Philly Friday — They Drag Me Back In
June 8, 2007 by Run Up The Score!
Buried deep in the RUTS by-laws and tri-laws is this litttle known regulation:
Section III (D) (viii) (4): The Philadelphia Phillies shall not be mentioned in a serious, analytical manner before August 15 unless they are no more than five (5) games behind the Eastern Division leader in the official standings as published by Major League Baseball.
Well, thanks to another comeback victory against the Mutts at Shea Stadium, The Day has arrived:
New York 35-23 -
Atlanta 33-28 3.5 GB
Philly 31-29 5 GB
The Phillies have climbed back into the race with — gasp! — starting pitching and late-inning clutch hitting, a little luck, shockingly efficient relief pitching from some guys named Mike Zagurski and Yoel Hernandez (with Brett Myers and Flash Gordon on the DL) and Pat Fucking Met Killer Burrell dusting off his boomstick to tag Billy Wagner with a ninth-inning home run last night.
For the record, I hate it when they make me believe. I already know how this story ends.
Elsewhere in and around Philadelphia:
PSU alumnus Tony Hunt is picking up the playbook for the Eagles, impressing Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter in the process.
“Me and Westbrook were talking about that at practice today - Tony looks a whole lot better. I know rookie camp probably helped him a lot . . . No wasted motion, he looks like he’s got it pretty much down,” Buckhalter said. “We always try to help him any way we can, because that’s the approach Duce Staley and Brian Mitchell took with us.”
Westbrook, who blossomed to full feature-back status last season, said: “I think Tony has progressed a whole lot from that first minicamp. I was worried a little bit during the first minicamp that he wouldn’t pick up the plays fast enough so that he could contribute. But he’s come a long way, and he’s done a great job now of picking up the plays and understanding a lot of different things.”
Could the Sixers be interested in Glen “Big Baby” Davis?
Checking in with the Birds’ new linebacker, Takeo Spikes.
The Randall Bar? Delicious! [The 700 Level]
mp3:
Action News Theme — WPVI Philadelphia
The Goats — Philly Blunts (NSFW, awesome strictly for the Bobby Heenan reference)
Big Baby would be a nice addition but they are in desperate need of a true big man. The owner of the Rockets might be moving Yao, he wants a Sun style offense.
I would have to buy Rosetta Stone and learn chinese so I can curse out Yao if he ever wore a sixers uni.
After this great series against the Mets, I’m expecting the Phillies to get swept by the Royals.
And I won’t be surprised at all.
Steve — I was actually going to write the same exact thing. Two years ago, the Phils made a habit of beating all the best teams on the schedule, only to be promptly swept by Pittsburgh and Milwaukee. Here’s hoping they maintain their focus in KC.
Man, I almost feel bad for Philly fans. It must be like watching a bad movie you’ve already saw several times.