Road To 10,000 Losses: Best Stretch So Far

Road to 10,000 Losses is a countdown to the Phillies’ 10,000th Loss, coming sometime later this year. With a 9-6 loss to the Astros Friday and an 8-5 win Saturday, the Phillies stand at 9963 losses, only 37 away from 10,000.

Thanks to Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and the weather, this was the Phillies’ best weekend so far in the 2007 season. Why, you ask? Well, over a three-day stretch, the Fightins only lost one game. So far this season, the Phillies have lost an average of 10 games per three-day stretch (somehow). Okay, so the Phils’ blew a 3-0 lead Friday night and Sunday’s game was rained out. But still: The Phillies split a home series! For now!

First, the good: Sunday was Jackie Robinson Day all across baseball, but Mother Nature remembered how the Phillies treated Jackie Robinson and rained the game out. Saturday, the Phillies actually rallied from a 4-1 deficit, Jimmy Rollins hit his NL-leading sixth homer and Chase Utley didn’t screw up too much and the Phils won, 8-5.

Friday night, though, was not so kind to the local nine. The Phillies scored three in the first inning off Roy Oswalt, but the Astros came back thanks to three Carlos Lee home runs, one of ‘em a grand slam. The Phils had about 50 chances to come back from a deficit that was as much as 8-3, but blew every single one.

Friday night’s game, which dropped the Phillies to 2-8, was too much to bear for Jason Weitzel, of Beerleaguer, to bear. He was one of those who predicted the Phils would make the playoffs this year, and unlike eternal pessimists like myself, he put himself in a position to be let down.

I’m writing out of a sense of duty to the site today. Fortunately, this isn’t my livelihood. I can step away whenever I want. The Phillies are pushing me in that direction. Losing is not only boring, it’s depressing.

Brett Myers’ latest excuse is he’s “pitching scared.” Like a scared dog is what he said. Nope. Just the dog part, champ. Oh how the Astros laughed after Carlos Lee smashed your middle-in attempt at revenge into the seats. You’re not pitching scared, Brett. You’re pitching like a moron.

Pat Gillick’s blueprint for building a championship is to give major league contracts to ex-players like Jayson Werth, who, by all accounts, is a garden variety Triple-A corner outfielder. He looks like he should be able to play: tall; athletic; even handsome. Werth even has a baseball pedigree. That’s good enough for Gillick, a man with more jurisdiction over stone-cold stiffs than a coroner.

Finally, we’ve run the gammit from management to performance this season, but we haven’t touched on intellect, which went missing again last night. Answering whether stupid decisions, like sending Shane Victorino with no outs from third base, will ever change, wise old poster, Nat, had this to say:

This is one thing I don’t expect to change. Some of the other problems may get corrected, but the stupidity will remain. You can break out of a slump. You can recover from injury. Your luck can change. But if you are stupid, you pretty much stay that way.

Oddly enough, with the rate the Phillies are taking pitches and walking this year, I’m really not as pessimistic as everyone else anymore. But on the plus side, I’m gonna be able to finish this 10,000-loss countdown before my impending doom.

Hunky-dory Phillies say ‘It’s just a matter of time’ [Beerleaguer]