Yesterday, I was traveling for work. When I finally returned to my home in Philadelphia, I had no idea that the most anticipated prospect since Ryan Howard had been called up. I didn't find out until I plopped myself in front of my TV as the top of the 2nd inning was wrapping up. There on the corner of the screen, I saw this: Werth, Brown, Ruiz.
I turned to my roommates and said, "Wait, Dom Brown is playing? He got called up?" And they were both like, uh, yeah. Thanks for letting me know. I was incredibly excited. Beyond excited, you could say, to see him play. And he didn't disappoint, crushing a double to right on a pitch down and in in his first big-league at-bat, just barely missing a home run, driving in Jayson Werth, who had led off with a double. Yeah, this guy's gonna fit in quite well here.
All he did from there is ground out sharply to first, then single, then drive in another run on a sac fly. All in all, he finished his Major League debut with a statline of 2-for-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs and a double. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all. The only downside was his ill-advised attempt at a diving catch in the 9th, thus blowing the great Roy Halladay's shutout. I'm sure Roy and company had a little something to say to the kid about that afterward, but something tells me all is forgiven. He had to be a bit excited out there, this being his debut and all.
Speaking of Harry LeRoy Halladay, he was brilliant yet again. Another complete game, this time with 9 strikeouts and no walks. Damn near a shutout if it wasn't for Brown's youthful exuberance. The guy is a machine. And the Phillies, who looked just about as dead as any team could possibly look a week ago, look like the machine that has dominated in the second half the past three years. A team poised to make another run at it, now just 3.5 games back of Atlanta in the division and 2.5 games back of San Francisco in the Wild Card, bitches.
And rumor has it, even more help is on its way, possibly:
According to an MLB.com article citing a Houston television station, the Phillies and Astros have a deal in place that would send Roy Oswalt to the Phillies.
The deal was reportedly waiting for Roy's approval. JA Happ, Vance Worley, and now first baseman Jonathan Singleton are the names being tossed around as potential players heading to the Astros.
Come on, Mr. Oswalt. Waive that no-trade clause. Come to a contender. Join that other Roy in both your quest for that elusive World Series. What a difference a week makes.
Oh, and you can read my post on the Eagles over at Ed The Sports Fan.
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