Phillies' Arms and a not-so-blue Sky

Living in central NJ with a cable television subscription that has ZERO baseball games available tonight, I am relegated to MLB TV on the internet, thanks to Ronbo's password. So it's Phils-Bravos, game 2...





The Phillies pitching staff is in dire need of a healthy Cole Hamels. The opening day starter, Brett Myers, looked terrible, at least in the first couple of innings. This guy simply might not be able to regain his form from before his trip to the bullpen in 2007. His ERA is going in the WRONG direction (2005: 3.72, 2006: 3.91, 2007: 4.33, 2008: 4.55) - and baseball prospectus is suggesting 12-8, 3.91 - a little optimistic, no? My Brady projection: 11-8, 4.33 - and that's not going to be good enough, not if Cole Hamels doesn't put up an ace's season.





So a possibly injured Hamels, a positively ancient Moyer, a shaky (but potentially brilliant) Myers, AL-import Joe Blanton (this guy gave up 240 hits in 2007, leading MLB... that's like Livan Hernandez territory!), and Chan Ho Park??? Looks to me that the Phillies will be fighting the Marlins for 3rd place in the NL East...

In other news, this weekend I attended the return of Women's Professional Soccer to New Jersey, as Sky Blue FC took on the Los Angeles Sol at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. First of all, playing a soccer game in a minor-league baseball park seemed ridiculous to me... but after watching the game, I found that the venue was perfect. Lots of cozy seating, and around 6000 fans turned out to see the game. Just like a minor league game, you could get a beer or a funnel cake, and could even take part in a halftime dizzy-bat race. The atmosphere was far better than a empty-feeling Red Bulls game at the Meadowlands, and I attended quite a few of these (as the Metrostars) in the infant years of MLS.

One problem exists though: the most exciting part of that game was ANY time Los Angeles (and Brazilain) forward Marta touched the ball. Possible the most exciting soccer player - male OR female - in the world. The problem??? She plays for LA, and no Sky Blue player electrified the crowd in the same way. Next game is saturday evening, April 11th...