The Real Deal redux

Ain’t nothing going on here but the rent… actually, make that the mortgage. It’s just another quiet day in The Lanc where the big excitement came when an accident on a nearby road forced the police to re-route traffic onto our tiny street next to the Country Day School. It was kind of like a parade.

And speaking of parades, who would have guessed that if the Phillies have a post-season march down Broad Street that J.D. Durbin would get a spot on a float? Not me, that’s for sure. Nevertheless, Durbin started last night’s 11-8 victory in Pittsburgh in which the Phillies moved into a first-place tie with the San Diego Padres in the wild-card race.

Interestingly, Durbin seems entrenched in that fifth spot of the rotation, which is some pretty heady stuff for a guy who worked his way through four organizations by the end of April. Then again, the cast offs and under-the-radar guys seem to be making important contributions to the Phillies this season. Antonio Alfonseca has been a cog in the bullpen even though the Phillies were the only team to give him a serious offer last winter. Kyle Kendrick wasn’t even invited to spring training and had appeared in just 11 games in Double-A before his call up. J.C. Romero, the go-to lefty in the ‘pen was waived by Boston in mid June.

Who would have figured that with 40 games remaining in the season and the Phillies in a dog fight for the NL East and wild-card playoff spots that Mike Zagurski, Chris Coste, Jose Mesa, Tada Iguchi, Russ Branyan, Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth would be counted on to make meaningful contributions?

Better yet, is this a good thing or something to be worried about over the final month of the season?

Nonetheless, Durbin allowed two earned runs in six innings to pick up his fifth win in as many decisions. Better yet, better his win last night and the one he had on Aug. 2, Durbin also picked up a save. Suffice it to say it’s been a weird year for Durbin. One minute he’s bouncing from Minnesota to Arizona, to Boston, to Ottawa and then Philly where he’s winning and saving games in the playoff race.

Anyway, I discovered this story about Durbin from spring training when he was still with the Twins. It’s funny how things have changed for him.

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Speaking of oddities, a prisoner in the South Carolina penal system has filed suit this week against Barry Bonds, Bug Selig, Hank Aaron's corked bat, Sammy Sosa, steroids and HGH, Steak and Shake on I-70, the Liberty Bell and one can only presume, Sasquatch, for violating the inmates’ Constitutional rights. He specifically cites the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 13th, and 14th amendments and wants $42 million in damages.

Read all about it via Steroid Nation, or see the actual complaint on The Smoking Gun. It really should be read to be believed.

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I watched the documentary Showdown, the chronicling of the 2007 cross-country championships in Boulder held last February. It was pretty good and enjoyable, and shot quite beautifully. However, the story telling is really the most important aspect to any good documentary or TV news report and perhaps Showdown could have dug a tiny bit deeper in that regard.

Either way, I’ll probably watch it again when my wife is asleep and not talking the entire way through it.