It didn’t take youngster Domonic Brown all that long to get accustomed to major league pitching. 

In just his 11th — and what would wind up being his last — Grapefruit League game in ‘10, Domonic Brown had the unenviable task of going up against perennial Cy Young contender for the Detroit Tigers, Justin Verlander.

In his first AB vs. the hard throwing righty, Dom got in a quick hole but stayed in there fouling pitches off until he finally worked the count full by laying off a pitch that was just a millimeter low and inside.  On the very next pitch, the kid caught up to a fastball middle-in and fucking WALLOPED it out of Bright House Field on into oncoming traffic on RTE 19.

It was a picturesque blast (that I tried to capture above, with his Strawberry-like swing and follow through) that made just about every Phillies fan in the world a little less worried that their team might be on the verge of losing Jayson Werth after this season.

Of course, I knew what kind of player Dom was cause I can spot raw talent a mile away, but at least the rest of you late comers got a glimpse of The Future®.  If you’d like to watch the officially licensed MLB video of his two homer, 4 RBI day, click HERE.  If you’d like to watch Dom talk, followed by Ryan Howard & Charlie Manuel practically salivating over the kid, click HERE.

See you in September (if not sooner), Domonic.

Oh yeah, and next time — spell his fucking name right.  Thanks.

On May 30th of last year, the Phillies were taking on the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in the second of a three-game set.  I remember how nice it was that day, so my buddies & I headed down to the sports complex sometime in the late afternoon and got intoxicated in the parking lot in preparation of Shairon Martis getting LIT UP by our Fightin’ Phils. And get lit up we he did.

After the Phils fell behind 3-0 in the top of the 2nd inning on the strength of a Wil Nieves 2-run double and Anderson Hernandez RBI single, power hitter extraordinaire Ryan Howard hit a solo shot in the bottom half the inning to trim the lead to 3-1. An inning later, in the bottom of the 3rd, Chooch walked followed by a Cole Hamels sacrifice and Rollins RBI single to make it a 1-run game. Then Victorino drew a walk, and with runners on 1st and 2nd, Chase Utley reached base on an infield single to load the bases.

So up steps Ryan Howard looking to add to his day’s RBI total. Martis, obviously still shaken up from the last time he faced Howard, threw a garbage first pitch changeup that landed in the dirt and made it a 1-0 count. At this point, it was quite obvious that Big Brown wasn’t gonna see a fastball for the rest of the at-bat, so he sat back and patiently waited for him to leave that shitty change up in the zone.

Turns out he didn’t have to wait long, because on the very next pitch…

HOLY SHIT RYAN HOWARD JUST KILLED A BASEBALL.

A 476 foot murdering of a baseball, to be exact.

I still remember the shit-eating grin on my face as they guy who caught the grand slam above the Powerade sign in Section 303 was escorted out of his seat to get the ball validated or whatever the hell they do with the people who catch home run balls. But I knew at that moment I had just witnessed the most powerful human being in baseball put all 250 lbs. of his behind a swing and absolutely CRUSH a baseball the way no one else can. And let me tell you, it was pretty fucking impressive.

The Phillies cruised from there, winning the game 9-6. But if you ask anybody that was at The Bank that day, they’ll tell you the game ended on a 1-0 pitch to Ryan Howard with 1 out in the 3rd inning.

<3 you, Ryan.

Now as far as I’m concerned, Topps has the artistic freedom to make their Roy Halladay ’shop as ugly as they want — I’m not nit-picking that. BUT they gave the man the retired #32 jersey number of Phillies legend Steve Carlton! INEXCUSABLE! You would think that Topps employs the sort of baseball-knowledgeable folks who would catch such an egregious error before it made its way to mass production, no?

For shame, Topps. FOR SHAME.

GRRRRRRRR

In unrelated news that doesn’t anger me, I’d just like to publicly congratulate the fellas over at The 700 Level on their new partnership deal with Comcast SportsNet. When I was a wee blogger with zero internet connections on a startup baseball website, the people who helped me out the most — BY FAR — were Enrico and Matt P. They are stand up gentlemen who run an incredible website, and I wish them nothing but the best.

Not only is this move well deserved, but it’s long overdue.

So congrats Enrico, Matt P, Kulp, and Andrew. I’m looking forward to the next time I see you so you can buy me a bunch of beers with your new Comcast money. SHOTS ON ENRICO!

Dear Lord, where to begin?

First off, that’s the same Chase Utley picture that we use in The Fightins banner at the top of the site (meaning, it’s old), the singular usage of “cheesesteak” is utterly fascinating, Chase Utley isn’t even a Philadelphia export (we got him from Cali), and I don’t know what the fuck they’re so excited about using that exclamation point. Seriously, I’d be offended if those bootleggers outside CBP tried to sell that garbage to me for $5, but Modell’s? They should be ashamed of themselves.

(I want it soooo bad.)

The lovely Nicole Brewer (journalist for CBS3 and Miss Pennsylvania 2005) was kind enough to invite me to a Skype chat over the intranets last week for a little interview about this here website and what type of thing one could expect if they came here.

If you click on Nicole’s picture up top there, you’ll be whisked away to the video page on CBS3’s website where you can watch our two-and-a-half minute convo, OR you can click on the first link below the text for the written portion of our Q&A, OR do both. Preferably both.

Thank you.

Behind The Blog: TheFightins.com | CBS3.com
VIDEO: meech.one and Nicole Brewer talk Phillies | CBS3.com

And remember Danny, I didn’t take these pictures. David Swanson of Philly.com did:

As I was forced to watch the Atlanta feed of the Phillies/Braves Grapefruit League game this evening, the nerve-wracking broadcasting duo of Mike Morgan and Brian Jordan were going on and on about how magnificent Jayson Werth’s Beard is. And while they were busy complimenting Beard — WHAM-O! — practically on cue, Mr. Werth deposited a 1-1 pitch from Kenshin Kawakami over the highly touted head of Jayson Heyward for a 2-run jack.

If you wanna check it out for yourself, jump.

*I apologize if you have to sit through a :15 second advertisement before the video plays. Nothing I can do.

Here is the pre-game workout shot:

And this one was taken prior to the lineups being introduced:

AHAHAHHAHAHHAA JOE GIRARDI JUST GOT A PALMFUL OF CHARLIE MANUEL’S BALL SWEAT

You suck, Yankees!