[philhopeful]

Of the starters the only guys with post season experience are:
Nunez: 2005 with ST Lui
Dellucci: with Arizona and theh Yanks
Lieber: a year with the yanks

Dellucci and Nunez are hardly team leaders that am going to demonstrate to the other guys how to win.

[EmpireWF]

Whatever happened to the potential of Gavin Floyd and the other top pitching prospect?

[longtimephillyfan]

I'm amazed that philhopeful is so knowledgeable about the Phillies. He must have lots of time on his hands!!! The recent losses to the Reds were heartbreaking, but this team refuses to fade away. If the pitching holds up the Phillies could be in the wild card hunt until October. Cole Hamels looks like the real deal; Randy Wolf had a great outing last evening; Bret Myers is solid and John Lieber ALWAYS pitches well in September. Hell, if they need a 5th starter, I might just dust off my glove ( I was dynamite during my Little League days with Crafton A.C. ). I'm back on the bandwagon, at least for now!!!

[MJHMarc]

I'm behind you all the way on your miraculous comeback to the game you love the most. Need an agent? I'll give my buddy, Arliss Michaels, a ring when possible. We will start you on the bottom but with your raw potential you can easily work your way to the top by the time the Phillies reach the Playoffs. That can be longer than you expect, but we will have to see if you get the call this year or in ten years from now. Those Amazing Mets stretch their lead just like David Ortiz would stretch a speedo. GROSS!

[philhopeful]

Gavin Floyd is burried down in Scranton - alhtough he is doing is holding about a 4.0 ERA, they have not chose to bring him up. I think that his advance to the bigs may be delayed by the introduction of the phenom I heard of. I think his name is "longtimephillyfan." I think I actually saw him pitch one time at a fair. He actually struck out the Whammer in three consecutive pitches. I sort of lost track of him after that. Glad to see he is reemerging. I am excited about the showing with the Mets also, but I stick to my theory that they don't know how to close the deal. I hope I am wrong however.

[longtimephillyfan]

What's up with this team??? Can they sweep the Mets?? Maine is a tough matchup on Thursday however. Last time out he owned the Phils!!! Talk about me getting back on the bandwagon, I'm the head cheerleader. Is it possible that Manuel comes back next year?? I hope he doesn't, but who wants Pinella; hom and Gillick go back a long way. Any thoughts from Philhopeful or is he just daydreaming????

[philhopeful]

I must admit that they are looking tough. A sweep would be nice!! We will see though, I remember that they ran like a 9 game winning streak earlier in the year only to subsequently drop 8 in a year. Don't get me wrong, I am excited also but I remain guardedly optimistic. Again, I am just not sure they know how to win. Wins over Pedro, Hernendez, and Glavine are impressive however.

[EmpireWF]

The Phillies dominated the Mets in the first three games of this series. The Mets bats were just non-existant. However, it looks like that's changed. Maine has pitched a good game (he just gave up a 2 run HR to Howard).

Phil's definitely needed a series like this though.

[MJHMarc]

Ryan Howard is a monster. Do you think he will turn into the next Albert Pujols/Alex Rodriguez?

[longtimephillyfan]

Ryan Howard is indeed a monster, but another Albert Pujols, not sure. I live in the St Louis area and get an OPPORTUNITY to see Pujols often. Let me tell you something. Every time Prince Albert steps into the batters box, you expect him to go deep. It's amazing, and when he doesn't, this feeling of disappointment drains your body. For those of you that watch Howard often, do you feel the same??? It's the same feeling I experienced years ago when I watched in amazement a young lad play for Davis Sports. This kid had great potential, but stopped growing prematurely. Too bad, a career cut short. Would love to see the Phils reach .500 this weekend; they have to sweep the Nationals. They desperately need someone to step up into that #5 starting spot; they miss Cory desperately.

[philhopeful]

Hard to say whether he will end up like an A-rod. So many guys start with great potential but there are only a few A-rods. I would love to see it fo the Phils but it is pretty rare. Big series with Washington!! I think that it may be the decisive point of the season for the Phils. After capturing momentum against the Mets, to end up below 500 at the end of this series may be to much to overcome. I must say however that I am not that confident. I saw the Leiberthal said that "you have to look at the big picture" when asked about the last loss. Again, my point about knowinghow to win. There really is no big picture at this point - you have to think that every game is the big picture. It only takes 2 losses against the Nationals and they are still three games below 500 and perhaps up to 4 - 5 games back from the wildcard. Again, I think this is the desicive point of the campaign

[MJHMarc]

A lot of baseball organizations are in pursuit of capturing the NL Wild Card this year. Only one winner will win the NL West division, so all the others will have to get the Wild Card in hopes of making the Playoffs. It really stinks when you think about it because half the teams don't even have a chance.

What is a Philly fan doing all the way in St. Louis, longtimephillyfan? Well, I am a Dodgers fan living in Antartica so I know how you feel. All the polar bears and penguins root for the Yankees and I am the only one wearing a Dodgers' cap. I guess I am a minority until I visit Los Angeles.

You should perform in every baseball game your best. I have noticed that the Mets have started to relax since they have such a distinctive lead in their division. But when the Playoffs come around, who knows if they will be able to adjust to the big games in time. It will be a total shock since they are giving their star players a rest for now.

The Philadelphia Phillies don't have any time to rest since they have their most important games of the season right now. I have to admit that you guys have the most impressive team at a young age. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are unbelievable and haven't been in the league that long. When you think about it, they have the equivalent of two or three Albert Pujols.

I know what you mean about Albert Pujols not hitting homeruns every time he is at-bat. Even though he hits plenty of homeruns, you must take his AB/HR into perspective. After numerous calculations, I figured out that he hits a homerun about every eleven at-bats. That is decent, but it means about every three games or so. If you have three games to choose from, you only have a 33% chance of seeing him go long. Talk about bringing the numbers into the game!

[philhopeful]

I must admit that after they dropped the first game of the series to the Nationals a couple days back that I thought they were done. I really thought that they wouldn't have the stuff to pull it back together. I am most pleasently suprised!! I think a great move with Moyer and they are on a roll!!! The Rowand injury could be tough though?

Thoughts about the inspired Phillies?

[longtimephillyfan]

MJHMARC, I am impressed with the numbers. Never thought of Prince Albert in that light. Regardless, he's still awesome and may be the best all around player in the game. My job brought to me the St. Louis area 12 years ago, but my spirit remains with all Philly teams. When the St Louis faithful yell Cards, I yell Phils; Blues, Flyers, Rams, Eagles, Billikens, Explorers.. get the picture?? Big weekend series with the Mets; we need to take at least 2 of 3. Keep the faith, the National League is WIDE OPEN. I spent the past weekend with a miniature Philhopeful. He has more hair than his father but has the same athleticism. We even went for a ride in the Red Jeep. Mom was not too happy about the Cherry Slurpie I bought him, but since I don't get to see him often it was OK. Hope for good news by Monday. Until next time...

[philhopeful]

Would have been nice to get within a game of the Reds but at this point to be above 500 and within striking distance of the wildcard is great. I sound like a broken record because I continue to say that every series is a big one but I have to say it again. I think you are correct longtimephillyfan, they need a good showing (some wins against he Mets). Some Cinci losses would be really helpful as well. Hamel got hammered last night but he is a young guy and these things are going to happen. Longtimephillyfan - I didn't even think that Philly had a football team anymore. I thought that the Eagles were going to have to play 7 - man ball against some small texas high schools