I'm posting an email I just sent to the Phillies through the form on the website. It's only a matter of time before my plan to impeach the worst announcer in baseball succeeds.

"I am a life-long Phillies fan and the soundtrack to my childhood includes the voices of Harry Kalas and Chris Wheeler. That's what makes it so painful for me to listen to the mindless babble of Gary Matthews. It feels like he tries to make his opinions and commentary bigger than the game. Oftentimes, he completely ignores the action to make incoherent statements claiming to know what individual players and thinking and spouting cliches that I've come to wonder if they know what they mean. I've begun to mute the TV and listen to the radio during the innings he's in the booth. I understand that there is big money in the production of the 'show' around baseball, but watching Comcast and the CW follow in the national media's pattern of overshadowing the game with fancy graphics and constant chatter is greatly disturbing. I remember laying in bed listening to Harry and Whitey on my transistor radio and hearing mostly static because they didn't need to constantly talk. They watched the game and were fans first, talking only when something noteworthy occurred. Maybe I'm a purist and overly-resistant to change, but why must you torture your fans by forcing them to listen to a mis-informed former player who cares more about making sure we all know how great his career was than about the game that is happening right in front of him?"

No baseball tonight. I feel deprived. Nashville Star is a bomb. I'm being harassed about the music I listen to. Right now I'm counting down the days until I can get out of here again. I'm not, however, looking forward to leaving Philly. This team is rolling and there is absolutely no team short of the one ordained by God who can stop them right now. There was a list on SI.com today that listed the reasons why the Phils are for real this year (SI's reasons, my analysis):
1. The Lineup: top to bottom, there isn't a spot that's a gimme out. what they have going right now is amazing. while i have advocated some changes in the past, there's no reason to change up a good thing that's working. there are 8 guys who can pop one at any given moment. the top three can get on base and pressure a pitcher to make mistakes. the bottom of the order is capable of carrying the lineup for stretches when the big boys are struggling.
2. Chase Utley: best player in baseball, hands down. he hits, he plays defense, he hustles. there is nothing he cannot do. he is Philly, we love him and he is everything we want. if he brings a championship to this city, he will be named mayor the next day.
3. Utley and Rollins: while the value these two have to the team cannot be overstated, the writer broke down the things that the double play combo does for this team into very small pieces, none of which truly captured what they mean. an old truism states that the strength of a baseball team is up the middle. our catchers are solid and Charlie can't go wrong when he writes down 'C' on the lineup card. Victorino and Werth are both excellent defensive outfielders, with the speed to get to almost any ball out there and can clearly make up for the left fielder's shortcomings. however the strength of the middle is in the infield. we have the 2007 and the 2008 NL MVPs both playing up the middle anchoring the best team in the NL.
4. Manager Charlie Manuel: he's not the best manager, not the best decision-maker in-game. but he's the man who was chosen to fill out the lineup card every night and he's one of the best motivators in the game. and he knows the game of baseball and can still handle a team, even if it seems the game has passed him at times.
5. GM Pat Gillick: i'm excited for when Amaro takes over next year, but for now the master controls the team. The Phils don't have many holes right now, but if there's an injury, he's the man to go out and get what we need to win.
6. Closer Brad Lidge: it's not just Lidge, but he made the bullpen's rebound possible. SV/OPP: 17/17. amazing. and the return of Madson, addition of Chad Durbin and whatever is somehow holding Gordon's arm to his body have also contributed to the best bullpen in the majors. Lidge's health allows everyone to slide into the positions where they best serve the team. what has never been a strength of this team in my lifetime is now keeping is flying high deep into June.
7. Toughness: no Rollins? no Victorino? no Lidge? ineffective Myers? slow start for Howard? no problem for this team. there are so many weapons and the bench and backups are ready to go and contribute until the big boys are back and ready to play.
8. Resilience: 20 comeback wins. dominating the division. they still have a habit of playing down to the lesser teams like the Nats, but this could potentially be one of the tougher divisions in baseball, but this young team is fully capable of dominating teams deep into October.
I believe that the writer overlooked a few things about this team that truly make it special. The resurgence of Pat Burrell at the plate has been instrumental in carrying a team many would have discounted if they knew Ryan would be hitting around .220 in the second week of June. The bench has also been huge, from Bruntlett filling in for Jimmy to TJ Bohn and So Taguchi picking up the slack with Jayson and Shane out and Pat still struggling defensively to the platoon behind the plate. The entire bullpen has been lights out leading the league in ERA is no small feat. Hamels and Myers, as he is coming on as of late, can be one of the best 1-2 punches at the top of a rotation in the league. Jamie and Kyle are solid performers and give us both maturity and youth and the chance to win ballgames. You would be hard pressed to find a better infield anywhere. there may be two Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves just in the Phillies infield this year.
it's getting late and my grammar and punctuation are getting progressively worse. and i have an early start time tomorrow, so i'm gonna crash for the night. i wanna try live-blogging through one of these games sometime, so if i don't get clearance to play volleyball tomorrow night, i might be around and try it then. if not, expect it by the end of the week.