Noun + Verb + "Bill Ayers"

They've been relying too much on the long ball. But stranding runners is just the Philly way.

The Phillies have a lot of speed and a great first base coach in Davey Lopes. And don't forget about Greg Dobbs off the bench.

If Utley and Howard come around they're going to the World Series. And Pat Burrell is swinging a hot bat right now, don't forget. He won game 4 of the NLDS for them.

Myers is a question mark, but the bullpen can put out the fire if he brings a gas can out to the mound.

And we have Mitchie-poo to break it all down on Post Game Live...mwahahahahahahaha!!!

As a Phillies fan, I have to listen to Buck and McCarver for every game of this NLCS. For the first time that I can remember, I've started listening to portions of the game with the sound off.

By the way, is it really that hard for McCarver to get the player's name right? He's always mispronouncing Carlos Ruiz's name. It must be too exhausting for the poor guy. I think I'll start calling him Dim McCarver.

There have been a lot of fresh McCain-Palin signs springing up on lawns all around me in the past couple of days. Driving home last night, I felt like I was in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." As long as I don't fall asleep I just might vote for Barack in November.

And Citizens Bank is nice, too, but it's all about the product on the field.

When I was a kid, I went to games and was in awe to be in the same place as Mike Schmidt, the Bull, Pete Rose, Lefty, Bake McBride, and all the rest. I'd study their stats and their pictures on my baseball cards at home and then suddenly, wow, there they are taking BP right in front of me. I still feel that same charge now as an adult.

The fact that the Rays are getting lumped in with the Phillies is an insult (and yes, it's an insult to the Phillies). They have been in existence since 1883. They've lost over 10,000 games, for chrissakes. That's no small feat. The Rays want to complain about losing? Try only 6 pennants and one WS in 125 years. So the Rays and their fans can go take a big flying leap.

By the way, as one reader mentioned, I don't understand somebody changing teams. For example, I went to school at the University of New Mexico in the late '90s and so went to see the old Albuquerque Dukes Triple A team play (they were in the Dodgers organization). I was lucky enough to see Eddie Murray hit a home run in that park (his last professional home run), as well as see guys like Paul Konerko come up. I had a soft spot for the team, and it was cool to see guys like Konerko have success in the big leagues, but that was it, man. My brother, on the other hand, grew up a Phillies fan. Went he moved to NYC, he became a Yankees fan. When he moved to Boston, he (wait for it) became a Red Sox fan. Yikes. That's just weak. (Coincidentally, he lived in Manhattan in the mid to late '90s and in Boston after 2000. Can you say bandwagon? I can, and I say it to him every chance I get.)