I was preparing to do a piece on how the best thing that has happened to the Phillies this season is that the Mets are even worse then they have been, and the rest of the division has been even worse still.

The Phillies were 3-7 in their last 10 games coming into tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets have an equally as bad record in the same period. The only team with a winning record in the previous 10 games is the Florida Marlins with a record of 6-4.

However, I came across a great piece on this very subject a little while ago by our good friend Carson over at We Should Be GMs, and so I thought I’d give him his due credit for beating me to the punch.

You can check our his analysis here.

The Phillies’ announced Monday that they have placed rookie pitcher Antonio Bastardo on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left posterior shoulder.

The move generated serious speculation over who the Phillies would call up to pitch Bastardo’s spot in the rotation (Thursday). Many thought Carlos Carrasco might get his chance to make his major league debut. Or perhaps Andrew Carpenter or Rodrigo Lopez would get the call.

Instead, the Phillies announced that J.A. Happ would move up a day and start Thursday, and called up Sergio Escalona, for the fifth time this season. Escalona has only made five appearances so far this year, and has quite literally spent more time traveling to and from the big league club then he has on the mound for the Phillies. Hopefully someone has given this kid a nice set of luggage and he is allowed to keep his frequent flyer miles.

While this answers the question of who will pitch Thursday, it simply shifts the …

The St. Petersburg Police Department has delivered a complaint against Phillies’ reliever J.C. Romero following an incident last week with a fan. It is now up to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s office to determine whether or not to charge Romero with batery.

The complaint stems from an incident between Romero and a fan following last Thursday night’s Phillies – Rays game at Tropicana FIeld. The fan, Robert Eaton, and Romero exchanged words after Romero allegedly declined to sign an autograph. Eaton allegedly made disparaging remarks to Romero concerning his 50 game suspension for banned substances. Romero then allegedly grabbed Eaton by the neck and struck him.

“Remember, this is a simple battery,” St. Petersburg Police spokesman George Kajtsa said. “No weapon was used. There were no injuries to the victim whatsoever, except as he says in the report he was embarrassed because it happened in front of other fans and his family. … This is a very minor incident so the state’s attorney will probably concentrate on more serious matters, …

According to Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Flyers have been told that they will play the Boston Bruins on New Years Day in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston.

According to Moran’s sources, the decision will probably not be announced until July 15, as the league is holding the news very close to its chest.

Earlier in the week, reports were indicating that the Washington Capitals would be taking the ice, but that seemed to change midweek. The Flyers have been unofficially told that they will be the choice.

After one of the worst homestands in team history (1-8), the Phillies were quite happy to get out of the recently unfriendly confines of Citizens Bank park Tuesday with a 10-1 walloping of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Phillies beat the Rays with timely hitting, homeruns, good defense, smart baserunning, and quality pitching from both the starter and the bullpen, all things they were lacking in their nine game homestand.

The Fightins went up early over their 2008 World Series opponents by tacking on six runs in the second inning. Chase Utley drove in a couple with a double and rookie John Mayberry Jr., up from Triple-A Lehigh to replace the injured Raul Ibanez, hit his third homerun of the season, a three run blast to left.

“That’s huge for us, to score those runs,” said manager Charlie Manuel. “That’s the most runs we’ve scored in a while. Seems like seven or eight don’t get it done, so our guys figured they’d get 10 or 12.”

The Phillies would add another four runs in the fourth to give starter …

It was announced Monday that guard Royal Ivey declined the player option in his contract to play for the Sixers for the 2009-10 season. At the same time, Sixers’ fans all over the Delaware Valley asked “Who the hell is Royal Ivey?”

Sixers’ GM Ed Stefanski announced Ivey’s decision through a press release but decline to waste his time with further comment.

Ivey’s agent, Keith Glass, had to initially be reminded who Ivey was, and then he also declined comment.

In 71 games this season (who knew?), Ivey averaged 3.0 points and 1.1 rebound per game. He averaged a paltry 33.2% field goal percentage.

Surprisingly, Ivey had 36 steals to just 23 turnovers, the sixth best steal-to-turnover ratio (1.57) of any player in the league.

Phillies’ second baseman Chase Utley is now the top vote getter in NL All Star team voting with 2,273,355 votes, 115,319 votes more than Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols.

The feat is particularly impressive as the All Star Game will be held in Pujols’ own backyard in St. Louis.

Utley is in a league all his own amongst his fellow second basemen. In second place is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Orlando Hudson with just 904,648 votes.

Pujols still leads all NL first baseman, with the Phillies’ Ryan Howard in second place with 1,147,227 votes, over 1 million votes behind Pujols despite hailing from St. Louis.

Raul Ibanez continues to lead all NL outfielders in voting with 1,897,905, mor ethan 330,000 votes than the Brewers’ Ryan Braun. Shane Victorino has surpassed Manny Ramirez for fifth in outfielder voting with 1,116,524 votes and Jason Werth is eighth with 834,910 votes.

Despite having a below average season, Jimmy Rollins leads all NL shortstop with 1,216,007 votes. Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins trails with …

After months of saying that he would be sitting down with the Eagles’ front office to rework his contract, it appears as though Donovan McNabb finally got his sit down.

Announced in a press conference today at the NovaCare Center with McNabb and coach Andy Reid, the quarterback will be receiving $24.5 million over the next two years. He was originally scheduled to receive $19.2 over that period.

According to both McNabb and the Eagles, this deal has nothing to do with a possible contract extension down the line. Rather, since the NFL is so unpredictable, the focus remained on the final two years of his current contract.

Responding to several questions about his assessment of the team’s offseason moves, McNabb replied that he was “still assessing” and that he is “comfortable right now. I’m comfortable with this team right now.”

McNabb repeatedly reiterated that “These two years are very important,” repeating that mantra several times.

My take on the press conference is that both sides are going to tkae a …

Its’ official. The deal is done.

Comcast Sportsnet’s Derrick Gunn is reporting that the Eagles and quarterback Donovan McNabb have agreed to new terms on the remaining two years of contract. No specifics are yet available.

McNabb was set to receive $9.2 million this season and $10 million in 2010.

The two sides had been discussing a contract extension before shifting focus to the remaining two years a couple weeks ago.

“We are thrilled that this all worked out,” Eagles president Joe Banner said in a statement. “He is a great football player, a great person and someone who gives back to the community. We are lucky to have him in Philadelphia.”

Added coach Andy Reid: “The Philadelphia Eagles organization and the entire city of Philadelphia are fortunate to have a quarterback the caliber of Donovan McNabb. He has proven himself to be a talented player on the field, a caring member of the Philadelphia community and a winner.”

A press conference with McNabb and Reid is scheduled for Friday morning at 10 AM.

More details to follow…

With the hiring of Eddie Jordan as the new head coach of the 76ers, I thought I would examine the 21 coaches that preceeded to him and determine the top 10 coaches in Sixers history. Just how big are these shoes that Jordan is gearing up to fill? Umm, well, not that big really.

I determined the top 10 by win percentage, and each coach had to have coached at least 82 games (one complete regular season).

Billy Cunningham (1978-1985) – Cunningham was originally drafted by the Sixers in 1965, and played much of his rookie season as a sixth man off the bench, but was good enough to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. He became the head coach on November 4, 1977, and coached some of the best team in the Sixers’ history. His teams included Sixers’ legends Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Moses Malone, and Dr. J – Julius Erving. He led the 76ers to 3 Atlantic Division Titles in 1978, 1981, and …

The impact that blogs have on sports and the greater media landscape was brought into sharp focus over the past couple days after an article written by Jerod Morris of the blog Midwest Sports Fans speculated about whether or not Phillies’ outfielder Raul Ibanez was using performance enhancing drugs.

Morris’ article garnered serious national attention when it was discussed in an article by Philadelphia Inquirer Page 2 columnist John Gonzalez. In reaction to Gonzalez’s article, the Inquirer’s Phil Sheridan pressed Ibanez for a reaction to the speculation over whether he was using steroids or not. As most people have read or heard by now, Ibanez was livid and went off on the then undisclosed blogger.

“I’ll come after people who defame or slander me,” he said before last night’s game against the New York Mets. “It’s pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there.”

Ibanez’s reaction then brought the article to the attention of the national “main stream media.” It …

Following a blog report that was brought to the attention of the Philadelphia area by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s John Gonzalez in a column yesterday that speculated whether or not Raul Ibanez was on some kind of performance enhacing substance, the Phillies’ outfielder fired back before Tuesday night’s game in New York.

“I’ll come after people who defame or slander me,” he said. “It’s pathetic and disgusting. There should be some accountability for people who put that out there.”

Early yesterday a blog called Midwest Sports Fans posted an article titled “The Curious Case of Raul Ibanez: Steroid Speculation Perhaps Unfair, but Great Start in 2009 Raising Eyebrows.”

The post speculated about whether Ibanez’s hot start to the season was a result of performance enhancing substances. The unnamed blogger presented both sides of the issue and actually presented a pretty objective, down the middle piece.

Not long after it was posted, the national baseball blog Hugging Harold Reynolds made reference to it, and that is when several readers …