Four Blogs and Eleven Innings Ago

Putting Faces to Bylines as the Phillies Win a Thriller

ONE OF THE SIGNATURE tenets of baseball is its ability to foster conversation in a vast array of environments, among a wide variety of people. At the office, in watering holes, at the ballpark itself, one can engage in passionate, intelligent deconstruction of teams, of players, of at-bats, with the closest of friends and with the most remote of strangers. There's simply something about the pace of the game and the structure of the season that allows baseball, more than any other sport, to be bantered about.
          Last night, at sweaty Citizens Bank Park, I had the good fortune to spend a few hours with the respective writers of Swing and a Miss, Balls, Sticks & Stuff, and Beer Leaguer. To talk baseball in general and explore the Phillies in particular with such articulate and astute observers of the game was a high privilege and an absolute joy. I don't know whether other teams' bloggers ever get together and go to a game, but if not, they're really missing out on something.
          And what a game we were treated to. Vicente Padilla turned in his third straight good performance, this one solid if not spectacular, but the stubborn Padres hung around, tying the game a couple of times and keeping things suspenseful. San Diego's resilience extended to the late innings, with Rheal Cormier and Ryan Madson failing to hold a three-run lead in the seventh, leading to a couple of innings of free baseball. But the back end of the Phils' bullpen -- Ugueth Urbina, Billy Wagner, and Aaron Fultz -- was splended, allowing just three hits and no runs over four innings, and when Chase Utley, hitting with a man on, crashed a 2-2 pitch into the right-centerfield seats, we had a great ending to our great evening.
          A word about Utley: When he came to bat in the 11th, he was 0-for-5, and when he hit his tater he had two strikes on him. The kid just doesn't get fazed. His compact swing, his quick bat, and his unflappable demeanor allow him to lock in on every pitch; as one of my colleagues remarked last night, he never takes an at-bat off. Give Chase Utley another season or two, and the Phillies are going to be his team.

Note: See Tom Goodman's thoughts on last night's game here; Tom Goyne's piece is here; and Jason Weitzel's post is here.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

Chase Utley's ears must have been burning last night. Ask not what he can do for an encore; after today's game it's clear he had already thought through that one.

[Mark]

The four Phillies blogs in my Bloglines feed all watching a game together, how cool is that? Now all we need is for CBP to get wireless access so you guys can live-blog the game next time.

[Iain]

I know that a bunch of Red Sox bloggers have done this on several occasions. Hopefully I'll get to do the same one of these fine days - watching baseball is great, but watching it in the company of knowledgeable fellow fans has to be something special.

[gr]

when's the commenters' get-together?

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