Current mood:

nerdy

You Can Call Me Sarge
Interleague play brings the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (formerly the Anaheim Angels, before that the California Angels, and originally just the Los Angeles Angels) to town this weekend. I'll be at all three games. After this weekend, the Kansas City Royals will be the only remaining MLB team that I have never seen the Phillies (or any other team for that matter) play in person, although it should be noted that I've never seen the Phils play the Cleveland Indians in a regular season game. The only time I saw the Tribe was in the first exhibition game at Citizens Bank Park. In a way, it's kind of ironic. The team that the Phillies defeated to win their only World Series to date is the only team I've never seen them play. Interleague has its pros and cons, so I guess stuff like that is one of the pros.

Back to the Angels, I've mentioned before that they are my #3 team after the Phillies and Detroit Tigers. I think baseball is the only sport where I even have what I would consider a third-favorite team. I was never really sure why I liked the Angels, but looking back, it was probably because of my mom. I think I may have explained this before. I always enjoyed baseball, but I think I first started to understand the game around 1986 or 1987 (my first year of t-ball was '87). The '86 postseason was the first one I ever remember watching. It was the Angels and Red Sox in the ALCS that year. My mom was rooting hard for the Angels for a couple of reasons. The first one was because Bob Boone was their catcher. Boone was one of my mom's favorite Phillies during his time here, and like a lot of female fans, liked him for more than just his catching ability. Second was because Gene Mauch was managing the Angels. Mauch, of course, was the manager of the 1964 Phillies, who, as you may know, lost the NL Pennant (divisional play was not instituted until 1969) by blowing a 6.5 game lead with only 12 left to play. Collapse aside, my mom always liked Mauch, and wanted to see him put the ghosts of '64 to rest. It was not meant to be, as the Angels could not hold a three-games-to-one lead (and were one strike away from winning Game 5), losing the series in seven. My mom was heartbroken. To this day, it's the hardest I've ever seen anyone in my immediate family take a loss that didn't involve a Philadelphia team. I've always liked the Angels ever since then. The one thing I don't get is why I prefer the Tigers over them. To the best of my knowledge, the only reason I started liking the Tigers was because of a Disney movie. Maybe it's because I grew up before the Internet Age, when it wasn't so easy for someone on the East Coast to follow a West Coast team. Who knows? I guess there are some things out there that can never be explained.

Coming in with the Angels will be Gary Matthews, Jr. That should make for an interesting weekend with Gary Matthews, Sr. up in the booth for the Phils. I know Sarge has his detractors as a broadcaster, but I must admit he's grown on me. He'll never have a good broadcasting voice and yes, he does overuse certain words and phrases, but I've gotten used to all that. Now, if they could only put a muzzle on Tom McCarthy, we'd be all set. I mean, T-Mac (as Harry likes to call him) knows the game and enjoys what he's doing, but it's like he's simultaneously doing the pregame and postgame shows while doing the play-by-play. And the sideline reports, UGH! I know he's just doing his assignment, but a huge pet peeve of mine is when they talk over the action on the field. I understand we can see what's going on, but still, there should be a call attached to a play, even if it's just a routine grounder to second. Sometimes, less is more. Richie Ashburn was a master of that. He could let a whole inning go by, and if there was nothing that needed to be said, nothing was said. Sadly, I think silence is a thing of the past.

Tonight is the Phillies' fifth annual Sound of Philadelphia celebration. Teddy Pendergrass and the Geator With the Heater, the Boss With the Hot Sauce, Jerry Blavat, will be honored. What is a geator anyway? Even though it's a little before my time, I've always liked Philly Soul music. I always found the vocal and instrumental arrangements very soothing. Last year was the first time I made it to the Sound of Philadelphia night, and to be honest, it was kind of a letdown. Boyz II Men were honored, but only like two of them even bothered to show up. I'm not a huge Boyz II Men fan as it is, but it would've been nice if they were all there. It's not like they had very far to go. Then there was 73-year-old Billy Paul warbling awkwardly through his 1972 hit, "Me and Mrs. Jones." The affair was concluded with Bunny Sigler giving our National Anthem the Bleeding Gums Murphy treatment. I wasn't wearing a watch, but I still looked down at my wrist a couple times. I swear, it took him like three minutes to get through the song.

Hopefully things will go a little better this time around. And if the Phillies make some sweet music on the field, all the better.