With Inter-league play staring for the Phillies tomorrow against the New York Yuckees in new Yankee Stadium, there is a serious question that good ol’ Cholly needs to answer: Who should be the Phillies’ DH?

I’m sure it’s going to change depending on the situation, like if the pitcher is a righty or lefty and what stadium they’re playing in, but there are a few options.

Could it be Matt Stairs? He’s been a beast off the bench so far in his pinch hitting role and the DH role seems to fit him perfectly. He’s a power bat that doesn’t need to play in the field to stay sharp at the plate.

Greg Dobbs? He hasn’t regained the form that he had last season as the top pinch hitter in baseball, but I think that’s a result of not getting enough at-bats. Last season, he would get the occasional spot start. This season, he hasn’t really gotten much playing time and his PH results show that.

Chris Coste? Don’t want to do that because if Chooch gets hurt, the Phils lose the DH when Coste enters the game as a catcher

Minor league call up? According to Scott Lauber, Manuel said the Phillies will most likely not call up Lou Marson to DH against the Yanks.

In my opinion, it’s going to come down to Matt Stairs as the DH most of the time. He’s just got the power that traditionally comes with being a designated hitter. When it’s not Stairs, I think it will be Dobbs. He needs to get some at-bats to try and get his swing back in order. He just doesn’t seem to have the same vision at the plate that he had last season. He needs to get some starts and at-bats in order to keep him sharp for his PH role.

What did you guys think? Here’s the results, first the Twitter responses.

Kevin McGuire from Macho Row: ” Gut reaction would be Matt Stairs as DH this weekend”

Steve Gengler: “RHP – Stairs (he’s seen more AL pitchers), LHP – Bruntlett”

Mike Mader: “Dobbs as often as possible. He needs the ABs.”

Chris, from Long Drive: “The DH should be Stairs. He is hitting for a good avg and having that extra power will help. Must split up all the lefties tho.”

LordVader311: “Definitely Matt Stairs in my opinion for two reasons, he has done it before and Ibanez is too talented to waste on a DH role.”

Vladys Knight: “Matt Stairs”

Cavalier92: “While you might think it’s Matt Satirs, I really think Dobbs is the man. He needs some ABs”

Kyle Radzinski: “greg dobbs then matt stairs”

Sean O’Callahan: “matt stairs is probably the best option”

RCinPA: “No brainer: Matt Stairs vs. righties.. vs. lefties: Eric Bruntlett? They could flip a regular w/ a bench guy also”

Ben Sanfilippo-Cohn: “rotate the DH to give starters a rest and fill in holes with Dobbs. He needs more looks to get it going this year”

Gene Carey: “Torn between Dobbs and Stairs. Dobbs needs some ABs, but Stairs has best numbers on the bench. Maybe Bruntlett against a lefty.”

DobbsFan: “GREG DOBBS, of course!!!!! :-)”

Estebomb: “I think it’s obvious that Matt Stairs should be the DH. If Dobbs was hitting better I might make an argument for him.”

Anton Limberski: “Stairs. Give the fattie a chance!”

Whew. That was a lot. Now on to our Facebook responses. If you’re not friends with us on Facebook already, go here and do it!

Joshua R. Simonetti: “in yankess stadium… Dobbs” (Yes, he spelled Yankees wrong, but I’m leaving it – KK)

Brian Urbiztondo : “coste”

Joshua R. Simonetti (again. Couldn’t fit it all in one comment I guess -KK) “dobbs needs ABs…. stairs is a guy that can come off the bench in the 8th or 9th if u need a bomb… gettin dobbs some ABs during interleague play will help him in the long run.. we need him to produce in pinch hit situations down the line”

Tom Humphreys: “Against rhp: matt stairs or dobbs….against lhp:coste or bruntlett..its all depending on the situations”

Ryan Parmer: “u gotta go w the guy who’s been producing this year… matt stairs over dobbs. as far as against lhp to me its a toss up between bruntlett n coste. we face pettite n sabathia sat n sun.”

Ruel Peterson: “MATT STAIRS.”

Dave Cremi: “it depends if u need power go with stars if you want a quality hit or contact go with dobbs”

Wow, lots of responses to this poll. Most we’ve gotten in a while. The DH issue obviously brought out a lot of opinions. Thanks peeps.

Be sure to do three things after reading this post:

1. Send an email to me here suggesting other topics for Twitter Polls.
2. Follow me on Twitter @kierankelly and @Phinally if you’re not already.
3. Follow everyone else in this post to keep the discussion about Philly sports going.

We’ll put up another Twitter Poll shortly, be sure to look out for it.

-KK

You might like these related articles:

• Thoughts during Phillies-Mets, Round 2
• With Uts & Polly on the DL, the Phillies’ best options are…. Dobbs & Bocock?
• 10 things the Phillies can look forward to in 2010
• 5 questions on the eve of Phillies- Mets, Round 1
• Slimmer Myers works better in thin air

It’s time for another Twitter poll from @Phinally.

The question this week, “A week into the 2009 season, who is the team to fear in the NL East?”

I think it’s going to come down to the Phillies and the Mets. I know that the Marlins are currently being beasts, but I don’t think that young pitching staff can keep it up all season.

In the end, it’s going to be just like the past three seasons with the Mets and Phillies battling for the division.

The responses from you:

LONG_DRIVE, from Phillies Long Drive: “My answer is no one as of yet. Everyone knew the Marlins young pitching could be good but they won’t maintain that pace.”

JMFlyer1454: “I’m saying Florida. They have looked the best, not just in the East, but in the entire NL and possibly all of MLB.”

krmcguire, of many things, including Macho Row: “No doubt, the Florida Marlins. Explosive offense and they have taken care of the Nats, Mets & Braves (who handled the Phills).”

TommymacWFC: “honestly… I am scared of the Marlins. they look deathly fast and their pitching is holding up much more that originally thought.”

From Facebook: Eric Michael Stencovage: “Well, yeah, definitely the Phillies, although not right now. Everyone knows what they did last year, but also everyone knows how they come on strong in the month of September, which any team would fear.”

Obviously, the Marlins are a team to fear from most of you. I think the Marlins are going to be in it for a while, but I just don’t think that their pitching is going to hold up through the entire season.

-KK

You might like these related articles:

• Twitter Poll: Who should be the Phillies DH?
• Twitter Poll results: How many Phillies game did you attend last year? This year?
• Epic Twitter Poll: How many Phillies hats do you have?
• Phillies Roundtable Discussion

This week’s Twitter poll didn’t do as well as the first one. We didn’t get many responses, but I’ll still write up a post to show the results.

You took the time to respond, so I’ll take the time to post. Fair enough.

First, my answer. Last year, I only attended two regular season games, but I also went to one game during the NLDS and one World Series game.

I bought a partial season plan for this season plus a few other games. I’ve already been to Opening Night, so I’ve got at least 19 more to go, a personal record for me by far.

Continue reading to find out the answers from our Phinally Philly readers.

First, our Twitter responses:

4forfour:3 games last year. At least 4 this year, including one of the last mets games and last series vs the marlins.

ShayRoddy, from Phillie Phanatics: usually I go to 10-15. I’ll go to anything I can. This year should be no different. Hopefully at least 10! (link blog not twit) (How about I link to both? -KK)

mweintr:3 last season, and hopefully 3 or 4 this season. Not bad for a Phan in Los Angeles, is it? (That’s more than I went to and I live in Philly. I’d say that’s awesome! -KK)

J-Bradley: We’re going to 25-30 games. Looking forward to Opening Day!! Play Ball!

gregparadee: 15+ games this year I went to about 12 last year

LONG_DRIVE, from Long Drive: I have tickets to 11 games so far but plan on many more. Last year I went to, a personal record, 32 games.

JMFlyer1454: I’m planning on making at least 2 this year. I couldn’t get to any during the magical ’08 season since I was in Indiana.

And now, our Facebook responses:

Chris Sack: Around 35-40 this year. I went to 35 last year. Starting this week with tonight, tomorrow, sunday for opening night, and wednesday for ring ceremony! Lol

Eric Michael Stencovage: wo right now. Since I’m in college I need to work a hell of a lot and save up for that. If I wasn’t in college or lived closer to Philly I would probably go to MANY more. I’ll definitely watch as many as I can though. Anyways, I’m going to the July 5th Mets game and the Aug 8th game.

Scarlett O’Hara: starting with opening night!!! and we’ll take it from there…do the same every year. but last year got to end it at the last game!!! hopefully we will again this year (but maybe the last game will be only one night this year!!)

Sorry that some of these response are a little outdated, but I got a little busy with other things.

I’m sure most of you are, but be sure to follow @Phinally for all of our site updates and breaking Philly sports news.

I can be followed on @kierankelly for mostly Phillies things, but I’ll throw other things in there as well.

If you have a question you’d like to pose to our readership, be sure to send it in here or just send @phinally or myself a DM or reply on Twitter.

-KK

You might like these related articles:

• Twitter Poll: Who should be the Phillies DH?
• Twitter Poll #3 – Team to fear in the NL East?
• Epic Twitter Poll: How many Phillies hats do you have?
• Phillies Roundtable Discussion

We decided to try something new this week at Phinally Philly.

To give our readers a chance to contribute to the site, we posed this question on Twitter, and by extension, Facebook: How many Phillies hats do you have/own?

We received a lot of responses to our question. The answers ranged from a low of zero to a high of over 50! That’s a lot of hats.

To get this started, I thought I’d put up the hats that we here at Phinally have.

Kieran Kelly: I currently own 7. My personal favorite has recently been the throwback green one, which a lot of you seem to like as well. Favorite overall would be the Interleague play one, which they no longer wear. I just love how the star looks in the middle of the P like that. My newest hat, which isn’t pictured, is the basic one that is shown at the top of the page.

Our own Roman Zubarev, has just one hat.
As he states in his Tweet: “just my freebie fightins hat.”

There are plenty more responses to this question. We hope to be putting up many more questions using Twitter to keep the community interaction going. Be sure to follow @Phinally to stay informed of all the latest questions and updates.

To read the rest of the responses, be sure to continue reading and see who among us has the most Phillies hats.

First, here are all of our Twitter responses, with pictures where appropriate.

Rusty_Bawz: “0″

Balls, Sticks, and Stuff: “I own four Phillies hats unless you count the free bucket hat from a few years ago, then 5.”

SpinyNorman: “I have more than 10…easily…Favorite is a green fitted St. Pats day hat…”

Kevin McGuire of Macho Row and Nittanydelphia: “I have 1 maroon, 1 green 80′s, and 1 2008 NL East division champs hat. That’s it. My wife has two as well!”

Joseph Mays:” At least 9 I can think of. My favorite is definitely the Christmas one with the Phillies symbol wearing the Santa hat.”
(I want that Christmas one! I’ve never seen one like that and I really want it now. -KK)

Mike Meech, of The Fightins’: ” I count 15. Plus, I probably have another 6 or 7 still at my parent’s house.”

Greg Paradee: “Two, and you just gave me a great idea for a site project.” (I wonder what his project is? -KK)

AProuja:
“7 in total”

BWitcherman: “These are the ones I actually wear, I have more stowed away for good reason. 8D ” and his second Tweet: “The newest addition is my favorite, exclusively sold in Clearwater.” (I do like that Clearwater one. I’ll have to get one when I eventually make it down there. -KK)

Randy Gilbert: “None!”

Kevin Kramer: “Four hats. 2008 Irish hat, 1979 hat, and two regular franchise hats. Irish hat is my favorite.”

Shay Roddy: “as far as hats go… own 2 BP hats, 1 alt home hat, 1 home hat…” (First mention of the BP hat. I don’t think they’re very popular, they’re kind of ugly as well! -KK)

Matt P., from The 700 Level, ” 8 that i can think of without looking around the house.”

TommymacWFC: “I own 6 Phillies hats. I think my favorite is the new spring training style hats”

Alexis Kropp: “five and my fav is the one my best friend gave me. Broken in and faded. 80′s maroon, white P.”

LONG_DRIVE: “I just counted and I have 11. I plan to add many more to that this season.” (Same with me, I’ve already added one, looking for more. -KK) …and a late addition: “my lucky phillies hat is my authentic fitted red phils hat with 54 stitched into the side.”

A.J. Sullivan:“I have 8ish…my favorite being an old school throwback in maroon and baby blue.”

Estebomb: “I own 7 Phils hats, including one that the Phanatic stole off of Dave Hollins’ head in ’92. My favorite is the 70s/80s style.” (I love his Twitter background -KK)

LordVader311: ” I own no less than 9!! I have all 3 current Phils hats, the USA looking logo, St Pat’s day, champ caps, Steve Carlton Cy Young one” and his second Tweet: “My fav one has to be the Blue with Red P and the “USA” Logo blue one.”

Jason Hellman: “I own 5 Phillies hats. Lucky one was bought was purchased at village thrift on broad st. (which sadly no longer exists) for $1.”

And now for our Facebook responses:

Arlene Tonoff: “only 2 – WS Champs and a Spring Training One
The Spring Training is my favorite cause it covered in all my autographs from Spring Training and I add to it every year!”

Michael Rice: “I got the blue with the american flag P on it thats the one I wear for games”

Dom Pietrzyk:: i got a bunch of them…all black one, a throwback 80s one, the new era city skyline one, a handful that they gave out at games and my favorite the blue beak and P wit the star in the middle cause that was the hat i wore for the playoffs or world series….it hangs on my wall and is covered wit champagne and beer haha” (Now that’s a good story to have for a hat! -KK)

Scarlett O’Hara: “lots…samples of them thru the ages (well, since the 70′s at least) – have a whole wall in the house devoted to phillies things and on part has all the hats on it…hae one reg red one I wear to all the games”

Eric Michael Stencovage:“I have 4 hats, a regular Philies hat, a Phillies World Series hat, a 2007 NL East Division Champs hat, and a World Series Champions Hat. The 2007 NL East one is the Luckiest because no Philly team has ever lost when it was on me. However, the World Series Champions hat is becoming just as lucky.”

Whew. That’s a lot of hats right there. But, who has the single largest collection submitted to Phinally Philly?

Jenn, from Phillies Phollowers, checks in with this mega response: “56 Phils hats! My fav one right now is the official black World Champs hat :O)” She then sent in a picture to truly show the awesomeness of her collection:

Anybody out there who didn’t respond have a larger collection than Jenn? If you haven’t already responded, be sure to send in a picture as proof to Phinally Philly here.

As the title states, this truly was an epic Twitter poll. I’m very happy about the amount of responses we got for this one. We’ll be sure to do it again very soon.

Have a suggestion for our next Twitter Poll question? Send it here.

-KK

You might like these related articles:

• Twitter Poll: Who should be the Phillies DH?
• Twitter Poll #3 – Team to fear in the NL East?
• Twitter Poll results: How many Phillies game did you attend last year? This year?
• Phillies Roundtable Discussion

I took part in a roundtable discussion with some other Phillies bloggers this week over at Macho Row. You can read it here

I love seeing how other people think the season will turn out for the WFC. It puts a lot of discussion out there for other people with a lot of different opinions in one place.

We also answered questions about the rest of the NL East and those answers can be found here

Our Twitter poll got a lot of good responses, as well as a few other responses on Facebook. I’ll be writing them all up at some point tonight and will post the results tomorrow. I’ll give a sneak preview as to who has the most Phillies hats out there.

Who has that many? Find out later on when I post the results of our poll.

-KK

Macho Row: NL East Preview: Philadelphia Phillies: “”

You might like these related articles:

• Twitter Poll: Who should be the Phillies DH?
• Twitter Poll #3 – Team to fear in the NL East?
• Twitter Poll results: How many Phillies game did you attend last year? This year?
• Epic Twitter Poll: How many Phillies hats do you have?