Rained out

If there was ever a day when the Phillies needed a rain out, Saturday was the day. We’re not sure, but it appeared as if Charlie Manuel was doing some sort of rain dance during his argument with third-base ump James Hoye last night. Maybe that’s why Charlie couldn’t get ejected – he was dancing instead of dropping the magic word.

Actually, the Phillies brass deserves a rare kudos for doing the right thing and calling Saturday night’s game before anyone showed up at the park. There have been way too many nights when the club would open the doors, get everyone in the park to wait around for an hour or two just to pull the plug.

That’s no fun for anyone. The players don’t like it, the media doesn’t like it, and the fans certainly don’t like it either.

With the escalating costs of going to a game for regular folks – not to mention the spiking gas prices – it’s nice to see that the Phillies thought ahead and let everyone stay at home to watch the hockey game on CSN.

Or…

Maybe they TiVo-ed it and tuned in to Henry Rollins’ new show on IFC. Rollins, of course, is the “aging, alternative icon” and media gadfly better known for work as the singer for the Rollins Band (and Black Flag) as well as a riveting spoken word performer.

Plus, Rollins is from D.C., which isn’t a bad thing.

Nevertheless, it’s apparent that the Rollins show is still finding its way, though it certainly has the potential to be as entertaining as IFC’s other show, “Dinner for Five,” hosted by actor/director Jon Favreau.

On the other hand…

As far as the other Rollins goes – Jimmy that is – his hitless skid reached 13 at-bats and 14 plate appearances. Since the club left Atlanta for Colorado last week, Rollins has just four hits in 28 at-bats (.143) and says his swing is a bit out of whack.

Plus, because of some blisters and callouses on his thumbs that sting when he swings right-handed, Rollins took Friday night off against lefty Scott Olsen. But he’ll be back in there against righty Sergio Mitre on Sunday afternoon.

“He's in a little funk right now,” Manuel said on Friday afternoon. “He pulling off the ball right now, dribbling it off the end of the bat. He'll sit and get a breather. When he's hitting line drives, he's short and quick to the ball. During the streak, he was pretty consistent with that. He'll get it back.”

See, the rainout was good. Everyone got to take a break.

Red-hot Thome
Not only did Jim Thome smash his ninth homer of the season in last night's win for the White Sox over the Twins, but also, the slugger scored another run on Saturday to keep his perfect streak going.

The streak? Thome has scored a run in every game this season.

It sounds like Thome is healthy.