Philadelphia Phillies

I drive a Honda CRV.

It might be the first of its kind; it could be the prototype. There is nothing modern about it. The only gauge I have measures gas; mileage stacks up via flipping digits, and mechanical failures are indicated when the appropriate circle lights up red.

Some people call them idiot lights. That’s because when they glow, idiots wait a few weeks to see if they’ll go out—all by themselves.

For the second game in a row, the Philadelphia Phillies have pulled off a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds. With the win, Philadelphia also capped off their first four-game series sweep of the Reds since 1975.

And for the second game in a row, it came down to great pitching and a clutch base knock by Jimmy Rollins. It wasn't quite as dramatic as an 11th inning walk-off hit, but Rollins came through in the third inning, driving in what turned out to be the winning run.

Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. can breathe a sigh of relief.

Now that former Phillies pitcher and fan favorite Cliff Lee has been traded to the Texas Rangers, Phillies fans will no longer be scoreboard, watching every five days wondering "what if?"  

Lee's starts will no longer be Chinese water torture for a Phillies team with three reliable starters and two train wrecks.  

Phillies fans will no longer calculate and recalculate the math it would have required to keep Lee.

It took a full eight innings for the Phillies to even get a man on base, but they needed only four hits and one run to take their third straight game from the Cincinnati Reds, all of them coming in walk-off fashion.

Rookie pitcher Travis Wood took a perfect game into the ninth, but watched it evaporate as a fresh-off-the-DL Carlos Ruiz hit a leadoff double.

Yesterday's trade of Cliff Lee confirmed what a majority of Philadelphia Phillies and their fans suspected to be true all along—last winter's deal was a terrible blunder. 

When does the Major League leader in losses by a pitcher generate major buzz amongst the teams looking to add pitching at the trade deadline?

When that pitcher has a 3.08 ERA, 112 strikeouts in 120 innings pitched and just threw a one hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, in which he allowed only a two-out first inning single before holding the team hitless the rest of the way.

Or, to put it another way, when that pitcher's name is Roy Oswalt.

Don't let your eyes fool you.  This bum look-alike will actually be worth more this off-season than you or anyone else who reads this will make in the rest of your lifetimes.  Philadelphia rightfielder Jayson Werth will command top dollar as a free agent after this season.  Outside of Tampa Bay's Carl Crawford, there are no other total package outfielders available.

Werth is so valuable the Phillies are viewing him as a possible way to upgrade their team via a trade.  Top prospect and heir-apparent Dominic Brown is starting to tear it up in Triple A.

If there is anything we've learned from recent baseball history, it is that the good teams make the obvious moves when the time comes to make them, but the great teams make the right moves when no one else sees them.

To my mind, the best recent example of the difference between obvious moves and good moves comes from the Ken Williams Era in Chicago.  After the 2004 season, Williams traded Carlos Lee to the Milwaukee Brewers for Scott Podsednik and allowed Magglio Ordonez to sign with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent.

What does it mean to be a "slugger?" We all know the answer, don't we?

Being a slugger means gripping it and ripping it. It means hitting the crap out of the ball and not even waiting around to see where it falls.

It means pointing to a spot in center field and then hitting it there. It means putting dents in signs. It means splashing down in McCovey Cove.

Switch-hitting second base prospect Harold Garcia of the Clearwater Threshers has been named the Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Player of the Month for June 2010. Matthew Way of the Lakewood BlueClaws has been named the Phillies' Minor League Pitcher of the Month.

Garcia, who to this point in his career has not had a lot of pop in his bat, had an explosive month during which he batted .370 with eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs. He collected 22 RBI and 13 runs scored and stole 10 bases in 13 attempts for the High-A Threshers.