John Finger dot com

That will leave a mark

So am I prophetic or just a jerk? Is there extra points in predicting the undoing of the bullpen, or is that just too easy with this Phillies' club? Is this the way it's going to be all summer with this shooting gallery of balls flying around the bandbox with this pitching staff? What's with all the questions? Anyway, Tom Gordon got lit up more than my mick uncles on St. Patrick's Day. In fact, I thought I heard someone shout, "INCOMING!" after every one of Flash's pitches. I hid under the table here at seat 92. Oddly enough, the PA system began blaring, "Disco Inferno" at the end of the inning. Burn, baby, burn! Coincidence? I think not. Just like that it's 11-6 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Flash's line: Not good.

Rollins to the rescue

So Jimmy Rollins came to the rescue for the Phillies again. Better yet, the Phillies' offense saved the pitching staff from some trouble... again. The reigning NL MVP capped off a big rally in the seventh with a two-out homer with one out to knot the game at 6. People laughed, jumped, yelled, waved flags, threw paper and pounded themselves on the head as if the Ayatollah had just died. Yes, people really want this baseball team to win games. Knotted at 6 and headed for the late innings, it seems as if the Phillies are sitting pretty. They have scored 6 runs without mounting much a sustained rally at any point of the ballgame, and have done so with some shaky pitching on top of that. Pitching and defense? Nah... The Phillies do it with homers and walks. Anyway, Rollins came through. Flash Gordon is on in the ninth. Perhaps this is where the thinness of the team's bullpen gets it into trouble? Man, what's with all this negativity?

I want my two dollars

Don’t you just love it when you find money in your pocket? I found $2 in the pocket of my pants this morning and I have to admit it was a nice little treat. Sure, $2 will barely get me a half-gallon of gas, but it adds up. I’ll take it. Interestingly, the two, one-dollar bills look weathered and worn as if they went through the wash. My money has been laundered. Be that as it may, Brett Myers appears to have gotten a little sullied up in the fifth inning. After four straight goose eggs, the Nats finally solved him in the fifth with four runs on three hits, an error and a hit batsmen. The big hit of the inning – in my estimation – was when pitcher Matt Chico laced a fat curveball to center field for a one-out hit. Otherwise, Myers threw a lot of pitches to the barrels of bats. When Myers fell behind, the Nats made him pay… that’s the way it goes. Myers’ line: 5 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 86 pitches. Let’s call it auspicious. Often, it’s the little things when things begin to unravel. Ryan Madson came in to relieve Myers and allowed a two-run homer with two outs to Lastings Milledge following an infield single from Cristian Guzman. It was a close play, but it led to trouble. Trouble is what the Phillies are in right now after Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Pedro Feliz followed up Chase Utley’s leadoff homer with strikeouts.

A sort of a rally

The Phillies serve free lunch on Opening Day every year, but since I don’t dig on meat and I’m not too keen on grey broccoli either, I brought my own lunch/dinner. Right now I’m eating a lovely fruit mix of bananas, apricots, papaya, golden raisins with a few raw almonds in there… Mmmmmmm. Myers pitched himself into a bit of a jam in the second when Nick Johnson, the son of Larry Bowa’s sister, doubled to left-center. Johnson missed all of last season while recovering from a broken leg, but he’s better now and sure to pick up hitting right where left off. Johnson is very, very good. The Nats are much-improved with Johnson in the lineup, but now they have to figure out what to do with Dmitri Young. Myers plunked Paul Lo Duca – much to the delight of the packed house – to put two on with one out and then walked Willie Harris with two outs to load the bases. But Myers figured his way out of it by picking up his second strikeout of the inning on Matt Chico. That’s 36 pitches through two innings for Myers – 22 strikes. The Phillies got a two-out double in the second from Jayson Werth, but left it there. Former Daily News beat writer Marcus Hayes is here. The DN really has suffered now that Marcus isn’t doing the day-to-day stuff… the new guy is a total hack.

League leaders in sacrifices

Brett Myers made it through the Nats in the top of the first very easily. He threw 13 pitches – mostly fastballs – and got back to throwing strikes after starting off two of the three hitters with first-pitch balls. As one can guess, I’m really into the theory behind first-pitch strikes. I’m not a huge stats guy, but the first-pitch strike one makes a lot of sense. Jimmy Rollins belted a sixth-pitch strike to the wall in left for a standup double and then moved to third on a nice bunt by Shane Victorino. The scorer gave Victorino a sacrifice, which is the correct call, but I suspect he was bunting for a hit. The thing is Victorino bunted it toward third at Ryan Zimmerman who will vacuum up anything. He’s good. Rollins scored on Chase Utley’s long sac fly to deep center. That means the Phillies lead the league in sacrifices. That’s hardly a Moneyball type stat, though it got the Phillies a run. That’s 1-to-zip at the end of the first frame of the season.

Opening day for some

The Phillies have the left-handed lineup out there this afternoon, meaning they're prepared to take on lefty pitcher Matt Chico of the Washington Nationals. At first glance Chico seems to be an odd choice for an Opening Day starter until one realizes that it is not Opening Day for the Nats. Fotr some silly reason they had to play a single game against the Atlanta Braves last night on ESPN to open up their brand-new ballpark, and then roll up to Philly to start the season in earnest. What the... Why not just let the Nats open the season at home or - even better - allow them to play a week on the road before returning to The District for an opening series. Crazy. Anyway, the lineups: Phillies 11 - Rollins, ss 8 - Victorino, cf 26 - Utley, 2b 6 - Howard, 1b 5 - Burrell, lf 7 - Feliz, 3b 28 - Werth, rf 51 - Ruiz, c 39 - Myers, p Nationals 15 - Guzman, ss 44 - Milledge, cf 11 - Zimmerman, 3b 24 - Johnson, 1b 25 - Kearns, rf 16 - Lo Duca, c 10 - Belliard, 2b 1 - Harris, lf 47 - Chico, p

Tip o' the cap

They just unfurled a big U.S. flag that covers the entire expanse of the outfield here at the ballpark. The Philadelphia Boys' Choir is singing patriotic songs at an octave that would require a fellow to cycle off the Winstrol. I suppose there is nothing better that signifies the fight for American Independence better than some pre-pubescent boys singing before a ballgame. Anyway, we're in the ballpark and we made it with little difficulty. The traffic from the Turnpike to the Schuylkill wasn't so bad... it wasn't good, but it wasn't anything to whine about. Meanwhile, the press box isn't obnoxiously crowded, which is nice. There's plenty of space to stretch out and get some work done, which is also nice. The player introductions have begun and a few writer types have guessed that Adam Eaton and Wes Helms will hear boos. Why are they always so negative? So far there have been big cheers for Cole Hamels, Chris Coste and Jamie Moyer. Eaton was booed, but he doffed his cap and enjoyed it. Otherwise, all of the starters heard big cheers, including manager Charlie Manuel, which is well deserved at this point.

Coming up...

A few clerical things:Tomorrow we will update this site live during the Opening Day game in very much the same manner as last October's NLDS. Since it's the first game of the season, we figured "why not?" One enhancement I'm working on is a chat box for readers to send instant messages during the live posts/game. The problem right now is that this platform doesn't support certain Java applications, so it looks like the IM feature is out... for now. Nevertheless, we will accept (and encourage) comments and e-mails during the game to discuss outcomes and certain strategery. So get ready. In the meantime, here are the long-awaited predictions for the National League in 2008 offered without analysis. In other words, take it for what's worth: East 1. Mets 2. Braves 3. Phillies 4. Nationals 5. Marlins Central 1. Cubs 2. Brewers 3. Reds 4. Astros 5. Pirates 6. Cardinals West 1. Diamondbacks 2. Padres 3. Dodgers 4. Rockies 5. Giants NLDS Mets over Diamondbacks Cubs over Braves NLCS Cubs over Mets World Series Cubs over Red Sox

Tip o' the cap

They just unfurled a big U.S. flag that covers the entire expanse of the outfield here at the ballpark. The Philadelphia Boys' Choir is singing patriotic songs at an octave that would require a fellow to cycle off the Winstrol. I suppose there is nothing better that signifies the fight for American Independence better than some pre-pubescent boys singing before a ballgame. Anyway, we're in the ballpark and we made it with little difficulty. The traffic from the Turnpike to the Schuylkill wasn't so bad... it wasn't good, but it wasn't anything to whine about. Meanwhile, the press box isn't obnoxiously crowded, which is nice. There's plenty of space to stretch out and get some work done, which is also nice. The player introductions have begun and a few writer types have guessed that Adam Eaton and Wes Helms will hear boos. Why are they always so negative? So far there have been big cheers for Cole Hamels, Chris Coste and Jamie Moyer. Eaton was booed, but he doffed his cap and enjoyed it. Otherwise, all of the starters heard big cheers, including manager Charlie Manuel, which is well deserved at this point.

Coming up...

A few clerical things:Tomorrow we will update this site live during the Opening Day game in very much the same manner as last October's NLDS. Since it's the first game of the season, we figured "why not?" One enhancement I'm working on is a chat box for readers to send instant messages during the live posts/game. The problem right now is that this platform doesn't support certain Java applications, so it looks like the IM feature is out... for now. Nevertheless, we will accept (and encourage) comments and e-mails during the game to discuss outcomes and certain strategery. So get ready. In the meantime, here are the long-awaited predictions for the National League in 2008 offered without analysis. In other words, take it for what's worth: East 1. Mets 2. Braves 3. Phillies 4. Nationals 5. Marlins Central 1. Cubs 2. Brewers 3. Reds 4. Astros 5. Pirates 6. Cardinals West 1. Diamondbacks 2. Padres 3. Dodgers 4. Rockies 5. Giants NLDS Mets over Diamondbacks Cubs over Braves NLCS Cubs over Mets World Series Cubs over Red Sox