2008 Philadelphia Phillies Season/Playoff Thread (Die Mets Die)

[MDS]

lol

[SD_Eagle5]

lol

[Geowhizzer]

Hamels pitching well again.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

jinxer

[MDS]

wow manuel warmed up lidge and didnt use him in a game when the phils added some runs. brilliant.

[PhillyPhreak54]

I was one who turned on Lieberthal but I admit that it was probably wrong to do so. It wasn't his fault his knees were shot and yet he was still run out there every day. It was Ed Wade's fault for not replacing him and signing him to a fat contract. It's nice to see him retire and his passion for the team.

I remember his rookie card back in 1990 Topps. I played skee-ball forever in Cape May so I could win enough tickets to get that card.

[PhillyGirl]

It wasn't his fault his knees were shot and yet he was still run out there every day. It was Ed Wade's fault for not replacing him and signing him to a fat contract. It's nice to see him retire and his passion for the team.

That's exactly how I feel.

PS....15-12 with one day left in the month of April. I consider this first month a huge success....especially considering they were without JRoll for most of it. Can't go blaming April for this season, come September.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Right, they'll have to blame another month.

[Sgt PSN]

My money's on September. 

I'm really shocked that they're actually going to go into May above .500, especially when you look at not having Rollins, the horrible month by Howard at the plate and in the field along with other injuries here and there.  The really important thing though is that none of the other NL East teams have come out blazing through the first month so they don't have to worry about making up a bunch of ground within the division either. 

[ice grillin you]

My money's on September. 
The really important thing though is that none of the other NL East teams have come out blazing through the first month

nor will they ever
in fact the entire NL is a joke
which is why the phillies will be in the hunt
for at least a wild card spot the entire season

[Wingspan]

The only other injury was Victorino...which helped them. Victorino is out of his league as an everyday starter.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

My money's on September. 
The really important thing though is that none of the other NL East teams have come out blazing through the first month

nor will they ever
in fact the entire NL is a joke
which is why the phillies will be in the hunt
for at least a wild card spot the entire season

what is your decision process
when deciding how to format your post
it seems random
when you sometimes
break it up like this

[ice grillin you]

Former Wolf Pack members come out of den for Padres-Phillies game
By PAUL HAGEN
Philadelphia Daily News

hagenp@phillynews.com

FOUR BROTHERS - Patrick, John, Joe and Jim Wood - plan to go to the Phillies game tonight. That makes them no different than, oh, about 40,000 other fans. Maybe they will wander through Ashburn Alley, maybe they will eat some hot dogs. They will root, root, root for the home team. Typical.
What they won't be doing is wearing rubber masks and dancing and screaming every time Padres starter Randy Wolf gets an out.

Not standing out from the crowd is what will be different for the Woods, founding members of the fabled Wolf Pack.

It also will be an interesting case study of the old question of how fans react when their favorite player leaves because of a trade or free agency and then comes back with a different team.

Because from the time the group was formed in June 1999, until the last game Wolf pitched for the Phillies, first at Veterans Stadium and later at Citizens Bank Park, the Wolf Pack was there in full howl to support him.

There were eight brothers, sons of a Philadelphia policeman. Kevin and Joe are generally credited with coming up with the idea. John, Al, Jimmy, Charles, Tom and Patrick enthusiastically joined in. At its peak, the core group numbered about 15 including assorted cousins and friends, most graduates of Archbishop Carroll or Upper Darby High Schools.

Along the way they became well known in their own right and spawned a series of imitators (Adams Family for Terry Adams; Padilla Flotilla for Vicente Padilla; Duck Pond for Brandon Duckworth; Person's People for Robert Person; even Generic Fan Group, just to name a few). But the Wolf Pack always set the standard.

No negativity, although they reserved the right to growl at the umpire if his calls went against their man. No cursing or alcohol. Masks to be worn at all times while Wolf was in the game. They came off when he was finished for the night . . . but the Pack stuck around until the end to root for the Phillies.

It was something special, especially in an era when the gap between the players and the fans who root for them has never been wider.

And then, at the end of the 2006 season, Wolf became a free agent and signed with the Dodgers. This will be the first time he has pitched against the Phillies; last year he was sidelined with shoulder problems both times the teams met.

"It's going to be tough watching him in person wearing a different uniform for the first time," Patrick said earlier this week.

"We'd never root against Randy. But we'd never root against the Phillies, either. So I guess I hope he pitches eight shutout innings and the Phillies win it in the ninth after he's out of the game.

"I might give a little fist pump when he strikes somebody out, though."

Adding to the conflicted emotions, the Wolf Pack used to do its thing from Section 739 in left field at the Vet and along the way developed a bond with Pat Burrell as well. "Pat Burrell is one of my favorite Phillies of all-time. I'll be so torn," Patrick said with a laugh. "If Randy strikes Pat out or if Pat homers off Randy, my head might split."

Added John Wood in an e-mail: "We all miss Randy and wish he could still be with us, but we understand that baseball is a business and Randy had to do what is best for himself and his family. We are Phillies [f]ans first and would want the Phillies to win at all costs.

"Randy understands this and knows that while we want him to win a Cy Young Award and want the best for his career, just don't do it against the Phils."

Patrick exchanged e-mails with Wolf recently. He listens to most of the lefthander's starts on mlb.com.

But it won't be the same. It can't be. The brothers accept that. Thanks for the memories.

When the Wolf Pack started, Patrick wasn't even engaged to his future wife. Now he and Amy have four children. On the day they were married in 2000, they spent an inning in the booth with Harry Kalas and Larry Andersen before flying to Hawaii for their honeymoon the following morning.

The group took pride in being here every time Wolf pitched, even once when he came out of the bullpen. "They must have sent out the Wolf signal," Andersen marveled on the air.

John, Patrick, Charles and a cousin, Tommy Thompson, drove to Chicago for Wolf's All-Star appearance in 2003. They met his mother, who declared them her adopted sons.

They all mourned together after Tom was killed in an automobile accident on April 10, 2002, but they never missed a Wolf start. It was an antidote for their grief. Wolf attended the funeral and saluted the Pack when he left the mound after his next start.

It was a treasured time that defined all their lives and now it's over.

Well, probably.

"Maybe, just maybe, the Wolf will return to his Den one day," John wrote. "And we will be there." *

[rjs246]

"Maybe, just maybe, the Wolf will return to his Den one day," John wrote. "And we will be there."

Jesus christ.

[ice grillin you]

ha