PHILLIES JOURNAL 2010

PHILLIES JOURNAL 2010

by Max Blue

http://maxblue3.tripod.com

OPENING DAY, 2010

            Monday, April 5, 2010. It’s a bright sunny and warm day in the Nations’ Capitol,

and the honorable Barack Obama, sports fan, and incidentally, President of the United States, toes the rubber with his left foot and rocks into a herky-jerkey motion. The pres wears a red satin Washington Nationals jacket and on his head, a wrinkled Chicago White Sox cap to show the crowd where his baseball allegiance rests. The good natured crowd handed him the first Bronx cheer of the day when he whipped out the cap on his way to the mound. The TV announcers note that Obama’s pitch marks the 100^th anniversary of the day in 1910 when William Howard Taft became the first U.S. President to throw out the first pitch of the baseball season (never mind that made-for-TV Yankees-Red Sox game last night).

            The pitch is high and away, nowhere near the strike zone, a fitting reminder of where the 2010 Washington Nationals are likely to end the season. The star-spangled Phillies’ lineup takes a couple of innings to get the kinks out, then goes to work on John Lannan, the hapless Nats’ lefty to the tune of a five-run fourth inning keyed by Ryan Howard’s two-run blast over the right field bullpen. Placido Polanco ices the cake with the first Grand Slam of the season in the 7^th inning. Meanwhile, Doc Halladay fans nine Nats in seven innings on the way to an 11-1 win. Phillies’ fans are pleased by the near-perfect outcome, but nervous at the thought that the successful 2006, 07, 08, and 09 seasons all began with an opening day loss. Whatever. We will do what we have to do.

                                    DOC HALLADAY’S FIRST DAY

                        Welcome to Philly, new friend,

                        let’s hope that this win starts a trend

                        to a big winning season

                        we’ll all find most pleasin’

                        with a World’s Series crown at the end.

Monday, April 5, 2010. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.

Philadelphia – 11, Washington – 1.

WP – Halladay (1-0), LP – Lannan (0-1)

HR – Howard (1), 4^th, 1 on; Polanco (1), GRAND SLAM, 7^th.

             .