Buh bye, Pedro Fellaz.

And the cuts just keep on comin'.

Yesterday according to Todd Zolecki on Twitter, the Fightin's declined their option on Pedro Feliz for 2010. In his two-year stint in the Illadelph, Feliz was cold at the plate only hitting .258 with 26 homers and 140 RBI. But what he lacked in batting he sure made up for in the field, making some catches David Bell could only dream about.

There are some pretty big names out there in free agency for 3rd basemen this year such as Chone Figgins, Mark DeRosa and Adrian Beltre. The three of them aren't as good fielders as Feliz is, but they also have a bigger bat than he does, so it's a fair trade-off. Then again, they could also just sign back Pedro for less money and make all of this irrelevant... so who knows.

Week 9: HE WAS OVER THE LINE!!!

In a prime time game against the hated Cowboys, the Birds were on the biggest stage of the season so far on Sunday night fighting for first place on the NFC East. So of course, it's only natural that the Eagles would fall flat on their faces.

In what was dubbed as the game of the week, neither team showed hardly any firepower through the first two quarters. On Dallas' second drive - following an interception on a tipped ball by Jeremy Maclin - the Cowboys had a short field and were able to throw easily. Tashard Choice finally sneaked into the endzone though on a two yard run to give Dallas the early lead. The Eagles however took until the second quarter to put points on the board. Twelve seconds in and again at the seven-minute mark David Akers kicked two field goals to pull within one, but it was negated when right before the half Cowboys kicker Nick Folk hit a 22-yarder. The two teams went into the locker room after one crappy half of football, 10-6.

Last year when the Eagles embarrassed the Cowboys 44-6 Donovan McNabb had no pressure on him, and it was apparent as he threw with ease through ought. Unfortunately for Philly though Dallas fixed that problem last night... and it showed. When he had the time, McNabb was 13-22 with 178 yards and a touchdown. But when he was pressured, he was only 3-8 for 49 yards and two picks. This trend continued for Donovan through halftime and as a result, continued to struggle.

Following an impressive Eagles drive - which included a 45-yard screen to rookie LeSean McCoy coupled with a Brent Celek score - Philadelphia was able to play solid defense for the entire quarter and go into the 4th with the lead. But the Cowboys answered right back as Folk kicked another field goal to tie it early on in the final period. From here on out though it was all downhill for the Birds.

On the ensuing Eagles drive, they were stopped at their own 45 and went for it on 4th & 1 but were held ACCORDING TO the referees. NOW, I'm not zebra myself, but after having watched that replay 40,000 TIMES (thanks, NBC!) any asshole can tell that McNabb on the QB sneak slid down an opposing player and was over the yellow line by a good foot... what the hell were they looking at? I'll never know. After the missed call, the Cowboys took over and beat the Philly defense into the ground ultimately scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 49-yard pass to Baraka from Mortal Combat, UH, I mean Miles Austin. David Akers tacked on another three points but the Birds would never recover as they ended up losing, 20-16.

This team is mind-numbingly inconsistent. One week they throttle the Giants, and another they struggle to put up nine points against the Raiders! If they want ANY chance of making it to the playoffs, they have to wake the hell up and play the same against every team. Playing up to the skill of your opponent only works when they suck.

It sucks that the Eagles couldn't get this game, because now the easy part of the schedule is over. Next week they go TO San Diego, then to Chicago (where they ALWAYS struggle) and then the division carousel starts all over again as they face the 'Skins. These could be good weeks or bad ones coming up, fans. Buckle up. Now we find out now good this team really is.

SEE?? Even Texas thinks Tony Romo sucks!

Brett Myers announces his departure the only way he knows how

"I officially won't be a Phillie next year" Brett told the Inquirer's Jim Salisbury. "(I told Ruben Amaro Jr.) and I was just like, 'OK, thanks for putting up with all my sh*t'. He thanked me and wished my family well. I'll miss the guys on the team and the fans who supported me. Hopefully I'll be playing against the Phillies and when I do I want the roughest treatment the fans can give me - when I'm pitching - you have to give it to me."

*tear*

Talk about a guy who always understood what this team and it's city was about. Every time he played, he gave it everything he had.. whether it was good stuff or not. Myers always knew he deserved the treatment was being thrown his way and he took it like the man that he is. So in your departure, Brett, thanks for everything. Thanks for starting this crazy roller-coaster ride that is the playoffs in '07, thanks for the at-bat against C.C. Sabathia in '08 and thanks for just being the bat-shit crazy individual you are. If you come back to Philly, I'll boo ya, 'cause I know it's what you would want.

That's all, folks: Phils lose the Series.

Hideki Matsui. Who woulda thunk.

Pedro Martinez was called on to keep the series alive, but he had trouble holding it together as the one they call Godzilla had six RBI's to take the championship. Those runs were the backbone for the Yankees victory tonight as they wrapped up their 27th title.

On the opposite side, the Fightin's had trouble on both sides of the ball. There was no run support when it was desperately needed (they left eight on base), and the pitchers - especially Pedro - had trouble finding the strike zone all night... when it came down to it, it just wasn't the Phillies year.

But in the end you have to thank the team, Charlie and the entire organization for such a great past two seasons. This Phillies team was the laughing stock of Philadelphia, finishing at the bottom of the east and losing 100+ games for years. To make such a dramatic turn-around and actually WIN a world championship last year... well, as a Philadelphia sports fan it's all you could ever ask for.

So in closing, it was a great season. Let's get everyone healthy and ready to take another run in 2010. Thanks for the pennant, boys. I'm already lookin' forward to next year.

Gagne out 6-8 weeks

"After meeting with three doctors and a different opinion on a lot of things, we went right to the bottom of it to make sure we were making the right decision for myself, for the team and for the future, to go and do the surgery."

That surgery will keep Simon Gagne out of the lineup for the next month and a half.

In 2006 it was a groin tear, then a double hernia in '07, then he missed 56 games due to post-concussion symptoms last year and NOW its ANOTHER hernia problem! Does anyone else think this guy is falling apart? He better get healthy fast or else this Flyers team may just move on without him thanks to the emergence of David Laliberte. Clocks tickin', Gags.

By the skin of their teeth, the Phils force game 6

Can you say heart-attack inducing baseball?

They made it look easy through the first eight, but then in usual Phillies fashion they gave everyone in the Delaware Valley a simultaneous stroke when they started to give up runs. That ninth looked eerily close to last night with Johnny Damon reaching, but thankfully tonight's late-game pitcher Ryan Madson closed it out to force another game of baseball.

Chase Utley started the game off with a three-run jack in the bottom of the first, then followed up with another late in the seventh. His incredible World Series performance has put him in the upper pantheon of fall classic heroes tonight as he tied the Yankees Reggie Jackson with five homers. Don't be surprised if he breaks that record Wednesday night in New York, either.

During post-game interviews, skipper Charlie Manuel said that a fully rested Pedro Martinez would pitch against the Yanks Andy Pettite on three days rest in the bronx. If my calculations are correct, advantage Phils. Get excited kids, 'cause this is far from over.