July was a crazy month for me. I swear I’ve been busy doing something almost every day of the month. That has unfortunately taken a lot of time away from me watching the Phillies and by extension, writing up posts.
This past week, I was up in New England. Took in a Red Sox game and then was all over the Cape.
As a result, I missed being in Philly amongst Phillies’ fans when they became the run away favorites in the National League. Getting Cliff Lee from the Indians was a steal by Ruben Amaro. He should be awarded National League Executive of the Year right now. Getting a Cy Young winner without giving up any of the top prospects? This man is a genius. I thought we’d have to give up the farm in order to land Roy Halladay, but we got an almost comparable pitcher in Lee, plus the RH bat off the bench that they needed in Ben Francisco, without giving up a lot. Nice.
A lot of people thought that Eric Bruntlett should have been gone months ago, and his terrible average this season hasn’t helped his cause much. Honestly though, he’s only stuck around this long because he can play so many different positions. Just goes to show that all you need to do is make yourself valuable in as many different ways as possible in order to stick around. That was how Chris Coste stuck around in Philly for as long as he did. I’m sure that Ruben is out there searching for an upgrade to Bruntlett, but if it doesn’t happen, this team is good enough to overcome his terrible performance at the plate.
As I write this, the Phillies just ended the first inning of the 3rd game of the Giants series in San Francisco against Tim Lincecum. A lot of people were hoping for a Cliff Lee – Tim Lincecum matchup, but Lee made his Phillies’ debut last night. Lincecum looks pretty good so far and is a very good pitcher. Phillies have their work cut out for them tonight.
Hard to believe it, but the month of July was the best record-wise for the Phillies since 1890. Hopefully they can continue that streak in August.
