Hey Maura, is it ok for Phillies fans to yammer now?
Naturally, after a full day’s worth of psychoanalytic punditry about the Phillies’ streak against the Mets, it ended, as i’m sure most fans of both teams knew it someday would.
Those of us who cheer the visitors might grumble, “yeah, but can they do it when the Phillies have their MVP?” as Jimmy Rollins (above) missed the game with a sprained ankle. Considering that Eric Bruntlett (two errors) made one look back fondly on the days of Ed Wade fave and shaving-cream-pie specialist Tomas Perez, it’s a valid question. Six of New York’s eight runs were unearned, though starter Kyle Kendrick hurt his own cause plenty with a half-dozen BBs.
Perhaps GC would like to praise Mike Pelfrey and the Mets; truth is I was much more focused on the Devils/Rangers game. The thing that stands out for me here, as reported by the Philadelphia Daily News’ David Murphy, is that Rollins planned to play…
But after working out on the field and talking with hitting coach Milt Thompson and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, in town to broadcast the game on ESPN, he decided not to chance it.
“It’s never been swollen it’s just my mobility going left to right is pretty sore, and that’s what my game is, especially defensively,” Rollins said.
Rollins said he doesn’t think the injury will linger. He said he hopes to play in the series finale against the Mets tomorrow night.
“It’s just sore, it isn’t anything more than that right now,” Rollins said.
Rollins had made 230 consecutive starts, including all 162 last year.
“I want to go out there and play every day, but Joe Morgan and Milt said it. You go out there on a bad ankle you start getting some bad habits at the plate.”
I’ll leave it to Lee Anne Schreiber to decide whether Morgan should be telling people that he covers what to do (other than when second-guessing in the broadcast booth). I just hope and pray this doesn’t mean the status of Flyers captain Jason Smith for Friday’s game against the Caps in any way depends upon the thoughts of Barry Melrose.