Philadelphia Phillies

In the last two years, the Phillies closer role has been filled by "a veritable who's who of incompetent puppets," as said by Dr. Kelso from ABC's television show Scrubs .

Valdez has likely played his last game as a Phillie.


With Jimmy Rollins slated to make his return to the lineup, someone will have to face the axe in order to make room on the roster.

Baseball is America's pastime, and the Yankees are considered by many to be "America's Team."

With their history of success and a seemingly insurmountable mountain of hardware lining the organization's trophy cases, it is easy to see why this is the case.

But although they are, historically and statistically speaking, the "best" team, does that mean they are "America's" team? I propose that the Yankees personify many characteristics of America, the only problem is, they're all the wrong ones.

If you listened closely enough this past Wednesday, you could hear the collective groan of a city when we were all informed that Brad Lidge would be leaving Denver in the middle of a series with the Rockies to head back to Philadelphia for an MRI on his surgically-repaired elbow.

Ryan Madson is already out for a couple months and the bullpen probably wasn't up to snuff to begin with, so losing Lidge would be an absolute catastrophe.

It's easy to root for a winning team, but what makes it even easier is when that winning team is made up of a bunch of likable guys.

The Phillies have a roster full of character players who truly enjoy the game. They play hard and they like each other. And as proven by their appearance in the previous two World Series, this team is good.

Here's a look at my 10 favorite Phillies on a squad with a lot of guys to like.

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In the span of less than a week, two Philadelphia Phillies fans ran onto the field at Citizens Bank Park, with one being subdued by use of a Taser fired by a Philadelphia policeman.

Is the Taser a reasonable manner of suppressing runaway fans, or is there a better, safer way to squelch these shenanigans?

Of course there is, but nothing is more entertaining than witnessing the incapacitation, via the Taser, of a stupid fan who dares breach security for a jaunt on the playing field.

Who would have thought that the most indispensable part of the Phillies infield would turn out to be Juan Castro?

When Jimmy Rollins tweaked his calf muscle in mid-April, he was batting .391 with a .516 OBP, and a wOBA of .527. Impressive numbers, ones that he certainly would not have been able to keep up over the course of the season, but clearly he would be very hard to replace.

Exactly what does "cheating" mean?

One dictionary definition is: "to act dishonestly; practice fraud." That sounds good .

A second definition is: "to violate rules deliberately, as in a game." That sounds good too.

In 1951, the New York Giants won the National League Pennant, overcoming the Brooklyn Dodgers' 13.5 game lead.

The injury bug continues to bite at the Phillies as another starter is down and could miss a few days after Carlos Ruiz sprained his right knee Wednesday against the Rockies.

Ruiz initially injured the knee making a tag at the plate, then aggravated it trying to run from first to third on a base hit by Wilson Valdez in the fourth inning. He made it to third safely, but immediately began grasping at his knee and had to be replaced by Paul Hoover.

Who would have thought that the most indispensable part of the Phillies infield would turn out to be Juan Castro. 

When Jimmy Rollins tweaked his calf muscle in mid-April he was batting .391, with a .516 OBP, and a wOBA of .527. Impressive numbers, ones that he certainly would not have been able to keep up over the course of the season, but clearly he would be very hard to replace.

He was replaced by Juan Castro, who provided solid defense, in addition to at least moderately adequate offensive numbers, batting .258 with a .255 wOBA.