by Ryan Dougherty Editor's note: In celebration of the Phillies' opener that's going on right about... well, now, here's a preview from a reader who'll soon be a writer. Enjoy! It’s Opening Day in Philadelphia, and the forecasts for the weather and the Phillies are bright. Which means a plurality of Delaware Valleyians is thinking one thing: “How are they gonna [foul] it up this time?” It’s hard-boiled and reasonable skepticism. As has been the......

So the dust has settled. The two biggest moves made by yesterday’s trade deadline were the Phillies sending Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees, and the Cubs trading out Cy Young Winner Greg Maddux to the Dodgers. The Phils made one more move before the deadline, sending Rheal Cormier to the Reds for yet another prospect. So how did the Phillies do in the massive sell off? We’ll give them a C......

So the Phillies made two trades. Whoopee. Did they get who they wanted for two first class major leaguers? No. Not by far. On Friday, the Phillies swapped third baseman David Bell with the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league reliever Wilfredo Laureano. Then, right before the start of yesterday’s afternoon game, Abreu was scratched from the lineup – no explanation provided, but this Phillyist and a lot of other people assumed that the long......

After two excruciating losses, the Phillies beat the Mets this afternoon at Shea Stadium, 5-3, to avoid the series sweep and come back home for the weekend on a high note. The Fightins' got on the board early thanks to first inning homers from Bobby Abreu and Ryan Howard, but similar to the last two games, gave up the lead in the next inning, and the game was tied at 3-3 until the seventh.......

It wasn’t a pretty win. Far from it. Tom “Flash” Gordon blew his first save. The Phils managed to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth with Bobby Abreu up to bat. Last year, this was never a good sign – Abreu could never hit in clutch situations. And what he did last night wasn’t really a hit. It was a squeaker, really, but he bolted to first base, and when New......

The only thing characteristic about the Phillies game last night was a faltering starter on the mound. Gavin Floyd is not following up a stellar spring training with a good regular season (where it, uh, counts), and was smacked around for six runs in six innings last night. Not good. But the Phillies offense actually came through in the crunch this time and pulled out a 10th inning, 7-6 win, fueled in part by......

Alright, boys. We love you. We really do, but you’re killing us. You’re 1-6, and while Bobby Abreu’s walk-off home run on Sunday was a nice, sunny spot on the new season, we forget good things fast when you suck it up the first week of the season. If you want anyone to come to Citizens Bank Park this year for anything other than the Red Sox, the Yankees and Dollar Dog Days, you’re......

Every local sports columnist and TV anchor tried to remind us heading into the weekend that the Cincinatti Reds put an end to the Phillies' playoff hopes these past two years. They all seemed dead-on Friday night as the Phillies blew a 6 - 1 lead to fall behind the Reds, 10 - 6. The Phillies, it seems, had blown it again. Jimmy Rollins, though, continued his great run of hitting and leadership by getting......

Phils fans were happy - jubilant, even - for just a little while last night. It started with a two-run Bobby Abreu homer that tied the game at 5. The ball was smashed to center field and many fans probably imagined that the clutch eighth inning homer was drilled right down the through of Howard Eskin. The throat of Howard Eskin being A.J. Finch's catching mitt, obviously. The fans were not quite as jubilant when......

The Phillies capped off a terrible Labor Day weekend with a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Astros last night, 4-3. The game seemed to get out of hand immediately as an error, as well as two Brett Myers walks, led to four first-inning runs for the Astros. Last week, we agreed with disputed lanky columnist Phil Sheridan that Myers was beginning to look like the team's ace. We started to doubt ourselves after the first......

Bobby Abreu’s first inning grand slam off of Mark Prior in the 92 degree heat at CBB gave Brett Myers a four run lead, enough room to pitch with a good amount of sloppiness. Myers flirted with disaster, giving up 10 hits to the 30 batters he faced. But luckily for Myers, and for the Phillies, Myers held off the Cubs without giving up one home run, although he did allow five doubles. The Phillies......

After his record-breaking performance in the Homerun Derby, Bobby Abreu has made a name for himself throughout Major League Baseball. Many Phillies fans love the idea of having a high-profile player on the team, but in a season where the team is deficient in several areas – pitching (both starting and relief), catching, etc. – it might be just the time to trade him while he has some value. In our opinion, something like winning......

Leading off the All-Star game after nearly an hour of introductions and pre-game commercials, Bobby Abreu slapped a Mark Buehrle pitch into left field. Abreu’s line drive single was a dynamic way to start the All-Star Game, which too often feels like an advertisement rather than a baseball game. But the three Phillies selected to the team all treated it as an important game, going a combined 2-3 at the plate and drawing one walk.......

A Philadelphia Phillie is in the limelight of an event that spans all of Major League Baseball – and this time it’s not in the context of the MLB 2006 game you’ve been playing on your Playstation 2. Last night, Bobby Abreu shocked the entire baseball community – fans, players, himself -- when he won the 2005 Homerun Derby. It was surreal watching Abreu come up to bat first and crush ball after ball......

When you take a closer look at the Phillies' starting lineup from Sunday afternoon’s game against first-place Washington, and you compare it to the Nationals' starting gang, you might get the crazy feeling that the teams are not that different from each other. On paper there are many similarities: a talented, all-star caliber middle infielder (Jimmy Rollins and Jose Vidro), a power-hitting, speedy outfielder (Bobby Abreu and Jose Guillen), and a solid hitting but prone......

In their usual inconsistent style, the Phillies showed us a glimpse of promise as they shutout the Nationals last night. Usually, it would not be wise to count on the Phils winning a tight game against the first-place Nats, but they were able come out on top. If they could only play like that every night, they would be the ones in first place. The game was a stalemate until the bottom of the......

WIP is reporting that Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Phillies closer Billy Wagner will join the National League's 2005 All-Star Team. The two are expected to join as replacements for Los Angeles Dodgers SS Cesar Izturis and New York Mets P Pedro Martinez. Rollins, who was recently inked to a contract extension by the Phils, is actually having a subpar year, especially compared to his career-year last season. His fielding is still strong, but he......

As jaded as I can usually be when it comes to the Phillies, I have to admit that I loved every minute of yesterday’s game against the Pirates. It was very heartening to see the Phils bat around the lineup in the fifth, to see that they can play small-ball and not have to rely on the brute force strategy that they are so accustomed to at Citizens Bank Park. When Pittsburgh went up......