If At All Possible, Philadelphia Just Got Classier...

 OK, so it wasn’t a midnight fly-by-night Cliff Lee signing that shocked the sports world, but Big Rube made a good, solid deal on Friday.

As if we need to even tell you, Gentleman Jim Thome is back in town.

Yeah Jim, Power to the People.

Let us tell you really quickly why this is a great move…

1.     Your Opening Day Roster Needs Him.

We know you’ve tried to block it out but let’s go back to that final out of our season where Ryan Howard grounded out but never made it all of the way down the first base line…. Hmmm… Why not? Oh, that’s right, he tore his Achilles tendon. From what we’ve heard about recovering from this surgery, it’s not pleasant and it won’t be short. The very early estimation was 6-8 months. That puts us anywhere from April to June. Pull out your calendars because if you haven’t put two and two together yet, the season is well in full swing at this point. Jim, at the ripe old age of 41 yrs old, is going to need to fill in our need at first in some capacity. Will he be our opening day first baseman? It’s unlikely, but possible (especially with the Phillies heavily looking into Michael Cuddyer).

2.     Congratulations, You’ve Just Signed a Player/Manager, Ruben

Ruben just made one of the deals of his lifetime for one big reason: He basically just got a 2-for-1 deal for a measly $1.25 million (reportedly). Even when Ryan comes back and is ready and able to go, you’re still getting a well-seasoned and successful veteran. This vet may need to help a team that will be looking to start bringing up farm talent to fill in spots and to ‘see what they have waiting’ for a team that is aging (no surprise there). Anyone (not just rookies) is going to listen to Jim Thome. How many other guys in that locker room are able to say they’ve hit 604 homers in the MLB? My guess is none of them. Not to mention the guy that taught him how to swing the lumber to the extent that he is was Uncle Charlie. Everything Charlie preaches will be echoed by Jim and pounded into the heads of the guys that are in slumps or just need a little help. Not to mention that if the Phillies can hang onto Ryne Sandberg, and he becomes the bench coach, then you’ve got the best coaching staff in the league – without question. One of the top three won’t even be considered a coach and can still even swing the bat and help out in a game. Don’t underestimate this aspect.

3.     Bottom 9, 2 on, 2 outs, you need three runs quick… Gload or Thome?

Everyone got fed up quickly this year with Ross Gload’s lack of production. Albeit, the guy did have a bad hip and did his fair share of work, but we never really had that guy that everyone was confident in off of the bench. In years past, we had Dobbsy, Stairs, Valdez or the GREAT Tomas Perez. But this year we really never had that guy that came up in the 9^th and had everyone saying, ‘Everyone chill out – he’s got this.’ Mayberry took the role early, but he wasn’t that guy. Jim could easily become this guy that we look for a homer out of in a clutch situation. We especially needed this in the left-handed variety.

Aside for all of these points, the city got another great man and great ballplayer that WANTED to be back here. This is also a man that is only surpassed in home run total by 7 other men in the history of baseball. This should continue to add to the mystique and legendary status of an already fun team to watch. Whether or not this is another move to add another piece to a World Series-caliber team is something that can only be measured 11 months from now – in October. 

In-Game Twinsights

If you’re not watching the Phillies game right now, we beg of you…

TURN IT ON.

Forget that the score is 8-0 and we’re cruising. The boys right now are playing with energy, tenacity, and a little bit of straight ANGER.

We all hated to see that bush league loss yesterday but maybe it left the little sour taste in the mouths of the Phils that we needed to fire us up for tonight.

Things to watch:

Shane is back to playing the way he usually does versus the Bravados. He’s running everywhere for the ball in center, getting great at-bats, getting big hits, and even trying to get creative with his base running to go for a double steal.

Chooch is so fiery that whether or not the umpire is calling the third strike, he has been sprinting away from home plate as soon as he thinks it is. Multiple times in the game now, he has had to come back to finish catching an at-bat because he thought it was strike three so he took off for the dugout.

Utley threw in one of his trademark glove flips to first on a close play (We’re Lovin’ It.)

Howard (still struggling a bit running the bases from just being beat up) is making ballerina-like dives in foul territory for balls. (Oh and don't forget the mammoth long ball he just hit - Wow, Mr. Big Piece)

The Boys are cookin’ – just sit back and soak it all in – we’re getting the Phils’ version of September baseball.

Funny detail from the game today: During one of Wheelers' senseless rants today about who knows what, something funny popped up on the bottom of the screen.

L- Wheeler (2-2)

Now this was obviously speaking of Dan Wheeler, the relief pitcher for the Red Sox, but this automatically made us think about how Wheels loses in the hearts and minds of Phillies fans on a daily basis with his awful stories and repetitive unfunny sayings. In our record books, he is more like (2-1008).

OMG!!! JAYSON WERTH IS NOW AFRICAN AMERICAN!!!

And now that we have your attention… here is what that ridiculous title means…

"If that ball drops in for a single I am going to be quite infuriated. I won't settle for anything less than a double."

As the title tells us in a very non-politically correct way, we may have found the second coming of Jayson Werth in our little Stanford Cardinal (Except hes in no way little and he better not leave us for a lot of money/losses). Yes, that’s right, the incredibly intelligent Ivy League man is showing in a big way that he can perform on a daily basis in the outfield.  Since Opening Day, in which he hit a walk off single versus the Houston Astros, John Mayberry Jr. has been finding a way to get the big hit and make a big impact for this talented World Series ready club. He also has the ability to become a super utility man when needed as seen when he filled in for Ryan Howard at 1^st, Raul Ibanez in LF, Ben Francisco in RF (Before we acquired the right hand hitting God), and extremely valuable time filling in for Shane Victorino in CF. Mayberry (Power) was acquired in a trade with the Texas Rangers swapping “speed for power” as Big Rube called it, when we sent Greg Golson (Speed) to the Rangers (Once again proving he is the best GM in the bizzzz). Since then, I would say that the deal has worked out better for the Phillies than the Rangers, since Golson is no longer there and not on a Major League roster. But let’s take a look at some of the numbers since we recalled Johnny May from the minors.

A long long time ago, roughly two months ago to be precise, in a ballpark near you, there was a mythical creature who was promoted from being an Iron Pig to being a Phillie, and that is where the story begins. Okay, that was gay, we’re sorry, but since July 5^th when Mayberry was recalled and Vanimal was sent down, John Mayberry has turned the corner at the plate. When he was designated, he was struggling a bit to find his offensive groove, but since then, he has done it all.  He tweaked his stance which went from tall and slow to more compact and less slow, and that has translated well for Johnny May. Big John has been 26 for 82 (.317 BA) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 8 HRs and 27 RBIs since the “great knee bend incident”. Oh yeah, lets add in there 4 BBs and a SB just for good measure too. Not to mention, he also plays solid defensively whether it is tracking down the ball in the outfield or digging a throw out of the dirt, he does it all.

The only question that John Mayberry Jr has left for the Phillies to contemplate is, should he replace Raul right away or just platoon him in there for Rightie/Leftie, Leftie/Rightie matchups? The one answer that is for certain is the John Mayberry has hit his way into Charlie Manuel’s lineup and isn’t going to stop anytime soon.

Excuse me, is the Doc(tor) in?

"I am THE most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball, bitches."

Okay, so you had to know this was coming, because every person with a pulse in the tri-state area is talking about it, so lets dive right in. Should Charlie Manuel have left Doc Halladay in the game in the ninth last night? The answer is… Maybe. We want everyone in the tri-state area to shut up. Everyone’s opinion is good, bad, wrong, and right. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and that’s exactly what every "experts'" analysis of last night was. So, lets take a close look at the two major options and what could have happened:

Option 1: El Bastard/Mad Dog come into the game

"Mira! Un beisbol!"

It doesn’t matter whether you argue that one of these guys should have come in for the whole 9^th, after one hit, or after two hits, because they could have all come out the exact same. If one of these guys comes in, we could have seen a rested bullpen player come in and possibly dominate the competition. It could have been a 1,2,3 inning or one of these guys could have come in and gotten out of the trouble Roy had gotten into and looked like geniuses. It would have been nice to see Bastardo get into a REAL pressure situation and see if he can get his way out. He has been great all year, but those pressure situations are what really earn a reliever the big money and it would have been nice to see just how much we have with this kid. Can we rely on him in the playoffs? Is he the closer of the future that can handle the pressure? These are things we need to know before Mad Dog becomes a free agent. The other possible outcome could have been the complete opposite, in which we see one of these guys fall apart and today we are still all chewing out Charlie Manuel for making a bad decision. If this happens, who knows how Bastardo or Madson react (broken toe?) and it could hurt our bullpen for the rest of the season.

Option 2: The Doctor is in.

"What the hell did you say? It goes like this, 'Look! A Baseball!'"

This is what happened, and this is how the game ended. Roy stayed in the game and we all know how it unfolded. He made some bad pitches and ended up giving up the lead in the 9^th inning. Lets break down that decision a little bit though. Even though we all got on Charlie for the decision, does anyone remember how well Halladay pitched prior to the 9^th? He had retired 12 batters in a row and 8 of those 12, he struck out. Which is pretty dominant, he was cruising at that point. Then, lets talk about the second point, his pitch count. After 8 innings, he had thrown 100 pitches exactly. Yeah, and your point? This is THE Doctor. He has thrown more than 100 pitches so many times in his career, what is one more time? No one is crazy about the possibility of Roy getting hurt, but he could just as easily get hurt throwing a curveball in the first inning than throwing a fastball in the 9^th. And what if Halladay had finished that masterpiece and walked away with another complete game win? Today every talk show or sports show would be laughing about how good ole’ Uncle Cholly stuck with his man and it paid off yet again. How Cholly’s loyalty to Roy is amazing and unmatched. This is something that could have happened and based on past performances, was very likely to happen again.

After all of this, it comes down to one truth: How many World Series have you won for the Phillies? Exactly, so shut up and lay off old Uncle Cholly. The man may not always make the best pitching decisions in the world, but it has done him right so far in his career as a manager, at least we think so. Hindsight is 20/20, but since you can’t tell the future, and neither can we, let the manager manage, the players play, and the chips fall where they may as we all take a ride through this amazing Phillies’ season.