Right Minded Online

My beloved Philadelphia Phillies vaulted themselves into first place last night, beating the Washington Nationals 6-0, and with the hated New York Mets dropping their fifth game in a row, this one a 7-4 defeat to the Florida Marlins. With two games left, the Phillies hold a one-game edge over the hated Mets, having gained an unbelievable eight games over the last fifteen games. (The Phillies are 12-3 during that span, while the hated Mets are 4-11.) Thus, the Phillies’ magic number is two. I am hopeful and optimistic, but, having been a Phillies fan for 27 years of heartache and frustration, my optimism is always tempered by caution. It ain’t over yet.

Meanwhile, the Cubs, baseball’s lovable losers, clinched the N.L. Central last night. The Cubs are in the midst of a World Series drought that makes the Curse of the Bambino appear like child’s play. They have not played in the World Series since 1945, and haven’t actually won the thing since 1908. I know Sharon Cobb is on cloud nine this morning. If the Phillies can’t win the whole thing, I’ll be pulling for the Cubs.

Finally, someone can’t stand being on the outside looking in, and that someone is John Smoltz and the Atlanta Braves. The Braves, of course, reeled off 14 consecutive division championships between 1991 and 2005, but only have one World Series trophy to show for all those playoff appearances. Now, the Atlanta Braves are nothing more than a third-place team, and they have been whining all season. First, it was Larry “Chipper” Jones whining during interleague play that the Braves had it rougher than other National League teams. This occurred while the Phillies were getting slapped around by the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers — two A.L. Central powerhouse teams — so I couldn’t exactly lend Larry a shoulder to cry on.

Then it was Bobby Cox, during a previous series in Philadelphia, whining about a Ryan Howard home run that, to him, was just a routine fly ball that happened to carry over because the fences are so short in Citizen’s Bank Park.

Finally, following the just-concluded series in Philadelphia, in which the Braves got it handed to them by the Phillies, and were eliminated from the playoffs, that John Smoltz, after getting hammered for six runs in his start, whined that a Pat Burrell home run he served up “isn’t a home run, but that’s just what this park can do for you. You get the ball in the air and you can get lucky. Obviously they feast off it.”

Yes, Citizen’s Bank Park is a hitter’s ball park. The Phillies are an offensive team, and the ball park is designed for them. It’s called “home-field advantage,” Smoltzie. What, do you think the ground crew scoots the fences back everytime the visiting team comes to bat? Those fences are the same distance for your hitters, too, Smoltzie, so your guys have the same opportunity to “get lucky” as our guys do. You’re a highly-paid professional athlete. Deal with it. Sheesh.

This isn’t the first time Smoltzie has mouthed off about the Phillies this year. Earlier in the season, when manager Charlie Manual decided to move Brett Myers from the starting rotation to the closer, Smoltize criticized the Phillies for it, asserting that you just don’t do that in the middle of the season, like it’s any of his business in the first place. Despite spending about two months on the disabled list, Myers, has converted 20 of 23 save opportunities, so it appears the Phillies knew what they were doing.