Phightins

Brandon Morrow has a no-hitter and 11 strikeouts through 6.

OK, maybe I underestimated the Phillies.

No, I just saw the Mets score 2 runs in the first inning on only one moderately well hit ball, and a bunch of dinky infield [expletive] and flukey plays. Unfortunately that should be enough for them to win since the Phillies can't hit a knuckleball for [expletive].

......Are you [expletive]ing kidding me?

Haha nope, but he was there with me last year. And I think many other Mets fans had the same idea.

He is autistic.

Some friends of mine are going up there for a game next weekend. I considered it, but don't have the money right now. Already saw Citi Field for one of the Phillies-Mets games last year.

That series doesn't start until Friday, I am going to Phillies-Dodgers on Thursday.

Also, I have no idea why Charlie Manuel decided to have Placido Polanco bunt in the 8th inning. For my money, Polly is the best hitter in the lineup right now. If there is anybody I want swinging away with men on base in a 1 run deficit, it is him. That was the turning point of the game.

I am not going to lie, that might be one of the three or four best games I have ever seen Cole Hamels pitch. Yet another example of why a starting pitcher's W-L is so irrelevant!

Ugh my personal 4 game winning streak has come to an end!

The idea of Adam Dunn patrolling left field at Citi Field would scare me as a Mets fan.

Also, this was weird. Mike Sweeney has a similar body-type to Pat Burrell, has the same number, and uses the same intro music (Holy Diver). I was VERY confused.

Fish, you should come down for a game some time. I was very surprised at the lack of Mets fans there tonight. Usually there are way more. There was only one in my section (but she was an attractive female so she gets a pass for that hideous Santana jersey she had on ).

Still a month and a half-ish until training camp, but I figured I'd get this fired up now. Anyway, very excited for this season. Many Flyers fans are not happy with this offseason, but I happen to believe the team is better now than it was at the conclusion of last season. We will see. Here is how the roster looks as of now, including a guess at what the lines and defensive pairings might look like. Goalies: Michael Leighton Brian Boucher Johan Backlund Defense: Chris Pronger-Matt Carle Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn Andrej Meszaros-Sean O'Donnell Extra Defensemen: Oskars Bartulis, Matt Walker Forward Lines: James van Riemsdyk-Mike Richards-Nikolai Zherdev Scott Hartnell-Danny Briere-Ville Leino Dan Carcillo-Jeff Carter-Claude Giroux Darroll Powe-Blair Betts-Ian Laperriere Extra Forwards: Jody Shelley, David Laliberte I would not be surprised to see them sign another defenseman (as ridiculous as this sounds) to the league minimum (maybe Lukas Krajicek would be willing to come back for very cheap). I expect them to outright Walker to the Phantoms so his $1.7 million salary does not count against the cap, and I also expect Oskars Bartulis to be placed on waivers because he is on a one-way NHL only contract (hopefully he clears and can go to the Phantoms, I do not want to lose him to another team). And obviously Backlund will start the year with the Phantoms, barring an injury between now and then to Boucher or Leighton. However if Leighton struggles early on, I would not be surprised at all to see Backlund get the call. I expect them to rotate Shelley in frequently, maybe for Powe occasionally, depending on the matchup. And obviously the line combinations are way up in the air. James van Riemsdyk is the main forward I am looking at for having a big year. We need it. Basically every forward underperformed in the regular season last year to some degree, so I would love to see improvement out of all of them to make up for the Gagne loss. There is certainly enough talent there to make it happen. Anyway, still a couple months off, but go Flyers.

There is a rumor floating around that the NHL is considering changing the overtime format to 3 minutes of 4 on 4, then 3 minutes of 3 on 3, then 3 minutes of 2 on 2, and if nothing is settled at that point, a shootout. I suppose I like this better than the current format, however I don't really think 2-on-2 is any less flukey than a shootout. It will be exciting as hell to watch, especially if it's Crosby/Malkin vs. Ovechkin/Backstrom, or Kane/Toews vs. Datsyuk/Zetterberg or something like that.

Joe Blanton pitched very well. Only gave up 2 hard hit balls if my memory serves me correct. This makes me happy. However, I am frightened that JC Romero is the only lefty in this bullpen.

More like 15 probably. Season tickets FTW . Not totally sure what my record is, I will figure it out later.

Haha I understand (although the strike zone is the one area of the game I never want to see them touch with technology). Frankly I am fine with no replay at all, but I can understand it on homerun calls and potentially fair/foul calls (although that will get very complicated, especially as it deals with guys who are already on base).

Going to Phillies-Mets tonight.

It's no worse than Peter Moylan getting a strike called 4 feet off the plate to end that game vs. the Tigers.

Received lessons for piano, drums, and saxophone. Also play a bit of guitar, and would like to get better at that. Did marching band in high school and instrumental music from when i was 8 or 9 until I graduated. Haven't really touched any of my instruments since then.

Whatever, I'll take it. Saw the game at the bowling alley so I couldn't watch too closely, but that looked like an awful call. But hey, maybe that's karma making up for all the unlucky [expletive] we've had happen so far this year. No complaints here.

Well, the names from the Mitchell Report are out there, I just happen to care very little about it. If they had also tested for HGH and those names were on the list as well, then maybe I'd feel differently. One way or the other, there are likely hundreds of guys who have used/are still using HGH and we will never know about it. So IMO it's just time to move on.

It's actually one of the easiest stadiums to hit in as a lefty. The green monster has turned so many outs in most other stadiums into extra base hits. EDIT: Woops that didn't make sense. Meant to say that the Pesky Pole has turned many outs/foul balls into homeruns for pull-happy lefties, and the monster has turned many outs into extra base hits for all hitters. Just very hitter-friendly dimensions all around. Also, park factor has always existed. Look at some of the outfield dimensions of the early 20th century ballparks. Not really right to compare it to steroids. But as I've also said, I think it's time to forget about steroids as well.