Damn Phillies!

All right, so there's been a problem with the Phillies. Obviously, they lost the NLCS this year. Sure, they left the bases loaded with only 1 out. Sure, they couldn't make 2 exhausted pitchers (Bumgarner, then Lincecum) work harder than they needed to. And, sure, Chooch hit into a devastating double play with 2 men on and 1 out. But, what really killed the Phils this season, was the lack of hitting, and namely the strike-outs. Thinking about this last night, and most of the day at work, I've come up with a pretty good solution.

What the management needs to do, in order to get these guys to start hitting, or at the very least swinging, is that for every backwards K that gets tossed up, the player that goes down looking gets fined $1000, 1 K, during the regular season. If it happens during the NLDS, it's $5000. NLCS? $10,000. And the World Series? Jack it up to $50,000.

The reason I'm specifically picking the non-swinging strike-out is how the game ended last night. Howard had a pitch come across the plate just above the knees. It's a 3-2 count, 2 outs, 2 men on, bottom of the 9th, and you're losing by a run. Why wouldn't you swing at that pitch?

Now, your asking what to do with the money. Honestly, I don't care. Reinvest in the team, so you can lower ticket prices. Donate it all to a needy family or charity. Hold a raffle. Give it to a politician. Give it all to the player who has the least called-out-lookings. I really don't care. They need to do something about the Phillies not making contact. This seems as good a solution as any.

C. D.