Gov. Ed Rendell (love the guy) proclaimed I-76 to be I-76er for the duration of the Sixers' surprising run in the NBA play-offs. While the Sixers were hosting the Pistons last night in Philadelphia, at the other end of I-76er the Pirates were hosting the Phillies. I meanwhile was in Reading at the R-Phils, watching the game and watching the scoreboard. Early in Reading starter Andrew Carpenter seemed to be nibbling, which allowed the Connecticut Defenders to take a 2-0 lead. Then Carpenter settled down and the R-Phils got one run back but there it stayed till the 7th. Shane Victorino, on rehab assignment, was picked off in a bizarre 9-5-3 double play to end one of the few threats the hometeam mounted. Till the 7th that is, when Jeremy Slayden hit a 2-run homer and the R-Phils went up 3-2.
At that point, the Phillies, who had taken a quick 6-0 lead in P'burgh, were staving off a Bucco rally. And the Sixers, up 4 at the half, were up double digits on the Pistons. Mirabile dictu, the IronPigs, too, were leading 4-2 in Rochester. That's when I had to leave; frozen food was reaching melting point in the car. On the drive home I listened first to the end of the Reading game: R-Phils win. Next: the Sixers, who absolutely demolished the Pistons to the tune of 95-75. Then the Phillies, where sexy dude J. C. Romero was getting the 3rd out in the 8th. Bottom of the 9th, score still 6-5, in came Brad Lidge, a cute guy for sure, who nailed his 6th save 1-2-3.
Star of the game was young Brad Harman, called up from Reading on Sunday. Last night he made his first start in the majors, at 2nd, with Chase Utley playing 1st for the slumping Ryan Howard, who is stuck on the interstate. Harman, an Aussie, got his first ML start, first hit, first RBI, and first run scored. He said that girlfriend and parents, all in Australia, were watching online.
I don't know if it was the mild weather, the Chase Utley giveaway bobblehead, or the Shane Victorino rehab, but the Reading park was packed and jumping. While the R-Phils were warming up pregame, the board flashed a picture of Ruth Hartman, one of the old players from the women's baseball league of the 1940's, who now raises sheep in the Reading area. Hartman, in her 80's, is a fixture at Reading games. There she was on the screen, with her prize-winning sheep named Shane Victorino. On the field, Vic cranked his head round to get a look. Hartman does in fact name her prize-winning sheep after Philadelphia players. Several years ago she got a visit from then-Sixer Dikembe Mutumbo to meet his namesake.
