Philadelphia Phillies

Most teams have played a little over 40 games, and despite my barely passing grades in every single math class I've ever taken, I still managed to figure out that the MLB season is roughly a quarter over.

The good thing about making predictions this early is that if they turn out to be correct, boom. You're a genius. A pundit. A prophet.

If they're wrong. So what? Nobody can read the future, get off my ass will ya?

Stage Set for World Series Repeat, But Which One?

“You can do a lot with two inches.”

That’s what my son said while pondering his binder preferences at Staples.

Maybe you can.

You can also do a lot with two pitches. Cole Hamels tossed his curve into his limited repertoire but it was his fastball and change-up that ruled the game.

As a result, Ricky Botallico said Cole Hamels has “turned the corner.”

Are you kidding me?

For the first time since mid-April, the Phillies lineup was the way it should be. Every starter was playing, and they were handling John Lackey and the Red Sox fairly well along with the help of a stellar performance by Cole Hamels.

But once Jimmy Rollins hit a single in the sixth inning and had to limp to first base, the mood was immediately sucked out of the air.

Moving into interleague play, the Philadelphia Phillies are off to a hot start toward a third consecutive World Series appearance. Is it too soon to start rating the Phillies' players' performance? Perhaps, but I'd like to try anyway.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your early-season 2010 Philadalphia Phillies MVPs.

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It was one of those humbling moments that reminds you why the fans pay to go to the game and sit in the 400-level while the coaches get paid to go to the game and sit in the dugout.

In the Phillies' half of the sixth inning of a 1-1 game against the Cubs on Tuesday afternoon, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins came to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third.  

There is a lot being made about Roy Halladay's high pitch count over his past few starts. Over the last four starts he's made he hasn't thrown any fewer than 118 pitches and is averaging 123 with his latest 132-pitch outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates this past Tuesday.

However, is that really so bad for a guy who has an MLB-high 53 complete games over the past eight seasons?

The Red Sox have the Phillies’ number.

That first became evident when Boston ousted Philly in the 1915 World Series, and little changed once interleague play began over 80 years later.

The Phillies are just 15-22 against the Red Sox since their interleague dates began in 1997. Philly and Boston have met in interleague play every season except 2002 and 2007.

Back to the present…

The Philadelphia Phillies have a long and storied, although not always impressive, history.

Throughout the years they have had their fair share of characters, and Philadelphia fans have a soft spot in their hearts for the quirky, the loud-mouthed, the eccentric, and the bold.

Although they did not always lead the team in numerical categories, these players have won the affection of the populace as the most beloved Phillies of all time.

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For once, Jamie Moyer knows what it takes to pitch well and lose. Oh, the irony

Moyer was brilliant for the Phillies as they faced the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, allowing only two earned runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings, while striking out seven and lowering his ERA to 4.30, in the rematch of the teams that faced each other back in 1986 when Moyer made his major league debut against Steve Carlton.

When Roy Halladay joined the Philadelphia Phillies, I made a comment on local sports-talk radio that Halladay immediately joins the Phillies' Mount Rushmore of starting pitchers. Was this hyperbole?

Could a guy in his first season with the Phillies ( a team founded in 1883) possibly be one of the top four starting pitchers in the team's history?

Let's take a look at the All Time Phillies pitching staff.

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