15 Days and Counting...

15 days from today at 1:05 PM, I (and many other excited fans) will probably get to see Roy Halladay take the mound for the first time as Phillie in a regular season game. You would think that there's been adequate time to prepare for this eventuality, and yet I know it's still going to send chills through Phillies fans everywhere. Luckily I'll be kept warm from these chills by my brand new Roy Halladay t-shirt. I imagine my outfit will match a few others in the DC crowd on April 5th.

 (Photo courtesy of mlb.com)

That same Roy Halladay did show his human side yesterday, giving up 3 runs, 6 hits, and 2 walks in five innings. He admitted that he was inconsistent and was still working out a few kinks in his mechanics in the process. If an outing like that is what an off day for Roy Halladay looks like, I think we'll be alright. On the other hand it would still be nice for him to go out on April 5th and absolutely destroy the Nationals line-up. Of course, beating the Nationals is more like winning an exhibition game against a nice upstart AAA team. Still if Roy Halladay pitches at even 75% of his potential in that game, it'll be damn fun to watch.

Moving back to my perennial blog topic, the resurgence of Cole Hamels, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly has a great piece up today discussing a rival team's scout's appreciation of Hamels' pitching so far in spring training. Of course, it's easy to let expectations get out of control with a team like the current crop of Phillies and the hype surrounding them going into the 2010 season. Personally, I like to get my expectations built up because it's more fun to feel great about every part of your team. If Cole Hamels doesn't pitch like he did in 2008, I'll take that in stride, but I'd rather start out with the hope that he will, and all signs I've seen point to that.

I'm going to keep this post brief, and start doing briefer posts from now on (unless events call for more) so I can update more regularly. As the season gets underway in a little over two weeks, I'll be trying to update on a daily basis, and I'll hope to add an interesting perspective to all things Phillies-related during the season. As The Phield pointed out, with so many Phillies blogs, it's hard for any one to distinguish itself. While I won't be able to provide any news you can't read elsewhere, I hope to at least inject a little insight and humor into the Phillies conversation. Maybe next year I'll get myself put in a better matchup than against The Fightins, who trounced me pretty well on Friday. Thanks to all of those of you who did vote for me. If The Phield is back next year, I hope to be back in it, with a stronger voice and a year's experience under my belt.