And it all started with...

...a triple play. I'm not sure that I've ever seen a Triple play live before, it's usually only on SportsCenter. But in this last week I've seen a completely different team. Since that game I attended last week that went 13 grueling innings, the Phillies are 5-1 and have outscored opponents 44-17. Awesome. It's about freakin time. After beating the Nationals 4-2 in a Thursday afternoon game, the Phillies blew a 1-0, 1 hitter in the bottom of the 9th to Cincy. The Phillies are the only team to lose a game in Extra innings while only giving up 4 hits or less in the game in the last 3 years. AND THEY'VE DONE IT TWICE. So after that blown save by 'Flash' they came back, and on a tired Saturday Afternoon in NJ I got to watch almost the whole game.

Cole Hamels was awesome. 15 K's and a complete game. Thats one way to not blow a save, keep the bullpen where they are. But with a 2-1 lead in the 5th inning the Phillies looked like they were in trouble. Two bloop singles back to back gave the Reds 1st and 2nd with no outs. As the announcers began to talk about how Hamels needed a double play, the play had begun... a slow hopper to Nunez, who grabbed it stepped on third, threw to Utley who caught and released the ball in about .0000000001 seconds over to Helms (playing first for injured Howard) for a triple play. A ground ball force out triple play. That kinda stuff only happens TO the Phillies not FOR them. Hamels pumped his fist and yelled as did most of the other players on the field and they had life again. Going into that game 4-11 this was exactly what they needed, something to get them excited. The very next inning Utley homered and then Rowand homered in the 7th. The Phils hang on to a 4-1 win over the Reds and with every strikeout Hamels threw, you could see them getting more excited... this is what they were waiting for, a spark of life.

The next day they got Howard back and in his first game back he homered. Granted I believe it was his only hit, but seeing Howard do what he is supposed to helps the team more than anything. They put together 11 runs and started working as a team. Next was 9 runs against Houston, then Tuesday night an 8th inning rally against Washington to win 6-3 and last night another 9 runs against the Nats. It seems like the Phillies are finally coming together as a team. Burrell is pulling through in the pinch, Rowand has a 12 game hit streak, Howard is on base at least 2x a game, Utley is 6 for his last 8, Rollins hit his 8th Homer of the season last night and Myers is settling down in the pen. As of now, depending on their ABs that game, they have 5 or 6 guys batting at or over .300 and they haven't given up more than 4 runs in any of their last 6. At 9-11 now they are building confidence in themselves and enstating it in their fans. Next goal... get over .500.

In other the news, the Flyers and Sixers still suck. More importantly the Eagles have the NFL draft this weekend. With only 2 days before the draft I've heard about 187,623 different opinions about what will happen in the top 4 picks, everything from the Raiders will trade to drafting Calvin Johnson, JeMarcus Russell to Brady Quinn to Quinn will suck he's not big enough to JeMarcus Russell will be a bust because he's not talented or smart enough to.... blah blah blah. Everyone thinks so differently... the only thing the critics are in agreement on is: Calvin Johnson will be a beast. The team that gets him will not be sorry. Most likely right now... to me... the Lions. They Love wideouts there in Detroit. You have to admit, Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson as your first two options... I could throw 25 TDs with those guys on my team. So till next week... GO Phils and Birds.

P.S. A-rod is on pace to hit 300 rbis and 109 HRs.

More Wasted... Non-Effort

Last night I attended the Phillies vs. Nationals game in DC. I usually go once a series when they visit. This being the first time they were in town this year. The seats were great along the left field line; the atmosphere was great with at least 3-4,000 Philly fans there amongst the 11,000 strong crowd. The game was a good game... if you can call it that. On the way in I had the following conversation with D-ton, my accomplice for the evening, "Are you gonna be dressed warm enough for the game?"
"Don't worry, the anxiety from watching the Phillies try to blow the game almost every inning will keep me warm."
"Won't that make you angry?"
"Not until they lose. But at least then I'll still be warm from the anger."
It's like going to meet your high school Girlfriend when you know she's gonna tell you she fucked the quarterback last night and has been for a week and she just cant see it working out between you two.

This is how we think... Philly fans that is. Now there are multiple types of Philly fans, some old and new all graced with the same skepticism, however... some choose to vent it during the game, unlike me. I'll speak before and after but never during... except... well i'll get back to that.

So we go into the game with great seats playing the lowly Nationals in front of their Marlins-esque crowd looking to have an enjoyable evening at the ball park. Phillies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning when the always unreliable Rod Barajas hit a single followed by the more unreliable Pitcher Adam Eaton crushing one to the fence. A double that scores the "Donkey Kong from Mario Kart"-esquely slow Barajas from first, only because the outfielder misplayed the ball off the wall. Then Eaton melted down in the bottom of the inning. After a HBP, and a line drive off his hand he gives up a 3 run shot to Schneider. Right before that HR my buddy Chris just happened to point out Schneider had 5 rbi's this year without actually getting a hit on those rbi's. Needless to say... the phillies broke that streak for him. The Nationals later capitalizing on base hits brought in another run on a sac fly in the 3rd.

The Phillies 1-4 batters finished the game an incredible 2 for 21. Both hits coming from Victorino. This game was deemed worthy of the title the "Toilet Bowl". The Phils came into the game leaving a 122 LOBs in 12 games, first in the league, while the Nats were second with 115 LOBs but in 14 GAMES! So as this seemed impossible to avoid... it was. There was even a fan in the lowest section near 3rd base who had a sign that read "Phillies LOB: (insert number here)." Phils wound up with 9 (as predicted) and the Nats with 13 so we won... that battle.

I digress, as Philly sports always does, the Phils staged a comeback late in the game. After a hit by burrell and a double by rowand pinch hitter Greg Dobbs singled in two runs. Then after a second hit Rollins came up with 2 on and 1 out and managed to hit in to a double play (part of his 0 for 6 night). Then as one could have predicted, the Phils managed to stage a 9th inning comeback... after a leadoff single by Burrell and the most obvious substitution in MLB on a daily basis, Pinch runner Bourn for Burrell, (I wish I could bet on this in baseball, the line would have to be around -900) followed by a hit by Helms, the Phillies had Rowand at the plate. A sac bunt, which I didnt like, moved them over to 2nd and 3rd 1 out for Ruiz. Ruiz hits a groundball up the middle to 2nd baseman Belliard to score Bourn and tie the game. Then they strand the guy at 3rd. Don't worry in the 10th they did the same thing.

In the 12th the most exciting moment of the game came when a line drive foul ball found its way to the empty section next to me where I ran over and picked it up capturing my second career foul ball and my 3rd career television appearance (cool shots, Phillies vs. Orioles) as verified by one of my groosman seconds later via text message.

Then the epitome of the Philadelphia Sports fan way of life became even clearer than ever. As newly acquired (for player to be named later; shouldn't this read: for free cause he sucks and if you want him jesus just take him already) Francisco Rosario approached the mound a random Philly fan stopped next to me and said "this is it, this guy sucks, I guarantee we don't make it out of this inning". He went back to his seat, in the first row (clearly moved down as did we) and I proceeded to watch an infield single followed by a double down the line which led to 2nd and 3rd no out. He turned back to look for me and we caught eyes and he just raised his hands as if to say, "see?". It was obvious, that even after every other pitcher the phillies had (except gordon) that there would be a weak link in the chain... and that guy knew it. The next batter worked a 2-1 count and i couldn't help myself. I turned to D-ton and said, "this is it... this is the last pitch of the game," sure enough the next pitch was a sac fly to win. The Phils lose again in the ritualistic "bend you over and show you who's boss" manner. I wish you could press charges for Emotional Rape.

Needless to say they are 3-10 the worst team in the Majors and we still have 149 more games of this. Every time they came up in a spot they blew it. Howard looked terrible, Rollins looked worse and Utley simply looked like he was going through the motions. This team clearly doesn't want to be on the field anymore than we want to be watching them. Its almost as if they have that same conversation as I did on the way in. Their anxiety will keep them warm but at the end of the day, it'll only be anger. Doesn't that thought process have to stop somewhere??? So we wait for that one guy who decides, to step up and say, I'm gonna change the game... until then I'll continue to pursue the legal possibilities of emotional rape.

Long Wait... Same Heartbreak

Wow, its been a while. It's good to be back, now that I have something to complain about again. Well, most philly fans will disagree with me considering since the last blog I wrote the Eagles lost their QB and their season to the Saints in a second round playoff game, the Flyers lost their season (in October) and their Number 1 pick and the Sixers lost their season and their chance at Durant or Oden is all but in the bag. So why start now??? Because I just can't seem to vent my frustrations enough about the Phillies. Everytime something happens in their games, whether it be bad or good, you can sum it up in two words. Fuckin' Phillies. Doesn't have to be bad... i.e. Rollins leading the team in HRs with 5 and Howard having 1. You look at that stat and go, heh, Fuckin' Phillies. Or you can look at how they're batting .181 with RISP, .171 with RISP and 2 out or how they are 0 for 11 with the bases loaded!!!! (still have 8 rbis) You can look at those stats and say FUCKIN' PHILLIES! That sentence alone describes the frustration of a Phillies fan. I have permenantly saved that message in my phone so I can send on that text every game. Probably at least thrice. But this is the torture we put ourselves through as Philly Fans, especially since there are still 153 games left in the season. Theres only been 9 games!!! The worst part is... how they lose. Opening day, blow a 7th inning lead to lose in 10 by the score of 5-3, Game 2 blow a 9th inning lead to lose in 11 by the score of 3-2. (Last year they were the last team in the MAJORS to blow a 9th inning lead). Game 3 they lose 8-4 but end the game with the bases loaded. Game 4 they actually win, game 5 they lose 8-5 and Howard strikes out with a man on 3rd to end the game. Game 6 they lose 6-4, ending the game with the bases loaded, leaving them loaded one of 3 times that day. Game 7 they lose 11-5, however they were leading 5-4 in the 8th. (fire Charlie Manuel please) Game 8 they win and last night, game 9 they lose again 5-3 with a man on third to end the game. The scary thing is... I didn't have to look at any references for that. I can remember them all! Did I mention its only 9 games into the season and I'm already that frustrated. In their 7 losses they have lost by a total of 21 runs. Having a chance to tie or win the game with the last pitch all but 2 of the 7. But don't worry cause as promising as that sounds they have left a total of... 133 GUYS ON BASE!! JUST IN THOSE 7 LOSSES. Thats 19 a game!!! WTF! The LEAST they've left on is 11. Thats just absolutely ridiculous. One game against the Braves they left 28 men on base. 28 LOBS!!! *deep breath* Fuckin' Phillies. The cycle never ever ends. There have been no championships for Philadelphia since I was 1. The '83 sixers. Thats 24 years. Thats 96 seasons. Thats at least 8,208 games (not including playoffs). Why!?!?! Since I was 1, and I definitely do not recall that, the city of Philadelphia has had at least one team in the Playoffs every year, except '94, including championship losses in 83, 85, 87, 93, 97, 01 and 04. Thats at least 23 postseason trips in 24 years. Yet, every year we wait and wait for that heartbreaking moment. Every sports season starts with the same question for philly fans... how are we gonna blow this one? And the only thing for sure is that at some point in that season we're gonna say, well... time to start looking forward to the ______ (<- insert next losing philly franchise here).