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Over and out
By egrissom | October 22, 2009
The transmission from Citizens Bank Park was loud and clear and now it’s ended. The Phillies have made a compelling case that they are the class of the National League and are headed back to the World Series after topping the Dodgers 10-4 in game five of the NLCS.
Vicente Padilla simply didn’t bring his game two magic to game five and it didn’t take long to tell. He walked Utley in the first and then pitched around the big lefty Howard behind him. It brought Werth to the plate and Werth set the tone for the night, blasting a three-run homer out to right. Werth and Victorino would be the driving force for the Phils’ offense in the game. The pair combined to go 5-for-8 with three home runs and seven RBI last night while the other six regulars for the Phils went 3-for-20.
Charlie Manuel deserves his share of the credit for the win as well. Manuel managed like a man who thought he had a chance to go to the World Series, pulling his starting pitcher with one out in the fifth and a three-run lead. It meant he was going to have to walk a tightrope with his shaky pen the rest of the way. He did. LA put the tying run on deck in the bottom of the eighth, but the bullpen came through for Manuel and the Phils.
Andre Ethier put LA up 1-0 with a homer off of Hamels in the first. Werth put the Phils up 3-1 with his first homer of the day in the bottom of the inning. James Loney hit yet another homer off of Hamels in the second. 3-2. A homer from Feliz in the bottom of the second made it 4-2. An Ibanez double got the Phillies rolling in the fourth and they added two more to make it 6-2. A pinch-hit homer from Orlando Hudson off of Hamels to start the fifth made it 6-3 and Manuel went to his pen. Victorino hit a two-run homer off of Clayton Kershaw in the sixth. 8-3. Werth hit a solo shot off of Hong-Chih Kuo in the seventh. 9-3. The Dodgers made rallied in the eighth, putting their first four men on base to make it 9-4 with nobody out and the bases loaded. Madson snapped back to life just in time, though, getting the next three batters and leaving the runners stranded. A single by Rollins that was followed by a double by Victorino helped the Phils add another run in the bottom of the eighth and end the scoring at 10-4.
The Phillies have won the NLCS, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers four games to one in the best-of-seven NLCS. They will play either the Yankees or the Angels in the World Series, which starts on Wednesday.
Cole Hamels got the start for the Phillies and didn’t pitch well. He went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and three home runs. He struck out three. Hamels simply doesn’t have it these days, and it’s hard not to wonder what the Phils can do about that for the World Series. Over his last six starts he’s allowed 40 hits in 31 1/3 innings, throwing to a 6.89 ERA with a 1.50 ratio. He’s allowed six home runs in 14 2/3 innings in three starts this post-season.
The Dodger lineup facing Hamels went (1) Furcal (SS/S) (2) Belliard (2B/R) (3) Ethier (RF/L) (4) Ramirez (LF/R) (5) Kemp (CF/R) (6) Loney (1B/L) (7) Martin (C/R) (8) Blake (3B/R That’s the same lineup they used the last time the Phillies started a lefty, which was Lee in game three, except that Blake and Martin are switched in the 7-8 spots at the bottom of the lineup. Blake was a miserable 2-for-15 in the series coming into the game, but I still think he should hit higher against a lefty. He was fifth in the order when Hamels started game one.
The Dodgers had six players on the bench to start the game, lefties Jim Thome and Juan Pierre, righties Mark Loretta, Juan Castro and Brad Ausmus and switch-hitter Orlando Hudson.
Furcal led off the game and got ahead 3-0 on a couple of close pitches, but struck out swinging 3-2 for the first out. Belliard flew to right on a 2-1 pitch. Hamels got ahead of Ethier 1-2, but couldn’t put him away. Ethier fouled off four pitches in a row and Ruiz came out to the mound. Whatever they talked about didn’t work, cause Ethier hit Hamels’ next pitch out to right to put LA up 1-0. Manny followed and singled to right on the first pitch of his at-bat. Kemp struck out looking 1-2 to leave him stranded.
Tiny strike zone in the first for Hamels. He threw 23 pitches in the inning. Another big hit against him for a lefty. Loney homered off of him in the opener.
He started the second up 3-1. Loney led off and hit a 1-2 pitch way out to right, cutting the lead to 3-2. Martin grounded to short on a 3-1 pitch. Blake grounded to third 0-2. Padilla flew softly to left 1-2 to set LA down.
Eighteen pitches in the inning had Hamels at 41 for the game. Again with the lefties. Third home run off of Hamels this year for Loney.
Phils were up 4-2 when Hamels started the third. Furcal got behind 0-2 and grounded to second. Belliard popped to Rollins 1-1 for the second out. Ethier struck out swinging 3-2 to set LA down.
Not a single homer off of Hamels in that inning. Thirteen pitches had him at 54.
Manny grounded to short 1-2 for the first out of the fourth. Kemp was next and he grounded to short too. Loney drew a two-out walk, but Martin popped to second to leave him stranded.
The walk to Loney broke a string of eight in a row set down by Hamels. Hamels had thrown 76 pitches after throwing 22 in the inning.
He started the fifth with a 6-2 lead after a bottom of the fourth that took about half an hour. Blake led off and popped to Utley 3-2 for the first out. The switch-hitter Hudson hit for pitcher George Sherrill and hit a long home run down the left field line. 6-3. Belliard was next and he lined a double to left, which was enough to chase Hamels. Happ came in to pitch to Belliard and walked him on a 3-2 pitch that was nowhere near the plate. Happ did get the lefty Ethier, though. Ethier flew to left on the first pitch of his at-bat for the second out. It brought up Manny with two outs and two on and Manuel called on Durbin to pitch to him. Durbin got ahead of Manny 0-2. Ramirez tried to check his swing 2-2, but hit a dribbler down the third base line. He was slow getting out of the box, giving Durbin plenty of time to throw him out and leave the runners stranded.
Third home run in the game allowed by Hamels. Hudson isn’t even left-handed. I was very surprised to see Happ gone after facing just two hitters — I was assuming he was in for a while after the early exit by Hamels. Great job by Durbin to get Manny in a big spot. It did leave me wondering what the plan was for the rest of the game. I was guessing it was Park-Madson-Lidge in the seventh, eighth and ninth, but had little clue what Manuel was thinking for the top of the sixth and had no idea what might be Plan B if Park, Madson or Lidge struggled. Not sure Manuel did, either.
Turns out he was thinking Durbin for the sixth and Durbin was fantastic. Kemp struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. The lefty Loney grounded to short 0-1 for the second. Martin swung at the first pitch and grounded back to the mound to set LA down.
Fantastic work from Durbin who has had an outstanding post-season. He made four appearances in the series, throwing three innings without allowing a hit or a walk.
Speaking of fantastic, Park pitched the seventh with an 8-3 lead. He struck Blake out looking 2-2. Juan Pierre hit for the pitcher Clayton Kershaw and he grounded to first 0-2 for the second out. Furcal flew to center 0-2 to set LA down.
Eleven pitches in the seventh for Park after Durbin threw just eight in the sixth.
Park came back to start the eighth with a 9-3 lead. Things got interesting quickly, as Belliard and Ethier started the inning with back-to-back singles that put men on first and third with nobody out for Ramirez. Madson came in to pitch to Ramirez and walked him on five pitches to load the bases. Kemp lined an 0-1 pitch into center that dropped in front of Victorino for a single and moved everyone up a base, brought in Belliard and made the score 9-4 with the bases still loaded and nobody out. Dubee came out to talk to Madson. Don’t know what he said, but whatever it was, things got better quick. Loney swung at the first pitch and fouled out to Feliz. Martin struck out swinging 2-2. Madson got ahead of Blake 1-2 and delivered what looked for sure like strike three. Madson walked off the mound towards the dugout, but didn’t get the call. Ruiz slammed his glove on the plate, but the at-bat continued. Blake grounded to second 2-2 to leave the runners stranded.
Park ends the series having thrown to an 8.10 ERA, charged with three runs in 3 1/3 innings. He pitched way better than that, though. He looked great in the first inning he pitched. Less great in game two pitching on back-to-back days and less great last night trying to come back for a second inning.
Madson allowed six hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings in the series. That’s a 2.70 ratio, which isn’t what you’re looking for.
Lidge started the ninth with a 10-4 lead. Mark Loretta hit for the pitcher Ronald Belisario and struck out swinging 2-2. Furcal fouled out to Ruiz on a 3-2 pitch for the second out. Belliard hit a soft fly ball to center field on a 2-1 pitch. Victorino took it and the Phils had won the National League and were headed to the World Series.
Three appearances for Lidge in the series in which he threw 2 2/3 shutout innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three.
Still wonder what Manuel would have done if Park, Madson or Lidge hadn’t been able to get the job done in their inning. I assume Eyre was next in line, but things would have gotten pretty dicey after that.
Lefties Loney and Ethier were the two Dodgers with an OPS of .800 or better in the series. Loney was a monster, going 6-for-17 with two home runs to post a 353/421/706 line. Ethier was 5-for-19 with a double and a home run (263/333/474). Manny was 5-for-19 with a home run and two RBI. Kemp hit .250 and struck out eight times in 20 at-bats. Furcal, Blake and Martin combined to go 9-for-56 (.160).
Very good pitching for the Phils in the series. They held LA to 16 runs over five games. Overall the Phillies threw 44 innings with a 3.07 ERA and a 1.14 ratio.
Thanks to brilliant starts from Pedro and Lee in games two and three, the numbers for the starting rotation were very good. The starters threw 30 2/3 innings in the set, pitching to a 2.93 ERA and an 0.91 ratio.
Martinez and Lee were amazing in the middle of the series, combing to throw 15 shutout innings in games two and three in which they allowed five hits and did not walk a batter. Blanton allowed four runs in six innings in game four. Hamels started the other two games and didn’t pitch well in either. Over the two starts he threw 9 2/3 innings with a 6.52 ERA and a 1.55 ratio. The Phillies offense scored 18 runs in the two games he started and 17 in the three that he did not.
The starters threw 30 2/3 of the 44 innings the team pitched in the series. That’s 69.7%. They were charged with 11 of the 16 runs that LA scored — that’s 68.75%.
The rotation allowed six home runs in the series. Five off of Hamels and Kemp’s shot off of Blanton in game four.
The bullpen did not allow a home run in their 13 1/3 innings. What they did allow was a lot of walks, giving up eight to go with 14 hits. Overall the bullpen threw to a 3.38 ERA with a 1.65 ratio in the series.
Madson got hit hard in game one and was charged with two runs on four hits. Park struggled in game two, trying to pitch back-to-back days after a long time away, and was charged with two runs while getting just one out. Park was charged with another run last night in game five when he came back for a second inning and gave up back-to-back singles to start the eighth.
Happ managed to escape the series without being charged with a run, but he pitched terribly. He made three appearances, walking three batters and getting two outs. It seems like he surely would have been Manuel’s choice to give the Phils some innings in relief of Hamels last night if he had been pitching better.
The Phillies lineup against righty Vicente Padilla went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Victorino (CF/S) (3) Utley (2B/L) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Werth (RF/R) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Feliz (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R).
The Phillies started the game with six players on the bench, lefties Dobbs, Stairs and Bako and righties Francisco, Bruntlett and Cairo.
The Phillies hit in the bottom of the first down 1-0. Rollins flew to Manny just in front of the track for the first out. Victorino bounced back to the mound 0-1 for the second. Utley took a 3-1 pitch high for a walk. Howard was next and Padilla looked like pitched around him, walking him on four pitches. Werth got ahead 3-0 then took two strikes to run the count full. He blasted a ball down the third base line but just foul before he smoked a ball out right to put the Phils up 3-1. Ibanez grounded to second to end the inning.
Padilla threw 23 pitches in the first inning. The pitch-around of Howard costs the Dodgers.
The lead was cut to 3-2 when they hit in the second. Feliz hit Padilla’s first pitch just out to right. 4-2. Ruiz grounded to second. Hamels struck out looking 1-2 for the second out. Rollins struck out swinging 3-2.
Fourteen pitches in the inning for Padilla, 37 for the game. The Dodgers had lots of action in their pen after Feliz led off with a homer, but Padilla got the next three hitters and got to stay in the game.
Victorino fouled out to Blake on an 0-1 pitch to start the third. Utley struck out looking 2-2. Howard grounded to Loney.
Padilla had retired six in a row since the Feliz homer. He needed just nine pitches to go through 2-3-4, which put him at 46 for the game.
Werth led off the fourth and singled into left on a 1-2 pitch. Ibanez ripped a 2-2 pitch into the right-center field gap. Ethier had a little trouble picking the ball up and Werth scored from first to put the Phils up 5-2. That was it for Padilla. Righty Ramon Troncoso came in to pitch to Feliz and Feliz grounded to third for the first out with Ibanez holding second. Ruiz was next and Troncoso walked him on four pitches to put men on first and second. Hamels bunted the runners to second and third. It brought up Rollins with two down and Troncoso nipped him with a 2-2 pitch to load the bases. Lefty George Sherrill came in to pitch to Victorino. Victorino got ahead 3-0 before Sherrill hit him with a 3-2 pitch. Ibanez scored to make it 6-2. Sherrill struck Utley out looking 1-2 to end the inning.
Wasn’t expecting to see Sherrill in the fourth.
The Phils led 6-3 when they hit in the fifth. Lefty Clayton Kershaw was on the mound for LA and he walked Howard on a 3-2 pitch. Werth got ahead 2-0, but Kershaw came back to strike him out looking 3-2 for the first out. Ibanez hit a double-play ball to second, but Belliard had trouble getting the ball out of his glove for the flip to second and LA got just one out. Feliz struck out swinging to leave Ibanez stranded at first.
Kershaw snapped out of it after getting behind Werth 2-0.
He got the first two hitters to start the sixth. Ruiz flew to right on a 3-1 pitch for the first out. Cairo was next, hitting for Durbin, and he grounded to short 1-0 for the second. Rollins was next and Kershaw hit him in the foot with a 1-1 pitch, the third time in the game the Dodgers had hit a batter. Victorino was next and he blasted Kershaw’s first pitch to him well out to left, putting the Phils up 8-3. Utley struck out swinging to end the inning.
Lefty Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the seventh for LA. He struck Howard out looking 0-2, took a brief break for Werth to hit an 0-2 pitch out to center to make it 9-3, and then struck Ibanez and Feliz both out swinging.
Righty Ronald Belisario pitched the eighth with the Phils up 9-4. Ruiz led off and hit a ball to center, but Kemp made a nice diving catch for the first out. Stairs hit for Madson and popped to the catcher for the second out. Rollins was next and he singled back up the middle. Victorino followed and lined a 1-2 pitch that would have hit high off the wall in right if a fan had not reached over and tried to catch it. Victorino was given a double on fan interference and Rollins had to hold third. It cost the Phillies a run, but only for a minute. Belisario’s 1-0 pitch to Utley was inside and low and Martin couldn’t handle it. Rollins scored to make it 10-4 and Victorino took third. Utley grounded to second on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning.
Rollins was 1-for-3 in the game and was hit by two pitches. 5-for-22 in the series with two doubles. His double to end game four was the biggest hit of the series. The difference between that single at-bat to end game four was the difference between the series being tied or the Dodgers needing to win the next two games to tie the series.
Victorino had a monster game last night, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI. 7-for-19 in the series with a double, a triple and two home runs. 368/478/842 in the series and led the team in total bases with 16.
Utley was miserable last night, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk. 4-for-19 with four singles and four walks in the series.
Howard was 0-for-2 with two walks and did not drive in a run for the first time in his last nine post-season games. He was 5-for-15 with a double, a triple and two home runs in the series. He led the Phils with eight RBI. He also walked six times, which was the most on the team. 333/524/933, which was good enough to get him named MVP of the series.
Werth was 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. 4-for-18 with three home runs and a single in the series.
Ibanez was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 3-for-18 with a double and a home run in the series. The home run was a huge one, though, a three-run shot off of Sherrill the Phils needed to win game one. 167/211/389.
Feliz was 1-for-4 with a home run in the game and 2-for-17 with a triple and a home run in the series. 118/167/412.
Ruiz 0-for-3 with a walk last night and 5-for-13 with a double, a home run and five walks in the set. 385/579/692.
Ruiz, Howard and Victorino all on-based .478 or better in the series. All three also hit .333 or better.
Howard, Victorino, Werth and Ruiz all slugged .692 or better.
Feliz, Ibanez and Utley combined to go 9-for-54 (.167).
Stairs was 0-for-1 last night and 0-for-1 in the series with a big walk in game four.
Cairo was 0-for-1 last night and 0-for-2 in the series.
Francisco seems sure to be a big part of the World Series. He did not play last night and was 0-for-3 in the series.
Dobbs was 0-for-1 in the series.
Bruntlett didn’t bat in the series but made an appearance as a pinch-runner for Stairs in game four and scored a critical run.
Bako did not play.
The pitching was terrible for LA in the set as they allowed 35 runs in five games. Overall, the Dodgers’ pitchers threw to a 7.38 ERA and a 1.38 ratio over 42 2/3 innings. They allowed ten home runs. In the regular season they pitched 1,473 1/3 innings and allowed 127 homers. If they had allowed home runs at their NLCS pace over the regular season and thrown the same number of innings they would have allowed 345. The Brewers were the only NL team to allow more than 200 home runs this season — they allowed 207.
Padilla made a great start for LA in game two. That was it for the starting pitching, though. Padilla was bad last night, Kershaw bad in game one and Kuroda awful in game three. Wolf allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings in game four. Overall the starters pitched 21 2/3 innings in the series for the Dodgers, throwing to a 8.72 ERA and a 1.48 ratio. Excluding Padilla’s game two start they made four starts in which they threw a total of just 14 2/3 innings with a 12.56 ERA and a 1.88 ratio.
The starters threw just 50.7% of the team’s innings for the series and allowed 60% of the runs LA gave up.
Coming into the series a big question was whether the Phils would be able to do anything against the mighty pen of LA. They would. The LA relievers had to throw almost as many innings as their starters in the five games. In 21 innings they gave up just 14 hits, but walked 13, which is way too many, and gave up four home runs. Overall they threw to a 6.00 ERA with a 1.29 ratio in the series.
Ibanez hit a huge three-run homer off of Sherrill in game one. The LA pen pitched well in game three, but they had a lot of work to do after Kuroda didn’t make it out of the second. Belisario was charged with three runs in an inning in that game. Broxton allowed a huge two-run double to Rollins in game four. The Phils scored four runs off of Kershaw, Kuo and Belisario in the last four innings of last night’s game.
Kuo and Troncoso pitched pretty well in relief for the Dodgers in the series. Troncoso wasn’t charged with a run in three innings over three appearances. He didn’t give up a hit but walked three. Kuo struck out six in four innings and allowed one run on the homer by Werth.
No game today. The first game of the World Series is Wednesday.
Topics: Playoffs |
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Congrats to the Phils and thanks for making it to another World Series. But, as it seemed last night after the final out, there is more work to be had.
Awesome to see Werth snap out of it last night b/c he was hitting rather poorly coming into the game.
If anyone watched the telecast on TBS after the final out and they started showing replays from all the different cameras after the final pitch, did anyone notice that after Lidge threw the final pitch and it was hit, Ruiz stood up, turned around and patted the ump on the chest with his glove? I wonder if he said anything to him and if so, what it was? Was it a simple, “good game, time to celebrate!” or was it more like “thanks for the tight strike zone all night, time to celebrate!” Not that it matter but I never noticed Ruiz do that before.
Well, here is to the Angels extending their series tonight, bringing it back to NY, having rain all weekend and having all weekend games PPD until monday/Tuesday and no matter who wins the series, having their pitching rotations in shambles!!
Go Phils!
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
At least Cole is keeping the Phils in the game? I think that has a lot more to do with the Phillies hitting a ton and Manuel being pretty quick with the hook. It sure would be a lot nicer to be able to count on more than just 4 or 5 innings from him.
I don’t know what’s up. He actually LOOKS fried now. He hit the low 90s on a couple pitches last night but for the most part it appeared as though he was topping out in the upper 80s.
One positive I noticed was he used the curveball a lot more last night and that thing has a TON of movement on it. He’s going to need a pitch like that with the diminished difference between his fastball and change. The caveat here being curveballs are notoriously tough on arms and if Cole’s is burned out, that doesn’t much bode well for the World Series and even beyond.
6 days until the series where I’d expect Cliff Lee will be getting the ball. That makes it at least a week before Hamels will be needed again. I’d like to see him pushed back even more, but then you’re getting into Pedro-Yankees-Daddy issues territory, Joe Blanton notwithstanding.
Happ has not done much to inspire confidence in me during his relief appearances. He WAS/IS Rookie of the Year and deservedly so but he seems a whole lot more comfortable as a starter right now. I would not be averse to him being dropped back in the rotation, but I don’t know how easy it’d be to tell the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP that his place in the playoff rotation is gone. I’m also not confident that’s the right move to make anyway, but I’d look at the option if I were Manuel. I’m not though, and probably for good reason.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 am
Ruiz is a vastly underrated catcher I think and incredibly savvy if nothing else. He let his temper get the best of him earlier in the game (in that inning in fact if memory serves correctly) and slapped the ground with his glove in exasperation over a strike that was called a ball.
There’s a possibility the Phillies will see members of this umpiring crew or the crew in its entirety in the World Series. Chooch knows where his bread is buttered and the acknowledgment of the plate ump was probably more of a spoken, “Hey, great job, thanks a lot!” and an unspoken, “Hey, no hard feelings, right?”
The TBS guys called a lot of attention to Ruiz during the series and I still don’t think they said enough. This guy is a stellar, stellar catcher.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:36 am
I did notice Ruiz and the umpire on the last out of last night’s game. I thought it was odd, too, but kind of cool. I was surprised to see him thump his glove on the plate after Madson didn’t get the call. Huge call in the game, but Ruiz doesn’t usually do that.
It still feels like Hamels could snap out of it at any time. He sure has been awful lately. The Phils won both of his starts in the series, but needed to score 18 runs to do it.
Ruiz and Hamels sure looked like they were having a lot of problems trying to figure out how to get Ethier in the first. Got worse from there.
Pretty worried about Happ. He was just bad in the NLCS. Sure hope he can contribute in the World Series. I think the starters should be Lee, Blanton, Pedro and Hamels. I think they will be, too, but I wonder if it’s someone else starting game two to avoid the possibility of two starts for Hamels.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
There are definitely some people on this team (Hamels among them) who could use a week off. I just hope it doesn’t kill the momentum in the offense.
On the rotation.. I just don’t see Hamels going game 4. Charlie will manage on faith/gut, not recent performance, and see the possibility of 9 0’s rather than 3 1’s, a 0, and an incomplete. But really any way he orders them should be fine, as long as Pedro doesn’t get a start at the Stadium.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Assuming they play New York I would hope they would go Lee, Blanton, Pedro, Hamels. That means Hamels pitches once and Pedro pitches at home in three, at least for his first start.
I don’t think they will. Not sure what they will do, though.
I’m worried it’s more than a week off that Hamels needs.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I was rooting for the Dodgers, but Congratulations to the Phillies and I hope they win the world series.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Revenge for 1950! [The year before I was born.] At least I know Charley won’t start Lidge in game #1. [Konstanty in 1950.]
Speaking of Lidge, I have probably been his biggest basher on this site. He seems to have turned it around. Hope it continues through the next 2 weeks.
Victorino has been outstanding!
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm
The Phillies really needed Lidge in the series, too. I’m thrilled he pitched well. Still makes me nervous. Madson, too. I’m really hoping the Phillies figure out a way to get Walker and/or Condrey on the roster for the World Series. I’m not sure that’s on their to-do list, though.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I feel a little bad about this, but I wasn’t nearly as excited as I was this time last year. I suppose I was just more confident about the Phillies this year. I know I’ve been thinking (certainly as far back as September) that there was nobody in the NL that the Phillies couldn’t handle, but that they might have trouble with the Yankees, Angels or even the Redsox.
To me, the biggest factor the Phillies have going for them is temperament. And it seems like the Yankees are pretty much matching them in that department. The Phils and Yankees both just calmly expect that they will do whatever is needed to win. I think this could be a really good World Series.
1950 is right before I was born, but I went back and looked at the box scores. The Phils lost 0-1, 1-2 (10 innings), 2-3 and 2-5. Sounds pretty close to me. I’m sure the scores won’t be so low this time in the two bandbox fields.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
I got about as excited I did last year and, eerily enough, around the same time in the series.
It’s been talked about to death, but Matt Stairs creating his own space program in Game 4 last year was the moment the Phillies won that series and I ran around the house knocking things over and scaring small animals accordingly.
Lo and behold, Game 4 this year rolls around and Jimmy Rollins, for all intents and purposes, sealed this series in the bottom of the ninth. THAT was when I was excited.
Winning Game 5, especially with the kind of lead the clobbering bats put together, made the whole thing feel a little anti-climactic. In reality, the climax occurred two nights earlier.
You might perhaps feel a little bit of the “been there, done that” but when I sit around and think that the Phillies are in the World Series? It never gets old to me. Makes me wanna start muttering some Manuel-esque gee/gosh/gollys.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I agree it was a little more exciting last year cause it had been so long. It’s still pretty good, though.
I’m with you on the fear of the top AL teams, too. The AL is just better than the NL overall for one thing. Even at their best over the last two years the Phils have been hammered in interleague play to the tune of 10-23. That’s just awful and that’s not even against the best in the AL.
Pretty sure we’re not the only ones who have been thinking about this. If people feel like the Phils got off easy last year by getting the Rays they’re about to get an AL team that nobody can have much bad to say about.
October 22nd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I don’t have much time to post a long comment…but I had to jump in today!
Congrats to the Phils!!!
And here is to Grissom and this sahweeet blog that keeps us up to speed on all the behind the scenes stats and key information!!!
I started reading this blog in 2007…and ever since then things have been going our way.
I am sure we will have lots of strategy and opinion posts between now and 10/28, but for now…
Thanks Philliesflow!!!
Thanks Phillies, you got back to the WS!!!
Keep the W’s coming!!!
FOUR MORE!!!
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:13 pm
The Phillies had a terrible record in interleague games this year, but they were the worst against Baltimore and Toronto. This year they beat the Yankees 2 out of 3. The loss was one of Lidge’s blown saves and Lidge blew another one that the Phils won in 11. So it might be just Lidge who has/d the problem, and if that’s not the same Lidge we are now seeing, we might be OK.
I’m still plenty excited.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:54 pm
so who do we think is our DH in game 1? NY is a homerun hitters park, so Stairs?
But CC is Lefty…hmmm…i guess Francisco. Or Francisco plays Left and Rual DH’s? Thoughts?
Also talking about DH’s do you think it is possible to say that the AB by Stairs to get that walk was one of the top 5 key AB’s in the Series vs Dodgers? Something to debate…
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
If it’s a lefty in game one I’m sure it’s Francisco in the lineup. I agree it might be Francisco in left and Ibanez at DH, but it seems like Francisco is the extra bat for sure against a lefty.
Stairs against a righty I think. His at-bat in front of the Rollins double was big. Top five in the series seems like a little too much, though. I think for top five you definitely need Rollins double in game four, Ruiz three-run homer in game one, Ibanez three-run homer in game one and Werth three-run homer in game five. Number five is harder for me, but I think I’d go with the Howard homer off of Wolf early in game four. Lots of big moments, though.
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
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October 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 am
I’m a lot more excited about this year. It may be because I now live in Yankees country, so the prospect of all of my “friends” team against my team is a big one. Also, it could just be the fact that the Angels and Yankees are both considered the cream of the AL, whereas a lot of folks thought the Rays were a fluke last year. I don’t know. It could also be that nobody will consider the Phils a fluke if they repeat.
I think the DH is Ibanez against a lefty starter (with Francisco in LF) or Stairs against a righty. I think that the anticipation of getting to the WS was why the Phils got Francisco this year, and Stairs last year, so they would have somebody with some experience in that role.
October 25th, 2009 at 9:54 am
I am down with your ranking of Stair place in the AB vs Dodgers…mostly just wanted to give him some credit…hard to put a walk that far up…but good AB, we all agree on that.