Amicus curiae

We think this could be the stupidest lawsuit ever:

The Phanatic has been sued in Philadelphia Civil Court by a 75-year-old woman who claims that he injured her knees when he climbed through the stands at a 2008 Reading Phillies minor league game.

Even the woman's attorney, John Speicher, of Wyomissing, said that people around him have said that "this is like suing Santa Claus."

"I'm expecting him to come to a deposition, stick his stomach and his tongue out at me and not say anything," Speicher said.

The guy's pretty funny for a lawyer, but that's about the only nice thing I can say about him.

Records are sketchy, but it's clear that the Phanatic is a target for lawyers. That's pretty crappy that a being whose purpose in life is to attract children to baseball is prone to lawsuits.

We'd like to sue Joey Votto, who for the second straight game did the Phillies in with a late-game home run. Unlike last night, however, the Phightins couldn't fight back. Reds 4, Phillies 3. Do you think the Mariners would trade Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay?

The Red Sox, meanwhile, trail the Rays 6-1 in the 8th. If they can come back, they'll be tied for first and the season starts anew.

Sore SoxandPhils

We like it when the SoxandPhils emulate each other in good ways - they draft well, they have rivals in New York and, most importantly, the 2008 Phillies followed the 2007 Red Sox as World Champions.

But there's a disturbing trend we'd like to see end. Both teams are getting hammered with injuries this year. The Phillies have had their starting lineup together just seven times, and the Red Sox have probably lost more players. And, they seem to be matching each other player for player. Dustin Pedroia for Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz for Victor Martinez, for example. There's no direct match for Placido Polanco and Clay Buchholz, so Adrian Beltre and Roy Halladay better be careful.

SoxandPhils limbo: Fabio Castro was sent down. That's the second time he's been a Red Sox without getting into a game.

Tonight's games: The Phillies lead the Reds in the 10th; the Red Sox lead the Rays in the 8th.

Best summer job ever

A few years ago, my mom told us that her neighbors' son was the Phillies batboy. Yeah right. We figured she misunderstood, or the parents were exaggerating, or some other scenario. Turns out that this kid is the Phillies batboy, and he may just be their good luck charm.

I forget when she first mentioned it, before the start of either the 2007 or 2008 season. But considering how the Phillies have performed since then, I think the team may keep him around until he's well past the batboy phase; he must be nearing the end of batteen; I guess he'll be called the batman next?

So whenever we see him on TV or at the ballpark performing his duties, Greg and I are definitely a bit jealous. We know the best way to break into an organization is to have a job like this while you're young; I suppose I should introduce myself to the batboy, just in case he ends up in a position of power with the Phillies someday and he's looking for an editor, or writer, or blogger, or PR person, or whatever job he wants to offer.

Next games: The Phillies face the Reds tonight and will try to keep chipping away at the Braves' lead in the NL East. The Red Sox are off until tomorrow when they face the Rays. I'm sure the injury-plagued players are grateful for the day off.

A rare E-C

Christine and I had to run a couple of errands in Philadelphia today. It felt weird driving over the Walt Whitman Bridge for non-baseball purposes on a Sunday afternoon with the Phillies in town. It felt almost as weird as the Phillies batting in the top half of the innings in Citizens Bank Park.

When we were leaving a store, I spotted a TV that had the game on and asked Christine if she wanted to check the score. She walked over and I thought she smiled after getting a look at the screen. I gave her a thumb's up. Thumb's down, she replied from across the room.

"Four nothing Blue Jays, and Jamie Moyer has the bases loaded with one out," she said when she returned.

But in the car, we heard that the Phillies were beating, not trailing, the Blue Jays 4-0.

Christine immediately realized her mistake - she assumed the 0 applied to the home team, forgetting that in this weird case, the Blue Jays were the home team. Christine rarely makes a mistake like this (usually it's me), so we had a few good-natured laughs on the way home, especially every time an announcer talked about the "home" team.

"Stop rubbing it in," she'd scold the radio.

Today's games, or SoxandPhils lefties old and young: Jamie Moyer set a record for most home runs given up and also became the 40th pitcher to log 4,000 major league innings as the Phillies beat the Jays 11-2. The win of the "road" series gave the Phils a 10-8 interleague record this year.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, who are dropping like flies (Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz and Victor Martinez suffered injuries of various degrees this weekend) got a dominating performance out of Jon Lester - nine strikeouts in the 5-1 complete game over the Giants. Tim Lincecum didn't hold up his end of the bargain as he was gone after three innings.

We have a busy week coming up, so posts will be light, but we'll do our best to keep our Cal Ripken streak (not one day missed since Jan. 1, 2008) intact.

What's a SoxandPhil

By definition, a SoxandPhil is someone who has played for both teams - Curt Schilling, Jamie Moyer, Pedro Martinez, for an example of three great pitchers.

But sometimes, I'll use the definition loosely (and incorrectly) if lumping Red Sox and Phillies players together; for example, the SoxandPhils have a monopoly of great lefties (Cole Hamels and Jon Lester), second basemen (Dustin Pedroia and Chase Utley), first basemen (Ryan Howard and Kevin Youkilis) and mascots (the Phanatic and Wally). OK, the last one's a bad example.

But what about players who played in the majors for one team and the minors for another team? The only example I can think of is John Marzano, who we consider an honorary SoxandPhil because of his Philadelphia roots and being a Phillies postgame analyst in addition to playing in the majors for the Red Sox and in the minor leagues for the Phillies.

In December, Christine and I decided that such a player (except in special circumstances such as Marzano) would not count as a SoxandPhil until/unless he was called up to the majors. The topic came up when the Red Sox signed Fabio Castro to a minor league deal.

Castro, whose claim to fame was being traded from the Phillies to the Blue Jays for legitimate SoxandPhil Matt Stairs, was called up to the Red Sox again, so he could soon be legit. (He may be already if he appeared in last night's game after I went to sleep.) Although, we've been through this before; he was called up in April but sent down before making his Sox debut.

Christine and I will be tied up today, but we'll have an eye on the Red Sox in San Francisco and the Phillies on the road in Philadelphia against the Blue Jays.

Just another game

Tonight was just another game for the Phillies and Roy Halladay.

Yeah, just another game in which the Phanatic danced with Canadian Mounties.

Yeah, just another game in which the Phillies wore their road grays in Citizens Bank Park and pitched in the bottom of the 9th.

Yeah, just another game in which Roy Halladay faced the Blue Jays:

The Phillies righthander will square off against the Toronto Blue Jays, his former team, for the first time tonight at Citizens Bank Park. That's a big deal. He was that rare professional athlete who embedded himself into the community he worked in. His stellar performance on the field coupled with his good deeds away from the pitcher's mound made him a sporting icon in Canada's vibrant metropolis.
[...]
"It will be a regular start," he said.
No, it won't.
"Fortunately I got that out of the way in spring training," he said.
Nice try. Doesn't count.
"It's a little different being an American League team, obviously guys I've seen a lot but haven't really faced a lot. So do your homework and just go out and pitch like it was any other team," he said.
It's not the Mariners or the White Sox or the Rangers. It's the Blue Jays. And that makes all the difference.

Although, Paul Hagen couldn't get him to bite, Roy opened up a bit to his old friends in the Canadian press:

He briefly allowed himself to think about what it would have been like had these games been played in Canada as originally scheduled. "It would have been fun to go back, [but] in terms of from a media standpoint, it's probably just as well the games are here," he told the Toronto Sun on Wednesday.

No matter what he said, he did pitch like this game mattered a little more than a random interleague game. Halladay went seven innings and gave up six hits and one walk with four strikeouts in the 9-0 win.

Just another game.

The Red Sox and Tim Wakefield play really late in San Francisco. Former Phillie Pat Burrell is not starting, but Aaron Rowand is. Rowand kills Wakefield: 12-19 with four home runs and two doubles - that's a .632/.667/1.368 line.

Unexpected

When we posted last night, the Phillies were losing to the Indians and the Red Sox were getting shut down by Ubaldo Jimenez. But then, the Phillies won a dramatic game, keyed by Jimmy Rollins' first career walkoff home run, and then the Red Sox beat around Cy Jimenez but lost the game when Jonathan Papelbon blew it in the 9th, giving up three runs on two home runs.

Baseball's like life - you never know what's going to happen until it happens.

Today, Joe Blanton pitched 7 2/3 strong innings as the Phillies routed the Indians 12-3. {The rain delay probably kept him from pitching a complete game. By the way, Greg and I are watching the game replay right now. Given our luck over the past few years with bad weather at Phillies games, we're shocked we didn't have tickets to today's matchup.} With the sweep, the Phillies are now 8-7 this year in interleague play with just one series left - the "road" games in Philly against the Blue Jays. Nelson Figueroa's back on the roster, replacing the injured Chad Durbin.

The Red Sox and Rockies just started. Daisuke Matsuzaka, whose return to the roster meant a trip to the DL for Mike Lowell, put them in a hole already. It's 2-0 in the 3rd. Dice threw 37 pitches in the 1st inning.

Tidbits

1. Greg Dobbs cleared waivers and will report to AAA on Friday. I'm sure we'll see him up in the majors again before the year is over. Paul Hagen muses that the Phillies may make other unexpected roster moves to shake things up and get this team going.

2. Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland, who underwent brain surgery earlier this year, seems to be recovering well. Who knows if he'll play baseball again, but it's good to hear that he's doing better.

3. Darren Daulton will be enshrined on the Phillies Wall of Fame in August. Like many other women in the Delaware Valley, my mom had such a crush on him in 1993. Greg and I had a Phillies TV program on over at her house a few weeks ago, and she couldn't believe what he looks like now. (Side note: I can't believe that the 1993 season was 17 years ago. I'm old.)

4. Mike Lowell doesn't seem to be long for the Red Sox, and the Sox roster seems to be in flux.

5. It's pretty much a lock that, for the first time in a long time, no Red Sox position player will be starting in the All-Star game. Chase Utley will start from the Phillies, but Placido Polanco's spot is in danger. I was so disappointed on Saturday to find out that the paper ballots are no longer available at the ballpark - voting is online only at this point of the process.

6. The Phillies stink. More specifically, Kyle Kendrick stinks, especially at home. How bad does he stink? Shin-Soo Choo has two home runs tonight. (Another tangent: When we did vote for All-Stars earlier this season, I kept voting for Choo. If he has to go back to South Korea for military service after this season, I thought that an All-Star appearance would be a nice going-away present.) In the 7th, Indians 5, Phillies 4.

7. Red Sox lost to the Rockies 2-1 last night. Tonight, they face Ubaldo Jimenez. Not fun. In the 3rd, Rockies 2, Red Sox 0.

8. The Phillies have a day game tomorrow. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Boo to the businessperson's special. All they do is screw over the workers who can't watch the game on the job.

9. I didn't have time to write about it tonight, but I'll tell you soon about our six degrees of separation with Major League Baseball.

J-Roll and Fattie whack Dobbs

The other day, when we wrote about the surprise recall of Scott Mathieson, whose return to the big leagues lasted one game, we remembered to check on the progress of Mike Zagurski, who we affectionately call Fattie. "He's pitching well in AAA, so maybe we'll see him join Mathieson again," I wrote last week. I was half right. Fattie's in the bigs, but Mathieson is back in AAA.

Also making his return to the Phillies is a forgotten infielder, Jimmy Rollins. To make room for them, the Phillies DL'd Carlos Ruiz - not a surprise because he was hit in the head by a broken bat on Friday - and designated Greg Dobbs for assignment. That's a bit of a surprise because he was so good as a pinch-hitter in 2008, but hasn't done squat since. Ruben Amaro didn't make the move lightly:

"Dobber has been a very, very productive player for us over the last several years," Amaro said. "He helped us win a World Series and he helped us get back to the World Series and it's hard. That role is not an easy role and it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I've lived it myself, so I have some empathy about how difficult that job is."

For the record, in 128 games in 2008, Dobbs hit .301/.333/.491, and in 139 games in 2009 and 2010, he hit .218/.274/.341. Does anyone need a crappy pinch-hitter, or is Dobbs going to be an IronPig?

Tonight's games: Jamie Moyer had another good start and has just about supplanted Roy Halladay as the Phillies' ace. Tonight, the old man went eight innings, giving up a run on just two hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Unfortunately, he needed 107 pitches (his season high is 111), so he had to yield to the bullpen.

J.C. Romero started the 9th (platoon splits) and got one out, but then put two men on, creating an awkward save situation for Brad Lidge, who hasn't been lights out lately. But he was tonight, striking out two to earn the save in a 2-1 win over the Indians. That's win No. 266 for J-Moy.

The Red Sox returned to the scene of their last World Series victory. Jon Lester pitched the 2007 clincher in Colorado, and he's opening tonight's series against the Rockies. So far, it's 0-0 in the 3rd.

Roy Halladay stinks

All right, he's pretty good. But after he struggled against the Yankees last week and lost yesterday to the Twins, I remembered that he was crushed by the Red Sox earlier in the season. I wondered whether he has struggled this year against better teams.

Yup. According to Baseball-Reference, against winning teams, he's 4-4 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Against losing teams, he's 4-2 with a 1.08 ERA and 0.80 WHIP. His OPS balloons from .469 to .754 against stiffer competition and his K/9 decreases from 8.3 to 7.2.

Not to nitpick, but he even struggles hitting against better teams: His OPS is .167 against winning teams and .316 against losing ones.

If the Phillies win the NL East, they're going to be in deep trouble unless this is the first year that a sub-.500 team wins the Wild Card.

But he's not a total waste. We learned on Phanavision at Saturday's game that Doc has a hidden talent: He can ride a unicycle - just not against good teams.

Today's update, from Christine: Greg's working a bit late tonight, but at least he won't be missing any games. Both the Phillies and Red Sox have the night off.

After finishing off the sweep of the Dodgers last night, the Sox jetted off to Denver where they'll open a series against the Rockies on Tuesday.

The Phillies are staying put and will host the Indians in the next round of this miserable interleague play. Hint to Phillies fans: When Russell Branyan and Jason Donald bat this week, don't freakin' cheer for them. I'm still pissed about all the love for Jim Thome on Saturday. He has been gone for years. He did not win here. He has been back to Philadelphia in previous seasons. Fine, maybe he's a nice guy, but he's now a footnote in Phillies history. No cheering when the other team homers, no matter the score!

As an aside, I'm becoming deeply troubled by the 2010 Phillies. I'm not sure I'm ready to put it in words yet - I'm probably just hoping they truly break out of this month-long slump for good.

Go back to Minnesota

Christine and I played hooky from watching the Phillies today to go to Popcorn Park Zoo, a favorite home for needy animals.

We missed them not giving Roy Halladay any support and getting shut down 4-1 in a complete game by Carl Pavano. Incredible.

So the Phillies lost a series to the Twins, and many Twinkies fans will be leaving Philly happy. We couldn't believe how many Minnesotans ventured to the East Coast for the series. At first it was cute, then it quickly became nauseating because the fans didn't give them the Philly treatment.

Consider this couple who sat near us on Saturday, decked out in matching Nick Punto (why Nick Punto?) shirts. We got past that tackiness when we learned from their sign, which they waved incessantly, that it was their honeymoon and they were following the Twins from Philadelphia to New York.

The kind usher in our section loved their story, offered some tourist sight-seeing advice and gave them a ball he said he got in batting practise the night before. (We've seen several ultra-nice ushers at the park lately.) They cheered hard for their guy, Punto, but left when he walked in the 9th inning, missing the Twins great comeback.

We can't understand why they didn't catch any of the Phillies fans' vitriol. Late in the game, finally, someone told them to put down their stupid sign and helpfully pointed out that they misspelled "Philly's." And, yes, that was in reference to the team, not the city.

Christine and I appreciate the idea of spending a honeymoon chasing baseball, but we would not feel the need to advertise it, and we would not wear matching outfits.

These weren't the only Twins fans near us on Saturday. Perhaps a foreshadow for the honeymooners were a couple of retired folks. The gentleman wore a Michael Cuddyer T-shirt, and his wife wore a "Gramma Jan" Twins jersey with the No. 41 on it. She also wore big baseball earrings with Twins logos. She didn't really irritate me until we were leaving and she stopped traffic down the stairs to chat with some more Minnesotans who were still in their seats.

Other observations from the stands on Saturday: The kid next to me amused me until late in the game when he spit incessantly. He didn't have anything to drink, so I don't know how one boy could have so much saliva. Before annoying me, I learned that he and a buddy got balls tossed to them from Twins Francisco Liriano and former Red Sox Ron Mahay. The balls had logos for the Twins inaugural season at Target Field; apparently the road team brings its own balls. ... His buddy made us laugh when he started calling Jayson Werth shaggy. "He looks like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo," he said, breaking out his best Scooby impression.

Once again, we caught the Phillies' father-child game before the real game started, so the dads actually lost two games in one day.

Musically speaking: After stints with Journey, Sammy Hagar, Kings of Leon and others, Jayson Werth is using Metallica's Wherever I May Roam for his intro music. It's probably a slump buster, but I wonder if he's talking about his impending free agency. ... I'm addicted to Placido Polanco's into music, I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. I don't know why it never caught my ear when Pedro Feliz used it. ... They played Roller Coaster at one point. I think it should be retired in honor of Chris Coste. ... The Phanatic danced to Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher. We never heard that one at the ballpark before. ... The St. James Alumni Blue and Gray Voices directed by Pete McLaughlin did the anthem because it was St. James Alumni day. I don't remember their rendition, so it probably wasn't bad.

Antiquated shirts: Jimmy Rollins (not being snarky, I saw a Rollins No. 6, ironically walking next to a Howard No. 6), Jim Thome (also saw a current version of his Twins shirt), Bobby Abreu, Cliff Lee and former Twin Carlos Gomez.

I don't consider shirts of Hall of Famers antiquated, so it was nice to see a Kirby Puckett jersey, even though the guy wearing it should go back to Minnesota.

Oh well, almost time to see the Red Sox try to complete a sweep of the Dodgers to remain a game behind the Yankees and pull into a tie with the Rays for the Wild Card. Who was worried about their slow start?

I can't believe we sat through that

We were at the park today as the Phillies played a sloppy first inning and fell behind the Twins 3-0.

"This is going to be an ugly one, huh?" I asked Christine.

"These aren't the Phillies of last week," Christine said confidently.

Turns out, we were both right. Hitting season continued in earnest, and the Phils knocked out Twins starter Kevin Slowey in the 2nd inning with seven runs and two of the five home runs they would hit today. Cole Hamels overcame his rocky start to set down 13 in a row from the 1st to 5th inning.

It was a beautiful day at the park, and everything was perfect until Jim Thome came up with one man on in the 9th inning against Jose Contreras, who was trying to protect the 9-4 lead. Stupid Phillies fans cheered Thome before and even after he hit a two-run homer, giving the Twinkies life. That was bad karma that caused the Phils to cough up a five-run lead in the 9th inning for the first time since July 16, 2000. Brad Lidge also participated in the fun. Both teams volleyed until the 11th when Danys Baez, officially Christine's least favorite Phillie, gave up three runs. Twins 13, Phillies 10. {I am really not happy about this game. It seems just as bad as, if not worse than, last week's debacles against the Red Sox.}

At least the Red Sox, who blew a lead in the 7th inning, came back to win in the bottom of the 9th against the Dodgers.

We'll do a full recap of today's game in SoxandPhils style tomorrow. Warning: There will be a lot of discussion about Twins fans. I never knew there were so many. {And that they could be so annoying.}

Unwelcome return

I logged on thinking that Davey Lopes' comments about Chase Utley and his knee, and the Phillies' offensive explosion, would give me an excuse to downplay the return of Manny Ramirez to Fenway.

Nope.

An even bigger former Red Sox/roider/horse's ass stole my attention. Roger Clemens decided tonight would be a good night to catch a game in the Monster seats. What an ass. Doesn't he have a lawsuit to worry about?

The Globe reports that Manny was largely booed, but that there were some cheers and a video tribute to the former Red Sox slugger. He rewarded the appreciation by showing no acknowledgment. I probably would have neither cheered nor booed.

Manny aside, Felix Doubront won his big league debut despite giving up five runs (three earned) in five innings. The Red Sox beat the Dodgers 10-6 behind home runs by Manny's bud David Ortiz and former Dodgers Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew. Former Phillies prospect Carlos Monasterios got shelled.

If you care (I don't) Manny was 1-5 with a run. Daniel Bard struck him out looking to end the game. {Greg cared so little that he stood up and cheered when Manny struck out.}

Phillies: Davey Lopes told Baseball Prospectus that Chase Utley has a knee injury, confirming much speculation. Utley denied it, but said he wouldn't ever say if he's injured:

Chase Utley said today he is a private person, so he probably would not admit if an injury affected his play.

Utley then said he is fine.

The Phillies said he is fine, too.

He looks fine tonight. Utley, who dismissed before the game that he has an injured right knee, singled and scored from first on a triple in the first inning, hit a three-run home run to right field in the second inning and made a fantastic diving catch in the third inning.

He also specifically refuted Lopes' comments:

"I think there's a little confusion and maybe a little bit of a difference of opinion with what Davey said," Utley said before the game. "In my opinion, an injury is something that keeps you off the field. When you play 162-games-plus over the course of the year you're going to have aches and pains. That's part of this game. That's part of being a baseball player. In my opinion there's no injury whatsoever."

In case you don't believe him - because he said he wouldn't admit if an injury affected his play - Chase was 2-5 tonight with two runs, four RBI and a home run. He was a big cog in what we hope is the official start of hittin' season as the Phillies beat the Twins 9-5. Ryan Howard was a bigger cog, going 4-4 with three runs, three RBI and two home runs, a triple and a double.

Surprise recall

1. We didn't know Antonio Bastardo was injured.

2. We didn't know Scott Mathieson was a fan favorite, though we've been rooting for him here.

3. We didn't know that Mathieson would be the next pitcher recalled from AAA.

We learned all those things tonight as Mathieson has made it back to the big leagues after two Tommy John surgeries:

This completes Mathieson's grueling journey back to the big leagues. He went 1-4 with a 7.47 ERA in nine appearances (eight starts) with the Phillies in 2006. His struggles led to the Phillies acquiring Jamie Moyer. Mathieson injured his right elbow Sept. 2, 2006, and had Tommy John surgery Sept. 29. He made seven rehab appearances in August 2007, but felt more discomfort and required ulnar nerve transposition Sept. 24, 2007.

Mathieson had his second Tommy John surgery in 2008.

The chances of returning to the big leagues following two Tommy John surgeries are slim, but Mathieson did it. He's back. And I know fans have been eager to see him pitch at the big-league level again.

I'll never forget that his best work (so far) had come in relief in a blowout loss against the Red Sox. I was doing some electrical work in our spare bedroom and listened to the game on the radio. Mathieson's recall reminded us to check on the progress of another one of Christine's favorites, Mike Zagurksi. He's pitching well in AAA, so maybe we'll see him join Mathieson again.

Tonight's games: Playing an hour early so the Fenway Faithful could watch Game 7 of the NBA finals, the Red Sox finished off the sweep of the Diamondbacks behind a mediocre performance by John Lackey. Daniel Nava (he needs a good nickname) went 3-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI. ROY! ROY! ROY! I know, this run won't last long, but I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can.

In New York, meanwhile, Kyle Kendrick, who is preparing for a demotion, put in a strong effort -one run on four hits, two walks with three strikeouts in seven innings. His mates actually put some runs on the board, beating the Yankees 7-1.

Former Red Sox slugger returns to Fenway

Lost in the shuffle of the NL West portion of the Red Sox' interleague schedule is the return of a former Red Sox whose exemplary character and offensive contributions are still missed long after he was traded to the National League.

I speak not of Manny Ramirez, whose Dodgers play in Boston this weekend, but of Adam LaRoche, who had an interesting nine-game stint as a Red Sox last year:

The first baseman spent little more than a week in a Red Sox uniform last year, acquired on July 22 and then traded nine days later.

In between, he managed to homer in his first game, stroke a big double to help beat the A's in his third, and move in with teammate and fellow hunting enthusiast J.D. Drew. The arrival of Victor Martinez made LaRoche expendable, so he was traded to the Braves at the deadline for fellow first baseman Casey Kotchman.

LaRoche, now on the Diamondbacks, could be bitter about having been moved around so much, but he's not:

"I see it as a pretty classy gesture on the Red Sox' part," LaRoche said. "When they got Victor in that trade, they easily could have forgotten about me and not tried to trade me. I could have stayed here and been a platoon guy and played a couple of times a week.

"But I remember Tito (manager Terry Francona) calling me into his office and saying, 'We feel bad we got you and now we've got Victor and there's going to be this big circle of guys playing third and first. We’re doing everything we can to get you moved before the deadline.'"

Classy remarks on his part.

The phenom starts again: Yes, Stephen Strasburg makes his third major league start on Friday (another national broadcast, of course), but I'm more interested in Felix Doubront getting his first call-up to make a spot start for injured Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Today's games: Things went well tonight for the Phillies in New York on the 24th anniversary of Jamie Moyer's big league debut. J-Moy didn't pitch well that night, but the young Cubbie was able to beat Steve Carlton and the Phils. Gary Matthews went 2-4.

That was win No. 1. Tonight was No. 265, as Moyer went eight innings in the 6-3 win. (Only two were his; Brad Lidge struggled but allowed only the one run.) Tonight was win No. 700 for Charlie Manuel. I felt good when the Phillies scored six runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, including their first back-to-back homers of the season (Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard). But I was worried that they didn't keep piling up runs. Baby steps, I know, but you need to be relentless to beat the Empire.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, kept it closer than they should have against former Phillie Rodrigo Lopez and the D-Backs, but they won 6-2 behind seven solid innings from Jon Lester.

LaRoche, who was 1-4 last night, went 1-4 again tonight.

The Phanatic's long-lost brother

I can't decide what's more surprising: that the Yankees had a mascot named Dandy who I never heard about, or that I agree with George Steinbrenner about something (that mascots don't belong in baseball).

Although, my anti-mascot stance has weakened after being around the Phanatic so much.

Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for unearthing this nugget about the Yankees secret mascot, who was cut from the same cloth as the Phillies iconic green furball. I know I was just a toddler when this thing roamed the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, but I can't believe he didn't become part of Yankee lore. To me, he's more impressive than that mystique and aura crap New Yorkers used to toss around.

But the Yankees consider him a bigger dud than Hideki Irabu, Eddie Whitson and Carl Pavano:

The biggest bust in Yankees history was 7 feet tall, made $40 every home game and spent most of his brief career in the upper deck.

From 1979 to 1981, the Yankees employed a mascot named Dandy. He was big and blue and a spectacular failure—a historical oddity for a proud franchise that has collected 27 world championships but would just as soon forget he even existed. Which, to be fair, isn't terribly difficult to do.

"It's one of the sadder stories," said Wayde Harrison, who created Dandy with his wife, Bonnie Erickson.

The story is worth a read.

Not so dandy: I fully expected Roy Halladay to dispatch the Empire in his Cy Young matchup against CC Sabathia, but he struggled. In the 7th, Yankees 6, Phillies 3.

Red Sox: Clay Buchholz fared a little better than Doc, but he better step it up if he wants to fulfill all the All-Star buzz that has been surrounding him. In the 6th, Red Sox 6, Diamondbacks 3. In the battle of the Drew brothers, slight edge to Stephen who is 1-3 with a run and a stolen base. J.D. is 2-3 with no extracurricular stats.

[Photo credit: Wall Street Journal]

Voter fatigue

Red Sox fans are notorious ballot stuffers, but not this year.

I cannot believe it, but it looks like that no Red Sox will start the game that will determine whether the World Series starts in Philadelphia or Boston.

I guess I can't really complain because we've been a bit spoiled in recent years. (Jason Varitek, a manager/player/coach pick in 2008, is one of the worst selections ever.) And although I filled out a handful of ballots at the park, I haven't filled out any online yet. {Greg and I must have different definitions of "handful." We've filled out quite a few ballots at the games we've gone to this spring.}

That said, I can't explain some of these results:

Kevin Youkilis, the best first baseman in the game, is a distant fourth in the voting. Victor Martinez, who should not be ahead of Joe Mauer, also should not be behind Jorge Posada. David Ortiz's slow start and recent slump probably warrant his first vacation since 2003, but there's no way he should trail Hideki Matsui and the retired Ken Griffey Jr. (At least Papi has passed Pat Burrell in DH voting.)

If there's a silver lining, maybe it's a sign that some of the newcomers are jumping off the Red Sox bandwagon. Or maybe the real fans are just tired of stuffing the box.

Tonight's games: Both our teams are off, but we have baseball on: MLB Network's two-hour special on perfect games. Have I mentioned that I love this channel? Excellent - they showed Carl Everett break up Mike Mussina's shot at a perfect game as a pinch-hitter with just one out to go. I remember watching that game in my apartment. It was on ESPN.

Rest in peace: Oscar Azocar died. For some reason, he always stuck out in my mind. Probably because of his name, I always kind of liked him despite his Yankee-ness.

Philly's on the board

Thanks to ace Roy, err, Cole Hamels, the Phillies averted the sweep in Boston today.

It was a good, spirited 5-3 game that ended with the potential tying run at the plate after a 9th inning rally. After two embarrassing blowouts, this was the type of game we expected to see all series. And it's the type of game we expect to see seven times when the Red Sox and Phillies hook up again in October and November.

Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge are really reverting to their 2008 forms. Hamels shut down one of the best offenses in the game - one run in seven innings on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. Lidge allowed an inherited runner to score, but he held on for the save.

Tim Wakefield, who joined SoxandPhil Jamie Moyer (and Andy Pettitte) in the 3,000-inning club, battled for 7 1/3, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Now that the SoxandPhils are once again allies until the World Series, I hope we can look back at this series as a turning point for both teams. At a minimum, there's a new folk hero in Boston, Daniel Nava, who has supplanted Darnell McDonald as the best story on the Red Sox. He followed up yesterday's grand slam debut by going 2-4, including a double and an RBI.

Weird game

Among my bike ride, lawn work, running to some stores and visiting with Christine's mom, we were kind of out of the baseball loop today.

It was a little surprising to see Scott Atchison starting the game because Daisuke Matsuzaka was suddenly injured. It was even more surprising to see a guy I had never heard of, Daniel Nava, starting in left field.

When he came up with the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, I wanted to call to Christine, who was in another room, "Hey, come see this guy hit a grand slam in his first at-bat." But I could not get the words out in time as he sent the first pitch from Joe Blanton into the bullpen.

Needless to say, Christine isn't thrilled with Nava's remarkable story, nor Blanton, nor the Phillies, who will try to avert the sweep tomorrow after another bad loss to the Red Sox, 10-2.

The less said, the better

This wasn't the nail-biter I was expecting. Let's put it this way - both managers were taking out position players in the middle of the game.

I'm pleased with my team's effort, but for the sake of my marriage, there's no need to go blow by blow of a game in which Jamie Moyer gave up nine runs in 1+ innings.

One day the Phillies will get some revenge on the Red Sox, who have clearly owned them, but I hope it happens tomorrow and Sunday and not in the next matchup between the Sox and Phils this fall.

Although, it might just be a matter of two teams that respond very differently to interleague play:

Including two home losses to the Red Sox earlier this season, the Phillies' all-time record in interleague play is 97-123, a .441 winning percentage. Only San Diego and Pittsburgh have worse interleague winning percentages among National League teams.

Even as manager Charlie Manuel's teams won consecutive National League pennants and a World Series title in the previous two seasons, the Phillies were still hideous in interleague play, going a major-league-worst 9-27 in that two-year stretch.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have done a bit better against the other league:

The Sox are 129-103 in interleague games over the years, 64-29 over the last five seasons. They have outscored National League teams by 147 runs in the last 93 meetings. The Sox took two of three from the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park last month. Inexplicably, they are natural rivals in interleague play and play twice.

Terry Francona is 16-5 against Philadelphia as the Red Sox manager. The Phillies fired him after the 2000 season.

Hopefully tonight's game (12-2 in the 9th) rejuvenates the Sox, coming off a middling 4-3 road trip through Cleveland and Baltimore, while also serving as the wake-up call that finally jolts the slumping Phillies out of their slumber.

What did I just hear? I'm disappointed with the sportsmanship exhibited in Fenway right now. There's no need to chant "Beat L.A! Beat L.A!" It's not like Larry Andersen forced the Red Sox to trade away Jeff Bagwell for him in 1990.

By the way, I got sucked into the Flyers, but have no interest in basketball and don't care that the Celtics and Lakers are tied at 2 in the NBA Finals.

East Coast bias

Baseball will never catch up to football in popularity if it keeps using a marketing strategy that relies on focusing on one team and alienating fans of every other.

Yes, fans of the Red Sox and Phillies are getting hosed once again to the big-city flavor-of-the-month. The finale of this weekend's SoxandPhils series was supposed to be on national TV, but it got the boot so baseball could once again use a marquee broadcast to feature the Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg on TBS:

TBS announced today that it has switched its Sunday telecast away from the Phillies-Red Sox game, to a Nationals-Indians game it would have absolutely no interest in if not for Strasburg.

I'll turn off the sarcasm now, especially because tonight's games would throw a serious monkey wrench into my little tongue-in-cheek argument. The Phillies were supposed to be tonight's MLB Network game, but because local broadcasts pre-empt MLB Network, we got the Red Sox game as a bonus.

Phillies: Any thoughts of perfection in the much-anticipated rematch of Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay ended in the first inning for each pitcher, but they locked horns in a good one. Each pitcher went eight innings; Halladay gave up a run in the 1st inning, Johnson gave up none. Johnson's line: three hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Doc's: one run, six hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.

You have to love when a pitching duel lives up to the hype, although Christine will disagree tonight because the Marlins beat the Phillies 2-0.

Red Sox: Jon Lester didn't have it tonight, giving up six runs in six innings. In the 8th, Indians 6, Red Sox 5.

Rain forces our attention elsewhere

The Phillies and Marlins were rained out long before the game was supposed to start, postponing the perfect rematch of Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay.

That's OK, because it will allow us to focus on hockey to see whether the Flyers can avoid elimination and force a Game 7 in Chicago. (Full disclosure: I've been more interested in hockey than ever before, but I still feel like I'm listening to another language when I try to watch a game. Christine's interest is legit.)

Even if the Phillies were playing, our attention might have been a bit diverted, and Charlie Manuel might have blamed our lack of focus on the fact that it's our contract year, like he did with Jayson Werth. This incident is going to cause some hard feelings. It's hard for me to take a side, so I'll just blame it on Reggie Jackson.

Without the game, we can take a moment to salute Tim Wakefield for pushing Roger Clemens out of the Red Sox record books for most innings pitched. Congrats to Mr. 2777.

We also have the opportunity to look ahead to this weekend's rematch of the Red Sox and Phillies - this time in Fenway.

It has always seemed like the Red Sox have had the Phillies' number despite a fair number of close, spirited games. The stats backed up my hunch. All time, the Red Sox have a 24-16 record against the Phillies in interleague play. (That doesn't include the 1915 World Series in which the Sox beat the Phils 4-1.) But if you look at the run differential, the Red Sox edge is a bit closer, 223-206. That equates to a .539 winning percentage, not the .600 winning percentage they have had against the Phillies.

A Phillies sweep this weekend would go a long way toward evening up the series. I think the pitching matchups will be Jamie Moyer against John Lackey, Joe Blanton against Daisuke Matsuzaka and Cole Hamels against Tim Wakefield. That's not official yet, so don't be surprised if something changes.

It's too bad that the old guys will miss each other and that three of our team's aces (Roy Halladay, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz) probably won't pitch.

Tonight's game: We were missing a good one in Cleveland that pitted Clay Buchholz against former Red Sox Justin Masterson, who has fallen on some hard times since being traded for Victor Martinez. But he seemed on tonight, two hits and two walks with six strikeouts in eight shutout innings. Clay pitched well too, just not as good - three runs on three hits and four walks in seven innings.

But then Boof Bonser made his Red Sox debut. It didn't go well. It's now 11-0 Indians in the 8th.

Hockey: Flyers and Blackhawks are tied 2-2 in the 2nd period.

Drafting a core

OK, I didn't want to get sucked into the hype, but man, Stephen Strasburg's pitches have some movement to them. I don't think Christine is going to like watching him square off against the Phillies for the next decade.

But it's nice to see the Nationals have some real hope for the first time in a long time. Because the Red Sox and Phillies continue to be successful, they won't have the chance for such a highly touted draft pick as Strasburg, but they each seemed to do well with their first pitching pick last night.

With the 27th pick, the Phillies took a local kid, Jesse Biddle, who is excited to be a Phillie and is being compared by scouting director Marti Wolever to the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw:

"They're about the same size. Jesse's arm might work a little easier, quite frankly, than Clayton's did. But I think ceiling-wise and stuff-wise they're very comparable. We think Jesse has a chance to be that guy in the big leagues."

With the 39th pick, their third of the draft, the Red Sox took a moose of a pitcher, a Jersey guy, Anthony Ranaudo. That was after they selected and have nearly signed two decent bats:

"That was as excited as we've been in the draft room since I got here," general manager Theo Epstein said. "We felt the draft broke our way. Hopefully in five years we can look back and still feel as good about this draft."

This is from a guy who in 2005 drafted Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Michael Bowden.

While we wait for this year's crop of draft picks to hit the bigs, here's how the current big leaguers are doing:

Red Sox: Behind a good Tim Wakefield (Pirates draft of '88), the Red Sox lead the Indians 3-2 in the 8th.

Phillies: Kyle Kendrick (Phillies draft of '03) struggled, but the bats are actually battling tonight and lead the Marlins 7-6 in the 7th. For the first time in weeks, the Phillies have multiple home runs - Shane Victorino (Dodgers draft of '99) and Ryan Howard (Phillies draft of '01).

Strasburg: Wow. The phenom (Nationals draft of '09) lived up to the hype tonight - seven innings, two runs, four hits, no walks and 14 strikeouts. Oh, and he needed just 94 pitches to accomplish that gaudy line. Thanks to homers by Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals draft of '05), Adam Dunn (Reds draft of '98) and Josh Willingham (Marlins draft of '00), he left with a 4-2 lead.

Not everyone gets dealt a winner

Crazier than a Red Sox fan who was raised a Yankees fan and is now married to a Phillies fan is the fact that we have a friend who is a Nationals fan despite no connections to Montreal or Washington.

This week, as he often claims, is the highlight of his time as a Nats/Expos fan. The Nats drafted Bryce Harper tonight, and tomorrow, their uber draft pick from last year, Stephen Strasburg, makes his much anticipated debut.

When your teams have been as good as the Red Sox and Phillies in recent years, sometimes you forget what it's like to scrap for any sort of moral victory, such as the hope of draft picks or a 4-3 11-inning win over a vaunted division foe. Nick Cafardo reminded us of that in writing about how Sunday's win was so important for the Orioles:

In the grand scheme of things, what did yesterday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles mean to the Red Sox? Nothing more than one loss to a bad team snapping a 10-game losing streak, giving their new manager his first win. It didn't mean a darn thing to the people who follow the Red Sox, except those who feel they should clobber the Orioles every time they play them.

To the Orioles, it was more than that. It was a day when self-respect came back. Maybe it's fleeting because after the Sox left town, the Yankees are paying a visit starting tomorrow.

This was a great snapshot of the psychology of sport. The Orioles are a downtrodden team that had been buried the last two weeks, and been clobbered, 19-2, in the first two games against the Red Sox. They have been made fun of, called horrible things, and ridiculed. But yesterday, under very tough conditions — rain, heat, humidity — Juan Samuel's troops hung in there enough and beat one of the best teams in baseball in 11 innings.

I love that dig at Red Sox fans who act like Yankees fans and expect to go 173-0 every year.

Sometimes, as John Lackey pointed out, the cliche is true: It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's more important how you play the game:

And yet the Sox couldn't pull it out, ending a seven-game road winning streak. Not that anyone in the visitors' clubhouse was concerned. It was one loss in a long season.

"I don't think it's a big deal," Lackey said. "It's always disappointing to lose a game, but we're playing good baseball and we played good baseball today. Just came up a little bit short."

That's right. Just make sure that one game doesn't become more tonight (joking).

Happy Birthday: Officially sponsored SoxandPhil Heathcliff Slocumb turned 44 today. In honor of the occasion, and because the Red Sox and Phillies square off this weekend, I thought I'd post his numbers as a Phillie against the Red Sox and vice versa, but his Phillies tenure ended two years before interleague play was created in 1997. He was still a Red Sox for half of that season, but did not appear in the inaugural SoxandPhils series.

Tonight's games: The Red Sox lead the Indians 4-1 in the 9th. Has Daisuke Matsuzaka (no runs, four hits, two walks and five strikeouts) turned a corner? ... Cole Hamels took a no-hitter into the 7th, but lost it on back-to-back homers. The Phillies bats wasted his eight-inning, two-run, three-hit, two-walk, six-strikeout performance in the 3-1 loss to the Padres.

Clear sailing?

I went to sleep last night resigned that the morning would bring thunderstorms that would keep me inside. But when I woke, the skies were clear and I pedaled through the pines. I saw some alpacas.

I also thought the skies had cleared for our hopes of a SoxandPhils World Series.

The Red Sox are back, notes Nick Cafardo:

After last night's 8-2 win over the Orioles, just think about where this team has come from to pull within 3 1/2 games of the Rays, tied with the Blue Jays for third place with a 33-24 record. Now, the Rays aren't world-beaters; in fact, they have lost two straight to Texas. The Yankees were on a roll, but Toronto has silenced them. The Sox, meanwhile, have taken advantage of playing the worst team in baseball and won the first two games here.

The Sox were 8 1/2 out on May 23, when they actually had begun to pick up their game to go three games over .500. At that time, the Rays were playing lights out at 30-11. But the Sox kept steadily rising, while the Rays kept steadily declining. The Sox went through a key stretch in which they played Detroit, New York, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay, and came out of it 9-4. That proved to the Sox that they belonged in the conversation as a wild-card team, and maybe more.

And while the Phillies are still shaking off the cobwebs from their offensive dead period, they showed signs of life in Saturday's win.

But then something happened. Each team had a game to play on Sunday. Each lost in extra innings.

The goat for the Phillies was Placido Polanco, who made a stupid decision trying to go to third on a one-out hit in the 10th. If he held at second, there's a good chance he would have scored because Ryan Howard followed with a hit. But there was no more scoring as the Padres beat the Phillies 6-5 in 10.

Still, the Phightins scored at least five runs for the second consecutive game. That hasn't happened since May 20-21. The Phillies took a moral victory:

"Baby steps," first baseman Ryan Howard said.
[...]
"Better than nothing," Polanco said.

But no one will say the Phillies have snapped out of this funk - especially when the middle of the order continues to struggle. Utley was 1 for 5, dropping his batting average to .265. Howard was 2 for 6 with three RBIs but struck out three times. Werth was 0 for 5. Raul Ibanez, now hitting .229, was 0 for 4.

"But we're still getting some good hits," Schneider said. "We worked the counts real well. We got Correia out of there early. We're not just swinging early and giving up.

"Hopefully it's the start of something good again."

I thought the Red Sox were coasting to a sweep when they scored two in the 2nd today, but John Lackey gave them right back and the game stayed tied until Manny Delcarmen had his second poor outing in a row, giving up a run in the 8th. The Red Sox tied it in the 9th, before Hideki Okajima lost in the 11th.

At least they're fighting.

I still believe both teams are past their worst stretches.

The Flyers, on the other hand: Chicago 4, Philadelphia 2 in the 2nd period of Game 5 of the finals.

Perfect prediction

As I predicted earlier this week, the Phillies won a close game behind Roy Halladay on Friday and then their offense exploded tonight.

OK, I envisioned a little more than six runs, but they did have 10 hits and were starting to take some Phillies-esque swings. As starting pitcher Jamie Moyer said, they're starting to look comfortable. I sense hittin' season is coming real soon.

Speaking of the ancient (former) Mariner, I just noticed that my prediction about him pitching his second complete game of the season was missing from Thursday's post. I bet Christine accidentally deleted it. I called tonight's masterpiece. Really, I did.

Question: Before the season, would Vegas put better odds on Halladay pitching a perfect game or Moyer having two complete games?

The veteran needed just 98 pitches in the 6-2 victory over the Padres. He didn't have a three-ball count until a 9th inning walk. He also scattered seven hits. It was his 100th win as a 40-something and the 264th of his career.

Red Sox: Jon Lester pitched well - no runs in 6.1 innings - but the Red Sox bats didn't give him much breathing room. But now, in the 9th, the Red Sox are scoring again and lead the Orioles 6-0.

Managing futility

As expected, the Orioles fired manager Dave Trembly and replaced him with Phillies Wall of Famer Juan Samuel. I didn't know that another option for interim Orioles manager was former Red Sox catcher Gary Allenson, but he was promoted to replace Samuel as third base coach. There's a further SoxandPhil connection in that Samuel made his managerial debut tonight against the Red Sox.

The occasion gave Terry Francona a chance to repeat his line about being fired by the Phillies:

"I felt it coming. I knew it was coming," Francona said. "I've always been pretty honest about it. If I was a general manager, I would've fired me also. I think they didn't really have a choice. Saying that, the last however many days that there's speculation, that's the hardest. That's really hard. Now, saying that, I remember thinking, 'OK, when I get fired, it's going to be this huge weight off my shoulders.' And it wasn't. You can't live with people almost 24 hours a day and it just goes away. I thought it would, and it doesn't."

That said, we wish Juan Samuel luck - once the Red Sox leave town, but especially against the Rays and Yankees.

So far, so good. Actually, I wish the Sox would have eased up a little bit as they gave Samuel a 11-0 loss in his debut. Clay Buchholz was dominant, pitching a five-hit, one-walk shutout. On MLB Network, Harold Reynolds felt the need to point out how he now has a shutout and a no-hitter against the Orioles. More notable is that the other MLB Network announcer proclaimed him the ace of the Sox, ahead of even Jon Lester. I'm pleased with his progress, but I don't think Buchholz has supplanted Lester.

The Phillies, meanwhile, as I predicted, did not break out of their hitting slump. But they did manage three runs, which was enough for the 3-2 win over the Padres. Roy Halladay pitched a good game for a mortal pitcher, which means he had a so-so start for the Doc. In seven innings, he gave up two runs on 10 hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. Brad Lidge pitched like Brad Lidge circa 2008, picking up his first save since coming back from his second DL stint with two strikeouts in a clean inning.

The Flyers, trying to even up the series, lead the Blackhawks 3-1 in the 3rd period.

What's on TV tonight?

The Phillies are off today, and the Red Sox stunk it up in the afternoon. The Rangers and White Sox are playing on MLB Network and it's Bark at the Park night, but we're in the mood for something a little different.

Maybe a little Gran Torino?

Nah, might make Charlie Manuel upset:

"I got upset when I came in and saw everybody looking at movies. We had a whole audience in there looking at movies and [bleep]. And I thought, 'What the hell? We should be getting ready for the damn game.' I don't like things like that," said Manuel of the clubhouse television, which earlier had been showing "Gran Torino."

I've tried to remain level-headed, but this is starting to get ridiculous. I know you have to be careful about making comparisons between real life and the professional athlete's world, but I think that on some levels it's still a job. And when you've been sucking it up at work, you don't let the boss see you goofing off, whether you're a multimillion dollar athlete or just a schlub at a desk.

This afternoon, the Phils bowled for Jimmy Rollins annual charity event. I predict they'll win a squeaker tomorrow (Roy Halladay is pitching), but I think that they're going to explode on Saturday. Just a hunch.

And, Christine spotted The Goonies on AMC. I hope that one of her favorite movies of our youth can take her mind off the Phillies problems for awhile.

Today's game: The Red Sox exploded for eight runs on 18 hits, but that wasn't enough for Tim Wakefield, who isn't exactly making a strong case to stay in the rotation whenever Josh Beckett returns. Wake gave up six runs and put his mates in a 9-3 hole. They battled - five runs over the last four innings - but couldn't tie it up. A's 9, Red Sox 8. At least there was no concern about a perfect game controversy.

The end of the line for a legend

I read the news with my own eyes, but I could not believe it. The Washington Nationals released Eric Bruntlett.

Funny, when we were wondering what the Phillies would do to replace Jimmy Rollins, I thought they might make a play for the guy who turned an unassisted triple play and scored the clinching run in the last game of the 2008 World Series. It's too bad the Nats didn't give him the boot before J-Roll was just about ready to come back.

Of course, the bearded Bruntlett isn't the only legend saying goodbye today. After 22 years, Ken Griffey Jr., The Kid, who is now 40 years old, has retired. He's neither Sox nor Phil, but I'm sad. It's a bit of my childhood gone. I'll never forget opening a pack of the debut edition of Upper Deck and getting the prized first card of the set. Upper Deck was a little pricey, even in 1989. I didn't buy many packs, and I wasn't expecting to get that trophy.

In other news, before we completely turn the page on May, Big Papi can take a bow for winning AL player of the month. He is joined by teammate Jon Lester, AL pitcher of the month.

Today's games: The Phillies were nice enough to play in the afternoon so that we didn't have to watch them lose 2-1 to the Braves, which completed the sweep and opened a 2.5-game lead over the Phormerly Phightin' Phils.

In 6.2 innings, Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up 10 hits, but incredibly didn't walk anybody. In the 7th, Red Sox 4, A's 3. Mr. May hit a two-run homer and a double.

The Flyers and the Blackhawks are tied 1-1 in the 2nd period.

Travesty: A bad call by umpire Jim Joyce cost Armando Galarraga of the Tigers a perfect game. I'm in shock. Former Phillies prospect Jason Donald was credited with the hit.

[Photo credit: Hollywoodcollectibles.com]

Page turners

A month ago, I was starting to get concerned that the Red Sox were going to spend the season battling the birds in the cellar of the AL East and Christine enjoyed watching the Phillies as they dispatched the Mets to reclaim their rightful place atop the NL East.

My, how things change.

As David Ortiz - who was pretty much written out of the league - kept saying during the Red Sox awful 11-12 April, they would turn the page. The Red Sox did, improving to 18-11 in May, and so did Big Papi, as FanGraphs noted:

We should just stop writing off David Ortiz until he retires.

Ortiz in April: .143/.238/.286, routinely booed, talk of being released
Ortiz in May: .363/.424/.788, best hitter (non-Morneau division) in baseball

The Phillies also surged in May, building a five-game lead by May 17, but everyone knows the bottom has fallen out over the past two weeks:

The Phillies had a season-high five-game lead in the NL East following a 12-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 17. They had the second-best offense in baseball at the time, averaging 5.73 runs per game. Only the New York Yankees (5.76) had averaged more.

But entering tonight's game against the Braves, the Phillies rank 12th in baseball, averaging 4.69 runs per game.

Quite a fall.

Todd Zolecki didn't have to note that the Phillies are now back in second place (unless they beat the Braves tonight).

Point is, the Red Sox may not be as good as they played in May, but they're definitely not as bad as they played in April. The same is true for the Phillies. It's a long season, and eventually the Phillies will turn the page and begin to play like champions again. If they can ever hit another home run - 63 innings and counting entering tonight's game.

Today's games: Rain. Both teams had rain delays, but the Phillies' delay came in the middle of the 1st inning, forcing an early exit for Cole Hamels, although the Braves sent Tim Hudson back out there. Perhaps hindered by the rain (Game 5 of the 2008 World Series not withstanding), Cole gave up a three-run homer in his two-thirds of an inning. In the 3rd, Braves 5, Phillies 0.

The Red Sox had to wait only a half hour before starting their game, so John Lackey has no excuse for the two-run homer he gave up. Or the 11 hits and a walk. In the 6th, A's 4, Red Sox 3.

Congrats: Roy Halladay was named player of the week. Ryan Howard (4-25), Jayson Werth (1-20) and Chase Utley (3-27) demand recounts.