Miiiiike and the First Legal Report

           

      Welcome to the first Official Edition of the Legal Report.  Let’s get right into it.  Not a bad first week, starting with a sweep of the Astros and a nice two out of three from the Stinking Mets to start the season out right.  The pitching so far has lived up to expectations, except for a small hiccup by Cole.  A note to those who were at the game with me on Tuesday: I understand the boos even though the amount and volume were exaggerated by the news outlets, but everyone needs to relax.  If someone can look back in September and tell me that they remember the details of the loss I’ll buy you a beer.  Chris or Jack you don’t count. 

            Phillies starters had 39 strike outs with just 6 walks.  A 6.5 K to 1BB ratio.  The relievers combined ERA is 1.80.  Pretty damn good!  Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt seem to be in midseason form with their control.  Blanton seemed good for four innings but lost it in the fifth and Cole, well it just wasn’t his night and his record against the Stinking Mets reflected in his outing (2-9 against the Stinkings).  So far the Four Aces and the Jack© are living up to the hype and expectations.  Now I realize the Astros and the even the Stinking Mets lineups don’t strike too much fear in opposing pitching staffs, but our staff did what they are supposed to do. 

            The Offense…. Oh the Offense.  They are doing what EVERYONE said they were going to do namely stink up the joint.Ryan Howard wasn’t going to get anything to hit. Blah, blah, blah…  Wait, wait sorry I stepped away from reality for a second.  Howard is tearing the cover off the ball and has two homeruns, eight RBIs, and hitting .524 so far this season.  Wilson Valdez is stepping in nicely for Chase, hitting over .400 including a four for four and four runs scored with five RBIs.  Speaking of yesterday’s game I don’t think I’ve seen so many infield hits against an above average infield of the Stinking Mets.

             The Phils are winning with small ball, who would have believed it.  These wins haven’t been squeakers either with the exception of the great comeback in game one. They are averaging seven runs a game and in their five wins they are scoring an average of 8.4 runs.

            Looking ahead to this weekend’s series the Phil’s will get a good test of the capabilities against the Braves.  The first match up will be Cliff Lee against Tim Hudson, Oswalt v. Beachy, and on Sunday Hamels will bounce back against Derek Lowe.  The Braves started ok against the Nationals but were swept against the Brew Crew.  They’re only scoring an average of three runs in their losses.   I’m looking for at least two wins and possibly a sweep if the Phils offense stays on pace.  The series will be the home opener for the Braves so they will have that in their back pocket going against the Fightin’s.  Either way it’s going to be a great early test for the Phils and I am looking forward to it.  Looking into the week, the Phils will face their old teammate what’s his name.  You know the guy with the beard.  Anyway, that guy is not looking like a guy who is worth(wait that sounds familiar, no lost it again) a huge contract with just two runs in five games.  By comparison Ben Francisco has six runs, two homeruns, and five RBIs.  I’d say Ben has been an excellent replacement.

            So, this is it for the Legal Report and don’t forget send in your favorite drinks and libations so we can all share in the wonderful drunkenness.  And that’s my Legal Opinion.

 Miiiike