Phillies-Dodgers NLCS Preview

The Phillies are riding high after scoring 3 in the 9th Monday to beat premiere closer Huston Street and eliminate the impressive Rockies 3 games-to-1.

The series was a great and memorable battle and so was the final game. Scott Eyre called it his favorite game ever.

"I'd rank this one at No. 2," differed shortstop Jimmy Rollins, but not without good reason. "Because World Series Game 5, that was No. 1 for me."

Rollins talked about the specialness of this team:

“We will never give up. We never think the game is over. It’s a team of stars, but not as in I’m better than you and will take your place. It’s as in, if you do your job, I’ll do my job. We put it all together, we do it together. It’s not about me and it’s not about them. That’s the good thing—egos are put aside. There are no egos in the way of what we do and we all understand that. That’s a testament to drafting and the guys coming up together. We don’t go out and get a whole bunch of superstars and drop them in and say, ‘Here, go do it.’ We actually like each other. We know each other so I think that’s what goes on in the clubhouse.”

The Phils are only the 3rd NL team since 1922 to win a post-season series after winning the World Series the year before.

Still, winning the NLCS in 2009 appears to be a giant hurdle for them. After all, this is the mighty and favored Dodgers, the team with the NL's best record in 2009. How could the Phillies hope to beat them, right? These Dodgers just swept highly regarded St. Louis-- swept them!

To accurately assess the Phillies chances, one must hearken back to 2008, when the Dodgers were everybody's pick to go to the World Series at the start of the playoffs. L.A. began true to form in round 1 by sweeping the Cubs, who had the best record in the NL. The Phillies should have been shaking in their cleats if they believed the nations sports journalists. How could they beat Manny and co.? Well, while Manny (then steroid-fueled but yet undetected) got his licks, the Phils trounced his team 4-games-to-1 to shock the world. The only people who weren't surprised were the Phillies themselves, who never stop seeing themselves as winners.

"I always thought we could win the World Series," said Charlie Manuel moments after the Phillies did just that. I know it really happened, because I was there. "I knew we could beat anybody in our league. And when I look and I see my guys, I see our chemistry and our attitude and our makeup and how much we like to play and how much the Philadelphia fans back us, I knew we could win the World Series." Manuel hoisted the trophy in front of us, the home crowd: "Hold on, this is for Philadelphia, this is for our fans. And listen around here, who's the World Champions?!" and we replied with raucous cheers.

The Phillies organization had 1 winning season from 1918 to 1948. The current Phillies team won their division in 2009 for the 3rd year in a row, something only 1 other Phillies team had ever done. If they win the NL East next year, they will be the 1st Phils team to do it and possibly then the indisputably best Phillies team of all time. As it is, they make a very valid argument in that regard.

"We don’t play this game to walk away in October and say, ‘Well, it was a great season. See ya in spring training.’ We have something to prove on this team. We want to be known as winners. We want that legacy. We want to be known the way everyone knows New York and Boston." -- Jimmy Rollins, 10.12.09

In 1977 and 1978 the Phillies and Dodgers battled for the NL crown and a trip to the World Series. In 2008 and 2009 they're at it again. The Dodgers won 'em back-to-back in the '70's before Schmidt and co. took it all in 1980.

The Phils whipped the favored Dodgers in 2008 in a thrifty 5 games and the Dodgers and their fans will be out for bloody revenge this time around. Last year's postseason bench clearer between the 2 teams (I was there) was a preview of what we can expect when the rematch begins Thursday. That won't heat up these cool Phillies, though. They will go about their business like professionals and hit the Dodgers where it counts-- on the field, with the long ball, hopefully early in the series and often, throughout. The Phils hit just 3 HRs against the Rockies in round 1 of the playoffs, but in the 4 games they hit .296 as a team and posted 20 runs, an average of 5 runs per game, showing they can play situational offense and 'small ball' with the best of them.

"We never use the word 'repeat,' because you get caught up in the fact that it should happen the same way. You think it just should happen, right? Noooooo. You have to make it happen. Every pitch, every at-bat, you have to find a way." -- Rollins, 10.12.09

The Dodgers are 45-38 since July 1st, the Phillies are 54-33. The Phils are a MLB-best 50-33 on the road in '09. The Dodgers will have home field advantage in their NLCS series, but ask the Rockies-- who couldn't beat the Phils once in Colorado in round 1-- if that is a decisive blow against this resolute Phillies team.

ESPN commentators said Tuesday that Hamels had a bad finish to the year. They didn't do their homework. Hamels entire season was inconsistent and filled with disappointment. Contrarily, his finish was extremely promising. In September, Hamels went 3-2 with a 3.32 ERA. It was easily his best month of 2009. He also recorded a season-high 40 S.O. (to 8 walks). That is a key stat for Hamels, a strikeout pitcher. His June 4th 9-inning gem against the Dodgers proves that he can emerge the dominant pitcher of a year ago in Game 1 in L.A. on Thursday.

In two career regular-season starts in L.A., he has allowed only 2 runs in 16 innings. Last NLCS, he surrendered 1 run in 7 innings in the Phillies' closeout 5-1 win in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium.

"If you strive to be the best in the league, the success will be there, and that's one thing I can say about our club." --Charlie Manuel, 10.12.09

DODGER KILLER... ?

Utley vs. Dodgers: .304 career ave., which was .338 before 2009, when his average mysteriously plummeted to .154 against L.A.

Did the Dodgers get Utley's number or is he poised to repeat last year's postseason magic against them? In the 2008 NLCS, Utley reached base 12 times in 23 at-bats against the Dodgers (a .522 OBP).

SEASON SERIES

Charlie Manuel selected Joe Torre as his NL Assistant Manager for this year's All-Star game, so there's plenty of admiration there. The Dodgers nipped the Phils in the season series 4-games-to-3. However, in their most recent meeting in L.A. in June, the Phils nearly swept:

1) Phils won game 1 on June 4th, 3-0 behind an invincible Cole Hamels. Hamels threw his best game of 2009 that night. I was there. It was total dominance. Hamels went 9-full innings, allowing 5 hits, no walks and no runs. He finished the Dodgers in a thrifty 97 pitches. Manuel hopes he'll do it again when he starts Game 1 of the NLCS Thursday night. I'll be there again.

2) June 5th, they lost 4-3 when Brad Lidge blew a 9th-inning save, his 5th en route to a MLB-high 11 on the season. The Dodger starter in that game was none other than former Phil Eric Milton.

3) June 6th, they lost 3-2 in 12 innings on another 9th-inning blown save by Lidge.

4) On June 7th, the Phils didn't give Lidge room to implode, they pounded former Phil Randy Wolf and the Dodgers, 7-2. Ruiz, Victorino and Howard all homered. I was there. It was all fun for Phils fans.

DOUBLE AGENTS

Phillies legend Larry Bowa will bring former Phillies' All-Stars LHP Randy Wolf and RHP Vicente Padilla against the Phils in this series. How weird is that? Maybe Bowa will steal some signs for us, but don't count on it from the fiercest of competitors that he is. Former Phillie Jim Thome now plays for the Dodgers and Dodger manager Joe Torre's older brother played for them in '62.

The Phils boast an astounding number of Southern Californians on their roster: Utley and Victorino were originally Dodger draft picks. Dobbs, Hamels, Eyre, Madson, even newcomer Ben Fransisco (from Long Beach, like Utley) and lauded 3rd base coach Davey Lopes (a famed Dodger player in his time) hail from SoCal. Jimmy Rollins is from Oakland, CA and Lidge was born in Sacramento, CA. Chan Ho Park lived his glory days in L.A., where he was a Dodger pitcher. All-Star right-fielder Jayson Werth was an oft-injured Dodger from 2004-05 before joining the Phils, where he has found a home:

"To land here in Philadelphia with my teammates and the guys that I got who play with me everyday, I can't say enough about those guys, and I can't really see myself anywhere else other than Philly," said Werth after his game-winning 9th-inning RBI single Monday.