though he's generally pitched well in games in which he's pitched the 7th or 8th innings. In theory, pitching in the 9th shouldn't be any different than pitching in any other inning. Tell that to Madson's psyche.

The hope here is that Brett Myers comes back in September and takes the job away from Lidge. Myers was successful in the role in 2007. From all reports on his rehab appearances he's throwing harder than he has since that season, thanks to the hip surgery.

A piece of good news, at least until his next start: Cole Hamels pitched 8 shutout innings tonight, managing to get out of trouble a number of times.

After tomorrow's final game in Pittsburgh the Phils are back home against Atlanta, as the Braves try and stay alive in the division.

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.

Phils keep winning while waiting on Roy

In the first 3 innings of tonight's game at Arizona, Jamie Moyer gave up 4 hits and 3 walks. Somehow he managed to keep the game scoreless, though. Ryan Howard then hit a 2-run homer in the 4th and the Phillies were on their way to an eventual 6-2 win, padding their NL East lead to 7 games. The Phils are now 30-15 on the road, best in the majors. After going 5-2 at Citizens Bank Park last week they've now got a winning record at home as well.

Yet just about every fan remains focused on Roy Halladay. With Friday's non-waiver trade deadline coming up fast, the latest report is that talks between the Phils and Blue Jays aren't going well. Both teams are pretty much posturing at this point. The rumors will continue to fly until the deadline. Some say the Phils are now considering making a bid for Cliff Lee of Cleveland or Jarrod Washburn of Seattle instead. If the Phils can't get Halladay at a reasonable price, I'd prefer they try and talk Arizona out of Dan Haren.

In a delightful twist, the Phillies are in San Francisco this weekend. The Blue Jays are in Oakland. The Phillies and Blue Jays are staying at the same hotel. A Halladay trade would be extremely convenient if it happens right at the deadline!

Phils done All-Star break, still on fire

The Phillies' lead in the NL East is up to 5 games now after winning their first game after the All-Star break, 4-0 at Florida. The runs all came on homers, two by Rauuuuuuuuuuuuul Ibanez and the career 200th from Ryan Howard. Howard is the fastest player (in terms of games played) in MLB history to reach the 200 mark. Jamie Moyer, the oldest man in the game (but still younger than me) gave up just one hit in 7 innings. Very satisfactory way to start the second half. I have my doubts about how much newly-signed Pedro Martinez will help when he's activated after some rehab starts, but it won't matter if Moyer can keep this up.