Game 22 Wrap up - A sub-.500 April

It should always be enjoyable watching a game,  5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, with a 5-month-old.
When your team only gets one hit through eight innings, that can be tough.
The Phils have fallen back to two-games below .500, a 10-12 record.

Game 19 Wrap up - Offensive outburst continues

After the Phillies' 7-2 win over the Arizona Diamonbacks, you can't help but feel good.
The offense appears to be clicking. The Phils took 2-of-3 from a very good team.
Time for 3-in-a-row.

Game 18 Wrap up - Back on the winning side

The Phillies' offense has erupted, scoring eight runs tonight after a 5-run outburst last night.
It's progress as the team moved to 8-10 in the record book.
Bad Aprils are not uncommon for this bunch. As 2007 and 2008 proved, they can overcome them.
April is proving to be an interesting month from the fatherhood angle.
We're learning a lot about Michael.
He loves reading time. His mom reads kids books to him every night. I try to read some adult stuff too, a bit of Thurber here, some Rowling there.
Darlene and Jessica at daycare said they've never seen a baby that young follow along in a book.
He also loves to see himself in the mirror.
Oh, and eating Roy Halladay.

Game 16 Wrap up - The day I couldn't care less about a Phillies loss

Dad, in the tie, before I was born.

I remember the M&Ms in my tiny hands. I must have been about four-years-old. Maybe a year or two older. 
But the five M&Ms are distinct. Two browns, a yellow and two oranges. I'm fascinated by the lowercase "M" on each of the candies. I eat them one-by-one, asking myself different questions: Are there candies with other letters on them? Why aren't there any greens or blues?
A whistle blows. The players gather around their coach. I'm not paying much attention to the basketball game that's going on. The M&M's are what is important. I ask my brother if I can have more. He pours a few more into my hand. With them comes an answer. There are green ones. My brother squeezes the bottom of the paper bag so that the top opens up. He pours the rest of the M&Ms into his mouth.
Sneakers squeak on the hardwood floor. I turn one of the candies upside down and and decide, no, that's not a "W." These all have "M" on them. My grandfather and grandmother sitting nearby. I abandon my brother, who had just seemed so cool popping open the bag of M&Ms, to see them. My grandfather smiles at me. He always smiles at me. Well, one time he was mad when I crawled under the table during dinner at a restaurant. I was looking for a gun from one of my GI Joe toys. "Get off the floor," he said. "It's dirty down there. Don't get your hands dirty before you eat." That's as close as he ever came to yelling at me.
My father yells. I stop what I'm doing and turn away from my grandparents. I follow his voice to the other end of the gym. He's not yelling at me, but he's yelling to one of the players. I don't understand what he's saying. Realizing I'm not in trouble, I turn my attention back to my grandfather. I show him my new toy.

Game 15 Wrap up: And back below .500

Padres 5, Phillies 1.
Back under .500.

Game 14 Wrap up - Back to .500

A conversation between dad and Michael around 10 p.m. Friday night:
Michael (Looks at Dad): Aaahaaa
Dad (taking that to mean, "Who's Pitching tonight?"): Cole Hamels.
Michael smiles.
Hamels goes on to lead the Phillies to 4-1 victory and a trip back to the .500 mark.

Game 13 Wrap Up - Do you get half a win for this

Another strong pitching performance, this time from Vance Worley, and the Phillies are back within a game of .500.
The Refrigerator pitched seven shutout innings, walking three, scattering four hits and striking out a career-high 11 as the Phils beat the San Diego Padres, 2-0.
Worley continues to impress, improving his record on the season to 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA and 21 strikeouts against 17 hits and eight walks in 17 innings.
Then again, he was pitching against the Padres, who have as ineffective an offense as the Phillies.

Game 12 Wrap up- Seriously?

OK, Cliff Lee tossed a shutout and the Phils still couldn't get the win, falling, 1-0, in 11.
The Phillies have scored 35 runs in 11 games. That's just a tad more than 3 per.
Pafreakinthetic.
As a team, they are in the bottom thee in the National League in runs scored, on-base percentage, doubles, triples, slugging and OPS.
But you probably figured that out.

Game 1 Wrap up - Halladay starts strong

In case you missed it....

This one went in the win column, thanks mostly to Roy Halladay.
Good ole No. 34 tossed eight solid against the Pittsburgh Pirates.



The history books will mark this one down 1-0, with Carlos Ruiz getting the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Freddy Galvis made his Major League debut. It was a bit less bloody than Michael's earthly debut.

Southpaw Jr., however, did have something to say about Jimmy Rollins, who laid down a beautiful bunt in the first inning.

Michael and I watched the first few frames together during my lunch break. Sure, I would have loved to watch the entire game with him. But just getting a couple innings in was great, especially since it was his first real Phillies game. But we've got plenty of years ahead of us.


All in all, a good day.