I know it's gonna sound blasphemous to say that this year, I'm gonna root for the Rays--since I spent the entire World Series wanting them to lose to my Phillies--but it's true.  Next year, I'll be rooting for the Rays.  I mean, I'll still be rooting for the Phillies the most, the hardest, the loudest, and the most obnoxiously, but the Rays are now among my American League team favorites.

Now they have not just ONE hot guy on their team...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...they've got TWO hot guys on their team!

 

It looks like Pat the Bat will be a Ray this season!  Congrats to the BILFalicious Pat the Bat.  I'm sure he'll do well as the Rays' slugger!  (At the very least, it keeps him away from the outfield and keeps him less tired.)  I'll miss staring at Pat's sweet butt and nice hair in left field at Citizens Bank Park--Ibanez might be a slightly better player than Burrell, but Burrell's the hotter of the two, by far!

 

So some jerkface at work--I'm guessing it's an angry, bitter Mets fan--swiped my Hamels pennant from my cube.  See, I work in NY (right in the heart of Mets territory) and I have my cubicle all Phillies-ed up.  It was probably only a matter of time before something Phillies-related got swiped from my cube.  Sigh.

I wrote a slightly mean little note that I hung in the place on my cube where my lovely pennant USED TO hang, telling the thief that I hoped their baseball team never won another World Series in their lifetime.  There would have been much more profanity in this note if the pennant hadn't been swiped *from work*--I doubt management would like to see a letter with lots of cuss words hanging on my cube wall.

Silly Mets fans.  Why've you gotta be so bitter?  This is YOUR year...

Oh, wait.  That's what you guys said for the past few years, when it very clearly WASN'T your year.  Tee-hee.

Speaking of Hamels, his birthday was Saturday.  Here's hoping he had a birthday that's as fabulous as his pitching is!

Yay!  Check out The MLBlogs Top 100.  The BILF Report (which only got created mid-way through the 2008 season) finished at #68 on the list of Fan MLBlogs!  Thanks to all of you who read The BILF Report.  I promise, as soon as I am over my period of dental hell (a root canal and a cavity filling...not fun at all!), I'll be writing a bit more often.  Just because it's winter and the baseball season's done doesn't mean we can't talk about fluff-worthy stuff like hot guys in pinstripes...or, you know, serious issues like which players are ending up on which teams for 2009.  ;)  Keep checkin' back--more good stuff is on the way!

I'm a Phillies fan.  I happen to live in the New York metro area.  I'm surrounded by Mets fans--ie, The Enemy.

Yesterday, a friend (who happens to be a Mets fan) said to me, "We just got K-Rod for our closer!"

And I said, "That's great.  Nobody's ever going to see him, since the Mets' bullpen isn't going to allow the team to go into the ninth inning winning."

Then this morning, that same unfortunate Mets fan said to me: "Hey, we just acquired Putz for our bullpen!"

And I shot back with: "I thought you guys already had enough putzes in your bullpen; why do you need another one?"

This year, being a Phillies fan living among Mets fan is really quite fun.  It makes for many amusing jokes...and a lot of braggin'!  :)

I'm feelin' kinda sad about baseball today.  Here's why:

My dearest, darling Chuttles needs hip surgery!

Okay, it's not as if I didn't already know this.  I knew he was having hip issues for the majority of the 2008 season.  He was a brave guy and played the whole season even when he was hurtin'.  But now he's gotta get all fixed up, and he may or may not be ready for Opening Day 2009.  His recovery time could last anywhere from 4 to 6 months--best case scenario, he's on the field for Opening Day, and worst-case scenario, we don't see him play 'til June or so.  Of course, the most important thing is that he recovers nicely and comes back at 100% strength to kick some butt in 2009, and I'm sure he'll do that no matter when he shows up back on the field.

In the meantime, I'm more than happy to nurse him back to health, read him stories, fix him dinners, et cetera.  All in the name of being a good, caring, kind Phillies fan (and not at all because he's hot), of course.  ;)

If you're coming over here from Deadspin's Waxing Off, hello and welcome!  Baseball season's over, but that doesn't mean I'm shuttin' up anytime soon.  There's plenty to talk about, like...

--Chase Utley won his third consecutive Silver Slugger award.  Congrats, Chuttles!

--Lou Piniella won the NL Manager of the Year Award.  Consequently, this means that Charlie Manuel did not win this award.  Click here to head on over to FanIQ.com to find out exactly what I have to say about that.  (Sidenote: FanIQ.com is the most fun and interactive sports website I've ever visited.  I only started visiting it this week, but I'm already addicted!  What are you waiting for?  Go check it out!)

--There are still no real resolutions on whether Moyer and Burrell will be back with the Phillies for 2009, although the Hot Stove Blog seems to think that Moyer returning to the City of Brotherly Love next year is a stronger possibility than Pat the Bat returning.

--On a non-Phillies-related note, I'm really curious as to what happens with Mussina and where he ends up going.  He's always been one of my favorite pitchers (and he's kinda cute for an older guy...not that he's that much older than me--just 12 years!--but I'm used to drooling over pitchers that are closer to Cole Hamels' age than Mussina's).

--Apparently CC Sabathia is the It Guy of the baseball world right now.  The Yankees just offered him a 6-year, $140 million deal.  The Yanks aren't the only team interested in Sabathia, though--at least 4 other teams are interested in nabbing him, too.  Where do you think he's gonna end up in 2009?

An actual conversation between me and a friend:

JOHN: Did you hear that Lincecum got the Cy Young Award?
ME: Yeah.  *sigh*  And he's not even cute!
JOHN: I don't think cuteness is one of the qualifications for this award.
ME: Clearly.  Considering that Johan Santana and CC Sabathia were also in the running...
JOHN: It's not like they're prize cows or something.
ME: Well, in that case, there IS Sabathia...he's kind of a big dude...

I know, I know.  I'm just cranky and bitter because in my completely unbiased mind, it should have been the gorgeous and talented Cole Hamels who got this award.

I've gotta admit, I'm suffering from a little bit of post-baseball depression.  It's like, what do I do now?  Where do I go for my fix of cute, famous athletes?  (Don't even suggest that I go watch football.  Not gonna happen.  Favre's cute, but even his cuteness can't make me care about football.)

Instead, I spend my time reading stuff on Phillies.com to see which players are gonna re-sign with the team,  buying entirely too many things at Sephora, and writing.  Speaking of writing, I was featured in last week's Waxing Off post at Deadspin.com.  Yes, I'm the one who talked about stumbling upon her ex-boyfriend's porn.  Yes, that's me.  My mother is surely so proud.  ;)  Check it out by clicking here (look for the second one down, written by Nikki--that one's mine)!

It's time to vote in the 2008 "This Year in Baseball" awards!  And I'm here to suggest particularly BILFalicious ballplayers to vote for.  ;)

First of all, the link to go vote is here:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/y2008/tyib/index.jsp

Secondly, I have a beef with the awards.  Where the hell is Cole Hamels?  Why isn't he one of the Starter nominees?  Grrrr.  He deserves to at least be nominated.  After all, he's the World Series MVP.  It's kinda obvious by now that he's good.

And here are my picks (based on BILFiness, of course):

HITTER: Josh Hamilton.  God, he's gorgeous.  And I dig his tattoos.  Honorable mentions go to to Chipper Jones and Justin Morneau.

STARTER: Cliff Lee.  If Hamels isn't one o the choices, then I guess Lee will have to do.  Sigh.

ROOKIE: For me, it's a toss-up between Evan Longoria and Jacoby Ellsbury.

MANAGER: As if there are any hot managers in baseball!

CLOSER: Brad Lidge 'cause I'm a Philly girl at heart, but Joe Nathan's hotter.  Then again, Nathan doesn't have a World Series ring...

SETUP: Grant Balfour, of course!  Hot guy + Aussie accent...what's not to love?

DEFENSE: Joe Mauer.  I freakin' ADORE Mauer.  I know there are legions of ladies out there who prefer Grady Sizemore in this category, but I'm a Mauer girl through and through!

PERFORMANCE: These guys are all younger than the managers, but they're just as hot...which is to say, not hot at all.  Talented, yes, but no BILFs here...

PLAY: I'm gonna go with McLouth here solely based on the fact that I kinda like his hair.

MOMENT: Josh Hamilton (again), for his Home Run Derby awesomeness.

ODDITY: Longoria again, just because he appears to be the only decent-looking one out of the bunch.

EXECUTIVE: Hey, who's this Theo Epstein guy?  I'm not a huge Sox fan, but this guy could grow on me.

POSTSEASON MOMENT: Chase Utley, for a fantastic play in game 5 of the World Series.  Gotta love the Chuttles!

...And who are you voting for in these awards?  :)

Baseball season's over, but there are still BILFs out there gettin' busy...

* There are second base-playing BILFs swearing all over the airwaves!  (Chase Utley, you rebel.  I love you!)

* The BILFiest of all BILF pitchers made an appearance on Letterman on Thursday night...  (Click the link.  There's video, and it's nice to look at.)

* There were BILFs present at some "phestivities" in Philadelphia...  Over a million people went out to see the parade!

* Weirdest BILF-related factoid I've learned this weekend: Holy crap, Pat Burrell's dog weights 25 more pounds than I weigh!    I didn't know English bulldogs could weigh more than 27-year-old girls.  Apparently they can.  (Pat, what do you feed that thing?)

* There's apparently another kind of BILF out there, which disturbs me a little...  (Greg Dobbs or bacon?  Cole Hamels or scrambled eggs?  I'd pick the ballplayer over the breakfast food every time...)

* If you wanna buy one of my BILF T-shirts (where the B stands for ballplayer, of course), click here.

* In non-Phillies-related baseball news, there are lots of players filing for free agency.  From a quick skim of the the news items on MLB.com, I've determined that none of them are particularly BILFalicious.  Disagree with that assessment?  Comment below and tell me which free agents are cute!