life around the left field foul pole...

random quotes heard throughout thursday's 'game' in 40 degree weather, with 40 mph winds, with an incompetent left fielder, a lousy starting pitcher, and an inability to drive in runners in scoring position:

"hey guys!! what time's kickoff?" [get it? cuz it was so cold.]

"yo burrell! leave your wallet in the dugout next time so you can run faster!"

"is jogging the only speed you've got, burrell??"

"learn how to run, you lug!!!!!!!!!" [that was me. to burrell, of course.]

"E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!!!!!!!" [this is a common practice in philly. when the phillies stink, the eagles fight song can be heard multiple times during a game... like on thursday. and vice versa... when the eagles stink... people cheer for the phillies.]

"GO FLYERS!!!!" [now that's just an insult.]

and of course....

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..." [incredibly common in philly. we boo everyone from each of the opposing players being announced at the start of the game to pitchers throwing to first to ryan howard striking out... again... to santa claus to mike schmidt to donovan mcnabb when he got picked instead of ricky williams. i love this town. :) ]

i will say... i've never been to a baseball game in 40 degree weather with 40 mph winds... and SNOW before. i've never been to the 3rd game of the season before either. it was quite an adventure. the stadium sold out of hot chocolate and gloves. i had on 4 top layers, 2 jackets, and 2 blankets. plus long underwear pants and 2 pairs of socks. and i was STILL cold. we stayed through the entire game, though... hoping that maybe the phils could pull off the win... but hoping even more that the game wouldn't go into extra innings. [one game we went to had 16 innings and lasted until 1:30 am... and then concluded with fireworks!!!]

as for the game itself...

the phillies blew it. first of all... the braves had 8 runs on 9 hits. the phils had 4 runs on 12 hits... and two of those runs came in because the atlanta pitchers loaded the bases on walks and walked two players in. there's a disconnect. howard's having a TERRIBLE spring. he went 0/4... with runners on base every time he was up... i think. utley had a great game... with 3 hits including a double. burrell even hit a few.

okay... but about burrell. the man can't run to save his life. first inning... howard overthrew a ball to utley in the 2nd, allowing 2 men to stay on base. next batter hit what should have been a pop up to left field [whether or not it would have been a sac is debatable]... which burrell couldn't get to... allowing those 2 guys to score. 2-0 braves. oh man... did we let burrell have it. in my aunt's words, "he's a liability." i have no idea what on earth he's doing in the starting line up. you can't trust him in the outfield... and he can't run the bases very well. TWO TIMES he was on 2nd and should have been able to get home when someone behind him had a hit... and both times he had to stop at 3rd. it's absolutely abhorrent. he gets some good hits sometimes... but the only hits that are really safe for him are homers cuz he only has to jog around the bases. the management should at the very least have stuck a pinch runner in for him. it's just terrible. the phils have been trying to get rid of him... but no one'll take him b/c he gets paid too much and isn't worth the cost. so we're stuck with him. maybe the management thinks that they'd be wasting money if he sat on the bench. personally, i think they're wasting more money by having him play when other people can run faster and read the ball more accurately in the field. my aunt thinks that he and manuel have something going.

speaking of ole' charlie... it's time for charlie to go. larry bowa was too much of a hot-head... but manuel is too much of the opposite extreme. they need a solid coach who'll tear into them when they need it... but not throw temper tantrums... and not coddle them or treat them like little leaguers. they're pros... and they should be playing like it.

ps... the relief pitchers weren't the ones who blew the game this time. that was nice.

those boys've gotta pull it together.

OH! and get this... they picked up a relief pitcher for cash from toronto. apparently he doesn't have a great track record... but throws between 94-97 mph. charlie's hoping that if he can be consistent, that he could be a powerful force. um... hey charlie? usually not having a good track record means not very consistent.

God help us in philadelphia.