PhillyPhan04

Flyers, 76ers, and now the Phillies. Must be great to be a Philidelphia sports fan right now! Meh, the Flyers and 76ers have at least become exciting to watch.

Man we suck so far. It'll turn around eventually, but April's gonna kill us as usual. The sad part is that Geary and Madson were expected to be our 2 top relievers after Gordon, so there's how great it is right now. I didn't see the inning, but it sounds like a game we had against the Marlins I think last season, when the Marlins defense completely imploded.

The Friendly Rivalry

Well the whole area near the CBP just feels like a wasteland of stadiums and parking lots and I believe there is a metro stop in the middle of all of that (which always seemed safe to me). The Phillies stadium is furthest away I think, but the stops are convenient, but if you do take the subway to the game, make sure you buy tokens for a round trip.

definitely - from my experiences baltimore & DC are just as bad (if not worse) - at least in philly it's easy to avoid the rough areas and the people there are great The subway stops around the stadium aren't even bad areas...my Dad and I usually park at those stops to take the local train cause the express has all the drunks going to Eagles games.

When you come in Phila. International, make sure you have a lot of patience. The airport is known for either losing or being extremely slow with baggage claim. The whole airport process there is a drag, but it's also the most convenient airport to the city. There's a tour called "Duck Tours" here. It's really neat, takes you around a huge portion of the city, and you also get to go for a ride in the river here and see how dirty it is. I'm sure some poeple on the board have been on on before, in some city. Make sure you visit the National Constitution Center (the Duck Tour is located nearby), Independence Hall and that kinda historical stuff, it's pretty neat. Pat's and Geno's aren't all that special in my opinion. It's just the experience (or just the fact that they're always so publicized). Hit up a place more like Tony Lukes, just google it for the location, 'cause I'm too lazy. MarlinatPenn really got a lot of it. Take a stroll around Rittenhouse Square, it's a pretty cool area of shopping and things like that, but still with some mystique of the old city. Anything for food try and find a little neighborhood place. Those are always the best experiences and are any but commercial.

Can Reyes have another year like last one for the Mets? I find that hard to digest. The pitching is sooo questionable although their bullpen is still a force to reckon with this season. That team is prime for a disappointing season. The Phillies on the other hand are hungry and they play us tough. Atlanta is history! Phillies I agree are the early frontrunners in my opinion What about the Phil bullpen? Do you honestly think Gordon -- at his age -- can have another year like that? And their set-up men are garbage. As for Reyes, I think he'll have a good year. Maybe not up to the same overall numbers as last year, but he's really learning how to become a baseball instead of just an athlete. To me, the beauty of this team is that this line-up and bench is so complete that we aren't dependent on one singular player. Ryan Madson has actually been a solid set-up in his 2 full seasons as a guy in the bullpen. Set-up can't get much worse after Arthur Rhodes, and Antonio Alfonseca could be a great sleeper signing. Gordon on the other hand, durability will be his only question. If he's healthy for at least the bulk of hte season, we have a chance at the playoffs.

Rod Barajas is slated to be the starting catcher, and Chris Coste has to fight for a job again this spring. The Phils may faulter because Helms is being talked about as the protection for Howard. The Mets might have a better overall lineup, but the Phillies will most definitly put up more runs than them because of the top 4 of the lineup.

Hamels is much better than the two you compare him too, as long as he stays healthy. Perez has more potential, but I think I would take Eaton over him at this point. But it's close. I also think Moyer is better than El Duque. Considering his injury history, that's a big IF. It's hard to compare them as all 3 are great prospects and the Mets duo have little MLB experience. The injury that kept Hamels out the longest was a broken hand if I can remember correctly, and he didn't even suffer that playing baseball. Just the plain fact that Moyer is still there, being a master of the change up, and a guy who can really eat innings, makes our rotation better because of his influence over Hamels. Lieber isn't even slated to be part of the rotation right now, and Gillick took no responsibility on how to use 6 starting pitchers, but in some way Manuel will screw it up.

another smart team in terms of lockign up a player long term, buying out arbitration and getting a player at a cheaper rate then they would in 3 years. And then there is our team. :pctoss feeling you on that one oh and its news to me that Ruben Amaro Jr was their assistant GM ... cool stuff and good for him Amaro's been around since the middle of Ed Wade's tenure. He was a candidate for the GM job before Gillick got it.

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Phillies acquire Garcia from White Sox Story Tools: Print Email Blog This Subscribe Ken Rosenthal / FOXSports.com Posted: 3 minutes ago In the first major trade of the winter meetings, the Phillies acquire right hander Freddy Garcia from the White Sox in exchange for right-hander Gavin Floyd and minor-league left-hander Gio Gonzalez, FOXSports.com has learned. I don't like this trade at all. The Phillies came out on top on this one and their rotation now looks to be close behind ours for tops in the NL East. We also managed to keep Rowand as well, who the Sox have coveted since they traded him. We have a huge amount of young pitchers in the minors, and Gio appeared to have had the worst ERA of all of them, but that isn't saying much cause it's the minors. The biggest part of the trade was that we got the SP we needed, and still kept a decent centerfielder.

Don't forget that both he and Hamels use the changeup as their best pitch, and Moyer's is very good, whcih is why he's still around now. If he can continue to be a mentor for Hamels, it could turn Hamels from being a great youngster, in an ace.

No way. Pat is all about Pat - ask any UM fan. He actually hasn't made any bad news in the time he's been in Philadelphia. And I don't know how he's a cancer either. He just can't hit in the clutch, which is his downfall, and hopefully he gets his ankle fixed up cause he really can't run either.

Satisfied?

28

This isn't even a contest!

Just end the season already!

That looked like Uggla's hit yesterday.

Here's your 2nd out.

Does anyone have a list of the rest of the team's walk-up themes? I wanna download them and make a CD of them. Last season ESPN did a whole story on the teams and the players' walk up songs. I'm not sure if they did it this year, but if you search about espn.com you might be able to find it.

Ryan Howard homers are homers in any park. Don't be stupid. Back when he used to hit exclusivly opposite field most of the balls would only land in the first or second row of seats. Check the highlights. Most of those hits are in the gap though. He hit a few of them right down the line, but most of them are gap shots. He might be coming onto 60 by now if the fence hadn't been moved back 8 feet.

Incredible hitter, though his personality annoys the hell out of me. In a way, I guess you could say that combo kinda sounds familiar. I think it's more or less his cocky swing and pose at every fly ball he hits that drives me nuts. Plus he is a Philly. Now I understand why Beckett got pissed at him during Spring Training. On that note the guy is a beast. The Philly media loves his personality, and not because he's controversial. It's because he's very approachable, very friendly, and above a a great guy. He's got an infectious smile that the media and fans are just latchign onto.

The difference is Wright makes some of the most spectacular defense plays you'll see a thrid baseman make. Cabrera doesn't. Defense is the hardest thing to account for statistically, so it will continue to be a facet of the game that is judged by what you see. Just like Aaron Roward. Sure he made that catch running into the fence, but he makes so many of his plays so hard because he takes bad routes to the ball. Half of the time they're routine catches for great centerfielders, but he always has to lay out or just miss it or drop it.

I agree the Varitek injury was the beginning but everything has unraveled quickly since the 5 games yankees series...but this goes beyond snake-bitten...I agree that team has had so much heartbreak as of late. Papelbon had better stats than Mariano Rivera...he was at the time the best reliever in the majors Paplebon has blown 6 saves this season. K-Rod has blown 3, Bobby Jenks 2, and guys like Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera still have some of the best stuff in baseball with Hoffman's change and Rivera's cutter. Closers are the best if they get the job done, not based on their ERA in my opinion, because 1 terrible outing will do a closer's ERA in. There are a bunch of closers who have been more efficient. Look when most of the Blown saves occurred. I think Paplebon was lights out into about 3 weels ago. I think it's not coicindental that he now has shoulder problems until then Papelbon was as good or better stats-wise than all those u have mentioned. He had 3 BS i believe until then That's true, but it still doesn't say that he's the best in baseball. He's definitly among the top 5 best closers, but not the best. He's up there with K-Rod and Jenks though.