No Cole in Charlie's stocking

It takes coal millions of years to become a diamond. The Phillies hope that Cole Hamels can return to the diamond a little sooner than that.

He's on the clock.

Cole won't be back Sunday. He cut short his bullpen session after 25 pitches and said that the elbow discomfort that landed him on the disabled list was still there. Adam Eaton will start the series finale against the Marlins. As for Hamels, he'll take a week off as the medical staff puts him on a "dose pack," which is a fancy term for anti-inflammatory steroids that should help relieve the pain. He won't throw until late next week, so if you're wondering when exactly the Phils can plan on having Hamels back ... I'm going to circle the Sept. 14 game against the Mets on the calendar - in pencil.

Motorin'!

Every now and again you'll see an uncommon face in the press box. Thursday, Mr. Terry Toohey will be filling in for me as I hightail it for Fort Lauderdale. And today we have a special appearance by Inquirer Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio. Tim's a great guy. Furthermore, he is a dead-ringer for Alfred Molina's
Rahad Jackson character in "Boogie Nights," one of the great movies of our time.
If you need a refresher on which character that is, it's the drug lord who is rockin' out to "Sister Christian" in his robe and skivvies while his Asian friend is freaking out Dirk Diggler and Co. by tossing fire crackers every 10 seconds. Anyway, one of the photos to the right is Tim, and the other is Rahad - but I'm not telling you which is which (and I would not assume that Tim doesn't have a gun - and chest hair).

As for the Phillies, there will be no Chase Utley in the lineup. As Pat Gillick mentioned last week, the fractured hand is an injury that will require the second baseman to take an occasional day off to rest it and let the healing process continue. He'll get it tonight against left-hander Oliver Perez, then play in Thursday afternoon's series finale.

The lineup:

Rollins SS
Iguchi 2B
Burrell LF
Howard 1B
Rowand CF
Werth RF
Ruiz C
Nunez 3B
Moyer P

No Pressure, Adam ... It's Just Your Season We're Talking About

Well, it is put up or shut up time for Adam Eaton. He avoided catching heat for a subpar first half thanks to great run support and eight first-half wins. After the All-Star break he went from bad to unusable, so the Phillies used a shoulder twinge that, oh, 100 other pitchers are throwing through to give him 15 days to figure things out. This start means everything for the $24.5 million man. He has to give the Phils a quality start if he doesn't want to be banished to long relief.

The real interesting question is this: What do the Phils do if Eaton gives them seven strong innings? J.D. Durbin certainly has earned his stripes, and Cole Hamels is scheduled to come of the D.L. and pitch Sunday in Florida.

A guy to watch: Jamie Moyer. He has looked every bit of his 44 years lately. If Moyer has another clunker Wednesday, the Phillies might want to skip him in Atlanta Monday and see if extended rest recharges his battery.

Phils fired up by "retard"

I have to admit, the clubhouse before the game was actually quite relaxed, as if last night's Myers-Carchidi shouting match sort of turned the release valve on the pressure. Sure enough, the Phils have come out and put a whuppin' on the Padres.


I suggested that the Phillies should thank Sam for distracting them from the messy week they had. In fact, I even made a template for the patch they should wear on the sleeve of the jersey to commemorate this pivotal moment. That's it above - like it? (Sam has glasses and a moustache. Wanted to make that clear, since I'm no Picasso. On second thought ... it is a little Picasso-esque.)

The first rule of Phight Club ....

... is that nobody talks about Phight Club. Well, that's how it used to be.

Once upon a time you could have a good, ol' fashioned yelling match with a player, coach or manager in the clubhouse and didn't have to worry about it leaving the clubhouse. And why would you want it to leave the clubhouse? For what purpose? Covering baseball is a different animal from other sports. It starts in Clearwater with 6 1/2 weeks of spring training, then a six-month, 162-game schedule where members of the media and the team are around each other practically every single day.

It's like being members of a big, dysfunctional family in which the media and team are brothers who kind of tolerate each other because, well, what choice do you have when you're stuck in the same house together for eight months? And along the way you end up having some laughs and some arguments - all of which come with the territory.

Ah, but this is the age of MySpace, reality TV and - yes - blogs. Now it seems as if anything you say or do can turn up on streaming video or audio .... like the verbal showdown Brett Myers and Inquirer writer Sam Carchidi had in the clubhouse after Saturday night's game.

Since KYW 1060 had the gumption to put the unedited, R-rated audio of the incident online, I guess it's fair game.

First of all, there is a history involved. Many players - Brett being on of them - don't like the style of interviewing Sam often uses, particularly since he is a backup writer who is there once in a blue moon and oftentimes digs at issues that have been addressed in the days before he shows up. Personally, it can get on my nerves, too. For example, before Saturday's game Sam asked Charlie Manuel with a tinge of exasperation in his voice what was going on with Tadahito Iguchi and the possibility of him playing some third base. That was an issue that Manuel and Pat Gillick both put to bed days earlier by stating that such a move would require a spring training's worth of practice to pull off. Yet Sam shows up and asks questions as if nothing has changed since the last time he was at the ballpark, which was weeks ago.

Pretty annoying, right?

That said, both parties were in the wrong Saturday night. Brett clearly wasn't happy about his performance, and he allowed whatever prior headaches he received from Sam to remain exposed. You have to be better than that.

Sam, meanwhile, should have just let it roll off his back, at least for the moment. If he felt he needed to confront Myers on the matter, do it one-on-one - and if he doesn't understand why he should wait, all he has to do is go to KYW's Web site to figure it out.

It's a different world thanks to the Internet, and not always in a good way. The bottom line is that we need to adapt so that the occasional blow-ups that take place don't become the story .... SINCE WE AREN'T THE STORY!!!!

Utley, Eaton performing normally

Chase Utley and Adam Eaton are with Double-A Reading today and playing as if in midseason form. After grounding out in his first plate appearance, Utley singled to right field in his second AB. As for Eaton, his midseason form involves giving up first-inning runs - he coughed up two to Akron after starting his two-inning stint by plunking the first batter. Eaton allowed three hits and the two runs. Despite the less-than-encouraging rehab stint, he likely will come off the D.L. and pitch against the Mets either Tuesday or Wednesday. Reading has a doubleheader this evening, so Utley is playing second base in the first game and D.H. in the nightcap. He'll play again Saturday and get Sunday off before getting activated Monday.

G.M. Pat Gillick told me that he not only expects Scott Mathieson to join the Phillies' bullpen by Labor Day, but that he believes the hard-throwing right-hander can make an impact there. Mathieson had "Tommy John" elbow surgery 11 months ago. If he can bring the goods, it will be one hell of a comeback.

8/23, Phils vs. Dodgers, In-Game Blog

Well, what can you say about Fabio Castro? Effectively wild? Frighteningly wild? I think half of the Dodgers are checking to make sure their coconuts are still attached, since Castro buzzed the light tower about a half-dozen times. The bottom line is that Castro allowed one run in five innings and kept the Phils in the game (despite walking six and throwing 48 of 88 pitches for balls - yikes).
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The bullpen has been just awful this week (Tom Gordon is joining the list today), but let's keep in mind that the Phillies are on their way to an nine-run, three-game series for the second time in the last three series. When Ryan Howard is being noticed more for his god-awful fielding and base-stealing prowess than for his bat, you have a problem on your hands. They HAVE to get him straightened out. And they really need Chase Utley to be rust-free when he gets activated.
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Ramon Martinez burns his former team (yes, you might have blinked and missed his Phillies' stint last season) with a two-run single in the eighth. Martinez has 22 hits and 22 RBIs this season, which makes him the only player in the majors with 100-plus plate appearances who has at least as many RBIs as hits. As far as I can tell, the last time a player had more RBIs than hits in a season was 2005 when Keith Ginter (25 RBIs, 22 hits) and Frank Thomas (26 RBIs, 23 hits) pulled it off.
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A few postgame thoughts:

--Ryan Howard not only has been awful at the plate since Chase Utley hit the D.L. (17-for-109, 4 HR, 14 RBI), the slump seems to be following him to the field. He made three simply terrible throws this afternoon that cost the Phillies outs. You could hear the disappointment in Charlie Manuel's voice in Howard's inability to pick up any of the slack.
--Utley will playing in Reading today, most probably as a DH. He'll play second base Saturday and Sunday, then return to action against the Mets.
--You won't see Tadahito Iguchi at third base - time to put that idea to rest - but he'll be the prime bat off the bench when Utley returns.

Since blogging is freestyle journalism ...

... I'm going to incorporate some poker discussion into the blog. There were some disappointed folks who didn't want to see the poker column die earlier this year (me being one of them), so every now and again (particularly in the offseason) I'll bring some poker chat onto the blog. If you have questions about the Phillies or poker, drop me an e-mail (dendeitch@aol.com) and I'll have an occasional Q & A post here.

The "It Could Be Worse" Dept.

The left-field scoreboard at CBP says the Rangers are beating the Orioles, 10-3. That's one-third correct -- the Rangers are winning, 30-3.

It's a good night when your Nos. 8 and 9 hitters have a combined 14 RBIs in the game.

The Phillies Magazine Curse

So, I was standing next to wrestling nut/Phillies' P.R. dude Greg Castrioto in the clubhouse a couple of weeks ago when I looked on the table cluttered with periodicals and noticed the latest edition of Phillies magazine sitting there with Cole Hamels on the cover.

"Dude," I'm fairly sure I said, since everyone is 'Dude' to me, "you are going to regret that."

Why should the Phillies regret their decision to make Hamels the monthly magazine's cover boy? Well, in April Ryan Howard was on the cover with Mike Schmidt. Before the next magazine was released, he was on the D.L. In May, Brett Myers appeared on the cover. Later that month, he landed on the D.L. In July, Chase Utley was on the cover and eventually had his hand smashed by a Jon Lannan fastball.

Basically, Cole Hamels was given a death sentence by his employers when he was on the cover in August. Shame on them!

(Actually, the MRI was fairly encouraging, so although Hamels was placed on the 15-day D.L., he hopes to be back in the rotation for the first week of September.)

You might have noticed that I skipped a month when chronicling the Curse of the Phillies Magazine. Interestingly, Aaron Rowand - who invented new and exciting ways to smash up his body in 2006 - was on the June cover and managed to dodge the D.L. bullet.

So, inquiring minds might want to know, who is scheduled to appear on September's cover? Well, the rumor is that the player/victim is Shane Victorino, which is interesting since he just came off a three-week D.L. stint caused by a strained calf.

Does this mean that he's destined for a recurrence? I'm not sure, but if I were Shane, I would be a little worried.

8/20 Phils vs. Dodgers, In-Game Blog

It's damp, chilly and the wind is blowing pretty steadily from the East. This tends to kill balls to center field, but the ball still tends to carry pretty well down the lines on days like this.
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Russ Martin's home run had no problem getting out to left field - and it sounded like he might have gotten that off the end of the bat a bit. The Dodgers have Kendrick problems in L.A. They seem to have hitters who fit his style of pitching. Furcal, Pierre, Ethier ... they all can slap pitches the other way.
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Just when you thought perhaps every possible injury had occurred ... Cole Hamels is scratched for Wednesday's start with mild elbow soreness. MRI coming Wednesday, Armaggedon scheduled to arrive, oh, Saturday.

Utley is swingin', baby!

No, Utley has not purchased a Shaguar. Yes, he did take some swings in the batting cage a few hours before the game. Utley started with some fungo hacks off a tee, then switched to a standard bat, then even took some swings at some soft tosses from Charlie Manuel.

When asked if he was shooting for a Monday return (the first game of the four-game uber series against the Mets), he said, "I want to come back as soon as possible." Could it mean he'll be back a day or two earlier? Hmm ... we'll see. He could take some batting-practice swings Wednesday and probably again Thursday. If that goes EXTREMELY well, perhaps he could play in a minor-league rehab game or two Friday and Saturday, then return to action Sunday as a primer for the Mets.

That, however, would be rushing it a bit. Monday seems more reasonable.

If the season ended today ...

... the Phillies would be a playoff team. They moved into a tie with the Padres for the wildcard lead Friday night and remained three games behind the Mets in the N.L. East.

That's a good feeling for a team that at the same point a season ago was 59-62, 14 games behind the Mets and 2 1/2 games out of a wildcard race that included a gaggle of mediocre teams.

In my Sunday column I'll talk about how the postseason electricity should reach full wattage when the Mets come to town for the conclusion of the next homestand - especially if Chase Utley makes his return from the D.L. in that series.

Phils vs. Pirates, 8/17, In-Game Blog

Hey, which softball team in the Champs n' Charity Classic loaned their uniforms to the Pirates?

Those unis are hideous.

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Well, not a good start to Howard's night. With runners on first and second he popped out on a 3-2 pitch that probably was ball four, inside and a little high. I'll say this: He made an effort to take the ball the other way, and getting pull-happy has been his No. 1 crime this season. It just wasn't the right pitch to hit the other way.

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J.D. Durbin's first inning: Four-pitch walk, Freddy Sanchez RBI single, Adam LaRoche hot-smash right at Howard for a line-drive double play, Jason Bay 320-foot fly out.
Very Eaton-esque.

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A much-improved effort by Durbin in the second - 1-2-3. Now the Phils need to get to Gorzelanny. The fact that five of their six outs have been in the air could be a good sign for the second time through the order. That means Gorzelanny is keeping pitches up in the zone. There's a lot of room in left field at PNC Park, but it's never a good idea to let hitters get under pitches.

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Jimmy Rollins double ... I rest my case.

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OK, I figured out what those Pirates uniforms remind me of:

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You could smell that home run coming ... Rowand gives the Phillies the lead. Time to check how many of his 20 homers this season have done that. It seems like most of them have.

(Answer to that: Rowand has had four go-ahead homers and four game-tying homers. Not as many as I thought.)

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Prediction: Charlie doesn't ask Howard if he wants to sit against Paul Maholm. He just sits him. Otherwise, this has been an impressive effort by the Phils. Pat Burrell's homer was the 1,000th hit of his career.

Three Rivers, One Bad Baseball Team

Greetings from Pittsburgh! Home of the mullet, a river (Monongahela) with an even weirder name than Schuylkill, and the town where .38 Special is playing somewhere at all times. (For instance, we are jamming to "Hang On Loosely" in the park at the moment - turn up Freedom Rock!)

It's also the home of some ironic facts ... for instance, Andy Warhol was born and raised here. How in the Campbell Soup Can did that happen? And how do you have the best ballpark in the majors and the most hapless team playing in it? PNC Park is a treasure; the Pirates, however, are a shipwreck.

Ryan Howard almost took a seat Friday night against Tom Gorzelanny, who has been vicious against left-handed hitters (.190). Howard, meanwhile, has been very inconsistent at the plate since Chase Utley went down (.200, 4 HR, 32 K in 70 AB). He'll put a good swing on a ball once in a while and come up with a big hit, but Howard unquestionably has taken many, many more bad swings this season than he did in 2006. Howard told Charlie Manuel that he didn't want to sit a game out .... we'll see if he responds to the suggestion with better focus in the batter's box.

Shane Victorino is with the team. He believes the "grab" he felt in his injured calf during a rehab game for Reading was some scar tissue tearing. He had an MRI done that showed healing and no further damage, so he could make one or two more rehab appearances after the weekend and return to the Phils by mid-week.

Phils vs. Nationals, 8/15, In-Game Blog

Well, the Nationals got two runs in the second that absolutely should not have been, since 1) first-base ump Marvin Hudson absolutely whiffed on a call that should have completed a double play off Austin Kearns' bat, and 2) Ryan Howard had the Mother of All Brain Cramps on a routine grounder. Kendrick covered first, was waiting for the flip ... and Howard just didn't give it to him.

Of course, the official scorer somehow thought Brian Schneider should get a base hit on that play, which is as WRONG as you could get. Because Howard's failure to make a routine flip so clearly cost an out, he could be (and should be) charged with an error. HOWEVER, even if this scorer wants to treat this like Little League and not give out an error, it should be a fielder's choice. It sure as heck isn't a hit.

You might notice as the posts pile up that I'm not a big fan of the level of scoring in the big leagues these days.

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Well, it didn't take long for another writer to earn a virtual smackdown in this space.
We just entered the top of the sixth with the Nats leading, 2-1, when Bucks County Courier Times backup writer Kevin Cooney declared, "This game is flying along."
We are all prepared for 20 innings now. Way to go, slick.

Wow, they'll hand the keys to anyone

Yes, this is Dennis Deitch, live from Washington D.C., and the blog is open for business.

The first post will be short and sweet: Adam Eaton is out, via a 15-day D.L. stint for a sore shoulder that wouldn't be sore enough for the D.L. if he didn't have an ERA close to 9.00 since the All-Star break. He had a cortisone shot in the shoulder Sunday, the point of which is to give him a chance to pitch through the soreness. But that isn't happening. He'll throw on the side in Pittsburgh, make a minor-league "rehab" start sometime next week, then the Phillies will decide whether they want to welcome their $24.5 million investment back to start against the Mets (since he's 5-0, 1.89 ERA lifetime against them) in August's final week.

Shane Victorino is heading to Philly for an examination of the strained calf he aggravated Tuesday night in a rehab game. He's shelved for at least a few days. A better guess is that this will cost him another two weeks, if not more.

Check during the game for updates, thoughts and witticisms. And please feel free to leave comments and questions that I'll do my best to answer along the way.