2010 MLB Hall of Fame Induction Weekend: The Standard Bearers

We all know how the argument goes–in support of a worthy Hall of Fame candidate, we point to a lesser candidate already in the Hall, and hold them out as the minimum requirement for entrance into the Hall of Fame.

“If we’re going to put Bill Mazeroski in the Hall of Fame, how can we leave out Roberto Alomar?”

“Now that Bruce Sutter is in the Hall of Fame, where is Dan Quisenberry?”

“If Catfish Hunter is a Hall of Famer, how can Bert Blyleven not be?”

They are the Hall of Fame Standard Bearers. And by “Standard Bearer,” we don’t mean the guys who set the highest standard for their position, like Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron.

We mean the guys who set the lowest standard for their position, the guys to whom we will forever compare all candidates.

These are the guys at the bottom of the Hall of Fame, and if a Hall of Fame candidate was better than these guys, then the candidate should be in the Hall of Fame as well.

Let’s take a look, position by position.

Begin Slideshow

Angels and Phillies: Two MLB Teams Not To Give Up On

MLB‘s second half of the season is officially in full swing.

 

Thus far, 2010 is proving to be one for the books. With so many tight division races, fans will have plenty of excitement to keep them occupied.

 

Still, fans tend to throw in the towel and write off their team’s chances of playing in October. A few teams stand out that might not be division leaders now, but still have the potential not to be counted out yet.

 

Remember that pennants are not won in July and that baseball can look decidedly different from week to week.

 

Here are two teams, one from the AL and the other from the NL, that should not be counted out.

 

 

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

 

The Angels lost their best player, 1B Kendry Morales, for the season, and it has finally impacted the team. Still, this is a group who has won the AL West six of the last seven years and it would be foolish to consider them out this soon.

 

Even with the first-place Rangers acquiring SP Cliff Lee, the back of their rotation is not significant.

 

The Angels have an ace in Jered Weaver. Weaver beat Seattle‘s King Felix for the third time this season, but the Angels have to give Weaver some run support. The vets need to step it up now to stay in the mix, especially Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Hideki Matsui.

 

Truthfully, they are not the same Angels from 2009. They lost a lot of speed on the bases, which played a enormous role in their past successes. The Halos should pick up a solid bat before the end of July. The Red Sox‘ Mike Lowell or the Orioles‘ Miguel Tejada are rumored possibilities, and while they could be the difference makers, they are a tad too old to get that excited about.

 

The Angels remain just four-and-a-half games out, and the next two weeks are the time to make a move on Texas. The Angels are a second-half team, with a proven history—now’s time to prove it.

 

 

Philadelphia Phillies

 

The Phillies have been hit with injuries even harder than the Angels. So far, 12 players have seen the DL, including three All-Star hitters, the closer, a setup man, two starters, and both their starting and backup catchers. Things have been far from sunny in Philadelphia.

 

After just two starts, NLCS Rookie of the Year SP J.A. Happ has yet to be back to his 2009 form—but he will be. Then SS Jimmy Rollins, who is the Phillies’ leadoff batter, has been actively on and off the DL.

 

On June 28th, 2B Chase Utley hurt his thumb. Utley had surgery on his thumb on July 1st and will return in a few weeks. Turning to the bullpen, closer Brad Lidge is getting reacquainted after missing April and most of May, but Lidge still can throw heat. Phillies fans need to be patient with Lidge.

 

The Phillies are kicking themselves for letting Cliff Lee go. In 2010, Lee is throwing better than trade-off Roy Halladay, that is just a fact.

 

The positives are that SP Cole Hamels is looking better with each start and Happ should be of use when he is back, which should be any day now. I would also expect that Lidge will be back to being the dominating closer by mid-August again. Getting Lidge on the mound more often will help keep him strong.

 

Now what to do about Jayson Werth? Werth is not hitting like his usual self, but can you blame a player who knows the team did not want him? Not particularly well-executed by the Phillies management, who handed Howard a monster contract and made Werth aware that he has no worth. There’s no doubt this is taking a toll on Werth, whether he knows it or not.

 

1B Ryan Howard is currently on a hitting tear and is confident the Phillies are getting back on their feet. Rollins will start to get hot now that he is fully recovered. Utley will be back in three weeks, along with Happ and Placido Polanco, who will rejoin the team shortly.

 

The Phillies are a half game behind the New York Mets and five-and-a-half behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. Remember that the last three seasons, the Phillies have had about the same record, and they have been to the World Series the last two years.

 

The Phillies will make a run at the division for sure and with so much baseball left, winning it is not out of left field by any means.

 

Read more on….Lady Loves Pinstripes .

 

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Top 25 Players Who Will Be the Key to Their Teams’ Playoff Hopes

Chase Utley has been out of the Philadelphia Phillies lineup since June 28th with a thumb ligament injury, and Utley will likely be out until the middle of August.

The speed of Utley’s return and how he plays once he’s back will be crucial to determining whether the Philadelphia Phillies will be making their third straight World Series appearance in 2010.

Utley is just one of the Top 25 Players Who Will Be the Key to Their Team’s Playoff Hopes.

Begin Slideshow

Panic on Broad Street…Are Fans Too Naive To Realize It?

This article is a long time coming. I know the team is only 5.5 back in the division, but with the strength of the NL East and the National League in general, things may become very bleak on Broad Street.

This city of Philadelphia talks about 2008 like it was yesterday, the season where everything was perfect and the Phillies were kings of the world…guess what, it’s not and they are slipping HARD.

Phillies fans have been sold a bill of goods from management with two promises about this season:

1. The team would walk into the playoffs…

2. They would pretty much spend the entire season leading the NL East…

The team has walked with a certain sense of entitlement, believing these things, and if certain parts of their performance don’t change soon, it’s looking like neither will happen.

Just like many Phillies fans, I watched tonight’s Game four of the Cubs series with a sense of urgency. Halladay was on the mound and after stealing a win yesterday, I was hoping tonight would be a sign of brighter days, a refresher toward the team’s potential.

Like the rest of Philly, I watched as the game came and went, seeing much of the same inconsistent play that has haunted the team this season.

The Phillies were given a gift in Game three and, if it weren’t for the epic collapse of Carlos Marmol, they could have been looking at a sweep.

It seems the story of the season is inconsistency. Whether it’s the bats, the pitching, or the roster, this year’s Phillies have been suffering from a severe lapse.

Phillies fans are an interesting breed. Not only do we come off as critical but, at points, show signs of complete oblivion.

Fans are aware of the issues this team is facing, and they talk about how things need to be done; all it takes is a 12-2 win to turn things around and they are once again talking sunshine and daisies.

The four-game sweep of the Reds was incredible. The Phillies were the walk-off wonders and seemed as if the stars were aligning. It seemed as if their luck could never run out. The Reds were leading the Central at the time and, going into the break, all seemed well in the world.

Guess what…they just lost three of four to a team that’s 10 games back in the same NL Central.

The Phillies live and die by the long ball and if the line drives aren’t flying, then they are suffering.

I bet many fans aren’t aware the Phillies are ranked 23rd in batting average and 22nd in hits…not positive for a team coming off of back-to-back World Series.

The Phillies are hemorrhaging and every talking head in the media has their opinions on how to fix it. The talking points for tomorrow’s radio shows are written and the situations are well known. It’s important to address them and realize the logical and sad truths around many of them.

Jayson Werth: Can they/would they trade him and get legitimate compensation?

Most fans in the city have accepted the fact, at the completion of this season, Werth will hit the open market and play elsewhere next year. The Phillies have stated their salary cap ceiling and made it clear with the move of Cliff Lee that there are no exceptions to this rule.

Is it time for the team to sever ties with Werth in an attempt to bolster the team?

Yes this statement can be taken as treason, and without his bat the team will be lacking a strong presence from the right side of the plate. He has the ability to help the team via trade and it is a valid option the team needs to look into.

What would they get for him and would anyone want his expiring deal?…thus bringing up issue No. 2.

Do the Phillies still need another starter?

J.A. Happ is still working on his rehab and no definite date is set. With this known, the team needs to address the fact without another starter in the rotation things are going to get dicey around playoff time.

Fans throw out names like Roy Oswalt, Dan Haren, and Ted Lilly but none of these seems logistically possible without giving up more quality minor league prospects. Seeing as the only legitimate prospect the team has is Dominic Brown, who is the heir apparent to replace Ibanez, the team will balk with any deal involving their prized prospect.

Sure Cole Hamels is improving but with his history of meltdowns, he is never reliable enough to sleep well at night. Jamie Moyer is now you second-most reliable starter and, at 47, you never know what showing you will get.

If you can make a legitimate argument for Kyle Kendrick as a fifth starter, I would like to hear it; in 19 appearances, his 5-3 record and his inability to make it past the sixth inning wont allow fans to sleep well at night, and the same goes for Joe Blanton.

A record of 3-5 from a third starter will not help you in the playoffs, and batters have an .844 on base percentage against him.

Roy Halladay has been everything we thought he would be. He has had his rough outings, but with 10 wins fans are feeling comfortable when that fifth day comes around.

With the way the bullpen has produced, the team may need to send either Happ or Blanton to the pen to ease the suffering. The only problem with that is both may be needed to start.

The Phillies need more depth, and adding another solid starter could make taking the NL East a little bit easier.

Is it just injuries?

Placido Polanco is back from the DL and has looked relatively solid.

Ryan Madson is back from “Toe Gate” and has allowed three runs in 3 1/3 innings since returning with a record of 1-1 and a blown save.

Chase Utley is only weeks away from a return. No word of the healing thumb but even his presence should boost a normally second-half team.

What are their options?

Do they hold out and see how the returns of Utley and Happ help the offense, or is a move the only way to get back on track? And if they make a move, what can they trade and who’s interested?

With the July 31st trade deadline fast approaching, they may not have time to rely on Happ or Utley, and front-office decisions need to be made. If not, instead of talking three-peat World Series visits and 2008 Champions, we may be talking 2006 and missing out on the playoffs.

Complete Philly Sports Coverage on Eternal Mulligan or Twitter.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Philiadelphia Phillies Make Their Own Luck in Wild Win Over Chicago Cubs

Skipper Charlie Manuel wouldn’t say his team got lucky in their wild 4-1 win over the Chicago Cubs, but that was plainly obvious to anyone watching.

Geovaney Soto certainly isn’t a scrub and is not a guy who will make many mistakes, so when he drops a perfect throw that would have allowed him to tag out Brian Schneider by a good 10 feet or so, a lot of it is luck.

But, as is usually the case, the Phillies made their own luck. Poor base-running prevented them from scoring for eight innings, but good plate discipline and clutch hits allowed them the opportunity to steal a game for once, and they milked their luck for all it was worth.

They gave Carlos Marmol fits as they watched every “please-swing-at-me” pitch go right past them to run up the count and eventually get the walks they needed. Then they got the clutch hit they needed out of Polanco and third-base coach Sam Perlozzo wasn’t about to let the team’s lucky streak go to waste.

“One of those where you pretty much have to send him, and I didn’t feel good about it,” Perlozzo said. “That’s the beauty of the game. Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn’t.

And the ball continued to bounce the Phillies’ way when Soto wasn’t able to corral a wild pitch that went off the tip of his glove and bounced around the backstop, allowing Ross Gload to come home and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead that they would eventually build on.

All of this, by the way, was done with two outs.

Their was no quit in this team. They decided they were going to play out all nine innings, while the Cubs felt as though they could wrap the whole thing up after eight.

Playing hard and playing until the end is how teams create their own good luck, and complacency is how teams fall onto the bad luck the Cubs experienced.

“It just goes to show the game’s not over until it’s over.”

Sure does, Charlie. Sure does.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Why Roy Halladay Should Be NL CY Young Winner Part 2

So I looked over some stats and decided people need to be told the whole story. There are a few other contenders for the NL CY Young Award. I originally did not want to analyze them but then I thought why not compare him to other players that people think are better? Halladay after all is the best pitcher in baseball.

So the first one I do is Josh Johnson. Low ERA 1.62. Minuscule ERA, I am amazed he has kept it up as long as he has. He has 128 innings pitched, an outstanding 130 strikeouts with only 28 walks. He has one complete game and no shutouts. So why him?

The key thing to note when comparing him to Halladay is that there is a significant difference in ERA so the fact that he has the same amount of wins should be attributed to run support. The fact he has less losses should be attributed to his amazingly low ERA.

The fact is on average he pitches one less inning than Halladay. If when it comes to wins they get the same amount, more wins should be attributed to Halladay simply because he works longer. Then there is the fact that Halladay has gotten complete games almost every other time he goes out there, has a perfect game and a few shutouts.

To counter that Johnson has an ERA of more than 0.5 less than Halladay in a more hitter friendly park. You would expect with such a minuscule ERA he has very little run support but he gets 4.83 runs per game in support versus Halladay’s 3.32. So he gets 1.5 runs per game more which is odd until you realize his team completely demolishes teams one day and doesn’t do much the next.

I still like the fact that Johnson has 20 innings less pitched than Halladay along with so many complete games. If Johnson pitched that much he would have been exhausted earlier and would not have these numbers. Furthermore him having less losses boils down to run support, not much more. Also Johnson gets a lot of innings but needs good relievers to finish the job for him, Halladay normally does it all himself.

Now Wainwright is a real threat. He is much closer to Halladay’s stats than Johnson. Johnson’s ERA is the thing that makes people think he’s way better but I assure you the real threat is Wainwright and Jimenez. Wainwright has only pitched six innings less than Halladay, and has two more strikeouts. 

His ERA is 2.02 and that means he is about 0.17 below Halladay which is outstanding. I love it personally. The only problem is lack of complete games (with only 4) and only one shutout. However this is not so much a weakness, it just shows he’s more consistent. Wainwright gets about seven and one third of an inning every time he goes on the mound (approximately) whereas Halladay will get one inning more because he has lots of complete games. 

Wainwright also got more run support at 5.03 runs per game which really helps you win. If Halladay gets that kind of run support (not unreasonable to expect that from the Phillies offense) then he would have way more wins. 

The key to remember is who would you rather have if you need to win a game? I would rather have Halladay because he will more often than not go the distance. There’s a reason he is always in CY Young voting, he is that good.

Most people argue it’s a 4 man race. I say drop Johnson from that race, he’s a great pitcher, I’m taking nothing away from him but the NL has had so many star pitchers this year. It’s like the Yankees WS win made pitching popular again. 

 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Why Roy Halladay Should Be NL CY Young Winner

I admit, I am a Toronto Blue Jays fan, that’s why you’ll notice that the picture of Halladay is in a Blue Jays uniform rather than the Phillies uniform. I grew up watching him play and truly loved watching the best pitcher in baseball completely shut down opposing offenses. As such, my opinion is a bit biased so I tried to stick to the numbers only when deciding that Halladay deserves the NL Cy Young.

First, realize this is July 17, 2010 and this article is not going to take into account any games played on the 17th. Instead I am going to just analyze the numbers up until now and show you why I think Halladay deserves to win. 

Clearly the only real competition Halladay has is Ubaldo Jimenez—you know the guy who is 15-1 and the ace of the Colorado Rockies? He has an ERA of 2.20, a WHIP of 1.05, 113 strikeouts and 46 walks, and he’s already pitched 127 innings!

He also has three complete games, including two shutouts  I also should point out that he plays in Coors Field, as such his numbers would be even lower if he played in a regular park. As such his numbers are definitely screaming CY Young, however the NL has Roy Halladay.

Roy Halladay has a record only of 10-7. That sounds terrible but he has already pitched 148 innings! He leads the league in innings which is all the more impressive because he plays in the NL (no DH). He has an ERA of 2.19, a WHIP of 1.05, 128 strikeouts, and only 19 walks!

To top it all off, he has already gotten seven complete games, including threes shutouts and a perfect game! Absolutely phenomenal stats, and would have definitely won the CY Young if Jimenez did not choose this year to crank it up a notch. 

So with all these stats what makes Halladay better? Jimenez has slightly worse ERA, same WHIP, and not too far off on strikeouts, though way off on walks. However, Halladay has pitched a total of 21 more innings. The law in economics is called diminishing marginal performance, in this case.

What that means is as he plays more innings his performance should decline, but look the numbers are about the same—ERA, WHIP, predictably he’s better on strikeouts, but the walks are so few. This takes out the Coors Field being a hitters’ park variable.

Then we come to the true skill of Roy Halladay, a man who can give your bullpen a day off. He has seven complete games already, and it’s just barely passed the halfway mark of the season, at this pace he will get 12 complete games!

Compare that with Jimenez’s three and you see why Halladay is so dominant. It gets better though he already has three shutouts and one of them was a perfect game! Just tell me why you would not pick him for CY Young this year.

I can think of only one reason, his 10-7 record. I agree with the saying “you play to win the game” and if you don’t win, the stats should not justify anything. However, in the case of Halladay we may have to look a bit beyond considering his stats are so outstanding, right on par with Jimenez. 

However, here’s another reason: although the Phillies have only scored nine runs less than the Rockies for the entire season, they give Roy Halladay a paltry 3.32 runs of support per game, whereas the Rockies give Jimenez an outstanding 5.33 runs of support per game.

That’s quite a differential in run support considering the Phillies have scored only nine runs less the entire year. You have to admit it looks like their offense gets lazy when Halladay gets out there, whereas almost any pitcher can win a lot with that kind of run support. For that reason I say the wins mean almost nothing. 

Please note I calculated run support by runs they scored after Halladay or Jimenez may have left the game because that gives them a chance for a no decision. So who is the better pitcher?

A lot of people should run away with it. I am not going to say Halladay should run away with it, but he does deserve more consideration than people give him. I think in the end, he will get the nod simply because as the season wears on the Doc gets better, while other pitchers start tiring out. However, if it were handed out today I would definitely give it to the Doctor. 

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Should The Phillies Make a Move For George Sherrill?

With the recent release of George Sherrill by the Los Angeles Dodgers, one wonders whether Ruben Amaro, Jr. and the Phillies’ front office will look to add him to their struggling core of relief pitchers.

Sherrill, himself, has struggled this year with an ERA of 7.17 and WHIP of 2.20, hence the reason for his outright release.  However, he was solid for the Dodgers last year and has a career ERA of 3.64 and WHIP of 1.32.

He also has late inning experience, serving as the closer for Baltimore and recording a few saves for both Seattle and LA.  

And perhaps the biggest asset to the Phillies is the fact that he is a lefty.  

The Phillies sole left-handed reliever currently on the staff is JC Romero although they have a few prospects in the minors that they could recall should the need arise.  None of their prospects has anywhere near the experience of a pitcher such as Sherrill.

This would be a good low-risk and high-reward signing that the Phillies will likely do their due diligence in examining.  The lone problem, which is a big one, is Sherrill’s large salary ($4.5million).  The Phillies are unlikely to be willing to put in a waiver claim on Sherrill and be obligated to pay the remainder of that large of a salary.  

However, given Sherrill’s service time, should he clear waivers, he can opt not to be sent to the minors and declare himself a free agent.  This would negate his contract, which might not be in his own best interest monetarily.  

It will be interesting to see what transpires with Mr. Sherrill in the next 10 days as there aren’t many proven relief pitchers on the market.  Maybe a change of scenery would serve him and his new team well.  

The question is whether that team is in the majors or the minors, and I am betting it is the former rather than the latter.  

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Ryan Howard: The Awakening of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Sleeping Giant

You questioned whether he was one of the top first basemen in the National League, let alone all of baseball.  You spat in the dirt over Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro giving him a contract extension that made him one of the wealthiest players in baseball history.  You blamed the Phillies sluggish first half on him, wondering where the $25 million man had disappeared to when his team needed him most.

Oh wait.  That was me.  Shoot.

Don’t look now Phillies fans, but in our darkest hour, in our moment of need, when our heroes are either slumping or injured, our sleeping Giant has been awakened.

Ryan Howard is here to save us all.

Fact is, it was a rough spring and early summer for all of the Philadelphia Phillies, and Howard has been no exception.  As recently as June 4, 2010 Howard was hitting .280 with a meager .788 OPS.  His strikeouts have been up this season, his walks and on-base percentage have been down, and he has at times looked absolutely befuddled at the plate.

But for the past month, as the Philadelphia Phillies have desperately tried to bale their sinking ship and find a way to get the runs flowing again, Howard has quietly picked up the pace of his production.

In one month’s worth of games, from June 15 to July 15 Howard has hit .327 with a 1.062 OPS.  He has nine home runs, three triples, and four doubles during that time, and has scored 21 runs to go with 26 RBI.

In Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, Howard has added another home run, his 20th of the season, and his batting average on the season is now up to .298.

Most importantly of all, symbolically, Howard is now once again leading the National League in RBI with 71 Phillies driven in.  Howard’s RBI have become a security blanket of sorts, as he has led the NL in that category three times in the last four years, and is looking to become the seventh player since 1901 to do it three years in a row.

Wanna see the list of guys Howard would join if he pulled that off?

Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Joe Medwick, George Foster, Cecil Fielder.

It is an impressive list.

Another security blanket for Phillies fans, of course, is Howard’s clutch hitting.  The vast majority of great clutch moments during the Phillies’ current run have involved Howard in some way or another.  And he is at it again.

In the most exciting series of the year so far for the Phillies, they swept a four game series against the Cincinnati Reds that saw them survive no less than a perfect game taken into the ninth inning, two 1-0 games, and a six run comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning which the Phillies ultimately won.

Guess who was right in the center of the action.

In Game Two of the series, Howard came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a man on and a man out and the Phillies trailing 7-1. Howard hit a single to right to score Shane Victorino and get the scoring started on a six run rally which would tie the game.  Howard then hit a walk-off two run home run in the 10th to complete the comeback.

It was vintage Howard.

Trailing the Atlanta Braves by five games in the NL East with Chase Utley and Placido Polanco injured, the Phillies are going to need their stars to come up big for them in the coming weeks.

It appears as though the biggest of those stars is finally coming around.

A sleeping giant has been awakened.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Can Philadelphia Phillies Use Walk-Off Weekend To Propel Second Half?

The Philadelphia Phillies‘ first-half struggles are well-documented. A disappointing road trip and three-game matchup against the division-leading Atlanta Braves left them with a 43-40 record and six games out of first heading into the final weekend before the All-Star break. 

To make matters worse, the Phillies were staring at a four-game series against the surging, Central Division-leading Cincinnati Reds. The potential existed to be deeply buried at the figurative midseason breaking point.

But then something unlikely and uncharacteristic for the challenging 2010 season occurred—the Phillies found a way to pull off a series sweep and restore their hope for the second half. 

And, as big as it was to string together four victories, it was even more amazing considering the manner in which it was done. 

All four games could have gone either way. The first three were won on walk-off hits in extra innings—two of which landed in the outfield seats.

On Thursday night, the game seemed headed for the same recurring nightmare of the past two seasons when Brad Lidge blew a save opportunity in the ninth, allowing the Reds to knot the score at 3-3 with two outs.

But, rather than allow the game to turn into another frustrating defeat, they hung in until backup catcher Brian Schneider ended the game in the 12th with a home plate victory dance after depositing a ball well into the right field stands. 

The next night, the Reds jumped out to an early lead and appeared headed to an easy victory, sporting a 7-1 lead after adding an insurance run in the top of the ninth. What followed was something even the most optimistic Phillies fans could not conjure in their minds with late-game heroics a fading memory. 

A small rally blossomed into an eruption when “below-the-Mendoza” Gregg Dobbs jacked a 434-foot, three-run bomb to cut the lead to 7-5. An out and a walk later, minor league fill-in Cody Ransom smacked another home run to stave off defeat. 

This time, after holding the Reds scoreless in the 10th, a Raul Ibanez double was followed by Ryan Howard’s big fly into the left field seats. For the second consecutive night, the hometown heroes finished the evening with a team-wide celebratory scrum at home plate. 

Fast forward to game three on Saturday night. Ace Roy Halladay demonstrated his considerable pitching skills once again, shutting out the league-leading offense through nine innings. 

Unfortunately, as has often been the case this year, the Phillies could muster very little offense themselves. In fact, rookie Travis Wood was shockingly heading toward baseball immortality by firing a perfect game before Carlos Ruiz led off the ninth with a double. 

Wood escaped trouble, and the teams traded bagels until the bottom half of the 11th. Ruiz smacked another double and scored on Jimmy Rollins’ clutch two-out single to kick off the now familiar nightly celebration. 

The series finale on Sunday was not a walk-off, but was definitely another nail-biter. This time, the Phillies used the same Ruiz double, Rollins single combination to plate a run in the third inning and rode a brilliant Cole Hamels pitching performance to a 1-0 lead heading into the ninth. 

Of course, some drama ensued when Brad Lidge was called upon to nail down the save. This day, he was up to the task, demonstrating better command and his signature slider. 

For the weekend’s work, the Phillies crept a little closer to the Braves and are now breathing down the necks of the second place New York Mets. Just half a game out of second, the Phillies start the second half four-and-a-half games behind the Braves. 

Besides the psychological lift of feeling that they are within striking distance, the manner in which the Phillies were able to sweep the Reds could provide the necessary boost they need to make another divisional run. 

As skipper Charlie Manuel noted, the team seemed to be missing a spark. Neither fans nor players seemed to possess the confidence that this year’s team had its customary late-inning heroics in its figurative DNA. 

Perhaps this past weekend’s events will restore that former feeling of invincibility and swagger that has permeated the team over the previous three seasons. 

And, make no mistake about it, that missing mojo will be instrumental to realizing the lofty goals set forth before this injury-riddled season. 

The Phillies find themselves in the uncustomary position of playing catch-up, but a little mojo—and the return of the walking wounded—will go a long way toward recapturing the NL East. The Braves are good and will keep the pressure on, but perhaps players and fans will look back at “Walk-off Weekend” as this year’s turning point.

 

Gary Suess is the founder of the Philadelphia Sports blog I’m Just Saying, Philly

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

« Previous Page — Next Page »