Monday, June 11, 2007

You Know It's the Phillies When...

...they lose 2 out of 3 to the Royals after sweeping the Mets on the road.

...the very worst team in the major leagues beats them by 12 runs.

...Ryan Howard homers twice--one in each loss.

...they're still just 5 games out of first in the NL East.

These symptoms of inconsistency are so pervasive that the only thing everyone--fans, players, the national media--expects the Phillies to do consistently is...be inconsistent. It's telling when a preseason World Series dark horse dangerously close to collapsing under the weight of expectations and bullpen hubris isn't even a noteworthy story. I guess Kansas City has got to hear some good news every once in a while, but the failure of the Phillies to realize their full potential has become a tired old yarn.

On the bright side, Liebs finally gave Philadelphia its first shutout of the season after they suffered their first one on the losing end to the Giants a week earlier--a great way to kick off the Second Jose Mesa Era.

Still, it was a brutal weekend and dangerously close to being this season's nadir if it weren't for the Manuel-Eskin Deathmatch in April. A series this momentous deserves its own special name:

"Willie Wilson's Revenge"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Happy to see your blogging doesn't take a back seat to the happenings in NYC!