A CITIZEN'S BLOG

Lost in all of the hubbub about Johnson's perfect game was last night's 8-7 win over the Dodgers. Rob Maaddi of the AP described Citizens as a "hitters park" and quoted Larry Bowa as saying that even in damp, cold weather the ball flys out. (Read the article here.) Uh-oh.

Everyone who reads A Citizen's Blog knows that I hate hitters parks because they make playing defense difficult (if not impossible) and inflate scoring. The Phils clubbed five home runs against what I thought was some pretty decent pitching, and the Dodgers got three against Padilla, who I thought had some good stuff.

Hey, I'm happy that these guys are scoring runs, but I worry that when crunch time comes we'll be like a lot of home-run happy squads that can't hit the ball out of the infield against decent pitching: I'm reminded of the 1999 Texas Rangers, who nearly had five guys with 100+ RBIs and clubbed 230 home runs in the regular season but were completely shut down and swept by the Yankees in the ALDS. (They scored one run.) I can see that happen to the Phils against a team with good pitching: that sudden inability to get anything going...

Remember how flummuxed the Phils were after facing Kip Wells in the season opener? Facing a dominating pitcher can screw a team up for days. The Phils need a bit more consistency.