So there's a God after all

Less then a month ago, I'm sure you and I and everyone else was all thinking: Is this it? Is this where the Magical run we experienced for 2 1/2 years finally comes to a saddening end?  Injuries piling up like mosquito bites, losing games we shouldn't be losing(Like that Halladay loss to the Reds or how about almost being swept by the Pirates and Cubs?), it felt like this wasn't our year.   But then, just like always, the turn around happens from something completely unexpected, something that seemed so insignificant that it couldn't have possibly changed things around: They fired the hitting coach.

 Now Milt Thompson was no slouch, he was sitting on that same bench while the Phillies were one of the most dangerous offenses in MLB, never mind the National League.  One could even say, with the injuries he was dealt an unfair hand.   It may not be so much that Gloss is doing things differently, but Thompson's firing sent a message: We're done sitting on our asses, it's time to hold people accountable. All of a sudden, jobs are on the line, the season is at stake, these guys are finally understanding that they're playing for something.

So for the first time since the early part of this season, the Phillies hitters are actually taking pitches. I be DAMNED.   We had hope to be cautiously optimistic, then we started stringing a few of these games together....hey, we might be onto something....Then BAM once again,  tragedy strikes once again.   Rollins and then Victorino goes down.

Enter in the Demonic One

Tragedy could potentially turn into good fortune,  Phillies top prospect Dominic Brown could FINALLY make his debut.  A power hitter at virtually every level of minor league competition, the Phillies held him back after monster spring after monster spring, saying he wasn't ready. He proved that he was ready, he was born ready and we might've actually cost us some wins by holding him back.      He hit the ball hard,  he ran the bases and he made solid contact.    With the exception of his blooper that cut off Halladay from his 4th shutout of the year, he also played some solid defense.

But more importantly,   with the Demonic One, with Victorino, with Utley back in September, with Polanco, with Howard, with Werth, with Ibanez.  IMO, have we ever been so scary on offense? Sure yes, we always had the power punch, heck I'm forgetting Ruiz and Rollins.    We have like 7-8 guys now who legitimately can hit the baseball.    I think Raul Ibanez could add some much needed firepower to the bench, it could also rest his legs and allow him to be more productive in the clutch where it's needed.

The Past and into the Future

It's ironic, Ed Wade was our GM for 8 years, he largely represented the failed era of the bygone Phillies who spent money on guys like Jim Thome and  Mike Lieberthal and David Bell(Remember these guys?) and of course, while we lament RAJ for the Cliff Lee trade, the best Ed Wade got for Curt Schilling was Vincente Padilla(ring a bell?). While we're very lucky to have Charlie Manuel, this is the same guy who fired Terry Francona(Oh, he's just managing a constant AL pennant team called the Boston Red Sox).

The only thing good that came out of those 8 years was the drafting, essentially Ed Wade was a worse Billy King.

So now, as the Phillies look for an arm, the Incompetent of all Incompetent GM'S happened to have a career ace on a struggling horrible franchise.   The Phillies were in a  desperate situation and the best Ed Wade could get out of us?   Other then J.A. Happ(Whose been struggling to stay on the field), Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar.

Who? Exactly.

Thank you God, and thank you Ed Wade for continuing to be one of the most incompetent men to grace sports. You've actually helped the Phillies out with this one :).