Phillies fans… you are welcome

Back on July 22nd, I wrote about how the Phillies were playing so poorly that I accused them of being pod people, replacing the actual Phillies with soul less replicants.

They were a mere 2 games over .500 and were in danger of hitting break even if they lost to St. Louis and Colorado.

And they were 7 games back of the Braves. They were dead in the water when I called them out.

What’s their record since that 5-1 loss to St. Louis?

13-2.

Granted one of those wins was aided by a horrible call in Florida the other night

But in just a little more than 2 weeks, the Phillies have nearly made up a week of games. And it can’t all be attributed to the Roy Oswalt trade. They started this tear before his arrival.

I think the Phillies read my post and finally woke up and played as they are capable of doing.

And now I think they will take the division under their arm and run away with it.

I’ll take the credit.

I can’t think of any other reason for the turn around.

You are welcome.

I should get a playoff share.

THIS ISN’T GOING TO HELP MATTERS FOR THE PHILLIES

I wrote earlier that Phillies fans should refrain from nagging their team regarding Cliff Lee.

They know they screwed up… they’ve brought you flowers and an expensive gift (Roy Oswalt) to make up for it.

Well any hope I had for the “Why didn’t we just keep Lee?” rumblings to stop caught a giant snag.

Yup, Roy Oswalt got his butt kicked tonight by the “Currently Waving a White Flag” Washington Nationals.

OK, 6 innings, 4 earned runs isn’t a whippin’s but it isn’t what the Phillies were hoping for, especially facing a line up that didn’t exactly resemble the Big Red Machine.

With the offense reduced to a Jayson Werth homer (I thought they were going to trade him) they needed a pitcher to shut down the opposition.

Like how about J. A. Happ? He went 6 shutout innings for the Astros against Milwaukee.

You remember Happ? He’s the Phillies pitcher who was sent packing in the Oswalt deal… whom the Phillies could have kept in they also kept Cliff Lee.

Oh Phillies fans won’t be forgetting this any time soon.

Phillies fans… don’t nag your team about Cliff Lee

Have you ever screwed up badly and tried to make up for it?
It might be with your spouse, or significant other or family…

I’m not talking about something huge like adultery or tax evasion.
I’m talking about a judgment call.

A bad investment, inviting the wrong person over, turning down a job that turned into a big windfall, buying the wrong kind of car… something that they could throw a few “I told you so”s at you.

At the exact moment that you knew you screwed up, don’t you tend to overcompensate? Don’t you tend to try to patch things up as quickly as possible?

And while you are fixing the problem if you get a “I don’t know why you just didn’t do what I told you to do before” flung at you, doesn’t it REALLY suck?

When you hear “Why didn’t you do what I told you to do?” don’t you just want to scream “I KNOW! I’M SORRY! I’M FIXING IT! GET OFF MY BACK!”

That’s what the Phillies are doing right now.

They traded for Roy Halladay in the off season. But instead of just trading prospects for Halladay, they decided to replenish their farm system in the process and deal Cliff Lee to get prospects BACK.

And everyone, including yours truly, said “Why didn’t you keep Lee and have the best 1-2 punch in baseball?”

With a shaky bullpen, they could have 2 aces who could throw 9 consistently and give the relievers a rest.

Yet the Phillies tried it out… and Halladay has been solid but Cliff Lee has dominated in both a Mariners and a Rangers uniform. And while the Phillies struggled it was clear they needed a #2 starter.

And oh yeah, the prospects they got for Lee have been stiffs so far.

And even though the Phillies seem to have righted their ship, they went out and traded for Roy Oswalt.

And it cost them prospects (including J. A. Happ) which is what they wanted to save when dealing Cliff Lee.

And Oswalt’s contract is going on for two more years while Cliff Lee’s expires after this year and the Phillies could have let him go and picked up 2 first round picks… which could have helped replenish the farm system.

It’s a solid move for the Phillies, yet virtually everyone is bringing up the Cliff Lee move when talking about the Oswalt trade.

They now have a great 1-2 punch, yet everyone is claiming they told the Phillies so.

The Phillies know!
They are sorry!
They are fixing it!
Get off of their backs!