Phillies Nation

here’s a toast to the first loss of many in 2009 ladies

Wow !! That’s not how it was supposed to go down . Oh well lets get them out of the way now . Shake it off , Let GO Phillies!!! WFC

Guys, it’s one game. Lowe pitched brilliantly tonight, very likely with a chip on his shoulder as an incentive.

That 2008 banner is still waving in Center Field. It didn’t suddenly disappear yet. I loved Tim’s post earlier today about deserved leeway. I recommend reading it.

go Phils!

I really thought the bullpen was encouraging. With so many people not expecting them to keep the pace, I was able to get something to smile about after the game.

Myers threw a few garbage pitches that put up the runs but on the bright side, he recovered alright. Not worried about him……..yet. I liked the looks of the bullpen, especially Taschner, who I had not read much positive about but I thought he looked really good. The highlight was Lidge throwing a little chin music at Schaffer and forcing him to strike out after an otherwise great debut. Hey, the Phils and the fans need to return to the reality that ’08 is over and well this is it. The important part is, the season is underway!

and this division is gonna be exciting these next six months

Phillies, Mets, Marlins, and Braves all battling it out and well the Nationals (never know, they could be the next Rays)

i think this game was a glaring example of why we should’ve gotten lowe

Dan i was thinking the same thing. He’s a perfect pitcher for our ballpark. A majority of his outs were ground balls in the infield. But you can’t have everything.

I’m really not too worried about this game. First game of the season. Once this week is over with all the WFC ceremonies they’ll be right back to business.

2008 is over. Time to shine in 09

It’s a shame we couldn’t get Derek Lowe.

I am kinda glad we lost things one cause, if we had won, I would have gotten all paranoid that we jinxed outselves by actually winning a season opener.

Tough draw for the season opener facing Derek Lowe. Tough to face him anytime. One of the best pitchers in baseball. Have to be patient facing him when he throws them sliders and sinker especially in the fifth and sixth innings when he has shown sometimes in the past that he is “reachable”. Have to keep the game close against him which is what Myers failed to do right off the bat. No loss is good but this is a good loss for the Phillies against a top pitcher who the Phils might see four or five more times during the regular season. The exposure to Lowe tonight hopefully will help them adjust for when they face him next time which will be sooner with him being on Atlanta now instead of LA.

I was at the game, the atmosphere itself was pretty amazing… the game sucked. It took the fans in my area all of two innings to denounce Myers again.

We have lost more than the last two opening day games… I believe this is the fourth in a row?

The thing that we have to accept is this is an incredibly streaky team on offense and last night was a mirror of many games last season where the Phils were sut down and it was all down to one inning. The Phils are going to loose a lot of games like last night, but will make up for it with the hot streaks. Wish there was more consistency but that aint gonna happen any time soon.

Credit to the bullpen, has gone from a minor league rag-tag group to what really is the centrepiece of the Phils in two years.

ITS all over – we are sooo PHUCKED.

Myers is back to his old habits and 6+ ERA…
Hamels will be on DL by May..
Moyer will get shelled…early and often..his age will catch up with him

that leaves us with Blanton/Happ and Park to carry the load..

were so screwed.

Wow 1 game down and Maverick’s already getting the scissors ready…

Jeez Mav, a little early for that.

Brett Myers is always shake in the early innings, if he gets through the first two innings then hell cruise for a while – weve always known that about him. Hes afraid to use his fastball at the beginning of the game – always has been. If he starts off the season the same as last season then theyve got a problem.

Park will probably be good for a while then Hell need replaced – Enter JA Happ (May-June).

Moyer will suck and get lit up (I like the guy, but have some respect for the game and retire on top like you should have – now theyre on the hook for all that money) – Enter Carlos Carrasco (May-June).

But if Brett Myers starts to suck consistently then theyve gotta make a trade for a good starting pitcher just like last year. Hopefully they wont have to do that, but this is what Brett Myers does. He gets wierd from time to time out there.

Hey was anyone else at the game last night that saw that first parachuter miss the field and land outside the ballpark? Scary and funny at the same time, it’s funny now because he landed fine but scary because from the vantage point i had from the right field line it looked like he could have run right into the brick wall on the outside of ashburn alley.

Just curious… saw a sign pregame; I don’t remember the “E” or the “S” but it ended with “P”hillies “N”ation… was that one of you guys?

It was a tough loss to swallow because of the hope that comes with opening day and the game was pretty dreadfull except for a few tater balls. Frankly, I was getting sick of watching Yunel Escobar field groundballs. Derek Lowe was great last night… had his best stuff. One thing is for sure, this team is going to scrap. They didn’t pack it in and we’ll be alright. I don’t blame Howard for not swinging… that was the first fastball that he saw all game… he had to be thinking slider in that situation and unfortunately, Gonzalez made a good pitch. I know that the announcers said that he should have been thinking fastball but how could he be (he saw 20-30 straight sliders/sinkers)? All in all, it was a great opening day, Myers settled down and didn’t walk many batters, if any (wonder why he didn’t start using the curveball until the 5th inning), the relievers did a great job and the team battled in the 9th.

Why would he be thinking Slider? Gonzalez has to throw a fastball or hell walk the bases loaded. You have to think fastball in a fastball count..

Chuck, I saw that sign too, but only the first three words… “E”veryone “S”upports “P”hillies … “Nation”… Was it anyone from this website with that sign or is Phillies Nation becoming a houselhold name?

Don’t know why but guys calm down. 1 freakin game. I know it was Opening Night, raising the WS banner and we’re world champs but still… u know the players were all distracted even though they liked the ceremonies. Even Derek lowe said the average man doesn’t understand all the hoopula all the ceremonies, the videos and the claps and then a ballgame to play. The phils will get back to their way which is playing tough and winning. If you want to talk about omens than lets talk it this way. A parachuter didn’t land in CBP, a ladder was taken under from Manuel, the first pitch from Myers to begin the season was a ball and all the first pitches to the batters who hit dingers were balls and jimmy rollins got out on the first official phillies at bat of the year. But who cares its over Jurrigens vs Moyer tom at 7. Jurrigens 1-2 with 3.53era vs phils last year or something to that era. Moyer has struggled in career vs braves goin 3-8 with like a 5.68era. But remember thats in the past. 2009 and don’t stop writin things like get manuel fired, trade ibanez for burrell, trade Howard, Hamels on DL by may, Park good for month then bring in Happ, trade Myers, force Moyer to retire. Folks, one game. 161 left. We’re gonna lose many times this year around 60 or 70 times. So get with it and we’ll win around 90-95.

you cannot put 3 lefties in a row, its justa bad idea…

rollins
victorino
utley
howard
werth
ibanez
feliz
ruiz

problem is utleys too good of a hitter to hit anywhere but third. so yorue stuck with two lefties at 3-4, but ibanez cant be 5. he has to be the 6th guy.

Lowe showed why he got the big contract last night, basically. He was absolutely awesome.