The Phillies certainly had their fun filleting fish the past few days, and even Superstar joined the fun by hitting two homers to the opposite field. Sure, he continued to strike out, but how novel - he has started to hit left handed pitching. If he can continue this and build on it your Phillies should be just fine. John Kruk, who appeared in the broadcast booth today, believes that the Phils will play the Red Sox in this year's World Series. Kruk sounds like he has been sipping some red Kool-Aid, but it would be great if he turns out to be right.
Kruk was in town today after the Phillies announced that he would be joining his teammate Dutch Daulton on the Phillies Wall Of Fame. The Phillies name one player from the past every year for this honor and it is doubly special since Kruk got the nod over Curt Schilling. Schilling left town saying some unkind things about the team and we the fans, and turned out to be nothing more than a flapping flaming right wing asshole.
I enjoy Kruk on Baseball Tonight in part because he is such a great story teller. T Mac should have asked him to tell some Dykstra stories, but he didn't. Too bad since Kruk could probably tell some stuff that hasn't hit the press. Congratulations Kruk, and fuck you Curt.
When I saw the way the Marlins players looked in their dugout last night after the Phillies turned defeat into victory in the bottom of the ninth last night, I knew that the Phillies would find a way to win today's game, and that the Marlins were finished for the year. Well, Cliff Lee came up with both the game winning RBI and a complete game to boot. I would not advise the Marlins manager or coaching staff to make long term housing plans in Miami since I can't imagine them being there much longer. The Marlins do have a few guys who are decent players, but whatever ails them has become a major epidemic and I do not see them coming back this year. Sure, other teams have come back from huge deficits to win pennants and divisions (think of the Phillies and the 1951 Giants) but no matter what odds the bookie wants to give you - do not bet that the Marlins will come back from their eleven game deficit to storm to the top of the NL East.
For the Phillies, it's off to Seattle and interleague play. As you know, or suspect, the LSF does not like interleague play - not even a little bit. It isn't because the Phillies haven't done so well against the AL over the years, it has to do with being different from what I grew up watching and reading about as a kid. I haven't even decided how I feel about the expansion of teams from 16 to the current 30 or 32 that we have now. It also creates advantages for the teams in the NL who get to play the bad AL teams as opposed to our guys who this year have to take on the Red Sox. It also means that teams like the Giants, Dodgers, Pirates, and Cardinals only come to town once or twice, when I would like to see them play more often.
I must admit that, other than Ichiro, I can't tell you anything about the Mariners except that Lou Pinella used to manage there and both Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnston played there. I don't care about the Mariners or the A's and don't want to see them play our Phillies. When I am king of the world interleague play, the DH, and domed stadiums will all be banned, and Bud Selig will have to sell cars again for a living - perhaps for Kerbeck.
So what do you think the reaction in the press would be if the fan rioting in Vancouver took place here instead of up there in America Lite? You know exactly what would be said and written about the greatest fans in the world. We would be called barbarians, assholes and crazies. We would be condemned on ESPN for nine Sports Centers in a row and American Nazi Party Rep. Issa would begin Congressional hearings.
I've never been to Vancouver. I probably will never go to Vancouver. It is supposed to be one of the cleanest most pristine places in North America. It also obviously has fans who don't know anything about the proper protocol of demonstrating in the streets. Here we know that rioting is only permitted when your team win wins - not when they lose. When the Phillies lost to the Yankees a couple of years ago we didn't take to the streets. Many of us got stinking drunk, but we didn't go on a drunken rampage.
The good news, however, is that the NHL season is finally over. It makes no sense to me for anyone to be playing ice hockey when the temperature and humidity is set on melt.
Lastly, does anyone really care that Anthony Weiner resigned today? For the past few weeks those of us who watch the political shows have had to listen to pundit after pundit speak to Weiner's behavior. We've had to listen to his party leaders and the opposition's leaders pompously decry his behavior. Give me a break. Do I really want to hear Nancy Pelosi or Eric Cantor (both scumbags with oak leaf clusters) condemn Weiner? I do not. Weiner showed that even smart people can do stupid things. Weiner was guilty of what millions of others do on Facebook and Twitter. Just because he is a member of the most corrupt branch of government the world has ever seen doesn't mean that he should have to step down. Shit, Barney Frank of Massachusetts was able to keep his seat after being found to have been involved with a male page, and Sen. David Vitter was just re-elected after tearfully admitting that he frequented brothels. Spare me the hypocrisy.
It is interesting that the guy quits the day after his wife gets home from a trip with Hillary Clinton. His old lady must have had some neat things to say and I would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall of the Weiner home.
That's it for now. Enjoy your weekend and please do not riot in the streets if the Phillies lose tomorrow night in Seattle.
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