Phillies-Mets recap

We all know by now the famous Jimmy Rollins quote form this spring. "We're the team to beat" (in the division). And we all know the joke going on now about how he was right and everybody is beating them. It is funny and it is frustrating all at the same time.

So when the Phillies rolled into Shea Stadium this afternoon for the Mets' home opener, you know those rude and smelly Mets fans were going to be ready for the Phillies' lead-off hitter. And you know they loved it when Rollins botched a ball in the 8th inning that let the Mets tie up the ball game at 5-5, and remain with one out. Six runs later the fans were chanting for Rollins in Shea and deservedly handing it to him. Now, I absolutely have no love for the Mets (or any New York team for that matter), but when the Mets blew open an 8-5 lead the Phillies broadcasters were saying that Billy Wagner would probably sit back down in the bullpen because it wasn't a save opportunity. That lead soon became 11-5 and going into the 9th the Mets still brought Wagner in. Part of me loved this move. The Mets were already pouring salt on the wounds of the Phillies and they brought their closer in to shut the door on Rollins' squad. Maybe it sends a message to the Phills that the Mets really are the team to beat in the NL East. If the Mets were trying to send a message to the Phills, then I applaud them for that. The Phillies need a message sent to them, because it's not coming from the clubhouse.

Today's game, form the parts that I saw, was just another one of the very irritating and frustrating games I have seen from the 2007 Phillies. Kudos to Ryan Howard for knocking his first home run of the season (a three run shot that gave the Phills a 5-3 lead). Hopefully that gets him going. Cole Hamels pitched yet another good game and definitely gave them a shot to win the game. His line shows six innings, two earned runs, six hits, three walks, seven strikeouts. Then the bullpen came in.

Three relief pitchers each pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up eight runs. I believe that is what lead to this quote by a Phillies fan on the Phillies' message board; " Next time Charlie comes to take Cole out of the game Cole should just kick him in the balls." I don't know if I could say it any better.

The team is now 1-6 and already four and a half games out of first. The fundamentals are nowhere to be found on this club either. This major league team is playing like a single A team, at best, when it comes to the fundamentals. I have to blame the managers. Not just Charlie Manuel, but the managers in the farm system too! These players are making mistakes that should be corrected on their way to the majors.

I had a conversation with my uncle, who loves the sport more than anyone I know of besides Joe O'Neil, and he told me the same things I have been thinking for a long time with the Phillies. You should never, in ANY situation, swing at the first pitch. He paraphrased something Lenny Dykstra said. Dykstra said that if you swing at the first pitch, you never get the opportunity to really watch the pitcher's release point or his entire motion. I have always thought that if you show you will swing at the first pitch, then the pitcher will always have the advantage over you. The pitcher so often will have the upper hand on you in every at bat because they will know you are a fool. Make the pitcher work the at bat. Make him throw a strike before you swing. If I were a manager I'd rip every one of my batters every time he swung at the first pitch.

And then there is the scary stat I heard on the radio before today's game. The Phillies, six games into the season, had left 51 batters on base and were 12-60 (.200) in those at bats. Fifty one! If they just got five hits in those at bats (which would be .283), they probably score at least six runs, right? Maybe then you win the two Braves games that go extra innings before it goes to extra innings! Then at least you are 3-3 heading into the Mets series. When, WHEN, will things change?

Perhaps Jimmy Rollins has the answer.