It's baseball season

“Oh, yeah, welcome back. I was expecting you.”

“The Phillies should just give Adam Eaton to the Mets. He's helping them; they should be paying him!”

“Welcome back to the board Conk.”

“Big series this weekend.”

“Not sure how big it will be. Either they both rise to the occasion or one does and the other folds.

The Phils have lost six games to the abysmal Nationals this year, and that is the difference in the standings. If they had just split those six games, it would be all tied up. Gotta feast on the weak teams and play the top guys equal.

But, we'll see how it plays out.

I hate to admit it, but Jerry Manuel certainly has turned the Mutts around. A while back it seemed the bullpen had disintegrated, but they're winning in spite of that. There's a lesson for the Phillies in that.”

“The Mets have a bullpen? I thought they just pulled people out of the stands to pitch in the later innings.”

“Damn, if that's the case maybe Charlie should take a lesson from Jerry. Ours has been stellar most of the season, but lately it's better to turn off the TV as soon as Charlie steps out of the dugout. Or at least go get a beer to cry into.”

“But what the hell, I'm a front runner.”

“
Keep an eye out for this lefthander the Giants have coming up... Madison Bumgarner. He's kicked ass down here. (15-3) 1.46 ERA.

That guy Asheville (Rockies) put up against him Wednesday night is no slouch either: Connor Graham (12-6) 2.26 ERA.

Augusta won the first game of the division playoffs 1-0... In the bottom of the sixth Graham walked the leadoff man. The next batter bunted and Graham threw wild past the second baseman. Then we scored on a sac-fly.

Bumgarner scattered 4 hits over 8 innings.

Hellacious pitching ----


The best of three series continues tonight and tomorrow night in Asheville (pending developments from Hanna).

If we survive that, there's a best of five series beginning here on Monday night.

”

“Bumgarner scattered 4 hits over 8 innings.

Hellacious pitching ----

BLAM!”

“All it takes is one swing!     LOL

A reliever come in for the ninth (de la Garza, 6-3 3.33 9 saves)... There was a foul out to First and the next guy struck out, but the third batter reached on an error by the 3B (that one-hopper was toooo hot to handle).

So it was 2 outs, top of the ninth with the go-ahead run at the plate. The way that guy Graham was pitching, it probably would've been "The End".

But he struck out... swinging.


frickin' nailbiters!

”

“Tell me about it. Mets-Phillies series are fun to watch if only to see who it is that is rolling eyes skyward and mouthing obscenities late in the game.

And we never know who to get mad at: our team or the other one. And Billy the Rat won't blow a save to help us out either. We could use him to wake up Pat Burrell. It's so bad Charlie puts him in the game as a late inning defensive replacement.”

“Burrell's a Met killer. I think Met pitchers just like to watch him hit home runs off them.”

“We get a fresh load of baby ballplayers every April. Our first-baseman just turned 18... he got a 2.1 million signing bonus four days after his 16th birthday.

(Angel Villalona)”

“Burrell's a Met killer. I think Met pitchers just like to watch him hit home runs off them.”
conk

We do too. Hope they keep him around. His contract is up when this season ends. He wants to stay, but will the numbers work out?”

“Tilt, that's the one bad thing about watching minor league baseball. But I think the good outweighs it - getting to see them at the start.”

“Two out of three ain't bad unless it comes in September and means you're two games back with about 16 to go.

Cole Hamels just wasn't up for the big game and Santana was Santana.”

“Yep!   Sometimes the good ones don't stay long!   I don't know how far Bumgarner will go, but he's looking very sharp at this point.

The Greenjackets finished off the Asheville Tourists Friday and the South Atlantic League Finals begin here tonight and tomorrow night against the West (By God) Virginia 'Power' (Brewers).”

“I saw a Power game in Charleston. Got there 10 minutes before game time and asked for the best seat still available. "Is behind home plate okay?" she asked. That whole section was vacant.”

“Sounds about right for single-A ball ----

I can go to a Thursday night game and get a general admission seat and three beers for $10.... It's one of the things that makes this country great!     < WINK >”

“All the minor league teams around here pretty much fill up most of the time. We range from single A Wilmington to AA Reading, Harrisburg and Trenton to AAA Allentown and Scranton-Wilkes Barre. You damn sure won't get behind home plate seats anywhere close to game day let alone 10 minutes prior.

The park in Charleston is a nice, downtown park, too. A short walk from the downtown motels.”

“The place was about 1/3 full... and there were still seats behind home plate.... about 4 rows back.

Charleston bit it 11-2.   9 in the first two innings.   'Twaren't pretty from their POV.   I don't think that bus ride from Ohio helped.

Cheap beer tomorrow......     < VBG >”

“No cheap beer!

the website lied.... the email sent out to the fans lied.... the announcer lied two or three times during the game last night....

I think next year I'll skip their concessions altogether.

All the bouncing baby ballplayers are about to get on the bus for Scenic (By God) West Virginia.   Augusta now leads the best of five series 2-0.”

“"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart."

Bart Giamatti
The Green Fields of the Mind”

“Yep!   The classic quote.”

“I would be nice if it just broke your heart rather than stomp that sucker flat.”

“
        sucker.........             flat...........

”

“It's baseball season, but here in Philly not for much longer. The pulse is getting weaker and weaker.

Is your pitching staff in pain? Do your hitters look like Little Leaguers? Does your fielding look like the Keystone Cops? Play the Phillies and all will be well.”

“Hey, our team is a bunch of highschoolers,     LOL”

“Let's see if the Mets show up for the second half of September this year.”

“Relax dude, if they don't, it won't matter because the Phillies have been needing Dr. Heimlich this season. Of course, if Dr. Heimlich shows up, the Mets should worry.”

“Hmmm, now I hear footsteps behind us.”

“How are ya holding up Conk?”

“Oh, BTW.... we did prevail against the guys from Charleston in the first game up nawth, so it was a 3-game sweep in that best of 5.

Sounds like it was fairly exciting, too.... It was 4-2 going to the bottom of the 9th and they scored one.   But that's all they could manage.”

“Hmmm ... the Toast Man must be disappointed.”

“I sat right next to him when I was there. What a fantastic, entertaining night! They even threw in a ballgame.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060804&content_id=114047&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp”

“Geee, I could-a used that last week!

Hmm....   Given the variety of breakfast-related baked goods, the possible spin-offs are quite numerous.....”

“Are you thinking you could be Pop Tart Man?

Toast is way cheaper.”

“This just in ...

WV Power signed on with the Pirates for next season. Brewers are out.

Change is already reflected on Pirates website.”

“NAH....   I'm more of a Toaster Streudel kinda guy.... (I alternate apple with strawberry /cream cheese,   < wink >).   I was thinking I could've strolled over to the visitors' side and do the "You're TOAST" routine just to see the looks on their faces.

"You're roadkill!" might get me into hot water with the Health Dept.


Hey, we started out with the Pirates in '89 ---- I've still got the cap.   I think we're with the Giants this week.”

“Those footsteps are still behind us.”

“... now the footsteps are farther back.”

“Big series starts tomorrow for us. Three in Minnesota.”

“Geo...lookin good for the Fightin's!”

“Strangely one of the dailies is talking about the Brewers and the wild card. I don't guess they looked at the NL East standings before they filed their story.”

“One of the nicest things about this season has been the sheer quietude when the Phils play the Braves at Turner Field. It's so quiet you can hear the bat hit the ball. No chant, no tomahawk chop, not a lot of fans even. Phillies fans comprised a significant percentage of the crowd last week.”

“Wow, the mets didn'teven wait to have the bullpen lose it for them tonight...

Suckaaaaaaassss

'32oz”

“There are those footsteps again.”

“Go Cubbies!”

“I was a Cubs fan for about an hour last night, after the Flightins finish losing to the Atlanta Brats.

I love the way the Mets fans wring their hands in despair, or the mass exodus in the top of the 10th inning. And Jimmy Rollins calls us Philly fans front runners?”