Cliff Lee

The Phantastic Phour, R2C2, The Four Horsemen, The Foureign Legion...I could go on. The Philladelphia Phillies starting rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels created massive amounts of speculation this winter—could they be the greatest rotation ever assembled?

So, after two turns each, have they lived up to the hype?

It's still early, but for the first time all season the Phillies finally saw some decent pitching.

The Phils took a quick 3-0 lead in Game One, but Cliff Lee struggled while Tim Hudson settled down.  Atlanta took the first game 6-3.

In Game Two, Carlos Ruiz came off the bench and contributed with a grand slam and five RBI en route to a 10-2 rout for Philly.

The Phillies are rolling to start the season. Dominant pitching and an offense that has hit more singles than any other team in baseball. Clearly their series against the Braves meant more to their hated rivals than it did to them, but it's always nice to let the few fans Atlanta has (and the national media) that their "sexy" pick for NL East champion was wrong.

I'm not one to get too excited or upset seven games into a 162-game season. So I'm about as ready to jump off the Ben Franklin Bridge after Friday night's 6-3 loss to the Braves, as I was ready to march down Broad Street after their 11-0 win over the Mets Thursday afternoon.

The Phillies have an early three game series against the rival Mets starting tonight (Tuesday). The Phillies have gotten off to a scorching hot start (albeit against the lowly Astros) and they look to keep the good times rolling.

The Mets won their first series as well, taking two of three from the Marlins.

This series most definitely means a lot more to Mets fragile psyche than the proven Phillies, but it is still always fun to kick a New York team while they are down right?

The first three games of the season are now in the books, and the Phillies—thanks to three fine pitching performances, a terrific Opening Day comeback victory and other timely hitting this weekend—are 3-0 for the first time since Abe Lincoln manned the White House.

Okay, that was a slight exaggeration (Grant Administration?), but to Phillies Nation, the regular season could not have come soon enough or started much better.

I had the pleasure and privilege of attending all three games this weekend for the Phillies. The atmosphere was absolutely electric and the weather did not stop more than 45,000 "phanatical" fans from showing up at each game and proving once again that the stigma of the Philadelphia fan that booed Santa more than 50 years ago is indeed history.

Ever since the Phillies signed Cliff Lee back in December, fans immediately began to come up with nicknames: "R2C2," "The Phab Phour," "The Four Aces," you name it.

As fans reflected on this signing more, many began to wonder whether it was worth utilizing the bullpen often, aside from the closer (Brad Lidge) and the setup men (Ryan Madson and Jose Contreras).

Originally, the question leaned towards the answer "no."

Welcome to BoxPlus, where I give you just a little more than the box score does.

Phillies 9, Astros 4

Game 2 of the Phillies' young season saw a bit more of an offensive attack to back ace No. 2, Cliff Lee. 

Every year the Mariners come out with a new set of five or six commercials in which they feature their most exciting players.  This year we got to meet Larry Bernandez and watch Ichiro hit tic-tacs.  The marketing team always comes up with something pretty clever.

Here's a look at some of the best:

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