Phillies - Brewers: Series Preview

Tonight, our Phillies begin a weekend series with those pesky Milwaukee Brewers, a team that took the season series last year 4-3. The book on the Brewers is simple, they will score a ton (186 runs, best in the NL) but can't keep the opponent from scoring more (188, third worst in the NL). Even without Halladay pitching in the series, the Phillies should have the better pitcher on the mound two out of the three games. Here's your matchups:

Friday: Moyer (4-2, 4.38 ERA) vs. Wolf (3-2, 3.95)
Saturday: Blanton (0-2, 4.97 ERA) vs. Narveson (3-0, 5.06 ERA)
Sunday: Hamels (3-2, 4.53 ERA) vs. Davis (1-4, 7.56 ERA)

Normally when facing the Brew Crew all you'd have to do is handle Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (easier said than done, I know) and you'd be ok. However, this year you also have to keep an eye on third baseman Casey McGehee. The dude has 2 HR's and 9 RBI's over his last five games AND is hitting .357 this month. I have a sneaky feeling we're going to see a lot of runs this weekend.

Either way, it would be great to see the Phils pull out two of three and head back home with some momentum, especially with the Red Sox coming to town next week (a series that is never easy).

Go Phils!

So How Aboot That Game Tonight, Eh?

Facebook has told me two things -

1. My identity is now property of the United States Government.
2. There is some type of hoc-key match tonight.

Thank God We're Not Cleveland

As a Philadelphia fan since birth, I know sports heartache. For 24 years, I either watched my teams get close only to rip my heart out with some tremendously terrible way to lose or watched them suck so bad that it left you wondering how the hell a team could suck so bad. When it comes to sports misery, I've had more than my fair share. But nothing, absolutely nothing, that we've gone through as Philadelphia fans compares to what those poor Cleveland sports fans have been (and are being) put through. As a fan of another "cursed" sports city, I just can't help but feel bad for them.

TheWizWit Wallpaper Wednesday!

As our friends over at The700Level have pointed out, voting for the 2010 MLB All-Star team is now underway and our boy Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz needs to be in there like swimwear. Why? Well, because he's playing stupid, dumb, retarded, mentally-challenged, down-syndrome, slobbering-on-himself baseball right now.

All the big-name Phils will most likely make their way onto the NL All-Star roster either as a starter or bench player, so Charlie Manuel will basically be coaching the Phillies against the AL All-Stars. However, because Chooch's name isn't as famous as your Halladay's, Howard's, or Utley's...he is a likely All-Star snub. For a guy leading the Phillies (and much of the NL) in most statistical categories, this makes my mindgrapes supersad.

You want stats?

Overall in the NL, Carlos Ruiz leads all Catchers in AVG with .354 and is 3rd overall in the NL. Closest to him is Chicago's Geovany Soto, who is batting a solid .325. In OBP Ruiz shows a whopping .481 and leads the entire NL (although Soto again is closest with .476). In SLG Ruiz takes a small dip behind Soto with .488 compared to .525...but seriously, who cares about the Cubs? Ruiz also has 21 BB, which is tied for 9th in the NL (Pujols). He’s hitting .368 with runners on, currently showing a 1.000 Fielding Percentage, and has 178 Putouts in 2010 already. Sure, Chooch only has a couple ding-dong kaboom's so far this season, but after taking into account every other offensive and defensive stat, there is no reason why this man should not be an All-Star.

With all that said, I (with great pride) present...Chooch: So Hot Right Now!

An Analysis of Mr. Ding-Dong Kaboom

*For your pleasure courtesy of The Onion.

For the record, the phrase 'ding-dong kaboom' IS cool in my book.

Friday is here; enjoy your weekend. The Phillies have a weekend series with the Braves, while the Flyers will win tonight just to prolong the inevitable.

This turned out to be a slow sports week. Our lack of new posts had nothing to do with laziness. Nope. Not one bit.

We'll do better next week. (Probably).

The Mets Prove They're Still The Mets

The Phils are back in first place in the NL East, the Mets suck, and Johan Santana had the worst outing of his career. Next up is a possible NLCS preview as the Phillies take on the Cardinals.

All is well in Philadelphia.

Kolb Gets Extended and Links for Friday

A second Philadelphia athlete got a nice extension this week, his name is Kevin Kolb. The Eagles inked Kolb to a contract that will keep him in Philly through next year, guaranteeing him $12.26 million. Not quite Ryan Howard money but at least the dude is now paid like a starter in the NFL. If they hadn't extended him, Kolb would have made only $550,000. Now he'll get a $10.7 million signing bonus in addition to a bump in his yearly salary. That money will sure kill a lot of hogs.

Anyway, this actually works out well for the Eagles. Since the CBA expired there are all types of weird rules around extentions. This meant the Eagles couldn't sign Kolb to an extension without it being ridiculously team friendly since yearly salaries can't increase more than 30% each year due to the new rules. Thus, the Eagles get him on a two-year deal and get to see if he's any good. If he totally blows, they can move on. If he's awesome they can resign him to a long-term, big dollar contract. It's pretty much a win-win.

Anyways, here's to hoping that Kolb is the truth. Cause if he isn't...well....let's just not think about that right now. Now onto the links...

The Forgotten Athlete

It's always a good idea to take a step back and reflect on memories. And for that reason, we will be bringing a feature to you that will honor a former athlete. He can play any sport, for any team. No restrictions here. The only stipulation - you've likely never given them a second thought after they faded from athletic prominence.

So without further ado - I present your first Forgotten Athlete...

2010 Draft: So What Did We Get?

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Or -- according to the proceeding Microsoft Paint-edited photos -- at least several.

Halladay, Phillies To Take On Earthquakes, Rainbows Tonight

Between the NFL draft and the NHL playoffs (but mostly the draft), we haven't gushed over the Phils in a while.

Not only are the Phillies 1st in the NL East, but they are well on their way to the best start in franchise history.

But just as importantly - I don't think it's possible to understate the impact and awesomeness that is Roy 'Doc' Halladay.