• Yesterday, I watched Pat Burrell AND Ryan Howard leg out triples. This was Howard’s fifth career triple and Burrell’s 12th, though only his third since 2003. There is almost nothing more enjoyable than watching slow guys leg out triples. I remember watching Sean Casey go from home to third last year for his first triple since 2004. When he got there, gasping for breath and grinning from ear to ear, his teammates mocked him from the dugout. You would have thought Casey was wearing his underwear outside his pants for all the grief he got. Glorious.
• My friend Kevin is a Red Sox fan. I’m a Phillies fan. I asked him who was pitching today and he looked it up on his computer. “John Lester and Jamie Moyer,” he said. “Oh, good,” I said. “Moyer’s old, but I love him. He almost threw a no-hitter his last time out.” “You know who did throw a no-hitter this season?” Kevin asked. What a jerk.
• Chase Utley is in a funk. He’s 0 for his last 12. You can tell, he’s just not swinging the bat with any confidence. Yesterday he went 0-5. He did pick up an RBI, but it was on a check-swing ground ball. Fortunately, Ryan Howard picked up Utley’s slack, hitting two homers and a triple. That’s what is so dangerous about this Phillies team. They’ve got four guys who are legit stars (Howard, Rollins, Utley and Burrell) and on any given night one or two of them can carry the load.
• Watching the Phillies play the Sox, I couldn’t help but think that there’s much less of a talent gap between the two teams than there was as recently as last season. Philadelphia has improved with the addition of Brad Lidge and Pedro Feliz. And Boston, minus Big Papi, just isn’t the same offensive juggernaut. Right now, I’d still give Boston an advantage in a seven game series, because I think their starting pitching is a little stronger. But that could change if the Phillies acquire a pitcher like Rich Harden or Erik Bedard.
• I’m starting to think the Phils should trade for Rich Harden or Erik Bedard (preferably Harden, because Bedard seems like he is no fun). This Phillies team is good enough to win now. And there’s no guarantee that next year’s team will be as strong. Burrell is a free agent and while he says he wants to stay, it’s unclear if the Phils will be willing to spend $15 million a year to keep him. Lidge will be a free agent, and he’ll probably go where the money is. So why not go for broke? It would probably mean trading one of the team’s promising young starters (Carasco or Outman), but Harden is one of the most dominant pitchers around when healthy. It would be a gamble, but one that could pay huge dividends.
• My dad asked an interesting question the other day: would a team like the Oakland A’s or Cleveland Indians be willing to take Brett Myers as part of a trade for Harden or C.C. Sabathia? I don’t know the answer to that, but my instinct is no. Myers comes with too much baggage and he’s scheduled to make $12 million in 2009, so the Phils would probably have to eat a lot of his salary to make him appealing to another team. I don’t see that happening. Also, Myers is a free agent after 2009 and teams will be looking to acquire younger guys who will be under team control for much longer than that.

Today the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland DH Jack Cust has made history. With six games to go this year, Cust has played in 118 games and struck out 154 times, most in the American League. Though Cust didn’t join the A’s until May 4, he has the sixth-highest strikeout total in Oakland history.

The major-league mark for most strikeouts with fewer than 125 games played is 158, held by Bo Jackson (1987) and Melvin Nieves (1996).

Cust has a pretty relaxed attitude about his new record.

From the SF Chronicle:

“I’m just going to strike out a lot,” he said. “I always lead every league I’m in in strikeouts, so I figure if it’s the major leagues, at least that’s the best league. It’s better than leading the Pacific Coast League.”

Hard to argue with that.

The Chronicle points out that next year, Cust will be a favorite to break the single-season strikeout record:

Next year, Cust might have a shot at the single season record of 195, set by Cincinnati’s Adam Dunn in 2004.

Umm…earth to the Chronicle. Dunn’s record is yesterday’s news.

I can’t keep track. Do we still care if a player strikes out a lot? It seems to me that we used to blast guys like Dunn for striking out as much as he does. But I don’t hear those same complaints as much anymore. And I certainly don’t hear anybody complaining about Ryan Howard, the new strikeout king.

Have we changed our tune? Is it now okay to strikeout a lot, as long as you put up gaudy power numbers?

Yesterday the Phillies took a six run lead into the eighth inning and blew it. They were the first team to blow a lead that large that late this season.

[APPLAUSE] [APPLAUSE]

But here’s the crazy thing: it wasn’t even the fault of the Phillies’ bullpen. At least, not entirely. The majority of the Braves’ hits were, in the words of the guy on Sports Center, “a collection of bleeders, bloops and choppers.”

In other words, the Phils were unlucky.

Now, I’m not trying to make excuses for the Phillies. They have terrible pitching. Everybody knows it.

But yesterday’s loss was much more disheartening than your typical blown save.

We know the Phillies are going to win despite their pitching, not because of it. And if they make the post season, it will be on the strength of Ryan Howard’s bat, not Adam Eaton’s arm.

We know the Phillies will have to overcome a bullpen that is the worst in baseball.

But yesterday it wasn’t just Jose Mesa’s arm that betrayed the Phils. It was fate. It was destiny. And if you’re Ryan Howard, you’ve got to be thinking to yourself, “How do I overcome that?”

Speaking of the Phils offense…wow. They’re just silly good right now. And that sheds some light on just how bad Philadelphia’s pitching has been.

Among the offensive highlights:

• The Phillies have three candidates for NL MVP — Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.
• Utley has a legit chance at the batting title. He’s hitting .341 with a .421 OBP.
• Howard leads the league in RBI and is second in homers, despite a terrible start to the season and a DL stint.
• Jimmy Rollins ranks first in the NL in runs (120). He’s raised his AVG nine points in the last 10 games (.296). And he’s got rediculous power for a leadoff hitter (25 HR).
• After compiling the second lowest AVG in baseball during the first have of the season(.215), Pat Burrell has one of the highest in the second half (.329). Not to mention his .405 OBP.
• Jayson Werth, who is filling in for the injured Shane Victorino, is hitting .323 with an OBP of .422. He’ll be starting for somebody next season.
• Aaron Rowand, who everybody thought was a first-half fluke, continues to hit .313 with 23 HR and a .381 OBP. Two words: contract year.

All of this is to say that, no matter how awesome your offense is, it’s hard to overcome bad pitching. And after a game like yesterday’s, I’m starting to think that the Phillies, despite prolific hitting, won’t be able to do it. That’s why I’m stepping up and making the bold prediction that next year, finally, will be the Phillies’ year.

You heard it here first.

Earlier this season, we told you about Ervin Santana and his preference for pitching at home.

Now, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, we bring you Ryan Howard and his amazing traveling RBI show.

Howard is third in the majors in runs batted in with 93, trailing only A-Rod (109) and Magglio Ordonez (94). But get this — 65 of Howard’s RBI’s have been hit on the road.That’s a lot of road RBI. Compare that to A-Rod, who has 16 more RBI than Howard, but has only 35 RBI on the road. Ordonez, meanwhile, has 57 RBI while hitting away from home, which is also a lot, but still not as much as Howard.

And what’s really surprising is that Howard plays his home games in Citizen Bank Park, which is popularly described as a “band box”, whatever that is. The point is, it’s small. And it’s easy to hit homers at the Shitizen. And doubles. And therefore, it seems logical to think that Howard would have more RBI at home than on the road.

And yet he doesn’t. Quite the opposite. But why? Does he perform better away from the hometown boobirds? Or maybe his teammates just do a better job of getting on base in front of him while the team is on the road, which is possible, but not likely.

Whatever the reason, one thing’s for sure: Ryan Howard is at home on the road.

I’ve been absent from this here blog, and you can thank the horrendous thing that is Strep Throat for that. Fully recovered, I figured the best and easiest way for me to come back into action was a good ol’ “Random Links” post. Of course, with all these antibiotics, doctor’s visits, and so on, I couldn’t stay away from the medical theme. Well, O.K., a dentist is not necesarily a doctor, but I digress.

• Some weirdo in San Francisco is going to “lifecast” from this year’s All-Star game. This is the story of a sad man who happened to watch to many ears being eaten alive by Mike Tyson. The same man whose “only claim to fame” was his attendance to the game where Barry (or is it Brian?) Bonds hit his record-setting 73rd home run of the 2001 season. He was a few rows behind the guy that caught the ball (and the other guy that sued him for it). Now he wants to hook up to a webcam and a wireless laptop to beam his life to all and all. No matter that justin.tv (left) is now broadcasting 11 different channels, and that Justine Ezarik is a girl, who’s blond, and is also doing the same thing. No, Dr. Doug: Baseball Hunter will be different. (Never mind that the actual lifecast of the game will be blacked out, and that Dr. Doug, a dentist, has to check back with his disapproving wife and root canal patients).

• It doesn’t matter that you’re the youngest player to reach the 100 home run mark. You gotta get educated.

• And speaking of Brian, er, Boris, I mean, Barry, Dontrelle Willis isn’t scared that the Marlins could be the team against which Bonds hits big seven-five-six.

• Hmmm. The Twins’ new stadium may end up costing people in Minnesota (aka, taxpayers) a bit more than anticipated. About $8 mil more $10 mill more, and all thanks to those $320-an-hour attorneys. Don’t they know why the A’s continue to lead the way when it comes to…ugh, you know what I mean.

• For a minute there, Jason Bergman found comfort in knowing that all those sharpshooters scattered throughout RFK stadium where there for protection. Too bad his offense didn’t do the same, the Nats lost 4-2.

• This isn’t the Adam LaRoche of old; his aggressive attitude is paying dividends for the Pirates. His production his up, his average is up, he’s even swinging at 3-0 pitches. I wonder…

• And forget Polow Da Don, everybody knows “THE KING” of white girls is Chase Utley.

Philadelphia Inquirer baseball writer Jim Salisbury spent some time in New Jersey yesterday, watching Ryan Howard and Roger Clemens play in separate rehab assignments.

Salisbury came away with a few colorful anecdotes from the games, including one about how the Philies single-A team had to scrounge for a jersey that would fit Howard, and another about how the kid catching Clemens gave up his uniform number to the future Hall of Famer.

But one anecdote caught my eye more than the others.

From the Inquirer:

Howard arrived for his assignment in style - a team-sponsored limo. Clemens showed up for his in a luxury coach bus.

Now, we all know Clemens is traveling through the minor leagues on John Madden’s bus. He’s livin’ large. No news there. But Howard is riding in a team sponsored limo?

If I was a multimillionaire professional ballplayer rehabbing in the minors with a bunch of guys who are probably making less than your average gas station attendant, I think I’d feel pretty silly pulling up to the stadium in a limo. That’s like showing up to do Habitat for Humanity in a Corvette. It’s just a little tacky, isn’t it?

If I were Howard, I think I would have told the Phils to just call me a cab. Or I’d see if John Lieber would let me borrow his car.

The Fanhouse made an interesting observation yesterday, pointing out that Padres 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff is off to such a horrid start “that he could go 1 for 8 in a double-header, and still raise his average!”

That’s really bad. But is Kouzmanoff this year’s biggest disappointment? Hard to say. There are plenty of candidates, including:

1. Adam LaRoche
Last year, after starting on ADD medication, LaRoche had a big second half on his way to a career year and 32 HR. But apparently LaRoche is off his meds again. So far this year he’s hitting .168 with three homers.

2. Chone Figgins
Figgins broke two fingers on his throwing hand in spring training. Since his return, Figgins is hitting .137 with three doubles and three runs batted in 14 games. He’s only had 51 at bats, but that’s still pretty disappointing.

3. Ryan Howard
He hit a game-winning pinch hit grand slam recently, so we’ll cut him a little slack. But he followed up his grand slam with a strike out. What do you think we’ll see more of in coming weeks, homers or Ks? For Philly’s sake, it better be the former.

4. Jeff Weaver
I don’t know how he pitched so well last October. It just doesn’t add up. Add Weaver to a long list of terrible Seattle free-agent signings, along with Beltre, Sexton, and Vidro. Just awful.

5. Ichiro Suzuki
He’ll turn it around. He’s freaking Ichiro in a contract year. Remember the crazy second half he had in 2005? I’m betting on a repeat performance this season.

6. Freddy Sanchez
No power. No speed. Last year was a fluke.

Did I miss anyone?

James Loney wants to play for the Dodgers right now. And who could blame him? He’s good enough, he’s mature enough, and gosh darn it, people like him.

Loney won the Triple A Pacific Coast League batting title last year with a .380 average, and followed it up by hitting .414 during Spring Training. And still the Dodgers didn’t put him on their squad. What’s a guy got to do to get some love?

Now frustrated with his inability to make the team, Loney  has asked to be traded. This whole thing is just like what happened with Ryan Howard, who tore up the minor leagues for a couple of years before the Phillies finally gave him a chance to play everyday. He was pissed with the Phils for continually failing to put him on the major league squad and asked to be traded.

Now, looking back, it’s hard to argue with the Phillies’ decision to leave Howard in the minors as long as they did. After all, he’s been great since he’s been in the league (one Rookie of the Year and one MVP trophy in two seasons) and maybe all that minor league seasoning is to thank.

On the other hand, it probably still grates on Howard that he was left in the minors for so long. He’s now in his third year in the league and most people think of him as a young kid, but he’s only one year younger than teammate Jimmy Rollins, who has been in the majors for eight seasons and he’s older than rival Albert Pujols, who is in his seventh season. And he won’t be eligible for a big money free agent contract until most of his best years are behind him.

Of course, the difference between Loney and Howard is that Howard’s path to the bigs was blocked by Jim Thome, while Loney had a clear path to make the Dodgers until the team inexplicably decided to resign Mr. Mia Hamm to be their starting 1B.

If I were Loney, I would be pissed. But I wouldn’t expect a trade. The Dodgers might not know exactly what they’ve got in Loney, but they are probably smart enough not to part with him anytime soon.

Have you ever seen a professional athlete morph from silent slugger to whiny little bitch faster than Albert Pujols has?

First, Pujols criticized Mets Pitcher Tom Glavine after the ace shut down Pujols and the Cards in this year’s NLCS game 1.

“He wasn’t good. He wasn’t good at all,” Pujols said of Glavine, who threw seven innings of four-hit ball for the victory.

Then he criticized the scout who discovered him, saying the reason the Cardinals fired him was because he never believed in Pujols.

Now Pujols is whining that he should have won the NL MVP instead of Phillies 1B Ryan Howard.

“I see it this way: Someone who doesn’t take his team to the playoffs doesn’t deserve to win the MVP,” Pujols said in Spanish at a news conference organized by the Dominican Republic’s sports ministry.

Howard’s Phillies finished in second place in the NL East, way behind the Mets, and just barely missed out on the NL wild card. Pujols’ Cardinals won the NL Central and went on to win the World Series. Which is not to say that the Cardinals were very good during the regular season. In fact, the Phils won two more games than the Cards this year. Meanwhile, once he got his team to the playoffs, Pujols preceeded to fall off the face of the earth, going hitting only .200 in the World Series (3 for 15). Way to go, MVP.