PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Alvarez is a lifelong Philadelphian with a Cole Hamels haircut and a vintage maroon Phillies cap who spent his Sunday in a parking lot. Alvarez didn't have tickets to the Eagles-Giants game in the afternoon. He didn't have tickets to the Phillies-Yankees World Series game at night. What he did have was a parking space for his truck, a seemingly bottomless supply of beer and enough slightly slurred wisdom to know that there was no place he would have rather been than this particular parking lot on this particular day, surrounded by his fellow Eagles and Phillies fans.
"They got flat-screens over there," Alvarez said, waving his beer can in the direction of a nearby RV. "Everybody's grilling food. I've made a ton of new friends. What more could you want?"
NEW YORK -- Blasphemy, you'll say, but think about it. What are you going to remember about Tuesday night's Yankees-Red Sox game? David Ortiz's third home run of the year? Nick Green's second? Maybe Josh Beckett, fine, but the fact is this isn't 2003-04 anymore, the Red Sox own the Yankees now and they're both probably making the playoffs anyway, what with the Rays looking like World Series-hangover-roadkill.
No, this here is where it's at for big-time baseball rivalries circa 2009. Mets-Phillies has morphed from spring training trash talk to nailbiting, in-season theater, complete with all the subplots, drama and good, intense baseball you can take. Tuesday night had everything anybody could ask of a midseason rivalry game, and in the end it was the battered-underdog Mets who came away with a 6-5 victory that was in no way easy but in all ways satisfying.
Long, busy day -- the kind of day where you feel like you never stop writing. Which is okay, because my job is fun. But now that it's over, and it's late, and I'm back from the ballpark, I feel like I have to sit down and write just a little bit more.
Mets fans have been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since Jimmy Rollins made his proclamation about the Phillies being the best team on paper, the chips on the shoulders of Mets fans collectively grew a couple of inches. They circled the first day that Philadelphia visited Shea Stadium, and lucky for everyone ... it was the home opener.
Mets fans waited for an opportunity to pounce, and when Rollins booted Jose Reyes' grounder with the bases loaded to tie the game, they got it ... and they pounced with a mock roll call of "Jim-my Rol-lins". Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Even Rollins:
"The crowd is great," said Rollins afterwards. "They're out there supporting their team and doing what they're supposed to be doing. They're supposed to try to get under your skin. It's fun to be out there."
The Phillies bullpen didn't help bail Rollins out before or after the error as six more Met runs scored after the Rollins error to lead to not only an 11-5 Mets victory, but it lead to the Phillies sharing the N.L. East cellar with the Nationals. Ouch.
Of course, leave it to former Phillie and current Met Billy Wagner to put it all in perspective:
As for the ever-candid Wagner, when pressed about Rollins' comments, he decided to take a parting shot at his former teammate.
"There is a time to speak out and a time not to," he said. "I'm as outspoken as they come and I don't have to be asked if we're the team to beat. That (answer) is pretty obvious."
Because you know that Wagner isn't shy about his feelings regarding his former place of employment.
Can we really be at a crossroads after one week of the season? Well here we are ... Philadelphia and Florida: the corner of Slump St. and Closer Ave. Will it be the road less traveled, or the path of least resistance? Or will the Phillies and Marlins just be lost without a GPS?
For the Phillies, well it's obvious ... in a season when they proclaimed themselves the best team on paper in the division, they're 1-5 after a 6-4 loss to Florida. The Marlins tried to hand the game over to them today with 11 walks (including four walks in the seventh), and the Phillies could only score four runs. They got only seven hits to pair with those 11 walks, only scored one run in the seventh inning after those four walks, and left 25 men on base, which is pretty disgusting if you ask me. And it isn't as if the averages for the week are that bad: Jimmy Rollins is at .304, Chase Utley is at .259, and Ryan Howard is at .217 but he's climbing after two hits today. The Phillies just aren't getting the hits when they need them the most. And don't get me started on their bullpen.
"It's a concern. You can't say that it's not," said third baseman Wes Helms, a newcomer. "It is only six games, but if you go 1-5 in the middle of the season, you don't look at it as much as when you are 1-5 at the beginning. We want to correct this quick. We don't want to get so far down that we have to climb and climb."
As for the Marlins, their lineup is hitting their groove, and their starting pitching has been solid. But Jorge Julio is a mess. After a scoreless inning in a meaningless situation, Julio has blown a save, given up two runs in another ninth inning, and was pulled during a save situation after giving up two hits and a walk in five batters, as Lee Gardner had to come in and get his first career major league save. Julio's ERA is a healthy 16.88
Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Julio will remain the closer, although he'll likely be given Monday off. "We've got to show confidence with Julio," Gonzalez said. "He's our guy, and we need him. We've got to get him right, and I think he can do it."
Is it me or do those words sound like the words of a man who is privately worried about his closer?
Dontrelle Willis likes Ryan Howard. Hey, who doesn't like Ryan Howard? But he doesn't like Ryan Howard enough to let him hit bombs into the upper tank. Willis retired Howard three times, and Howard was retired twice more by Marlins relievers in an 8-5 Marlins victory.
"That guy's dangerous," Willis said. "All he needs is that one, and here it comes. He's a friend of mine, and I'm rooting for him, but not against us, because he's a guy who can single-handedly carry a team into the postseason. I just pray he keeps struggling against us."
Howard is hitting .158 on the season, and after only five games, the "slump" word is starting to attach itself to last season's N.L. MVP.
Howard, the NL Most Valuable Player in 2006, has three singles this season and no extra-base hits. He drove in 149 runs to lead the league last year. "He's probably pressing a little bit and feels he has to live up to something," Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs said. "I hope he's out of here before he starts turning it on."
As for Willis, he had nine strikeouts in his six innings of work, and Josh Willingham was a single away from the cycle along with four RBI's. The only noise by the Phillies came on Jimmy Rollins' inside the park HR, and two runs in the ninth off of Marlins closer Jorge Julio before Howard made the final out.
The Florida Marlins drew their largest crowd in two seasons on Friday night for their '07 home opener (perhaps in large part due to the Marlins cheerleader outfits ... an improvement from three years ago when they wore Dolphins cheerleader outfits with a small Marlin patch sewn on), but disappointed the crowd of 40,397 in a listless 8-2 loss to the formerly struggling Philadelphia Phillies, who now have their first win of the season.
"This will probably be the largest crowd we have all year," second baseman Dan Uggla said. "We wanted to play better for them."
What would have constituted playing better? Perhaps Miguel Olivo (the catcher) not running through a stop sign and going for an inside-the-park home run in the second inning would have helped. Or perhaps better defense ... errors by Miguel Cabrera and Mike Jacobs led to four unearned Phillies runs (Sergio Mitre deserved a better fate). Hanley Ramirez had a home run for Florida, but also left six men on base.
The Phillies sent 44-year-old Jamie Moyer to the mound in hopes of turning the tide from a heartbreaking opening series at home against Atlanta. Predictably, all the Phillies really needed was to get away from a hostile Philadelphia crowd.
"I knew we were going to win sooner or later," Moyer said.
Pat Burrell benefitted most from getting out of Philly, which makes sense because he's the one that gets booed the loudest. Burrell had four RBI's including a three run homer off Ricky Nolasco.
What do you get when you take some rowdy college students who are interested mainly (solely?) in drinking their faces off, give them discounted tickets to leave more money in their pockets for beer, and put them in the same place with Philadelphia fans known for violence and booing their mother for putting too much salt on the meat loaf? You get college night at Citizens Bank Park.
I don't think I need to tell you that all did not go smoothly on Wednesday, which was the first of six college nights:
The Phillies said yesterday they would look at ways to improve college nights at Citizens Bank Park after Wednesday's first college night got out of hand. Rowdy fans threw objects from the upper deck onto the field and fans below. There were 31 ejections Wednesday, which is higher than normal. There also were reports of fights.
Fights? At a Philadelphia sporting event? It can't be!
"We're very pleased about the increased attendance and interest by the college fans," said Mike Stiles, senior vice president for administration and operations. "But we have to curtail college fans or anybody else who engages in misbehavior that takes away from the rest of our fans' enjoyment of the game. And so we're going to explore ways to do that, and we have to find the right balance."
Here's a hint: "Mitch Williams Appreciation Night"? Bad idea.
There were 41,516 fans at Wednesday's 3-2 loss in 11 innings. The Phillies have five more college nights scheduled this season.
Great, five more nights of little Sally coming home and asking "Daddy, what does @#$& mean"? (The next college night, by the way, is next Friday against Houston.)
The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups
Kansas City Royals (1-1) vs. Boston Red Sox (1-1)-2:10PM Est.
The wait is finally over. Sure, you saw him in spring training, but we're experiencing the real thing now. Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his Major League debut for the Boston Red Sox this afternoon in Kansas City. Will we finally get a chance to see this magical pitch they call the Gyroball or is it just a myth? Unfortunately, overshadowed in this game is Zack Greinke who's making his first start of the season after battling through a severe case of depression last season. Greinke had a strong spring to regain his spot in the Royals rotation, and says he's worked through his problems. The good news is that if he relapses, he can follow the lead of women everywhere, and sit in the dugout with a gallon of Dice-Kream.
Philadelphia Phillies (0-2) vs. Atlanta Braves (2-0)-3:05PM Est.
If the third game of this series is as exciting as the first two, you'd be a fool to skip it. The Braves have rallied from behind in both games so far before winning each contest in extra innings. A win today would give Atlanta it's first 3-0 start since 1994. Ahh, 1994. Remember that magnificent 1994 World Series? That was easily the best World Series of all time. What? You're kidding? Wow. That's messed up.
San Francisco Giants (0-2) vs. San Diego Padres (2-0)-10:15PM Est.
Barry Bonds hit home run number 735 last night to move within 20 of the great Hank Aaron, but unfortunately the Giants still lost. The way that Barry has treated the Padres over his career--86 home runs, his most against any opponent--it's not too crazy a notion that he'll hit number 736 tonight against Clay Hensley. More importantly for the Giants, they're looking to avoid their first 0-3 start since 1984.
It wasn't all that long ago that Edgar Renteria was considered among the top three or four shortstops in the game ... and if his Opening Day performance forecasts anything (hint: it usually doesn't), it's that Renteria could be headed back to those lofty heights.
In the Braves' 10-inning victory today, Renteria hit both the game-tying and the game-winning home runs, essentially giving the Braves the Opening Day win. What's especially funny is that Renteria tried to bunt the first two pitches of his 10th-inning at bat, and after failing twice, swung away, hitting the game-winner.
"I'm a bunting guy," said Renteria, who has 82 career sacrifices. "I'll try and move the guy to second every time. That's my game. Sometimes you hit the ball good and the ball goes out."
The basic statistical consensus suggests that it's usually a bad idea to sacrifice bunt, because a single out is usually far more valuable than moving a runner from first to second ... but if ever there was an anecdotal argument against the sacrifice bunt, Renteria's at bat is it.
NEW YORK -- Blasphemy, you'll say, but think about it. What are you going to remember about Tuesday night's Yankees-Red Sox game? 
Long, busy day -- the kind of day where you feel like you never stop writing. Which is okay, because my job is fun. But now that it's over, and it's late, and I'm back from the ballpark, I feel like I have to sit down and write just a little bit more.
Mets fans have been waiting for this for a long time. Ever since Jimmy Rollins made his proclamation about the Phillies being the 
Can we really be at a crossroads after one week of the season? Well here we are ... Philadelphia and Florida: the corner of Slump St. and Closer Ave. Will it be the road less traveled, or the path of least resistance? Or will the Phillies and Marlins just be lost without a GPS?
Dontrelle Willis likes Ryan Howard. Hey, who doesn't like Ryan Howard? But he doesn't like Ryan Howard enough to let him hit bombs into the upper tank. Willis retired Howard three times, and Howard was retired twice more by Marlins relievers in an 
The Florida Marlins drew their largest crowd in two seasons on Friday night for their '07 home opener (perhaps in large part due to the Marlins cheerleader outfits ... an improvement from three years ago when they wore Dolphins cheerleader outfits with a small Marlin patch sewn on), but disappointed the crowd of 40,397 in a listless 
What do you get when you take some rowdy college students who are interested mainly (solely?) in drinking their faces off, give them discounted tickets to leave more money in their pockets for beer, and put them in the same place with Philadelphia fans known for violence and booing their mother for putting too much salt on the meat loaf? You get college night at Citizens Bank Park.
It wasn't all that long ago that Edgar Renteria was considered among the top three or four shortstops in the game ... and if his Opening Day performance forecasts anything (hint: it usually doesn't), it's that Renteria could be headed back to those lofty heights. 
