Phillies Lose 2 of 3 in Seattle--Who Cares?

Blogger's note: So...I have a real job that just recently wrapped up for the summer (guess my profession), as such it was a bit of a hectic week. Something had to give. Unfortunately for the seven of you reading this, it was this blog. Don't fret, though, because I'm back at full strength.

I don’t know what it was about this past weekend that left me feeling totally unconcerned with what transpired. Was it baseball in Washington state? Was it the AL West opponent? Was it my newly prescribed anger management medication?

Maybe. I don’t know.

Still, I assumed the Phillies would lose two out of three in Seattle this weekend, and that’s exactly what happened. And I can’t believe I’d ever say this, maybe I’m softening at 25, but I’m fine with it.

The Phillies hit a ton of fly balls and against three pitchers who they were expected to struggle with, I’m not exactly sure why anyone was disappointed with the results.

Some of you wonder how they could show up against Felix Hernandez, but shrink against Michael Pineda and Claudio Vargas, and my response is–why?

This team has some personnel issues–aging sluggers, inconsistent offense, a weak bench, etc.

But as I’ve suspected for most of this season, this is a team that is a bit, well, bored with its current predicament.

Five game lead. Closest competitiors have been in a free fall. Four-straight NL East Championships from a group that knows full well they are the only ones who can prevent a fifth. Why exactly would this be a team fired up to win a series in Seattle? Because they are professionals? Sure. But over a 162-game grind, every team, no matter how good, mentally checks out in a series and goes through the motions.

This was that series.

And I don’t think any team plays to this theory more than this current group of Phillies. Take this weekend’s games for example.

Friday night: Fresh off a seven-game winning streak and a cross country flight, the Phillies were bound for a let down against a young pitcher with electric stuff that they knew little about. Loss.

Saturday night: Off a relatively listless loss, the Phillies were tasked with facing one of the best and well-regarded starters in the game. They had something to prove. In turn, they put together focused at-bats, good approaches, and had little time making Felix Hernandez an ordinary pitcher. Win.

Sunday afternoon: With a win against Felix Hernandez in hand, the Phillies had accomplished what they had set out to do in Seattle–Charlie Manuel’s lineup admitted as much. Michael Martinez in left? Where he’d never played a Major League game before? Not surprisingly, the at-bats were a complete 180-degree turn from Saturday night–quick, sloppy, and without punch. Loss.

Baseball is a game with many nuances and it’s often regarded by those who watch it as a thinking man’s game, one with countless numbers and formulas that can help predict its outcome. Probably true.

But sometimes you can look right past the numbers and directly at human nature, and it helps explain a lot.