A Tale of Two Cities

*This post has been written by one of my best friends and, in my opinion, the only real Pirates fan in this world. Ben Follett (affectionately known as "B Fresh" by yours truly) is a baseball purist and a fantastic human being. I asked him to write this post to shake things up a bit and get a feel for these 2 games from the perspective of a Pittsburgh fan. This is the first of what I hope will be several guest blog entries this season. If interested in writing one, please let me know. So, shut up Cameron, and here it is:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

- Charles Dickens

When Charles Dickens wrote that famous line to begin his 1859 novel, I don’t believe that he could have guessed that it would ring so true for two cities in Pennsylvania, 151 years later. The Pirates and the Phillies are worlds apart as far as baseball teams go, and that was never more apparent than in the recent two game series that took place in the city of Brotherly Love.

The series was the first of 6 games between the PA Turnpike rivals with the next four coming over July 4th weekend in Pittsburgh. (A little sidebar: I know you, “the readers” whom I would surmise are mostly Phillies fans would say something like this, “What the crap, we have to play four games in Pittsburgh, over 4th of July, when they play only two in Philly! Outrage!” Well let me tell you, last night was your team’s 60th consecutive sellout, we sold out one game at the beginning of the season. We need it more. Deal with it.) So without further ado, a recap of games 1 and 2.

Game 1:

The Pirates get smoked, 12-2 while getting dominated by Kyle Kendrick (the Phillies worst starter in my opinion) and the long ball (Werth, Howard). But this game really boils down to two distinct points in the game.

Point #1: First, bottom of the first inning, Pirates up 1-0. The following sequence is the exact reason the Phillies are the best in the National League. Victorino singled on an 0-2 pitch low and away that he merely slapped between short and third. Next, after four pick off moves and a chorus of boos from the Philly faithful, Victorino steals second. Then Polanco hits a ball to the right side to move Victorino to third and Jimmy Rollins in his triumphant return does the same thing to score the run. 1-1. Teams that play small ball to score runs, even when they don’t need to, win baseball games. End of story.

Point #2: In the third, Morton loads the bases with one out and Rollins coming to the plate. He busts him inside and gets him to pop out. Next, with Ryan Howard up and the shift on (which I hate), Howard hits a two strike pitch right at where the shortstop would normally be scoring two run. Werth comes up and hits a home run and the score is 5-1 and might as well be 25-1. Game over.

Game 2: (AKA “fill-in-the-blank Pirates pitcher vs. Roy Halladay” Game)

I made a bet with a guy I work with that the Pirates will win more than 70 games this season. The bet is for a case of beer. I like beer and I also really think the Pirates can win 70 games. Game 2 was not one of those games. But alas, this is the Pirates. Nothing is as it seems. Halladay dominated for most of the game but found himself in the middle of the only thing the Pirates do better than the Phillies, close games. The Pirates are now 12-4 in games decided by 2 runs or less, and the Phillies are now 8-8. This game was about the Phillies not hitting as much as anything else. I would like to attribute that to good pitching by Zach Duke, but I know better (Actually, I’ll give him some credit, good game Zach). In the end the Pirates win, Raise the Jolly Roger, no one ever has success when it is their bobblehead night, and the series is a split. What was painfully obvious during this series is that the Phillies are really good, even when they lose, and the Pirates are bad, even when they win.

Although this series was full of “Expect the Unexpected” like Cameron wrote in his preview, I have learned that the Pirates are exactly what I expect. As naïve as I can be at times because I love baseball and want them to be good; they aren’t good, they won’t win Championships and therefore aren’t the Phillies. For once in my life, I actually wish Pittsburgh was more like Philadelphia, somebody shoot me.