Optimists see just the good in life; pessimists worry about the bad. Optimists see silver linings in clouds, pessimists worry about hidden tornados. 

But worrying is part of humanity. Sometimes we worry about ridiculous stuff, just to worry about something. I think worrying runs in the family I came from, worrying about things either real or perceived real; and adding in negative thoughts dreamed up. 

Are you getting this?

Worrying is waiting at a traffic light and thinking something bad might happen to your kid, or the boss looked at you funny, or you mailed the credit card payment late, i.e., interest rate doubles. The list goes on and on. I use to worry about many things until I started running but since then I'm worry free.

And when it comes to the Phillies, I'm forever an optimist.

Pessimist: He made his first big league plate appearence at the age of 24--that story is for another day-- pinch hitting for Vicente Padilla against Jaret Wright and struck out.

In 2005, his first year in the bigs he hit 22. If you remember, Jim Thome had season ending surgery in August and he jumped in and won the Rookie of the Year Award. That gave the Phillies a slight problem so in November Thome was traded to the Chicago White Sox. Can you say Wally Pipp?

In year two he hit 58, setting a record for most home runs in a players second year and breaking Mike Schmidt's Phillies record. And nobody ever uses the words steroids and Ryan Howard in the same sentence. Year three? Forty seven in 2007 after spending time on the DL.

Tuesday night against the Nationals he struck out three times and Ryan Howard Wednesday morning was hitting a buck eighty three with 10 and 25. He was a flash in the pan!

Optimist: Don't worry about Ryan Howard, he went two for three including a double and dingers 11 and 12 last night, with four ribbies upping his totat to 29. Just a little dip early in the season, is all. Pitchers will soon start paying.

Pessimist: Brett Myers is currently sporting a 5.76 ERA, is 2-5, and is looking more like Adam Eaton lately than John Smoltz. Putting it in baseball terminology, Myers has been getting hammered. Besides, he's overweight and hasn't prepared himself for the season. He's a discrace. If he's the Phillies ace, we should find a new deck of cards.

Optimist: Listen, he was jerked around from starter to closer, then when Lidge surfaced, put back into the rotation. He's got to adjust and he is. He was less hammered Monday night allowing 8 hits, 3 earned runs over six innings. He's coming back, trust me. He'll be fine. You'll be eating your words come September.

Pessimist: Jimmy isn't getting on base, have you noticed that? When that happens, we start losing. Is his ankle bothering him? I bet that's it. You can't trust the Phillies to tell you the truth. If he goes back on the DL, we are cooked. The Phillies can't win without him.

Optimist: What are you talking about, he  had two hits last night. He's hitting .315 for crying out loud. Every player goes through a little funk, as Chris Wheeler says. Call me back when you see who the starting shortstop is at the Allstar game.

Pessimist: My God, the rotation is a mess. Between Myers, Eaton and Moyer, a bunch of ERAs in the high fours, low fives. What kind of rotation is that? Eaton might not win another game all season and Moyer, at age 45, is lucky to be on the roster. No way can you be optimistic about this lousy bunch.

Optimist: Trust me, Eaton is going to turn it around soon. He's been on the verge of it. He just needs to string a couple of wins back to back to build his confidence. Myers will make the adjustment to the rotation, and Kendrick will be Kendrick, he'll kick it up. Did you watch Moyer pitch last night? He scattered seven hits over six innings, no runs, and lowered his ERA to 4.37. Besides, when you need a win, Moyer can rise to the occasion. See final game of the 2007 season against Washington.

Pessimist: Brad Lidge. The way he's pitching he's pricing himself right to New York next year because the Phillies won't pay him what he'll want. So Rent-A-Lidge is beefing up his stats and saves to make his get-away.

Optimist: Hey, we wanted a closer ever since Wags left town and now we have one. Stop worrying about things you can't control. If he leaves town for more money, he won't be the first or last. Enjoy him while we have him. If the Phillies want him, they will keep him.

Pessimist: What kind of manager do we have. All he does is chew bubble gum and look fat. Cataldi says he's the worst strategist ever. He doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. We should have hired the guy at Detroit like Angelo says.

Optimist: Stop listening to 610 radio and think for yourself. Charlie is the right man for this team. There are not a lot of managers who know more than him. He knows his baseball. He could write a book on hitting. Besides, wasn't Cataldi a hockey writer? What the hell does he know about baseball? What the  hell does he know about anything?

Pessimist: I've got you on this one. He's so over paid it's a joke. Fifteen million for what? Okay, he had his little perky fluke in the beginning of the season. Now he's back wailing and flailing at the ball, and leaving runners in scoring poistion. If he's back next year, I'm a Yankees fan for sure.

Optimist: Better get those Yankees' tickets. Pat Burrell has solid numbers over his career. He comes to the park to play. But he suffers from DelEnnisism, people expect him to hit one out every time up and if he doesn't he's a bum. I'll take him on my team this year and next. By the way, how them Yankees doing?