Giveaway Day

It wasn't advertised, but the Phils' doubleheader against the Mets today was a giveaway day. Not a Shane Victorino hula bobblehead, though. This time, two games were given away, and possiby the NL East race. Before you accuse me of hyperbole and defeatism because the season is not quite half over, remember 2001. That year the Phillies finished two games behind the Braves in the division. The Phils had a 9-10 record against the Braves that season, and three of the losses came in a three-game set in Philadelphia at the end of June. Would things have been different had the Phils taken two of three from the Braves in that series?

If that's not enough, how about 2005? The Phillies wound up just one solitary game in back of the Astros in the wild card race. Their record against Houston that season: 0-6 (the last three of which came in a sweep in early September at CBP; remember Craig Biggio destroying a Billy Wagner fastball for a three-run home run? That was in the ghastly ninth inning of the final game). Had the Phillies been able to take two of those six games, again, they likely would not have been on the golf course in October.

So here, we are -- another year, another apparent Phillies collapse against a team they're battling with for a postseason berth. With rookies J.A. Happ and Kyle Kendrick going the next two days, I don't expect much. The Phillies' recent history (not to mention the rest of the woeful story) doesn't let me.