And people call us crass...

Needless to say, I fucking loved this shit. Kudos to the700level for the link, and to Chase for channeling the thought every Phan has had since Wednesday night and screaming it on the biggest stage possible. Now that he's done it twice, I can officially call him Chase "Fuck"ley:
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It ain't a cliche to me. I've waited my whole life for this blog post.

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You think I was in a silly mood last week?

Six hours till first pitch. The best pitcher I've watched in a Phillies uniform on the mound. It ends tonight. Click me for the rest!

One more win

It's still surreal to me, which is why I'm so happy to have an indelible record of so much of this postseason run. I may well forego live-blogging tomorrow night in favor of being able to watch the game in Philly with Radnor, because it just has to be that way. But this could very well be the last night of something I've known for as long as I can remember. And as much as I tend to resist change, I'm not the slightest bit apprehensive about this one. Here's hoping the Phils aren't either. Cole takes the mound tonight looking to stake his claim to the greatest postseason a starting pitcher has ever had. Jimmy leads off tonight looking to make good on his promise to Larry Bowa to put the mark on CBP that Bowa and his Phillies left on the vet. 27 outs from a night we've all waited for for far too long. Click me for the rest!

I feel obligated to post about the Phils

But the truth is, there's nothing left for me to say about this team except for one thing: win or lose, the 2008 Phillies are the best team to play in Philadelphia in my life. If they can play .500 ball over six games, they'll be World Champions, but their performance on this stage, even if only for one game, trumps anything any of the other teams have done. If they don't finish the job, it will be because Tampa comes back and proves they're even better, because as of now, there is no doubting of the Phillies left to be done. They're not perfect, but they're good enough to win a World Series. That's a feeling I'm just not accustomed to feeling. Why can't us? Click me for the rest!

God I love the internet...

Not that it's surprising, but the Flyin Hawaiian is as pumped as I am, and it does make me truly giddy to read it. Game day is here, baby. Come on back around noon tomorrow for a link to my World Series preview at examiner. Until then, one more silly song for my silly mood:
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"They're like characters in a Springsteen song..."

This article offers up easily the funniest and most accurate description I can remember of the Phillies fan. Who'd have thought it would come from the Wall Street Journal? Kudos, as always, to the700level for finding it first. Click me for the rest!

Because I like being funny more than I like being analytical

And "why can't us?" is as valid a take on the World Series as any other. Click me for the rest!

I smile when I think about it...

It's been over 24 hours now since it became reality, and I cannot deny, it's still hitting me. It probably doesn't hurt that I'm listening to WIP, but even just hangin out with Michelle, watching Heroes earlier, my thoughts would drift away for a few minutes, and eventually, I'd remember, and I wouldn't be able to help but have a giant grin on my face. The Phils are in the World fucking Series. It's unbelievable, and it was worth every bit of the wait. This week is going to be unbearably slow, but it's gonna be a great week, too. I'm gonna do my best to savor the slowness, to cherish the anticipation, because that's usually the best part. Every heartbreaking loss, every embarassing loss, every devastating injury, every star player who ran himself out of town, it's all been leading us back to this, and it makes this all the sweeter. If the Rays manage to bounce back from tonight's epic, epic fail and give us one final shot at dignity before the phanbase is forced to just bend over and call the city of Tampa daddy, the tidbit I'm about to mention will probably be one of the angles played up most in this series: the last time the Phils did this, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were still two years from being awarded as an expansion franchise. In fact, until literally this year, the most notable thing the Rays had ever done was trade Bobby Abreu to the Phillies for Kevin Stocker on expansion draft day. Click me for the rest!

Nothing is fucked? The goddamn plane has crashed into the mountains!

Well, kiddos, the mother of all fucking catastrophes is about to strike the city of Philadelphia. With the Phils holding a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS, the city of brotherly love's thoughts have started to shift forward to the World Series. Lo and behold, Mayor Michael Nutter is reportedly considering making the same ridiculous mistake this city has been making for 15 years. He's thinking about putting the jersey on William Penn. I don't even know what else to say, except that this clearly cannot be allowed to happen. I need game plans, folks, how the fuck are we going to stop this from occurring?

edit: nothing is fucked. The mayor's office issued a form letter and some dude from Modell's is on WIP swearing there will be no dressing up of William Penn. Now back to regular programming. Click me for the rest!

What a long, strange trip it's been

As I do my best to make the hours between now and NLCS game 2 pass quickly, I'm finding it very hard not to think about where these Phillies have been to get in this position. I've read stories about these teams from every angle except for the one that Phillies fans have lived for the last decade. There are stories about Black Friday, and stories about 1993, and a fucking boatload of stories about Manny and Torre and their date with destiny and the Red Sox...who haven't even played ALCS game 1 yet! But I've never seen a story about the journey these Phils have gone on together. Whereas the Dodgers, replete with young talent as they may be, are the picture of building a team with cold hard cash, the Phils are as home grown a team as you'll find in baseball.

Jimmy Rollins
Chase Utley
Ryan Howard
Pat Burrell
Cole Hamels
Brett Myers
Ryan Madson
Carlos Ruiz
JA Happ
Chris Coste

That's nearly half of the Phillies' NLCS roster, and every one of them came through the Phillies' minor league system. It's also the team's 4 best position players, top 2 starting pitchers primary setup man. Shane Victorino was a rule 5 draft pick from the Dodgers, but didn't even get his 73 non-Phils Major League at bats with L.A., he got them with San Diego in 2003 when they made him a rule 5 pick. So Shane-o is essentially a career Phillie. Jayson Werth was signed off the scrap heap after a promising rookie year and two seasons lost to injury with the Dodgers. He, like Shane, came to the Phils unproven and earned his pinstripes. The team's only true major acquisitions from the outside are Jamie Moyer and Brad Lidge...Moyer, who they got after the trade deadline in 2006, having dealt away Bobby Abreu and immediately vindicating all those who said his malaise had been even more damaging than Larry Bowa's fits of rage. Is Jamie Moyer an important acquisition? No doubt about it. Watch a Cole or Brett start and count how many shots you get in the dugout of Jamie Moyer teaching. Immeasurable. And I don't even need to speak of Brad Lidge's importance to this team. But even his acquisition, having been riddled by injuries and banished to the 8th inning in Houston, came at the cost of two of the team's highest rated prospects in Michael Bourn and Mike Costanzo.

The next biggest acquisition on the roster? It's a toss up between Greg Dobbs, Pedro Feliz, and JC Romero. So it's no exaggeration to say the vast majority of this team's important players learned to win together, as a team. They came up together, struggled together, stood up for each other when they got into ridiculous media battles with departed closers (see ya in 2010, Billy.) That's the story I want to read. The one about how Pat Burrell was branded the savior when the Phils drafted him in 1998 to replace JD Drew who had been branded the savior and never signed the year before. And how he got rushed to the majors and it almost worked but then the league figured out he had never learned how to hit and started pitching around his swing. I want to read about how Jimmy Rollins had to answer questions about being a "leadoff hitter" the way Donovan McNabb had to answer questions about being a "pocket quarterback" and went on to win an MVP batting leadoff and hitting .290. Whatever. Few more wins and Joe Buck's not gonna have Hollywood to adore anymore.


...To anyone who might ask, this just felt more appropriate here than on examiner. Plus I wanted to say fuckin boatload. Click me for the rest!

Because the Phillies are in the motherfrakking NLCS baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I was dead wrong about starting Cole on short rest. My reverse jinx powers in the NLDS were unreal. Click me for the rest!

And the angels in the heavens, they are wondering...Why am I so glad?

Last night marked my first opportunity to see Weezer in over 3 years, and seize the opportunity I did, taking Michelle to her first =w= show in the process. I should preface this by saying I am pretty much as big a fan as you'll find of their newest album, and generally among the less critical members of their fanbase. Is Pinkerton the best thing they've ever made? Of course it is. But that doesn't preclude them from making other wonderful music which just doesn't happen to be quite as good as it was. As far as I can tell, it's essentially impossible for a band not to have one piece of work which just shines a little brighter than all the rest. So, with that being said, here's the setlist, with some notes:

My Name is Jonas (1st verse sung by Pat from behind drums, 2nd by Scott)
Pink Triangle
Perfect Situation (with Scott singing lead)
Say it Ain't So
SUZANNE (complete with a wonderful a capella intro, after which Brian sang lead)
Keep Fishin
King (sung, of course, by Scott)
Tom Delonge greeted by a chorus of boos from MSG crowd
Undone (with Tom ruining the first verse, but thankfully being mostly drowned out by the crowd, Scott singing 2nd verse, and Rivers drumming the outro)
Pork And Beans
Dreamin
Dope Nose (sung by Scott)
Troublemaker
Rivers (literally) says "hasta la vista baby" before Scott takes vocals and lead guitar and Atom from Angels and Airwaves drums for Automatic
Hash Pipe
El Scorcho (sung by Brian)
Morning Glory (oasis cover, sung by Pat, drummed by Rivers)
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
----------
Hootenanny:
Island in the Sun
Beverly Hills
---------
Sliver (Nirvana cover)
Buddy Holly


All in all, I was absolutely delighted. I went into the show quite skeptical about all the non-Rivers singing that's been going on lately, and I certainly had a few moments last night during which I lamented the fact that the others were singing his songs, but for the most part, I thought they sounded great, and there is no doubt in my mind that Rivers was enjoying himself on stage more than I've ever seen. Gone were the days of the nerd hiding behind his glasses and his guitar, stuck like a deer in headlights, and in his place was a charismatic, roaming madman, prone to use of jazz hands, jumping up and down, and making the funniest stare-up-to-the-heavens-while-orgasming guitar solo face I've ever been privy to. The hootenanny was every bit as amusing as I had imagined it might be, with kick-ass renditions of the guitar solos performed on trumpet, flute, and saxophone. The setlist, on the whole, was the most satisfying one I've ever seen them play, including my first opportunity to hear Suzanne live, and the first two covers I've ever seen Weezer play. It wasn't perfect, and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who thought it sucked. But it was all I could've asked for from my favorite band, except perhaps coming back a lot fucking sooner next time. I've missed you.
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He's a real reactionary...

First things first. I guess Brewers management thinks they're even deader than I do, eh?

On another note, disappointing or not, I saw a lot of encouraging signs out of the Eagles tonight, foremost among them Desean Jackson. I didn't expect nearly the scoring I saw tonight, but I'm not surprised given the caliber of offenses the teams saw last week, but I saw an Eagles offense which was as explosive and diverse as any I've ever seen, and as accurate a Donovan as I've ever seen. If they play defense against everyone more like they did against the rams than they did tonight, this team will have only injuries or itself to blame for not making a deep postseason run. And now back to regular programming. Let's go Phils. Click me for the rest!

I've got a hunger, twisting my stomach into knots...

In non-Phils news (for the unaware: Phils post directly below) I'm hungry, which means I'm cranky, which usually makes for a good blog post. So I'm gonna starve myself a bit whilst recounting my ridiculously inane existence. Most recently, I became aware of my hunger only when the Apple TV -- which is currently handling music to keep my computer from heating up too much without requiring the A/C, which I don't want because the breeze is so nice -- played "The Sound of Settling..." and my stomach said "yo fucker, your ACTUAL stomach has is twisting into actual knots." while I was writing my Phils post. Truth be told, I really don't have anything else to report. Dropped by the new Fiji house for the first time over the weekend, met a bunch of new rushes who seemed legit enough to me, witnessed the usual debaucherama (which, to clarify, is debauchery and drama, not lots of debauchery...though perhaps it was really a debaucheramarama? In any event, I think I've got the only word ending in in "ock" or "ama" which the MegalObamaniacs can't co-opt), in addition to later seeing my very wise, politically-minded friend Captain Riggs for the first time in a while who regaled me with tales of the capital and conventions, and who I hope to be lucky enough to visit some time in the next year in Oxford. Other than that the rain and the arrival of rock band (a night early, because I rule!) pretty much guaranteed that Michelle and I would be glued to the tv screen for the rest of the weekend, alternating between the 42 monumentally important baseball games played in the last 48 hours and the weekend's footballing, highlighted of course by the Steelers' riveting 10-6 victory over the Browns in what was left of Ike last night. Somehow, it was actually even less entertaining than the 3-0 game they played against Miami last year. I never thought I'd say those words, but it's really true. Anyone who watched them both couldn't possibly argue with me. This game featured football every bit as poor as that one, without any of the fun of sloppin it around in the mud or seeing a punt stick out of the ground like Punxatawney Phil. It's too bad I don't have a football game to be excited about tonight. Click me for the rest!

So here I am, it's in my hands, and I'll savor every moment of this

So, I don't know if you've heard, but it was pretty damn sunny in Philadelphia yesterday, perhaps all part of a grand marketing scheme in advance of this thursday? But never did the light shine brighter than during the nightcap of yesterday's doubleheader between the Phils and the Broomed Crew, as Brett became the first pitcher since my namesake and fellow southpaw Andy Pettite to throw a complete game on 3 days rest. And he did it in 95 pitches. He was essentially one Prince Fielder home run or one Astro hit from splitting national headlines with Zambrano today, but this ain't about bein a rock star and the end result is all the same. Somehow, by the grace of the baseball gods, the Phils have reclaimed control over their playoff fate. Would it be nice to win the East? Of course. But the wild card is now theirs to lose, and there are no two ways about it.

The schedule includes but three more games against a team which can even be described as mediocre, and 9 against Atlanta and Washington. There is simply no excuse for letting the Brewers, who play 6 more games against the Cubs, finish out the schedule with a better record. Don't even get me started about the disgrace it would be if Ed Wade, Randy Wolf, Geoff Geary, Michael Bourn, no Carlos Lee and the rest of the Rastros come from 2 games back. 150 games in, this team has the opportunity to make the Great Drought of '08 a distant, forgotten memory. It has the opportunity to make the 8th inning's metamorphosis from Mr. Tom's Wild but ultimately pretty effective Ride into the DurMadson Triangle nothing more than a post script to the story of what was, ultimately, a wild ride back to the postseason. The only things standing in the way are themselves, and 12 games with teams with a 200-248 combined record and nothing to play for, but nothing to lose. I'm officially out of the prognosticating business, because it's a total no-win from here on out...plus I have no idea what to expect.
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You gotta...bereave?

I'd like to have something witty to say about the topic but the truth is it really just makes me queasy. This Phillies team, to put it quite simply, is not a playoff team. And it's not for lack of pitching staff, because this pitching staff is still better than it was a year ago, despite today's 8th inning meltdown -- which, by the way, is as easily fixed as Charlie accepting the fact that Durbin NEVER strands inherited runners. He's had a great year, and while he may be tiring, the truth of his recent woes is that he's been asked to be this bullpen's fire extinguisher and he's got an arm full of kerosene. Either get Brett out of the game, or at least go to the pen before the runner is on 3rd, but Durbin just doesn't react well to being brought in with his back against the wall. -- and it's not for lack of offensive talent, because even in what has been considered a significantly "down" year for the Phillies offense, they lead the NL in homers and rank among the league leaders in runs scored. This team will fall short, and in fact really has already sealed that fate with 16 games to play, because they lack the heart which their 2007 counterparts practically OD'd on. I'm pretty sure his name was Aaron Rowand, and I know he would never have let them spend so long going through the motions the way they have lately. They put on a damn good facade for the most part this year, but the grit just isn't there. The most glaring instances of it have been in games like the one they played Tuesday against the Marlins. Take a team's best shot square on the chin, get back up, and knock them the fuck out. That was the way of the 2007 Phillies, the team we saw for a couple hours about 2 weeks ago against the Mets. But in 2008, when the other team gets up from the Phils' best shot, when things inevitably get intense and the baseball suddenly gets played at a much higher level than what leads to the sorts of slugfests in question, the Phillies fold like a house of cards. They abandon the one play at a time mentality which allows them to fight out of a 9-1 deficit and start trying to do it all at once. And inevitably, fail miserably. Not miserably for them, they've maintained an impressive malaise throughout both the highs and lows of this infinitely compelling season, but miserably for those of us who have come to know it best. I never expected to wonder about the heart of this group of guys again, but I guess that's what happens when a team loses the only champion among its ranks, it loses the mentality of a championship ballclub. My only real hope, and there's documented proof of it a few times on this here blog, is that the one hallmark of the 2008 Phils is that every time they look ready to phulphill my profesy of a phade, they beat someone better than them. Click me for the rest!

Somewhere weakness is a strength, and I'll die searching for it. I can't let myself regret such selfishness.

After whining about the show's negative consequences in my last post, I felt compelled to compile a post from the fucking fraktastic Jack's Mannequin/Paramore show in The Park last week. So the headliners' setlists (sorry Phantom Planet and Paper Route...barely got there in time to hear "California"...which sucked without Schwartzman and that guitarist.) and a few waaaaay-distant photos I took with my phone are after the link, which I feel dumb calling a jump cause I'm not in the biz...whatever biz's jargon that even is. Perhaps the blogging business? Am I in that with this little black hole at the end of the internet?



Jack's Mannequin played:
I'm Ready
Bruised
Kill the Messenger
Dark Blue
La La Lie
The Resolution (new single)
The Mixed Tape
and Made For Each Other

They sounded great, and had a ton of support from the obviously rather enormous crowd, which surprised me a little given the Z100 signs everywhere. But Paramore were much greater, even while playing a set list very, very similar to the one I saw them play while supporting Jimmy Eat World a couple months back. Maybe I'm just a tool who loves them, but I can't get over how much more energy Hayley manages to bring to live shows than the already substantial amount she brings to her albums. Rock the fuck on, young lady. Their setlist:

Born for This
That's What You Get
Here We Go Again
Fences
Crush Crush Crush (which they've rearranged quite nicely this tour, though eliminating the Flo Rida moment which made my life worth living. Long as it didn't die in vain. Also...dude's name is FloRida...how is that not hysterical?)
Let the Flames Begin
When it Rains
My Heart
Decoy
Pressure
For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic

-- (two dashes for the shortest and least announced encore departure ever)
We Are Broken
Emergency
Hallelujah(like, the one that's not a Paramore song) into Hallelujah (the one that is)
and of course Misery Business, which really fuckin made the sizable tween girl crowd squeal...but alas still makes me do the same. All in all a really awesome show, and one I'm sorry to have bitched about earlier. But seriously, my leg is a joke. If anyone asks I might even post a picture of the scab situation or even the band aid situation i got goin on right now. But of course the comments-only rule applies. Oh and to my one commenter ever, Chris, sorry I never got back to you dude, right after you commented, literally like that day, I went on vacation for a week with all my friends from UHall, and it totally slipped my mind on my return. I will be better at returning any and all future comments. Someone be listening.






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Guess I'll just close my eyes...

...Brett Favre...a J-E-T jet jet jet? Say it ain't fuckin so. I still have no idea if I can actually root for him. Looks like Michelle (she insists I don't need to hide her name and I feel dumb doing so) might get her wish of the Steelers being my 3rd team after all. But this late night post has nothing to do with that and everything to do with my Phils, about whom I have this to say: their ONLY chance of making any kind of a meaningful go of it IN October is with at least two pitchers starting games who are not currently doing so for this team.

As spotless as his scoreline somehow remained tonight, Kendrick is an absolute abomination against lefthanded hitters, and truthfully only has one effective pitch to righties. When he's on, and facing a team which doesn't have more than a dangerous lefty or two, his sinker alone is enough to win us some games, as it did tonight. But his fastball ain't cuttin it against anyone, including righties. He needs to spend some time in Allentown IronPiggin it while he develops that fabled changeup he's abandoned the concept of throwing since the second week of June.

Which brings us to our next conundrum. Even when Gordon is healthy, the Phils' bullpen has been getting to Brad Lidge largely on smoke, mirrors, and Chad Durbin, who no one has even tried yet to pretend is an 8th inning pitcher. His dominance the last two times out aside, there's simply no greater value for Brett Myers than as an 8th inning bridge, a role which would allow him to vastly increase his postseason trade value to a team in the closer market if successful, and further ammunition for the Phils in forcing him back into the rotation if unsuccessful. I'm guessing it would go without saying to most Phils fans where I'm headed with this by now, but I'll spell it out anyway. Their spots in the rotation are then filled by a man who's already on the roster, and didn't exactly take to his first career bullpen outing very well, J.A. Happ, and recently-promoted to AAA Carlos Carrasco, the Phils' top pitching prospect.

While Happ isn't quite a strikeout pitcher, he misses his fair share of bats, has the inherent benefit of being lefthanded, and the added benefit of being new to most hitters he'd face. Carrasco is a strikeout pitcher, and continues to flash his brilliance while constantly showing signs of boredom playing for sub-.500 minor league teams filled to the brim with minor league filler at every other spot on the diamond. Perhaps a pennant race would bring out the best in him? If his first start at AAA is any indication of his performance under pressure, he'd serve us better than what we're trotting out there now. Which, don't get me wrong, I have always believed and continue to believe is the best team in the National League East and a damn good bet to repeat as its champions. But none of us want to see the Phils get booted quickly in October again, and it's just about as late as this thing can get and still ask a couple of kids to contribute anything.

All indications are this team tried to "win now" at the deadline and came up short not on effort but on tradeable prospects/the depth to trade what we got without leaving the cupboard entirely bare. Pat Gillick and his team clearly understand, then, that the future is now, and they also see JA Happ and Carlos Carrasco as valuable enough pieces of the future to have held onto them at the deadline. Neither one has anything that much left to prove in the Minors. I doubt either of them develops into a true ace, but I seem to remember a few kids named Beckett, Willis, and Penny winning a World Series five years ago. One true ace among the bunch and a couple other guys with all kinds of stuff. Hamels, Happ, Carrasco really sound so different? Throw them out there with grampa Moyer, and a bullpen which uses Lidge, Myers, Romero, Durbin, and Madson and this team could at least sniff the second week of October. I just don't think anyone can look in the mirror and tell me Kendrick, Blanton, or Myers is gonna go out there and win a playoff game. At least with the kids, we don't have a clue. Now if only SOMEONE was reading this. Click me for the rest!

Holy Crying Fanbase, Batman!

So...the Phils really suck lately. Have you noticed? 50 days ago, which has a nice, round feel to it, if you ask me, I wrote a rather lengthy, somewhat tongue in cheek post about the pathos of the Metsies, as Keith Hernandez nauseatingly refers to them on an inningly basis, and lo and behold the very same Be Careful What You Wish For department which brought me a cat named Sharpie and a heartbreaking night in Jacksonville has delivered the very race with the Mets I longed for. Unfortunately, it's brought a bit of a panic attack to Philsville.

At that time, the Phils were 40-28, a day away from their season's current high point at 13 games over. As it stands now, following this week's incredibly lopsided on the field, but very minimally damaging in the standings 1-2 series for the Phils at Shea, the Mets are 55-47 and the Phils stand a game behind them at 54-48. One game back with another nice, round, number of games (60) left in the season. That's 60/162. It doesn't take a degree in applied mathematics from MIT to notice a few things going on here. First of all, the Phils have been a pretty putrid 13-20 since being 13 games over .500. Take out the 6-game losing streak which almost immediately followed that mark and they're only a game under .500 over the rest of that span. Hardly setting the world on fire, but hardly enough to sink a season...just ask Mets fans, they played shittier for longer earlier this year.

Which brings me to my next point...Over the same period of time, the Mets are incredibly hot. On June 12, they were 31-34. They were an organization in such disarray, taking 2/3 from Texas at Shea that weekend still got Willie Randolph fired...by e-mail...after the first game of a West Coast road trip...which he won. Since then, the Mets are 25-14. So, I'd be a fool to say there isn't any cause for concern. Clearly, if things continue on as they have for the past 7 weeks, the Phils have absolutely no chance of making the postseason again. Of course, they also probably won't finish over .500. If they continue at their post-June 12 .4117 winning percentage, they'll win 24.7 of their final 60 games. Since we're Phils fans here, we'll be generous and call that a 25-35 home stretch. Meanwhile, if the Mets continue playing .641 ball over their final 60 they'll win 38.46. In the interest of objectivity, I'll follow standard conventions with regards to rounding decimals and call that 38 wins. So when the Phils finish 79-83 and the Mets finish 103-59, I doubt anyone will be too worried about the postseason.


Thankfully for me, the Phils and Mets still have over a third of their seasons left to play, and if the first 102 games taught us anything about these teams, it's that they're both vastly flawed but capable of being the best team in the National League over an extended period of time. The chances of either of these teams, as presently constituted, playing in the same manner as they have since June 12 are miniscule. Neither of them has ever shown anything resembling that type of consistency and baseball teams simply don't win 64% of their games. I wouldn't pretend the phils can't be as bad as a .412 team, but I'm gonna go out boldly on that limb and say that if J-Roll can manage the simple fucking task of following the two easiest rules on earth, the Phils will play better down the stretch. It's with that, that I get to the true reason for my post...my brethren in Phillies land need a hug. Badly. And perhaps after the hug, someone slapping them across the face and screaming man the fuck up, there's 60 games left to play. As always, the best-written and most heartfelt take on the subject goes to Jason Weitzel at Beerleaguer, who, in quintessentially Philadelphian fashion, has gone off the deep end. I'll end this beast with a snippet from Beerleaguer. Jason, if you ever need cheering up, remember you have readers who generate hundreds of interesting, passionate comments over the course of even the most mundane Phils game...I'm pretty sure 3 people know I'm here thus far.

"This team has problems, brother. Do they ever. Chief among them: the New York Mets, who were better than the Phillies in approximately 26 out of 27 innings this series. Perez becomes the latest pitcher to set a season high against the vaunted Phillies offense. A close second: the vaunted Phillies offense, past the point where dysfunction can be blamed on "pressing." Third, the Marlins. Or the pitching. Take your pick.

So is it inappropriate to use the word "collapse" in July? Because this one is starting to mix in all the wonderful ingredients (comfortable lead followed by controversy, dysfunction, underachieving) that sunk the Mets in '07.

Or do we skip all that and say the Phillies just aren't good enough?"

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