but it is officially time for the Phillies to start acting

On Opening Day, I laid out the blueprint the Phillies would need to follow in order to secure one of the five playoff spots in the National League. There were five requirements:

1) Roy Halladay makes 32 starts.

Brown, Hamels and Lee have held up their ends of the bargain, so credit the Phillies with oneandahalf. But Halladay is on the disabled list, Michael Young has a .357 slugging percentage despite spending most of the year batting third or fifth, Delmon Young has 30 strikeouts and six home runs in 116 at bats with a .224/.281/.422 line, and Jeremy Horst, Chad Durbin, Raul Valdes and Phillippe Aumont have been huge disappointments (meanwhile, Mike Adams has looked lessthanreliable for much of the last month and has allowed five home runs in 21 1/3 innings on the season).

The Phillies are 3134, but the headline is that they are fortunate to even be there (their Pythagorean WL record is 2837, for those who care about such things). That's because the biggest thing to go wrong injuries to Halladay and Lannan and some earlyseason struggled by Hamels has yet to really go wrong. But it will. Tonight, Tyler Cloyd is the man charged with preventing the Phillies from losing their fifth straight game against a putrid team (we can't say "last place" team any more because the Twins beat the Phillies and the White Sox lost, putting Chicago in last place by a game in the AL Central).

At some point, Jonathan Pettibone's results are going to start to mirror his numbers, which have been pretty mediocre in every respect except runs allowed. And ERA has a funny way of correcting itself. It might already have begun to happen, as Pettione has allowed 12 runs in his last 16 1/3 innings, including six in a 91 loss to Milwaukee on June 9. That's not to take away from what he has accomplished he has thrown strikes, managed the game, and looked more like a major leaguer than a lot of us expected. But opponents are hitting .279 with a .349 OBP and .430 slugging percentage, and while his 0.86 ground ball rate is not awful, it also isn't good enough for a guy that has 37 strikeouts, 20 walks, 5 HBPs and seven home runs in 58 1/3 innings. Right now, Pettibone looks like a Craig Stevens Jersey 4.25 to 4.75 ERA starter. And you have to think that the results will eventually show it. Likewise, Cloyd has pitched much better than a lot expected, but he still isn't the kind of guy you want to see charged with stopping a losing streak. Neither does Las Vegas, which has the Twins as the money line favorite (115) with Mike Pelfrey on the mound tonight.

So the Phillies are who we thought they were. If nothing breaks extremely right or extremely wrong, they will spend the season hovering around .500, ending up somewhere below their preseason over/under of 83.5. At this point, we are running low on things that can break extremely right (Ryan Howard catches fire, Carlos Ruiz and Chase Utley do the same after returning from the disabled list). That's probably for the better, because the worst thing that could have happened is for the Phillies to give their bosses just enough of a glimmer of hope to prevent them from acting in the best interest of the future. Now, though, you have to think that Ruben Amaro Jr....

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Bryan Clay Wins Olympic Decathlon Gold for the USA

I too thought there might be some brilliant Rod commentary comparing Jamaica track success and the nation entrenched homophobia. But then I thought: gay Jamaicans are going batty (pun intended) with national pride; why should I expect an African American to be ambivalent or more restrained with the USA! USA! stuff? After the Olympics are over, I sure Rod will get back to his fine attention to things international besides codpieces.

in all fairness to rod, he also hasn mentioned how poorly the americans performed in track and field over all this year. he talked about a few fine brothers that were going to the olympics and a few of the gold medal winners.

perhaps this is a failing of mine, but every time i hear someone "thank god" or see someone fall down on a track and go into prayer after a win, i wince. it always seems more religious then spiritual. the jamaicans and a few african countries did this more then any other group that i noticed. i sure some of the black americans did too but since they didn win much this year it wasn as noticeable. sadly, this was one reason i couldn be happy for the jamaicans. i just kept thinking, if you holy people found out i was sgl, and in their country, they could stone me in the streets with little or no consequences.

there was a time that if anyone from the african diaspora did anything note worthy or admirable, i felt a sense of pride for the race. i grown to understand that every brother ain a brother and i need to find out more about your politics before i sing your praises.

It seems that every time something is posted here, it is not good enough and all of you demand more. The other day when Angelo Taylor was posted, people were complaining the American team wasn doing that well. Then some people copmplained about the attention given to other nations. What about the USA??? several commenters inclusing Freelo asked. Now, the critics say the blog is too Americanfocused and demand more posts on Jamaican track athletes.

What a joke. Oh, and cute screenname Bulging Imaguination. I comment here every day. Haven seen seen you in any of the political or news posts.

I am Cuban and am very happy to read about Cuban news, culture and yes athletes on this blog but do not expect this blog to be the United Nations of the blogosphere. My opinion but Rod does an excellent job, it is just him I think not a whole staff. It is unfortunate many of you are so critical. Perhaps there is another blog that does a better job?

And my question to Mark, okay, the Jamaican track team is doing very well does that mean tomorrow in Jamaica gays will not be stoned and Nate Washington Jersey persecuted? I think they will. So your comments are very silly.

Nahtans, are you saying you haven read or watched any coverage of the Jamaican track team success? Or are you saying ROD 2.0 HAS TO POST PICTURES of the athletes?

Sounds to me like you http://www.footballtitansshop.com/91_derrick_morgan_jersey_authentic_black_limited_chea...

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Browns Pro Bowler Joe Thomas' affinity for military highlights candidacy for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year

Even though Jake Wood knew Browns Pro Bowl offensive lineman Joe Thomas would inevitably beat him for the starting left tackle job at the University of Wisconsin, he took Thomas under his wing and supported him as he evolved into a star.

Now Thomas has his former teammate back, and he using his status as a finalist for the 2012 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award to show it.

Wood is the president and cofounder of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization that uses military veterans for disaster response throughout the world. Since Wood and fellow Marine William McNulty started the group three years ago, it has helped veterans adjust to returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and assisted victims of catastrophic events such as Hurricane Sandy and the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

think the charity work they do is phenomenal, Thomas said in a recent phone interview. think they maximize the dollars they get, and I think they kind of filling a niche and a void that really wasn covered by any charity that existed. By them coming in and filling a hole and helping military veterans who are coming back readjust to civilian life and try to use some of their abilities to help other people in disaster situations, putting them together with doctors and medical personnel to help people that are in dire situations, it a great charity and a great thing to be involved in. joins Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten as the finalists for the Man of the Year Award, which recognizes community service as well as playing excellence and is named after Payton, the legendary Chicago Bears running back who died in 1999. Saturday.

Thomas, Fitzgerald and Witten were chosen from 32 team nominees, all of whom will receive a ,000 donation from the NFL Foundation for the charity of their choice. The three finalists will receive an additional ,000 donation in their names, and the winner will receive an additional ,000 donation in his name.

Thomas selected Team Rubicon as the recipient of his donation. http://www.footballtitansshop.com/56_akeem_ayers_jersey_authentic_black_limited_cheap.html

a great guy, Wood said in a recent phone interview. got a great heart. With as much money as Joe making, I sure he being hit up from all different angles to support all sorts of different charities and nonprofits and causes, so it is pretty special to know that he got a place in his heart for veterans. I know he supported the Pat Tillman Foundation in the past as well, which is a military scholarship program. said his interest in helping those who serve in the military stems from having several cousins and friends who are veterans. He founded the Troops seasonticket program, which hosted military men and women during Browns home games last season and provided tickets, apparel and food to the USO of Northern Ohio.

was always impressed with the job that they do protecting our country, and I think it one of the jobs of all Americans to do everything they can to give back to the military and show the appreciation that they deserve, especially ...

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