Finally!

It only took 28 years. Finally, thank God, we won it all. Think of it this way, no matter what happens for the next five years, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. A Mets fan tries to bash the Phillies...Yeah, that's great, WE WON A WORLD SERIES. The bottom line is that everything after this is gravy for at least five years, hell maybe ten years considering its Philly. The Phillies won the World Series and they did it as a team. Role players like Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth carried them to the championship. Guys like Eric Bruntlett, Matt Stairs, Geoff Jenkins, and Pedro Feliz had huge hits and even the big names came through when it mattered. Perhaps the most fitting moment of the 5 game series occurred when the maligned LF Pat Burrell, the longest tenured player on the roster came up to the plate in a key at bat with a huge insurmontable 0-13 line hanging over his head to that point. Pat the Bat, Manchine, PtB, whatever you want to call him came through and came through huge. He absolutely hammered a ball 400 feet to straight center. Off the bat it was a homerun on any other night. Unfortunately for Pat the wind was blowing straight in from Center. That didn't matter so much as Pat got every bit of that ball and got just enough to bank it off the wall for a standup double. Like clockwork, Burrell was lifted for a pinch runner and his Phillies career had its final moment. The pinchrunner ended up scoring the winning run for the clinching game of the World Series as Pat stood with tears in his eyes in the dugout. Pat did his job and helped his team, his only professional team, go ahead for the last time. After season after long season of losing, this victory had to be sweetest of all for Pat. And sweetest of all: WE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!

Phillies Prove Existence of Merciful God

With the entire world against them, the Phillies dominated a young Tampa Bay Rays team for most of the night yet went into the bottom of the 9th with a 4-4 tie game. The Phillies had been up 4-1 in the 7th when an absolutely brutal call on a play at first base changed the entire complexion of the game. SP Jamie Moyer made perhaps the most impressive hustle play in the history of the franchise only to see a botched call by 1B umpire Alex Halion steal his spot in history. Watching this game was an exhausting experience to say the least. Our big names continued to struggle for much of the game but heroes come from unexpected places. A 45 year old starter dominated a young opponent. A defensive replacement in the much-maligned UT Eric Bruntlett came through in a crucial situation in the bottom of the 9th on the bases. C Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz continued his bid for an MVP Trophy after batting a utilitarian .219 during the regular season. The Phillies are beginning to have the feeling of a team of destiny this October as they continue to find ways to win despite somewhat lackluster performances by their big stars. Tomorrow has SP Joe Blanton facing off against the young SP Andy Sonnanstine for the Rays. The road to winning the World Series is now looking clearer for the Phillies. Blanton will be on the mound and Ace Cole Hamels will pitch a possible clinching Game 5 on Monday.

Weekly Wrapup/Awards

The Phillies had another decent week posting a 4-3 record in their last 7 games and they are hovering in 2nd place in the NL East a game back of the Florida Marlins. 1B Ryan Howard continues to be absolutely pathetic at the plate and SS Jimmy Rollins missed the entire week still out with his ankle injury. However, Rollins is expected to be activated before tonight's game in San Francisco so the Phillies will finally be back to full strength for the first time since the first week of the season. LF Pat Burrell appears to have cooled off after going a dismal 4-22 in the past seven days. The Phillies starting pitching had a so-so week having 4 Quality Starts in 7 chances, 2 of them oddly enough from 4th starter Kyle Kendrick who appears to be on a nice run of mediocrity right now. That said, its time for the weekly awards:

Player of the Week - UT Eric Bruntlett: Well it was an impressive repeat performance from utility man Eric Bruntlett. Eric once again played very well in Rollins absence going 9-29 (.310) and leading the team with 16 Total Bases. He had 2 2Bs, 1 3B, and 1 HR on the week along with a team leading 8 RBI and 6 Runs scored. Another great week for Eric.

Pitcher of the Week - CP Brad Lidge: Lidge was once again unhittable this week in 4 appearances. He gave up 2 hits and no runs while picking of 1 save in as many chances. Right now he is completely on top of his game and hitters are pretty much helpless against him. (Note: CF Michael Bourn is batting .197 in Houston...Thanks Ed Wade!!!)

Goat of the Week - 1B Ryan Howard: Was there even a question of Howard not being the goat this week? He now has his own permanent segment where I will be counting down how many Ks he needs to break his own Single Season MLB record. Right now he is on pace to shatter his mark by more than 30 Ks. Keep up the good work Ryan! His line for the week: 2 for 24 with 12 Ks. Both hits were singles and he managed to drop his batting average down to .165 after posting an .083 average for the week. He is now 190th out of 191 qualifed batters for the MLB batting title. Only injured SS Troy Tulowitzki has a lower batting average on the year. He has a solid lead in the MLB SO rankings at 51 Ks on the year but Arizona 3B Mark Reynolds is nipping at his heels just 5 back at 46 Ks.

Weekly Awards/Monthly Awards

Another week down and another good week for the Fightin' Phils. The Phillies find themselves alone atop the NL East for the first time all season with a 16-13 record going into tonight's contests. Despite inconsistent starting pitching, minimal contributions from slugger 1B Ryan Howard, and injuries to the top 2 of their lineup (SS Jimmy Rollins and CF Shane Victorino), the Phillies have chugged along to their first winning April since 2003. An outstanding bullpen and MVP performances from LF Pat Burrell and 2B Chase Utley have carried them so far.

Pleasant Surprises:

1. Outstanding performances by the bullpen including the reemergence of CP Brad Lidge as an elite closer. Gordon, Durbin, Seanez, and Romero have all been lights out as well.

2. LF Pat Burrell is in a contract year and he is performing well above his career averages in all aspects of the game, offensively and defensively. Keep gunnin' for that new contract Pat!

3. A strong bench led by now part-time starter OF Jayson Werth, 3B Greg Dobbs, UT Eric Bruntlett and C Chris Coste have all chipped in to help win ballgames during the first month of the season. Both Bruntlett and Werth have found themselves in the starting lineup for extended periods of time with the injuries to Rollins and Victorino and both have done their job.

Troubling Issues:

1. 1B Ryan Howard started off the season in horrible fashion and is still batting well below the Mendoza line posting a .184 AVG after 29 games with 39 SOs in just 103 ABs.

2. SS Jimmy Rollins ankle injury appears far worse than was originally believed and he could miss even more time than previously estimated. This could very well turn into one of those nagging injuries that follows him all season. There is no timetable on his return at this point. They were hoping for him to start a rehab assignment this month, but he is still feeling pain in his ankle during fielding drills and baserunning. It could be a while.

3. Other than SP Cole Hamels, the rotation has been mediocre at best. SP Brett Myers has lost his fastball, SP Jamie Moyer and SP Adam Eaton are giving them replacement level innings and SP Kyle Kendrick has looked overmatched all season. One small glimmer of hope for Kendrick is that he is coming off 2 quality starts in his past 3 chances.

That being said its time for the Weekly and Monthly Awards...

Player of the Week - UT Eric Bruntlett: Eric actually had a very good week filling in for MVP SS Jimmy Rollins. He went 6 for 21 and is currently in the midst 9 game hitting streak while playing good defense at SS. He has made several very good plays with his glove to at least slightly ease the pain of having Rollins on the DL. His line: .286 Avg, 4 Runs, 3 RBIs and 1 SB. Basically he's finally doing what a bench player is supposed to do when a star goes down with an injury.

Pitcher of the Week - RP Tom Gordon: If you take Opening Day out of the equation then Tom Gordon has had a very good year so far. Last week was no exception. He made 3 appearances, pitching 2 2/3 innings and picked up 2 wins in the process. In those 3 appearances, he didn't not allow a hit and only walked 1 batter. He is now tied for the team lead in wins with 3.

Player of the Month - 2B Chase Utley: Utley appears to be making a strong argument for the MVP trophy this year as he is off to a monster start. He is batting .357 with 11 HRs, 23 RBI, 25 Runs, 41 hits, 10 2Bs, 1 3B, and 2 SBs. He has also posted a .748 Slugging percentage on the season. On the defensive side of things, he has posted the 5th best Range Factor and the 4th best Zone Rating in the NL along with several Web Gems in recent nights.

Pitcher of the Month - SP Cole Hamels: Cole has started 6 games, going at least 7 innings in each of his starts while compiling an ERA of 2.70. His record so far has been 3-3 but he seems to be on pace to finally have a real breakout season as a star pitcher. So far he has been a workhorse for the Phillies and his efforts have spared the bullpen from being overworked.

Phillies Hang On To Win

Well UT Eric Bruntlett was able to save the day with a game saving play in the top of the 9th with the tying run in scoring position. He made a spectacular stop behind second base and threw a laser beam to first to get the runner. While I am pleased that Bruntlett was able to give us a flash of brilliance to save the game and help CP Brad Lidge close out the game, I still cannot wait to get SS Jimmy Rollins back at shortstop and at the top of the lineup where he is desperately needed.

Hot Streak: All-Star 2B Chase Utley hit two more HRs last night and now has HRs in 4 straight games. If he homers tonight against the Colorado Rockies he will tie the club record for consecutive games with a HR. So far, Utley and LF Pat Burrell have carried the club offensively while the rest of the lineup has struggled to produce runs. Burrell also made an excellent running catch up against the wall in the later innings that helped give the Phillies the win. Pat has been well above his career average in all aspects of the game from hitting to fielding this year.

Behind the Plate: It looks like C Chris Coste will probably earn himself some more playing time. He is batting .385 on the season and he went 1 for 4 last night. He has now started 3 of the last 4 games in place of C Carlos Ruiz who is healthy.

What the Heck?: 1B Ryan Howard has been awful so far this season both defensively and offensively. He is batting a miniscule .186 including going 1 for 13 against the Mets over the weekend. The hometown crowd has taken notice and has taken to booing him loudly...especially after he strikes out. He has struck out 27 times in just 70 ABs and he is well on his way to breaking his own single season strikeout record. The former MVP needs to step it up quickly if the Phillies are to have any chance of winning the NL East.

Bad Luck: SP Adam Eaton had a stellar performance through the first 5 innings last night and thats when the wheels finally came off the bus. He didn't record an out in the 6th and was charged with 4 earned runs to get the no decision. He had a streak of 3 straight quality starts going into last night. He did keep the Phillies in the game which is the important part. Pitching has not been the problem so far this year.

Living Dangerously: Uncle Charlie has relied quite a bit on the bullpen so far this year especially RP Chad Durbin. Durbin has pitched 14 innings in 10 appearances in the Phillies first 19 games. At his current pace, he will pitch 119 innings out of the pen. I'm betting his arm will fall off first.

Weekly Wrap

Well it was an up and down week for the Phillies in what has so far been an up and down year. SS Jimmy Rollins is still out of the lineup and is projected to be available possibly Saturday. I suspect however that he will probably not start until Sunday night at the earliest. The Phillies have missed his presence at the top of the lineup along with the speedy Victorino who is still out recovering from a calf strain. CF Shane Victorino looks to return on Apr 29 when he is eligible to come off the DL. Reports on his status are positive and his strain is less severe than originally thought. Hopefully he will be able to slide back into the lineup and give the Phillies another speedy leadoff type guy at the top of the lineup. OF Jayson Werth has been very solid in his place and is batting .370 on the year with 1 HR/5 RBI. It will be nice to get Werth back into his platoon role in RF along with Jenkins. I think it is safe to say that he has earned himself some additional ABs with his performance in the past 2 weeks. That being said, its time for the Weekly Awards:

Player of the Week - LF Pat Burrell: Pat continues to mash the ball in his contract year and he leads the team in all offensive categories. He went 7 for 20 with 5 BBs this week along with 3 HRs and 8 RBI and 6 Runs scored. He is also been playing outstanding defense (for him) in LF. Both his Range Factor (RF) and Zone Rating (ZR) are well above his career norms so far this year. For a player that is much maligned for his mediocre fielding he has been stellar in LF. He has simply been carrying the Phillies so far this season.

Pitcher of the Week - SP Brett Myers: Brett is 2-0 this week with an ERA of 2.40. In 2 starts he has gone 15 Innings while striking out 13 and walking only 1. His BAA is a mere .185 in those starts. He has really turned it on and begun challenging hitters with his fastball after a slow start to the season.

Goat of the Week - UT Eric Bruntlett: It may be unfair to expect much offense out of a utility guy but Eric has had a rough week filling in for JRoll. One surprising stat is that his defensive play has actually been better than JRoll in nearly every category so at least he's doing one thing right. Eric went 4-22 (.182 AVG/.217 OBP) this week and was the only position player without a hit yesterday in the Phillies rout of the Houston Astros.

Honorary Goat of the Week - Houston GM Ed Wade: Ed Wade made what I will politely call some "questionable" moves in his tenure as Phillies GM but I must say that his trade for SS Miguel Tejada appears to be topping all of them. Not only has Tejada been implicated in the Mitchell Report but now we've come to find out that he is indeed 33 years old instead of 31. All this makes the bevy of young prospects that Wade shipped to Baltimore even more painful for Astros fans. This is the same guy that traded his team's closer for a utility OF so go figure.

The Phillies have the Mets coming to town starting tonight where SP Johan Santana will face off against fellow lefty SP Cole Hamels in the Battle of the Changeup. It should be an interesting game to watch. Also the Phillies will be on national television again this Sunday when they face off in the series finale at 8pm on Sunday Night Baseball. Hopefully JRoll will be back for this series.

Model of Mediocrity

Interesting and befuddling stat of the day:

2008 Longest Winning Streak - 2 games
2008 Longest Losing Streak - 2 games

The Phillies have simply been unable to get any sort of momentum going over the first 16 games of the season and interestingly enough it is not the pitching which is hamstringing this team. The Phillies are actually 3rd in the NL in Quality Starts (6 IP, 3 ER or less) from their starters and the Bullpen has been fairly solid as well. The Phillies hitting has been up and down all season though and they have simply not been clutch. 3B Rally Killer has led the way despite his late inning heroics on Tuesday with multiple momentum killing GIDPs, weak popups with men in scoring position and the ever popular ground out to 3B or SS when the Phillies are trying to advance a runner with less than 2 outs. However, more puzzling, 1B Ryan Howard has been just as inconsistent. While he has 3 HRs so far, he his batting a pitiful .189 with 20 Ks in just 53 ABs. In other words he's striking out in over 30% of his plate appearances. That is a ridiculous stat and if he keeps it up, he will easily shatter his own single season strikeout record.

In other news: SS Jimmy Rollins is not expected back in the lineup until Saturday at the earliest. I'm beginning to wonder why he wasn't put on the 15 day DL to rest his injured ankle. UT Eric Bruntlett has been brutal in his place both in the field and at the plate. He now has 4 hits in 7 games since taking over for JRoll at Short.

Good News: SP Kyle Kendrick had his first Quality Start of the season yesterday and SP Adam Eaton continues to perform well in the first couple weeks of the season. Eaton is 3 for 3 on Quality Starts this year and he is posting an ERA of 4.12 in the early going. His GB rate is up and he appears to be pitching to contact more this year instead of trying to strike batters out. That's a good sign of his confidence.

Even Better News: SP Brett Myers appears to have "turned it on" and is working on his second straight QS after looking timid in his first 2 starts. He's challenging hitters now and his K/9 rate has gone up in 4 straight starts. He's looking to improve to 2-1 on the season if the Phillies hold on to win this afternoon.

A Night Best Forgotten

I live in Vermont which means I don't have the privilege of watching the Phillies on local TV whenever I please. So when they are nationally televised in HD like they were last night, I tend to block off that time so I can enjoy the game uninterrupted. I figured I would be in for quite a treat as the Phillies were looking to make it 10 straight against their division rival, the NY Mets. To say the least, I was somewhat disappointed by their lackluster effort in all aspects of the game. UT Eric Bruntlett was brutal filling in from MVP SS Jimmy Rollins. Bruntlett committed two little-league level errors in the games and looked out of place in JRoll's shoes. 3B Pedro Feliz, AKA Rally Killer maintained his place as the Phillie most likely to end any potential run scoring in the course of a game. He was only saved from grounding into another inning ending doubl-play when the usually surehanded Jose Reyes muffed an easy ground ball. However, not to be undone, Feliz promptly hit a weak popout to second base when he came up to bat in the top of the 8th with the bases-loaded and 2 outs. From here on out, I will never use Rally Killer's true name. He will need to earn that privilege back and I kinda doubt that it will ever happen.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, they got absolutely no support from SP Kyle Kendrick. Kendrick, a second-year player, lacked control for most of the night and got pounded when he did manage throw strikes. Kendrick is somewhat of a mystery. No one ever expected him to make the Major League roster last year, let alone win 10 games. He lacks an true out-pitch and gets by on hitting his spots and not walking anyone. He cannot afford to walk anyone as hitters bat .280 off of him with around a .330 OBP. As he also doesn't strike anyone out, his numbers don't project him having a very long career. I think alot of Phillies fans are going to be greatly disappointed by Kendrick this season. Last night, he threw a decent sinking fastball that stayed in the 89-92 MPH range and hit 93 MPH on occasion but he couldn't locate either his changeup or breaking ball with any consistency. He managed to walk 6 batters (a career high by the way) in just over 2 IP. He loaded the bases in both the 1st and 2nd innings on walks and in the 3rd on hits and errors by his defense. He was pulled in favor of RP Chad Durbin after 2 1/3 innings. Luckily for the Phillies, Durbin was able to stop the bleeding and contributed 3 2/3 strong innings with no runs allowed despite pitching the day before. Durbin also lowerd his ERA to 1.13 over 8 innings in 6 appearances in the Phillies first 9 games. He has thus far shown himself to be Manager Charlie Manuel's best option out of the pen.
Overall, the Phillies bullpen has proven to be very deep early in the season, especially after the return of CP Brad Lidge. Durbin, Lidge, Romero, and Gordon have all been excellent. Gordon's only bad game so far came on Opening Day. Since then he has not given up a run in his past 4 appearances. Rudy Seanez looks to be a fine addition to the back end of the pen and RHP Ryan Madson should also contribute. So far, the 12th pitcher Clay Condrey is the only reliever to be really concerned about and I honestly doubt he'll see much meaningful action for the Phillies.

New and Notes: LF Pat Burrell continued his early season tear going 2 for 4 last night raising his average to .400 on the year with 3 HRs/9 RBI. Much maligned starter Adam Eaton looks for 2 strong performances in a row as he faces off against SP John Maine tonight at 7:10 pm. CF Shane Victorino took a step backwards last night going 0-5 with 1 K lowering his average to .162. 1B Ryan Howard continues to struggle at the plate and is batting .188 so far this year. RF Geoff Jenkins made a spectacular diving catch in the 3rd inning last night to help stop the bleeding and the RF platoon of Jenkins and Werth appears to be working out so far early this year (Combined stats: .278 AVG, .381 OBP, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R)