THE STRUGGLE and The Phillies

Stain Club has hit some hard times lately in regards to updating. However, for those of you still with us, we are continuing on here, albeit the battle against "The Struggle" (our terminology for life in the real world) is certainly taking its toll.

We have of course been keeping up with The Philadelphia Phillies. I myself was down in Washington this weekend to see the boys do a pretty successful job against the Nats in their last series at RFK stadium (which, by the way, is a pretty sloppy place). At this point, a season does truly hang on the brink. It's do or die time for the Phillies. 4-2 MIGHT get the team in the playoffs, but 5-1 should. Three games against Atlanta (who for some reason still think they're a factor in the playoff hunt), and three against Colorado, all at home.

A couple of Phillies deserve special recognition: Jimmy Rollins, recently commended by Buster Olney in his blog, for being not only the team MVP, but also the league MVP, when all is said and done (it's possible). Also, Jayson Werth, who has played some outstading baseball, and without whom the Phillies would not be in the playoff hunt. And, J.C. Romero, given up on by a number of clubs, has found a home with the Phillies, and has pitched well whenever called upon, giving us at least one middle reliever Charlie Manuel can turn to in big situations.

Stick with us, as hopefully there will be more to come. I'll definitely be checking my preseason predictions to see how badly I bungled how the Phillies would fare (I cringe to think of our NL West matchups). As always, go Phillies.