Phightin' Phils Phorum

Home Run Derby 2009

The St. Louis crowd loves Ryan Howard.  But when Albert Pujols made his entrance, the fans officially went nuts.  Both sluggers were favorites to win the 2009 Home Run Derby; Pujols playing for the Cardinals and Howard, a St. Louis native, both had a lot of support going into the contest.

The first round results, which put Pujols into a swing-off with Joe Mauer and Carlos Pena, ended with both Pujols and Howard making the second round along with Prince Fielder and Nelson Cruz.  Pujols ended round #2 with 11 total homers and Howard wound up hitting 15.  Cruz stepped in for his turn and out-did Howard by just one home run for 16 total.  Howard’s last hope was that Fielder, the final batter in round 2, would not surpass his 15 homers.  Sadly for Phillies fans, Fielder wound up hitting 17, knocking Howard out of the contest.  Ryan seemed relieved though, as exhaustion set in and he was likely happy to be done.

It was a nice effort all around, although not as exciting as last year’s derby where Josh Hamilton put on a show that will probably never been repeated.  Hamilton hit 28 homers in the first round, many of which disappeared from sight in old Yankee Stadium.  Although he went on to take 2nd place to Justin Morneau, those of us who witnessed the amazing display of power and grace will not soon forget it.  I had a feeling this year’s derby would pale in comparison, but how could it not?

But the derby is always an entertaining event that I look forward to seeing every year.  And the 2009 champion is Prince Fielder, who hit 6 in the final round to Cruz’s 5.  Congrats to Fielder!

Tune in for the All-Star Game tomorrow night at 8pm on FOX.  Tim Lincecum will start for the NL and Roy Halladay for the AL.  As for your Phillies, Chase Utley gets the start at 2nd, Raul Ibanez in left and Shane Victorino in center.  Howard and Jayson Werth will be available on the bench.

My predictions for the game are as follows:

- The NL will finally break the curse of 11 straight AL wins (plus 1 tie) and win the game!

- Chase Utley will look FABULOUS, even if he strikes out multiple time.  I guarantee it.

- Tim Lincecum will be asked by at least 15 fans if he is the teenage son of one of the other players.

- St. Louis fans will chant “RAUUUUUUL!” even if they do not know why they are doing it.

- The broadcasters for FOX will screw up simple facts at an approximate rate of 2.3 times per inning.

- The FOX broadcast will also be boring, redundant and completely void of any redeeming value…sorry to have to break it to you.  But, enjoy the game…with the volume turned down :O)

Photos by Jenn

 

Utley Drops Another Bomb

During his World Series Parade speech today, Chase Utley, in an obvious attempt to prove that he is SO not dull, dropped the F-Bomb on the screaming crowd.  He uttered the words “World Champions!” and then followed it up with a smile and a louder utterance of “World F*@&* Champions!”  Personally, I found it to be hysterical.  For a man who never speaks, he sure knows how to get attention when he finally does open his mouth.  Here is a clip of the speech:

So, what do you all think?  This did seem to be a flashback to the All-Star Home Run Derby intro this year when Utley dropped the first F-Bomb of 2008:  After being introduced, he was booed by the New York fans; he turned to Dan Uggla next to him and said, “Boo?  F*&@ You!”  He later apologized saying he did not realize his microphone was on and it was meant as a joke just for Uggla to hear.  ESPN also apologized for allowing it to air unedited.

I was shopping today for Phillies World Series stuff and this incident was the talk of the town.  A guy ringing up my order at Modell’s even asked me arbitrarily if I was offended by Utley’s behavior.  He also said Utley had been drinking and asked what I thought of that.  I told him that as long as Utley was not carrying around a small child, or getting behind the wheel of a car, I really didn’t care what he did or said.  He has earned the right to party!  As for the TV thing, it is unfortunate that, despite his intentions to be funny or cynical towards the NY fans, he may just come across to some fans as a total bonehead.  Especially for those who did have children watching and now have to explain to their kids that they cannot repeat those words.  But frankly, in this society, what parent hasn’t slipped up in front of their kids anyway?  Not too many I am betting.

So it is estimated that somewhere between 1 and 2.5 million fans attended the parade today; Nothing like leaving it WIDE open to interpretation.  The crowd was reportedly so loud that Cole Hamels remarked, “I’ll be surprised if any of them have a voice left.”  He had a blast, as did Shane Victorino, who tossed Phillies “P” shaped soft-pretzels out to the crowd.  Jayson Werth sported a GIANT hulk-like Phillies red fisted glove and Charlie Manuel was shocked by the turn-out.  He said, “I think today told the magnitude of how much people wanted to win.  I never believed I’d see that many fans.”  Well, believe it.

**My favorite sign of the day: "Mets fans are working today."**

Today is Halloween, which I think was forgotten by many as a result of the day’s activities.  But no matter, they were all wearing costumes anyway; they showed up to the parade as Phillies fans.  And we will all be wearing that costume everyday for the rest of our lives.

Utley Tells New York What We Are All Thinking

Chase Ultey told the booing New Yorkers what we have all been thinking for years. When he was announced at the All Star game some classless New Yorkers, no doubt Mets fans, booed him. He said, "Boo, F*** you!". Many have made Chase a villain. This Phillies fan is proud of him as he will join the rest of us that take the unfair heat of being bad fans.

I am sick of hearing about snowballs, Santa Claus, and every other bit of crap every national broadcaster wants to say about Philadelphia fans. We are passionate, loyal to a fault, knowledgeable, and expect the best from our teams and athletes. If they have a problem with that, perhaps we should join Chase Utley and give the national media a big F*** You!!!