Quotable: Do Not Tempt the Baseball Gods, Mr. Hamels

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USA Today has a nice piece on Ruben Amaro Jr. which touts his moves as a first year GM to be that of a savvy vet. The Cliff Lee deal is his prized midseason acquisition that really spoke loudly to the Phillies players, telling them that anything but the absolute best is unacceptable. That's when the the currently struggling Cole Hamels was quoted having the Mets name in his mouth.

"He knew we needed another starter, and he gets
us the defending Cy Young award winner without giving up anyone off our
25-man roster," says Cole Hamels, last year's World Series MVP. "You kidding? Everything he has touched has worked.

"That meant so much to us. Here he is, a new GM,
and he showed just how much he wants to win. It's just like (George)
Steinbrenner and the Yankees. We're not just satisfied with one, we want to win this thing every year.

"Getting someone like Cliff motivates everyone.
Our fans can feel it. They want that swagger. We just need to get
going. They sure don't want to see us do a Mets collapse."

It appears as if the quote may be almost two weeks old, coming before Hamels struggled quite a bit in his last two outings. But Cole caught some heat before this season started for being coerced into talking about the Mets penchant to choke on a New York sports radio station, so it's not real shocking he mentioned it again.

He's telling the truth too. Phillies fans most certainly don't want to see the Phillies pull a Mets fail. But maybe he should step up and get his act together on the mound so he doesn't frigging make it come true.

That said, If there's a guy in this rotation though who can dance with the devil in the pale moon light and come out with another World Series MVP, it's Hollywood.

The USA Today article will leave you feeling quite confident in Ruben Amaro Jr.'s ability as a GM to put the best possible team in place. Now the players have to actually go out and not get swept. Put up some runs, ya know?

>>A rookie GM, Phillies' Amaro making veteran moves [USA Today]

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