Controversial draws opinions all over the map.  Petey Martin is one cotroversial cat.  General consensus tonight as was in LA, and Game 2 here is the 6 inning expectation.  That’s Charlie’s call, but I don’t see it.  My clearest vision of tonight is that the Phils will lead this game toward the end of the Pedro-Pettite portion of the script.  Whether that’s  the end result, who knows.  But I have no doubt he pitches well, and could go deeper in the game than popular opinion anticipates should Charlie choose to use him so.  Pedro is re-stretched if you will, as he was when he pitch in late August.  The layoff after the pinched neck nerve created a second spring training, but after 2 solid playoff starts, and this being his last game of the year, he could go deep.  Course there’s dep and Grady Little deep, but time will tell on that.

I find a large degree of entertainment value in predictions and respect given them.  Many predictors do as well, mandated to do so by editors and program directors that perhaps rightfully think they sell papers and draw audience.  However, a  couple have stuck with me since Series start.  David Cone told Steve Serby in the NYPost that this was the best NL squad in years, and said he thought it could go 7 with Mo the difference.  Larry Bowa said he’d be shocked if it didn’t go seven, and gave a slight edge to the Yanks based on Mo.

One still has to respect Rivera’s presence.  Images of hope from the other night when the Phils had him on the hook may have created a false illusion.   The bottom line was the Phils did not score.  He’s no Lidge when it comes to creating drama, but its not abnormal for him to tease like that.  His one exceptional skill is when he has to, he locks you up more than any reliever in history.

One thing that would help neutralize him, other than hitting him, of course, is to stretch him tonight and somehow win the game and make tomorrow harder.  He doesn’t scare me, but he has my attention and respect.

It’s stuck with me for close to a year now, but a comment on a NYPost message board close to a year ago pissed me off calling the Flukies a 1 year wonder.   The Phils were a terrific club last year as evidenced by their win, and terrific this year.  That said, they did get some looks from the baseball gods last year, drawing the Brewers  with CC on 3 days rest 3-4 times up to the LDS.  They avoided the Cubs, best in the League during the year, drew the Rays, maybe not as good as the Red Sox.  This year, the Rox were missing a 16 game winner, the weather coperated taking Pedro out of a wintry start, and enabling a more logical choice of J Happ, and the Cardinals, certainly a decent club with 2 Cy Young candidates were avoided as the Phils faced an aceless LA club. That history revisited leads to this.  If we win tonight, the forecast is not good for tomorrow night.  Charlie not pitching Cliff on short rest in Game 4 made sense to me because even then, we trailed 2-1, it wasn’t manage to squelch and kill, but manage a long series.  Cliff would still have had to go on short rest in Game 7, and doing it twice might have been asking a lot.  But if the game is called tomorrow, and Cliff is asked to do it once on short rest, that’d be a whole different game, and convince me that either Harry Kalas is watching over this, or the baseball gods are Phillies fans giving them karma 2 years in a row.

Go get em Pedro.

Moron.

 I believe we’re okay on that front.  I’d hate giving up 2 automatic outs with Ryan continuing to slump and Shane unable to swing, but we had some real good swings tonight. 

Pettitte is all heart, all the time.  But I really think we’re gonna have a lead Wednesday night, and suspect the short rest effects him.  The Phils starter is a washed up injury prone guy who couldn’t get a job until July.  All I keep hearing is he doesn’t have the stuff he did 5 years ago and he keeps pitching well.  In stretches, he will pitch the game of his life.  And that has been some life.  Petey Martin.  Let’s get it on.

“The one downside of that not issuing a walk is that on a 3-1 pitch, Ryan Madson properly throwing a fastball for a strike and making Posada hit to get on, and Jorge does.”

Tim McCarver, word smith and scholar