Hamels officially named Opening Day starter

To no surprise, lefty Cole Hamels will get the starting nod on Opening Day for the Phillies. The team made the official announcement on Thursday afternoon.

Coming off his MVP run during the 2008 NLCS and World Series, Cole Hamels was slated to take the ball on Opening Day against the Braves in 2009. Only problem was the lefty was a little worn out from the long season and short winter.

Brett Myers ended up making his third straight Opening Day start before turning it over to Roy Halladay for the next three.

Finally, Hamels will get the start in the opener on April 1 in Atlanta. 

Meanwhile, Halladay's streak of starting 10 straight openers will end. More of a ceremonial honor than anything else, Halladay's streak was quite impressive. Chances are Halladay will pitch in the second game. Pitching coach Rich Dubee had expressed a desire to split up the Phillies' three lefty starters. That means Cliff Lee could pitch in the third game, followed by righty Kyle Kendrick and lefty John Lannan rounding out the rotation.

Phillies Opening Day starters since 2000

2012 -- Roy Halladay
2011 -- Roy Halladay
2010 -- Roy Halladay
2009 -- Brett Myers
2008 -- Brett Myers
2007 -- Brett Myers
2006 -- Jon Lieber
2005 -- Jon Lieber
2004 -- Kevin Millwood
2003 -- Kevin Millwood
2002 -- Robert Person
2001 -- Omar Daal
2000 -- Andy Ashby

Comments

[SLO Phan]

Does that mean KK is the starter for the first home game?

[NEPP]

Good for Colbert. He's earned it.

[Iceman]

Ashby-Daal-Person-Millwood-Lieber

Say what you want about 'windows,' but I don't miss the days of guys like these being rolled out on Opening Day one bit.

[The Hook]

Good for cole. First of many opening days starts. Can't wait till April 1st. Using a "sick" day and enjoy another year of baseball .

[lorecore]

Brett Myers sucked.

[benjah]

robert person… thanks for the stroll down memory lane :)

[Elephant in the Room]

I liked Robert Person.

[NEPP]

***First of many opening days starts. Can't wait till April 1st. Using a "sick" day and enjoy another year of baseball .***

I'm supposed to start working from home soon so I will have my work laptop and my personal laptop (with the game streaming) side by side on those days...muted of course during conference calls.

[SLO Phan]

Why is David Wright not playing? Isn't he the hottest hitter on the team right now?

[Mike G]

Sore back.

[bay_area_phan]

For about the last week, every time I've seen "A. Jones" in our lineup, I've found myself asking, "Is the state of American baseball really so p*ss poor that Andruw Jones is in our starting lineup? And how does a guy from Curacao even qualify for the American team?"

Only now did I finally click on "A. Jones" and realize it's Adam Jones. The state of American baseball has been saved.

[MG]

This is the first WBC game the US played that I was really interested to watch.

[Gary's Ferry]

Off topic: Anyone recommend a decent baseball podcast? I can sometimes tolerate Karabel and Baseball Today, but would like an upgrade.

[gobaystars!]

1-1 midway through the 7th.
This has been a pretty good tournament so far. Not always the best baseball but certainly worth watching. Teams are playing each other close and there have been quite a few late rallies.

[GBrettfan]

I wish I had MLB Network. You can't even find much video after the WBC games. I'm keeping track of this one via Gameday.

[gobaystars!]

Stupid Kimbrel!

[SLO Phan]

Can't watch the game, but via GameDay, Team USA sure reminds me of the 2012 Phillies. They threaten in the first inning to score big, only score one run, and then shut it down for the rest of the game.

Hope they come up big in the bottom of the 9th.

[Iceman]

Complete collapse by Kimbrel.

The dancing around and jumping out of the dugout by the DR is enough to give me a rooting interest in this game.

[gobaystars!]

Time for some patient ABs. Get Jimmy to the plate boys!

[gobaystars!]

It's all up to Shane Victorino.

[gobaystars!]

Oof. Tough loss. They'll have to win tomorrow vs PR to move on.

[Iceman]

That was sickening to watch, and I haven't really been pulling for anyone in particular during the event.

The worst part is having Kimbrel blow it, of all people. The action on his fastball must just not be there yet. He had no command of his breaking ball either.

Have to hope they manage to string some hits together tomorrow or a severely overmatched Dutch team is going to be the only team worth rooting for in the semis. Missing Wright's bat tonight (and replacing it with Bloomquist) hurt quite a bit.

[denny b.]

Vic looks a tad overweight.

Boston is going to rue the day they signed him to that long-term contract. He is fading badly as a player.

[bay_area_phan]

Figures that the first time I ever find myself in position to be rooting for Craig Kimbrel, he immediately summons his inner Brad Lidge.

[KaSmi621]

Favorite Robert Person moment; June 2, 2002; hit two HR's vs Expos; 7 RBI; slam off of future Phil Bruce Chen ..

[KaSmi621]

Oops; Correction needed; My bad; By 2002 Bruce Chen was already a FORMER Phil .. Hard to believe he's still goin at it ..

[UBIK]

If you ask the rusty sieve that is my memory, approximately 87% of the Phillies games I ever saw in person at the vet were pitched by either Paul Byrd or Robert Person.
I've always enjoyed the metaphysical implications of Robert Person's last name, if not his pitching style.

If you ask me, Hamels and Lee is still about as good a 1-2/2-1 as there is in the National League. Halladay is just gravy. If anyone needs me, I'll be working on my 8th modelo of the night, talking myself back into the nostalgic warmth of our hitting prowess circa 2008. Don't worry, everything will be just fine.

[lorecore]

Kasmi: favorite or only?

[lorecore]

Ubik: negra or especial? I always preferred the negra, probably the only 'dark' Mexican beer that pulls it off.

[NEPP]

The Nats #3 pitcher is Jordan Zimmermann.