Phillies’ Gordon was gruesome . . .
but hey, don’t panic

In the Batter’s Box
By Matt Godfrey

Opening Day 2008 saw a slew of old faces in new situations.
Joe Torre made his managerial debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers after leaving the New York Yankees in the off-season.
Miguel Cabrera made his Detroit Tigers debut after being traded from the Florida Marlins in the off-season.
Tom Glavine made his re-debut with the Atlanta Braves after signing as a free agent this off-season.
Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Johan Santana and Erik Bedard also migrated to new teams over the off-season.
Some old faces, however, were in not-so-different situations. And for Phillies fans, that’s not a good thing.
The Phillies’ Opening Day went very much like most games went last season.
The starting pitcher threw a few good innings, then stumbled for an inning before getting pulled. Then the offense battled back only to have the bullpen blow the game.
Sounds a lot like most of last season’s games.
Sure, it’s one game. But the ugly and familiar script can’t help but make you fear that the Phils will put themselves in a hole similar to last year’s 4-11 start.
But I’ll side with those who aren’t about to hit the panic button. It really is way too early to get down on a team with an 0-1 record.
I mean, if the season ended after Monday, then the Washington Nationals would have won the National League East division, a half game in front of the New York Mets. The Phils would be tied with the Florida Marlins for third place, with the Braves in last.
Of all the teams in the East, I doubt anyone is worried that the Nationals will finish on top in October.
Brett Myers looked solid aside from that one inning — the fifth.
In the second he loaded the bases and then blew away Nationals pitcher Matt Chico to walk away unscathed.
Following that near-miss, Myers came out and put down seven of the next eight hitters.
Not a bad showing for Opening Day.
While I don’t agree with manager Charlie Manuel’s decision to pull Myers — he should have been given the chance to redeem himself in the sixth inning — I know it is not the end of the world. It’s just frustrating.
After the Phils went down by four runs, they showcased the grit that was their trademark last season and came back to tie the game.
Shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Chase Utley hit home runs, while catcher Carlos Ruiz also drove in a run.
The team’s new addition, third baseman Pedro Feliz, showed some top-notch defense to help us erase some of those memories of last season’s hot-corner blunders.
Offensively, Feliz did exactly what he is known to do. He swung the bat freely during his first two (of what is sure to be many) strikeouts. Some news outlets were betting that he would not even draw 30 walks this season.
Nothing happened in this opening-day game that should have been unexpected. Some things happened (the bullpen’s implosion, to be specific) that a lot of people, myself included, had hoped would have worked themselves out during the off-season.
And that only brings us frustration. It was nice to see Ryan Madson back on the mound. What’s frustrating about that, however, is Chad Durbin and Clay Condrey are the team’s go-to guys when the starter gets pulled halfway through the game.
So why Madson over those two?
Tom Gordon’s awful performance in the ninth does not even need to be replayed here. A little help should be coming in the way of Brad Lidge’s return and the signing of 39-year-old righthanded set-up man Rudy Seanez.
Seanez, a 16-year veteran, made a career-high 73 appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.
I’ll just try to be optimistic about the games ahead. And if they are 0-9 by this time next week, ask me then about my optimism.
It is indeed a 162-game season. And since the Times went to press before last night’s game with the Nationals, it’s possible they’ve already calmed the fans’ jitters. Either way, there’s no reason to reach for that panic button . . . yet. ••