Last week I on the radio interview, I was proclaiming how the Phillies were going to win the Wild Card after a successful series in DC. Now things aren't looking so hot. After dropping 2 of 3 to the Pirates and the Dodgers, the Phillies are now scrambling for starting pitching as they begin a series with Wild Card leaders, the San Diego Padres. So on this week's interview, I was singing a different tone.
Listen to Brian explain the Cole Hamels situation and flip-flop on the Phillies chances.
The Phillies distressing week started off poorly in Pittsburgh. The club gave up four-run leads in two consecutive games and lost a series to a team they should have beat. As the Wild Card picture became more opaqaue, I got to thinking, maybe it would be better to focus on the Mets in this playoff race. Of course New York has won seven of ten, but at least the Phils would only be chasing a single team. Also, not to look past the Padres, but the Phils open up a four game series with New York on Monday to close out this home stand. Padres and Mets back-to-back, without Chase Utley and without Cole Hamels...is it even possible?
Hey did you hear the Phillies lost 10,000 games as a franchise? Yes, it happened on Sunday on national television but apparently it had an even bigger audience. The World Today, a radio show on the BBC World Service, picked up the story and interviewed yours truly for the piece. Hopefully this means, that the year I spent in London preaching the Phillies gospel around the European continent has piqued some interest in the Phillies worldwide. More likely though, they just like to laugh at Americans.
To listen to the interview click on the play button below. If no bar appears or you have technical issues, use the text link to download or stream it.
Brian discusses the Phillies' 10,000 losses on the BBC The World Today programme.
How a foul ball and an 11-year-old kid still define our feelings about Phillies management 85 years later. 
Anyone who’s caught a ball at a Phillies game—whether at the Baker Bowl, Connie Mack Stadium, the Vet or Citizens Bank Park—can thank the Phillies, a principled judge and a brave 11-year-old boy.
There may be no better American sporting tradition than keeping a ball that’s hit into the stands. Fans keep foul and home run balls as lifetime souvenirs, treating them as cherished possessions. The crowd cheers fans making a nice catch on a foul ball. Fans dropping an easy one get a hearty boo—at least from Philadelphia fans.
Home run balls make fans instant celebrities. Andrew Morbitzer did the TV morning show circuit earlier this year when he caught Barry Bonds’ 715th homer. Todd McFarlane paid $3 million for Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball. Bonds’ record-setting 73rd homer in 2001 caused a legal battle that went on for two years. McFarlane eventually bought that ball too. In 2004 Texas Rangers fan Matt Starr knocked over a 4-year-old attempting to get a foul ball. (After an outcry, he gave it to the kid.)
And then there’s the case of Robert Cotter.
Continue reading "Losing Proposition"
Last night - more like early this morning - I was a guest on the Brian Startare show on 610 WIP. We had originally scheduled our discussion for the Saturday night show, but Brian thankfully let me off the hook to enjoy the St. Patty's Day festivities on offer in Clearwater. In case you missed the live broadcast, it is available below for your listening enjoyment.
Click on the play button below to play the clip. If no bar appears or you have issues, use the link below to download or stream it.
Listen to Brian talk about the Phillies and Phillies Nation on 610.
Delco Times
Tim Logue, Of the Times Staff
With just a week to go in the regular season, it was an odd sight. There were the analysts on ESPN’s "Baseball Tonight" talking about which teams in the National League would advance to the playoffs, and all of them were picking the Phillies.
Just as strange were the National Football League picks rolled out by ESPN.com a few weeks earlier. Of the 12 football analysts, just one had the Eagles wining the NFC East in 2006.
"I think those picks are good for both teams," said Michael Rogers, a Phillies and Eagles fan from Upper Darby. "It’s good to see the Phillies finally getting some attention and it’s good for the Eagles to be under the radar. After everything that happened last year, the less people focus on them the better."
Though the Phillies’ playoff hopes were hanging by the thinnest of threads Saturday, the state of the franchise has improved dramatically since July, when their own general manager was questioning whether the team was good enough to win not only this season, but next.
And the Eagles, with a rejuvenated Donovan McNabb, improvement along the offensive and defensive lines, and the absence of a one-man circus at wide receiver, are looking more like the 2004 Super Bowl version than the 2005 Titanic edition.
For Philadelphia sports fans, true satisfaction is always a championship away, but many are excited to see the stock of their baseball team on the rise and their football team’s on the rebound.
Continue reading "Whether they're rooting for Phillies or Eagles, Delco fans are passionate"
Philadelphia Inquirer
Page E1
Daniel Rubin
Shallow Center wrote about the movies the other day - how Napoleon Dynamite was some bad junior high school joke he didn't get, but the Big Lebowski will remain a winner forever. Tom Durso, the site's writer, also posted about the auto show - the muscular Audi A4, the sweet Honda S2000 - and wondered why no car he likes gets decent gas mileage in these oil-dependent times. (A commenter - a relative, in fact - replied: "Get a haircut, hippie.")
It's been a long off-season for the Phloggers - the bloggers who chronicle the agate and agita of the Philadelphia Phillies. Today Phanatic Phollow Up is writing about the World Baseball Classic.
But it's time once again to stretch.
Beerleaguer made the point with a short, sweet post this week, headlined: "Did You See It?"
The most significant worlds of 2006. Did you see it this morning in the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer? If you missed it, get ready. Are you reader? You're not ready. Ok, you're ready. Here it is:
CLEARWATER, Fla. -
That's it. A dateline is enough to make a Phillies blogger's day. They are not alone.
Continue reading "Around The Horn With The Phloggers"
