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Archive for the ‘Phillies’ Category
Technical Difficulties
September 9th, 2009 
BroadStreetHero Unfortunately I have run into technical difficulties with my computer and won’t be able to blog for a week. Apparently there was a defect in the device that powers the display for my particular brand of MacBook Pro. Luckily for me, the screen has chosen to stop working. Apple will be shipping me a new one and hopefully I will be back up and running in 3-5 days.
Phinally!
September 8th, 2009 BroadStreetHero All it takes is a game against the Washington Nationals to get the Phillies (minus Brad Lidge) back on track. After losing four straight games which included a sweep by the Astros, the Phillies got a win by virtue of the long ball. Led by 6.2 strong innings from Pedro Martinez and a flurry of homers, the Phillies were able to put away the Nationals by a score of 5-3.
The heavy hitters in tonight’s game included Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz, and Raul Ibanez. Raul seems to finally be finding his swing again, swatting two homers in the game tonight, giving him 30 on the season. The foursome of Utley, Howard, Werth, and Ibanez now have 30 home runs each on the season. They are the 12th foursome to accomplish this feat, and the first Phillies to do so.
The one bleak note on the game was Brad Lidge, who was given his last chance to be the Phillies closer, and he blew it. Once again Lidge let the lead off man reach first base, and Charlie Manuel finally was fed up with him after seeing the bases get loaded with only one out.
Ryan Madson took over for Lidge and got the last two outs, recording the save for Pedro Martinez, who is now 4-0 with the Phillies. Overall, the game showed us that the Phillies could be back to their hitting ways, a good sign for the reigning champs.
I want to extend a thank you to my readers who have stuck with me while I have been busy, and also a thank you to Charlie Manuel for finally saying “Enough is enough” and pulling the plug on Lidge. I know he was perfect last year, but enough is enough.
An Update for My Readers
September 4th, 2009 BroadStreetHero Everybody,
I am very sorry for going so long without updating Broad Street Heroes. Over the past few weeks I have had a lot going on in my life and I just didn’t have time to blog. Also, there have been some problems with spam on the site and I’m trying to fix that. Now that I am back on a normal schedule I will be able to start up again.
I have tons of views to express regarding Philly sports over the past few weeks. First of all, it looks like the Phillies are on fire thanks the the stellar pitching of Cliff Lee, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton, the reemergence of Cole Hamels, and most recently, Pedro Martinez. Ryan Howard just earned the Player of the Month award for August, and he is back in his Mr. September form. At 23 games above .500 and 8.5 games up in the division, I have to say that I’m pleased with the way the season has turned out so far.
The next order of business, of course, is the Eagles. So far they haven’t really impressed me in the preseason, but I wasn’t expecting much considering the games don’t count. LeSean “Shady” McCoy has looked great and Jeremy Maclin is progressing, both good signs. Donovan is as healthy as ever and with the addition of Michael Vick the Eagles have one more athlete that can distract a defense. I’m looking forward to this season and can’t wait until next sunday when we start the season against a very good Carolina Panthers squad.
Overall, this summer has been a great one for me, and hopefully you have enjoyed reading my opinions on certain events in the sports world. I’m sorry that I was away for so long, but I will make it up to you all.
Sincerely,
Dave
Phillies Back on Track
August 14th, 2009 BroadStreetHero 
Shane probably would've rather had one to drink after the game than a beer during the game.
In case anyone forgot, the Phillies did sweep the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field yesterday. Behind another sensational performance by Cliff Lee, the Phillies brought their division lead back up to 5 games. Lee pitched 8 strong innings, allowing only one run while striking out 8. In three starts with the Phillies Cliff Lee has shown why he was the AL Cy Young Winner last season. His stats so far: 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA, 24 innings pitched, 23 Ks, and 6 BB. Plus he has 3 hits which is equal to the amount of runs he has let up.
Lee wasn’t the only highlight of the game. The Phillies brought their bats out in the series and remembered how to hit with runners in scoring position for the first time in a while. Ryan Howard hit his first home run of August and Pedro Feliz also homered to spark the Phillies in the finale.
The Phillies were able to sweep the Cubs at Wrigley for the first time in the last 25 years. The Wrigley faithful had something to say about it, trying to help out their Cubs by throwing a beer on Shane Victorino as he was trying to make a catch late in the game. Fortunately Shane kept his concentration and caught the ball while receiving a shower of beer.
After this energy boost, the Phillies traveled to Atlanta to face the division rival Braves. Tonight Joe Blanton squared off against Braves ace Jair Jurrjens, who the Phillies hadn’t scored a run against in his last two starts. After the Braves got out to a 1-0 lead, Chase Utley provided a spark for the Phillies by hitting a two run homer off of Jurrjens (his first of August) to make it 2-1 Phils.
Of course they gave one run back the next inning to tie the game at two. Both starters pitched through 7 innings as the game remained tied due to some tremendous fielding, especially by Shane Victorino, who made two sensational grabs in center field.
In the top of the 9th inning, Ryan Howard showed that he is back in the home run hitting groove, smacking a solo shot to deep center field. This gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead, and it was Howard’s 205th career home run, passing Dick Allen on the Phillies all time home run list. Not-so-lights-out Brad Lidge came into the game in the bottom of the 9th to close it out for the Phillies, who were going for their 4th win in a row, one that they sorely needed to put some more room between themselves and the Braves.
After getting the first out, Lidge allowed a base hit, then a stolen base. Brad then threw some 97 mph high heat to strike out Ryan Church. With a man on 2nd and two outs, Lidge faced the poor man’s Matt Stairs in Greg Norton, who he walked. This brought Nate McLouth to the plate for the Braves with two men on. McClouth hit a fly ball to left field that fell into the glove of Raul Ibanez, securing the win for the Phillies!
Posted in Phillies 
Tags: Brad Lidge, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, Phillies, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino 
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