Ordinarily, the daily task for sportswriters like me is to sift through game details and quotes and write a compelling story in a short amount of time. Yesterday, I found myself trying tackle another challenge. How on earth could I write a story that would be anywhere near as good as the game I had just watched?It was a mission impossible. Not even my man Bill Shakespeare could've done it justice.
If you missed yesterday's game at the Bank, well, you missed one for the ages. I half expected to flip on ESPN Classic last night and see the game replayed. It was THAT good.
Yesterday's game had everything. With a chance at a rare four-game sweep of the Mets, their most heated NL East rival, that would move them within two games of first place, the Phillies blew leads of 5-0 and 8-5 only to score three runs in the final two innings against former Phils closer Billy Wagner. In the eighth inning, resurgent slugger Pat Burrell, who has hiked his average 70 points since July 1, homered off Wagner, whom Burrell once labeled a "rat" when they were teammates. In the ninth, Jayson Werth stole the two easiest bases you'll ever see after ripping a leadoff single and scored on a single over a drawn-in infield by Tadahito Iguchi. Two batters later, Chase Utley, in his third game after missing only a month with a broken right hand, singled home Iguchi, who was acquired July 27 to fill in while Utley was injured.
It was great theatre.
Here's my attempt to capture all of that excitement. But let's hear from you. Some of you already have e-mailed me to say how little work you got done yesterday because you were glued to a television or a radio (I won't tell your bosses, I promise). Where does yesterday's game rank with all the games you've seen?
*
Within the notebook, there are details of Freddy Garcia's season-ending shoulder surgery yesterday. Now that Garcia has thrown his final pitch for the Phillies, I'll ask the question: Is he the biggest Phillies bust ever?
*
I'm about to board my US Airways flight to Fort Lauderdale (hopefully; it's already been delayed once). I'll check in once I get to Florida.
9 comments:
Yes ... he is the biggest bust ever. Not only did the team waste ten million bucks that could have been used in the bullpen, but they gave away wonderkid Gio Gonzalez. No doubt about it ... the biggest bust ever!
I too was at work glued to the radio. I was th the game last year when Howard hit the three HRs in his first 3 ABs. When he came up for his fourth at bat and the fan jumped on the field and got on hi hands and knees at Howards feet, and did the "We're not worthy" thing ... it was great.
I hope the Phils can keep up the momentum ...
Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients.
Subject: The RACE is still on
Sent: 8/31/2007 7:44 AM
The following recipient(s) could not be reached:
Kevin.Kernan@nypost.com on 8/31/2007 7:45 AM
The message could not be delivered because the recipient's mailbox is full.
I guess Kevin Kernan at the NY Post has gotten alot of email from Philadelphia fans. It appears he keeps his inbox full so you can't reach him. I tried to remind him of his words, that "the division race is over". It looks like the Phillies have found the "portal" and have stepped through it. Go Phils
So the Phillies got lucky. Big deal. Still no playogffs for those chumps
I thought Charlie pulled Lhose at the correct time, but it looked like Condrey had a little bit left and maybe he should've stayed in. I've been a huge Condrey critic, but I actually thought he should've stayed around with the bullpen being so used and thin. He's def. pitching better than he was earlier on in the season. I also wasn't happy to see Charlie give a free pass to the go ahead run (Reyes). That run ended up scoring and if we had lost that game by one......
But they didn't and I'm in agreement that it was one of the most exciting games in recent memory.
Does anyone remember the Mitch Williams Pinch-hit walk off single around 3 in the morning to end the second game of a twi-night doubleheader vs. the Pads in 1993?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI199307022.shtml
Or Todd Pratt's walk off homer to beat the Red Sox in 2003? The game where Thome tied it TWICE on solo shots to send it to extra and then keep us there?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI200306210.shtml
And hit the Bahia Cabana off Rt. 1 in Lauderdale, left hand side of the road over the drawbridge. It's across the street from the Sheraton Yankee Clipper. Great conch fritters and an even better view.
In the heat of this Division and Wild Card chase Freddy Garcia is absolutely irrelevant to me. He has had, nor will he have, little/no bearing on the success of this 2007 Phillies club (which is the most important thing right now). Looking back on him and/or his signing is pointless to me because of the importance of these next 4-5 weeks.
All I can say is that I wish trades came with receipts so we could get our Gio Gonzalez back.
Regardless, the last three games here at CBP have been three of the best games I've ever seen. It looks like the players really want it this year.
I was at the game yesterday, as I skipped my classes during the first week of classes at Temple, to see the sweep. This was by far the best game I've been to in my life (and I was at the Todd Pratt walk off game against the Sox). Watching those Mets fans scatter so fast was the most satisfying feeling I've had at a game in awhile.
And on a side note, we won the fight in the stands too when a Mets fan in the right field corner had his shirt ripped in half at the hands of a Phils fan. We won in all aspects of the game yesterday!
I don't think that there's any doubt in the minds of anybody: Freddy Garcia was the biggest all-time bust in Phillies history. Think of it like this: the Phils gave away promising young pitcher Gio Gonzalez, and potential reclamation project Gavin Floyd for nothing more than an innings-eater whose velocity had been down during the season before and who had a 4.53 ERA that season. They took on his fat $10-million contract and what'd they get out of it? One lousy win.
As for yesterday's game, that was one of the all-time greats. I don't care who you are, you couldn't write a script any better than the way the game unfolded yesterday. Chase Utley, the player held in highest regard by Wagner when he was here, drove in the man the team brought in to fill his spot after Pat Burrell, the player most maligned by Wagner in his time here, hit a home-run off of him. It SHOULD be on ESPN classic, it was that thrilling, that inspiring, that incredible. Absolutely the best game I've ever seen.
Why are we typing about Freddy Garcia and GIO GONZALEZ?? Freddy has been out(useless for a long time aka season) and Gio is in the Central Division...in the American League....not to mention AA....They are gone. GONE. Who cares?
Let's get over the typical retrospective crap and let's focus on the REAL task at hand: a) winning the NL East or B) winning the Wild Card.
Scott-- We're obviously die hard phils phans here. Save the opportunity lost for the 50 cent edition.
April and May are decades ago, please, let's focus on September as our chance to get back to greatness...meaning the playoffs for once....
Post a Comment