On Reflection….

Just in case no one even noticed, the name changed from ‘Outside the
Phillies Looking In
‘ to ‘Phillies Outside‘ as part of a concerted effort
to make everything a little more unified, in other words, most
everything else is labeled Phillies Outside so is this blog now, so it’s easier for me, not
that anyone gives a crap, and yes you will still find the same
rambling, sarcastic, drivel as always here, unless I am feeling
particularly friendly then I may up the sarcasm a little more, no it’s not always like a kindergarten playground where you punch the ones you really like, sometimes you actually have to smack the crap out of someone cause they deserve it…

On
to the post at hand, a review of my past predictions and I can assure
everyone that there is absolutely no bias on these predictions, there is
no hatred targeted at any team, and just because some see a certain
blue team as the ‘Evil Empire’ and the fact that some Philadelphia
Phillies
players have inferred a wish to exact revenge on that said evil empire,
I would like to assure everyone that none of that was taken into
consideration when constructing my predictions.

I see the American
League like this:

NOny.jpg

…Yes much to the pleasure of some and displeasure of others I did not select the Yankees to make the post season this year, there jump to the top of the leader board for most global denominated currency spent on average per player for a sports franchise for last year, (in case you didn’t know, the most spent per player on average is normally monopolized by English Premiership Football Teams or soccer teams to those less edumacated, last year the Yankees jumped into the top 10 at number 1), this will come back to bite them this year, as it has with other sports franchises before them in there respective sporting championships. The American League playoff picture will look like this:

Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox – Mariners win
Boston Red Sox vs Tampa Bay Rays – Rays win

ALCS Mariners vs Rays – Mariners win

I see the National League like this:

NOny.jpg

…No I didn’t make a mistake with the picture, this is just a reminder that the Yankees couldn’t even buy there way in via the National League, although inside sources inferred that they tried, by way of offering Mr. McCourt some under the table assistance with the silencing and/or gratifying of the soon to be ex-Mrs McCourt. The National League playoff picture will look like this:

St. Louis Cardinals vs Colorado Rockies – Cardinals win
Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers – Phillies win

NLCS – Phillies vs Cardinals – Phillies win

The World Series – Phillies vs MarinersPhillies win in 5

For all those skeptics out there, in the words of Dwayne Johnson “It doesn’t matter ,,,,,,,” as (what appears to be a couple of suited jabronees) find out…



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N. L. Central Crystal Ball….

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The National League Central is probably the easiest of the divisions to select a winner, but could also be the one where it all goes wrong. This division could hinge on the performance and health of just 2 players, I will make clear those players when I get to the team they relate too. As always we’ll start with the team I think will end up in a heap of trouble this year.


The Houston Astros fans should consider the latest fashion accessory…

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…these NEW Ray Ban sunglasses will be needed to hide the Phillies glare on the players Ed Wade seems to think will work better in Astros uniforms when they didn’t work in Phillies red pinstripes. Ed Wade can be very good for the Astros, he just has to get over the fact that some players aren’t as good as he thought. It will be a tight race at the bottom of this division, but I think till Ed Wade gets over the fact that the players he really liked when he drafted them into the Phillies aren’t what he needs in Houston then the Astros will struggle to get out of the bottom spot, which is a shame, because the Astros are normally a very tough team especially in the final few weeks of the season.

The Chicago Cubs fans need nothing more than high speed internet and a wonderful download…

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…courtesy of our friends at RSBS they have explained it all for me and made it clear to the rest of the world as to why the Cubs will this year be a below .500 team. It’s true see for yourselves the video doesn’t lie, it’s from a very reliable inside source.

The Pittsburgh Pirates fans will be able to do some serious….

pirateschampagne.jpg
…partying this year, no they’re not going to win the division or the ‘Wild Card’, but they will be a .500 or better team this season. They have everything going for them, a double McCutchen and believe it or not Milledge will be the player the Nats hoped he would be, just in a Pirates uniform.


The Milwaukee Brewers fans need a trip to Europe to visit….

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…my Brewers, okay so it’s not the same type of brewers, but still a worthwhile event especially in October, they have tours of this Kölsch brewery in Köln. It’s still a family run brewery, or it was when I was there last which is a few years ago now. Why this one because it’s got my name, it’s not actually my brewery. If you go around October time you’ll be able to hop a brief train ride to München and enjoy the Oktoberfest celebrations, as there will be no reason to celebrate for Brewers fans here in October.

The Cincinnati Reds fans may already have just the thing to help their season…

redseasybutton.jpg

…their very own easy button. No not because your going to walk away with the division, but because it’s going to be such hard work to stay up with the leading team, you’ll need something to make the occasional day seem easy.

The St. Louis Cardinals fans are going to enjoy another runaway year, the biggest problem for the STL fans is their unfortunate grasp on reality, so for that you will need your very own…

virtualSTLreality.jpg

St. Louis Cardinals ‘Virtual Reality’ machine, because of the delusions of a World Series you will need this machine to fulfill that fantasy, otherwise there may be suicidal tendencies, when a team from the East crushes your dreams as they move into the World Series. Now obviously this is all predicated on the fact that the player known as ‘Poo-hole’ doesn’t end up on the DL with back problems and of course that the now highest paid ‘butterfingers’ can actually catch a fly ball to left field.

any sarcasm is not meant to offend,
unless it does, then consider the possibilities of more during the
season.

trademarks,

trade names,
copyrights and patents are the property of their respective owners.

 


Cliff Lee’s, Debut in Philadelphia at CBP…

Cliff Lee made his debut in Philadelphia at CBP, the anticipation of the crowd was high, all things considered, the pressure on Lee must have been huge. After his shut out in San Francisco, would the fans be expecting to much and could Lee deliver another solid game in front of what is now his home crowd.

The first inning, he seemed to show a few nerves, but that was to be expected, what wasn’t expected was for J-Roll to miss-judge a ball and let it go into the outfield. This allowed a runner to be on 3rd with 1 out, setting up a fly ball RBI in the 1st for the Rockies. Yes it was a tough play for Jimmy, but he has made that play many times before, he sets his own standards and that wasn’t quite it.

It didn’t take Jimmy Rollins long to correct his earlier miss-judgment, he was hitting and running bases straight out of the gate. He didn’t need his red/orange shades to make himself look cool, he was doing that just by his actions.

His first 3 at bats he hit a single, double and triple, yes a cycle would have been nice, but for someone who less than 8 weeks ago was hitting right around the .200 mark and was struggling to even get to first base, was now producing multi hit games, stealing bases and scoring runs and that is the driving force leading the Phillies offense.

The Phillies scored in the bottom of the 1st Utley’s sac fly, driving Rollins in, then Bako hit a home run, his first of the year, in the 5th, followed by Victorino’s RBI hit to drive in Rollins again. Rollins finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Lee may not have been the domination  machine he was in San Francisco, after all, we had that from Happ last night, but he did give the Phillies a solid 7 innings, with 112 pitches, giving up just 1 run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 9, great job Cliff Lee and I am sure the fans in Philadelphia will soon make you a fan favorite, it seems almost everyone else on the team is anyway.

The bullpen did there thing… HOORAY!!!… Madson pitched a solid 8th inning giving up just 1 hit, Lidge came out in the 9th to close the game out and collect his 21st save of the year, and do so giving up just 1 hit.

Phillies win the series with the Rockies 2-1 and since the Marlins chose to give the Nats a 4 runs in the 8th inning and go on to lose the game in Washington, the Phillies go to a 7 game lead in the NL East, of which I might add is currently the largest divisional lead, over a 2nd place team, in the majors, that may change by nights end.

The Phillies welcome Florida to won for a weekend series, and tomorrow night the Phillies workhorse Joe Blanton takes the mound in a bid to keep the Phillies winning home stand moving onward and upward.

Around the majors, well not around, around, just in New York, this for me is an interesting month, the Yankees and the Red Sox duel it out 7 times this month, why is that so interesting for me, well I have suggested, or maybe even predicted, a repeated October World Series match up between the Phillies and the Rays, therefore the need for the Yankees and Red Sox to beat each other up and give the Rays a chance to make up ground is crucial to my prediction becoming a reality…