phrustrated philly phan

Only 10 games left in the 2006 regular season and what a season it has been. The Phillies play 6 more games against the Florida Marlins with three at the Bank and three in South Florida. They also play one game against the Houston Astros and three against the Washington Nationals. The wild card is well within the the Phillies reach and last night on Baseball Tonight, both Tim Kurkijan and Orel Hersherier choose the Phillies to win the wild card. Cole Hamels gets things started tonight against the Marlins and it would be sweet revenge to take all three of these games from the Marlins. Recently pitchers have been much more careful when pitching to Ryan Howard but he has still gotten his hits although fewer home runs. Maybe the most important aspect offensively of this series is how Mr. Marlin, Jeff Connine, hits for the Phillies.

The pitching staff has stablized immensively from the middle of the summer. It is the reason I have hope of not only winning the wild card but also advancing in October. A rotation of Hamels, Myers, Moyer, and Lieber would be hard to match by another NL team. The bullpen has been a concern though as arms begin to get tired. Tom Gordon should have plenty left since he missed a month earlier in the season. The biggest concern is Geoff Geary, Aaron Fultz, and Ryan Madson. Contributions from Matt Smith and Fabio Castro could be the differnce in the last 10 games if they are given the chance.

The Phillies have gotten some surprise contributions recently from the likes of Abe Nunez, Pat Burrell, and Mike Lieberthal. I specifically want to talk about Lieby. He is the longest tenured Phillie and also longest tenured Philadelphia athlete, but this looks to be the end of the road for him in Philly. For most of my life Lieby has been behind the plate for the Phillies. I remember the year he hit 36 home runs and the game where he tore his ACL. During the late '90s he was often one of the few good players and bad teams. Lately his career has been on the downside and he has taken a beating from Phillies fans the past couple years. This year he started slowly but has picked it up lately as his playing time has decreased. This has allowed him play at a higher level when he is on the field. He now has 9 home runs for the season with most coming in the last two months. I want the Phillies to play in October partly for Mike Lieberthal's sake. He is a true professional and has been with the Phillies during the very thin times and I want him to play meaningful baseball in October. He deserves it, and it may be his last chance.

Also, I am banning myself from using the word "playoff" until either the Phillies have clinched a spot or been eliminated. I will refer to it as October baseball until then. Last the Phillies have unveiled next year's propsed schedule with Jim Thome returning and Jim Leyland coming to Philly for the first time since Charlie Manuel was hired instead of him. Should be interesting.

10 games. Thats all that is left in this season. It feels like this season has been going on forever. I remember watching the dismantling the Phillies got on opening day. I remember watching Aaron Rowand crash into the wall. I remember Hamels debut and everything else that happened in this excitement filled season. Now we are down to 10 games. It is put up or shut up time. Lets get it done. My dream is Lieby hitting a game-winning home run on the last day of the season to clinch a spot in October baseball.