Quote of the day
"I think the faster we get it done, the better off we'll be." -- Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, after sweeping a 3-game series against the BravesDaily blurb
If you are a Phillies fan, your biggest worry now is that the team may be peaking too soon. On a 10-game winning streak, with a 6-game division lead, and a pitching rotation that leads with Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt, it’s hard to see the downside. But playoffs can go in unexpected directions.
Altanta just got smacked by the Phils, but they still have the wild card lead, albeit very slight. To their benefit, the NL West teams are beating each other up – and the Braves don’t have to beat out the best in the West; they only have to beat the second best. Their final series against Philly may have no implications for the NL East, but big implications for the wild card race. And Philly will probably be resting their starters. If that series matters for the Phillies, the starters could be Hamels-Halladay-Oswalt. But I wouldn’t bet on that now.
It’s hard to know how many GuruGolf teams are still competing this week. Only 112 teams have four active golfers, but many others have picked up a cheap inactive golfer in order to field a decent active threesome. Regardless, Ryan Palmer appears on 120 foursomes, which is certainly more than 50% of all active teams. All 30 tournament golfers are represented in GuruGolf action this week. The two least popular golfers are Nick Watney and Bo Van Pelt, each appearing on only two teams.