Uh-oh, Utley's injured

One aspect of the World Champion Phillies that didn't get much attention is how healthy they were in 2008. Only 11 players were placed on the disabled list - including nobodies, such as Chris Snelling, someone who missed literally a couple games, such as Brad Lidge, and someone who wasn't missed anyway, such as Tom Gordon.

The title defense isn't going as smoothly in this regard. Chase Utley, who denied having a hip injury during the season, has a hip injury. He's having surgery and could be gone until June, or maybe he could be back at the beginning of the season.

We understand playing through it during the season - his numbers may have suffered, but the team won a championship. But why did he wait until more than three weeks after the parade to have this taken care of? You'd think the sooner the surgery, the sooner he's back on the field.

The parade was Oct. 31. Knowing what a gamer and team player he is, why wouldn't he have demanded to be on the surgery table Nov. 1?

Since the Phillies need a serviceable second baseman for a while and the Red Sox need a fourth outfielder to replace Coco Crisp, we should talk about trading Julio Lugo for Greg Golson. Too late. John Mayberry used to be a prospect, but he's 24 and hasn't yet had a full season in AAA. His power numbers are good, but he struggles getting on base.

The Red Sox also acquired an amply sized minor league outfielder today. I've never heard of Paul McAnulty, but you've got to like that he's described as a Matt Stairs type. Baseball Prospectus describes him as "bad-bodied."

Rumor mongering: The pesky rumors persist that the Red Sox may be in on Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett. I'd pass. Raul Ibanez has popped up on the Phillies radar. {Unless he has a bull dog we don't know about, bring back Pat Burrell, please.}

A perfect ending to the regular season

Today was our last Sunday regularly scheduled home game of the year - Fan Appreciation Day at Citizens Bank Park.

It was a hybrid of Appreciation Days years ago when the Phillies were long eliminated and last year when it was a thrilling all-or-nothing gambit for the division.

With the Phillies minted as repeat division champs, they trotted out the likes of So Taguchi, Greg Golson and Les Walrond. Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard got pinch-hit at-bats, but other than that, the closest any regular got to the field was an opening greeting to the fans before the game to toast their title, thank the fans and pump them up for the playoffs.

Jimmy Rollins might have been a little too pumped up. He wants to win the division series, which begins Wednesday against the Brewers, and the World Series, but forgot all about the league championship series he needs to win in between. One game at a time, J-Roll.

Most of the drama came from watching the scoreboard to see whom the 2008 National League Eastern Champion Phillies would open against - the Dodgers if the Mets won the Wild Card or the Brewers if the Mets collapsed.

The Brewers trailed 1-0 for most of the game, but came away with a 3-1 win with a complete game from CC Sabathia - no word whether his arm has fallen off yet. The Mets, of course, did finish their collapse. I wish we could have seen the post-game festivities when they closed Shea Stadium today.

Despite a lineup that resembled an Independent League team, the Phillies game, an 8-3 win over the Nationals, did warrant the post-game fireworks that these guys worked so hard to set up - especially two home runs in the 8th to put the game away.

Kyle Kendrick started strong, retiring the first six, but was removed after giving up three runs in four innings. So Taguchi tried to make the playoff roster by going 3-5 with a triple and three RBIs. Pinch-hitting in the 6th, Ryan Howard poked a soft little grounder to the opposite field to beat the shift for a single. Walrond was the deserving winner - striking out four in two innings with two hits and no runs. But the player of the game, judging from the fact he was being interviewed in the dugout afterwards, was catcher Lou Marson, who made his big-league debut.

The 22-year-old went 2-4 with a two-run homer in the 8th. It took me a moment to figure out why fans were booing. (They're not booing, they're saying Boo-urns.) One day we'll tell the kids how we were at the big-league debut of the great Lou Marson. Unimpressive was Golson, 0-4 with three strikeouts and a run on a fielder's choice. He also looked a bit lost in center field, often taking a wrong first step on fly balls.

Observations from the stands: Van Halen's Standing on Top of the World has become the Phillies playoff celebration song - they played it after clinching last year, clinching this year and again today when the team took the field. ... The Central Bucks High School Chorus, directed by Joseph Ohrt, sang the anthem. ... Not only was Marson the star of the game, he resurrected Pat Burrell's old intro song, Holy Diver by Dio. We were psyched and so were the guys behind us. We wondered whether Pat the Bat was pranking the rook. ... A healthy dose of boos sounded whenever someone in a suite or a prime seat in the lower level won a prize. (The Phillies give out prizes throughout the game to random ticket holders.)

A sign in the stands endorsed Jamie Moyer for president with convincing arguments: He's smart, a proven leader, experienced and wins battles. ... Terry Pier, a Phillies hostess, sang God Bless America in the 7th. Then, for some reason, the park didn't go to Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Kudos to the fans in the 400 level who started singing it among themselves unprompted. ... Walking out of the stadium, the Phanatic shot a T-shirt right over my head - not close enough to touch, but close enough to get my heart pumping. ... We had a mostly dry game; although there was some lighting and thunder in the 9th inning, the rains held up until we were walking to the car. The heavy stuff didn't hit until we were under cover.


When we left the stadium, the Mets were in the 8th inning while CC was still finishing off the Cubs in the 9th. When we got in the car, the Brewers had won and the Mets, who just finished the bottom of the 8th, were trailing 4-2 thanks to a homer by former forgettable Phil Wes Helms, who is also a former Brewer. Judging by the picture above, the Mets knew they were done. Even the announcer said the Mets fans couldn't will themselves to believe there would be a miracle in Shea's final moments. The crowd sounded dead on the radio broadcast. Early in the day, I predicted one of the New York tabloids would use "Shea it ain't so" if the Mets lost. Both did.

We won't go too hard on our friends from Flushing today. They had to endure the loss of a season and their stadium and whatever pride they had left after last year. So we'll conclude the last day of the 2008 regular season with a photo of their proudest moment of 2008 - the celebration Saturday after Johan Santana saved their season. I wonder how his former team is doing.


Red Sox: They lost to the Yankees, who are going for the sweep tonight. I'm more bummed that I'm going to lose my last fantasy league to a welcher.

[Photo credits: Associated Press]

Christine's secret

After the Phillies finished off the Braves 6-2 tonight in their typical late-season thrilling fashion, I asked Christine if she would finally be comfortable with the likely 2.5-game lead over the Mets. After some pressing, she finally wiggled four fingers at me. It took me a minute to figure out she was indicating the magic number. Evidently, she's been keeping track for days - back when the Phillies were in second place and needed a combination of 14 Phillies wins and Mets losses to repeat as division champs. I was stunned that she was able to keep that from me for this long. She didn't want to jinx it. {I still don't want to jinx it. I'm blaming Greg if they blow it.}

Greg Golson has played in three games, but tonight will be considered his debut in Phillies lore. Thanks to another strong outing by J.A. Happ, the score was tied at 2 when Greg Dobbs pinch hit a single to open the 8th. Golson came in to run. After a botched pickoff, Golson motored to third. Then, when Jayson Werth grounded to third, Golson scampered home and had a great slide under the tag.

Pat Burrell put it away with a three-run homer.

In the 9th, Charlie Manuel stood by his word that he wouldn't go to Brad Lidge, so Ryan Madson took his role of making things interesting. After Chipper Jones singled, Brian McCann appeared to hit a homer and Cholly came with the hook for Madson. But then the umpires reversed their call, ruling it a ground-rule double. Madson stranded both runners to end the game.

If you need a downside to the night for the Phillies, the Cubs win over the Mets clinched the top playoff seed for Chicago. Guess the Phils will have to settle for No. 2.

Red Sox: I have a feeling that the Phillies may clinch a playoff spot before the Red Sox. I know they're playing well, it just seems very protracted for a spot they had seemingly wrapped up weeks ago. They lost to the Indians, 4-3, postponing the celebration.

Josh Beckett couldn't get it done - four runs in six innings. Let's hope that's his last clunker of the year and that we soon see playoff Josh. We're now 2.5 behind the Rays, six up on the idling Yankees.

[Photo credit: Associated Press]