My random Phillies interaction

For the few of you who read my blog, but don't actually know me - I am a DIEHARD Phillies Phan.   To the extent where I don't use the term "fan", but instead "phan".   To the extent that in 2000, the Phillies selected their Phans of the Century - selecting one person for each decade, based upon the year you were born, and honored them on field before the start of the home opener - and yours truly was selected as the Phan of the 80's Decade.  To the extent that I had a Sunday ticket plan for 3 years that I lived in DC/VA.   To the extent that I now have a full season ticket plan.   I think you get the point :)

Now that I gave that brief intro, I was at the Sheraton Society Hill in Philadelphia last Saturday running a meeting and towards the end of the meeting, I was walking one of my faculty out to his car that we arranged to take him to the train station when I saw this tall, African-american guy wearing a fedora-like hat and he looked awfully familiar - specifically, he looked like the Sarge - Gary Matthews, so I kept looking at him as I walked the doctor out.   But since I was working I had to put it behind me and do my job, so as I walked back inside, I was looking for the Sarge, but couldn't find him, so I asked the valet staff if that was Gary Matthews, and the guy had no clue what I was talking about.

So I walked inside somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to meet him and say hi. And then, as I walk in the door there he is walking down the hall.   So I take another couple looks and I finally get the courage and say "Gary?" like I know him on a first name basis and we haven't seen each other in a while - LOL.   Low and behold though - it was Gary Matthews.   And he was SOOO super friendly.   As soon as I said Gary, he walks right up to me, shakes my hand and says hi and starts talking to me, clearly knowing Im just a Phillies phan, not someone who he might recognize.   So as Im shaking his hand I notice he has the 08 World Series ring on and I ask if I can take a picture of it, and he starts taking it off and says he can do one better, I can put it on (!!!!!!).  Thats when I start to get super excited and maybe a little nervous and very jittery.  So he puts it on my hand (and jokes that Hubby won't be happy cause I'm covering up my bands) and as I start to try and take a pic he says "don't you want the other one".   I didn't even notice it - but of course I will!   The other one was the 09 NL Champions ring, so not a WS ring - but still AWESOME!.   So through the shaking and excitement, I took this picture.  


I also tried to get a picture with him, but I was shaking sooo much - he even started to tease me.   I did get a half decent picture, and then another one of my docs who was in the lobby graciously took a picture of us.

So after a crazy busy day that started at 3:30am and a meeting that had every curveball thrown at it that could happen - my day ended on an awesome note :)




P.S. Prior to this meeting, I was never a huge fan of the Sarge because I thought he was a poor announcer, but he was SOOO friendly and generous, I will now be a huge fan of him, and just have to ignore my issues with his announcing - LOL.

My wishes for the coming year

Now that I just survived another Yom Kippur fasting, and asked G-d for forgiveness for all my sins known and unknown and prayed for a good fate to be written into the book of life for the next year, Id like to share some of my hopes/prayers/wishes for the coming year that I didn't cover in services:

- I wish that the Phillies would stop failing so early in the postseason.   At this rate, they won't even make it to the postseason next year, based on their continual slope in the postseason since winning it all in 08 (09 -lost in the WS, 10- lost in the NLCS, 11 - lost in the NLDS (and lost Howard for significant amount of time))

- I wish that my in-laws would magically become normal people and have a normal relationship with their family members.   Oh wait - that would never happen and honestly I could care less anymore

- I wish that someone will come knocking on my door and tell me I am the next Publishers Clearinghouse winner.   Wouldn't that be nice - well I guess a huge jackpot from powerball or megamillions would be more awesome, but Id actually have to enter the PCH sweepstakes or buy lottery tickets for any of those to happen.

- I wish that my brain would work and I could remember some more of the wishes  I had going through my head, but seeing as though I starved for 26 hours and then stuffed my face with food and its now midnight - I got nothing left in my head...

So goodnight all - I hope if you celebrate the Jewish holiday, you had an easy fast and that you had a good fate inscribed for you for this next year.   And if you don't celebrate - well, I hope you enjoyed all the yummy food and drinks you got to indulge in, and if you are a Phillies fan, I hope you were able to indulge in a bunch of adult beverages to soothe the sting

Playoff Schedules

MLB and TBS are really starting to piss me off.   The Phillies have made the playoffs for the last 5 years, they have had the best record in the MLB for the last 2 years and this year they broke the franchise records for wins.   They have the BEST rotation in the majors and yet they still aren't considered a prime time game for Saturday night when all 4 series are being played?!?!?

Look I understand the Yankees are the Yankees and it doesn't matter where they rank they always are number one.   Wait - actually I don't understand it - especially since they are playing Detroit - but Ill accept it.

But the Rays and Rangers - two smaller markets, one of which can't even fill their stadium EVER - get the 7pm slot over the Phillies and the Cardinals?    I would be willing to state that the Cardinals have a larger fan base than the Rays or the Rangers - and they have Pujols which provides his own following.

Oh and did I mention that Roy Halladay will be starting this game?   The same guy who threw a no-hitter in this exact game last year - only the second no-hitter in post season play in MLB history!!


FU MLB and an even bigger FU to TBS - we know your announcers have always had a huge bias against the Phillies - but now you show that it is coming from the top as well.

I can't wait (massive amounts of sarcasm) to see what happens if the two AL Series need to go to a Game 4 and there are another 4 games on Tuesday...

MLB vs. Umpires

I'm not sure who is worse - MLB Front Offices or MLB Umpires...

Over the past 5-10 years, umpires have just been getting more awful by the pitch.  I'm not talking about the close calls that could go either way, or the not-so-close calls like Armando Gallaraga's perfect game that wasn't because of an umpire.  I especially am not talking about situations like that when the umpire fully admits he made a mistake (which is extremely rare). Those are, unfortunately, calls that happen .  I'm not even talking about the awful ball/strike calls by many an umpire.

I also understand that we are in a different time right now with everything being digital and available with a snap of a finger.   We, the fans, have the benefit of watching replays of calls and watching them in slow motion.   Umpires on the other hand have a split second to see the play from whichever angle they are standing at and make a call.   And the thought of having review in the games has a lot of negatives and positives associated with it.   I think maybe it should be expanded a bit to be more than just home run or not but you have to be really careful on how far you take it - because one of the great things about sports is that split second decision.

I'm talking about the umpires who think they are G-ds gift to earth and make it a point to be seen and heard.   The ones that when the players start to question something, the ump is the one jumping in their face and trying to make it a bigger situation than the player is.   The ones who have ridiculous arm motions for the strike out calls - so ridiculous you might think they are putting on a show of their own.

More specifically, Im talking about the umpires who consistently make bad calls.   Like really bad calls that get discussed on SportsCenter or MLB Tonight.   These are typically the umps that are rated as the worst by ML players.  I'm talking about guys like Joe West and his call in the Phillies/Marlins game last week.  

There were multiple issues with what occurred - with the biggest being that West broke the rules by going and viewing the replay.   There was never any question that there was fan interference.   But it was also apparent that it was a double with or without the interference.   It was Jack McKeon, the Marlins manager - not Charlie Manuel, the Phillies manager - who went and fought.   And why would the opposing manager fight for it to be a home run.  Charlie Manuel went out there, but barely said a word to West before the review occurred.   The smaller issues are all revolve around whether the right call was made - which is that split second decision that I can understand.   

The Phillies ended up playing the game under protest, filing with the league office to review what occurred.   They were protesting whether West had the right to go to replay and make a decision other than home run or not home run.   According to the rule book - he can only decide home run or not.

With the protest being filed, MLB offices had the chance to come out and say Joe West broke the rules (not even that he made a bad call with the fan interference - but that he broke the rules on going to replay and making the final call that he did).    Instead, they denied the Phillies protest haven't said a peep since.   Its rumored that West got a talking to - but that's just a rumor.

It's one thing to protect the umpires - I really do understand that - but its another to continue to stand by the umpires who consistently have poor performance and break the rules.   Eventually in any other position, you will be fired.   Even in professional sports - those players end up getting released.

So, who is worse - MLB Front Office or MLB Umpires?

I vote the front office is worse.   First off, its not fair that the bad umpires put out this persona of umpires as a whole.   Secondly, MLB is just cultivating this behavior by standing by them all the time.

I do have brand loyalty!

A couple months ago, I wrote about brand loyalty, and how I pretty much had none.   It just occurred to me, as I was getting dressed for my aqua zumba class, that I do have some brand loyalty. 

Its 60 degrees outside today, and soaking wet from a day of rain - and the rain isn't supposed to stop for a while.    So I decided that I was gonna put on sweats over my bathing suit, and I pulled out the top pair of sweatpants, which were red, and then I took out a gray sweatshirt as that would best go with the red sweatpants.   I was deciding what to wear on my feet, when I decided flip-flops would be best since Im heading to the pool.   You know what everything that I picked out had in common?

They all had the Phillies logo or name (or both) scrolled across them :)   Of course everything is a completely different brand - but I am 100% loyal to my Phillies!

Let's Go Phillies, Let's Go!

Happy Halliday!

After pitching only twice in like 20+ days due to rainouts and scheduled days off, I wasn't sure what to expect from Roy Halliday - and I'm not sure even he was. 

Although rusty at first - he had another great game.   But this game was a little different.   Nothing you would hear about on the local news outside of Philly - it wasn't another perfect game, or even a no-hitter.   This time he threw a decent game - pitching 7 innings and just giving up 2 hits, no runs, but he did walk a couple guys and even hit a guy - but his bat came alive!   

Roy doesn't know how to do things like a normal person - even a normal MLB player.   He happened to hit just his second extra base hit ever (which is also the second this season) and get the first RBIs of the season off the hit.   Oh - did I mention the bases were loaded, so he had a 3-RBI double.    He definitely was the player of the game!

In other Philly sports related news
In case you live in a hole, Michael Vick just signed a 6-year, $100 million dollar deal with the Eagles.    I know many people are not a fan of him because of what he did, and by no means do I condone it, but he served his time in jail, and has worked to prove himself good by others not just as a professional football player, but as a human being.    I will save this topic for another blog post - cause otherwise, this could go forever...

Phillies Games

I have a full season ticket plan to the Philadelphia Phillies - as I am that much of a die-hard - but I sell about 2/3 - 3/4 of the games depending on the year.  

Two years ago, I went to like 35 games - and I learned that was just too much even for me.   It was a lot of time that I wasn't at home - a lot of money to be spent on parking and dinner - and hard to find someone to go with me to all those games.

Last year, I didn't get to go to as many games as I wanted to because there were home series scheduled the same weekend as my wedding and while Adam and I were on our honeymoon - so that was a couple weeks of games taken out of the mix.  

Every year work also gets in the way of a few games that I planned to go to, and then had to switch around because of trips that came up along the way (I plan what games Im gonna go to in February, and don't know my travel schedule until a few months beforehand - if I'm lucky).

Well this year, I had planned to go to about 20 games.   I was going to go to about a dozen games with my mom and another half dozen plus with Adam.   Adam and my second game of the season was supposed to be on April 16th - which ended up being a day of DOWNPOURS and the first (of many) postponement(s).   Of course they then rescheduled a weekend evening game to a weekday day game - which we both couldn't go to - so I had to sell those tickets.

Then Adam (thankfully) got a new job - one whose hours were noon-9pm Tue-Fri and 7a-5p on Sat.   This knocked out 95% of the games we were gonna go to together (plus our 3rd shot at a U2 concert...), so I found family and friends to go to those games with me, and Adam took on a couple of my mom's Sunday games, and kept the Saturday evening game we had.

Then came two weeks ago.    I had tickets to 3 games in 6 days.   The first was a Sunday that Adam was supposed to go with me to.    It was raining bad, and therefore the game was postponed (of course to a day game in the middle of the week - so again, tickets now need to be sold...).  The second game ended up being a beautiful night, and we got the whole game in - unfortunately we lost in the 9th inning.  The 3rd game got to the end of the 3rd before a 2 hour plus rain delay started.    About 10 minutes before they announced that they were gonna prepare the field and get back to the game, I left with my friend - because it was getting late, and I needed to work the next day.    So three games - and I saw a whole 12 innings...

It of course doesn't stop there.   I had a ticket to a game the next Saturday (13 days from the first "game").   Well that was last night - the night that Hurricane Irene hit - which meant yet another PPD game.  This one at least is a night game - and the only reason for that is because Sunday's PPD Game is gonna be the day game of a D/N doubleheader.

So far this year, I have had 3 games PPD and sat through another 3 rain delays - and only got to attend about a dozen games so far...this better not be the beginning of the bad signs for the Phillies this season...

Phillies Wall of Fame

The Phillies have what they call a Wall of Fame.   Its pretty much exactly what it sounds like.   Its their own little hall of fame, but its just on a wall.   Each year, there is a group of like 15 former players and managers that fans vote on, and that narrows it down to 5, and then there is a committee or something that selects the final choice.

This year John Kruk was voted in.   He definitely isn't a Hall of Famer, but he definitely deserves his place on the Phillies Wall of Fame.   He was a big part of our run to the World Series in 1993, and he was loved in Philly, and still is.   Whenever there is a Sunday night ESPN game in Philly, the crowd around the ESPN set is there mostly to cheer on Kruk - he is just a total Philly guy (although he is really from West Virginia).  

Anyways, I loved his induction speech.  He kept everything short and sweet, no awkwardness like Dutch (Darren Daulten) provided, and then he ended it perfectly for us Philly fans - and its just so true. 

"You hear players, media people, say that it's tough to play in Philly in front of these fans. To those people, I say: 'You didn't have the guts to succeed here,' "

It really is so true, and its so nice to hear a ballplayer put it in those terms!   I wonder what the current Phillies were thinking, and I wonder what those players who have refused to play for the Phillies were thinking when he said that.  

Anyways, google the speech if you want to hear/see the whole thing.   If you watch it, you can watch some more awkwardness from Dutch where he went in to give Kruk a big ole man kiss, maybe he thought that would protect him from the aliens who were gonna take him away after the induction (if you aren't a Phillies fan, you probably won't get the joke.   And if you are and still don't get the joke, then I hate to break it to you, but you would be what real Phillies fans call bandwagoners.

Any thoughts on who will be inducted over the next 5 years?   A co-worker and I were talking about this - and you know there is still Schilling, probably Mitchy Poo, but then you got a bunch of 93 players who were fan favorites, but aren't necessarily wall-worthy (Eisenrich, Inky), and you also have Mike Lieberthal who will probably get in, Scott Rolen who will have trouble getting through the fan vote (which is really stupid).   And past those guys, we don't really have anyone left to last until we get through our current crop - of which many will be shoe-ins once eligible.

Pence-lvania

Now that the Hunter Pence deal has died down a bit, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the deal.   I'm pretty much in the same boat as the "experts".  This was another GREAT deal by Amaro - I think I might even use some combination of 7/29 as my new lucky numbers - or at least Amaro should.

With that being said, it is a great deal because we acquired a good righthanded bat, its not a rental, we are staying under the luxury tax and we didn't give up any of our top talent that we know has ML abilities up.   That's not to say the prospects we traded won't turn out to be great players in the future, but the core of our current team is built to win the WS this year, maybe the next year.

Now, I just want to remind my phellow phans - Hunter Pence isn't Albert Pujols.   Just like Howard, he does have a tendency to strike out a lot and unlike the man he is protecting, he doesn't have a lot of power.    I even believe he is actually rated below average for fielding.  

Again, this is not to say I don't think Hunter Pence is a good player - he is, and he is a great addition to the Phillies - this is more to the guywho was behind me last Sunday at the game (and those like him), who every time Pence came up kept on talking about him hitting a homerun.