The Phillies have grounded into just 68 double plays so far in 2009, good for tops in the National League and second only to the Texas Rangers, who have hit into only 65 double plays. Last year the Phils hit into 98 which was fifth best in the majors.

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Ryan Howard has been intentionally walked just 3 times this year, a startling contrast to the last few years (37 in 2006, 35 in 2007, 17 in 2008). Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth have been responsible for providing Howard with more protection. Raul Ibanez’s 2009 exploits have been well-documented and his signing has been a big boost for the Phillies, despite his more recent struggles with this year.

But here’s a shout out to Jayson Werth for silencing the detractors and proving that he is definitely worthy of having his name penciled in to the lineup card every day. If Werth continues to hit for power as he has this year, fans will forgive his pedestrian .253 average vs. righthanded pitchers.

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The Phillies are on pace for 95 wins, which would be a 3 game improvement over last season’s 92 win campaign. 95 wins would place this Phillies team 4th all-time for wins in a season in franchise history.

The Phillies franchise is well-known for being the first professional sports team to reach 10,000 losses. They are currently over 1,100 games under .500, meaning it will take 56 years of the Phillies going 91-71 in order to get back to .500.

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On this day last year, the Phillies were 71-59 and .5 game behind the East leading Mets. Today, they are 22 games over .500, have a 7 game lead and the Mets are 16.5 games out. All this with Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge struggling all year long. How is that possible?

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Cliff Lee is just pitching lights out right now. I almost want him to go a game without a quality start so we know this guy is actually human. In 5 starts since the Phillies acquired him at the deadline, Lee is 5-0 with a razor-thin 0.68 ERA. He goes deep into games, and just pounds the strike zone relentlessly.

Lee also won the last 3 starts with the Indians before the trade. He has a similar run of success during his Cy Young season last year, going 8-0 with a 1.85 ERA from Aug. 4 thru Sept. 12.

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The magic number is 33.

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Check out the following page on the SABR website with lots of details on triple plays in the history of baseball. Info on Eric Bruntlett’s mind-boggling, unassisted triple play from yesterday’s game is not on there yet.