Archive for Phillies

With Game Five of the 2008 World Series tied at three runs apiece, Pat Burrell stepped up to the plate against JP Howell, and promptly smashed a double off of the left-centerfield wall. The shot came within an inch of leaving the yard, and as he made his way back to the dugout in favor of a pinch-runner, he seemed to possess the look of somebody who has just experienced his final plate appearance with a team. Eric Bruntlett, the pinch-runner, eventually came around to score what would amount to the game- and World Series-winning run.

This was arguably the biggest moment of his career, but his biggest moment of the regular season came months earlier, in a game I actually got to attend. Though he has always been a hot or cold player, Burrell has been eerily consistent over the last several seasons. On May 2, however, he was putting the finishing touches on a Pujols-esque hot streak. Entering the early May affair with the Giants, Burrell was one of the top offensive players in baseball with a .333/.454/.677 line to go along with 8 HR and 9 2B in just 119 plate appearances. The graph for this May 2 game, which produced the third top offensive play of the season, is below:

The game began with quite the forgettable pitching matchup: Kyle Kendrick vs. Patrick Misch. Chase Utley backed Kendrick early by belting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, a score that would hold until the top of the fourth. Trailing by two, former Phillie Aaron Rowand doubled to the delight of his hardcore fans, and came around to score on a Jose Castillo single. Wasting no time in retaliating, Pat Burrell walked and Pedro Feliz smacked a two-run homer of his own against his former team. The Phillies led 4-1 and seemed on their way to an easy victory.

Kendrick pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth before being lifted in the top of the seventh on the heels of surrendering consecutive singles to Castillo and Emmanuel Burriss. Ryan Madson came in, and things sort of broke down. Keep in mind this was back in May, and not September or October, when the entire country essentially saw Madson dominate with an out-of-nowhere 96 mph fastball. With two on, and nobody out, Eugenio Velez singled to load the bases.

Madson then got a key out by fanning Fred Lewis, but things broke down from there. Ray Durham stepped in and roped a two-run single to right, bringing the score to 4-3. Randy Winn followed with a little single of his own, once again loading the bases. Bengie Molina then grounded out, scoring Velez, and knotting the game at four runs each. The seventh, eighth, and ninth innings would all pass before any more runs would score.

JC Romero started the top half of the tenth for the Phillies, and was rudely greeted by an Aaron Rowand home run. The rest of the inning was rocky for Romero, but he eventually got out of a jam with the Phillies trailing 5-4. As the bottom of the tenth began, the Phillies had a 20.6% probability of winning the game. That mark dropped 11.5% when Jayson Werth led off by striking out against flamethrowing closer Brian Wilson. Chase Utley promptly singled to right, raising their expectancy to 21.4%.

Ryan Howard was due up next, and mostly everyone in attendance felt he would deliver a walkoff home run. After all, not only is Wilson a righty, but he was a righty who predominantly threw fastballs, precisely the recipe for disaster with a guy like Howard. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out, and Howard’s at-bat ended with a ‘K’ on the scorecard. The Phillies now had just a 10.05% probability of winning the game. As soon as Burrell’s theme music played, though, again, the reaction from the crowd was one sensing a walkoff on the horizon. Just like Howard, Burrell is quite adept at hitting fastballs with plenty of velocity.

On a full count, with two outs, in the bottom of the tenth—pretty much the cliche dramatic situation in a baseball game–Burrell absolutely crushed a deep fliner to left field. As soon as the ball made contact with the bat, everyone, including Burrell and the Phillies, knew the game had just ended. Burrell’s two-run walkoff home run off of Brian Wilson capped a torrid first 30 games, and produced an expectancy swing of 89.95%, the third most of any play this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies officially signed Ruben Amaro Jr as their next General Manager today, a three year deal. Amaro had previously served as an Assistant GM for both Ed Wade and Pat Gillick, and had actually interviewed for the Houston GM opening last year prior to Wade landing the position. It is an interesting situation because his first year at the helm will follow a World Series championship, and there are definitely some personnel issues within the organization that need addressing.

With Amaro signing on, Assistant GM Mike Arbuckle, who was largely responsible in building the farm system that produced the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson, and Brett Myers, will be leaving the team. He wants to pursue opportunities elsewhere, and rightly so. He likely would have made just as solid a GM as Amaro, and will definitely earn the position sometime in the near future. At the very least, he will help build up another franchise’s farm system.

As mentioned, Amaro has some personnel issues to address. The most pressing of them is whether or not to re-sign Pat Burrell. Burrell has more than made it clear that he wants to stay in Philadelphia. He has mentioned giving a “hometown” discount. He also seems like a genuine guy that is truly happy where he is at now, so if a deal finds its way into his hands, less lucrative than elsewhere, but in the same vicinity, he would very likely stay in red pinstripes. The initial offer of 2-yr/22 mil was declined, because he wants a third year on the deal. If Amaro bumps it to something like 3-yr/34 mil, Burrell will be back manning leftfield next season. He stinks in the field, but he is very consistent and potent offensively. Three true outcome players tend to decline rather quickly, but he still has another couple of good years left in him.

After Burrell, the Phillies only have four free agents, just two of which are notable: Tadahito Iguchi, Rudy Seanez, Jamie Moyer, and Scott Eyre. Eyre could be had for cheap and would be a great signing. Acquiring him during the season gave the Phillies another lefty out of the ‘pen, which allowed JC Romero to become more of a specialist than an entire inning pitcher. Moyer has mentioned he wants to pitch at least one more season and would love to return to his literal hometown. He could also be signed to a reasonable contract, but it is very unlikely that Jamie would repeat his regular season performance from this past season. A 1-yr deal for 5 mil, maybe, but anything more than that would be ill advised.

Outside of free agency, several Phillies players with great seasons are arbitration eligible, which is going to hogtie their payroll and prevent them from going after players like Derek Lowe. Joe Blanton, Greg Dobbs, Chad Durbin, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth are all arbitration eligible, and are all going to see raises this off-season. Durbin may have had a career year never again to be repeated, but he will end up seeing his stipend rise. Hamels made next to nothing this season so he will see a substantial raise. Howard did hit 48 home runs, but I cannot imagine his raise will be as record-setting as the result of his arbitration entering the 2008 season. Victorino and Werth should also see substantial raises, and deservedly so.

This team was good enough, and hot enough, to win the World Series, and most of the key components will be returning. Other than those coming back, Amaro will also have to make decisions regarding which players will not be returning. The options of So Taguchi and Tom Gordon were already declined, but Kyle Kendrick and Adam Eaton are still under contract. With JA Happ and Carlos Carrasco waiting in the wings, Kendrick would have to have one hell of a Spring Training to even be considered for that fifth spot. After a somewhat successful rookie campaign, he faltered as predicted in 2008. He does not strike anyone out, issues free passes regularly, and serves up too many gopherballs. That is not a formula for success. And Eaton, well, he just stinks.

If Ruben Amaro wants to really impress Phillies fans, just release Adam Eaton now, or buy him out. He serves no purpose to this team and actually has a fourth year mutual option for 2010. If they opt not to bring Burrell back, Amaro could look to the free agent bargain bin and bring in an effective right-handed outfielder capable of platooning with Geoff Jenkins, leaving Victorino in center and Werth in right. Additionally, he could win the city’s GM-love by inking Hamels to a big deal and not doing the same for Howard. Even though most of the team will be returning in 2009, Ruben Amaro Jr still has plenty on his plate in his rookie year as a general manager.

My second top highlight of the 2008 season was one that I am unsure if many even got to see. Whether or not Sportscenter aired the clip or not escapes my memory, but it involved the Phillies playing the Reds, and the reaction of the notoriously tough Philadelphia fanbase and their reaction to Junior Griffey. Ken Griffey, Jr, is now essentially a replacement player, with poor defense and about average offense, but in the beginning of June, he stood right outside the entrance to the 600 HR club, and had trouble earning his membership.

In the first two games of a three game set with the Phillies, the Reds opted to sit Griffey, though he did make pinch-hit appearances, much to the pleasure of the Citizens Bank Park faithful. In fact, the fans actually booed Phillies reliever Tom Gordon when his lack of control prevented Griffey from having a concrete shot at his milestone home run. This was not my highlight, however, as that came the very next game.

Cole Hamels was on the mound for the Phillies and Griffey got the start for the Reds. Cole had long been a fan of Griffey’s and had said before the game began that he honestly would not have minded being the pitcher to give up #600, joining a large list of other pitchers who had previously fallen victim to the sweetest swing in the majors.

In his first at-bat, Griffey hit a double off the wall to the delight of the Phillies fans, a shot that came very close to leaving the yard. His next two at-bats, both prefaced with very loud applause, resulted in somewhat weak groundouts. With Hamels cruising through the game, keeping the Reds firmly off the scoreboard, Griffey would have just one more at-bat. Trailing 5-0, Griffey led off the top of the ninth inning. As he stepped to the plate, a resounding applause spread across the stands. It became quite clear that they were pulling for him to hit his 600th home run.

As Cole took a few steps towards the plate to get a new baseball, you could see him mutter something to Griffey, to which Junior smiled. Hamels would later admit that he asked Griffey what pitch he wanted to say and where he wanted it to be placed. Hamels soon delivered a fastball on the inside corner that Griffey seemed to get all of, launching it towards the centerfield fence. Shane Victorino played it brilliantly, racing back. Literally standing at the wall, Victorino pulled the ball in, inching Hamels closer to a shutout and keeping Griffey milestone-less for at least one more game.

Griffey smiled as Shane made the catch, though his expression bore resemblance to one of slight disappointment. As he made his way back towards the dugout, just about every fan in attendance rose to his or her feet and gave Griffey an absolutely thunderous ovation. Griffey seemed to be in shock. He had experienced applause in his previous plate appearances, but nothing like this. With each step towards the dugout the ovation grew, and he tipped his cap to the fans. Afterwards, in the locker room, he was choked up while giving an interview, recounting the experience, thanking everyone for the support, and struggling to put a word on how it felt. He eventually settled with a simple “It was…. it was awesome.”

He hit #600 soonafter, but, for me, watching notoriously tough fans show him more love than some of their own players was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen in a baseball game.

I can’t believe it.

As a baseball analyst on several highly trafficked websites, it is important to stay objective when covering the whole league. I know there have been several times when I have broken from this mold to show love for my Philadelphia Phillies, and I have to say this is probably the best sports moment of my life. I always wondered what it would be like to have a team you devote so much of yourself to, to come away with a championship, and to be honest, my eyes were teary for several minutes following that 0-2 slider to Eric Hinske.

First, I don’t care about the viewing audience of this World Series, as several writers have discussed. This was a very fun series of baseball to watch, as was this entire post-season. This game five was quite unconventional, but it made for one entertaining three and a half innings of baseball. Ryan Madson did not want to know whether or not he would be “starting,” instead hoping that he would get his call via the bullpen phone in order to keep his normal routine in order. Geoff Jenkins experienced an extremely reduced role following an injury and had not seen consistent playing time in several months. He comes up and smacks a 3-2 double to right-centerfield to kick things off.

Jimmy Rollins bunts him over and Jayson Werth singles him in on a popup that narrowly missed Akinori Iwamura’s glove. Then, somehow Rocco Baldelli muscled that Madson fastball over the left-field wall, a point at which my hope began to diminish. JC Romero then managed to induce a BJ Upton double play and a Carlos Pena flyout before Pat Burrell, hitless in 13 World Series at bats, barely misses a home run, instead settling for a double. After that, Pedro Feliz, of all people, knocks in what amounted to be the game-winning run.

Even when Brad Lidge came in, my breath still had to be held. He may have been “perfect” in save opportunities, but as those who follow the team know, his saves never tend to be easy or stress free. When Evan Longoria popped out, my confidence increased exponentially, but the Fernando Perez stolen base helped cancel some of that out. With a runner on second, and one out, I swore Ben Zobrist’s line drive was going to fall in, as my heart nearly stopped. Two outs. In steps Eric Hinske, who absolutely demolished a home run in his previous World Series at bat.

As he swung over the 0-2 slider, I did not know how to react. I knew I was happy, but the emotions inside me did not manifest themselves in the form of jumping up and down or streaking up and down my elderly neighborhood. I smiled. I laughed. My eyes became teary for a bit. I finally got to see the team I pull for the most win a championship. Pat Burrell likely won’t be back, and who knows what will happen with Jamie Moyer, or whether some of the players currently on the roster will return or not, but regardless, this team has firmly entrenched itself as one of the best the city has seen, and it is a great feeling.

Congratulations to both the Rays and Phillies for reaching this juncture, and I can only hope these two meet again in October sometime soon.

This season has been quite the rollercoaster for me, considering I never thought in a thousand years that I would bare witness to the team I root for taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the World Series. Clearly, the dominance of Cole Hamels, tonight’s game five starter, has loomed large in the team reaching this juncture, but the work of their relief corps has been outstanding, and is another reason why they find themselves in a series-clinching game tonight. The bullpen of the Phillies was extremely solid all season long, posting one of the lowest ERAs in baseball while simultaneously producing one of the best FIPs. And, as mentioned last week, they threw the lowest percentage of fastballs of any bullpen in baseball, relying almost equally on offspeed pitches.

Against the Brewers, in the NLDS, Ryan Madson, Brad Lidge, Chad Durbrin, JC Romero, Scott Eyre, and Clay Condrey allowed four earned runs in 10 innings of work. The sextet walked just three batters while striking out nine. The 3.60 ERA and 3.00 K/BB were both impressive, but they did allow 13 hits, as Durbin and Eyre combined to give up 6 hits in 1.2 innings. The big three of Lidge, Madson, and Romero, however, combined for: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.

The Phillies won the series three games to one and moved onto play the Dodgers. JA Happ joined the previously mentioned six relievers in dominating the opposition, as the bullpen allowed just two earned runs in 18.2 innings of work. All told, their numbers were: 18.2 IP, 13 H, 2 ER, 12 BB, 17 K. The walks and strikeouts could be much better, but next to nobody scored in their appearances, as they produced an ERA below 1.00. The big three scattered six hits over 11.2 innings, walking six and striking out 13, all while stranding every baserunner that reached. Through the first two series tiers, the Phillies bullpen had posted the following numbers: 28.2 IP, 26 H, 6 ER, 15 BB, 26 K.

They then moved onto the World Series, to take on the Rays, who themselves had an extremely solid bullpen in the regular season. They had not been as stellar in the DS and CS, but had balance and depth that most other teams lacked. While they have faltered to some degree through four World Series games, the Phillies relievers have continued to flourish. Happ and Condrey have not seen action, but Lidge, Madson, Romero, Eyre, and Durbin have combined for 8.2 innings in which only one earned run has scored. Only two Rays batters have recorded hits off of this quintet, who suddenly stopped walking hitters. All told, they have walked one batter while striking out 12.

In the Division Series, the Phillies had decent K/BB numbers, but their ERA was higher than they would have liked. In the Championship Series, they drastically reduced the ERA, but their K/BB numbers got much worse. In the World Series, so far, they have put everything together, coupling a Bob Gibson-esque ERA with a Pedro Martinez circa 1999-2000 K/BB ratio. Having confidence in a bullpen can reduce the stress on a manager to make the decision of whether or not to keep a starter in the game, and the Phillies bullpen has done everything possible to earn this confidence. Will they all be this good next season? Who knows, but what is certainly clear is that if they can sustain their performances for at least one more game, they could end their season on the highest of high notes.

The setup man for the Phillies, otherwise known as “The Bridge to Lidge,” is the 6’6″ righty Ryan Madson. A minor league starting pitching prospect, Madson jumped onto the scene in 2004 and made quite a splash as a rookie reliever. In 52 games and 77 innings, Madson posted a 2.34 ERA and 3.57 FIP, to go along with a 2.89 K/BB and 1.13 WHIP. In 2005, his ERA jumped to 4.14, but his 3.92 FIP suggested he was a bit unlucky. His BABIP rose from .277 to .305 and his strand rate dropped from 82% to 71%. His K/BB ratio improved, however, to 3.16.

In 2006, he had a poor season, with a 5.69 ERA and 4.95 FIP, meaning he was unlucky, but still much worse than his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Madson made 17 starts that season to go along with 33 relief appearances, raising his innings pitched total to 134.1, but his 1.68 WHIP and high rate stats were largely due to an abnormally high .358 BABIP. That regressed in 2007, when he posted a 3.05 ERA in 38 games before missing the end of the year with injuries. His FIP was 4.20, though, primarily due to his reduced strikeout rate and elevated walk rate. Those numbers normalized this season, when he posted an identical 3.05 ERA but a 3.33 FIP.

What’s interesting about Madson is that, since being permanently given the eighth inning role towards the latter part of the season, he has become a flamethrower. For those of you reading this that watched the NLDS, NLCS, or Game 1 of the World Series, and saw Madson throwing 95+ mph, this is not the Ryan Madson that Phillies fans like myself have come to know. Don’t get me wrong, he has been a solid enough reliever in the past, but he normally threw somewhere around 90-93 mph, with a tremendous changeup and the occasional slider. This year, he increased his average fastball velocity to somewhere around 93.5 mph, but that pales in comparison to his current velocity.

Suddenly, Madson is regularly registering 96 mph on the radar gun. Initially, I thought that FOX was just being generous, but the Pitch F/X data says that Madson really is throwing harder. In the eighth inning last night, he averaged around 96 mph on the fastball, even though his average for the season was 92 mph. Regardless of how he is doing it, this “new” Ryan Madson looks better than ever, and he is steadily inching towards that area in which Phillies fans have supreme confidence that he will get the job done. Most of the discussions focusing on the Phillies bullpens deals with Brad Lidge, but Ryan Madson did a heck of a job in the regular season and has been dominant in the playoffs.

The World Series starts tomorrow, and for the first time in, well, forever, I actually care about the outcome. Sure, the Phillies participated in the series back in 1993, but it is very hard to understand the severity of such a situation as an 8-yr old. Heck, back then I even thought that batting average was a sufficient evaluative barometer. Though this series will feature Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the broadcasting booth, my eyes will still be glued to the screen each night, hoping that the team I devote so much of my energy to can reward me in the biggest way possible. The Phillies will have to be sharp, sharper than they have been thus far, in order to walk away victorious, but there are a few key specifics they need to hone in on in order to be successful.

First, even though this may be a cry on deaf ears, Charlie Manuel really needs to separate Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The specific batting order does not matter that much, but having them back to back is literally just asking for Trever Miller, JP Howell, or perhaps even David Price to enter into a high leverage situation with the goal of neutralizing the heart of the Phillies order. Especially given Howard’s recent struggles, why not go with Utley-Burrell-Howard? At the very least it splits the order up, meaning that the first six could be Rollins (S), Werth (R), Utley (L), Burrell (R), Howard (L), Victorino (S), or the same incarnation with Werth and Victorino reversed.

Next, for the games played in Tampa, they will need to pick their defensive poison between Ryan Howard at 1B or Pat Burrell in LF. Considering Burrell is replaced each night with a better defender, it is more than likely that he will serve as the designated hitter come tomorrow. This means that either Greg Dobbs, Matt Stairs, or Geoff Jenkins can join the outfield. Dobbs is not a natural outfielder, but he has seen time there for the Phillies over the past two seasons, and is the most consistently productive of the three. Getting him in the game could prove to be very important.

Another key aspect will be to have a short leash on Jamie Moyer. Jamie has a remarkable season, regardless of how old he is, but his two playoff starts have been abysmal. He may have been unlucky, and just an inch lower from striking out Blake DeWitt, ending the first inning of Game 3 against the Dodgers down 2-0 as opposed to 5-0, but if Moyer is not getting calls from the umpire, or his location is poor, he is not going to be effective. JA Happ has proven himself capable enough, and while he should not begin the game already warming up in the bullpen, if Moyer starts struggling, Manuel needs to make a move quickly.

Lastly, for now, Charlie Manuel needs to avoid going crazy with micro-managing the bullpen. The Phillies relief corps has been the best in the bigs this season, but Manuel has a tendency to do what he thinks is the correct way to go about doing things as opposed to, say, the right thing. If Cole Hamels is cruising through six innings and is at, or below, 90 pitches, there is no reason to bring in Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, or JC Romero. Likewise, yes, Brad Lidge has not yet blown a save this season, but if any of these starters is cruising through eight innings, and can come back out for the ninth, do not waste him or make him throw more pitches than is necessary.

Finally, while this is not necessarily something the Phillies organization can control, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins need to step up, big-time. Rollins did not have tremendous statistics in either series, but he did record timely hits, which more than helped the Phillies reach the World Series. Howard really only has one meaningful hit the post-season, racking up statistics in relatively meaningless situations. If he does not start producing, given that Manuel is not going to separate he and Utley, it gives Chase no much less protection and virtually creates a black hole. He was able to knock the ball out of the park all year long, and he needs to continue to do so now, when it matters most.

This series might not get the ratings, but it is a very solid matchup of two of the best teams in baseball this year, and has the makings of providing some very entertaining games to watch.

When the Phillies made the playoffs in 1993, I was eight years old, starting the second grade, and despite a claim staked as a baseball fan, largely unaware of the magnitude of the situation. It had been ten years since they last found themselves playing into October, and that ended with a disappointing four games to one loss to Cal Ripken’s Orioles in the World Series. I attended the 15-14 World Series game, but the only non-Joe Carter memory I can conjure up about that postseason is Fred McGriff mashing a long home run.

Last year, when the Phillies won the division on the final day of the season, I was absolutely elated. It was my senior year at Penn State University and I had come home for the weekend to attend my girlfriend’s sister’s sweet sixteen party. Luckily, the day of the party coincided with a lousy Adam Eaton performance that almost cost the Phillies their season, so I did not miss much. But the next day, my brother, a Phillies blogger at MVN, and my father, the former TV producer for the Phillies, watched in awe as Wily Mo Pena stood, dumbfounded, as a Brett Myers curveball resulted in a called third strike, and ultimately, the division.

After six or seven years of the Phillies coming within three games of the division and/or wild card, I was so excited that they made the playoffs that losing the division series did not matter to me. I did not care that they got swept by the Rockies, because the team I devote so much energy and so much of myself to, finally rewarded me for my loyal fandom. Sure, a division series win would have been nice, but they got there, and that is what mattered to me. This year, however, was a different story. Perhaps making the playoffs for the first time in my young adult years spoiled me, but I had expectations this season. Expectations that they could at least get back to the division series. The outlook appeared to be bleak at several different junctures, but they always battled back, and ended up winning the division for a second straight season.

Unlike last year, I wanted a division series win this time around. Last year, I got a sniff, but this year, I wanted a big, delicious bite. When the Brewers handed the Phillies game one on a silver platter, I was thrilled, but also uneasy due to the fact that the Phillies just as easily could have lost the game and did not perform too well outside of Cole Hamels. In Game Two, myself and fellow bar patrons went into an absolute frenzy when Shane Victorino hit a grand slam off of CC Sabathia, an event nobody could have predicted. Of course the annoying comments such as “CC-ya later” resulted when he was pulled from the game but the Phillies took a 2-0 lead into Milwaukee and I honestly felt that, wow, my bite was almost complete.

Dave Bush shut the Phillies down in game three, setting up an important fourth game matchup between Jeff “I am the epitome of average” Suppan and Joe “I am an innings eater, I swear!” Blanton. To show off my clairvoyant ability, I predicted that Jimmy Rollins would lead off the game with a home run, and vowed to buy a drink for everyone at my table if it came true. Of course, Rollins did hit a leadoff home run, and I lost $20 buying drinks. It was $20 well spent, though. Blanton pitched a gem, and even though the Eagles lost to the Redskins on the adjacent television set, my Phillies had won a playoff series and were actually advancing. It did not really sink in until I got ready for the first game of the championship series, one that looked like it would be very tough given the Dodgers recent run, and, of course, Manny Ramirez.

During game one, which took place in Philadelphia, I was very annoyed that the song leading into commercial breaks was “I Love LA” by Randy Newman. Nothing against Mr. Newman, but this game took place in Philadelphia, and even when the Phillies took a 3-2 lead, FOX’s usage of the song persisted. This was my first inclination that maybe, just maybe, FOX was pulling for the Dodgers. I didn’t mind, but when Joe Buck and Tim McCarver exhibited pro-Dodger broadcasting, failing to highlight or capitalize on solid plays by the Phillies, I grew more than ticked off. To FOX, Buck, and McCarver, shame on you. I understand that Dodgers-Red Sox would be huge ratings, but I tune into a game and like to hear objective announcing. Not only does Buck not understand that the opinion of a play by play guy is irrelevant, but McCarver is a complete idiot and gets by because “catchers are smart!”

Their broadcasting in this series was atrocious, only diagnosing aspects from the Dodgers point of view, and as Brian Joseph of MVN Outsider wrote, if I was going to tune in and listen to a Dodgers’ broadcast, at least give me Vin Scully. But I digress. Brett Myers and Shane Victorino handled the Dodgers with the bat in game two, giving the Phillies a 2-0 series lead heading to Manny-wood. In game three, Hiroki Kuroda manhandled the Phillies, who just could not do anything to erase an early 5-0 deficit. Russell Martin seemingly took pride in setting up inside to incite retaliation, but once again failed to back up his talking the talk with any semblance of walking the walk at the plate. Martin may be an all-star and a solid player, but he came off as an absolute punk in this series, whining about call after call, and not doing anything to back it up. He also should never have been batting behind Manny Ramirez because, well, he provided absolutely no protection.

Game four would be extremely important, as the difference between 2-2 and 3-1 is huge. The game appeared to belong to the Dodgers until Joe Torre’s odd usage of the bullpen resulted in Shane Victorino lining a two-run home run off of Cory Wade into the right field bullpen, knotting the game at 5-5. Then came the home run from new Phillies legend Matt Stairs, off of Jonathan Broxton, to put the Dodgers away, 7-5. Stairs pretty much has a one track swing, and Broxton threw him the best possible pitch for that track.

Last night, at a bar on Frankford and Cottman Avenue, I once again called that Rollins would hit a leadoff homer, but in case I was correct, did not offer to buy drinks. Jimmy did, in fact, lead the game off with a home run, so I saved some money and got just as much satisfaction. Howard and Burrell hit RBI singles of their own to put the Phillies up 3-0, and errors by Rafael Furcal led to the Phillies taking a 5-0 lead. I could feel it. I mean, I could really feel it. Hamels was cruising, the LA crowd was out of it, and there were only so many more outs before the Phillies could advance. For the fifth straight time, a Phillies pitcher failed to throw high heat to the target, missing with a fastball right down the middle, and Ramirez showed why he is one of the greatest hitters of all time, smacking a dinger into the right-center seats.

The home run only made the score 5-1, and after Cole Hamels got Jeff Kent looking, on a questionable pitch, I knew, deep down, the series was over. Ryan Madson, who has suddenly become unhittable, shut the Dodgers down in the 8th inning, before Brad Lidge had his typical Jose Mesa-like save, one which adds unnecessary drama. As Carlos Ruiz squeezed his glove on the Nomar foul ball, the next three minutes were an absolute blur, as I hugged and shook the hand of people I did not previously know and will never see again. We also apparently formed one of those pre-game NBA circles and were jumping around, screaming sentences that could not have made much sense.

The celebration then exited the bar and continued onto Frankford and Cottman Avenue, where there were easily 5,500 people celebrating in the streets, climbing street lights and stop signs, high-fiving, hugging, and just celebrating the fact that the Phillies were actually in the World Series. After about a half hour I got tired and needed to go home, but it still has not quite sunk in that the team I devote so much of myself to is now four games away from a world series. I don’t know how I will feel if they win or lose. I mean, clearly, I’ll be happy if they win, but since I have never experienced a championship, I don’t know if winning one would make me care less about the 2009 season or something along those lines. If they lose, I’ll still be happy they got there, but upset that some of my favorite faces, like Pat Burrell, probably won’t be returning.

Regardless, this was a hell of a year so far, and I just cannot believe that I actually care about the World Series this season. Now, if only they could stop showing that creepy astrophysicist and his commercials, I’d be set.

Last night had all the makings of an easy Dodgers victory, as the Phillies looked tired and beat following the first inning and made too many mistakes to legitimately walk away as the victors. Joe Blanton, in an attempt to throw some high heat, threw a fastball right down the middle of the plate that James Loney just barely missed for a three run home run. Later in the game, Ryan Howard made another defensive miscue, which helped the Dodgers take a 5-3 lead. Following utter domination at the hands of Hong-Chih Kuo, it seemed that the Phillies would have to prepare for Game Five, with the series tied 2-2. But Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs did not receive that memo, or mission statement, for Jerry Maguire fans.

Kuo stayed in the game to pitch the 8th inning, but after surrendering a single to Howard–quite the unexpected event–Joe Torre lifted him in favor of Cory Wade. Wade retired Pat Burrell, but Shane Victorino, who has seemingly been in the middle of everything this post-season, lined a two-run home run over the right field wall to tie the game, 5-5. Wade then retired Pedro Feliz, before Carlos Ruiz hit what had the makings of a nothing-single. In actuality, this was as crucial a play as there was in the game, because his single helped prolong the inning. In many cases, I have seen the subsequent hitters weakly ground out or loft easy popups following a game-changing play, where nobody really even notices because their emotions circle around the game-changing play.

Ruiz kept the inning alive, and Joe Torre turned to Jonathan Broxton, the flame-throwing righty whom many fans thought should have been pitching earlier, especially given Wade’s limited availability coming in. The Phillies countered with Matt Stairs, the NLCS version of Russell Branyan, who went to the dish with one thought in mind: hit a home run. Stairs, who freely admits to swinging for the fences, was sitting dead red, and on a 3-1 count, got a 97 mph fastball closer to the middle of the plate than the outside corner and crushed an absolutely no doubt about her.

Stairs just completed his 17th major league season, where he has amassed 254 career home runs, with a .266/.358/.483 slash line. He will strike out, he will walk, and he will smack longballs. His best seasons belonged with the Athletics, where, from 1995-97, he OPS’d between .880 and .969, in full time duty. He also hit 26, 27, and 38 home runs in those seasons. Via WPA/LI, his best season was actually last year with the Blue Jays, where he was worth 2.56 wins above average. He posted an OPS of .917 in 2007 and hit 21 home runs without playing in a full-time capacity. Suffice it to say, of all the home runs he has hit, last night’s has to be the most memorable and most important.

The other man of the hour is Victorino, who is seemingly in the middle of everything in each game. After his two-run homer last night, Shane now holds the Phillies record for most RBIs in a single post-season, with 11 batted in. Whether it be his fine defensive plays, his baserunning (taking the extra base on the Furcal error, and the interference call in Milwaukee), his part in the melee in Game Four, the grand slam off of CC Sabathia, or the fine hitting in this NLCS, it seems that Victorino has suddenly transformed from a fantasy stud that is not a household name, to arguably the most covered Phillies player this October. With guys like Victorino and Stairs stepping up, the load is lessened on the big superstars, who can hopefully find their groove. If the Phillies do win Game Five, behind Cole Hamels, they will officially be in the World Series, where they will need to be firing on all cylinders to beat the Red Sox or Rays.

Entering tonight’s matchup of Derek Lowe and “Kentucky” Joe Blanton, the Phillies hold a 2-1 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. After taking the first two games at home, the Phillies stumbled yesterday, behind a poor Jamie Moyer outing, en route to a disappointing 7-2 loss. The Phillies hitters continued to struggle against Hiroki Kuroda, and the win helped reinforce that these teams have trouble defeating each other on the road. The Phillies have a 6-5 season series lead against the Dodgers, going 6-0 in Philadelphia, but 0-5 at Chavez Ravine. As Game Four sets to get underway, I thought I would offer some notes of mine on the series thus far:

Poor Russell Martin
In Game Two, Brett Myers threw a pitch behind Manny Ramirez, that got everyone in the Dodgers dugout stirring. Myers claimed the pitch slipped out of his hands, and given his struggles early in ballgames–he led all major league pitchers in runs surrendered in the first inning–it is pretty safe to say that he did not want to put Manny on base. He was likely attempting an inside pitch that slipped out of his hand. Chad Billingsley did not retaliate, much to the ire of Ramirez, who went onto say that Myers is the kind of guy he would want on his team.

Last night, Hiroki Kuroda threw a pitch that sailed over the head of Shane Victorino, who promptly acknowledged that he understood the need for retaliation, but asked that he be hit in the ribs, not the head. After grounding out, Victorino said something to Kuroda, which ultimately resulted in both benches emptying. The melee soon calmed down, but it was clear that both teams had had it up to here (as I type this my hand is positioned high in relation to my body to emphasize the “here”) with balls “slipping.”

Lost in all of this is how Russell Martin was hit, twice, and brushed back in another at-bat. Ramirez and Victorino may have been near targets, but Martin got not only the taste of sweet chin music, but also two beanings.

Rollins and Howard…not MVP-like
Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are very talented players, and the recipients of the last two MVP awards in the National League. In this NLCS, however, they have been about as productive as Yuniesky Betancourt and Willie Bloomquist, combining for a 3-25 mark, with 8 punchouts. This has put more pressure on guys like Pat Burrell, Jayson Werth, and Shane Victorino, and if the Phillies have to rely on that triumvirate to help Chase Utley out, without Rollins and Howard, it is not very likely the Phillies will win this series.

Broxton
His mound presence is as intimidating as his last name sounds, and he throws really, really hard. If there was one major league pitcher that I would be terrified to face right now, it would be the Broxmeister.

Home Field Advantage
Perhaps my anger at the schedule of this series only surfaced due to being a fan of the Phillies, but is anyone else irked by the 2-3-2 format? I mean, sure, the team with the “2’s” gets more home games than not, but playing three straight home games in a row can be a massive momentum builder. You would think that the team with home field advantage might be the benefactor of three consecutive games at home, or at least that neither team would have that benefit. What is wrong with the 2-2-1-1-1 format? Sure, it adds time to the schedule, but it is not as if it adds a week. The teams would play two days, then a day off, then two days, followed by another day off. Then, each of the remaining three games would have a day off interspersed between them, meaning that, at its maximum, the series would last 12 days; in its current state, the maximum is 10 days.

Moyer
Jamie Moyer has now made two playoff starts this season, amassing a total of 5.1 innings, surrendering 8 earned runs. He was one pitch away from exiting the first inning last night with just two runs surrendered, but a poorly placed pitch to Blake DeWitt ensured that did not occur. The Phillies are now faced with a serious conundrum next time around, as, other than Cole Hamels, nobody has been stellar. Joe Blanton pitches tonight, and could perform well, but the triumvirate of Hamels-Myers-Moyer, as a whole, has not performed to expectations. Hamels has been brilliant, but Myers has been a better hitter than pitcher lately, and Moyer’s struggles were documented by Dave earlier today.

Dodgers Bullpen
Has not given up a run in three games. Cory Wade, James McDonald, Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Clayton Kershaw, Greg Maddux, Joe Beimel, and Chan Ho Park have combined for 11.1 scoreless innings, with 10 strikeouts.

Despite my allegiances to the Phillies, I initially predicted a 4-2 series win for the Dodgers. For me, honestly, tonight is a must-win for the Phillies, as it would push the series to 3-1, with Hamels pitching in Game Five. A loss here would bring with it the very real possibility of a 3-2 Dodgers lead heading back to Philadelphia, where they would once again face Kuroda, against whom they have struggled.