i can't stand it.

2 games. 2 overtime losses. 2 great starting pitchers. 2 nights of inadequate relief pitching and an inability to score runners on base.

i can't stand it.

if this is what the entire season is gonna be like... well... i guess it won't be too unfamiliar. but still... frustrating and heartbreaking all the same.

"Hope springs eternal, unless you're a Phillies fan. Then it lasts for about three hours." ~ Martin Frank, The Wilmington News Journal.

seriously.

i know they looked for some relief pitchers during the offseason and were willing to pay a decent bit of cash to get some quality arms. that hope faded away though... and we're stuck with suckers who don't seem to be able to realize that their starting pitchers just threw close to perfect innings. relief pitchers are supposed to maintain the opponent's current score... not add to it. but alas... in philadelphia... it just doesn't happen that way.

let's review:

"But nobody will know how much it hurts until the end of the season. The Phillies, of course, shrugged this off as just one game out of 162, and nobody ever won a pennant on April 2. At the same time, they missed the playoffs last year by just three games and the year before by just one game. Do the math and they're played 324 games over the last two seasons. Just four of them were enough to keep them out of the postseason." ~ Kevin Noonan, The Wilmington News Journal.

and again... from martin frank...

"Manager Charlie Manuel spent much of spring training preaching about the importance of a good start this season, especially after the last two seasons, when they went 10-14 in each of the past two Aprils and missed a playoff spot by a combined four games."

oh well, right? get up tomorrow and win.

especially since i'll be at the game!!!! yup... that's right. my first phillies game of the season. we'll be out by the left foul pole... and it's supposed to be pretty cold outside... but... it's a baseball game!! besides... most seats are good seats for the most part in the new stadium. it's not like the vet... where the outfield was really out there. miles away it seemed. i miss the vet. ahhh... childhood memories. ps... i watched a bit of baseball on tv today and it warmed my soul. especially when i heard harry kalas' voice [phils' announcer for the past 30-some years].

so anyway... the game tomorrow. i just can't decide... should i wear my pink chase utley shirt? or my red ryan howard shirt??!?!