::passes the Haterade::

::gives cheese with the Whine::

Oh, good. I was worried that some people might not get the message.

Cole Hamels reads a Top Ten list on Letterman tonight. See the list here if you can't watch.

The parade starts at noon tomorrow. The rally will be held at CBP at around 1:45 pm -- but there also will be a crowd at the Linc watching on the big screens. Supposedly there may be player appearances at the Linc as well, but we'll see. That's where I may be. I have a ticket but may just go to Broad Street instead.

It's odd that you have to have a ticket to get in, even though they're free. They didn't do that at past parades. Times have changed, I guess. The tickets were all made available online through Phillies.com. The CBP link went to the Phils' ticketing system (which I never got through the online queue) but the Linc link went to Ticketmaster. What shocked me was that, for once, Ticketmaster didn't charge a single fee.

It's a fantastic, easy way to collect information (name, phone, e-mail, etc) of people who are at least somewhat interested in the product.

Not to rain on the Philly parade, or anything, but Sarah Palin got booed at a rally in Erie, PA for congratulating the Phillies on their world series victory. Maybe the Phils, in a twisted way, are gonna'help the Dems win PA...

The parade passed by my office (near the start of the route) about an hour and a half ago. The streets are still packed. It's a sunny day in the 60s so the weather cooperated. There must be at least a million (maybe as many as 2 million, some reports say) people lining Market and Broad Streets and in the Linc and Citizens Bank Park.

It's a fun day here in Philly...and a long time coming.

I am very happy for you,Marty!

It was a great day for a parade and easily the largest I have ever attended. The route went for almost 5 miles and every bit of it was lined with people. I walked the entire distance to the the ballpark, where each member of the team was introduced individually in a motorcade of cars into the stadium. In addition to various management and guests, many of the players gave a speech of gratitude. Jamie Moyer reflected back to 1980 when as a teenager he attended the parade, but how this one outdid that one. Pat Burrell who may have played his last year as a Phillie, entered with his dog, and was emotional over his 10 seasons here.

Really? Did you have a ticket for either stadium or did you just follow?

I had a ticket for the Linc so when I got into town at 10:15 I just stayed near 15th & Market until the caravan passed. While waiting, the crowd on each side of Market St. kept throwing a couple of tennis balls back and forth across the street. Then a beach ball arrived. It was like the last time I was in Dodger Stadium. After the caravan passed my location, I joined a swarm of humanity headed to the Broad St. Subway. Even with so many people crowding in, since they were running trains so often I still got to the Linc well before the parade got there.

The seats at the Linc never completely filled up. In the upper deck, where I was, there were still a fair amount of empty seats. I guess many people who got tickets either couldn't make it down there, or changed their minds.

Favorite moment: when that seemingly mild-mannered Chase Utley dropped the f-bomb. On live TV for the second time this year, except this time it was much more on purpose.

I am very glad that the fans of the Phillies had such a good time and enjoyed their moment in the sun.

I was disappointed that one of the star players chose not to be magnanimous in victory, resorting to taunting an adversary when they were down. Mr. Rollins would have been more of a gentleman had he tipped his hat to Johan Santana and the Mets for a well-played season.

Hubris is very dangerous. The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine!

Neid zu fühlen ist menschlich, Schadenfreude zu genießen teuflisch!

Hubris? He made a valid point. It takes more than one player to win. And he did say that Johan Santana is a great pitcher.

Okay, I may have been quick to call it hubris. I just wish ball players would show some sportsmanship these days. It's a lost art. To call them gentlemen today is a bit of a stretch!

Just got back from my west coast vacation and wanted to give my Congrats to the Phillies and their fans.

" A lot of things were made in the offseason [sic], we can talk about the New York Mets. They brought in that great pitcher, Johan Santana, but they forgot that it takes more than one player to bring home a championship."

wow, what a frontrunner. AND an assh*le. (do the Phillies know they're not champions without ONE player, ie Lidge?)

Let the hatred grow and metastasize...

Hatred growing? This coming from the biggest hater of them all? Is it possible for his hate for...well, everything...to grow any more than it already has? Anyway, he finally chimes in with his same old WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!! (Although there was a new twist with the comment on Lidge, which is odd considering his previous stance on closers and saves being overrated, or some such twaddle.)

Yet, while making his usual hit-and-run bullshit post, he somehow neglected to answer the question posed in the 2008 predictions thread. He bragged about his little stat geek group projecting the Rays to win 88 games, more than just about everyone else thought they'd get (and still 9 short of their actual total). Yet at the same time, he has no comment about the fact that same little group of freaks also projected the Phillies would win just 80 games -- 12 short of their actual total.

Accuracy? Accountability? Thy name is NOT "stat geek."



Thanks, Kenny. Hope you had a good trip out west.

CroMagnon JIP,

First of all, it was the continued "hatred" between our two favorite teams I was encouraging for next year. At last we have a full-on, loathing rivalry going. ie, if Johan doesn't make his first 2009 pitch to Diva Rollins a fastball in the back, I will be disappointed. Baseball brawls are generally stupid affairs, but this one's long overdue. (Let's see if Brett Myers, sportswriters' favorite Caucasian domestic abuser, can hit anyone besides his wife.)

I didn't comment on any other Prospectus PECOTA projections because I haven't looked at em since April. Doing so now, the page I'm looking at says the projection for the Phils was 86 wins -- matching closely your admission here last spring you didn't think they'd necessarily be better than the 2007 team. Interestingly, the Phillies wound up with 87 "third-order" wins this year (not going to attempt to explain that to you; life is short). As far as I can tell, you (or more likely the hack writer you swiped this "fact" from) cherry-picked the 80-victory total from the predix of a single BP writer, Joe Sheehan, who BTW also forecast only 77 wins for the Rays. Not the same thing as the PECOTA predix at all. In the future, stick to what you understand (as limited as that is).

Brad Lidge had an excellent year; that is not a contradiction to the statement that closers are generally overrated. I know you don't "do" nuance. (However, I have been reminded that Lidge's sucky year was 2006, and that his 2007 was decent. Hence he should not be Comeback Player of the year.)

your favorite Mets fan and seamhead,
Bill W
xoxo

the city of philadelphia and their fans deserved it far more than tampa

"deserved"

Translation: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Really? Why is that?

And just because I have to do it... the Rays don't play in Tampa - they play in St. Petersburg. Thanks.