ibejim's Blog

The phillies may have one big advantage over the mets....camaraderie.  What I mean to say is  ,  these guys seem to have a genuine liking for each other , which is rare in team sports nowadays. Take for example yesterdays game...in the bottom of the ninth , billy wagner has 3 bases stolen off him in the blink of an eye, did any of the met infielders go to the mound and offer him encouragement ? Nada . I'd be willing to bet that if the situation were reversed ,utly ,  rollins or somebody would have gone to the mound and said something like "Hang in there dude, we got your back". That kind of  feeling doesn't  seem to exist  on the mets (perhaps it has something to do with wagner's statement  earlier this year that the mets weren't "playing up to thier abilities") .  When times get rough  I bet the phillies don't sit in the clubhouse and point  fingers or play the  " blame game' .  Anyway  , I guess what I'm trying to say is that during the course of a long season with ten day road trips ,a multitude of different  personalies , nationalities ,races and language barriers , it helps if you really enjoy each others company.  Oh, by the way , lets give charlie his due ....CHARLIE HAS DONE A GOOD JOB!....I'm tired of hearing ....charlie is stupid , charlie doesn't understand the double switch , charlie is nasty to the press...so what !!! The players play for the man , and thats the most important factor as far as I'm concerned . Consider this...... Chase utley....Jimmy rollins.....Ryan howard....All  m.v.p.  canditates ....ego clash ? I don't see it. camaraderie ?  40 come-back wins this year ,despite the injuries to thier pitching staff...camaraderie ? Recovering  after  a horrible start...camaraderie? I think it may be the phils ultimate advantage !