Phightins

Here is to hoping that this same Mets team shows up to Citizens Bank Park this weekend.

Then lets put an asterisk on every statistic between 1995 and 2007 while we're at it. It's dumb, and will turn into nothing but a witch hunt. Major League Baseball [expletive]ed up by allowing this to happen, and they are now taking the steps to correct it (blood testing for HGH in the minors, and eventually in the Majors). Time to just let it go. Think what you want of A-Rod, but to start with asterisks is incredibly dumb and unfair.

Also, the Red Sox announcers seemed pretty dumb with their analysis of that. Of course, it was all Cleveland's fault in their eyes. I am cool with local broadcasters being homers, but come on.

I remember going to a Phillies-Marlins game in 2003 and he started a bench-clearing incident by intentionally throwing at Placido Polanco. I've intensely disliked him ever since. I was hoping Shelley Duncan or Steve Smith would kick his [expletive] last night.

Phillies trade for Mike Sweeney. I guess they could do worse as far as short-term replacements at first base go. I just wish it was 2000-2002 Mike Sweeney, lol.

This steroid banter is stupid. Pointless. Gets nowhere every time.

Also, I did not get to post this last night, but Josh Beckett is a [expletive]ing tool.

Well, there are a lot more people who used than we will ever know. Hopefully now that baseball is starting to phase in a blood testing program to detect HGH, this can be a thing of the past.

Now the Worldwide Leader can turn their full attention to Favre-watch.

This will be one of the only times ever where I will be thrilled to see one of K-Rod's gay celebration dances.

Well that escalated quickly. Ryan Howard to DL, as I called it. John Mayberry Jr. called up. I would have called up Andy Tracy, there are already more than enough outfielders fighting for at-bats.

Wait, what? Who is comparing marijuana to heroin? But seriously, the amount of time it takes to pass out of your system varies from person to person. Some people should be fine in a couple weeks, other people take a month or longer.

If the Braves were like 10 games up right now, then I guess posting the magic number update every day would be cool. But when it's August 3rd and you have a team 3 games behind you, that number is basically irrelevant lol.

In fairness, the Mets are averaging almost 6 wins per year more than the Braves over the last 4 years (included in that average is last season, when the Braves finished 16 ahead of the Mets).

Brashear to Atlanta makes me laugh. Anybody else notice a theme going on down there with the Thrashers?

Well, I could have called that. That smug son-of-a-[expletive] Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday "we expect Ryan Howard to play this week", and now that has changed to "we are probably looking at a DL stint". This team never ceases to amaze me when it comes to bull[expletive]ting the public about injuries.

Normally I would be enjoying Johan Santana's decline...

Antti Niemi is now a UFA. Blackhawks sign Marty Turco.

Go Mets! [expletive], I didn't just say that, did I?

Clearly Evan Turner sucks at basketball. Why couldn't we warn Ed Stefanski in time?!?!

A burn on the Braves AND the Mets. I dig it.

Eventually, yes. I am not sure what the Cavaliers policy on that is. I know most professional sports teams do not retire numbers until the player is elected to the hall of fame (which is how it should be, IMO). And obviously that's where LeBron is headed once his career is over, so the short answer is that yes the number should be eventually retired. Also, I think that most teams take numbers out of circulation for a period of time when a player that's had a big impact on the franchise leaves, whether they plan on formally retiring the number or not. Also, it sounds like the number 23 may be retired league-wide anyway. Lots of dudes who wore it last year are switching for this coming season. But obviously that is another story.

I guess that last home stand was just a blip on the radar. Today we are back to the 2010 Phillies we've been accustomed to. John Lannan looks like [expletive] but the Phillies can't do a thing with him, and Cole Hamels is dominant with the exception of 2 poor pitches, and the Phillies are still losing 4-2. And oh yeah, 2 more injuries to key players.

So, Howard took a big turn around 2nd and went back in awkwardly. His ankle was twisted about 180 degrees and his knee buckled also. He could not put any weight on it. The Phillies have done a hell of a job hanging in there and staying in striking distance despite all the other injuries, but if the Howard injury is series this will be very tough to overcome.