2007 Philadelphia Phillies Thread - DIVISION CHAMPS MOTHER fargER!!!!

[Don Ho]

YES!  

On Victorino Hula Figurine Day to boot!

[Don Ho]

Shane gets his head completely covered in shaving cream by Eaton and Werth

damn that's gotta sting.  hope it's the sensitive skin variety.

[Don Ho]

what a roller coaster.  exciting win but my lord the bullpen 

[Rome]

Yep - the bullpen is an abortion. 

That's why we should be extra happy when they win because the bullpen is going to steal more losses from the jaws of victory than any of us can stand this year.

Still laughing at Eaton & Werth... Jesus guys.

[NGM]

I normally like it when the Phillies celebrate like kids, but today it irritated me.  When you get to 10 games above .500 you can act like idiots. 

[Don Ho]

NGM,

You're gonna kill for me for this one, but when we were growing up here my parents bought my brother and I a beat up old VW Diesel Rabbit to be our surf mobile.  We took that to the beach back in the late 70's and early 80's and beat the crap out of it.  I put a bunch of Eagles and Sixers window stickers on the back hatch window.  I found a Phillies sticker and it was the one you have as your proud pix.  As it was the only Phillies sticker I had it was going on the Rabbit.  My brother was so pissed when he came home from college and the car looked like my shrine to philly.  I have got to go find a picture at my parents home of that car.  Priceless.

[BigEd76]

Back at .500 (again)

[Rome]

From someone on the EMB...

[NGM]

NGM,

You're gonna kill for me for this one, but when we were growing up here my parents bought my brother and I a beat up old VW Diesel Rabbit to be our surf mobile.  We took that to the beach back in the late 70's and early 80's and beat the crap out of it.  I put a bunch of Eagles and Sixers window stickers on the back hatch window.  I found a Phillies sticker and it was the one you have as your proud pix.  As it was the only Phillies sticker I had it was going on the Rabbit.  My brother was so pissed when he came home from college and the car looked like my shrine to philly.  I have got to go find a picture at my parents home of that car.  Priceless.

If I had that bumper sticker lying around and a car that actually worked, there is no chance that sticker wouldn't be on my car.

[Seabiscuit36]

http://cgi.ebay.com/1970s-Philadelphia-Phillies-Bumper-Sticker-4-X-14_W0QQitemZ170114239297QQihZ007QQcategoryZ25147QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Merry Christmas NGM

[Geowhizzer]

http://cgi.ebay.com/1970s-Philadelphia-Phillies-Bumper-Sticker-4-X-14_W0QQitemZ170114239297QQihZ007QQcategoryZ25147QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Merry Christmas NGM

And here's the perfect car to put it on.

[BigEd76]

Lieber is still fat f'ing garbage

6-1 Giants, stretch time

[Rome]

Trade him and Garcia for a bag of dead cats.

[phattymatty]

if you need a bag of dead cats, let me know.  i can get that in like fifteen minutes.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

Conlin:

UNSOUND EFFECTS
DUMBPLAYS FAMILIAR THEME FOR PHILLIES
THE PHILLIES are like the movie you walk into in the middle. You watch until the end and hang around for the next showing, so you can catch the entire film.
Early in the second time around, the realization smacks you upside the head: You have seen this movie many times before. Much of the cast has changed, but the plot has varied little. The unsatisfying ending is always the same. Another team always gets the girl and rides off into the sunset. The Phillies always muff the baby dropped from the burning building, get stopped on the one with time running out and find out that the fifth person they meet in heaven is only Ed Wade.

So forget about it, Jake. This really is Chinatown. And in this version, "Chinatown" meets "Groundhog Day."

No matter how bizarre the scenes are as they unfold day to day and year to year, there is a numbing sameness to the end result. It is always the final Sunday of the season. And the win total is always remarkably similar. In the past six seasons of the Bowa-Manuel era, the Phillies have won 86, 80, 86, 86, 88 and 85 games. That computes to an average of 85.17, a solid "B" report-card grade. But in the unforgiving world of the National League, it computes to an "F" and represents no East Division pennants and zero wild-card berths.

If you walked into this horror show after the first 56 games a year ago, the Phillies would have been sitting on a 29-27 record in second place, only 4 1/2 games behind the not-yet-runaway Mets.

Walking into yesterday's Money Pit matinee, an untidy 8-1 loss, the Phils were at 28-28 after Sunday's manically amusing Shane Victorino Hula-off home run beat the ancient Giants.

So, yesterday was their chance to go far out of character and kick the intensity up a notch, to win the bleeping four-game series. Take that 3-1 advantage to Shea Stadium, then snarl into interleague play.

No need for the director to holler "Cut." This result was already in the can. And anybody who has been watching this walking example of repetitive stress disorder knew where the game was headed after Chase Utley provided the obligatory "What the hell was he thinking?" dumb play of the day.

Jimmy Rollins and Victorino greeted Giants ace Barry Zito with singles in the first inning. Chase Utley, who can knock a ball into the seats in any field, dropped down a bunt that went directly to Zito. Rollins and Victorino scampered into scoring position on the "sacrifice." Giants skipper Bruce Bochy was holding up four fingers before Ryan Howard left the on-deck circle. Hey, a gaffe a day keeps the phone calls in play.

Zito did what former Cy Young Award winners do. Jayson Werth flied to shallow right and Aaron Rowand tapped weakly to Zito.

Stop the movie . . . Anybody else want to leave this theater of the absurd?

Because Utley appeared to square a trace before attempting to squib the bunt to the third-base side of the lefthander, it appeared he might have been obeying a bunt sign ordered by manager Charlie Manuel. Manuel had taken a lot of grief on this miserable 2-5 homestand for playing the infield up in the second inning of yesterday loser Jon Lieber's previous start. The strategy backfired and the Diamondbacks scored five runs on seven hits in the inning on the way to an 11-5 blowout. The decision was put under a fan and media microscope, because Manuel previously explained he had used injured closer Brett Myers in a non-save situation because "it's so easy to score runs in our ballpark."

Then why so much caution in Lieber's second inning?

And why a bunt in the first inning yesterday by the team's most consistent hitter with the wind blowing to right and a chance to pin a crooked number on Zito? Even more puzzling, Utley was a career 2-for-3 against Zito with two doubles and an RBI. Lefthanded batters have hit .313 against Barry this season. (Righthanded hitters are batting .207.)

Manuel heard it from the Greek chorus behind the Phillies' dugout during the intentional walk to Howard.

"They were on me pretty good back there," Charlie said.

Utley was bunting on his own, of course, a decision that suggests a hitter's version of what John Kruk once graphically described with cameras rolling as a "brain [flatulence]." Kruk forgot how many outs there were out in leftfield. Utley forgot what happens when an open first base creates a chance for a manager to walk Barry Bonds East.

On the list of "Crimes Against Fundamentals" this team is piling up, Utley's bunt was a first-degree misdemeanor. At least, Charlie acknowledged, Chase had a plan, however flawed.

"He was trying to make something happen. I guess he thought with a lefthander out there, they wouldn't walk Howard. But he was bunting for a hit."

No Utley chew-out on the spot. The manager considered it a lesser offense than Rowand's rally-killing caught stealing against the D-backs. Aaron heard about it right away. A jury of his jeerers handled Sunday's 5-meter jog of Senor Sweat, Freddy Garcia.

At one end of the Phillies' spectrum, there is a bonehead play by Utley, a mega-gamer who gives up his body and lays out at all times. At the other, we have a soft-tossing and costly Pat Gillick acquisition who is rapidly becoming the Lance Parrish of pitchers.

But each reel of "Chinatown Meets Groundhog Day" seems to produce its distinctive villain. Just count backward 6 years, starting with Pat Burrell, Bobby Abreu and all the usual suspects from the Ed Wade Era.

Poor Charlie . . . It's looking more and more as if this movie will end at the Canned Film Festival with the manager getting the Palm d' Door.

Every the excuses for why I keep watching, even though I shouldn't come earlier than the year before.

This year it's that I paid for the MLB Extra Innings on Direct TV. The other night when Zagurski pegged the infield, and Pat the Bat tossed on behind himself I called it quits on the season. Right on cue they drop the next game 8-1. I'll keep watching, but drinking more and caring less each game.