Phillies-Blog.com: Blog Commentary from Real, Passionate Philadelphia Phillies Fans

At first glance I thought the Citi Field Inaugural Season patches on the Mets uniforms were Dominos Pizza logos. Observe the similarities below. They should actually consider renting out that real estate on their unis to pay for that publicly funded disaster. But, hey, at least they didn’t spend $1.5billion on a little league field (see Yankee Stadium).

Harry

You never know what you have until it is gone.

I never knew how much this sentiment was true until the passing of Harry Kalas. I’ll admit I had taken him for granted. I never considered what it would be like without him. For as long as I have watched and listened to Phillies baseball, Harry was there.

I know the outpouring of love and affection was tremendous for Richie Ashburn back in ‘97, but I was too young to really understand it. Sure I was 12 or 13, but I had not yet developed a strong relationship with the broadcasters. In the 12 years since then Harry has been my guy. He has been there for all of the good times and bad with his deep soothing voice. He lulled me to sleep for a Sunday afternoon nap and had me on the edge of my seat in the bottom of the 9th.

But I never knew what I had until it was gone. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated Harry. I understood he was one of the greatest play-by-play announcers in baseball history, but I never thought I would have to get through a game without him.

The day he died I learned of the news via text message from my mom. It simply read “Harry kalas died.” At first my mind just went blank. It couldn’t be true. I immediately went to Phillies.com and there it was. I went through the rest of that day at work in a daze. I didn’t know how to react. I finally made it home to watch the coverage on CSN. I wasn’t handling it all that well. It was so sudden and unexpected. But it all finally hit me when they began replaying the last game he called. It was only the first inning and nothing was happening, but I realized that I would never be fortunate enough to hear him call another game again. I will admit that I cried. I know it is cliched and has been said before, but it really was like losing a family member. Since going to college, graduating, and moving to Philly, I have heard Harry’s voice more than any member of my real family, so yes, he really was like a family member.

Rest in peace Harry, you will never be forgotten.

Looking Forward

The current state of affairs in the television booth is terrible.

First of all, Tom McCarthy has to go. He is a great professional broadcaster, but that is the problem. He gives me the feeling every night that he is auditioning for a national job with ESPN. He wants to be Joe Buck (and I hate Joe Buck). He has the same excitement in his voice for a David Wright home run as he does for a walk-off Ryan Howard home run. It seems like all he wants is his call on SportsCenter.

Sarge is a terrible color commentator. If I have to hear the phrase “jump in the Cadillac” or “Cadillac time” one more time I am going to lose it.

Wheels? Well, Wheels is just Wheels. Need I say more?

Now the radio broadcast duo is an entirely different story. Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson have taken over full time in the absence of Harry. And let me tell you, I am really enjoying their relationship. Like McCarthy, Franzke is a very good play-by-play guy, but the difference is he really loves the Phillies and you can tell. You can hear the excitement in his voice when the Phils hit a big homer and the disappointment when one is hit against them. I don’t want a broadcaster that calls it right down the middle. I want a guy that loves this team just as much as I do and shows it.

There is no question about LA’s loyalty. He is less of a color guy and more of a fan that just happens to have an live mic in front of him. He does more cheering, yelling, and ripping umpires than game analysis….and I love it.

I have discovered that if I turn on the TV broadcast, mute it, and turn on the radio broadcast on MLB.tv the audio is almost perfectly synched. This is how I have been watching games of late.

I think the Phillies have to seriously consider putting LA and Franzke on TV next year. I believe they are in the early stages of forming a Richie and Harry type relationship. And who wouldn’t want that?

If you would had asked me this question in January (and a lot of people did), I would have said (and did say), “Absolutley not.” He is a poor defensive, upper-cutting, overpaid dissapointment that doesn’t seem to care about Philadelphia or the fans…until now.

For the past 3 or so years, Phillies fans have been counting down the days until Pat’s contract ran out and we could kiss him and his obnoxiously high salary goodbye. He was booed religiously everytime he came to the plate and received Philly’s best verbal abuse from the seats surrounding him in left field. He reacted to the treatment by selecting The Eagles’ “Dirty Laundry” as his theme song preceding at-bats.

Pat’s future in Philadelphia looked dismal. You could tell he really didn’t want to be here anymore (despite his occasional statement of him loving the city) and the fans definitely wanted him gone.

The All-Star break rolled around last year and the Phillies were fighting to catch the NL East leading Mets. It went unnoticed at first; a timely hit here, a big home run there. Then people started noticing that Pat had raised his average significantly and his RBI production left his first half of the season in the dust. He went on to factor in as a huge part of the Phillies clinching the NL East title (and who will ever forget him busting out of the dugout and tackling Brett Myers before Chris Coste even had a chance to figure out what was going on.)

After the Phils were bounced in the first round by the Rockies everyone was talking all off-season about how this is most-likely Burrell’s last season in a Phillies uniform. It was assumed he would not be re-signed or even traded mid-season to an American League team to serve as a DH.

Then the 2008 season began and Pat started on a torrid pace, hitting .326 through the month of April with 8 HRs and 24 RBI. He was looking very comfortable at the plate and Philadelphia fans began getting comfortable with him in the lineup. He has since cooled down to a .275 average, but is still tied for 4th in the NL with 23 HRs. He is now getting near standing ovations from the fans in left field every time he trots out there.

Philadelphia has once again embraced Pat the Bat. After being snubbed from the All-Star game he was placed on the ballot for the final player on the NL roster. The fans responded and did everything they could to get him to his first All-Star game. Including 4 fans that spent 96 straight hours at Citizen’s Bank Park to vote for him around the clock. While the votes fell short of Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, it became very clear that the fans want him to stay. The outpouring of support culminated on Sunday afternoon when he hit a 3-run 8th inning home run to break a 2-2 tie and secure a lead in the NL East going into the All-Star break. Upon crossing home plate and entering the dugout, the sell-out crowd would not sit down until Burrell emerged for a curtain call. The place was electric during a post-game interview Pat looked truly happy to be in Philadelphia.

With the unbelievably poor defense from So Taguchi and the offensive struggles of Geoff Jenkins, Burrell is obviously the best option in left field.

He may not be the flightest of foot and he isn’t best defensive option in left field, but unless the Phillies can land a top-notch young outfielder in the offseason, they should certainly attempt to re-sign Burrell (at a discounted rate, of course). And based on his apparent love for this city and his teammates I think there is a good chance Pat will be playing left field at the Bank in 2009.

With Adam Eaton showing us exactly what we expected to get from him this year, did we just see his last start of the season? It is a highly likely possibility. With the All-Star break coming up, his turn won’t come up again until the Monday after the break. In this time, Pat Gillick could acquire another starter, or Brett Myers could come back and replace him in the rotation. Knocking him out of the rotation would also require a spot for JA Happ, which I’m perfectly comfortable with. He provided two solid outings this season so far and I would not be opposed to having him fill in until a trade is completed for another pitcher.

The Mets are now a half game back in the East. Pat Gillick didn’t get the top-notch starter everyone knew that this rotation needed. I’m not sure what he has in the works, possibly Erik Bedard? With Eaton providing nothing for us, the playoffs likely will hinge on a solid Brett Myers comeback.