Very few things could make watching that 12-2 blowout enjoyable. One of those things would be watching that blowout with good friends. The other? Watching from the best seats in the house.
Last night was a real treat, despite the loss. We joined our good friends from Phillies Nation to take in the game from the Lexus President’s Club and we couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity. 
Another group of Phillies fans sat in front of us and evidenced by the occasional friendly banter, they had a lot of class.
The Club is everything you could imagine a baseball fan’s dream game might entail (except of course, the team on the field would be a lot better in such a dream). All of the hosts, waiters and ushers were incredibly nice throughout our experience. Tables are scattered throughout the Club and a fine dining buffet awaits guests upon their arrival — an upgrade from popcorn and hot dogs. We opted for watching the batting cages first and saw Felipe Lopez and Wily Mo Pena get work in before the first pitch. Stan Kasten led some notable guests around the Club on a tour, while NBC’s David Gregory enjoyed the buffet. After dining on salmon, braised duck and scallops, we headed back out to our seats…2 rows behind home plate. Unbelievable.
The in-game experience was phenomenal. You could see into both dugouts, but also watch the pitch right into Flores’ glove. When Joel Hanrahan missed high (really high) in the 8th, we decided we appreciated the protective net. We were a little closer to the Phillies dugout - which delighted all of the Phillies fans surrounding us.
After the game, we went inside to watch Manny Acta’s press conference — another Presidential Club treat. Elijah Dukes was hard at work taking extra swings in the batting cages after the game. The whole thing was such an amazing experience. Here’s the photos we took before my camera battery ran out. Here’s some old ones from when we managed to get a sneak peak of the Club (by accident after one of the Friday night fireworks shows). Thanks again Brian!!
Now - the game itself was a sad affair. Despite getting 12 hits — 3 less than Philadelphia, we could only bring 2 runners in to score. Meanwhile, the Phillies launched home run after home run out of our park. They sure made it look easy. Then again, Chico and Colome were on the mound for the disaster, which never elicits much of my confidence.
In 5 innings, Chico gave up 7 hits and 4 runs. Three of them went out of the park — first to Pedro Feliz, then to Shane Victorino, and lastly to Ryan Howard. That was bad. Who could have imagined it would get so much worse?
Jesus Colome jogged to the mound and the game just fell apart. With 30 pitches, he got one out, a strike out to Werth. He also gave up 6 runs on 5 hits in an inning that just wouldn’t end. The Phillies sent 13 men to the plate in the 6th inning last night. After that, there was really no hope. Schroder’s relief appearance was also miserable, but with the game already out of control, it mattered very little. He issued 4 walks in his inning of work, which will always hurt. Add on three hits, and another homer to Howard and the Phils had put up a 12 on the scoreboard. Joel Hanrahan would keep the Phillies line-up quiet for the final 2 innings.
Zimmerman and Young collected RBIs in the 7th to avoid the shutout. Felipe Lopez continues to do well in the lead off spot. He collected 2 doubles last night. Jesus Flores went 3 for 4 with a double, raising his batting average to .357.
You can not possibly send this kid back down to AAA. There seems to be a lot of talk and speculation that the front office will have a difficult decision to make when the other catchers return from the DL. I’m not sure why that decision is so difficult or how Flores has not earned his spot yet. What does the young catcher have to do to prove that he’s ready to be at the Major League level? The afternoon media talk with Jim Bowden was also full of contradictions about the best way to develop young players, including his reluctance to bring up a fresh outfielder like Justin Maxwell.
Tonight, the team gets a well-deserved off day before facing the Brewers on Friday night. Jeff Suppan is 2-3 with a 4.78 ERA.
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May 22nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
I just don’t get it. I think that Jimbo is merely flipping a coin to decide which players get to “learn” up here in the bigs vs. which ones have to keep riding buses in the minors. J-Max did a great job last year in September call-ups and looked great training with the team in Spring Training. I’ve been saying this since mid-April - I want J-Max! I mean, what do we really have to lose? Pena is struggling at the plate and isn’t the most versatile outfielder. Milledge can’t run the bases and is struggling with playing center, Kearns is about to go on the DL (or maybe already is) and Mackowiak is struggling.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
you very lucky girls!
as for JimBow, he’s an self-serving idiot. i read the quotes in the Post yesterday and just couldn’t believe what i was reading, until i realized it was coming out of his mouth. “we’re into developing players”??? what a load of crap. other than Milledge, name me ONE OTHER player that has been “developing” on the big league level that wasn’t forced into the situation by injury, Jim? huh? i didn’t hear you.
bottom line is that this team is PATHETICALLY undermatched positional player-wise. watching the Phillies the last couple days, it’s even more obvious than ever. this team has NO ONE that is even a minor threat to hit a home run, let alone two in one game. go get some help Bowden, you egotistical, self-serving moron.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Yes - we are super lucky and owe it all to my friend Brian - who is amazing! It was pretty unreal.
As for the GM, I just want some honesty and some consistency. I’m sick of the run around, it depends on the day answers. Also, be man enough to admit a mistake and cut your loses instead of sacrificing a player’s development, the clubhouse, or the good of the whole team, to make your stupid moves look insightful.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I’ve attended all the home games so far this year and last night’s was the most pathetic. It highlighted everything that was wrong with the club.
When the lineup was announced, I wrote on my scorecard “the no-offense lineup”. What ever happened to get ‘m on .. get ‘m over .. get ‘m home? Sacrifices on this team seem to be totally accidental. It sort of harkens back to the Earl Weaver philosophy of waiting for the 3 run homer, but that assumes someone on the team will be hitting a homer every day. Matt Chico was better than expected, and Joel Hanrahan managed not to make a wild pitch when the bases were loaded — that was good.. but Jose Colome has earned the “Ray King shudder”.
and I agree they should bring back Maxwell for the outfield — he at least has a spark — more than the Wily Mo “maybe I’ll get there” Pena and the Lastings “Lollygagger” Milledge and don’t forget Elijah “swings at anything” Dukes