A couple reactions to the Phillies’ insanely ridiculous, and yet quintessentially Phils-esque, win over the Fish Wednesday:
1. Sunday News photographer Jeff Ruppenthal is legendary for many things - praising the fans who threw batteries at J.D. Drew, for example, or predicting that the Sixers would win and lose (sometimes in the same day) every playoff series en route to the 2001 finals.
But the classic Ruppie moment is when he storms into the newsroom the morning after a particularly galling Phillies loss and announces, “You know what I’d tell that [Rheal Cormier/Ryan Madson/Mike Lieberthal/Pat Burrell/etc., etc.] if I was running the Phillies? …. Pack up your [stuff] and go home.”
By going to great and bizarre lengths to allow Hanley Ramirez to slide underneath him with the tying run like Ramirez was a friendly hooker, Phils’ catcher Rod Barajas Pulled a Ruppie last night.
Pack up your [stuff] and go home, Rod.
2. Like Barajas, Greg Dobbs ventured into PAR territory last night, but at least he gets it.
Buck up, Dobbs. It wasn’t ”the stupidest play in the history of baseball.” It wasn’t even the stupidest play of that inning.
3. We all love Harry Kalas, but he just can’t follow the game anymore. It hurts to say that and it can be painful to watch, but that’s just the way it is.
In other news…
I’m going to the Paternos tonight. No kidding. The Penn State coaches have invited some of us writers to a dinner party, followed by dessert at Joe and Sue’s. More tomorrow
