Phillies Foul Balls

So as has become obvious even to the spammers, I’ve pretty much let this slide this season. There are a number of reasons for this. There’s the new job I’ve taken which has kept me busy, has me working some odd hours, and has taken me to the heart of Braves country. (Although there’s no way in hell I’m changing my allegiance.) There’s also the fact that there are a lot of people out there writing in the Phlogosphere, and there was enough good stuff out there that I haven’t necessarily felt the need to write a lot.

The biggest reason though is that I was feeling an overwhelming sense of “New year, same old story.” I feel there are serious structural flaws in the Phillies organization which are not being fixed, indeed aren’t even regarded as flaws by the folks running the team. Those flaws, while not as bad as the problems crippling the Pirates or the Royals, are enough that even though the Phils have a lot of talented players, are likely to keep them in the category of good but not great. Over the past several years we’ve seen what that leads to; teams close to a playoff berth but never actually getting there. It’s a recipe for massive heartache.

With all of that said… I can’t help myself. I know they’re likely to end up just short. I know the pitching is one step away from utter disaster every single game. And I still want to believe that this is the year.