It's all about me :) (Part 1)

Hello there,
So today I'm going to let you guys know a little bit more about me. I'm going to go with an interview type format, like "best this" or "favorite that". Here goes nothing...

Favorite team: Got to get the easy ones out of the way! The Phillies, obviously :P

Second favorite team: The Nationals...moving on...

3-4-5 teams: Giants, Rays, and for now the Red Sox (in no particular order).

Favorite players: Roy Halladay <3 Michael Morse :) Ian Desmond :D J-Zimm B-) Dustin Pedroia, Buster Posey, and many many many more....

Favorite defensive player: Roger Bernadina (The Shark) A-MAZ-ING in 2011!
                                                   
Most despised player: A-Rod....ew... doesn't he belong in Hollywood by now...

Most annoying player: Anyone with the last name of Upton. Giancarlo Stanton a close second

Favorite Rookie: Well if Dom Brown was a rookie I would go with him, but I guess Matt Harvey...I really don't know...all my favorite rookie played last season.

That's all for part one :) I will be away until Friday but I will try to write part two while I 'm on vacation and post it as soon as I get back :)

~TBC

Well...

It's been more than a year since this blog has come into existence! Wow, I can't believe it! Sharing my thoughts with you guys has been so much of a blast, and I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I did! Over the past year and a couple days, this page has had more that 850 views. That's more than two views a day!!!!!!! So a couple things that will hopefully make year number two as enjoyable as year number one!

1. I'm not sure if I will do recaps for everyday like I did last year, or more pieces on other things like specific players. Feel free to leave a comment on which you prefer.

2. I've got a couple updates in the works. Can't let you know what they are just yet...but I'm super excited to share them with y'all!

3. I'm going to tease it up  for my next big post...which will hopefully drop sometime this week.  Let's just say: It's about me :) So y'all can get to know me better!

Once again, thank you so much for reading and supporting my blog! You guys are my motivation to keep posting!

~TBC

Doc, Nats and Lee

Heyyyyyy there! It’s been a while! Sorry, I didn’t mean to go completely invisible, especially right smack in the middle of the season, but I had a couple busy weekends, and then two big test to study for, and then all of a sudden a quarter of the season had gone by! So I guess right now, just some quick points:

1. Oh Roy...

So two terrible outings followed by three decent ones followed by two more awful ones followed by the DL and shoulder surgery. Quite an unpredictable start to the season for Roy Halladay. Last I heard, he would start throwing in 6-8 weeks and I know he just went down to Florida to start his rehab. Most everybody is hopeful for a last August return for Halladay.

2.  Um…What’s going on?

Last time I checked the Nationals were supposed to easily win the NL East. They aren’t in first now, and they are only 1 game ahead of the Phillies. Pretty much all the lineup sans Harper is to blame. I knew that they made a mistake in trading Morse! He’s only hitting .244. but he has 10 homers, which would be second only to Harper. Besides for Haren, the rotation has been decent, with only Gio posting an above three ERA. In fact, Zimmermann has become quite the ace, and is currently in the top 5 pitcher in the league. So, if the Nationals start hitting, will everything right itself? They have dug themselves quite a hole, but remember that in 2010, the Phillies were 7 games out of first in July, and eventually not only won their 4^th straight division crown. And this Braves team has endured to September collapses in a row. So all hope is definitely not lost.

3. Guysssss, remember Cliff Lee?

Yeah, Cliff Lee, the one who was third in the 2011 Cy Young voting. The one who was completely forgotten last season despite posting a 3.16 ERA, thanks to dismal run support and  a 6-9 record. Yeah, there’s a reason the Phillies spent $120 mil on this guy. It’s because they knew that he would be a huge asset to their rotation for years. Whether because of his no nonsense personality or the fact that he has been overshadowed by fellow starters success, Lee has generated very little buzz in his first two seasons in Philly.  He’s been super consistent this year with a 5-2 record and an ERA under 3.  Oh, and he 3-hit the Marlins last night J

That’s all I’ve got for today folks!

~TBC

eep. this is exciting.

Just had to update you on this:
Roy Halladay was just pinch hit for in the ninth inning of today's game. His final line: 8 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 SO, 1 BB, 87 pitches, 54 strikes. Although it was against the lowly Marlins, I will take anything I get :) And Laynce Nix, who pinch hit for him, hit a home run, so he is inline for his first win of 2013!

"I'll be gone in a day or two"

If you're wondering what the title quote is from, it is a lyric from a-Ha's song "Take on me", also known as the song Michael Morse walked up to when he was with the Nationals. I was listening to it last night, and noticed the lyric that I used for the title of this post.  Replace "day" with "season" and the lyric rings true in the ears of many Nationals fans. Morse was traded to the Nationals in mid-2010, but 2011 was his breakout year, almost accomplishing the rare .300, 30, 100 feat. Although he was sidelined for much of the first half of 2012, he was still a fan favorite, and one of the things I remember the most about home games while he was with the team, is all the fans singing his walk-up song, even after the music stopped. As well as being a fan favorite, Morse was also one of my favorite Nationals. Needless to say, I was heart-broken when he was traded to the Mariners in the off-season. Also, needless to say, I am now rooting for the Mariners to win a play-off spot :) In typical "Beast Mode" form, Morse has hit 6 home runs and is hitting .293, in the first week and change of the season. Sadly, he broke his pinky Thursday night, and will miss 3-7 days :( Speedy Recovery to the "Morse-ter" (my name for him), and good luck on your return :) Rest assured you are missed, and since (I think) you are a free agent after the season's end, please consider signing with the Phillies (who need another outfielder). You will always be remebered for moments like this:

(natsinsider.com)

 

And this:

(thenatsblog.com)

 

And this:

(districtsportspage.com)

~TBC

And we're back!

The title says it all. I'm so pysched that baseball is back! Real count-in-the-standings, starters-play-for-the-whole-game baseball! From only four games I can tell that its going to be an adventure for sure! Here are some highlights and low-lights (not a word , I know :P ) from the past four games.

Highlights:

A. The Nationals top 3 is as good as advertised. After allowing only one run in the season opening series, it is clear that these three guys are one of the Nationals' biggest strengths. As an added bonus, they are all really good hitters (well, for pichers anyway). I would not be surprised if the staff combined for ~5 home runs this year!

B. Is Chase Utley Superman? As least that what I've been calling him :) I could be way overexaggerating, but I see a healthy Chase Utley being a huge factor on this team! Besides, who else are you going to rely on? Laynce Nix?

C. Wait WHAT? Since when did Roy Halladay strike people out like Aroldis Chapman or whoever else strikes a lot of people out? Doc's less than stellar performance had me desparately scrambling for postives, and luckily this just happened to pop up. I was shocked but pleased.

Lowlights:

A. Ryan Howard's short term memory loss. Did he forget everything he learned in spring training?????  Now he's back to swinging for the fences with every swing, and striking out half the time :/

B. The Nationals offence got off to a little bit of a slow start, with only 10 runs being scord over the first four games. Not to mention the debacle that was Dan Haren's debut last night...

And that is all for this week folks! I'll be back next weekend with another week to recap!

~TBC

...So Here We Go Again!

Wow. It's hard to believe opening day is upon us already. It seems like just yesterday that Sergio Romo froze Miguel Cabrera for the last out of the World Series, but it also seems like an eternity since the Phillies lost the division crown they had worn for the past half-decade and the Nationals suffered heart-wrenching defeat at the hands of the Cardinals.

Opening day is a time to hope, a time to believe. A time for the team that many project to be the worst in baseball to leave a play-off favorite (if you can call Texas that) in the dust. A time where how many Uptons one has may not matter at all, depending how many Hamels' one has (I hope). A time where anyone can be a Cy Young or MVP contender, if just for a day.

I'm ready. I'm ready for triumph and defeat, for heartache and happiness, for the possibility of crying myself to sleep for the third straight year. I'm ready to eat, sleep and breathe baseball for the next six months. I'm ready for ordinary men to become Superman.

I may be weird because I see a realistic best case scenario where the Phillies win the world series. I may be weird because if I did detailed predictions (And I may still do them) I would have the Dodgers missing the playoffs completely. I don't care. It's baseball. Anything could happen.

It all starts today (well last night). Welcome to baseball season. Welcome to the show.

I'm so excited to be able to share my views on baseball with you for the second year! I have some ideas for improving my baseball coverage, and hope to share these with you in the next few months! Right now, school work is still really heavy for me, but I will try my hardest to post 2-3 times a week and then come June, posts will be pretty much daily!

Can't wait for to start the madness all over again!

~TBC