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Legend has it that Billy Martin, the oft-hired and fired coach of the New York Yankees, would occasionally arrange batting orders by picking names out of a hat in an effort to break out of hitting slumps.

Such a radical tactic would never be tolerated by today’s big-money players, (imagine A-Rod strolling into the clubhouse only to find out he is hitting out of the nine-hole), in fact most of today’s managers will stubbornly stand pat and send out the same lineup day after day as their season goes down the drain.

Luckily for the Phillies, Charlie Manuel isn’t like most managers. Never known as someone to stick to conventions, Manuel rolled the dice with a new lineup for the night-cap of Monday’s doubleheader, and so far its looking like a move that could pay big dividends for Philadelphia.

Since his debut during the 2001 season, when Jimmy Rollins has been in the lineup, he has hit lead-off. He doesn’t hit for a ton of power, he runs well and steals a ton of bases—everything you want from the top of your order. Except, there is one little problem: He doesn’t know how to get on base.

For the season, Rollins is getting on base at only a .328 clip, and has seen his average dip into the low .240s. As important as J-Roll is to the Phillies’ World Series aspirations, its almost impossible to win in October with a lead-off hitter that reaches base less than a third of the time.

So Chaz took a chance and moved Rollins to the fifth spot, inserting Shane Victorino into the lead-off slot.

In the two games since, the Phillies have scored 15 runs. In those two games, the Flyin’ Hawaiian is 5-for-10 with three runs and three steals hitting lead-off. Rollins has been just as solid hitting fifth, going 3-for-7 with two runs scored and two driven in.

Two games is hardly an adequate sample size, but the switch could have a strong psychological impact on both players if the move becomes permanent. 

For Rollins, he can finally become the player he always wanted to be. He no longer has to worry about working counts, bleeding walks, and hitting the ball on the ground (things he was never very good at anyway). Instead, he can focus on being a playmaker—driving in runs, taking extra bases, swiping bags—anything that causes havoc on the diamond.

Victorino, on the other hand, finally gets to feel like part of the order. Stuck in the seven-hole most of the season, Shane was slowly morphing into a sourpuss, a far cry from his free-wheeling style that had made him a fan favorite in Philly.

Granted, with an OBP similar to J-Roll’s, Victorino is far from the ideal lead-off hitter. However, in the two games since moving to lead-off, his approach at the plate has been noticeably different, working the count and hitting line-drives as opposed to constantly swinging for the fences like he did from the bottom of the order.

As far as I’m concerned, Manuel can do whatever he wants with the lineup as long as Polanco, Utley, and Howard stay in the 2-3-4 spots. Utley and Howard are too talented to be put anywhere else, and Polanco was put on the earth to bat second for a National League team.

Other than that, the rest of the starters seem fairly interchangeable, and it’s certainly possible Charlie has a few more tricks up his sleeve.

But for now, Rollins seems happy, Victorino seems happy, the team is scoring runs again as they have taken back control of the National League East.

Now let’s just hope this means we won’t see names being picked out of a hat any time soon.

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We all knew it would come. Now it’s that time.

Like a man on death row, you just sit and wait—you wait on your sentence and hope, something, somehow, could change your fate.

Then the inevitable day comes, and all of a sudden…you’ve lost first place.

Those Phightin’s, I don’t know how they do it, but, they live up to that name of theirs year after year.

If you haven’t been keeping up, or you fell asleep within the game last night, I’m here to tell you, those Phils have done it again. They are back in first place and they are ready to finish the last two and a half weeks off of this season in style—as they have in the last five years, or so.

With a very important series coming up in under two weeks, the Phils wasted no more time taking over the top spot, beating the Florida Marlins last night 8-7 after a scary crash by the Phillies bullpen. The bats, however, were able to come alive, enough, to bail Joe Blanton out.

The pitching shouldn’t be a problem down the stretch, being that the Phils have made due without such a dynamic force before.

Even if Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick were to bomb every game in the playoffs, it will still be hard to beat three aces in a seven game series—and that’s without pitching some on short rest.

Amidst what seemed to be a flop by the Phillies in July and August, they have once more, stepped up to the challenge, leaving some who unnecessarily doubted them, to look back on their foolishness.

But the season is not over by any means. The Braves are still right there.

Speaking of which, we can understand the excitement of Braves fans, and the like, but, it’s clear that everyone knows, the Phils are a marathon team, who finishes strong down the stretch.

Despite ‘great debates’ and the sort, the Phils and their fans know all along, there is no need to panic.

In a poll conducted by Phillies Featured Columnist, Vincent Heck, and Braves Featured Columnist, Evan Walker, a few days ago, we asked our fans who would win the NL East.

With the Phillies behind the Braves one game, the public came to an decisive conclusion–after 2,000 readers, 520 people voted, and 80% thought that the Phils would come out on top.

Quick math—that’s 416 voters for the Phils.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind what the outcome will be, and there should be none in your mind either.

Despite injuries, despite a stretch of cold bats, the Phils and their front office will take care of business the way they know how.

It’s September the 8th, 2010, and the two time National League Champions are in first place again. If the Braves can knock off the team at this stage, much credit should be given to them.

Despite statistically being better than the Phils “across the board” we’ve got to recognize the fact that, there are some very important factors that are just as important, if not, more important than statistics that tell the real story. Those factors should most certainly be considered.

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After watching the Phillies’ embarrassing Bad News Bears impersonation earlier this week—resulting in a four-game sweep at the hands of the 58-70 Houston Astros—fans and analysts alike were quick to dispense advice on how to save the season going forward.

It turns out the best plan of attack moving forward might be to look at recent history, specifically 2007.

Ah yes, 2007. Forever known as the season the Phillies finally broke down the postseason barrier, thanks in large part to their cocky shortstop and his ability to put the team on his back for long stretches of time.

And last night, for the first time this season, Jimmy Rollins did it again.

With three hits, several sparkling throws from short, and perhaps the greatest slide I have ever seen to score the winning run in the Phillies’ 3-2, 12-inning win, Rollins did a reasonable job reenacting his 2007 MVP season.

More importantly, however, Rollins had his 2007 swagger back, something the team has been sorely missing of late.

Once the loosest clubhouse in the league, the team is suddenly tighter than Donovan McNabb in the Super Bowl during close games, and without any real explanation. I’m not sure that either Jayson Werth or Shane Victorino have smiled in about a month, but they both look like Richard Simmons compared to Ryan Howard, who seems more interested in ending his at-bats quickly than getting on base.

This is where Rollins and his swagger comes into play. Looking like someone wired on Red Bull, J-Roll spent 12 innings pacing the dugout, yelling encouragement from the top step, talking strategy with Charlie, and trying everything short of a cattle prod to pull Howard out of his funk.

One game of the rah-rah routine doesn’t necessarily mean much, but when it happens every night, as it did in 2007, the rest of the team can’t help but follow along. The good news is Rollins knows this. Last night was the most animated I’ve seen him all season, and I expect more of the same this afternoon.

With his batting average hovering in the .250 range, Rollins is no longer the MVP caliber player he was in 2007. Much to his credit though, the swagger remains. And at this point in the season—one month to play, two games back in the division, and one game up in the Wild Card—that swagger could be the key in getting the Phillies back to the postseason.

So welcome back J-Roll, I hope you decide to stay a while.

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A great outing by Roy Oswalt, and a three-hit, two-run night for Jimmy Rollins highlighted the Phils’ 3-2 win over the Padres in a wild 12-inning affair at PETCO Park.

The win—combined with losses by the Giants and the Braves—left the Fightins two games behind the Braves in the NL East and a half game in front of the Giants in the wild card shuffle.  That’s the easy part. The hard part is putting this game, itself, into words and perspective as there were enough twists and turns to satiate the psyches of optimists and pessimists alike.

Encouraging News No. 1:  Oswalt was brilliant, yielding only six hits and no walks in eight innings.  He looked every bit the ace, and having thrown only 102 pitches—while retiring the last 13 Padres—one can easily make the case that he should’ve been out there in the bottom of the ninth.  More on that later.

More Good News: Rollins looked like the spark plug the Phils will need down the stretch to earn a playoff spot.  He took two pitches to start the game and then slapped a single into left.  He started a two-out rally of sorts with a seeing-eye hit up the middle in the third, and he pulled a double down the line to start the 12th, scoring with a great slide on Placido Polanco’s single.

One more:  Hanging Chad Durbin pitched a strong final two innings to earn the win. It wasn’t his fault that Oswalt wasn’t rewarded with a “W.”

Bad News No. 1: The offense looked flat again, and I daresay Latos-intolerant.  Okay, inspired puns aside, at least their inability to do much against a great young pitcher like Mat Latos can be somewhat justified.  The 22-year-old ace showed why he came into the game leading all pitchers in baseball in both WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) and BAA (batting average against).  Of course, the Phils also looked completely overmatched against closer Heath Bell, who pitched two full (non-stressful) innings for the first time this season.

More Bad News:  Ryan Howard is struggling and maybe he’s saving it all for one of his patented huge Septembers.  Let’s hope so. He went 1-5 with a walk, but also struck out four more times (three of them looking), and left five men on base.

Open question:  Did both Utley and Howard return to the lineup too soon?

And Then, there’s Lidge:  One hates to beat up on such a good guy, but you had to feel for Oswalt when Lidge blew the game in surreal fashion for his erstwhile Astros buddy.

During the wild bottom of the ninth, Lidge threw 25 pitches, but it felt like 55.  Old friend Matt Stairs greeted him with a solid single to right before being replaced by the requisite pinch runner, Jerry Hairston. Pesky David Eckstein bunted Hairston over to second. Lidge appeared to panic, and bobbled the bunt but regained just enough composure to get the out at first.

Miguel Tejada—one of very few known quantities in the Padres anonymous lineup—grounded out to Polanco for the second out.  The fun was just beginning.  The Phils elected to walk the dangerous Adrian Gonzalez with the base open, and Lidge promptly crossed up Ruiz by almost throwing a strike on the first free toss.  Ruiz made a great catch, and there was no further drama on the next three lobs.

From here, it got downright preposterous.  Although many of Lights-on Lidge’s offerings did not have enough bite to chew oatmeal, he started Ryan Ludwick with two apparent strikes that the former Cardinal fouled weakly down the right field line.  Of course, with two outs and an 0-2 count, Lidge promptly hit Ludwick in the wrist with another fastball that tailed in. 

With the bases full, Lidge threw two balls to Chase Headley, then battled back to a 2-2 count before..are you ready…committing a balk that was so obvious that the Phillies did not emit a murmur of protest.  With the bases still full, Luis Durango (who should be fined for swinging at the first pitch) hit a grounder that almost ate up Ryan Howard at first.  But alas, the game went into extra innings.

Give the Phillies credit for keeping their heads and rallying to win a game that felt like a must-win on the heels of a humiliating four-game weep at home at the hands of the lowly Astros.  Perhaps, with 34 games left to play, they will regain their mojo and look once again like the best team in a flawed National League.

Whether they can do so with an inconsistent lineup that desperately needs Utley and Ryan to be themselves is questionable. 

And whether they can do so with a closer capable of  throwing away a great outing by Oswalt with a sequence of intentional base on balls (the first throw almost a wild pitch), hit batter, and balk is highly debatable.

These questions will get answered in the next month or so.  For now, Phillies fans can savor the end of their losing streak and life precariously atop the wild card standings.

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With only 39 more games left in the season, the Phightin’s look to be doing what they do best—fight. Their resiliency has shown through one season after another, fighting through injuries and keeping afloat in the playoff hunt for 162 solid games.

The MLB isn’t like any other sport, in that, you can not fake your resiliency for 162 games. If you continually put in the work season after season, you are no doubt, an elite team.

This year is no different.

The Atlanta Braves having the number one spot in the NL East is definitely a challenge for the Phillies to contend with, but, a new challenge has never scared the Phillies off, in fact, they’ve welcomed these challenges with open arms.

In 2008 and 2009 the Los Angeles Dodgers were thought to be the team that would end Philadelphia’s World Series Journey.

In previous years, there was talk about the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and even at times, the Colorado Rockies were talked up more then the Phillies. This year, the talk is Atlanta.

Jason Heyward is an absolute stud with his 12 home runs and team-leading nine stolen bases, and could be a problem for the Phils. But the same team that ran through Manny Ramirez, two years straight and Evan Longoria in 2008 have a never-say-die attitude.

The only two teams who have been able to stop the Phillies since 2007 has been the Colorado Rockies, who the Phils avenged last year, and the New York Yankees who, after losing to the Phightins in game one, finally made the Phillies look human.

This year, with the New York Yankees dominating the American League, the question remains: Will the Phillies get the opportunity in 2010 to pay the Yankees back? Or will they face the Rays again, in position to be on the receiving end of payback? Or, will they be knocked off by one of the newly emerging teams in the NL?

There are many questions, but that is what is going to make September so fun.

The Phils have finally gotten their lineup back just in time for the September push, leaving the MLB with a lot to fear.

J-Roll, the locomotive for the Phillies, has been gunning for the Yankees for a couple years now. And his determinations have, up until this day, become realities for the Phillies. Will his latest determination to come back and win again come to fruition?

What do you think? I think it will.

For all the latest writing from Vincent Heck, please visit: www.vincentheckwriting.com

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I woke up with a stiff neck. The problem is that it lasted more than four hours.

For a second, I thought my husband slipped me some Viagra.

Someone definitely slipped the Phillies something. They’ve taken the lead in the wild-card race and won twenty or so of their last bunch of games.

That was helpful information, wasn’t it? I would’ve looked up the facts but that interferes with worthwhile stuff like plucking chest hairs in my magnifying mirror so I can finally look at my breasts and see 36 double dees.

Or watching my dog sniff the cat’s butt for the zillionth time to ensure it’s the same pet he’s lived with for six years.

I named my dog Brett Farve—he’s never sure.

But I’m sure of one thing: the Phils looked great when we saw them in game one of the series against San Francisco.

A guy with a huge cranium and his totally bald friend who was wearing sunglasses on the back of his head took their seats between the plate and me. I felt like I was staring at Vin Diesel.

Then music started. I thought I heard a flute played by someone way too happy so I waited for the next break to confirm. Sure enough my husband turned to me and said, “It’s either merry music night or Irish Heritage Day.”

I’m Irish—I understand the connection. I’m living proof that everything in Ireland was conceived over whiskey.  I think there’s even a sheep joke in there somewhere. And someday someone will question the tradition of kissing a stone named for bullshit.

Pat Burrell was back. He whacked a two-run homer in his first at-bat to distract from the fact that “snug” is how he now likes to wear his pants.

Just another reason to question his move to the bay area.

As I scanned the fielders with my binoculars, I noticed that all the Giants’ pants seemed a little clingy, raising only more questions.

Like how that new Victoria’s Secret bra works. It claims it remembers your curves. I don’t want a bra that remembers my curves, I want one that fakes some.

You know, they asked Sarah Palin if she had breast implants. My friend Jimi said she was trying to avoid the flat tax.

Just once I wish someone would ask me if I got a boob job. My husband says I should stick with the magnifying mirror. Let me give it a try. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, can I buy boobies at the mall?”

No answer. Just like talking to my husband, I don’t know if that’s a “yes” or a “no.”

So let’s talk shop.

Phillies pitcher Ryan Madson—like the emperor—has found his groove. I just wish he’d do it without clothes.

Roy Oswalt’s dead arm has found life. I’m now guaranteed the big O every five games whether or not I have a headache.

In game two against the Giants, Jimmy Rollins was 3 for 5, slammed a three-run homer, almost hit for the cycle, stole three bases, and scored twice. Like my name on the bathroom wall, Fanavision didn’t have room to list all his accomplishments.

Charlie Manuel has used his 1,380,956th lineup this season. I’m exaggerating. That’s what people do when they catch a scrawny fish or marry a short guy.

I think Pablo Sandoval got even bigger between games one and two. Or maybe the camera adds ten pounds a game.

Jayson Werth didn’t make the cover of Sports Illustrated but he’s somewhere in the center. The problem is he’s fully dressed. It’s not even a scratch and sniff.

Citizens Bank Park celebrated its 99th consecutive sellout. That’s impressive. I have yet to make it through that many bottles of beer on the wall.

Chase Utley returned from the DL and got a standing ovation. My sister gets those—when she walks into Neiman-Marcus.

And I see pistachios are now being sold at Citizens Bank Park. They’re tasty, but the pack is small and the price is high. I can’t pay a dollar a nut. The two I’m familiar with aren’t even worth that.

If they’re trying to sell healthier snacks they might want to reconsider training their sales force. A girl walked by in the sixth inning selling “postichios.”

I almost bought a pack to see what a gay nut tastes like.

On that note, if you’re a transvestite dressed as Lady Gaga, are you really a boy or a girl?

At one point in the game, the two guys in front of us left their seats. Two cute, young, shapely, blond squatters took their place, giggling with delight at upgrading their view. (Like a center field seat is so much closer. Where were they sitting, New Jersey?)

An inning later, the guys returned; Mr. Cranium led the way. I was curious to hear what a tall, handsome season ticket holder with a tray full of food, beer bottles tucked between the fingers of one hand, and no wedding band would say to a sweet pair of co-eds hoping to share.

How ‘bout, “You’re in my seat.”

I think he’s a closet Giants fan.

Celtic music started to play and the Phanatic jumped onto the Phillies dugout accompanied by a line of performers. My son said, “Look mom, it’s Lord of the Prance.”

“That’s Lord of the Dance.”

My husband said, “When did Pat Burrell’s pants get so tight?”

Then the vendor shuffled by, “Hey, get your ‘postichios’ here!”

Welcome to Irish Heritage Day.

See you at the ballpark.

Copyright 2010 Flattish Poe all rights reserved.

Catch life one-liner at a time on Twitter.

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For one reason or another, the Twins always seem to get the better of the White Sox in Minnesota. Last night, that reason was Jim Thome.

The slugger belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning off reliever Matt Thornton to give the Twins a 7-6 win. More importantly, Thome’s walk-off gave the Twins a four-game lead in the division race over his former team.

Here’s a look at the 10 of the most important walk-off homers of the 2010 Major League Baseball season:

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As we get ever so close to the end of the 2010 MLB season, the playoff picture has begun to slowly take form. There are six teams in the American division and six teams in the National division fighting for a postseason berth, with everybody else 8 games or more away from even flirting with a wild card.

In no specific order, the Yankees, Rays, Twins, White Sox, Rangers, and Red Sox are the big six slugging it out in the American League, while the Phillies, Braves, Cardinals, Reds, Padres, and Giants are battling it out in the National League.

One of the key factors down the stretch will be whether or not the struggling pieces to each team’s puzzle will turn it around or not.

Whether it is due to injury, a slump, or just bad mechanics, there are 10 players I feel will significantly impact their respective team, in their quest for the postseason.

So let’s take a look at who needs to turn things around, before it’s too late.

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After the Phillies’ hitting coach, Milt Thompson, was fired a few days ago, it looked like he was simply the scapegoat. But now that the Phillies are smacking the Rockies around a little bit, including a 10-2 shellacking of Ubaldo Jimenez, it looks like the move might have actually worked.

“It doesn’t mean we’re all of a sudden going to start hitting,” Jimmy Rollins said following Thompson’s firing, but that would seem to be the case.

Guys no longer seem to be pressing. They’re standing tall at the plate, watching the bad ones go by, and taking what the pitcher is willing to give.

If that means a single base knock, then so be it. However, they’re still getting their extra-base knocks and going yard because they’re allowing the pitches to come to them rather than chasing them a foot out of the zone in any direction.

But if we’re going to be pessimistic, they are still five games away from the Braves. The winning is nice for now, but they’ve still got a long way to go.

The hitting is a step in the right direction, and Kyle Kendrick and J.A. Happ were very good on back-to-back days. I would even go so far as to say Kendrick was spectacular.

Kendrick is certainly an odd player to watch because he could come back and not make it out of the second inning in his next start.

They’ve just got to keep it up. Really, that’s it. They’ve got to continue coming up with the clutch hit, strikeout, catch, throw, and whatever else. If they keep doing the little things, they can put themselves in a position to catch the Braves.

However, if they fall back into a slump they’re going to look up at some point and realize the Braves are too far ahead to be caught anymore. We’re nearly into August, and it’s time they play with some sense of urgency.

Because if all they’re worried about is stringing a few wins together here and there and just trying to maintain, it’s going to bite them—hard. Whether or not they want to admit it to themselves, it’s crunch time.

Next time they fall into one of their 10 to 15-game slumps, they’re not going to have enough time to dig themselves out.

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It is quite obvious the Philadelphia Phillies are in a slump. A team riddled by injuries and inconsistency without an ignition towards change.

Despite getting an extra innings 2-0 win in St. Louis yesterday, where Cole Hamels shined, the team still showed the overwhelming stress that comes from being back-to-back National League Champions.

The Phillies have been plagued by non-existent bats that have turned consistent players like Jayson Werth searching for a way to right the ship.

The legendary preseason beard Werth was rocking during his early hot streaks has been reduced to a whimsical and mildly scary goatee in an attempt to fix his batter’s box issues.

We’ve seen things like Chase Utley using voodoo on his bat to ease his hitting struggles. Yet the hitting gods couldn’t keep him from a thumb injury that will have him sidelined till Labor Day.

When things like this happen to a team with so many expectations from the public, front offices usually try to ignite their lineups with a trade or the firing of a manager or bench coach.

The Phillies did just that last night firing hitting coach Milt Thompson. Thompson, a former Phillie and member of the 1993 NL Champions, was with the team for six seasons and was a main contributor to the team’s 2008 World Series run.

The rumors of a firing surfaced just weeks ago heading into the All-Star break. Manager Charlie Manuel vehemently supported Thomspon stating:

Many people in the Philadelphia media saw this move coming as most of the team’s struggles are coming from the batter’s box.

We all knew a firing was going to take place and getting rid of Thomspon is the easiest solution.

The real question is: are the Phillies using Milt Thompson as a scapegoat for other front office transgressions?

Right now the Phillies are sitting seven games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, which is good for second place. Not exactly where you’d like to sit heading into August, especially with the strength of the NL Wild Card Race.

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