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Top 15 Memories of '09: #13 - Choochtober

For the second straight year, Carlos Ruiz had a great postseason for the Phils. Chooch hit .314 between September and October with 9 RBIs. He scored the winning run on JRoll's game-winning double in Game 4 of the NLCS. Two great playoff performances and solid defense all season long have made Chooch a fan favorite.

http://icecream4chooch.com/ (give it a second to load)

Top 15 Memories of '09: #14 - #200

On July 16th, Ryan Howard hit his 200th career home run in Miami against the Marlins. Ryan reached 200 home runs in fewer games than any player in baseball history. Since becoming a starter for the Phillies in 2005, Howard has hit 222 home runs to go along with a .279 average and 640 RBIs. He also was named the 2005 Rookie of the Year, 2006 MVP, 2006 & 2009 All-Star, and 2009 NLCS MVP.

A 12 year old girl caught the ball in Florida but traded it to the Phillies for an autographed baseball. She then hired an attorney and got the ball back because I'm sure it is more valuable to her. Video interview with the wonderful attorney who was going to contact the police to report the Phillies below.

BTW it's not "Marlins Stadium," it's LandShark Stadium and Howard is not the youngest player to reach 200 home runs, he reached the 200 mark in fewer GAMES than anybody.

Top 15 Memories of '09: #15 - Pat Who?

Following the 08 World Series, the Phillies had a tough decision to make: resign Pat Burrell or let him become a free agent. Pat was getting older and the asking price was too high. Instead, the Phillies signed a new left fielder, Raul Ibanez from the Seattle Mariners. Since he played for Seattle, not many people had heard of Raul but that all changed very quickly.

"Pat Who" quickly became the joke amongst Phillies fans after Raul hit .355 in April with 7 home runs and 17 RBIs. His amazing start to the season was highlighted by a walkoff home run vs. the Padres on April 19th.

Ibanez finished 2009 with a .272 average, 34 HR, 93 RBI, and an All-Star selection.

Catching Up With The Phillies (Again)

The Phillies are now 16 games into Spring Training and sit just 15 days away from Opening Day in Washington on April 5th. After the first round of cuts that included stand-out prospect Domonic Brown, 30 players remain on the active roster. Five more will be cut before camp breaks. Unlike our first check in with the Phils, the starters are beginning to see a lot of playing time.

Offense

• 3B Placido Polanco (.346 AVG)
• 1B Ryan Howard (.333 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI)
• 2B Chase Utley (.333 AVG, 7 BB in 21 AB)

Pitching

• Joe Blanton (2-0)
• Danys Baez (1-0, 1 SV, 5 K in 8 IP)
• Roy Halladay (1-0, 0.90 ERA, 14 K in 10 IP)
• Cole Hamels (1-0, 1.69 ERA)

Check back tomorrow for the first part of the 15 part countdown of the greatest moments from the 2009 season.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Phanatic brought Sarge a new hat. Phillies lead the Yanks 5-2 in the 6th inning.

First Cuts

The Phillies have announced the first round of cuts

• RHP Scott Mathieson
• RHP Phillippe Aumont
• LHP Yohan Flande
• RHP Drew Naylor
• RHP JC Ramirez
• RHP Jesus Sanchez
• LHP Joe Savery
• LHP Bill White
• C Tuffy Gosewisch
• C Kevin Nelson
• C John Suomi
• IF Freddy Galvis
• OF Quintin Berry
• OF Tyson Gillies

Catching Up With The Phillies

Halladay vs. the Yankees (via @ToddZolecki)

The Phillies are eight games into the Grapefruit League season with a record of 4-3-1. It is still too early to judge the players' performances so far this Spring but everybody on the roster has had at least one at-bat or one pitching appearance. Here are the players who have had a good offensive Spring thus far:

• Dominic Brown (.412, 4 RBI) - this is fantastic news for the Phillies. Brown is the organization's top prospect following the Roy Halladay trade and is slowly heading towards Philadelphia. Brown will start and probably finish the year in the minors (most likely Lehigh Valley) but he may get his shot at the majors next year if the team does not resign Jayson Werth.
• Placido Polanco (.400, 6 hits in 15 AB) - it shouldn't be a surprise that Paulie is doing well offensively. Polanco is a career .303 hitter and should have another great year at the plate in 2010. He is the toughest hitter in baseball to strike out. His fielding at third base has been a little shaky as he makes the transition from second base.
• John Mayberry (.368, 1 HR, 5 RBI) - Mayberry is doing his best to earn a bench spot on the Opening Day roster. Stats do not count in "B Games" so don't let the one home run fool you. According to the Phillies Twitter page, Mayberry has been launching home runs in "B Games." The Golson for Mayberry trade is working out very well for the Phillies.
• Chase Utley (.500, .667 OBP) - I debated even putting Chase on this list because he only has eight ABs. He is getting a lot of rest so far this Spring but is hitting when he has the chance.

Pitchers

• Kyle Kendrick (5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 hits) - in my opinion, this is the best news so far coming out of Clearwater. Kendrick is fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation with Jamie Moyer who apparently still has the upper hand if you look into some quotes from pitching coach Rich Dubee. Kendrick has struggled since his great 2007 rookie year so it is good to see him pitching well again. Working out with Halladay doesn't hurt either.
• Roy Halladay (5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 8 K) - so far Doc has shown Phillie fans why he has been the best pitcher in baseball for so many years. I never had any doubts, but I am now fully convinced that he will win the Cy Young this season. Some people say 20 wins as well and I can see why. I got a chance to watch his first start and his pitches moved better than any others I've seen before.
• Drew Carpenter (5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV) - the bad news for Drew is that there isn't really anywhere for him to go on the 2010 Phillies roster. He can expect to start the season as an IronPig but will be one of the first pitchers called up if someone goes down like he was last season.
• Danys Baez (3 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 K) - one of the new Phillies for 2010, Baez looks like he will be a great addition to the 2010 bullpen.

The Phillies take on the Tigers today at 1:05. Joe Blanton will make his second start of the Spring, the first of which did not go well. There is no TV coverage of this game but you can listen live via MLB.com (radio is only on MLB.com, not on 1210 or any other local station).

What to watch on TV tonight: Bruins @ Flyers, 7:00 PM, Comcast SportsNet

Phillies @ Yankees Live Game Blog

The Phillies are facing the Yankees for the second time this Spring today at 1:05. Follow the game live by clicking the link below.

Click Here

The Disaster Continues in Flushing

I'm not quite sure what else can happen to the Mets. First they choke away the division in 2007, somewhat choke in 08 and watch their rivals win the World Series, and then have a season full of injuries and bad luck including the loss of millions of dollars to Bernie Madoff. Now things have gotten worse in Flushing. Shortstop Jose Reyes has been sent back to NYC after team doctors became concerned over what they found in Reyes' blood work. What they found is that Jose has an overactive thyroid.

What makes the timing of this interesting is that Reyes is currently under investigation for HGH use. Thyroid problems are a side effect of HGH. If there is a connection between his problems and HGH, it's his own fault for causing it. As much as I and other Philly fans hate him and his excessive celebration, he did have a lot of talent and hopefully this isn't the end of his career.