Now that the 2007 Mets collapse has unseated the Phillies as having the dubious honor of greatest late season collapse in Baseball History, one can now look back at one of the greatest moments from that 1964 season that just happens to have is 45th anniversary this coming Sunday.

Jim Bunning was the Phillies most famous #14 since Del Ennis and until some guy nicknamed “Charlie Hustle” came along in 1979.  I didn’t begin to follow baseball until the end of Bunning’s career, but from what I’ve read and gathered from people who saw him pitch he was a heck of a pitcher who was the first to ever win 100 games in both the NL and AL en route to [...]

Charlie Manuel called in on the Power Alley show on XM radio earlier today and said that Brad Lidge will make a rehab appearance in the minors as early as tomorrow.

SI.com’s Jon Heyman is reporting that the Phillies are a little leery of adding Seattle’s Erik Bedard and that Bedard needs to prove his shoulder is healthy before being one of the top trade options.  Heyman reported that Boston’s Brad Penny and Seattle’s Jared Washburn right now are the two most appealing starters on the trade market.

The BigGreek’s take: Penny signed a reasonable contract with the Red Sox and so far has performed well.   The problem is that Boston is in a position of strength and Penny isn’t worth overpaying for.  [...]

There have been a few media reports that the Nationals are planning to fire Manager Manny Acta.  The Nats aren’t commenting which just leaves Acta twisting in the wind.  Manny is a smart guy who simply got stuck with a bad team.  Word is that he is not well-liked in the locker room which is not a good thing when you’re losing as often as the hapless Nats are.  Hopefully if the let Acta go the front office will give the next manager some good young talent to work with instead of bringing in past their prime veterans. 

The Red Sox plan on pitching John Smoltz on Thursday against the Marlins, one day before the Red Sox/Braves series.  How great would [...]

Let me open this by saying that I am NOT a fan of the New York Mets.  I am a Phillies fan although I am married to a Mets fan.  Still, watching them this year and the past two years I just have to wonder what is going on with this team.

Last night’s gift wrapped win to the Yankees (if you didn’t see it, Luis Castillo dropped a pop up with two outs in the 9th that allowed the winning run to score) was just the latest in a collection of gaffes that would make the 1962 team proud.

The other night Carlos Beltran simply dropped a flyball by Jason Werth that was scored a single and got the Phillies game [...]

I was shocked to hear on the radio the other day that someone wrote in a blog that he thought Raul Ibanez of the Phillies was using some sort of performance enhancing substance.   Maybe it was a disgruntled Mets fan – I admit I haven’t read the blog nor will I give any kind of creedence to it.

I guess I need to thank Barry, Sammy, Mark, Roger and all the other guys we’ve suspected or caught using some sort of substance so that now any time a player is having a year that appears to be better than his “norm” we immediately jump to the conclusion that the player must be cheating.   Its simply wrong.

Ibanez has played his entire career [...]