I’m going to keep this short, because I’m too excited to type too much. I can’t quite express in words how I feel right now. In my lifetime, only 3 of my teams have been in this situation before: the 1993 Phillies, the 2000-01 Sixers and the 2004-05 Eagles. I can now add the 2008 Phillies to that list. Will this be the team that breaks the trend? Right now, I’m not thinking about that. I’m so proud of our guys, our manager, our GM and our owners. Gillick never made a big move, but we wouldn’t have gotten here without Werth, Stairs, Dobbs, Romero, Lidge et all. Charlie was never a genius, but he made these guys a team and never let them give up. The players made it happen and came through where so many other Philly teams have failed. Thanks guys, but we aren’t done yet. Bring on the Rays or the Sox, I don’t care; we can absolutely take them.
Below you can find my ‘Game Notes’ that I wrote down as the game went on
- It is pathetic how many empty seats there are right now in Dodger Stadium. I know it’s rush hour, and I know LA traffic is the worst, but 10 overturned tractor trailers wouldn’t keep us from getting to an NLCS game on time.
- A fantastic AB by Rollins to lead-off the game, even before the HR.
- Jayson Werth is really pressing in the playoffs. He has swung at more bad pitches than anyone on the team in the playoffs.
- I was surprised when they took out Billingsley. He was giving up hits, but his stuff wasn’t as bad as the other night. Maybe I was more disappointed…
- Does anybody else love how Utley chews his gum nonchalantly while he’s busting it around the basepath?
- Rafael Furcal completely lost it in the 5th inning. His defense has cost a great deal this series. Thank God for Jimmy Rollins.
- A story I want to tell about Shane Victorino’s family. During the 5th inning, he appeared to say something legitimately nice to Rafael Furcal after he made a very costly error. When I worked in the sales office at the Phillies, people who knew how it worked would come into the office and have us retrieve their complementary player tickets so they didn’t have to stand in line. We would always do it, and it was never a big deal. But, whenever Shane Victorino’s brother would come in, he would bring us a big box of Hawaiian chocolate for our “troubles.” He would talk with us and was an incredibly nice guy. Always made me think a little differently about Victorino, and that comment he made, as strange as it was, shows what kind of person he is.
- I love you, Mitch Hamels’ girlfriend.
- “Obviously, from a Phillies’ perspective, you want Manny Ramirez to hit with the bases loaded.” I know it was a slip up, but seriously, how does Tim McCarver have a job? Billy Packer has been ousted, can’t McCarver go live on a island with him?
- We need to be done with the Carlos Ruiz standing up behind the plate pitch. I’ve seen it 3 times: 2 HR and a double.
- Russell Martin is a spaz and has a terrible beard. That being said, that pitch in the 6th was Ball 4, not Strike 3.
- Why didn’t the Dodgers start this McDonald kid? We can’t get to him.
- Guess what guys… Cole Hamels has “it.” He’s stepped up in every big game this postseason. He’s been our Johan Santana, our Andy Pettitte. And he’s made it look easy. Really easy.
- Ryan Howard, even though he hasn’t gotten a huge hit or hit a HR, had only 2 strikeouts in the NLCS.
- Madson throwing 97mph heat? I know Fox’s gun can be a little fast, but even Manny was late on some of those.
Loading ...
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! before this series, thought AL was by far the better league. This Phillies team, if their starters get them to the 7th inning within a run or two definitely can win this thing. Tampa is an awesome well rounded club BUT we can win the Series! WOW! Go Phillies!
Congrats, you son of a bitch. How could you not like Russell Martin? He looks like Turtle from “Entourage.”
Dilemma……. Sixers opener same night as series game 6. going to sixers………………………………………… Guess game will end by 9:30pm. Will only miss first 3 innings………. Maybe, we’ll win in 4 or 5 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The biggest wild card is probably the Rays’ rotation, with Shields (26), Kazmir (24), Garza (24), and Sonnanstine (25) all being talented but young.
The main reason the Phillies could and perhaps would win the World Series would be PITCHING (the bullpen in particular!!)
Is the gaaaaame still on?
There are so many thought running through my mind right now. It’s difficult for me to corral them all into an organized post, so I’m just going to put them out there as they pop into my head.
First of all, a few thoughts on last night’s game:
Nice job on the notes, Pete. I’m right there with you, especially on those failed attempts at high fastballs and on McCarver. How many times during the series did McCarver say that Ryan Madson had the best changeup on the staff? Last night, Joe Buck said something about how good Hamels’ arm action is on his changeup and McCarver responds with “the best”. He then proceeds to say that Hamels’ changeup is far and away the best on the staff. Huh? I was screaming at the tv when he said it. I was also wondering why I was even listening to this guy. I swear I’m going to mute the tv and listen to the radio during the world series. I’ll adjust to the fact that the tv delay makes the broadcasts asynchronous.
When was the last time Ryan Howard had 3 singles in a game?
Ryan Madson was flat out dealing. With him pitching at this level and having Lidge in the 9th, we have now effectively shortened the game to 7 innings.
How many catches running into or up against the wall can one guy make? Victorino is covering a lot of ground out in center and making those plays look routine.
Even though Hamels got into a few jams, I never felt like we were in serious danger last night. I was still nervous, but it was more uh-oh better be careful than holy s*** we are in trouble.
About the series:
Even though each individual game didn’t seem easy, looking back now, we did dispatch the Dodgers with relative ease, if that makes any sense.
I’ll give Manny his due. He is one heck of a hitter, but he can’t win a series by himself. We shut pretty much everyone else down and that was the difference. I am very impressed by that, by the way. Remember that the Dodgers were coming off a sweep of the Cubs, who they outscored 20-6 in 3 games. The Dodgers were firing on all cylinders coming into the NLCS and the Phils stopped them cold.
*****A little aside about the Manny factor. As great as he or any other player may be, it is exceedingly difficult for one player to carry a team and win a series or more all by himself. That is one of the things I really love about baseball. IMO, it is the sport that requires the greatest amount of contributions by every member of the team. Hear me out. Yes, football and basketball require contributions from just about everyone on the roster, but not to the same degree. Think about it. You can get the ball in Westbrook’s hands 30-35 times a game. You can also get the ball to LeBron James almost every time down the floor. In football and basketball you can keep running plays for and getting the ball in the hands of your best player(s) over and over as many times as you can. In baseball, you cannot have your best hitter take every at bat, or even bat every inning. There are always going to be 8 other players between your most dangerous hitter and his next at bat. As such, every baseball team simply must have production from those other 8 players in order to win consistently. OK, end of aside*****
About the team:
I’m proud as well. Even though we’ve gotten contributions from many guys throughout the season, they really seemed to put it all together in September. It’s hard to believe that our ballclub that was built around offense just won the NLCS with very little from Rollins and Howard, and next to nothing from Werth and Feliz, but that’s what a team does. It’s also hard to believe that our “offensive” ballclub has won and continues to win at least as much if not moreso because of the pitching. I guess years of negative conditioning from the likes of Omar Daal, Carlton Loewer, Brandon Duckworth, and many others will do that to you. The bottom line is that they are truly a very good team. They believe in themselves. They believe in each other. Manuel has them playing hard for 27 outs and it’s working
That puts me in mind of something John Kruk said last night. After I watched the trophy presentations and a bit of the postgame, I switched over to ESPN. While they were waiting for Fox to release the highlights of the game, Kruk and Showalter were talking about the NLCS, the Dodgers, the Phillies, and the upcoming world series. Kruk, who is now fully on the Phillies’ bandwagon and is picking them to win the world series, said something very interesting. He basically said that he has been picking against the Phillies because he is too close to them. He said that when you follow a team from close up you have a tendency to pick them apart and see every little flaw. You see all the negatives as reasons why your team will not beat the opponent and move on. In addition he said that since you don’t follow other teams as closely, you think that other teams do not have any holes or deficiencies and that they are somehow better than your team.
I have mentioned this a couple times recently. Following the Phils up close makes us lose at least some of our perspective. Also, the passion we feel for the Phils makes us more invested and in turn clouds our objectivity. I have to say that the Philly media plays a large role in this. A large chunk of the coverage tends to be negative. For example, Bob Ford went on the record a couple months ago about how Gillick didn’t do enough to improve the club. He basically said that the Phils were going to set an attendance record and shame on Gillick for not rewarding the fans’ loyalty. Well, yesterday he wrote an article praising Gillick and admitting that he was wrong to have written that earlier article. Anyway, when you read the negativity day after day, month after month, season after season, it really affects the way you view the organization.
What surprised me about Kruk’s comments was that he is on a national network covering all of MLB. As such, I expected him to be pretty knowledgable about every team in the league. Instead, he openly admitted that he follows the Phils very closely, that he was not as well versed on the other teams in the league, and that his judgement regarding the Phils chances was clouded. Not any more. He is fully convinced that they are the best team left of the 3 that remain and that they will beat whoever they face, even though the AL has the home field advantage.
Sorry if I went on a bit. Things just kind of came out. Just a warning. I may be back a few more times today as other things pop into my head.
bski-
you made a point that i try to touch on whenever appropriate. fans don’t watch their opponents 162 games a year (or 82 in basketball, or 16 in football). So they pick apart their teams and assume that the top teams don’t have these problems. We forget that there are 29 other teams with the same exact goals and issues.
same goes with moves. who were two players that phillies fans wanted desperately? CC Sabathia and Manny Ramirez? Hmmm, I believe we just thrashed both those squads.
it was incredibly stupid for me not to have champagne on hand last night. i can’t believe i didn’t think of it.
I knew I forgot something. I thought it was very classy of Gillick to give credit to Ed Wade. It was no small mention either. He went out of his way to say that this was Wade’s club and that he just added a bit to what was already here. Very commendable.
Pete…Thanks. You make a great point about Sabathia and Ramirez. I really don’t like to get into all that “team of destiny” stuff, but I have to say that I did start to think about it a bit after we beat Sabathia, and I really got to thinking about it the closer we got to beating Manny and the Dodgers.
It’s not really destiny, obviously. There are always key moments and plays along the way throughout any successful season. In the very successful seasons, however, they really accumulate. As all of those big time hits, catches, pitches, etc…pile up, you begin to see how good your team really is, because only very good teams make those kinds of plays repeatedly. The bottom line is that you make your own luck. You determine your “destiny” by how well you play the game. Nobody gets this far by fate. We deserve to be here and we have a great shot to win the whole thing.
Barack Obama’s 30 minute AD will force Fox to show Game 6 after the AD. (a 15 minute delay). But people will see the beginning of the game once the AD is finished!! One flyin’ Hawaiian to another. Barack Obama cheering for the Phillies could perhaps be the best thing this has happened to this city sports wise!! Could there be a good vibe between Obama and sports? After all, we still believe in the curse of William Penn statue? Maybe this could reverse the curse!!
The game last night was more about seeing something from this team that I think we all needed to see. Some killer instinct and unfailing determination.
We had the best pitcher in the playoffs on the mound for the Phillies going against a young guy we already beat on in game two who in my opinion never really had the demeanor of a pitcher that was confident. The Dodgers were coming off about as deflating a loss as they could have got in game 4 and the Phillies had all the confidence and all the momentum.
After game 4 I had no doubt they would win the series. But I needed them to win game 5 and shut it down right away to ease my mind and bolster my confidence in the team going into the World Series. Had they lost last night and went on to beat the Dodgers in the next game I would have been significantly less confident they could/would win the World Series.
I needed to see them “finish him” a la Mortal Kombat.
They did just that.
Dannie, I couldn’t agree more. As a side note, I haven’t thought about Mortal Kombat (or Street Fighter) since I stopped playing them on my Sega Genesis system circa 1994.
As bad as McCarver was (and he was bad), the comments that incensed me most were ones he made about the character of this Phils team, particularly Victorino. It’s a sad commentary on the state of professional sports when a player who says “keep your head up” to member of the opposing team and is just acting like a decent guy is criticized. Have we really gotten to the point where good sportsmanship is something to be made fun of? (Apparently we have, since I’ve seen many other comments on ESPN.com about Victorino being “soft” because of what he said to Furcal.)
As an “impartial” commentator, McCarver had no problem giving Joe Torre (deserving) praise for his managerial skills, but I think he did a great disservice to Charlie Manuel with his comments about Victorino and other Phils players being “showy” after hitting home runs. (For god’s sake, it’s the post-season, are they not allowed to clap and enthusiastically throw an arm in the air?) What’s been evident to me in the last two series is that Charlie has these guys playing as a team and genuinely enjoying playing together, now more than ever. As a fan, it’s easy to get behind and root for a team like that.
Side note: I’ve been reading the blog since it’s inception, but it took me about 10 months to comment – apparently had to wait for a really good point to rant about. I know that I’m just being a woman and offering the girly view of things, but I just couldn’t believe that the character (or “softness”) of this team was being put into question.
Bridget…Glad to have you here. Yours is not a girly view at all. No need to apologize for it. B.S. is b.s. and should be called out, period.
I haven’t been on espn today. Who is making these comments, the espn writers or readers like us?
BSKI… It was readers mostly, one obnoxious one in particular calling Victorino “a queen” and suggesting that Howard was not at his best because in his head he’ll never be “the man” like Manny.
Thank goodness we have guys like that out there to clear that up for us.
Bridget…Yeah, we’d be lost without their insightful commentary. If it was actually an espn writer, I might take the time to go back at him, but if it’s just some fan spouting off, I wouldn’t waste my time. (Unless he came on here of course. Don’t need any of that garbage in these parts.)
In the 8th inning I put the radio on and switched to the non-high def channel. Timing seemed right on. May be a good option going forward BUT lose the HD quality.
Well…living here in LA, I had the good fortune to be in the park for both games 4 and 5. Oh, what a feeling. It’s great to be part of the pandemonium of a big home playoff series win, but there is also something special when you’re one of about 2-3,000 interlopers, bonding across rows and sections, putting up with abuse, and then emerging victorious as the home team’s fans trudge silently out of the park. Sweet, and a memory I will carry for a long time.
Your comment about the lack of fans in seats at the start of the games is warranted — every Phillies fan who came to the games I attended was seated a half hour early. And, while the 5:20 start times combined with the usual LA traffic and horrible parking situation at Chavez Ravine contributes, all you need to know about Dodgers fans is that I was able to get great seats to both games — at no cost or face value — with relative ease. Can you imagine scoring seats at CBP for a crucial playoff game without paying through the nose or inheriting them? Worse of all, I think [other than the wave, ugh!], was the number of Dodger fans heading for the exits after the top of the 8th in Game 4. I mean, their team was down only 2 runs! And it was early, like 8:00-8:30 LA time. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been living here for 12 years, and I’ve been used to seeing that at regular season games…but for the LCS??? All the Phillies fans I met at the games, and there were plenty, were stunned, along with me.
Someone said that the Fox ‘gun’ tends to be a little fast…but the pitch speeds being shown on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard were typically 1-2 mph higher. Madson topped out at 98 on the Dodger Stadium gun…no matter how you cut it, he is DEALING…and will be a key factor if the Phils are to win the Series. Neither the Sox nor the Rays has a set-up guy as good as him right now. Where did this come from?
From the perspective of being there, the most overlooked aspect of the Phils’ dominance in this series was their superior defense. With the exception of Howard’s awful throw off the bunt in Game 4, Rollins, Utley, Ruiz, Feliz and the outfielders, even Burrell, were virtually flawless. Victorino’s range was sick and all three outfielders were gunning the ball , preventing the Dodgers from even thinking about taking extra bases.
Looking ahead, one interesting question is who will be the Phillies DH when the Rays throw a lefty [Kazmir]. They really don’t have a solid RH pinch hitter when Feliz starts. I suppose we’ll see Bruntlett in left [?] with Burrell as the DH, but that’s giving up a lot of offense. Or perhaps they replace Taguchi on the roster with Marson so that Coste can DH. That will be an interesting development to watch.
Finally, I was interested to note mention of the Obama connection along with how the Phils put the Dodgers away when they had to, and not ’sitting on’ their lead. I wrote a piece today for The Huffington Post on just that connection, but from the standpoint that Obama, sitting with a 10+ point lead in the home stretch, could learn a lot from how the Phils approached Game 5. Here’s the link…but, warning, Republicans may want to take a pass on this one!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-kessler/note-to-senator-obama-lik_b_135381.html
Regardless, it was a great pleasure and privilege to be there these last 2 games — I’m a little older than most of you, I gather, and can recall exactly where I was and what I was doing when Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson on that October day in 1980. I only wish for all of you the same kind of joy that I experienced that day…and for me to experience it again!!!
Go Phils!!!
JMKinLA,
Enjoyed reading both your blog post and attached article.
Baseball
Good point you raised on Phils’ alert, airtight (but for Howard)
defense having been somewhat overlooked as vital factor in success.
Politics
“Cutesy political indulgence” – absolutely. “Rare twitch” – hardly. Twitches galore in evidence throughout campaign. B.O. is, too, “cool-as-a-dry-martini”. But our country doesn’t need the temporal self-medication of a glib and evasive (Wright, Ayers, Resco, ‘Acorn’) elocutionist. It needs reparative candor, values nourishment, applied wisdom culled from experience and leadership courage, innate and practiced. [You may guess to whom I am referring.]
And “understand this”, “you betcha” is tired (already) as a rhetorical put-down of Palin and demonstration of intolerant, mocking partisanship. [Ok, I countered, underneath the bar of nobility.] Governor Palin, though not yet Washington dipped-and-dried, could hold her own, graciously and intelligently, in social and political discourse with “the prematurely-annointed” Senator Stringbean. But she’d save listeners on time and theatre by braving “yes” or “no”s, aware that “present” is mere equivocation and delay of self-presentation.
I’m a McCain supporter and a lifelong Phillies fan. As such, I judge your piece to be intelligently-wrought, impressively-crafted and sentimentally sweet.
let’s try to avoid a political discussion… the phillies have been a nice distraction!
JMKinLA, Upon further review – offsides, this Philadelphia blogger. My apology for indulging in mockery (”understand this” – raising of verbal tic, ” ‘prematurely-annointed’ Senator Stringbean” - sarcastic satire) and my own partisan writing. To deliver in any form what I criticized was hypocritical and
lacking in social grace. Furthermore, political discussion doesn’t belong on this blog; should have heeded your preliminary warning about reading – curiosity got this cat, article content provoked. Writing motivation was to balance the scales. Sorry [to you too Pete & Dannie] – sports only from here on out.
no worries JJG…. emotions can run high and get the best of all of us this time of year!
Thanks, Pete … my shattered Yao Ming vase knows.
Sox & Beckett – looking good for Game 6. I’m torn as I root for longtime underdog Rays (who have really earned stripes this year head-to-head w/Beantowners) but Sox/Fenway-Phils Series would be nice – winning against former Champs would bring greater overall respect, I suppose, especially in the case of casual fans.
WOW what a great series. From a Phils fan perspective, that series had it all. We had ups, downs, and everything in between with all that Manny drama. My favorite part was the role cast on Shane V as the “villian” in the series, and Manny the “hero”. Pretty funny as if you think about these 2 guys off the field, Shane is a standup guy (as written earlier) and Manny pushed down a 64 year old man for not getting him enough tickets, and gave up on his team forcing their hand into a trade. Not a “hero” in my book by any means.
I am curious to see how this team handles the DH position now that we are in the WS. Typically in years past they have given Burrell a game, Howard a game, etc. Will they elect to stick with a steady plan, or continue to do the same. If it were my choice I would put Werth in left, Dobbs in right, and DH Burrell. Its not up to me though so we’ll see.
I want to thank Pete, Dannie, and the rest of you “true” fans for giving me a place to come and vent with intelligent sports fans who happen to also be diehard Philly fans. We have a long road ahead of us, but my confidence in this team is very high right now. We have gotten through 2 good teams without much trouble, and this is without all of our offensive wheels moving. Imagine what could happen if Rollins/Howard/Werth get hot and Victorino/Utley/Dobbs/Ruiz stay hot?? This team could have a WS ERA of 3 and score 9 runs a game. LET’S GO PHILS!!!
J Dubbz…As far as the DH goes, the only time it should be an issue is either when Kazmir pitches in Tampa, or when Lester pitches in Boston.
*****Warning, another aside: I absolutely detest this DH baloney. I was not and still am not a fan of the DH, but I think it is way past time that the NL finally adopts it. As much as I would rather see it go away, (You may think I have my head in the sand, however I prefer to be looked upon as a purist.) I fully realize that it is here to stay. Since that is the case, I am willing to accept it in the NL. I think having a different set of rules for each league is ridiculous and hurts the integrity of the game. OK, end of aside********
Each of them (Kazmir and Lester) is the only leftie starter for their team, and we are really weak with extra right handed hitters to put in the DH spot. To me, Coste is the best option we have. Burrell has not fared well as a DH over the years. Bruntlett will give us very little. Taguchi? Please, the man can’t even get a bunt down in a pinch hit situation.
The problem I see with using Coste is that he is our backup catcher. I readily admit that I do not have a full grasp of the rules regarding the DH, but I believe that if you bring your DH into the game to play in the field, you’re pitcher needs to take the other spot in the lineup. What I’m trying to get at is this: We have Ruiz at catcher and Coste at DH…We decide to pinch hit for Ruiz (or Ruiz gets injured)…We bring Coste into the game to catch. In that situation, I believe that Coste can catch and remain in his spot in the lineup, but we lose the DH spot for the rest of the game. I think you have to use a player who is already in the game (the pitcher being the only one left) to hit in Ruiz’s spot. Because of this, I am wondering if the Phils will put Marson on the WS roster as insurance in case we run into this.
If I am correct, (Anybody please correct me if I am wrong.) this rule would also impact us if we use Dobbs as the DH and something were to happen to Feliz. I suppose in that instance we would have Bruntlett as an emergency third baseman to sub for Feliz if needed and we can keep Dobbs at DH.
Anyway, I would say that facing mostly right handed starters is to our benefit, since we have better options in the left handed hitter department. Depending on how the pitching lays out, we may only need to deal with the right handed hitting DH dilemma once (I hope).
bski… I think that your DH evaluation will hopefully be utilized by our guy Chahlie Manual. If it holds true that Lou Marson is activated to the roster, who do we de-activate? My vote is for Taguchi. I have also heard in the past that Burrell is more comfortable batting when playing the field as opposed to batting off the bench as the DH. He tends to stay looser and is more of a hot/cold situation for him. I guess we will see what is in store next week.
I actually enjoy the difference in the DH rule for the AL/NL. It really gives a different type of ballgame to each league. As we know, baseball is a chess match, strategically played by both managers in an effort to win each and every game. These strategies are vastly different nowadays with this DH in place. If the NL adopted the DH, we would have theoretically no difference in the way major league baseball is played. I personally am a fan of the DH as it leads to more excitement in my mind, but I like the difference in the leagues even more.
OK, the whole DH thing felt unresolved to me so I did some checking. Here are the official rules regarding the DH. They are at the bottom under section 6.10. The way I read it, my earlier post was correct with regard to bringing the DH into the game to play in the field and subsequently losing the DH for the remainder of the game, thereby necessitating the pitcher to hit in the vacated spot in the order.
Just in case the official MLB rules are a bit too opaque, here are the DH rules from Wikipedia.
bski. I have heard that they are putting Marson on the WS roster just for the reason you mention.
You think that they are going to throw Moyer out there as a starter again. I have a bad feeling that they will. Look I appreciate the guy for what he has done for us the last couple of years, but he has really put us behind the eight ball with his performance this postseason. I would rather see him in a Greg Maddux type long reliever role.
Anybody notice the guy behind home plate that had the Beat LA shirt on and that kept showing the Philly rally towel to the camera. That was great
Did anybody else see the old school Rick James looking dude that was directly behind home plate for all the games in LA??
Yeah I was laughing about that guy with my friends/family. He was there all 3 games.
Wish I would have noticed the guy with the “Beat LA” shirt. That is great. I heard the first inning of game 5 in the car and LA (Larry Andersen) said he had a friend out there buy a ticket that day for $12. That is ridiculous. You can’t park at a Phillies game for $12.
J Dubbz…The difference between the leagues is precisely why I do not like the DH.
I believe that every player on every team in the league should be playing by the same rules, period. Even if some rules are antiquated or just flat out idiotic, the playing field is level because everyone is playing by those rules.
Let me ask you, would it make sense to have a designated shooter in basketball? What if we had Louis Williams playing only the offensive side of the court for Reggie Evans? They could switch like a mini line change at halfcourt, Lou coming in on the offensive side and Reggie coming in on the defensive side. Of course the designated shooter would be restricted to the western conference. Eastern conference teams like us would only be able to use it when we played an away game against a western conference team. This usage of the designated shooter would naturally be in place for the NBA finals as well. Sure sounds great to me, how about you? Do you see what I’m getting at?
Another thing that bothers me about the DH is that it is a one way position. It’s all gain and no pain. That is not the way sports should work. The game should be played by who you have on the field (or on the court), IMO.
To use my earlier example, in basketball guys have to play both ends of the floor. If you want the scoring that Lou Williams brings, you have to give up the rebounding, defense, and physical play that comes with Reggie, and vice versa. I think this forces guys to become more complete players, GM’s to place a higher value on other skills besides offense, and coaches to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice on one end in order to gain on the other. I believe that all of these things make the game (baseball, basketball, whatever) better.
In addition, I think that only having the DH in one league has led to an imbalance in the game. For the mostpart, I see the 7-8-9 hitters in the AL as better than the 7-8-9 hitters in the NL. As a result, AL pitchers become accustomed to working harder on a regular basis, with positive results for them. (The most recent example of this would be Sabathia. He was struggling a bit earlier this season in the AL but, once he was dealt to the Brewers, he left a trail of scorched earth in his wake throughout the NL.) I think this is one reason for the continued run of success the AL has had against the NL in interleague play, the allstar game, and the world series.
Finally, not having the DH in the National league is also causing a distortion. I am certain that a pitcher who spends his career in the NL will have better stats (WHIP, ERA, etc…) than an equal counterpart in the AL. Think about how many fewer hits and walks an NL pitcher will surrender over his career due to facing opposing pitchers that hit, not to mention the weaker 7 and 8 hitters). Also, think about how many extra strikeouts an NL pitcher can accumulate for the same reason.
I just think that everybody should be playing the same game with the same rules, regardless of where the games are being played. For all the above reasons, I don’t see that being the case with MLB. The way it stands now, I see the DH as an issue that needs to be resolved one way or the other for the sake of the game’s integrity.
Kevin…Good news about Marson. About Moyer, I don’t know. Hamels (games 1 and 5) and Myers (games 2 and 6) will get 2 starts each. That leaves 3 starts (games 3, 4, and 7) between Blanton and Moyer. Blanton didn’t pitch fantastic and Manuel is a stubborn, loyal guy, but I’m really thinking that Blanton will be slated for 2 starts (games 3 and 7) and Moyer will only start game 4.
I really miss baseball…Phillies baseball. I watched some of the ALCS but, even though the eventual winner would be playing the Phils, I couldn’t get all that into it. Well, I was into it when the Rays were bashing the Red Sox brains in, but I didn’t enjoy the Red Sox late push to even it up and force a 7th game.
Fox better quadruple check their routers because I will have a stroke if they have a snafu like TBS did on Saturday night. I flipped away and then back to TBS like 6 times, but the Steve Harvey Show was stil on. I checked on MLB.com and ESPN.com to see if the game was delayed for some reason, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t until yesterday that I found out what had happened. Now, if something were to happen to the audio I’d be fine, but I darn well better the video feed for every pitch.
I’m guessing a world series preview will be appearing shortly, so I’ll talk to you all again soon.
A full week off for one league’s representative at this time of the year due to scheduling and series’ evolvings is absurd.
Should not have happened. MLB needs to address it. If Phils play well out of gate, more credit to them.