Have an Egg-cellent Halloween!

We'll post more pictures of Aiden in his full Halloween get-up soon, but until then here is a little preview...

Everyone have  a fun and safe Halloween!

Oh... and go Phils!!

Funny

Here is a funny article from the fake news site The Onion to help pass the time while waiting for tonights game. 

Go Phils.

Cool Hand Cliff

Apparently not knowing the meaning of the word "pressure" Cliff Lee took the mound last night and gave the performance of a lifetime.  He mowed down the powerful Yankees lineup, he dazzled with some lightning glove work, and to top it all off, his reaction to the whole thing basically amounted to:  "so what?"  (watch it all here by the way.)

Cliff Lee, it seems, is the king of cool.

I heard on the radio this morning Cliff Lee called "ruthlessly professional." I'd say thats true, not only for Lee, but for the Phillies as a whole.  

 Yup, there is no doubt about it: this Phillies team has ice their veins. 

 Last night it was Lee and Utley that lead the charge, tonight it will be someone else.  As a Phillies fan, that is very exciting.  

But as a Phillies opponent... that must be downright scary.

Go Time.

After a long, grueling regular season, a tough-as-nails, gut-check post season, and a painful, twiddle your thumbs layoff, it's finally here.  We are exactly where we hoped we'd be, preparing to play the game we wanted to play, and facing the team we always hoped we'd face.  

For the last two years the Phillies have only ever lost one game in any of their playoff series.  I don't think I'm going to far out on a limb to venture that that'll be stopping here.  This series will be a battle, a gritty grind-it-out chessmatch, and, for the Phillies, a true test.  If this series goes poorly for the Phils, they'll be remembered as a great team- a truly memorable team.  If the Phils take this series and run with it (as we know full well that they will) then we are talking epic, we are talking all time, we are talking best ever.

I remember wondering after last years World Series victory how the team could possibly top that magical and memorable season.  Well how do these storylines sound to you?  

The 2008 World Champion Phillies return to the 2009 Series to succesfully defend their title against the evil empire Yankees!  

Mid season pickup and staff ace Cliff Lee wins two world series games to be named 2009 World Series MVP!!

Brad Lidge, after a regular season filled with frustration and disappointment, reemerges in the post season to lead the Phillies to a championship!!!

Watching this Phillies team over the course of this year I don't just feel like they can make these hopes into reality, I really believe that they will.

Towel Boy

More or less since Aiden's birth we have been on a quest to indoctrinate him into the brother (and sister) hood of Phillies fandom.  As an essential step in his development during a recent game we decided to teach him the finer points of rally towel use.  

Rally towels are basically just little white disthtowels, printed with a Phillies logo, that they give out at games for fans to wave.  You might think that waving printed hankies at the opposing team might seem a little wimpy. Actually though, when you put about 40,000 of those hankies together and back them with the bellowing of rapid fans, I think it can be downright scary.

So we took a video, of course, of Aiden getting into the rally towel action.  You'll notice, however, that Aiden tends to use the rally towel more as a "rally turban."  Its ok though, I suppose the spirit is the same...

Good News, Bad News

Good News:  The Phillies are going back to the World Series!  Woo hoo!!

Bad News:  The first game is not until Wednesday, so we've still got 4 days of eager anticipation until the first pitch is thrown out.  

Good News:  We'll probably play the Yankees, which (after our inevitable victory) will validate the Phils as one of the great baseball teams of ours or any generation.

Bad News:  We'll probably play the Yankees, which (despite our inevitable victory) will be a battle to the end against the team with by far the best regular season record in all of baseball.

Good News:  This little layoff will give me the chance to get back this blogs primary purpose of documenting every little aspect of Aiden's life.

Bad News:  Game or no game I almost certainly won't be able to resist some superfluous Phillies posting.

Good News:  I found this cool video of Phillies fans talking about why this team means so much to the city, and how good they feel about the Phillies chances to repeat as champs.

Bad News:  Ummm... no bad news here.  It's just a great video.  Enjoy!

Taking Care of Business

After so many nail-biting, come-from-behind victories the Phillies left no doubt on Wednesday night which team deserved the title of National League Champion.  The Phillies sluggers struck early and often and never looked back on their way to finishing off the Dodgers and punching their own ticket to a second consecutive World Series.  

This team is playing with some serious confidence and swagger right now.  It seems as though they go into every game knowing, not just that they can win, but that they will.

And speaking of swagger, Brad Lidge looks like he has the killer instinct back in his eye.

 This season, and this post season in particular, have shown how strong this unit is as a team.  Getting contributions from all corners has gotten this team to where it is now, however recently no one has been contributing more often then NLCS MVP Ryan Howard.  Charlie Manuel's nickname for Howard is "The Big Piece," and there couldn't be a more fitting description for what Howard means to this team.  Howard is the biggest piece of this powerful lineup and, at times, seems to simply will the team to victory.

With one more postseason series under their belts, and the World Series now looming on the horizon this Phillies team has entered into uncharted territory with a chance to make history and write their own legend.  

I just can't wait to see what happens next.

Thrilladelphia

For anyone out there who did not get to see Tuesday night's game, I am deeply sorry.

For anyone out there who was AT that game, I am deeply, deeply jealous.

If you missed it, or if you just want to revisit one of the greatest moments in Phillies postseason history, check it out here.

Pictures Speak Louder

If I had to choose one picture to summarize last nights blowout victory this would be it:

Although this one would work pretty well too...

Ok,  I suppose this one might do the trick as well.

So yeah, there are lots of pictures that could give you a taste of last nights 11-0 win.  I guess thats because there were so many different aspects of the Phillies that were a factor.  Really there was no part of the team, offense or defense, that was not firing on all cylinders last night.

It was really quite a sight to see.  It kind of makes me feel as though if the Phillies don't do things to hurt themselves in these next few games, can the Dodgers stop them?  

Can anyone?

I'm not usually into the gloating pictures... but maybe just one quick gloat for the road.

Ahh, thats nice.

Just Plain Fun

You probably won't be surprised to hear that the Phillie's playoff games have been a constant source of entertainment and excitement around here lately.  There have been some amazing moments so far and also, of course, some dissapointing ones too.

One of the odd things about the playoff games until now though is that they all seem to be at the most inconvenient times possible.  Yeah, I know, it's all about the TV coverage- I get it.  But if you feel the need to go to bed before ten (or if you have a job...or go to school...) chances are you've missed out on seeing some of the big playoff moments so far.  I know I have.

This past friday, however, was a four o'clock game which made for a good afternoon of family playoff watching.  And what a game it was.  What most likely will be forgotten in the midst of a disappointing outcome is how much fun it is to watch a game like that.  Of course, you never hope to lose, but at the very least you can always hope for a well fought battle.

Aside from some (pretty important) miscues by the Phillies towards the end, this game was as tight and tense as any I've seen- and that's what makes playoff baseball so much fun.  I wish I could say that we'll remember friday's game for the brilliant pitching performance of Pedro Martinez, but instead we'll have to settle for it just being a fun game watched with family and friends. 

 I can live with that.

Here We Go... again.

So far this fall is shaping up a LOT like last year. 

Heres hoping that the deja vu continues right on down the line!

Get Me to the Plate on Time

Ryan Howard was standing by the bat rack, the story goes, as his teammates filed back into the dugout following a disappointing inning.  After leading the game for eight innings the Phillies suddenly found themselves with a two run deficit, and the wind thoroughly gone from their sails.  Instead of winning the game and clinching the series, it looked as though the Phillies would be flying home for a game 5 tiebreaker.

Thats when the big man spoke up, "Just get me to the plate boys.  Just get me to the plate..."  Translation: give me a chance to hit, and I'll get us back in the game.  

Well they did.

Then he did.

And then, at the end of it all, this happened.

Its easy to venture into hyperbole with these sorts of things, but this really was a 'for the ages' kind of game.  That kind of come-back, and resilience in a team don't come around all that often.  I'm just glad we get to watch it.

And man is it great to see these faces at the end of a hard fought game and series.

Oh, and by the way, my vote for the Phillies playoff MVP so far is this guy.

Snow?

 

"Rocktober became a winter wonderland overnight, so Major League Baseball announced Saturday that Game 3 of the National League Division Series has been postponed.

With the series between the Rockies and Phillies tied at a game apiece, Game 3 has been rescheduled for Sunday at 8:07 p.m. MT. Game 4 has been moved to Monday, with game time to be announced prior to the start of Sunday's contest."  MLB.com

Snow?  After last year's game 5 World Series typhoon I am starting to wonder what postseason weather phenomenon we are going to see next.

An earthquake?

                                                                                                   Oh wait... that actually happened.

Philly v. Colorado 2009

Well, the Phillies first round playoff matchup is set to kick off this Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies.  The Rockies are a good team, and to be honest, playing them brings back unhappy memories of the 2007 playoffs when they unceremoniously swept us from the first round in three games.  The good news, however, is that this Phillies team is a very different team from that 2007 playoff bunch.  This team has some serious postseason experience, with a World Series trophy to show for it.

Both the Colorado and Philadelphia stadiums are homerun friendly ballparks.  Plus these two teams were number 1 & 2 in homeruns in the National League this season.  That being said I am thinking that a few of these games could come down to whose slugger (Philadelphia-Ryan Howard, Colorado- Todd Helton)  can do more damage.

Either way, how great does it feel to be able to watch Philadelphia playoff baseball for the third year in a row?

I could get used to this.

Cute Kiddos

On Saturday night Jen and her mom spent some time babysitting while our friends Missy and Brian were at a wedding.  For a little added excitement I brought Aiden by to play with Missy and Brian's three kids: Jeremy, and twins Lilly and Samantha.

The twins were sweet and so well behaved.  Here they are enjoying a book.

Jeremy and Aiden seemed to have a similar sense of humor.  They both thought that it was just hysterical to stack some wooden blocks up, and then knock them over.  It was such a contrast to see the girls sitting quietly on the couch reading a book, while the boys just kept smashing down the blocks again...

...and again...

...and again.

 

Of course we had to try to get a picture of all of them together, and of course it was impossible to capture all of their limited attention spans for the same few moments.  There is always someone squirming, crying, or escaping in these kind of pictures, and this was certainly no exception.

Last night the Phils made it official.  Three years, three division championships.  That doesn't happen a lot (almost ever) for our beloved Fightins.  

Make no mistake about it Phil's fans... we are living in a golden age of Philadelphia baseball.

Enjoy it, I know I am.