Running Diary: Phillies Opener

7:56:  Well, folks, here we go.  The beginning of a WORLD SERIES TITLE DEFENSE!!!  This is great.  I wish I could have been there.

8:01:  So, ESPN goes to the field and the viewers get their first glimpse of their World Champions and who do we see?  Utley?  Howard?  Rollins?  Starting pitcher Brett Myers?  No, Chan Ho Park and Raul Ibanez.  The only two guys without rings.  Well, not yet…

8:04:  I don’t care what anybody says.  I LOVE Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.  I watch Sunday Night Baseball just because of them (the only announcing pair that I would do that for).  And, now they’ve added Steve Phillips.  I don’t care what anybody says, I LOVE Steve Phillips too.  Sunday nights are all baseball for me for the next 6 months.

8:09:  I don’t think this Braves lineup is all that good.  A lot of people have them competing…why?  I just don’t see it, honestly.  I’m terrified of the Mets and even a little scared of Florida, but I’m not worried about Atlanta (famous last words, huh?)

8:13:  I just saw Chipper Jones’s OPS of 1.044 last year, which is really good.  I mean, obviously, the guy is a power-hitter that hit .360.  Has anyone seen Albert Pujols’s numbers from last year?  I knew he had a great year.  And, I know that he is the best player ever, but, seriously, have you looked at the numbers?  He had a .462 on-base percentage, and a .653 slugging percentage.  Uh…WOW!

8:16:  Two-run BLAST by Brian McCann.  Myers does not look good in the first.  Do I have blinders on about Myers?  I think he is a fantastic pitcher.  His stuff is so good, and I know that it’s not all about “stuff,” but this guy really is an ace, he just needs to get his head together.  I think it’ll happen this year.  I expect 18 or 19 wins from him this year.  Am I crazy?

8:19:  Looking at the 3-4-5 hitters–all lefties–makes me a bit upset that the Phils haven’t replaced Jenkins with a right-handed bat.  I wanted Sheffield (and am not happy to see him in New York), but if not him, go get someone.  I heard an interesting idea the other day–Shannon Stewart is available.  He might be a nice fit.

8:24:  As Utley hits a long fly ball to the track (one that would have been gone in July or August), it might be a good time to mention how amazing it was the Utley did what he did with that injury last year.  I don’t think that gets enough “press.”  He put up those numbers, played 159 games, and led his team to the title with a pretty serious hip injury.  And, he did it all without complaint or excuse.  What a gamer!  And, speaking of the difference between April baseball and July baseball, I wonder if that is part of why the Phillies struggle in April.  They are so dependent on the long-ball.  I’ll have to give it some more thought, but it’s possible.  The ball definitely carries a lot better in the dog days of summer.

8:26:  Another bomb–this one by Francoeur.  I hate Francoeur.  I know it’s a good “story” and all–the hometown kid playing for the Braves with his buddy, McCann.  I really like McCann, but I just hate Francoeur, and I don’t really have a good reason.  And, I’m actually looking forward to hating Jordan Schafer for the next 15 years.  Chalk it up!

8:30:  Mr. Schafer just hit a home run in his first major league at-bat…to quote the great Doc Holliday, “Now, I know I hate him.”  By the way, how can you possibly give up a solo home run to the 8-hitter making his major league debut?  Goddammit!  Maybe this is why Myers is not the ace that his stuff deems he ought to be.

8:38:  Lowe strikes out Howard on six straight breaking balls.  He is such a professional pitcher and a really nice acquisition for the Bravos.

8:39:  So, ESPN just went to a SportsCenter In-Game to tell us that the women’s Final Four is going on on ESPN.  Do you think anyone just switched over, saying “Wow, I didn’t realize that was on tonight!  Man, forget this Opening Day game, I want to see if Bubba Paris actually has to payback his daughter’s scholarship.”  I’m not saying that no one is watching that.  I’m not even saying that no one is excited about watching that.  All I’m saying those people are probably already watching it.  I don’t think that the random sports fan who is sitting here watching a national baseball game (the first of the year) is probably not changing the channel to watch women’s basketball, no matter who is playing and what the score is.

8:48:  Maybe this is just the former light-hitting shortstop talking, but I love Pedro Feliz, no matter what he hits.  He is so good in the field that he’s worth it if he hits .220.  Look at the two league champions last year–arguably, the two best defensive teams in their respective leagues.

8:52:  I know Joe Morgan is one of the greatest secondbasemen of all-time, but how can he possibly blame the secondbaseman for Francouer blatantly dropping a pretty routine fly ball?  The infielder is only responsible for not running into the outfielder.  All the outfielder has to do is catch the ball.

8:54:  With Ruiz at second and one out, Myers swings at the first pitch and grounds out.  I know that he is a hitting superstar now after the playoffs last year, but I firmly believe that the pitcher should almost NEVER swing at the first pitch.  God, if nothing else, make the pitcher throw an extra pitch or two.  Ugh.

9:07:  After watching the highlights of how that women’s game ended, maybe more people should have switched over, huh?  Maybe not…

9:10:  Does Rich Dubee have the most underrated name in coaching?

9:12:  So, the bottom line just showed that Lebron dropped 38 on the Spurs today and it looks like the Cavs are going to win home-court in the East.  Tiger won his second tournament back from knee surgery.  Is it possible that both of them (probably the two most talked about athletes in the world) are under-rated?!?  I think it’s very possible.

9:14:  As much as I hate Chipper Jones (and, trust me, I really hate him), he has an absolutely beautiful swing.  It is one of the best and most beautiful that I have ever seen–from both sides of the plate.  It reminds me of watching Troy Aikman throw a football.  As much as I hated that guy, I could never take anything away from the beautiful ball he threw.

9:19:  If I ever get to have dinner with Charlie Manuel, I am going to ask him what his rationale is behind hitting Werth at the top of the order and Victorino in the middle of the order.  I know it’s not a big deal because they’re very similar players, but still.

9:21:  Okay, never mind, apparently Steve Phillips had the same curiosity and actually did ask Uncle Charlie that exact question.  He said that Manuel doesn’t think that Victorino is as good of a situational hitter, and he’d rather have him just swinging away at #6.  Wow, that was really weird that he just answered the EXACT question that I posted.

9:26:  There is no doubt in my mind that the Phillie Phanatic is, by far, the best mascot in sports.  I’m not big on mascots, but he has perfected the trade.

9:31:  What’s with this new trend in catching where, when the catchers want their pitchers to throw a high fastball, they stand up?  I understand that they really want the ball up and no over the plate, but I find it hard to believe that the hitters can’t at least feel the catcher getting out of his crouch.  I don’t get it.

9:35:  Quick college hoops tangent:  Xavier coach Sean Miller is meeting with Arizona?  I hope he stays at XU (though, I totally understands if he takes the ‘Zona job).  It sucks that the A-10 has so much trouble keeping talented coaches.  Sorry, back to the Phils.

9:41:  All these great stories about Mark Clear and Mike Boddicker are exactly why Jon Miller is the best.  I feel like I’m watching baseball with my grandad, who just happens to have an endless number of relevant and interesting baseball stories.  I almost enjoy Miller and Morgan more during the late innings of a blowout because then the stories really come out.  They’re the best.

9:46:  I wonder what odds I could have gotten on Jack Tachsner as the first reliever used in the 2009 MLB season.

9:47:  From Doogan:  “Not a complete loss of a start for Myers. He didn’t walk anybody (except the intentional), struck out 6 in 6 innings, and the curveball looked great. Some things to build on going forward.”  I agree.  He gave up a couple pretty hard-hit balls, but all were in the first three innings.  The curveball did look very good and the control was there–for the most part–and those are the two most important things for him.  You know, other than his head.

9:53:  The Phils, down 4 in the bottom of the 7th, have the heart of the order coming up.  They need to get something going right now, if they are going to start 1-0.

9:57:  Four minutes later and Lowe is through Utley, Howard, and Ibanez with ease.  What a gem he is throwing tonight.

10:00:  As Scott Eyre takes the mound, it made me think of a funny story that I heard about Eyre.  When he got traded to the Phillies, he didn’t know anyone and had no idea when to arrive at the field on game day.  He flew in the night before his first game, and had no idea how to find out when to arrive.  So, he called Ryan Dempster (a friend from the Cubs) and asked if he knew anyone on the Phillies.  Dempster said that he had Brad Lidge’s cell phone number, which he gave to him.  So, Eyre called Lidge, sheepishly introduced himself and asked, very politely, what time he needs to report to the ballpark.  Lidge, always looking for some fun (typical of anyone who has spent their career in a bullpen), acted real put-off and simply said “Who gave you this number?”  When Eyre told him, he said, “Fine.  Well, as soon as we hang up, delete it from your phone, I try and keep my personal number to myself.  Be at the field at 5.”  And, he hung up.  Well, Eyre felt awful, deleted the number and was not looking forward to fitting in to his new bullpen.  When he finally got to the field, he avoided Lidge like The Wild Thing avoided Dorn in Major League.  When Lidge saw him, he scoured and said “did you delete my number?” and then cracked up.

10:15:  Lidge, huh?  I guess there is an off-day tomorrow, so might as well.  Interesting move, though, down 4-0.  Gotta keep him fresh, I guess.

10:17:  So, Joe Morgan just said something that I had never heard before.  Apparently, Lidge’s struggles in Houston had something to do with him tipping his pitches.  If true, that would explain a lot of those troubles.  Even more reason to think that that whole part of his career is over and done with (not that I had much doubt).

10:24:  I know it’s not a big deal (and he made it with ease), but why is Bruntlett tagging and going to third, down 4 runs in the 9th against Francoeur, one of the best throwing outfielders in the game?

10:27:  Watching Gonzalez’s struggles in the 9th (Howard is now the tying run, at the plate), why did Cox take Lowe out of the game?  He was CRUISING.  Not a good decision by one of the best managers in the game.

10:31:  After Howard watched a fastball down the middle for called strike three, there is a huge spot for Ibanez the new guy.  What a first impression this would be, huh?

10:33:  Well, that will do it.  The Braves win 4-1, as Howard and Ibanez strike out with two on in the 9th.  So, we’re a game back of the Braves and a half game back of everyone else.  And, though they lost, there were some positive points.  Myers (as we talked about above) was decent, though he did give up another first-inning homer (he led the majors last year with 11 first-inning home runs given up last year).  Lidge looked fantastic.  And, the two lefties looked very good, as well.  Plus, they didn’t give up and made it a game in the 9th.  They just ran into a good pitcher on a great night tonight.  We’ll go back at it on Tuesday when Jamie Moyer faces Jair Jurrjens at The Bank.  Go Phils!  Good night, everyone.