Early Season Phillie Foiling Continues

It sure is fun to beat up on the team to beat early in the season, while the Phoolies are lacking Rollins and early-season Ryan Howard looks more like late-career Mo Vaughn. According to the ESPN wrap up, the powdery corpse of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, "We need to start hitting." Sure Manuel-Zombie, go ahead, just as soon as the Metsies skip town. Well, it is early and Howard ain't gonna hit .182 for the whole year, but Chase Utley will always be a sissy boy.

As for the Mets, the starters are lasting and winning. The table setters are setting and stealing. Even the perennial pen poopers are having their moments, though it is disconcerting to hear that Willie Randolph said "Heilman did a great job...I have complete confidence in him." Ugh. If you trust Poopeyface Parkingplace in a big spot, you'd probably buy a Ford from Derek Jeter.

Offensively, the Mets are starting to click and they have now won 8 of their last 10. I was and am a skeptic of the Milledge trade, but even I would not support the separation of Church and plate right now. He is just cooking in the two hole, whereas Willie's real number two, Luis Castillo flounders around in the eight position fouling off pitches and such. With 1 hit in his last 21 ABs, Carlos Delgado is looking Carlost again, unfortunately.

According to ESPN:

A brawl in the stands down the right-field line briefly held up the game with two outs in the ninth. One fan wearing a Mets jersey was led away in handcuffs.

I really don't know what happened in this situation. But in my experience, the home team fan always has an advantage when it comes to removal or possible legal action as a result of fan on fan violence. It's not scientific, but it always seems to me that no matter who started it, they always drag the opposition fan out or remove them. At Dodgers Stadium, let me tell you, it is rarely the visiting fan that caused the problem. Have you ever seen a visiting fan take on the whole stadium, or throw stuff at a family of four wearing the colors of the home squad--the numbers involved make it not very likely. This seems to be a systematic bias that must be unconstitutional. Who decides who is at fault in one of these things? The security? Have you seen these dopes? How many jobs could you not get if you are working the ballpark security detail? And what judge would find for the universally derided Phillie fan when evil mayhem is involved? Unlike David Wright, I am not for monkey business in the stands, not one iota. Outside of a Jets game, I don' t think the law of the jungle should extend to the stands.

But I digress. The Mets are now 4-1 against the Philmes so far, and it looks like Big Pelf is going to get the chance to earn his keep tomorrow as the Mets try to send the message that they are over the September to Dismember, and the Phils no longer have their number. At least as long as Rollins is out and Howard is cold.