What an exciting week of Phillies Baseball, the scorching Phillies entered the break winning 9 of their last 10 games. All weekend long, news was swirling that the Phillies looking for pitching help, we looking to bring in former Cy Young Award winner, Pedro Martinez. The break arrived and it was time for the Stars to shine. Monday brought about a less than entertaining Home Run derby. Ryan Howard just made it to the second round, where he got into a grove on his 9th out, but it wasn't enough to get him to the finals this year. On a side note, I thought it was a classy move to bring in his High School coach to pitch the derby to him in his home town. This probably cost him the derby, but it didn't matter because Ryan was giving back.
Which brings us to the All-Star game. What an exciting game. I truly enjoyed watching this year's Mid Summer Classic. Ryan Howard came up short in a crucial part of the game, by striking out with men on that could have given the NL its first win since back in Philadelphia in 1996 (I was there ;-D)
As the game was ending, there was a story posted on that Wednesday, the Phillies were hosting a news conference to announce the signing of Pedro Martinez. Like most people, I had my reservations towards this signing, until I saw the terms of the one year deal, $1 million for the remainder of the year. Not a bad deal, we have wasted more than that on players like Adam Eaton. Let's face it, a health 37 year old Pedro is probably better than Rodrigo Lopez or Antonio Bastardo. I am looking forward to Pedro and you should too. Personally I can't wait for Pedro to face the Mutts and show them he's still got it.
In addition to Pedro news, trade rumors were flowing in regards to the year's trading deadline jackpot...Roy Halladay. A topic in which I cover in post: Gearing Up for Second Half. Basically, I feel the Phillies need to do whatever they can to land Halladay. Even if it includes, J.A. Happ. I like Happ, especially with the streak he is on, but is Happ another Hamels or Kendrick. I would rather trade a Happ and risk a future CY Young winner to land a proven winner in Halladay. As Pat Gillick told fans years ago, this team was being built to win for years to come. A pitcher like Roy Halladay could be the piece that starts a Phillies Dynasty. In this day and age, repeats are extremely hard to come by and dynasties are virtually impossible, but again as Gillick said this team was built to win and with Halladay our chances of repeating are greatly increased.
As the break came and went, the Phillies started a 4 game series against the 2nd place Florida Marlins. What an exciting series that was. The Phillies continuing the torrid streak and went into Florida and swept the Marlins in the rain shorten 3 game series. That sweep gave the Phightin Phils their largest division lead this late into a season since 1993. Bringing the Phillies end the week winning 12 of their last 13. Truly an exciting week in Phillies Baseball.
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