Getting Lee-tarded

Morsch is going out of his mind about Cliff Lee signing with the Phillies. This kind of Twitter explosion hasn't happened since we got Roy Oswalt.

I think Cliff Lee should wear No. 28 next season.
about 11 hours ago via Twitter for Android

... Okay. A gentleman known as MVShaw replied, "Batboy?"

@mvshaw Werth was No. 28
about 11 hours ago via Twitter for Android in reply to mvshaw

Jokes are always funnier when you explain them. Nice that Morsch can go from lamenting Werth's departure in his "Roy-Roy" post to crowing about it here.

So now Kyle Kendrick does what?
about 11 hours ago via Twitter for Android

Probably stays. Even I know that the Phils are shopping "Fat" Joe Blanton.

My tickets are already paid for. Hahahahahahahah!
about 11 hours ago via Twitter for Android

... Okay. Does he think prices going to increase due to Lee being on the team? Like he pulled off an amazing "buy-low" maneuver here or something.

Halladay will give No. 34 back to Lee and just wear a middle finger symbol duct taped to his back.
about 10 hours ago via Twitter for Android

... Okay. Why? Is he notorious for flipping off the fielders playing behind him?

Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Doesn't matter who wears No. 34

Here we go! Why settle for a few incomprehensible Twitter posts when you can get an entire "blog item" (as he now calls them) on the subject?

Cliff Lee vacated the Phillies jersey No. 34 when he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners a year ago.

In his place, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay, who chose to wear No. 34 as well. All he did with that number last season was win 21 games, pitch a regular-season perfect game, a post-season no-hitter and snag the 2010 National League Cy Young Award.

Lee wore #34 once before, with the Indians. The way Morsch portrays himself as a die-hard baseball fanatic, you'd think he would have some interesting trivia on how each pitcher selected his number (e.g. Barry Zito wearing #57 because it creates a "shelf" for his name to sit on). But no - just the facts, ma'am.

The guess here is that Halladay will give Lee back No. 34 and pitch next season with a middle-finger symbol duct taped to the back of his shirt.

If they liked it once, they'll love it twice!

Because after watching Halladay compete for a year, that’s what he thinks about his opponents, how much he cares about winning and how little I suspect he cares about what number is on his back.

Halladay cares so much about winning that he... gives winning the middle finger? Or is Morch trying to say that Halladay expresses his competitive nature and passion for victory via the middle finger? Who does that?

And I think Halladay is too classy and professional a guy to even mentally flip off his opponents.

If you were up late Monday night and engaging in social networking, it was indeed an exciting time to be a Phillies fan.

No, I have a life and a job.

I grew up in Chicago Cubs territory, and believe me the Cubbies have never generated as much interest and excitement as the Phillies did last night, unless of course the late, great Cubs Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray had consumed a case of Budweiser during a ballgame.

Wow, I was sure we would be treated to yet another digression on how he grew up watching the Cubs, but liked the Cardinals, but was really a fan of the Pirates, or some such nonsense.

The Twitter crowd was absolutely out of its collective mind. Rumors started floating through Twitter late in the evening about the Phillies getting Lee and it was equal parts excitement and wariness. Some thought it was just some Twitter shenanigans designed to work the faithful into a lather.

So out of its mind that it declared that it had already paid for its tickets and then laughed maniacally? So out of its mind that it suggested Halladay wear the middle finger on his back, and then wrote a blog post about it?

Then word started filtering in from more official baseball media sources that first the Yankees, and then the Rangers, had been informed that they were out of the running for Lee. And the aforementioned lather became a full-blown eruption.

As hilarious as this story about how Morsch discovered the Lee deal is... when are we going to get to the actual comedic material? Heck, when are we going to get to the POINT?

It was a lot of fun to see the immediate reaction of the Phillies fans on Twitter. I was still reading comments until 2 a.m. It’s a great story.

It's a shame that none of this "great story" found its way into your blog, sir.

And there’s a whiff in the air that general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. may not yet be done wheeling and dealing.

So, um... what happened to the whole "uniform numbers" thing?

Given this stunning set of circumstances, at what point today will the Phillies be forced to cut off season ticket requests?

Ha! Season ticket requests... that slays me. What a great bit! That was a joke, right?

Labels: Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Phillies