Shallow | Center

Troubling Trends on Display at Shea

Butterfingers in the field, awful aim from the mound end the Phils' mastery of the Mets

Of course the Phillies' streak over the Mets was bound to end sooner than later, but to lose thanks in large part to four errors in three innings and an absolutely horrid start (2.1 innings, 6 walks) by Kyle Kendrick is damn troubling. The Phils' inability to catch the ball in the early going -- they are dead last in the major leagues in number of errors committed -- is a dreadful trend. Philadelphia has too many flaws to give opponents extra outs. And it's not hard to imagine Kendrick back in the minors by summer. He's a textbook case of an unknown who took the league by surprise when nobody knew who he was, but is poised to fall to earth once hitters catch up.

Seriously, though: Of all the teams for the Phillies to make their bitch for a while, how sweet is it that they chose the Mets? S|C

Tags: Phillies, Kyle Kendrick, Mets

Week One | Not What We Were Told

The Phillies start the season with a pair of meek series against lesser foes

It was supposed to be different this year, wasn't it?

That division championship was supposed to give the Phillies a better sense of what was needed to contend all season long, so that a September collapse by the Mets wouldn't be necessary to secure a playoff slot. This year, the Phils told us, they'd be ready right out of the gate. Promise.

Oops.

Saying the Phillies have looked like Little Leaguers over the first week of the season is an insult to Little Leaguers. Bad defense, bullpen blowups, mediocre starting, and silent bats have all added up to a 2-4 record against hardly imposing Nationals and Reds squads. Even worse, they're 0-3 thus far in games started by Brett Myers and Cole Hamels. Myers has been a major disappointment, getting knocked around unexpectedly in his two starts; Hamels, at least, was sparkling in his one turn.

Philadelphia is playing right now as if Jimmy Rollins's 100-win prediction will come true simply because he said the words. With only Chase Utley and Pat Burrell(!) seeming to have any clue at the plate in the early going, I continue to worry that the fabled switch that was going to be thrown on Opening Day has a few of its wires crossed. S|C

A Rainy Sunday Afternoon ...

We now pause from our usual frivolity for some different frivolity.

I've been "nominated" by my fellow fantasy baseball co-owners to live-blog our annual draft so that those not available to be on site can see who's been picked in real time. Apologies to Bill Simmons.

Rule changes are being discussed now. Picks to be posted as they happen ...

One Down, Ninety-Nine to Go

Mid-game rally and late gift lift Phils to first win

Well, they gave it a good try, didn't they? Despite their best efforts, the Phillies failed to start the season 0-3, eking out a one-run, 10-inning win against the Nationals this afternoon. Many of their flaws of recent years were on painful display: a horrible outing from the starter, in this case Jamie Moyer; a shaky performance from the closer, in this case Tom Gordon; awful fielding, in this case four errors; and an unacceptable number of men left on base, in this case 22. If not for the Nats' own perpetual haplessness catching up to them after a blessed 3-0 start to their season, the Phils would be winging to Cincinnati with nary a victory in their pocket.

My worry about the good vibes of last September is that they will obscure the team's obvious shortcomings. Am I the only one who worries that the Phillies only barely made it into the playoffs last season? Or that they were escorted meekly out the door by the Rockies? Swagger is all well and good, but Philadelphia is strutting around as if it owns the National League. Pat Gillick didn't do nearly enough last winter to make a 2008 playoff spot a foregone conclusion. Best for Jimmy Rollins & Co. to remember that. S|C

The M-W Phrase

If it's early April, Phillies fans must be getting nervous

Has the second game of the season ever felt so much like a must-win?

That phrase gets thrown around way too much during the course of a season, but for the 2008 Phillies, you can make an argument that Game 2 qualifies:

• The team's inability to get out of the gate fast has been damaging in recent years, and nearly cost the Phils a playoff slot last year.
• Brett Myers's lousy Opening Day outing means that if the Nationals get to Cole Hamels tonight, the Phillies will be 0-2 and facing a significant drop-off in their starting rotation over the next three games.
• Pedro Martinez's hamstring injury last night closes the pitching gap between the Phillies and the Mets. It's critical to take advantage of whatever time Pedro might miss.

Okay, it's not a must-win; even I won't go that far. But a lot of people -- fans, the media, the players themselves -- will feel an awful lot better about the 1-1 Phillies than the 0-2 Phillies. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers

Pitching and Moaning

Hurlers torched in Phils' Opening Day loss

It was cold and damp but festive. The beer and the Schmitter were delicious. There was bunting and introduction of rosters and Fogerty playing over the PA system.

It was, in other words, a typical Opening Day at Citizens Bank Park, right down to the mediocre outing by our No. 1 starter and the destruction of our fill-in closer:

• B. Myers: 5 innings pitched, 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 5.40 ERA
• T. Gordon: 0.1 innings pitched, 4 hits, 5 runs, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts, 135.01 ERA

Nice to see the Phillies were able to turn that fabled switch on. They just forgot to change the light bulb. S|C

Tags: Phillies, Brett Myers, Tom Gordon

Happy Opening Day!

It's here -- it's finally here!

After the long off-season, the boring winter, we have baseball again. I'll be at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon to see how Brett Myers's return to starting goes. And to sample a Schmitter ... or a Tony Luke's roast pork sandwich ... or a Peace A Pizza slice of the game ... hmm. And also, uh, to see what this season's microbrew lineup looks like. Hmm again.

Wait, why am I going to the ballpark today? Oh, right -- there's a ballgame to watch!

Though I'm already getting hungry ... S|C

Tags: Phillies, Citizens Bank Park, Schmitter, Tony Luke's, Peace A Pizza

Philadelphia and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Greater Philadelphia had a pretty shitty day yesterday.

First it was revealed that that the teenagers whose beating of a Starbucks manager triggered an asthma attack that killed him were simply looking for some sick fun. The victim, the cops said, "was targeted for no reason."

It's the kind of random crime that makes people flinch from urban living and confirms outsiders' perception of Philadephia as a violent, lawless hellhole.

I mean, Jesus Christ, it happend in the middle of the afternoon in a Center City subway station. Maybe those outsiders aren't that far off.

Then last night, a deranged couple used their 1-year-old to keep police at bay on the Walt Whitman Bridge at the height of rush hour. It was the kind of crazy act that makes people flinch from Philadelphia and confirms outsiders' perceptions of the city as an asylum bursting at the seams with inmates.

Maybe those outsiders aren't that far off.

The region needs a win. I hate to say this, but it'd be nice for the civic well being if Villanova could knock off Kansas tonight. S|C

Allen Who?

No kidding: The last time I watched an NBA game in its entirety was almost certainly Game 5 of the 2001 NBA finals. The 76ers imploded after that wondrous season, with Pat Croce losing his power struggle with Ed Snider, Billy King unable to fit Allen Iverson's square peg into any of the many round holes he brought in, and a succession of coaches following Larry Brown in and out the door. The rest of pro hoops, meanwhile, has held little interest for me since then -- nobody cares about defense, the league has gotten increasingly thuggish, and no one has been able to combine talent and charisma in any meaningful way since Michael Jordan retired. (Now pardon me while I fetch my cane and my oxygen.)

But now, I'm thinking, it may be time to reinvest in the NBA.

Incredibly, the Sixers have caught fire with a young, hustling, defense-minded team, and powered their way into playoff contention. Last night Andre Miller, one of the guys King was able to secure for Iverson before being shown the door himself, dished an astonishing 18 assists in Philadelphia's hammering of the Bulls, its eighth victory in the last 10 games. With five double-figure scorers and virtually no attitude, the 76ers have become an easy team to like.

The question is: Have they become an easy team to watch? S|C

Tags: 76ers, Andre Miller, Allen Iverson

Also, Female Broadcast Journalists Are Hired Primarily for their Looks

Here's a little public service announcement for you: I'm going to tell you in one sentence what it took Inquirer TV critic Jonathan Storm an astounding 35-plus column-inches to sputter in today's paper.

Political coverage on television -- and especially on cable -- is marked by naked partisanship and hack reporting that contribute breathtakingly little to the national dialogue we so desperately need but are not getting in these complex times.

Seriously.

Not only did this woefully obvious and completely unnecessary "analysis" make the paper, but Storm somehow neglected to mention that Rick Santorum, one of the unhelpful pundits he cites as contributing to the mindless babble, is on the Inky's payroll. Hell, he should also have thrown Michael Smerconish, who pops up with frequency on MSNBC, under the bus while he was at it. S|C