Philadelphia Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — For huge baseball fans, watching the Phils vs. Astros was a treat. This was the longest game in Citizens Bank Park since 2004; five hours and twenty minutes worth of baseball showcasing a bullpen battle, which took us through 16 innings. This landed Roy Oswalt in left field, and Raul Ibanez at first base.

A day after the controversial call by Umpire Greg Gibson, the Phillies and Astro's serve up an epic 16 inning thriller.

With Cole Hamels on the mound, everyone knew the game would be a low-scoring affair...for both teams.

It's seemingly just as hard for the Phillies' offense to score when Hamels pitches as it is for the opposing team, and the trend would continue in Game Two of a four-game series against the Houston Astros.

Hamels left the game in the seventh inning after giving up only two runs. Unfortunately, his offense only gave him one.

Greg Gibson is a 41-year-old Ohio-born man, who has worked as an umpire for some 13 years.

On August 23, 2010 he made a controversial, potential game deciding call, against a team in the heat of a vicious pennant race. If that is not enough, he consulted nobody for a second opinion.

In the top of the eighth, Ryan Howard fielded a bunt by Michael Bourn and dove to tag Bourn. Bourn ran out of the base path to avoid the tag, and proceeded to first base where he was called safe.

       There are two schools of thought when it comes to hiring a General Manager for a Major League Baseball team, either you hire a business man or a baseball man. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have gone the business man rout with Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein and have been successful.

Even Michael Bourn would look at this and think he's out.

The Phillies have had some games in which their offense was not as good as it could have been, games in which they were held to very few runs, and games in which they had many base runners but just couldn't seem to get hits in important situations.  Even some of those games were against pitchers who were not all that great.

When I looked at the score from one of those games, my initial thought was that maybe the reason they couldn't knock in the runners was that their lineup wasn't very good.

It's that time again: The time when the end of the season is approaching and everyone starts making their end-season predictions.

The Phillies have been supported by a handful of experts for the last couple of years. The remainder however, have been contrary.

Hindsight is 20/20 they say, and it is. But lets take a peek back to 2008, the magical year for the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans.

For a team to do what the Phillies have done in the last three seasons, it goes without saying that the list of players to come up big along the way is going to be, as Goose would say, long, but distinguished.

Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins might headline the list, but it's safe to say there are plenty of other role-players (Victorino, Ruiz), relievers, (Madson, Lidge), and even bench players (Matt Stairs), who won't be paying for a drink in Philadelphia anytime soon.

The Houston Astros will limp into Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia tonight, 54-69 and with virtually no chance to make the playoffs. 

Since the team's World Series appearance in 2005, there's been a lot of limping finishes in Houston.

While the Philadelphia Phillies were in the process of reaching their first post-season in 14 years in 2007, the Astros were in the final stages of a search for a new general manager.

It happened to Chuck Klein in 1933. It happened to Ted Williams twice, in 1942 and 1947. Could it happen again in 2010?

Could Albert Pujols win the Triple Crown without winning his league's Most Valuable Player Award?

If this article seems like it is coming out of nowhere, that is understandable.