I love you.

Career for JRoll against today's starter Ian Snell: 8 for 15, 1 2b, 2 3b, 1 HR, 3 RBI

The MVP campaign starts today.

I like Shore's post.

It's Saturday.

TenuredVulture wrote:I like Shore's post.

meh. Anyone who sat through those 12 innings last night was perfectly within rights to be real-time angry. It's over now. Move on to Saturday.

Les Walrond is an integral bullpen piece to the puzzle which is the NL East division...

Les resides from Muskogee OK

this is their mayor

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfyayWe6_oY[/youtube]

Les Walrond's favorite song.

Shore wrote:Nah, I'll just continue to bitch about the first place team.

They play 162 games; they're likely going to lose between 70 and 80 of them. Yet, every single time they lose, it's inexcusable. And every single one of them is illustrative of some major goddamned flaw. "They don't hit good pitching." "They don't hit bad pitching." "Their rotation sucks." "Their bullpen sucks/overworked/not structured right." "The manager's an idiot." "They're not clutch" "They only score runs in bunches." Blah blah blah.

Relax, enjoy the season. They are winning their division right now, and we all know they're not playing as well as they could be.

You know what shore? go to hell. That's probably a really bad thing to say to a moderator, but I'm saying it. Really. I read today that the phillies run rate over the last 2 MONTHS is better only than the giants, the nationals and the padres. That is not enjoyable to watch. It would be acceptable if they were at least winning the good games by hamels and moyer, but they can't. not only is that not enjoyable, it's quite frustrating. Furthermore, we've had to watch the distinctly unenjoyable spectacle of one of our main starters crumble slowly and steadily before our eyes. sure, the last two starts, maybe he's turned it around, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but it's not been enjoyable. Watching Brad Lidge look shaky when closing, missing his spots, has not been enjoyable. a sanguine and stoic attitude supported by a knowledge that the stats will prove you right gets you only so far.

Venting aside, the bullpen HAS been structured badly. We're relying on one loogy, and slowly wearing his arm down AND leaving him too long in against the guys he can't really get out. We've got two quite old guys, one of whom is a done for life now. We've been waiting for the fall on this, and done nothing about it. There is nothing enjoyable about watching a bad outcome come closer and closer and doing nothing about it.

What is there exactly to enjoy about the transient nature of being in first when your great strength (hitting) has been absent for a prolonged period, when your rotation has been down to four men and the team braintrust have seen fit to improve it with a man who can at best be described as an above league average innings eater? It's not pleasant to know that you're hanging on to first by your fingernails. It's the sporting equivalent of dangling over a precipice and feeling your grip slowly weaken.

Worse, it comes after a year of great enjoyment and success. Our gambles haven't paid off (jenkins not being done, another alright year out of flash, myers adjusting his head to starting again), so I can see no way to enjoy our good fortune there. Our best player hasn't been playing well as well as last year when he spent a stretch on the disabled list, and in the last month, has been playing considerably worse. Nothing enjoyable there. Plus, there have been what have felt like more than a usual number of games where we have played sloppily, both in the field and at the plate.

Don't come the straw man with all the 'they only hit bad pitching' lines. A sizable chunk of this board have not resorted to such nonesense. there's been no bollix about how we need rowand, or this team just doesn't have guts. Or at least if there has, the general tone of the poster has been out of step with the overall tone of this board.

This isn't pissy little whinging. This is genuine, angry frustration. You want to lay the charge of quitters, go let loose on philaphans. I for one am angry at a team that is stalling and a front office that has done nothing to change things up.

Maybe it genuinely does get better. But don't tell me to enjoy the last two months. Hell, I haven't even been watching every game. If I could have done, you would all know angry.

Last time I checked, wins and losses were not a good measure of how well a team was actually playing. So don't tell me to enjoy first place.

1) Wiz did not get the positivity memo.

2) That was beautiful anger.

Now that was a peptalk. Almost fist-pump worthy.

I think everyone who cares one way or another is Barry Manilow gay.

Go Team.

Your avatar has froze on my screen midclap and it is horrifying

Great post by Wiz and it kinda reminds me of why I don't get mad at the Phillies. I'm old an I've seen this stuff most of my life and read about how it was before my time. And you know what? Withn the exception of the years 1974-1983 or so, the Phils never addressed their problems.

For decades, they just sold all their good players to survive financially and the finished last. Then along came Carpenter the elder and he made the Phils stink a little less but they still pretty much ignored improving the team by refusing to sign black players and they tried to solve problems with guys like Harry Anderson and Johnny Wyrostek and Connie Ryan and Earl Torgeson and Bob Kuzava and Roy Seivers and Gus Triandos and Bob Buhl and Ray Herbert and Greg Jeffries and Jose Mesa and Danny Tartabull. And then refusing to get into the Latin market like they should have and all the other stupid stuff they do/have done. Hey, I know -- let's sign Adam Eaton for three years. He can win 20 games.

And they'd trade Fergie Jenkins. And they'd trade Dick Allen for crap. Lety's not talk about Freddie Garcia and Bob Kelly Abreu. Hell they sold Curt Simmons for a buck when he was still a good pitcher.

So I've pretty much accepted the fact that this bunch will only win if we get kinda lucky. And that keeps me from getting all that angry.

Wiz, I've only known you when the Phillies were making it to the post-season and in first place for the majority of a season.

Good Lord Almighty what were you like when the team was ending seasons in last place year after year?

Wow, Wiz. That was awesome.

I guess they should change that old saying to "fatherhood usually mellows a man".

bahaha!!!!

(in the queue)