Most expensive cheesesteak and blog post ever

It's a cliche, but ...

Two tickets: $56

Parking: $20

Toll: $5

Pre-game cheesesteak: $9.50

Two tickets for Sept. 15 for which we've already spent about $100: worthless

Holding tickets to Sunday's game, we dreaded the worst of the impending hurricane. We were relieved when the Phillies announced a proactive double-header for Saturday.

We knew we would get wet, but we figured they would be able to get the game in. And, we would have a good story about watching a game during a hurricane when in reality the weather could not compare with Game 5 (part 1) of the 2008 World Series.

The Phillies and Marlins would have been able to play today, especially if they had bumped the start time up from 1 p.m., but no. We stood around in the rain for nothing. And, to top it off, they announced the makeup game will be on a weekday afternoon. Thanks, Phils. That means another pair of our tickets will go to waste, and we spent $100 to eat a cold cheesesteak with half-melted provolone to fetch a story for the blog.

Fish'n'Phils: While waiting out the rain in the concourse, an old-school teal Marlins hat caught my eye. It was even better than I first thought. The dude was wearing a Dontrelle Willis jersey, and his mate was wearing a Phillies Jayson Werth jersey. Classic.

I may be forgetting other scenes from the ballpark, but I didn't have anything to take notes on. I did see a great jersey of a current Phil: bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer.

Oh, and Christine spotted a guy wearing a Dodgers hat with a Derrek Lee Orioles T-shirt. That was an odd one.

So, now we're back home taking advantage of Trent's afternoon nap to post this and clean the house while waiting for Hurricane Irene to blow over.

Stay safe and dry.

Little rain, sloppy game

Driving to the park yesterday, Christine and I listened to sports talk in hopes of hearing something that would tell us how wet we were going to get and how long the game would be delayed.

Instead, we got another reason Christine can't stand talk radio. There was a guy insisting that the Phillies should platoon Ryan Howard because he can't hit lefties. He didn't go so far as to suggest trading David Herndon for Albert Pujols so the Phils would have a first baseman against lefties, but he was very annoying.

So, with minimal delay or rain, Christine and I found our way to our seats (after we stopped to say hi to Nats fan Joe Wolf's Vertical Jump, who was somewhere in this picture) to see Howard battle a tough Nationals lefty, John Lannan. He homered in the first inning and had an RBI single in the 3rd. Against the Nationals righty relievers, Howard went 0-2 with an intentional walk.

I know none of that proves anything, except it reminds me of that saying about opinions and an anatomical part. Yeah, everyone has one, and some are more inclined to share them without any hint of self-concept.

Back to the game. Well, the rains held off for the Phils to win 11-3 against the Nats. It was a very sloppy game, of which the less said the better. Besides, there was plenty of stuff going on in the stands to distract us from the game that featured three errors (all Nationals) and nine walks (mostly Nationals).

It wasn't a banner day for antiquated jerseys - just Aaron Rowand, Jamie Moyer, Ruben Amaro Sr. and a few Jim Thomes, including a pair of couples in which both women had a No. 25. ... The most interesting shirt we saw was a David Herndon jersey. Joe Wolf took this pic and said this guy's a regular in his section. There's no doubting his Phanhood. ... One lady in our section had a bedazzled Phillies hat to complement her "Designated Kisser" shirt. ... The Amaro shirt was an odd spot. I had to check that it was correct because it's odd to see anything other than Schmidt with a No. 20.

Amaro and his son were among a bunch of former Phillies who were brought back for alumni weekend. Christine and I didn't know quite a few of them but noticed most of them lived locally, as if the alums could only come if they paid for their own transportation to the game. ... It was funny seeing Scott Eyre among the old-timers. Christine was interested to see Charlie Hayes after he was announced, but he never came out. We wondered whether he decided to skip the ceremony to keep sampling the fare at Garry Maddox's barbecue cook-off going on outside.

Walking into the park (we were ducking a few drops at the time), a guy rushed passed us and caught my attention. I realized he was carrying a yellow T-shirt and figured the vendor was probably late for work. ... Inside, we were behind two jerseys, "Brittany" and "Sammy." Christine was going to comment, but she realized that those were regulation uniforms for the Phillies ball girls. ... The QVC singers did the anthem. Funny, upon arriving at the park we sat in the car for a while to try to wait out the rain. We did that before a game two years ago in which TV's singing salesmen also did the anthem. They sang well.

Michael Stutes has a new bag to bring goodies to the bullpen. He had been using a nondescript bag, but I guess his mates must have read his Twitter comment a few weeks ago that he would carry an embarrassing pink bag if they asked him to. Stutes pitched two innings in relief of Roy Oswalt. The Phillies 8th inning ended with him on deck. Christine was hoping to see his first major league plate appearance, but Wilson Valdez grounded out.

The Phanatic reprised his Lady Pha Pha bit. That's always a crowd pleaser. ... By the way, one more note on Ryan Howard: In the six games we've gone to since Trent, he has gone 7-22 with three walks, two homers and eight RBIS. Platoon his butt!

We're staying home today, keeping dry and waiting for Trent to come home from his sleepover at Grandmom's. He has a little surprise waiting for him. Two words: Wiffle Ball.

Old sweatshirt

Last week we took Trent to the college where Christine and I met. We bought the little guy a sweatshirt for the fall. Good thing, I said a few days later, because I spotted a Phillies sweatshirt that Christine would have grabbed for him if he didn't have one already.

Upon closer inspection of the fall line of Phillies garb, I noticed an Angels T-shirt. We enjoy it when a random team shows up in our local stores. I flipped it over, wondering if it was a Jared Weaver, Torrii Hunter or Howie Kendrick.

How about none of the above?

It was Vladimir Guerrero, who hasn't played for the team in two seasons. I walked away with pride that we found something older and staler than our blog.

My bad

Cole Hamels, I apologize for jinxing it and saying that you would get your 10th win today. If that ball didn't slam your hand, I think you would have pitched strong and maybe the Phillies would have eked out a few runs to win the game. I won't make any predictions before your next start.

Red Sox 5, Phillies 2. Thanks David Herndon and nonexistent offense. Both better pick up the slack before the October meeting.

We don't need Oswalt, Contreras and Madson

The Red Sox-Phillies series has been billed as a World Series preview. Hitting vs. pitching.

That's not the way it's working out.

Last night, Cliff Lee dominantly shut down the Sox. Tonight, it was Vance Worley, Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo. Wait - what?

Yes, the trio of young Phillies pitchers shut down the Sox 2-1. I thought the Phillies would have had an offensive explosion against John Lackey, but the only offense came courtesy of Raul Ibanez.

And I don't want to hear any excuses about Carl Crawford being hurt or not having a DH. The Phillies have had their fair share of position players hurt this year. And oh yeah, if not for Lackey tonight, the Red Sox still wouldn't have a run.

Tomorrow afternoon is Jon Lester vs. Cole Hamels. Yet another good matchup. But I doubt David Ortiz will start, and the rest of the Sox lineup is a bit lacking right now. I'm sure it will blow up in my face, but I'm feeling good about Cole getting his 10th win of the year.

Wardrobe: When I was picking out Trent's clothes for tomorrow, I refrained from going with Phillies gear. Though he might have to go with celebratory red-white-and-blue on Friday - for the 4th of July, of course, not because he has an adorable red Phillies jersey with matching blue shorts.

Phillies strike first

This morning, purely coincidentally, I pulled Trent's SoxandPhils bib out of the drawer. It says, "I'm not torn, I root for the SoxandPhils."

I thought it was appropriate.

He didn't see much of tonight's game, a 5-0 Phillies win. Josh Beckett was a little bit rusty coming off his stomach bug, five runs in six innings, while Cliff Lee was as smooth as he's been all month, a shutout with just two hits, two walks and five strikeouts. That's three straight shutouts, and his scoreless streak is at 32 innings. Watch out Orel Hershisher.

Game 1 goes to the Phils. I'm just glad I was home for it. I doubt I will be tomorrow.

A test of Trent's loyalties

Last week, we thought that Father's Day would be our last regularly occurring "first" with Trent. But I guess we forgot that he wasn't around for last year's SoxandPhils interleague games, so it will be interesting to see how he handles this week.

He'll probably follow his father's tact and be diplomatic and gracious toward his mother.

My only thought is that the Red Sox might sweep if only because they are coming off of two series losses against woeful teams - the Padres and the Pirates. It's an unbelievably crazy week at work for me, so I don't know how much of the series I'll get to see.

I'm more bummed about missing time with Trent and Christine.