Not Philly's Best

Contrary to popular opinion, this 2010 Phillies team is not the best we've ever seen. They're not even the best we've seen in the last 2 years. They will be remembered, yes, for the opportunities they wasted, the talent they squandered, the potential they failed to live up to. They will be remembered for their star-studded pitching, which did not let them down this postseason and for their World Series-winning manager, who did.

Once again, for the 2nd-straight year, the Phillies postseason ended short of glory amidst a chain of logic-defying choices by their manager. For the 2nd game in the final 3 of their losing NLCS, Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel made an odd move, out of step with both himself and his team. Before game 5, Manuel had declared Ryan Madson the one pitcher he was wary to use because the day before Madson had been asked to extend beyond his regular 1 inning of relief work. Yet, inexplicably, Madson was relied upon for 2 innings the very next game, the decisive game 6, which ended the Phillies' season. For the last 3 winning seasons, Madson could be counted on to setup in the 8th and Lidge, 12-12 in postseason saves with the Phils, to close the 9th. Suddenly, in an alarming divergence from that proven path, Manuel seem to think he could transform Madson into a workhorse multi-inning reliever, instead of the 1 inning power pitcher he so successfully is.

The obvious and best choice for the 7th would have been Jose Contreras, an assured veteran who had posted 3 shutout innings in the series with 3 S.O. and no walks.

To start the 7th, Madson came on strong, as he had throughout the playoffs and the season, for that matter, since returning from foot injury, which caused him to miss May, June and the 1st week of July.

Madson struck out the 1st 2 batters before allowing a double to 2B Freddy Sanchez. Madson would get out of the inning, but clearly was losing something on his stuff due to having been overworked all week. It was with 2-out in his next inning of work, the 8th, that Madson finally betrayed his ailing arm, which had finally had enough of what Charlie Manuel was dishing out. A 2-out HR to Juan Uribe that only barely got over the right field wall at 346 feet was all the Giants would need against a Phillies team that falls decidedly short of the best we've ever seen.

Yes, the 2010 Phils featured Ryan Howard with his new 125 million dollar contract extension and yes, Hall-of-Fame-to-be pitcher Roy Halladay. True, they added Roy Oswalt on July 30th as a late desperation move to save their season and, yes, it worked. However, gone from the repertoire that made them great in '09 and '08 were any killer-instinct key hits with runners-on-base.

When Ryan Howard stood helplessly watching called strike 3 to end the Phillies season, he instantly became a symbol for his feeble team. This Phillies team, championship Phillies 3.0, was 0-for-everything during their postseason and 0-for-every scoring opportunity after the 1st inning in their final game. So, why not lose it all with 2 runners on and the bat in the most dangerous hitter on the team's hands, watching the pitch sail by and the season come to a close.

The 2008 Phillies would never have let these opportunities slip away without a key hit. 12 runners left on base. TWELVE runners left on base, in a must-win elimination game at home. That is the definition of impotence. Much will rightfully be said about the Giants' timely hitting and their superb situational arms in the NLCS, but that won't begin to tell the tale of a Phillies team, once giants themselves, riddled with helplessness and incapability at the plate.

"If you don't hit, it doesn't matter how good the pitching is," Shane Victorino said after the Phils were shutout in game 3 in S.F. "We scored nothing. I don't know why we're not hitting. We're not going to sit here and worry about why we're not hitting. We're going to think about when we're going to hit."

Unfortunately, for this Phillies team that has slumped at the plate at various times over the last 2 seasons, the bottom of the well may be nowhere in sight.

"Usually when a team gets into a slump, you see one or two players who are still hitting," former GM and team advisor Pat Gillick said earlier this season. "But we've had a number of players who really haven't hit up to what they're capable of."

No kidding.

12 runners left on base in an elimination game at home Saturday night bears repeating.

This team lacked killer-instinct and the will to live.

They had a great starting 3, sure, but so did the Giants, who will send Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand to the World Series to face Cliff Lee. What set the Phillies apart was that they were a shadow of their former selves at the plate, especially when it mattered most. You can't tell me the 2008 team would have flailed about and looked so pitiful with the bat when called upon to be the hero. This team struck out when they should have driven the ball, grounded into double-plays when they used to put one in the gap. It is easy to tell the pretenders from the real thing, and this year's Phillies-- great as they were from the mound and impressive as their 2nd-half run was-- were a shadow of their former selves.

Postseason Phillies team HRs by year:

2008: 19 HRs
2009: 25 HRs
2010: 4 HRs

Postseason Phillies team batting average by year:

2008: .260
2009: .247
2010: .210

Postseason runs scored by 2010 team:

18 earned runs scored in 6 NLCS games. That's an average of 3 earned runs per game.

7 earned runs in 3 NLDS games. That's an average of 2.33 earned runs per game.

When you ponder those staggeringly futile offensive numbers, it's a miracle this year's Phils ended the postseason with a winning record, albeit barely, at 5-4.

Charlie Manuel's managerial moves in losing the NLCS were the equivalent of wild pitches, off the mark and miscued. He has been getting plenty of national attention for all the wrong reasons this week, as the sports world collectively raised eyebrows and wondered, 'What is Charlie thinking?' (Notably, ESPN's featured article: "The mismanagement of Charlie Manuel on 10.21.10.")

However, despite their blemishes, we must love this team for the same reason their opponents feared them coming into this postseason: they were once great. They will endure in our hearts, they will always be our heroes.

The greatest Phillie of all-time, Mike Schmidt, recently said that this team is "a unique group" that has already "surpassed our accomplishments." If they win the NLCS and return to the World Series, he feels this team will "officially be the best team in Phillies history, bar none."

Well, perhaps Schmidty was right and that caveat will haunt this team, like Ryan Howard's called strike 3 Saturday night will haunt him for the rest of his offseason and beyond.

If they win the NLCS and return to the World Series. Well, they fell short. What they did accomplish these last 4 years in winning the division and a World Series, including 6 playoff series wins in 3 years was tremendous. However, now that their season has officially closed, there is no irrefutable case for the 2010 Phillies as the best ever.

In my post on 10.6.10, I wrote:

"It has been said... that this is the best Phillies team ever, although [the] '93 Phillies team won just as many games: 97. When you consider the fact that the 1976 and 1977 Phils won 101 games a-piece, I find that a difficult claim to stake.

However, the argument is there and it's a strong one and their postseason performance may yet prove it true. Although, can it honestly be said that this year's version is definitively better than even the 2008 team? The starting pitching is obviously better, but is the hitting? In potential, perhaps, but not in final season statistics, and this year's bullpen wasn't the stellar cast of '08."

I stand behind my assessment, then, of the 2010 Phillies, a very good ballclub with remarkable starting pitching and stacked with former all-stars that ultimately fell short of its predecessor versions because, contrary to the popular opinion we've been hearing the past couple months, they weren't as good.

I was right when I said, back in February, that the Giants were a NL tower, and I was right again on October 6th when I said this Phillies team wasn't our best. It was exciting to imagine they were, but games aren't won on potential, only on timely hitting and execution when the game is on the line.

On October 13th, after the Phillies offense failed to show up in their series sweep of the Reds, despite the Reds' undeniably putrid pitching, Shane Victorino said: "Who doesn't want to get 10 or 15 hits a game, and put up a lot more runs, but it's about the timeliness of the hits. It's not about how many, but about when."

Leaving 12 runners on base in the game that ended their season Saturday said it all, and Ryan Howard watching called strike three with 2-on in the bottom of the 9th, down a run was the image that aptly summed it up.

Phils Still Breathing

"We did exactly what we had to do." --Charlie Manuel

It was widely reported before Game 5 of the NLCS the Phillies trailed 3-games-to-1 in the best-of-7 series, that in order for the Phillies to avoid being eliminated their Ace, Roy Halladay would have to shine like only he can. In a season where he became the 2nd person in baseball history to throwing 2 no hitters in the same season, Halladay would not achieve highest form on this night, yet-- implausibly against the reigning '08 & '09 Cy Young pitcher, S.F.'s Tim Lincecum-- they would win, nonetheless.

It was Ryan Madson who starred on the mound for the Phils. His 8th inning 3 S.O. against the heart of the Giants' order-- Posey, Burrell and Ross-- was stunning, scene-stealing, magical. It also came on the heels of his manager, Charlie Manuel, revealing before the game that Madson was the only pitcher he was shy to use in game 5 due to his unorthodox 1 2/3 innings (rather than his usual 1 or less) of work the night before.

As the Giants' fans came to their feet, ready for another winning hit from their beloved stars (they have 2 walkoff wins in the series), prepared to cheer their team into the World Series by the end of the night, a Giants highlight reel from the season played on fanovision. Orange pom-poms waved everywhere, engulfing the stadium in Giant mania.

"Don't Stop Believing" pounded from the speakers intended to ignite game-winning performance, which it did, only not from the home team:

"Great song," said Ryan Madson, who struck out the side. "That song pumped me up. When they started playing it, I got chills. It kept me loose. It took my mind off everything. I guess they probably won't do that again."

Madson's cutter was surreal. He threw 13 pitches, 10 for strikes, none of them even close to being hit cleanly.

Brad Lidge's 1-2-3 9th was a sigh of relief and reaffirmed the fact that his command is reliable and has been for months. Lidge is now 12-12 in postseason saves for the Phillies. Speaking after the game about himself and teammate Madson, Lidge sounded resolute:

"We just wanted to get in the game and finish off what he started," Phillies closer Brad Lidge said. "We were fired up. There was no way we were giving up anything tonight."

“The Giants are still in the driver’s seat, but we did a good thing today,” Shane Victorino said. “Our backs are still against the wall, but the atmosphere has been lifted. We have to keep it going.”

"It's about touching home plate as many times as you can." centerfielder Shane Victorino said after the game. "It's going to be loud [in Game 6 on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park]. It's what it's all about. I think the fans will help push us, being down 3-2 [in the series]. We're not going to worry about Game 7. We have to worry about Game 6 first."

Jayson Werth did it again in the field and at the plate. In the 4th, he threw out Cody Ross, who was trying for 3rd Base in a key play that ended in traded fist pumps and fired up roars between Werth and Roy Halladay, who acknowledged his right fielder as he came off the mound. At the top of the 8th, Werth hit a solo shot to right that tied him for the all-time postseason NL HR record at 13 (teammate Chase Utley has 11):

Most Postseason HR
NL History

Jayson Werth	13
Jim Edmonds	13
Chipper Jones	13
Albert Pujols	13

"We just kind of play in the moment," said Jayson Werth, who put his stamp on this game with a lightning-bolt throw from right field and a rare opposite-field AT&T Park homer. "I read somewhere the other day where [Ryan Howard] said his motto is 'no panic.' And I think that's pretty true for our whole team. I mean, we've got a bunch of guys that are professionals and know what they're doing. We needed to win a ballgame tonight. We went out and did it."

Halladay pulled his right groin muscle throwing a pitch to the 1st batter in the bottom of the 2nd inning, it was revealed after the game. Legs are crucial to every pitcher, especially someone like Halladay who derives much power from his ability to push off the rubber. Unable to generate a strong push with his right leg and wary to “finish” his pitches for risk of further injury, Halladay did not have top velocity on his sinker or cutter.

Brad Lidge said, “The guy was pitching on one wheel and he gave us six innings and left with the lead in a game we had to win or else. People won’t realize how great this was because there’s no statistic for it, but we, the guys in this clubhouse, do.”

"You know what? That's him, man," Shane Victorino said. "I don't know what kind of word you can put on him. I don't know if he's a superhero or what. But he's just that hard of a worker and that much of a gamer, and this says how much this means to him, I think. That's just the kind of guy he is."

“I felt like something was off because he wasn’t throwing as hard,” Raul Ibanez said. “He’s just a gamer. He has the heart of a lion. This was as impressive as anything I’ve seen him do. There’s only one Roy Halladay.”

Halladay told team athletic trainers about the injury after the second inning, and they instructed him to ride a stationary bike between innings so the leg wouldn’t tighten up. He never thought of coming out of the game.

“I was going to try to find a way,” Halladay said. “I just hoped that way was going to be good enough and fortunately it was.”

Manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee spoke with Halladay between innings, to make sure he could keep going.

“He was determined to stay in there,” Manuel said. “Once he got to 108 pitches, and once he got us to a place where I felt the bullpen could definitely have a chance of saving him, that’s when we got him out of there.”

"They'd have to kick me out," Halladay said. "I mean, I was going to find a way. You just hope that way is good enough to get you through."

"I'm proud we're still playing," said Halladay, after improvising his way through 6 amazingly effective innings in his team's 4-2 Game 5 win over the Giants. "I think that's first and foremost. I think all of us, at this point, have kind of put our own personal stuff aside, and go out and play as a team and try to accomplish stuff as a team. So I think that's a good feeling. It's a good feeling, as a team, to be able to fly home, knowing we're playing again."

Game 6 is Saturday in Philadelphia.

Durbin Deja Vu

Loyal to a fault, Charlie Manuel is responsible for the Phillies 6-5 walkoff loss to the Giants that now has the Phils in a virtually insurmountable 3-1 hole in the best-of-7 NLCS. He may be one of the Phillies' greatest skippers ever, but he is also human and his Kryptonite is: his faith in certain players overwhelms his logical brain.

In the 2009 postseason, he continued to go with Hamels and Lidge, despite the fact their regular seasons and postseasons were ravaged by respective failure. The result? The Phils lost in 6 in the World Series with Hamels and Lidge going 0-2.

At the crushing crux of Wednesday's game 4 defeat was Charlie Manuel's choice to deploy Chad Durbin to protect a 1-run lead in the 6th. Durbin promptly gift-wrapped victory for his opponent by allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, turning a Phillies' 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit.

Manuel's decision led to the premature use of Ryan Madson before his traditional 8th inning appearance and setup the odd and poorly conceived managerial choice of pitching Roy Oswalt in relief in the 9th, when the game was officially lost.

However, the trouble started when Manuel chose Jose Contreras, who had pitched 2 stellar innings in S.F. the night before, to pitch to the final batter in the 5th. It was obvious to me then, knowing Manuel's history, that he would bring Chad Durbin on the mound to, in his mind, protect the lead and, in actuality, lose the game.

As we watched Contreras trot to the mound, I explained this to the Phils fan with me, who asked: "What's wrong with Durbin?"

"Hold on," I said, "while I get his stats."

Sure enough, as with the Phils' game 1 loss and their game 2 victory, I was right on the money. Too bad in Charlie's eyes Durbin floats in the sky basking in glorious light. Or is it merely Charlie's eyes?

"Durbin has been a very reliable pitcher for the Phils," said Joe Buck, Fox play-by-play announcer, as Durbin entered the game.

The Phila. Daily News Beat Writer wrote a few weeks ago that Durbin was "tremendous" and "can always be counted on."

Even after he failed Wednesday night to likely cost the Phils their season, the Fox commentators were making excuses for him, saying that he hadn't been working regularly and had long breaks between outings in the postseason month of October, which caused his implosion and his forfeiting the lead, which the Phils would never reclaim. How are long breaks any different for him than for every other pitcher called on in relief in the playoffs? Why is Durbin always beyond reproach?

Let's examine some of his actual numbers, since everyone is so quick to assert how golden and reliable he is:

2010
Postseason: 18.00 ERA
Sept.: 6.52 ERA
July: 4.91 ERA
June 4.50 ERA

2009
Postseason: 6.75 ERA
World Series: 27.00 ERA
Aug.: 10.13 ERA
July: 6.75 ERA

I was at the Dodgers Stadium game on 8.13.08 when Durbin's luck ran out. The Phils led the Dodgers in that contest before Durbin came into the game and blew the save. He has never recovered. He posted a 6.94 ERA the following month and has not been reliable since, in over two years.

Consequently, in my post on 10.4.09, I wrote that Manuel relies upon Durbin to fault in close game situations.

On 8.7.09, in my post "Bullpen justice," I wrote:

"Am I the only one who has noticed that Chad Durbin hasn't pitched well enough to be in our bullpen? He had a 6.75 ERA in July and ... hasn't had a streak all year... Durbin has walked 33 in 48 innings... More troubling, Durbin hasn't been reliably effective since July of 2008, over a year ago. In Aug. '08, his ERA was 4.32. In September, it was 6.94.

Yet, in a tie game-- out of habit, perhaps-- Durbin is still the guy Charlie Manuel is most likely to give the ball to. Is that logical?"

On 8.31.09, I wrote:

"Durbin finished August with a 10.13 ERA, after posting a 6.75 ERA in July. There is no upward trend for him, having allowed 4 ER in his last 2 innings of work."

On 11.4.09:

"This was my argument against the Phillies carrying Durbin on their regular season roster. How could they rely on him in an elimination game in the World Series, where, in Game 6, Durbin turned a 1-run deficit into a 4-run closeout game?! It was total insanity, which I forecast...

To put Hamels, Lidge and finally Durbin in a position to self destruct in the World Series was insulting to anyone who had watched them pitch in 2009 and ultimately cost the Phils the title."

For the 2nd year in a row, it appears Charlie Manuel's habitual reliance on his charming middle reliever and Chad Durbin's sorry excuse for 'relief work' will cost the Phillies an abrupt exit to their title hopes.

We will always have 2008 and, who knows, they may win another division next year and make another run. However, barring an unforeseeable miracle, like Phillies' pitching overwhelming the Giants' timely hitting or Philly's hitters finding the pop in their bat-- the entire team has 3 postseason HRs, vs. the 19 they swatted in '08 or the 25 they hit in the '09 playoffs-- the Phillies will begin thinking 'next year' by the end of this week.

Raul Ibanez has made it painfully obvious, both with his underwhelming regular season, as well as his colossally horrific postseason effort that the Phils must make offseason priority #1 signing Scott Boras client Jayson Werth to a big fat paycheck. Platooning Ibanez and rookie Dominic Brown in left may be an option, but an outfield consisting of Ibanez in left and raw, unrefined project player Brown in right is suicidal.

Werth is every bit his name and worth every penny of whatever Boras can bleed out of the Phils. What Werth does at the bat and with the glove are absolutely invaluable to this team. The Phils are kidding themselves to think otherwise. However, I predict they will let him walk. Remember this: In 2008, they made him wait for a starting role in the outfield until late in the season, despite the fact he swatted 3 HRs and collected 8 RBIs in one game on May 16th '08. They were content to bench him for several games immediately following that offensive explosion in favor of right fielder epic disappointment Geoff Jenkins who hit .246 that year with 9 HR and 29 RBIs in 115 games. That year, Werth led the team with a .444 batting average in their 2nd-ever victorious World Series.

Wednesday, it was Werth's RBI double to plate Howard in the 8th that tied the game and his sliding catch and sliding stops in the 9th that extended the Phillies season, albeit temporarily. He took a lot of heat this year for not fairing well with runners-in-scoring-position, but he seems to be right in the middle of so much good the past 3 Octobers that it would be a travesty to see him sign elsewhere because the Phils don't appreciate how irreplaceable a piece of their current reign atop the NL East he truly is.

If the Phils do as they have claimed they will all year and let Werth walk it will be a mistake on par with trading Cliff Lee, who will likely compete against former Phils Aaron Rowand and Pat 'the bat' Burrell in the 2010 World Series beginning October 27th.

In February, I was alone in predicting S.F. would be an elite NL team in search of the title [See my 2.23.10 post.] Today, the world knows how formidable and electrifying an opponent they really are.

Phils Falter, Now Must Win

What was initially championed as a breakthrough, when the Phils slumbering bats finally awakened for 6 runs in game 2 of the NLCS, may come to be seen as a flicker in the fading light of a dynasty.

The Phillies will have 2 more chances in S.F. this week to prove that they deserve a return trip to the World Series, that Fall Classic that this time of year has become their 2nd home.

Ultimately, Cole Hamels could've given up 2 hits, no runs, which he did against the Reds in the NLDS, or he could have surrendered 2,000 hits and 200 runs. At the end of the day, it didn't matter one bit, because the Phillies couldn't muster a single run. More disconcerting than that, as the day wore on, they looked less and less capable of it.

"If you don't hit, it doesn't matter how good the pitching is," Shane Victorino said. "We scored nothing. I don't know why we're not hitting. We're not going to sit here and worry about why we're not hitting. We're going to think about when we're going to hit."

Although their 2-year defending NL title hung in the balance, the Phils failed to capitalize on 26-year-old Matt 'Big Daddy' Cain's mistakes, like hit batsmen and walks. They failed to succeed despite the fact that Cain, one of MLB's best, had never beaten them before. They failed with runners on, they failed when Cain got high in the pitch count and wild from the mound. They even failed against the bullpen, when he was taken out.

It was a demoralizing, deflated, empty effort by the Phillies. Even Hamels, who cannot be blamed for the ongoing offensive outage that has overshadowed this postseason and much of the 2010 regular season, failed to do his job. Hamels had to shine, he had to step-up, had to be what Halladay could not in game 1 against these Giants: a stopper, a dominator, an ace. In short, everything he has been most of this year. Tuesday, as was the case all season, Hamels received no run support. Still, in the season where he posted a career-best 3.06 ERA, Hamels started with a bang and ended with a puzzling 4.50 ERA for the day. He walked 1 while striking out 8, but managed to give up key hits to Edgar Renteria, who came in with no postseason hits, and Aaron Rowand, who batted .230 this season.

It wasn't until Jose Contreras came in and allowed 0 base-runners in 2 innings of relief, making the Giants look as woeful offensively as they are infamous for, that Hamels mediocre outing was put in perspective.

Changing of the Guard?
Meanwhile, the Giants looked as galvanizing as the 2008 Phils. Their fans couldn't have been more energized or appreciative of their beloved team that squeaked into the playoffs in the waning days of the season. Their charismatic players, like Lincecum, Posy, Huff and of course Cody 'Babe Ruth' Ross have brought the city alive to the beat of a team marching victoriously with no end in sight.

“Cody has carried us this whole postseason, to be honest. We've all seen a few good pitches to hit, but he's hitting 'em. He's been amazing.” - Giants' 1B Aubrey Huff on OF Cody Ross, who hit 3 HRs against former Cy Young winners Halladay and Oswalt in the 1st 2 NLCS games.

The Giants, who possess the best pitching in all of baseball, who led the Major Leagues in ERA and BAA this year, have now recorded 6 shutouts this postseason and have the better of the Phillies 2-games-to-1. The Giants are 2 wins away from the World Series, which they have never won since relocating to S.F. from New York.

Wait a minute, hold the presses, you mean the experts who forecast a 2nd Philly parade in 3 years may have been premature? Perhaps they erred when they saw Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell in their crystal ball. Put a cork in the champagne, stop the T-shirt printing, it turns out there's still baseball left to play. Championships aren't made on paper, they're earned by gutsy gamers who 'lock-in' with something to prove, like Cody Ross, who got released by the Marlins less than 2 months ago, Pat Burrell, who was sent packing by the Phils and Rays until the Giants rescued him from the trash heap and Matt Cain, who had never beaten the Phillies in his life. How can the experts' predictions let us down? Ask Pat Burrell and Cody Ross. Ask Raul Ibanez.

Ibanez, the position player with the shortest tenure and least history with the team, ended the game with a feeble double-play ground-out. Ibanez is now 3-for-23, a .130 batting average, with 2 walks & 7 S.O. He is 0 for 11 in this NLCS with 5 strikeouts & 0 for his last 15 at-bats.

When asked what he was thinking during Halladay's Oct. 6th postseason no-hitter, LF Raul Ibanez stated that by the 7th inning, he felt Halladay was going to complete one. "At the same time," he added, "As a player, what you're really thinking is: 'Catch the freakin' ball if it's hit to you.' "

Pat Burrell, who was so often mocked for not being able to catch the ball-- or get to it, for that matter-- in his tenure with the Phils, that his manager made it a routine defensive move late in games to pull him for a replacement in left field, despite Burrell's public disdain for the policy.

On Saturday in Philadelphia, it was Burrell, the former Phils left fielder, who hit a ball to left field that his replacement there, Raul Ibanez, couldn't freakin' catch. Ibanez misread it and got a late start going back on it, then leapt right past it, when he should have glided into it on the ground. The ball dropped between his arms and his legs, sailing right past his torso, allowing Burrell to become a hero against his former team and in front of the fans who once loathed, then adored, now loathe him [Watch play by clicking here].

It was the beginning of the end, both for the Phils, who lost the 1st game of a series for the 1st time during their 2008-2010 World Series run and for Burrell as the butt of left-field fielding jokes at Citizens Bank Park. When the smoke cleared, it was Burrell and fellow newbie Giant Cody Ross, who were smiling. Burrell, now hitting .364 with 2 2b, 1 HR and 4 RBIs and Ross, .348, 4 HR, 7 RBI & a .913 SLG, 2 mid-season castoffs salvaged by the Giants, are besting the Phillie superstars at the plate. Ross has more postseason HRs than the entire Phillies team.

Roy Oswalt took the mound Sunday, following his 5-inning, 4-run clobbering by the Reds in game 2 of the NLDS. Oswalt sought the kind of redemption once reserved for Cole Hamels in reference to his 2009 postseason. The whole team would do well to take a page from his book, now. They must take the attitude that they have something left to prove. Being entitled to a title won't get you one.

The Giants are hungry. They've made it perfectly clear that they will not make 1,000 unforced errors, like the Reds did to sweep themselves out of the NLDS. The Giants will not be overtaken by the Phillies' auroa, despite the fact that the sports world at-large claimed the Phils' opponents might as well throw in the towel and form a bridge for the Phils to cross, that the remaining playoff teams ought to collectively serenade the great Phillies team for its historic superiority. This Giants team defies the notion that these games are a formality to forgone conclusion. Contrarily, it uses the best pitching in the majors, as well as timely hitting by scrappy, unsung players, castoff and then collected here, to mount enthusiasm into momentum, like those homegrown 2008 Phillies of the pre-Halladay, Ibanez, Lee and Oswalt era.

The Phillies can still play to their potential and win this series. They can do it by playing small ball, by seeking walks and singles, opportune stolen bases and hit by pitches, which is how they beat Sanchez in game 2. It doesn't matter how few runs they surrender, the Phillies will still need to score. If they can't rely on the long ball, their once choice weapon, they will need to use their heads, their legs and their hearts, all of which have been MIA much of this season and postseason.

Halladay, like every great competitor, like Roy Oswalt did with his outstanding game 2 win, will take his game 1 loss and improve upon his mistakes in game 5 Thursday. Meanwhile, Wednesday, it will be Joe Blanton vs. Madison Bumgarner in the fight of the Phillies life. Lose, and all but guarantee a long offseason of what-ifs, finishing one step from the World Series. Win and even the series at 2, guarantee a trip home for games 6 and 7 (if needed) in front of the Philly crowd, that intangible 'X' factor, in the ballpark where the Phils have gone 15-4 the past 3 postseasons (7-0 in '08, 5-3 in '09 and 3-1 thus far in '10).

3B Placido Polanco embodies his team. He is a patient veteran hitter and superb fielder, like so many of his peers. In 2006, he was the ALCS MVP. However, he's playing hurt, and it's getting harder to ignore. 'Polly' is scheduled for offseason surgery to repair his elbow and is now 3-for-20 with no walks for a .150 batting/on-base ave. this playoffs, despite a 13-year career batting average of .303. Polanco hit .341 in '07. That year, the Phils led the NL in runs scored, RBI, OBP and SLG.

This year's version? Not so much. The 2010 Phils were overall 7th in runs scored, 12th in batting average, 11th in OBP and 12th in SLG. This version is a pitching team, and they're proving it daily. In this series, they are now 2-17 with RISP (runners-in-scoring-position). If they can't prove they can still hit-- and fast, like Wednesday's Game 4, against the best pitching team in the majors, no less-- they are going to find themselves wondering if age has caught up with them and if the glory days are now behind.

Phillies Seek Bats to Slay Giants

"The Phillies are the best national league team we've seen in decades," said ESPN's Aaron Boone.

At 52-15 since 7/21 and 30-8 in their last 38 games, they're making a strong case for Boone's sanity.

The Phillies have to be happy with their performance in the NLDS -- and so must their 3 remaining playoff peers. The Phils starting pitchers, Halladay and Hamels ("H2") proved MVP of the series. However, the 7 earned runs the Phillies tallied accumulatively in the 3 games must look good if you're an opposing pitching staff, such as the Yankees' future Hall-of-Famers Sabathia and Pettite or the Giants dynamic trio of Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez.

When the Phillies' bats disappear, as they did in this year's NLDS, they do it the same way they show up: spectacularly and with gusto.

In game 1, the Phils scored 4 earned runs. In game 2, they mustered only 2 and in the closeout game 3 they posted a paltry 1. That's an average of 2.33 earned runs per game against the weakest starting rotation in the playoffs this year.

The hitters will have to do better to win a World Series title in 2010. The injured Jimmy Rollins and Placido Polanco were a combined 2-20 (.100 Ave.) Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino are 5-25 (.200) and the team combined for only 1 HR, a solo shot by Utley, in the 3 games. The team NLDS batting average was .212.

There is no doubt about it, the bats are going to have to get hot-- and they're going to have to do it against the best pitching team in baseball, whose 3.36 ERA and .236 BAA both ranked 1st.


"Going forward . . . it would be nice if we start hitting the ball more consistent," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We've got the talent to be an offensive team, which we've been for the last 4 or 5 years," Manuel said. "This definitely has been a down year, and the numbers kind of speak for it. But at the same time, we're very capable in games of busting games open and putting up more offense. I expect us to score more runs."

"Who doesn't want to get 10 or 15 hits a game, and put up a lot more runs, but it's about the timeliness of the hits," Victorino said. "It's not about how many, but about when."

Manuel: "Do I want us to score some more runs? Of course. And we're definitely very capable of it. I'm always positive. When we start [hitting], somebody is in trouble. That's how I look at it. We're going to start sooner or later and when we start getting 'em, we'll take care of things."

Ibanez: "The name of the game is scoring runs and finding a way to get it done... the character in the clubhouse, you know you've got a bunch of guys, I always say it's 25 gamers. And that's what it is. You've got 25 guys in there that are determined to be successful and determined to win and when you have that collective effort that everybody is going to do everything they can, everything in their power to make that happen, a lot of good things can happen."

Roy Halladay has said that he isn't enjoying waiting a week between starts. Welcome to the postseason. After his 1st-ever postseason start resulted in the 2nd-ever postseason no-hitter, Halladay is not only the talk-of-the-town, but of the sports world at-large. Ever the professional, a spokesman for his sport, Halladay credited catcher Carlos Ruiz for his own achievement. In post-game comments, he credited Ruiz more than himself and offered a team-unifying embrace:

"You want to share things like this with family and friends," Halladay said. "My family's here, and I feel like my friends are on the team. So it makes it special for me."

Tim Lincecum, the 26 year-old reigning '08 and '09 Cy Young champ awaits Halladay in a high noon on the mound. Lincecum, known for his dazzling pitching exploits and pot posession bust is called "The Freak" by adoring S.F. fans. He has twice as many Cy Young Awards and has equal division trophies as Halladay and is 7 years his junior. You'd think his back-to-back crown as baseball's best would be enough for Lincecum's confidence. However, when he struggled mightily and uncharacteristically in August, he developed a new pitch for the fall, an unhittable slider, and managed to strike out 14 Braves with it in his postseason debut in game 1 of the NLDS. The baseball world is salivating in preparation for the Halladay-Lincecum square-off Saturday in what is being billed as one of the best matchups in playoff baseball history. Lincecum is 6-1 since August and has struck out 66 while walking only 9.

Pat Burrell hopes to give this intimate wave "hello" to the Phillies' front office, who tried to send him packing when he played for them, which he blocked with his no-trade clause, before they were finally rid of him after he accomplished his mission with the '08 World Series Title. 18 home runs in 289 at-bats later, Pat Burrell has been a soaring success this season as a S.F. Giant, where he plays alongside his college pal Aubrey Huff, the Giants' star First Baseman. Most people are laughing the Giants off, expecting this to go 5, maybe 6 games. A molehill for the ascending Phillies. In fact, ESPN reports that 72% of the 117,000 polled say the Phils will win easy. It should be no surprise to readers that I have higher regard for the Giants than most. In my post,

"Phillies Eye 3rd Straight World Series" (2/23/10), I forecast the Giants would win their division and compete for the NL title. I was alone then, but here they are, 1 of 2 remaining in their league.

Meanwhile, Cliff Lee hopes to come back on the Phils like a bad burrito if he can beat the Yankees like it was 2009, when he went undefeated against them in the World Series as the lone competent starter for the losing Phils. This year, of course, the Phils have 3 starters who are fairly competent, by all accounts. Lee set a baseball record by striking-out 21 and walking nobody in the NLDS this year. In the clinching game, he threw 120 pitches for a 9-inning clincher and 90 of his pitches were strikes. Lee now has 29 S.O. and 0 walks in his last 3 starts. With their awesome starting staff and the impressive hitting display in their NLDS upset of the Rays, the Rangers are poised to disturb the now expected rematch between the Yanks and Phils (sorry Kruker) in this year's World Series.

"We know what it feels like to be on both sides, of winning a World Series and losing a World Series. So right now, everybody in here is pretty determined and pretty focused.” --Ryan Howard

The greatest Phillie of all-time, Mike Schmidt, said this team is "a unique group" that has already "surpassed our accomplishments." If they win the NLCS and return to the World Series, he feels this team will "officially be the best team in Phillies history, bar none."

Road to Glory Begins

It's October, that means title season for the Phillies. They won 97 games and their 4th-straight division title. Now, they seek their 3rd-straight National League Championship.

Future Hall-of-Famer Roy Halladay had never pitched in a playoff game. He had never stood on that stage. His new teammates Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt had done it and had shined there. Would he? Not only did he shine on the big stage, he stole it. Against the team that led the NL in hits, runs, HRs and RBIs, Roy "Doc" Halladay, "Doctober" as one fan's sign read, allowed only a single walk in 9 innings.

"It's surreal, it really is," Halladay said. "I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it's a dream come true."

Joey Votto, the Reds' 1st Baseman and likely NL MVP, said it best: "We never envisioned that. I don't think anything we did would have mattered... It's no fun out there. It's like trying to hit nothing. He's an ace among aces."

It was the 2nd time a pitcher has thrown a no-hitter in the playoffs in baseball's long and storied history.

Most pitchers rely on 1, maybe 2 truly effective pitches. Halladay throws a sinker, cutter, curveball and changeup.

"You go back and you see pitches guys were throwing 50 years ago and they might have the old fastball and maybe something else, maybe a curveball," Phillies closer Brad Lidge said, "But I think 50 years from now, people are going to look back and say, 'Roy had everything then that we have now.'"

Teammate Cole Hamels was asked if Doc's stuff was better in game 1 of the NLDS than it had been during his regular season perfect game on May 29th of this year:

"Way better," Cole Hamels said. "Way better."

Halladay became the 5th pitcher in history to have 2 no-hitters in 1 season and the 1st to record one in each the regular and the post-season:

Year	Pitcher	Team	Dates
2010	Roy Halladay	PHI	5/29, 10/6
1973	Nolan Ryan	CAL	5/15, 7/15
1952	Virgil Trucks	DET	5/15, 8/25
1951	Allie Reynolds	NYY	7/12, 9/28
1938	J. Vander Meer	CIN	6/11, 6/15

I was asked many times throughout the season if this Phillies team would make the playoffs, let alone make another run for the title. It was touch-and-go there for a while this summer. There were times that it seemed the only title they were destined for was "has-been." "Has been" a great team, "once-promising," "former champs." The bats looked limp and the team couldn't beat the bad teams, getting whipped by the dregs, like Washington, Pittsburgh and Houston.

"To be in the category of being the greatest, the best, you have to prove it. You can't have the team that woulda, shoulda, coulda. A lot of people can talk about how great a team was, but if you don't have anything to show for it, then it's really hard to convince people." -- Cole Hamels.

On week 2 of the season, at 5-1, they were considered to be a top-MLB team. It took them the rest of the season to reclaim that reputation. They spent most of the season ranked 15th in the league. By the 2nd to last week of the season, they had re-claimed #1 ranking in baseball.

How did they do it? The same way they will win in the postseason, the same way all teams win championships: pitching. The Phillies had a MLB-best 1.25 WHIP this season.

Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, known as "H2O" in Philly, were a combined 21-7 with a 2.33 ERA in their starts since Oswalt's Philly debut on July 30th. The Phils won 25 of those 32 games. Oswalt has the NL's lowest ERA since Aug. 1 at 1.41. Amazingly, the Phils will be able to start Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels in 17 of a potential 19 postseason games. They also hold home-field advantage throughout the postseason. That's a huge boost for a team that has sold-out 124-straight games.

The Phils will leap over the Reds. It's fitting that this is the hurdle they should jump 1st in this historic postseason, because it was the "Big Red Machine," the 1975-76 Reds who were the last NL team to play in 2-straight World Series until the Phils did it in 2008 and 2009. So, the Phils start by battling history before etching their names in their own unique glory. "The Big 3" of Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels are trying to lead the Phillies to their 3rd-straight appearance in the Fall Classic. That was last accomplished by a National League team when the St. Louis Cardinals did it from 1942-44, 76 years ago. [More on this: link.]

I got a call of concern from a fellow Phils fan leading up to the Phils NLDS 1st round playoff series: "Should I worry?" We're Philly fans, "worry" is our nature-- and our teams make sure it stays that way. None-the-less, the Reds feature the postseason's worst starting rotation, while the Phillies boast the best. The Reds have out-hit the Phillies this year and have NL MVP likely Joey Votto leading their club. However, the Phillies are hotter and have more veterans who know how to get good at-bats.

One of their most patient hitters is Jayson Werth. For 2 seasons, Werth has led the league in pitches-per-at-bat. He also led baseball with 85 2-strike hits this year. So, it should have come as no surprise on September 19th, in the bottom of the 9th, trailing by 1, when his at-bat featured 8 pitches: Ball, Ball, Strike (foul), Ball, Strike (foul), Foul, Foul, before he hit a walk-off home run over the center field wall to cap a 4-run bottom of the 9th breathtaking comeback before a delighted home crowd. "It seemed like some people left there [at the end of the 8th]," Werth said after the game. "I don't know why you're leaving."

The Phils won 15-out-of-16 and 23 of that 27 game stretch, including 11-straight.

However, what looked like the best Phillies' lineup ever assembled on Opening Day, turned in several "F" for effort games this year. In one startling stretch at the end of May, they were shutout 5 out of 6 games by underwhelming pitchers like Anibal Sanchez & Hisanori Takahashi.

My February predictions were a beacon of light to me this season, showing me the path of this team's greatness.

On Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010, in my post: Phillies Eye 3rd Straight World Series,
I wrote, "These are the great years to be a Phillies' fan, the years that make up for so much heartache, for so many low points we and our fathers and their fathers suffered through for 100 + years of predominate futility."

I noted then that Werth's contract year and Hamels' pivotal and defining season, as well as potential injury to core players (only 16 games this season, their starters were healthy and played together) were some of the key stories of the season ahead. I defined the NL as a 4-team race, ruling out the Dodgers, which shocked many people. Even more uniquely keen was my belief in the S.F. Giants, which was an anomalous, yet accurate prediction. Everyone said that the Giants didn't have the hitting, but I knew their pitching would pave the way, and it did ultimately win out.

I also predicted Roy Halladay would turn in a Cy Young season, but that shouldn't have surprised anyone.

However, when the Phils had completed 2/3 of the season and had lost almost as many games as they'd won, they found themselves trailing the Braves by 7 games for 1st place. I got calls from embittered fans, throwbacks to the old regime of hometown loser Phillies, the team that can lose like nobody else, historically, epically, setting the standard and losing more times than any sports team in any sport in human civilization: over 10,000 losses, to be truthful.

"I keep thinking about the fact that you said, 'They can't possibly lose the division this year. You said that, and now look at them. Your words keep ringing in my ears!!" snarled one angry caller. Well, rest assured, I was right.

It has been said, 1st by Phillies' TV play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy, then by former Phillies all-star turned ESPN commentator John Kruk, that this is the best Phillies team ever, although his '93 Phillies team won just as many games: 97.

When you consider the fact that the 1976 and 1977 Phils won 101 games a-piece, I find that a difficult claim to stake. However, the argument is there and it's a strong one and their postseason performance may yet prove it true. Although, can it honestly be said that this year's version is definitively better than even the 2008 team? The starting pitching is obviously better, but is the hitting? In potential, perhaps, but not in final season statistics, and this year's bullpen wasn't the stellar cast of '08.

Before Madson-Lidge come to the mound in the 8th and 9th innings, if needed, the middle relief is slim pickings for manager Charlie Manuel. Lucky for him, the starting pitching led baseball with 14 complete games (Roy Halladay led baseball with 9). The Reds starters, in contrast, mustered merely 4.

18 of 27 ESPN experts went on record today as saying the Phillies will win the World Series. Undeniably, they have all of the pieces in place, from starting rotation to timely veteran hitting to backend bullpen relief in Madson-Lidge, who've returned to former greatness as if by magic, to make it happen. Madson has a 1.04 ERA since July 31 and Brad Lidge an 0.73 ERA since Aug. 1.

For the 3rd year in a row, the Phillies trip to the World Series appears headed through California. This time, they'll likely travel up North to San Fransisco. The Giants' big three (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez) are a combined 12-3, 2.13 in Sept., comparable to the Phils' Big 3: 13-1, 2.16.

Phils fans will enjoy jeering and booing former Phil Scott Rolen (7-time Gold Glove 3B) while battling the Reds, but they'll likely cheer former fan-favorite Pat Burrell if not Aaron Rowand, now Giant outfielders. Burrell energized the Giants in a late-season acquisition, and Philly fans may be kidding themselves to look past the Giants as a formidable opponent.

What's clear is that the Phillies are, right now, the hottest team in baseball. They are the defending NL champs 2 years running and the AL's Yankees, Twins and Rays all limped to the finish line.

The Phils went 49-19 in their final 68 games. They were 21-5 on the road in their last 26 road games, winning 9 straight series. They played 10 series and 29 games in their last 68 against teams that were .500 or better. They won all 10 series and went 24-5.

The Phillies winning percentage against the qualifying playoff teams is better than any of those teams have fared against their postseason brethren. The Phils were 21-15 against the Braves, Reds, Giants, Yankees and Twins this year. They were 4-0 against the Reds. They may not need that many games this time around.

Jayson Werth led the Phils to their 2nd-ever World Series title by hitting a team-best .444 in the World Series in '08.

In the Phillies' 45-17 stretch from July 22 to the clincher this season, Werth hit .314 with 13 homers, 33 RBI and 50 runs scored.

In the 11-2 stretch to the clincher, he hit .354 with 6 homers, 17 RBI, scored 14 runs and gathered 9 walks.

Utley hit 5 HRs against the Yankees in 2009's World Series, tying a MLB record. He has hit 7 HRs in 39 ABs (1/ 5.6 ABs) from '08-'09.

Shane Victorino is .367 lifetime in the postseason and has more playoff RBIs than any Phillie, ever (24 in 33 games and counting).

Then there's Ryan Howard, who needs no introduction. And Carlos Ruiz, the oft-overlooked team hero, who led the team with a .302 batting average this year. 'Chooch' hit .375 in the '08 World Series the Phils won and .333 in the '09 World Series against the Yankees.

"No question there is a lot of talent in this clubhouse," veteran outfielder Raul Ibanez said. "But I think it's more about the mind-set and the belief that we're going to get the job done. There is a confidence, but nothing anywhere near arrogance, we will win, and that's what makes this the best team I've ever been on."