Roy Halladay’s improbable perfect game against the Marlins last night was amazing. Of course, the perfect game is probably the greatest anomaly in sports so when it does happen it has people a little worked up. And there is no place on earth where excitement over sports takes on a little bit of, shall we say, excess than right here in Philly.

So I present you the stupid Philadelphia sports/WIP line of the week: a caller to the radio station today was talking about how great Halladay’s perfect game was. Naturally, he drew the conclusion that Doc’s perfecto portends a Phillies win over the Rays in the World Series. And here’s the kicker: when asked whether he wanted to play the Yankees instead to avenge last year’s Series loss, the caller responded in the negative noting that the 2009 Yankees were a “flash in the pan.”

A flash in the pan. The New York Yankees. Winners of more championships than any team in the history of North American major professional sports. I’m still trying to process the myriad, onion-like layers of stupidity contained in that statement. Either that guy’s Werner Heisenberg or I need to spend my afternoon meditating in a hot yoga room.

Forget Carlos Ruiz’s walk-off home run in extra innings. The heroics of his blast got the Phillies a win in game #26 of the 2010 season to draw even with the Cardinals in the 2nd of a 4-game set. The important thing that came out of last night’s game was the performance of Cole Hamels.

Since leading the Phillies to World Series glory in 2008, Cole Hamels has been shaky. He’s gone 13-15 since they won it all, compiling an ERA of 4.58. Seldom during that stretch have we seen glimpses of what made Hamels the World Series MVP that year. But last night’s outing against one of the better offenses in the N.L. showed that Hamels still has his stuff. Before being rattled in the 9th inning by a second consecutive day’s installment of a fan running onto the field Hamels was lights out, allowing no runs. Determined to show that this town is as stubborn as it is stupid, the fan’s decision to make himself the centerpiece of the game clearly rattled Hamels who promptly gave up 2 doubles and the chance at a win.

With Hamels coming off the field, the Philadelphia fans showed they do have at least some glimmer of decency. The gave Hamels, a guy who has taken over Donovan McNabb’s role in this town as the player you love to hate, a standing ovation, and rightfully so. Hamels’ closing line was 8 hits and 1 run over 8 innings, with 8 Ks and one walk on 116 pitches. He went toe-to-toe with Adam Wainwright the whole way, showing that when he’s on he’s right up there with the National League’s best. The best thing to come out of the game last night was Hamels’ confidence-boosting performance and even though he didn’t get the win, he reminded us of what he’s capable of. And also what this team will need if they’re going to win a 3rd consecutive pennant.

Kyle Kendrick’s career may have been ruined last night. After out-pitching Jamie Moyer in spring training, Kendrick was relegated to bullpen duty to start the 2010 campaign. Joe Blanton’s abdominal injury forced Kendrick into the starting rotation and after two starts he was not looking good, amassing an ERA of 17.47. So needless to say, last night’s start against the Braves was probably a chance for him to right his ship and begin to show the organization that keeping him around makes sense.

But in the end it was the organization that let Kendrick down. All he did last night was pitch 8 complete innings, allowing no runs and giving up 4 hits and 2 walks. Those are numbers that you’d expect from Roy Halladay, not the 5th-and-a-half starter. Kendrick did his part and fans were probably feeling good about his teammates’ ability to get three outs and nail down the win with a 3-run lead going into the 9th.

Sure as turnips fall off trucks, however, Ryan Madson came in to close the game and promptly gave up consecutive home runs in to Jason Heyward and Troy Glaus. Not to be outdone, medieval retread Jose Contreras gave up the game-winning dinger to Nate McLouth in the 10th. The grand irony of watching the Phillies bullpen collapse was the fact that Billy Wagner pitched a perfect 10th inning for the Braves and got the win.

In the offseason when Ruben Amaro was trying to show the world he could imprint his name on a World Series winner, every ounce of energy was poured into signing Roy Halladay. For good measure, Amaro added Placido Polanco so that the Phillies could improve upon their already ostentatious offensive numbers. But in a series of non-moves that reeked of ignorance, Amaro did nothing to improve the one area of the team that has been awful for the past two years: the bullpen.

Had it not been for Brad Lidge’s unworldly perfect season in 2008, that team may well have not won the World Series because of how shaky the pen was (excepting Lidge, of course). And last year’s bullpen was downright awful. So what should the G.M. do as a follow up? Well, for starters lets shitcan our best long reliever, Chan Ho Park. Then let’s go into the season with a closer who blew 11 saves last year, a set-up guy in J.C. Romero who hasn’t seen rubber in ages and a few 54th-round fantasy baseball draft scrubs as offseason pickups.

If this team does not win the N.L. East, it will be because of its bullpen. Plain and simple. It is the part of this team that has been bad for multiple seasons and Amaro’s inability to address it with anything other than Danys Baez and Jose Contreras is a sign of either ignorance of an unhealthy obsession with putting all his eggs in the Halladay basket. So going forward, let’s hope Kyle Kendrick and the rest of the rotation can expect a little more help from organization than they got last night.

Looking ahead to the Phillies weekend series against the Marlins, I asked myself whether this team would be good enough to win a series (at home) against a real Major League team. Three games and two losses later the answer is a resounding no. Their stud #2, Cole Hamels, showed yet again that he can’t beat a quality team. While the offense looks great against teams like the Astros, Nate Robertson and Ricky Nolasco held the Phils’ bats to 1 run in 2 games. Hell, even in the Friday night win the bullpen did everything it could (but failed, of course) to lose a seemingly insurmountable lead.

This team is a shell of its former self. People in this town like to walk around and pretend their team is a contender. Still drunk off the intoxications of the past two seasons, fans overlook how awful this team really is. Reality check, folks: it’s been six months since this team played in the World Series. And a year and a half since they’ve won one. I don’t know about you but I’m not going to sit around and look at this team with good-ol’-days glasses on and I’m sure as shit not going to trick myself into thinking this playoff pretender of a team has a real shot at it this year.

With no young talent to speak of, the Phillies front office has dug itself into a hole by trading away 200 prospects for one spot in the rotation. And they’re trying to make up for it by marching out dinosaurs like Roy Halladay, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in the hopes that fans will keep coming to the park out of some kind of nostalgia. No thank you.

Sure, they’ve won twice as many games as they’ve lost. And sure, they have MLB’s best run differential at +29. But I’m not going to take the bait just because they’re first in the NL in batting average, runs scored, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS and ERA. Yeah, that sounds nice, but they’ve only stolen 3 bases all year. Frauds.

So to all you Kool Aid drinkers, enjoy. You can keep riding high off of old glories on the baseball field but some of us refuse to live in the past. We’re now TWO SEASONS removed from a title. And with 2 consecutive losses under their belts, the Phillies are showing what a house of cards really looks like. I’ve had it with these bums.

Let me start by saying that I will certainly not be unhappy in any way with Roy Halladay as the Phillies’ ace. I argued extensively last season for the Phils to make a move to get him and he is one of the top-5 pitchers in baseball, perhaps made even better in the short run by being a veteran of baseball’s best division. And now Halladay will land in the N.L. which by recent experience should mean he’ll get even more of a boost. From a performance perspective, Halladay probably becomes the best pitcher in the National League going into 2010.

But there are questions surrounding this move and its timing that can’t be ignored. First and foremost is the issue of what the Phillies have given up to acquire Halladay. Because Cliff Lee is gone as a result of this trade, the Phillies are simply replacing one ace with another. Let’s start with the trade that rented Cliff Lee for 12 starts to close out the 2009 season (and 4 brilliant playoff starts). According to mlb.com the Phillies will part with previously “untouchable” top pitching prospect, Kyle Drabek, as well as outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Combine that with the players they sent to Cleveland in the Lee deal (pitchers Jason Knapp and Carlos Carrasco, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald) and you have a pretty high price paid for what amounts to be one pitcher.

In fairness, prospects are exactly that: an unknown commodity. But emptying close to your entire minor league tank to fill one rotation spot seems to be a bold gamble, even moreso when you consider the fact that Roy Halladay is negligably better than Cliff Lee. To boot, Roy Halladay has pitched 4 more seasons than Cliff Lee and has pitched exactly 850 innings more than Lee, meaning his treads are a lot more worn than Lee’s.

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When you hit .266 in the bottom of the order and play an excellent defensive third base (and jack a huge World Series home run) you force management to look for your replacement. Leading the team in average with runners in scoring position isn’t worth much either. Nope. If you’re Pedro Feliz, you’re wondering why solid production at the back end of the best offense in the N.L. isn’t enough to keep you employed. Ditto for your defensive prowess.

Other than Alex Rodriguez and David Wright, just about every third baseman in baseball has been rumored to be Feliz’s replacement. From Chone Figgins to Kevin Kouzmanoff to Garrett Atkins to Adrian Beltre. Now Mike Lowell’s name is in the mix.

The Phillies have officially become the National League’s version of the Yankees. This is the kind of thing rich people do because they’re bored. Sick of your BMW? Go get a Bentley. Your 96-inch HD Plasma is boring you? Install an IMAX in your basement. There is no need to replace Pedro Feliz, but Amaro has to keep the Phils relevant during the off season. That’s what this move is, I just hope they don’t get bitten by the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it bug.

Johnny Goodtimes did all of our sentiments a service with his great piece on how things feel today and how they’ll be remembered going forward. The only thing I can add to that is the expression of a sense of pride I have in how well this team performed and how gracious and classy Philly has been in defeat. When you think about it objectively, the odds of winning a World Series are never good, no matter how strong a team is on paper. This Phillies team not only won 1, but they returned to the big stage and showed not only how good they have been but how promising they are for the years to come.

The odds for next year’s World Series champion are out. The Phillies stand at 10-1. In shocking fashion the yearly ritual, the Yankees and Red Sox are the favorites to win at 3-1 and 7-1, respectively. Like the Phillies the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California are listed at 10-1 as are the Cardinals, the other N.L. team in the top-5. Other N.L. aspirants are the Dodgers (12-1), the Cubs (15-1), the Rockies (20-1) and the Braves (20-1). And in case you were wondering, the Mets are listed at 15-1.

So our favorite sport here at iSportacus is in hibernation for the next 3 months which gives us time to refocus on a very good Flyers team, an Eagles team that is as inconsistent as my putter and a Sixers team which we’re forced to cover periodically. Penn State football should get a boost here in the coming weeks; they have a huge game at home this Saturday against Ohio State in which they’re favored by 3.5. Because they have a loss to Iowa on their card and the Hawkeyes are undefeated, hopes for a trip to the Rose Bowl are distant but hey, they could finish their season with 1 loss which is pretty damned good. And finally, look for a little Temple football coverage. Quietly, they’ve won 6 straight and are bowl eligible for the first time in a long time.

It’s been a great baseball season. Until the proverbial pitchers-and-catchers date, let’s try and enjoy the bounty of other quality sports taking place around Philly.

One thing I have been struck by as I stroll through the Philly sports blogs is how proud everybody is, and I have yet to see one Negadelphia statement, even in the comments sections. It’s like the Grinch, replete with pictures of himself as a centaur on his wall, stole Christmas, and yet all of us Whos down in Whoville are still holding hands and singing. Yeah, the Yankees took our title, and good for them. But they didn’t take away the pride this team has instilled the city with, or the excitement they’ve provided us with these past three years. I think, when it was all said and done, we didn’t see this season as a few bad decisions in pitching to the King of Porn or another Brad Lidge meltdown. We didn’t see it as an “All or Nothing” scenario. It was a win-win scenario, where a team brought us way too much joy to let it come crashing down because of one or two games, and another trip to the Series was just icing on the cake.

The season had plenty of highs and lows. I’ll never forget Harry throwing out the first pitch at the ring ceremony game, nor will I forget that devastating text I received a week later with the awful news. Game 2 of the NLDS was the first Phillies game my dad and I ever watched together, and I will never forget us negotiating with scalpers outside of the stadium. I’ll remember Brad Lidge’s struggles, and I’ll remember the Wawa sandwich maker sitting next to me at a bar in Narberth, telling me about the pros and cons of making sandwiches as I watched Lidge hold on for dear life in Game 3 of the NLDS. I will never forget Victorino’s enthusiasm, Ryan Howard’s exhortation of “Get Me to the Plate”, Jimmy’s huge double against the Dodgers, or Chase Utley’s remarkable World Series performance. I will remember Chooch-tober bleed into Chooch-vember, I’ll remember Cliff Lee’s behind the back stab in Game 1, I’ll remember the postseason where Jayson Werth became a household name to baseball fans across the country.

One of my favorite memories came after that final nerve wracking out in Game 5 of the World Series. I was at a bar with 20 very good friends, and after the screaming and high-fiving concluded, we broke into a rousing rendition of Harry’s favorite song, “High Hopes.” There we were, one game away from the devastating Game 4 loss, knowing that we still needed to beat the Yankees twice more, and yet we were singing madly about ants and rubber tree plants, as if a comeback was inevitable. It was not. And with two outs in the top of the 9th of Game 6 and the Phillies trailing 7-3, Shane Victorino came to the plate. Battling a severely injured finger and the best relief pitcher in Major League baseball history, Shane refused to go down quietly. Cracking foul ball after foul ball, each one certainly causing him pain, Shane kept our dimmest of hopes alive. Someone at the bar uttered, “If Shane can get on, it’s Chase and then Howard. There’s still hope.” And that, my friends, is where Philadelphia stands today. Even in the direst of circumstances, down 7-3 in the top of the 9th with two outs and two strikes, Philadelphians no longer say, “We’re screwed.” They say, “There’s still hope.” That is no small thing. It is the legacy of both a team we’ve learned to never give up on and an announcer that we’ll never forget.

Thought you guys might dig this column on Sportsillustrated.com, 5 Reasons Why the Phils Will Win. Among them: The Phils MLB best 48-33 road record, the unstoppable Chase Utley, and possible re-emergence of Cliff Lee. And he left out the biggest one: The Yanks have a 37 year old pitching on 3 days rest. THat player, Andy Pettitte told teammates he had “nothing” after Game 3.

Meanwhile, the Ny Daily News has a column entitled, “Girardi Better Be Right”, talking about his decision to use only 3 pitchers: Because if the Yankees blow this Series, if the Phillies come all the way back, then Yankee fans are going to wonder how the Yankees could spend $206 million on baseball players and not have enough left under the bed to buy a reliable fourth starter.

After the Phils win the Series on Thursday, there will probably be a parade. But who’s going to pay for it? Not the city.

Let me start by noting the obvious: the following discussion is trivial, premature and theoretical. If for no other simple reason that we still haven’t seen Game 6 of the World Series played yet, there’s no way to really say who the MVP of the Series is. But for the sake of illustrating just how great Chase Utley has been so far, let’s entertain the notion that he’s been the the most valuable (read: greatest impact on the Series of any player) participant in this year’s Series.

The Phillies’ second baseman has an OPS of 1.651. That is unheard of. He’s accumulated 22 total bases and his slugging percentage is 1.222. Through 5 games, these numbers are stratospheric. He’s reached base 43% of the time he’s been at the plate. And, as everyone knows by now, he’s tied Reggie Jackson’s mark of 5 home runs in a World Series. Most importantly, Utley’s produced 8 runs with his bat.

Who else has had an impact so significant? Well, Johnny Damon has been the definition of a professional hitter, having drawn-out at-bats in late inning situations. But Damon’s clutch hitting hasn’t resulted in the raw production Utley’s has. Damon’s OPS is .911, not anywhere close to Utley’s. His OBP is fantastic (.435, .006 better than Utley’s) but he’s only driven in 4 runs and has hit no homers.

Alex Rodriguez has also come alive in the past few games. But like Damon’s OPS, his is well under 1.000. To his credit, A-Rod has made himself into a intimidating figure at the plate and while the Phillies may be wise to simply put him on base every time he’s up, his numbers don’t shine as brightly as Utley’s. He has fewer RBI (6), less than half the total bases Utley has (10) and has an OBP .65 less than Utley.

Jayson Werth has (relatively) quietly put up number better than both Damon’s and A-Rod’s. He’s hit for 11 total bases, a .400 OBP and a 1.047 OPS. The only other reasonable contestant is Derek Jeter but his numbers are comparable to or worse than both his aforementioned Yankees teammates.

I don’t think a starting pitcher can be mentioned in this discussion if for no other reason the fact that they impact fewer than half the games. Unless a pitcher is single-handedly responsible for multiple wins, he shouldn’t be in the discussion, a big part of the reason I’m leaving Cliff Lee out of the conversation. For as great as he was in Game 1, last night’s performance should be best described as solid. None of the Yankees’ pitchers’ starts can be characterized as superlative, and while Mariano Rivera scares the pants off everyone, he’s only pitched 3 and 2/3 innings. I’m sorry but that just isn’t good enough when compared against a guy like Utley who’s played in 40 innings.

Chase Utley’s performance in this World Series is the only reason it’s still going on. If the Phillies find a way to get it to a Game 7 and Utley delivers a clutch hit, win or lose his performance in this year’s Fall Classic will be remembered as one of the great efforts of all time.