Road to A Championship: the 2011 Phillies

[Benjamin Grimm]

Have you seen the photos of Utley fielding grounders while sitting in a chair? I'm not at all sure what the point of that was.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

To make me laugh out loud?

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Have you seen the photos of Utley fielding grounders while sitting in a chair? I'm not at all sure what the point of that was.

Last year there were reports of Beltran sitting in a chair tracking pitches, but at least that had a purpose. I missed those Utley pictures though.

[Willets Point]

Oh dear, why would anyone:

[Benjamin Grimm]

I seem to remember seeing a Mets logo with the word "Phillies" instead. Maybe a year or two ago.

I don't know which side is supposed to be insulted by which version.

[soupcan]

I agree. What is that shirt supposed to mean?

That the Mets wish they were the Phillies? That the Phillies are going to be bad like the Mets? That the Phillies 'own' the Mets?

I don't get it.

[Willets Point]

According to the people selling these shirts:

What better way to annoy the opposition than by co-opting their logo? Watch that high-five from an unsuspecting rival fan turn into a fist of confusion and rage before your very eyes!

Uh yeah, whatever gets your rocks off.

[soupcan]

So it's a shirt for Mets fans?

Good luck to the sellers. I wouldn't be caught dead in it.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I got an e-mail from Amazon.com suggesting that I might want to read this book.

Ummm... no.

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I got an e-mail from Amazon.com suggesting that I might want to read this book. Ummm... no.

I'm surprised it even found a publisher(not that I know anything about that trade) , and at 128 pages it's a bit light not just on facts I assume.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

metirish wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I got an e-mail from Amazon.com suggesting that I might want to read this book. Ummm... no. I'm surprised it even found a publisher(not that I know anything about that trade) , and at 128 pages it's a bit light not just on facts I assume.

Yes, but it's surprisingly bulky, thanks largely to the embossed commemorative terry-cloth rag, for cleanup after Phils fans mess themselves over the offseason champeenship.

[Ceetar]

Why is the cover talking about the Phillies offense when it's a picture of the pitchers?

[Ceetar]

If you look closely at that cover, you'll also notice the Yankees have clinched a playoff spot.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Not pictured: Makeup lady behind photographer wearing a "Corgis Suck" t-shirt, so as to rile up Hamels enough to get him scowling.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Oh dear, why would anyone:

This might have been 36% more clever if they replaced the Liberty Bell silhouette with one of a New York icon. The Statue of Liberty's head or something. Or maybe the bridge from the Mets logo.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The opposite version does have a Philadelphia skyline.

[Guest Edgy DC]

There you go --- 36% more clever.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Inspired by Chase Utley?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

It's a sturdy, shopworn maxim that applies to standup, sales pitches, and surviving in Philadelphia: know your audience.

This isn't it, Mrs. Ryan Madson.

"I hate the fans. It is bad enough that they bother us during the season, but they will not leave us alone in December when we go out to eat. We stayed here during the off season last year, but we will be going to California this year. There must be something particularly bad about Phillies fans because all the players leave in the off season."

Good luck in the home 8th, Ryan-- you'll probably want to take a zigzag path to the mound now.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Whoah.

Let's offer them Castillo. No, wait.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Leaving aside how it'll likely be received in a town like Philadelphia... essentially, she's complaining because the fans like her husband and treat him familiarly.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Roy Oswalt was removed from the game last night, left the park, and hasn't yet come back.

Phils officials say he's out "for personal reasons."

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Roy Oswalt was removed from the game last night, left the park, and hasn't yet come back. Phils officials say he's out "for personal reasons."

That's... interesting.

It's like how Manny retired. Just walked off the field, into the clubhouse and out the front door, never to be heard of again.

[soupcan]

WFAN just said that Oswalt's departure has to do with 'tornado activity near his home in Mississippi'.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wow, that's strange. How could Oswalt leaving the team cause a tornado in Mississippi?

[Ceetar]

soupcan wrote: WFAN just said that Oswalt's departure has to do with 'tornado activity near his home in Mississippi'.

a saw a link that his parents house was messed up in a tornado last september. Hope everyone's okay but if he ends up with an even stiffer back from heavy lifting or extra plane flights...

[Frayed Knot]

Also the closer Contreras who's in for the injured closer Lidge is now himself injured and will be out for several weeks.
Whoever is responsible for this weekend's KTE should take note of this ... oh wait, that's me!

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Also the closer Contreras who's in for the injured closer Lidge is now himself injured and will be out for several weeks. Whoever is responsible for this weekend's KTE should take note of this ... oh wait, that's me!

The Phillies also haven't scored more than 4 runs in like 2 weeks.

[Ceetar]

Ceetar wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Also the closer Contreras who's in for the injured closer Lidge is now himself injured and will be out for several weeks. Whoever is responsible for this weekend's KTE should take note of this ... oh wait, that's me! The Phillies also haven't scored more than 4 runs in like 2 weeks.

Of course I now see they're playing right now and have a 3-0 lead trying to not get swept by the Diamondbacks and joe Saunders, who I started in our fantasy league.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Roy Oswalt inhabits a world without cell-phone service. He's headed down there to tell them to be sure to shut the windows.