I couldn't be more thrilled, delighted even by last night's unlikely comeback win that I didn't see. Sounds like a great game, and a moment we might look back on as a classic one if... well, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's June, I'm going to just relax.

But let me backtrack a day and talk a bit about Thursday's game.

I'm totally in love with Charlie Manuel right now for his bold move of benching Jimmy for lollygaggin' his way to first. I've often (too often for me to really comfortably admit) dreamt about being a manager and doing the same to my own lazy, dumb players. Now, Jimmy is neither lazy or dumb; he's a great player on a great team and until that moment hadn't been anything but great all season. (Well, he's in a slump, but slumps happen.) But I love how Charlie doesn't care: you don't run out a pop fly, you get benched. That's just sweet. (Myself, I would also do it when a guy swings at the first pitch right after the last guy walked on four pitches. God, I hate that. It drives me nuts. In recent weeks I've seen Coste and Feliz do it, and probably others. STOP!)

In addition to the usual goals of winning the division, the NL, and the World Series, and seeing the Red Sox get humiliated in some epic way, another thing I'd love to see this year is the Phils have a great season from start to finish. I'm still haunted by how they they got off to great starts in 1995 and 2001 and then had terrible second halves - and of course, we know what happened to the Mets last year. I don't want the Phils to be like 17 games over .500 with a 7 game lead at the all star break and then start sucking in August. That's why I love Charlie's move, because it (I hope) will keep the team focused. I love the idea of the Phils becoming a cold, efficient machine that just pounds other teams and never slacks - not when they're up by 10, not when they're down by 10, not when it's a BPS in June against the Reds. I want them to stay this good, preferably forever. (Of course, I like the idea of them having fun too, because they're a fun team.) It's staying focused that helped Bruntlett score last night on that fielding gaffe - if he'd been jogging complacently to home like a loser, he'd have been tagged out and they would have lost, and suddenly I'd be worried, because I worry about things.

It's way too early and I'm way too Philadelphian to hand the division to our guys just yet. That would be silly. On the other hand, our run differential right now is +69. This team is good, folks. REALLY good.

Birthday post!

I took a walk in the sunshine today at lunch, and headed over to aka where I found the first two Mary Timony albums, which I'd been looking for, just sitting there in the used section, right in front. I always find it weird when I find a CD I'm looking for just sitting there in plain sight; I feel like it was too easy and I didn't earn it.

But enough of my ranting, let's get to the sports!

4/23: Pistons [some score], 76ers [some considerably lower score]

Yeah. Look, you know and I know that the Pistons are the better team. I'm not stupid. Neither are Mo Cheeks or the Andres or anybody else. But, I prefer to just chalk this one up to "Well, the Sixers caught the Pistons off guard in Game 1, so they won, and then the Sixers maybe got the slightest bit cocky and forgot that the Pistons are much better, so they didn't play their best game and lost, and in Game 3 and beyond everything will even out". Also, I hope to never write anything so clumsy and artless ever again.

4/23: Brewers 5, Phillies 4

I love Cole, I really do, but he's gotta know that he can't just stay in every game for 9 innings and 130 pitches every time. Charlie, we have a good bullpen this year! Like, literally: they're actually really good! Use them! Hey, speaking of good bullpens:

4/24: Phillies 3, Brewers 1

It's always fun when you completely forget they're playing a day game, and then a coworker wanders by your office and says "Hey, the Phils won!" Judging from the box score, this was a solid pitching effort all around. I repeat: we have a good bullpen. Start scoring some runs consistently and nobody can stop us.

I have a stat counter now, so I'll know exactly when you people are here and where you're at. As of this writing, there have been two visitors since last night, both of whom looked at the blog for a total of 0 seconds. Yeah! Thanks for stopping by.

I know what else I want for my birthday, and it starts in 40 minutes.

GO FLYERS!!!

Double Feature! (Or, two short things I feel like writing at 1:30 AM while I listen to In Rainbows and simultaneously watch the end of Rockies/D-Backs Game 2, which is still on as I write this, because the start times in these playoffs have been wildly ridiculous and disgraceful and unfair and clearly intended to favor the Yankees and Red Sox, god how I hate them both, but anyway.)

1. Charlie '08
I think that many sports fans secretly long for something terrible to happen to their team, because it gives them something to complain about for the rest of their lives - a badge of honor they can wear as a sign that they truly love their team, even in the bad times. That's why, for example, Red Sox fans to this day complain about one bad move that Grady Little made in the 2003 ALCS, even though their team is a perennial contender, and most baseball observers agree that a manager doesn't have nearly as much of an effect on a team as people think, and anyway they went on to win the World Series a year later, and might very well win it this year, so they all need to calm down. Similarly, people here were very quick to jump all over Charlie Manuel for pulling Kendrick in Game 2, because, in my opinion, everyone subconsciously recognized it as the kind of thing that would enter Phillies lore, like we’d be talking about it decades from now like how we talk about Chico Ruiz or the 1977 NLCS or Joe Carter to this day. But really, was it even that bad? Kendrick, as I remember it (and I was there), was allowing way too many baserunners, and I think he was going to get burned eventually anyway. I don’t think Lohse was such a terrible idea. The problem was, the Rockies were, and are, probably the hottest, most momentum-y team I have literally ever seen, and everything they do works out and every player is simultaneously peaking like crazy, so of course light-hitting Kaz Matsui hits a grand slam there with two outs. It sucks and I’m not happy about it, but it just wasn’t the Phils’ week. The Rockies were just better. Charlie’s not the reason why they lost the series – the Phils lost Games 1 and 3 as well, two completely winnable games wherein the pitching was pretty good, but the Phils could only score three runs over the entire two games - all three of them solo homers. That’s pretty bad, but there it is. So don’t blame Charlie for the sweep, blame Aaron Rowand for grounding out weakly to second, which he did like 45 times.

Anyway, this is all my roundabout way of saying I approve of two more years of Charlie. He’s good for these players. Give him a better pitching staff and this team will go places in ’08. I’d stake my reputation as a professional, widely-renowned bloggist on it!

2. And now, another episode of “Dumb Things Bill Simmons Said”
An insufferable, endlessly long, self-congratulatory article from Bill Simmons today, about how the Red Sox and Patriots are currently favorites to win championships, and the Celtics are suddenly really good and might win 60 games this year. Actually, in fairness, there’s some interesting points in the article, and it’s reasonably well-written, but still. I find the Red Sox and Patriots totally irritating and I am no fan of either, but ultimately I can put up with them winning titles – I’m not happy about it, but they’re undeniably great teams. But really, the last thing I need is for the Celtics to become a powerhouse. Good lord, that would be horrible. Call it sour grapes if you must. But really, think about it: the Eagles are 1-3, the Sixers are wretched, the Flyers are potentially good but have already had two players suspended this year for unbelievably brutal, violent goonery, and the Phils scratched and clawed their way to their first playoff spot in 14 years only to forget how to play baseball once they got there. Meanwhile, this guy’s three favorite teams might all win titles in the next year. What in the world did I do that was so horrible that I deserve such a fate? When is our time? Did Boston make some kind of deal with Satan? And can we get in on that deal?

(Somewhat related thing, but not really, but I feel like mentioning it: You could just walk up to the stadium and buy a ticket for Game 1 of the NLCS in Arizona. That’s just totally horrible. I mean, come on, Phoenix, you have that giant stadium for exactly these games. How can you not sell out? It’s the NLCS!!! The NLCS isn’t good enough for you? How can you be that jaded? [bored voice] “Oh, the NLCS? Wake me when they make the World Series.” For crying out loud. There were people camping out overnight to get standing room only tickets for the last Phillies game. And the playoff games sold out instantly too. I can’t even imagine what people would do for NLCS tickets in Philly. I think I’d dive through plate glass for that. You disappoint me, Arizona.)

Bonus thing: More Kristen Schaal links!!!
I’m very tired and delirious and I’m not entirely responsible for my actions right now, and you know what that means: more obsessing over a celebrity I’ll never meet! I feel like the montage earlier this week didn’t do Kristen enough justice, so here’s a great Mel moment (featuring my favorite line: “Oh, I thought you said they did!”) and here’s another and here's another. OMG CUTENESS! Why doesn’t she have, like, her own show on Comedy Central, and comedy albums and live DVDs? What kind of culture do we have here, where there isn’t a constant Kristen Schaal presence in every possible form of media at all times? Am I being unreasonable?

Meanwhile, here’s an interview from HBO, in which she’s so unbelievably cute you have to avert your eyes like at the end of Raiders, or her cuteness will destroy you like it destroyed me. You’ve been warned. Plus, in addition to the nonstop mesmerizing loveliness, she also comes off as kind of deranged. It’s great.

Oh, I’ve found plenty more, and I won’t stop posting them until I’m done. You literally can’t stop me. Stay tuned!

[UPDATE, 2:23 AM: Rockies/D-Backs now in the 11th inning, and the stadium in Arizona is pretty much sold out with very few empty seats. So I take back what I said. I’m kind of a jerk.]

[UPDATE, 2:45 AM: The Rockies won again. They lead ARI 2-games-nil. I’m starting to feel kind of stupid that I ever thought we could beat them. Man, that is a scary, scary team.]