It's finally here! Today, baseball began, and even better, the Phillies play their first game of the season tomorrow! Months of waiting after a disappointing October have finally paid off, and now it is time for one of the most anticipated seasons in recent history. Originally, with the acquisition of Cliff Lee in addition to Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt, it was thought that the Phillies are the clear favorite to win the World Series. But now, after a spring training filled with injuries and offensive questions, it should turn out to be much more interesting and competitive. Honestly, I am very nervous for this season. Chase Utley, the best second baseman in baseball, is possibly going to be out for the entire season. Our rising prodigy, Dominic Brown, will be out for at least the first month. We lost Jayson Werth over the off-season when he took an absurdly overpaid salary from the Washington Nationals. The offense is going to be looking A LOT different this year. The crucial part is for Ryan Howard to live up to the money that he is being paid and to produce. Furthermore, the rest of the lineup needs to support him in order to score some runs. The dominant pitching staff will take care of the rest. I am just extremely nervous.
There are plenty of doubters out there who are picking the Red Sox, Yankees, and Braves to win it all. But we have to believe. It is important to not let the great predictions get to our head, but we still need to pull through this. Of all years, the Phillies are being put up as the greatest team this year. In my opinion, this is the worst we've been in 3 years! Even though we have an amazing pitching staff, our offense is extremely shaky. And how many times have we seen the favorite go down. Look at this years NCAA Tournament! I hate the position Philly is in right now, especially since we have always been underdogs. We are a city of underdogs...always! But we are still great, and need to just win this one to prove that we are the best. It should be an interesting season.
It really is scary...chase utley is one of my favorites and I can't believe he is injured again! And We'll see what howard can do this year, he really needs to live up to his potential again
ReplyDeleteYou know i've actually never watched a baseball game. Your blog post has intrigued me though so I think i'll catch the game today.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, there's sometimes a motivating element to being the underdog - you can do your best and if you don't win, so what. Noone expected it anyway, so nothing to lose. Being a favourite is a double edged sword of pressure and motivation and it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. Goodluck in today's game.
Lemmy