For the rest of us, the pathetic years from about 1988 through 2006 will always resonate within our souls. The 10,000 losses are not a nightmare, but our reality.

Still, with another World Series ring, this will become the best era of Phillies baseball, bar none. And, the man partly responsible with creating a can-do atmosphere could be playing in his final Opening Day as a Phillie on Friday.

Jimmy Rollins is in a contract year. Appreciate the scrawny shortstop for every minute of this campaign, just in case…

Jimmy Rollins is in the final year of his deal, and his decline in numbers is well documented. The fact is either JRoll is declining so bad the Phillies won’t want to bring him back, or he’ll perform and put himself out of the Phillies price range. You can only have so many Utleys, Howards, Halladays and Lees on one payroll.

As far as JRoll goes this year, it’s safe to say the MVP caliber player from 2007 is in the past, but the man can still be the catalyst for the Fightins lineup.

Sure, the likelihood of JRoll hitting above .290 again is all but gone. Still, he can make an impact in the lineup.

Granted his .243 and .250 averages the last two years are far below what would be deemed acceptable for a championship-caliber leadoff guy. But, Rollins has rarely been judged by his batting average. Take away last year when he was injured most of the year. Even when he got a hit just one of every four ABs, JRoll still scored 100 runs, hit 21 homers, drove in 70-plus runs and stole 31 bases.

Would you take that this year? Would that hitter help fill a three hole in the absence of Chase Utley? Could he be your bat behind Howard if needed?

No matter what, this season, keep in mind the memories he’s given us over the last decade. Remember the bold predictions, the wins, the new Philly attitude, the way he gave it everything he had on the field. Remember the MVP Award and, of course, the parade this city yearned for since JRoll was in diapers.

Unless he has clearly lost it and is struglling to hit .240 and looking completely overmatched, take in the fact that JRoll is your shortstop. This could very well be the last time we see him as “our” little guy.

Mets fans are so low these days that they count a Phillies World Series loss as a win for their squad of chokers.

Hug a Mets fan today; they need it.

Little Scotty from the blog More Hardball dubbed the Phillies loss “Christmas in November.” He mentioned how happy and elated he was that the Phillies got to their second straight World Series, but came up a Hideki Matsui bat short of back-to-back titles.

Umm, dude, the Phillies were still playing, something your pathetic team hadn’t done since June. Oh, and the team that won the championship was your cross-city rival. Have fun walking down Times Square among the Yankee faithful.

Seriously, Mets fans rooted for the Yankees? That would be like me rooting for the Patriots to beat the Giants in the Super Bowl two years ago. Didn’t happen. I didn’t give a flying Beltran who won that game. Either way, it hurt, because I am an Eagles fanatic.

As pitiful as it sounds to root for the Yankees, the Mets fans have displayed even lower levels of self worth during the postseason. They rejoiced when they discovered that Kobe Bryant grew up a Mets fan while living in Lower Merion, Penn.

A Flushing, NY, Mets fan site called Kobe being a Mets fan “an added bonus” to the Phillies losing to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the LCS. There are numerous other examples of this in the blogosphere.

That is how pathetic the Mets fandom has become these days. They are lower than Clippers fans these days. I honestly feel sorry for them, having been there myself in the mid 90s.

Do your good deed for the day and hug a Mets fan. They are desperate for attention and affection.

Last year, that move was Raul Ibanez. What does this offseason have in store for the Phils? What do they need to do to stay on top of the NL and close the gap between them and the Yankees?

Following are a few thoughts, some obvious and others may shock you.

Could Shane Victorino be moved this offseason?

• Beef up the bullpen. Sign a guy as a set-up man who you can move to closer if needed. Brett Myers may be that guy. Also, resign Chan Ho Park and make get a lefty reliever in case JC Romero isn’t ready to go.

• Overhaul the starting rotation. Cliff Lee is here, and so is Cole Hamels. JA Happ figures to be the third guy. After that, are you comfortable with Joe Blanton and his increased wages due to arbitration? The Phils need to find legit guys to fill the back end of the rotation.
• Do not resign the Pedros. Martinez was a great guy for the role he filled. However, he can not be counted on to last a whole season and be effective. Resign him, and you are basically filling the 5th spot with Jamie Moyer. Again. Feliz is a vacuum at third, but he didn’t hit as well this year and is 34 years old. Adrian Beltre is four years younger and a decent defensive player. Maybe take a look at hime.
• Spend the money to get a legit infielder/bench guy. You need someone to take the pressure off of Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. They are over 30 and need breaks during the season. One name thrown around in the media is Marco Scutaro from the Blue Jays. He just enjoyed a cfine season hitting .282 with 12 homers. He will cost more than Bruntlett, but can fill the role.
• Trade Jayson Werth or Shane Victorino for a starting pitcher. This is a huge gamble that many fans will question. However, this is exactly the type of move that Gillick was talking about, and it will help the payroll. The Phillies will not spend a lot more money, yet they have players who will see major bumps in arbitration this offseason. The fact is, after next year, you won’t keep both of these outfielders anyway. The values of those two players will never be higher and now is the time to bring up Michael Taylor. Platoon him with Ben Francisco in right to start the year. Taylor is a legit top-10 prospect with power. It’s only a matter of time until he is ready to play everyday. And, you still have Dominic Brown coming up through the ranks to take Ibanez’s spot in 2011 or 2012. The Phillies are set at outfield for the foreseeable future.
• If you are able to trade one of the outfielders, make a run for Joe Mauer at catcher. We all love Chooch, but he is what he is. Mauer is a legit weapon at the plate, and could ultimately make a move to first when he gets older and Ryan Howard leaves via free agency. Craig Biggio made a similar move to second midway through his career. (EDITED: Mauer is not a free agent until December 2010. The Phillies will not pursue him in a trade.)

The Phillies do have some tweaking to do, and will likely make a big move if Ruben Amaro stays with the Gillick formula. When that shoe drops, questions will be asked and heads will shake. However, how can you argue with a formula that has brought us two the doorstep of back-to-back world championships?

Cole Hamels is starting the 2009 offseason with a public appearance.

If nothing else, Cole Hamels is honest. Sometimes, he’s honest to a fault.

In April, he admitted to the Inquirer’s Jim Salisbury that he spent too much time doing appearances and signing autographs following his 2008 playoff MVP performance. He said that he didn’t prepare for the upcoming season the way he should have.

Quite frankly, it was refreshing to hear a professional athlete open up and accept responsibility for his performance, or lack thereof.

Philly fans would be even more impressed if Hamels follows his own advice and lays low on the appearances this offseason as he prepares for 2010.

However, the pitcher who said early Sunday morning that he wants a fresh start, is beginning the 2009 offseason the way he ended he 2008 offseason — he’s signing autographs.

On Saturday, Nov. 7, just days after a potential Game 7, Cole will appear at BC Collectibles in the Montgomery Mall. For as little as $99, you can get this 2009 Wold Series LVP’s autograph. For another $30, he’ll personalize it.

Seriously, dude? You’re going to do exactly what you said you shouldn’t do to start your offseason?

Look, we realize the offseason is long and Cole should rake in the greenbacks while he can. Also, we understand this was booked a couple of months ago (it looks like it was actually rescheduled from another date).

However, when you just suffered through a horrific season that you blamed on being unprepared for due to personal appearances, it’s in poor taste to start the next offseason by doing the exact same thing.

Let’s hope this isn’t a omen for 2010.

While fatman CC has mowed down opponents throughout the last two years, he hasn’t done so well against the Phillies. In three career games, he’s 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA. That is not your normal CC Sabathia.

Last year, he gave up five runs on six hits in just 3.2 innings against the Phillies. He also walked Brett Myers in a memorable at-bat en route to racking up a 12.27 ERA in the postseason.

Then in Game 1 on Wednesday, CC got the loss, giving up two earned runs in seven innings as the Phils spanked the Bronx Bitches 6-1.

Of course, now, Sabathia goes against Joe Blanton who has been up-and-down this year. If Sabathia pitches as well on Sunday as he did on Wednesday, he could very well get the victory and out the Yankees in a position to go back home and win the series.

However, first, he must show he can stop Utley, Myers and the rest of the Phils lineup.

Former Phils skipper Larry Bowa has said that players and teams go through those three phases on the way to becoming champions.

The Phillies need a confident Cole Hamels to take the mound tonight.

A year ago, Cole Hamels was an unquestioned ace, a World Series MVP, who knew he’d win every time he got the ball.

Today, Heidi’s husband has clearly regressed back to the “I hope I can win” stage. Following a very up-and-down regular season, Hamels has been putrid in the playoffs. He’s become Brett Myers circa July 2008.

In three starts this month, Hamels is 1-1 with an unsightly 6.75 ERA. He has yet to get out of the fifth inning in any postseason start.

That will not get it done. Not against a lineup with Jeter and A-Roid and Teixeira and Matsui and the rest of the newest Bronx Bombers. And, it certainly won’t get the job done when his counterpart is Andy Pettitte, the all-time winningest pitcher in postseason history who is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA this October.

The Phils need to hope Hamels has found his “I think I can win” persona entering tonight’s game, and that he gets off to a great start which propels his “I know I will win” self to come out of its shell.

A poor outing by Hamels could spell doom for not only Game 3, but the rest of the series. Going down 2 games to 1 is not an option.

A Youtuber called DropsBombs (I guess he drops a deuce in the bathroom the way A Rod drops turds when he bats in the World Series) posted an item questioning an illegal substance on his hat in Game 1.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rakd8rzqbqI]

Clearly, you can see some white powdery substance on the back of his hat. That’s called rosin and it’s legal.

Clearly, we learned one lesson from this. Actually, this just reinforces something we already knew: New York fans are whiners who have way too much time on their hands.

Well done Mr. DropsBombs. Maybe Chad Ochocinco will hire you to break news on the OCNN!

Pedro tossed a good game, making only two crucial mistakes on Thursday.

Sure, the Yankees won Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday. Sure, they beat Pedro Martinez. However, are the Yanks still Pedro’s Daddy?

According to some sites including Fanhouse, the Yankees still own Pedro.

6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB.

Does that sound like someone got torched? Didn’t think so. Had the Phillies hit a little on Thursday, we might be reading about a Phillies win.

Pedro got the loss, but he showed he’s not intimidated by the Yankees or Yankee Stadium.

The Evil Empire is far from Pedro’s Daddy anymore. Give me another Pedro-Burnett match-up in Game 6 and we’ll be talking about a Phillies win, and possibly a parade.

Sure, the Phillies could have opted to go with JA Happ or Cliff Lee, but Blanton was the best choice. The guy has World Series experience as he started Game 4 last year.

Happ is a rookie and hasn’t exactly been lights out this postseason. Should the Phils lose on Saturday, do you really want Happy on the mound in a must-win game?

Lee would have gone on three days rest, something he’s never done in his career. This is not the time to experiment. Game 7? Yes. Now? Not unless the Phils were facing elimination, which they won’t be.

Blanton is the safe choice, and the right choice. Besides, rumor has it he’s been in the batting cages with Brett Myers this week learning tricks on how to earn a walk from CC Sabathia.

While the Yanks haven’t named a starter yet, we’d be shocked if it wasn’t CC. Over the last two postseason’s, the Fightins have proven they are CC’s Daddy!

We stand corrected.

While driving home from a long day of molding young minds as a teacher, your Daily Philadelphian flipped on SportsRadio 660 WFAN in New York to get their take on the Fall Classic from the obnoxious jackass perspective. CC Sabathia’s news conference was on the air, and that’s when we heard it.

CC, how many pinstripes are on your jersey?

It is the single dumbest question ever asked at any news conference at any time.

“With your broad shoulders and build (i.e. you’re a fat friggin pig), some have said you probably own the record for wearing the most pinstripes on your jersey in Yankees history. Have you ever counted the number of pinstripes on your jersey?”

The questioner was not Dave Spadaro as far as we can tell. In fact, the questioner was not identified, but he should have his media credentials revoked yesterday!

It’s jackasses like that who make me wonder why some bloggers can’t get media credentials. No blogger would have asked that question. Some of us have legit newspaper experience, including me. Yet, somehow, people with moronic questions get into World Series news conferences while others of us sit at home.