The Philadelphia Phillies’ two-year reign as National League champs ended this week when Sports Illustrated came out with its baseball preview issue. The magazine picked the Phillies to beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series, a replay of the 2008 season. Given S.I.’s track record of making picks and the infamous S.I. cover [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Phillies’
Gay nights not just for major league teams
Last week I attended a preview of a local production of “Take Me Out,” the story of a major league baseball player who suddenly comes out of the closet. This particular night also promoted local gay-supportive theater groups. To my pleasant surprise, along with the Playbill-style program was an insert for the Camden (NJ) Riversharks’ [...]
The Voice of the Phillies is silent
At right is a picture of me (wearing the Outsports cap) with Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, taken at the Phillies Phestival charity event in 2003. The impression I came away with from that brief meeting was that, besides being such a terrific play-by-play announcer, he was truly a gentleman in every sense of the word. [...]
Nats want park filled — by Phillies fans
I thought it was a bit odd when, while logged onto my Facebook page a few minutes ago, I noticed an ad that said something like “Phils-Nats in DC, deals on tickets and parking for April 13, 15, 16.” Now I see why: earlier in the day, Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten appeared on the [...]
Dykstra article alleges homophobia and more
With the recession continuing to ravage the nation, there’s been a lot of discussion about last week’s interview of CNBC’s Jim “Mad Money” Cramer by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Stewart effectively picked apart Cramer’s reputation as a financial expert (at least from some reports — I didn’t watch it myself so I can’t [...]
Things that make Joe sorta happy today
The title is self-explanatory, I think. Some news items caught my eye today that aren’t exactly as wonderful as, say, a World Series victory, but they put a little jump in my step: No more annoying Frank TV ads during postseason baseball! According to this story promoting Frank Caliendo’s appearance in Atlantic City this weekend, [...]
Phillies win World Series!
Philadelphia championship drought update: It’s been ZERO years, ZERO days, a little over two hours, since a Philadelphia team has won a championship in one of the four major sports. I don’t know how we Philadelphians can stand this much longer. (At this point in this post I’m clicking on one of the various emoticons [...]
Series: good for me, bad for Fox
The Phillies are one win away from the second World Series championship in their history, and the first championship for any Philadelphia team in the four major pro sports in 25 years. The anticipation of what might happen as soon as tomorrow night is already pounding my brain. This is bad news for Fox, however. [...]
Series battle extends to gay centers
I got an e-mail from the William Way Community Center, Philadelphia’s LGBT center. Inspired by the Phillies-Rays World Series matchup, the Philly center and its Tampa counterpart, the Tampa Metro Center, are taking part in what they’re calling the World Series of Community Support. From the e-mail: The rules are simple: – All gifts made [...]
The 2008 World Series (finally)
In 1980, when all of Philadelphia celebrated the Phillies’ first World Series championship, the series ended on October 21st. Back then, there were no Wild Cards, so there was no Division Series, and the League Championship Series was a best-of-5 set. With the additional playoff round and 7-game LCS, it’s now October 22nd and tonight [...]
Phils, Rays spoil the media’s Manny party
Do you ever wonder how much thought goes into the predictions made by members of the media? This year, when it came to baseball’s League Championship Series, it certainly made me wonder. The Philadelphia Phillies won the NL East with a 92-70 record, while the Los Angeles Dodgers finished with 84 wins in taking the [...]
Dodger fans: nasty and off the bandwagon
StubHub, the offical scalper of Major League Baseball, reported that prices plummeted for Game 5 of the Phillies-Dodgers NL Championship Series at Dodger Stadium, thanks to the Dodgers’ falling behind 3-1 in the series. As of a few hours before game time the average price of a ticket had fallen to $89 with some tickets [...]
Matt Stairs likes it in the rear
He was only acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 30th, just in time to be eligible for the postseason. So, asked a question in the press conference about feeling like part of the team after his 8th-inning two-run, pinch-hit homer — a total BOMB deep into the right field bleachers — gave the Phillies [...]
Some Philly tidbits
I’m pressed for time (headed to a softball tournament in Washington, DC this weekend) so here is a quick summary of some things I was planning to write about… Drought update: The Phillies’ 3-2 win over the LA Dodgers gives them a 1-0 lead in the National League Championship Series. This is the 18th time [...]
MLB playoffs: four teams in deep trouble
Two games in, four baseball teams are already on the verge of having their playoff runs ended. But while each of the four Division Series stands at 2-0, they haven’t been without some surprises. While it’s not much of a surprise (even to an admittedly biased observer such as myself) that the Philadelphia Phillies are [...]
Phillies Fever!
Get up and boogie! A Google search for the song led me to this blog about how, in 1976, five members of the Phillies — Dave Cash, Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski and Garry Maddox — recorded this disco “classic.” They won the NL East for the first time that year, but that’s no [...]
Phillies drive me to drink again
Once upon a time, I played in the local gay softball league (over 20 years ago), but dropped out after two years for reasons I won’t go into now. This year, in part because I lost some weight, I decided to play again. When I was assigned to my team, they asked me what number [...]
Memories of Isabel and a thrilling win
Recovery from the effects of Hurricane Ike continue, not just in Texas and Louisiana but in other states as the remnants of the storm raced north. The death toll has risen past 50, with two-thirds of the deaths occurring outside of Texas. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and western [...]
Baseball drama: no-hitter and close races
With two weeks left in the regular season there’s a lot of excitement still to be found in major league baseball. Sunday night, Carlos Zambrano of the Chicago Cubs no-hit the Houston Astros, 5-0. Zambrano hadn’t pitched September 2 due to a sore rotator cuff, making the feat even more amazing. It’s the first Cubs [...]
Cool Tug McGraw bracelet
I noticed a cool bracelet on the wrist of a friend I had drinks with last night. With so many issues-oriented groups opting for plastic bands of solid colors with inspirational words inscribed on it, this one stood out as it looked like the stitchings of a baseball. He said it’s for the Tug McGraw [...]