Phightins

Wow it's been a while. But anyway, Simon Gagne injured his groin at the Team Canada training camp thing. Not serious, apparently. I also heard that Carter has looked really good up there.

Season-high 8 game lead in the division. But that was disappointing to see Pedro get knocked out because of the rain. Out of his 4 starts, this is the 2nd time he has been [expletive]ed over by the rain. Moyer came in and was awesome, but I still would have liked to see how far Pedro could have gone. We all know he can be lights out for 3 or 4 innings, but I think all Phillies fans are waiting to see just how far he can get.

Something tells me this thread will head in a bad direction....hmm wonder why. Clearly Boston though. I mean, undoubtedly a top 5 team in every sport (arguably top 2 in all but baseball). How terrible!! B) But this is difficult. Pretty much every major sports city has at least one successful franchise so it is hard to find a city far worse than all the others.

I think it's some type of tropical storm or something. I am just pissed that they started the game and delayed it in the 2nd. I am no weather man but I could have told you it was going to be pouring soon after the game started. So instead, Pedro and Hanson throw their warmup pitches and throw 2 innings, and now they are both done for the night because of this long delay. Should have just waited it out.

And Pedro gets screwed by the rain once again...

It is pouring right now. I see very little chance that they play tonight. Tomorrow night is supposed to be even worse, though. Maybe they will try to play through it tonight.

I doubt it. You only come over here when somebody pm's you. There is some serious trash talking that goes completely unnoticed in here. I am only the "problem" because I just called you out. Now go ahead and "suspend" me, ban me, whatever.

Do that and lose about 5 or 6 posters, guaranteed. You saying this [expletive] doesn't happen in any of the other forums? I don't see any talk of taking down the Lakers forum, that is where most of the trash talking on this site occurs.

You talk down about everybody not related to Boston. You spew this BS about Philadelphia fans as if you are in the know, but you are in fact clueless. Come to a game here and it will change your outlook. I know my outlook on Mets fans was changed on Monday. You only see the bad stuff on the internet and on TV, when in fact those people only make up about .0001% of our fanbase. I would be willing to bet the Red Sox have just as many idiots (in fact probably more since the fanbase has miraculously tripled in size over the past 5 years...wonder why?). The fact that you fall for everything you read or see on TV just puts the joke on you. And pointing out on this or any message board the idiotic things that a handful of Philadelphia fans have done is truly pointless, unless you are accusing all Philadelphia fans of being savage and barbaric, and as I pointed out, if that's what you think you are stupider than the idiots who cheered the injured Michael Irvin or who shined a laser pointer at Albert Pujols. So, I repeat, get off your high horse, you are in no position to talk down to anybody.

Matchups for Braves series: Tonight: Pedro Martinez vs. Tommy Hanson Saturday: Cliff Lee vs. Derek Lowe Sunday: Joe Blanton vs. Jair Jurrjens (ESPN game) This is all barring rain, of course. The area is supposed to get hit hard this weekend.

We really have no more "classless" fans than any other fanbase, and you need to "just deal with that". I have never personally been happy for an opposing player to be hurt. Like I mentioned earlier, I do not feel bad for the Mets because I feel this is just karma biting them in the [expletive], however I'd much prefer to see them just flat out suck than suffer all these injury problems. But regardless, in all seriousness, you need to get off your high horse. You are not as high and mighty as you think you are due to being a Boston fan. You are just an ignorant, obnoxious, arrogant, hypocritical piece of [expletive] (and that is putting it kindly).

I like this a lot. Nice work.

You are a [expletive]ing idiot. End of story. You also sound like you are [expletive]ing five years old. You are still on this generalization thing? If you take the words or actions of a handful of Philadelphia fans and use it to generalize the entire fanbase, you are just as stupid (in fact probably stupider) than the Philly fans who give us this bad reputation. This is only, what? The twenty-millionth time we have been over this? Can it finally get through your thick, arrogant skull? I doubt it. But wait, who am I to question you? You are a holier-than-thou Boston fan, clearly the authority on all things sports. I seriously like how in the past 5 years you guys have taken on the very qualities that you hated about Yankees fans for all those years. Cocky, arrogant, holier-than thou. [expletive]ing hypocrites. Also for the record, did you see what I just did there? I made a generalization about Boston fans. I bet you will take issue with that, no?

Yeah last I checked steroids don't cause you to lose 30 pounds or fade into obscurity after the all star break Nice attempt though. Ortiz/Manny ftw. But in all seriousness I almost felt bad for the Mets, but then I remembered all the bull[expletive] many Mets fans gave us from 06 through September of 07 and I decided that it's simply karma being a [expletive] (nothing personal fish). I am very happy that you guys took care of Florida this afternoon though.

I think we were the only ones on the 7 who could speak English.

I was pleasantly surprised, honestly. I suppose the Mets fans who go to the games are not the same people as the jerkoffs on the internet who flex their internet muscles still despite the fact that the team is so awful.

Hamels was dealing tonight. Best he has looked in a long time. Also, not sure if the gun in Pittsburgh is defective, but he was clocked at 97 on a few fastballs, and he consistently was hitting 95-96. If that is true, I'd imagine that'd make his changeup even more lethal. If he can continue to locate his fastball like he was doing tonight, I think he can get back on track.

I think he can still be decent, even if he "only" throws 95-96 mph. He was 98-100 pre-Tommy John so it is not that much of a drop off. Guys who throw that hard do not grow on trees, especially lefties. So I guess it all depends on his location. He has always been a guy who throws his fastball 95% of the time, and a well located fastball, especially one that hard, is perhaps the most dangerous pitch in baseball. Also, he has more confidence in his breaking ball now than he did in Philadelphia, so if he can throw that a bit more often, it can make up for the 2 or 3 mph lost on his fastball. I just would not want him on my team because he is the biggest piece of [expletive] in Major League Baseball.

Cole Hamels is pitching tonight. Could tonight be the night he takes a step in the right direction? I sure as hell hope so. Also, I read a really good article today about Lidge/the closer situation in general (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/ in case anybody was wondering). It is my thoughts exactly. Basically, it says that having an effective closer is very important, but the idea that you need a "dominant" one (aka Rivera, Papelbon, Rodriguez, Lidge of last season) is overrated. It is very possible to find a good closer in the "scrap heap", if you will. The Marlins are notorious for this, and they have typically had success with their closers (although they have had issues this year). When they won to the World Series in 2003, they did not make Ugueth Urbina their closer until mid September. Also, Kevin Gregg worked out pretty well for them in that role the past couple years, and they put him into that role out of nowhere. With the large amount of relief pitchers due off the DL in the next few weeks (Brett Myers, Clay Condrey, JC Romero), it will definitely be possible to find a potential short term replacement for Lidge should these issues continue. Word is that Brett Myers has looked dominant in his rehab appearances, and his velocity is as high as it's been since 2007. If this is the case, I would give him first shot at the job. My sleeper candidate is Tyler Walker, because he has been good so far this year and he has experience closing. Also, his current role is not exactly vital, so it would not really shake up the rest of the bullpen, like it would if we took Ryan Madson or Chan Ho Park out of their current roles to make them closers. Madson is dominant as the setup man, and Park's ability to either set up if Madson needs a day off, or to throw multiple innings is huge.

LMAO. I think you just proved his point!!! TruTrojan was the one talking to you about Ortiz and he happens to be a Colorado fan. You just owned yourself, none of us had to do the honors. Thanks for saving us the trouble.

Hate to say I called it, but I was scared [expletive]less to see them go to Lidge tonight. First time all year I think that he has pitched on 4 straight days. Granted, the defense behind him was absolutely brutal yet again, but Lidge actually did get hit very hard tonight. His location was way off (I know, I am captain obvious with that one). Whatever, first time since the Cubs game 2 weeks ago that he looked like absolute [expletive] out there. I guess being horrible once every two weeks is a step in the right direction for him, but Jesus he needs to get back on track. He is literally the only option to close right now, unless Brett Myers comes back and looks like he hasn't missed a beat, but who knows if that will happen.

Well, I was not attempting to make it sound difficult. I was pointing out that the strategic element that exists in the NL hardly exists in the AL.

Did you read my post? Doubt it.

Also, as I said earlier I don't like the DH although I have no problem with the AL having it, but I think both leagues being unique is one of those cool quirks about baseball. If they were to make both leagues the same, though, I'd hope that they would not add a DH to the NL. There is no way they are ever getting rid of it in the AL though, the players union would never allow it. It has extended so many careers. So in that case I see no reason for anything to be altered.

Lol...pretty much all of their starters are on the DL right now so they are getting plenty of rest.