The Men of the Hour

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.