Triple Dog Dare - A Coincidental Night with the Phillies

Last night I met up with a couple of my girlfriends for drinks. We decided to meet at a bar that is inside of one of New York's swankiest hotels. Little did we know that the hotel happens to be a celebrity hot-spot this week. I'll spare you the name-dropping and get to the point.

My friend and I sit down with our glasses of wine and I notice that the man sitting across from me is none other than Philadelphia Phillies skipper, Charlie Manuel. He looks like Santa Claus sans beard. I know its sacrilege, but I officially like the man. I just wish he managed ANY OTHER team :)

At one point, the person Manuel was sitting with got up and I noticed him turn towards the conversation I was having with my girls. During a lull in the convo, I took a deep breath and then turned to Manuel and said "So, ya think you can pull it off this weekend?" Charlie responds with "Well...we need to win at least two games. Definitely have to win tomorrow..." To which I replied "No you don't!" Then Charlie and I chatted and laughed for a little while about the pitching match-ups for the Phillies vs. Mets series at Shea this weekend. I insisted that they've got no chance against Mike Pelfrey tonight, and he agreed that Pelf is tough, as if there is any denying it at this point. Charlie referred to his pitcher Brett Myers as "Fort Myers," and then HE ASKED ME who the Mets were putting on the mound for Saturday's game. I said he should know and he insisted he "has it written down somewhere" HAHA! He was pretty sure it was Pedro Martinez, but he wasn't positive. I checked when I miserably arrived at work this morning...and he was right.

As soon as I realized that the entire Phillies team was staying at this hotel and they were walking, talking, and drinking among us, I excused myself to call Stars. Hello! She and I spend 24/7 venting our hatred of this team, while evaluating how our Mets could avoid breaking our hearts by repeating last September's collapse and actually beat the Phillies out for the division title. It's all we can think or talk about! When I told Stars the deal, i.e. that the Phillies were in my immediate vicinity, she paused and then confidently said "Well, you have to kill them!" HA! I love that girl. Her head is always in the game.

Stars then proceeded to triple dog dare me to ask Ryan Howard how second place feels! So I insisted that if and when I saw Ryan, I would do it. Stars had enough balls to yell it to him when she saw the Phillies play the Dodgers last month. Of course, Stars was in her seat and Ryan was on the field at the time. She received a pretty dirty look in return, which is quite understandable. When Ryan Howard showed up, I decided that I wasn't drunk enough to walk up to him and toss an unsolicited insult. It just wasn't necessary. I'll save it for Shea tonight :)

It was a pretty random night indeed! Unexpected, but lots of fun. The Phillies are my enemies until the end of the month, there's no question about it. However, I must admit that I kind of want Charlie Manuel to be my grandfather, haha.

Now if only I could randomly bump into Joe Mauer...