Phighting Their Way to a Game One Win

It was a close thing.

In a game that was without a doubt the epitome of a pitcher's duel, the Phillies used a solid starting performance from Cole Hamels as well as a key caught stealing to pull out a 3-2 Game One win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

In doing so, they've stolen the home field advantage for themselves and now can rest a little easier going into Game Two.

Some points:

• Ryan Howard has got to get his act together. It's one thing not to hit and quite another for the other team to walk Chase Utley to get to him. In the AL park the slump can be obscured by the DH, but the moment they get to Philadelphia, the Rays will have a phield field day with the Phillies if there are two automatic outs in the line up...

• While I'm all for mixing and matching pitchers when the situation warrants, I didn't quite get Maddon's almost Spring Training-like approach to the ninth inning. Granted, in the World Series, everyone is available...but I don't know...I think more than anything Maddon illustrated the lack of a solid back end of the bullpen for the Rays

• That caught stealing looms huge now, but Hamels was really, really close to a balk. The city of Philadelphia should be thanking the umpires for that ones.

• Since the strike in 1994, a National League team has won the World Series in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2006--five times in thirteen tries. Of those five wins, only once (the Cardinals in 2006) did the National League team win it in fewer then six games. Conversley, of the eight years an American League team won, only twice did the AL team need more than five games to win the series (the Yankees in 1996 and the Angels in 2002). This might mean nothing, but I found the quirk interesting.

2008 World Series Preview

Think back to April 1, and all the baseball predictions you read.

Could you honestly tell me that you found somewhere that predicted the 2008 World Series would be the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies?

No?

Don't worry, me either.

Still, this is what the end of October holds for us baseball fans, and despite the historical legacies of both teams, this series looks like it'll be a good one.

Both teams are scrappy, feisty--getting the hits and the pitches when they need to, but making you bite your nails the rest of the time. Both teams have an unquestionable hunger--Philadelphia hasn't won a major sports championship since the early 1980s (and the times they've come close, outside of baseball, defeat seems to come at the hands of Tampa, who knew?), and Tampa, to some, still has to prove that the Rays are for real.

So, what to look for? Who will win?

Let's start with pitching.

Philadelphia has an unquestionable ace in Cole Hamels, but outside of that, in Myers, Blanton and Moyer, you're looking at pitchers that can be very...well...hittable. There's no question the pitching staff can get it done, or else they wouldn't be here, but they'll make you sweat for it. In terms of the bullpen, Brad Lidge has a ridiculous saves streak going, but like the rest of the pitching staff, he'll make you sweat before getting the final out.

Tampa's "ace", Scott Kazmir, has not emerged as the number one starter for the Rays in the postseason. Instead, James Shields has emerged as their "big game" starter, and it was Matt Garza that pitched a gem in Game Seven of the ALCS. As for the Rays' bullpen...well, you remember Game Five well enough, right? Tampa has David Price. They shouldn't be shy about using him.


As for hitting...

Philadelphia's hitters have, on the whole, been around longer than Tampa's and are thus more veteran, although this doesn't necesarily imply better. Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard can all hit the ball a mile, but none of them are averse to striking out--especially not Howard. In the NLCS, Shane Victorino emerged as a somewhat unlikely hero, it will be interesting to see if the "Flyin' Hawaiian" can keep the juices flowing in the World Series.

Tampa's gotten to the point it his on the back and long fly balls of BJ Upton and Evan Longoria. Okay, so the others have helped as well, but the amount of home runs that have come off the bat of those two this month is insane, and, I believe, record-setting. Against Philadelphia pitching, with the exception of Cole Hamels, you have to imagine that this could be a powder (power?) keg type of situation.


So, while I will be rooting for the Phillies--I've got at least three friends who are admitted Phillies fans--my prediction, like everyone else's so far, will be the Rays in six.

In which case, we'd better start preparing for the apocalypse.

Tampa Bay Rays: 2008 American League Champions (no, it's not 1 April)

(With apologies to Joel Sherman)

Joe Maddon almost made the same mistake Buck Showalter made in 1995.

Just in the nick of time, as though defusing a bomb right before the counter reached 00:01, Maddon remembered the lesson that he was supposed to have learned last week, and now the Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series.

In 1995, Showalter, you will remember, hadn't realized the talent he had in Mariano Rivera, so when the ALDS was on the line in Game Five, he didn't use Rivera.

In 2008, Maddon almost made the same mistake with David Price.

It took a bases loaded situation in the eighth inning for Maddon to finally realize that Dan Wheeler, JP Howell and Chad Bradford could not get it done, but, as the Rays fans are probably thinking, at least he came to his senses.

Now, the Tampa Bay Rays are headed to their franchise's first World Series.

The ALCS, of course, should have never gotten to a game seven. Had Maddon used Price at perhaps any time in the eighth or ninth inning of game five, the Rays would have likely clinched in Boston.

However, the Rays were lucky--game five was not an elimination game and afforded them a very important lesson: 27 outs in a baseball game and you have to play all of them. There's no clock to run out.

Now, going into the World Series, the Rays know what it's like to choke, and to face elimination, and more importantly, how important to get over it and put it in the past.

Congratulations to them, though Boston shouldn't lose heart--they gritted through it and gave baseball a game five that will enter the pantheon of all-time greats.

There will be a Rays-Phillies Series Preview up sometime before Game One.

Remember, get your entries in for the Monumental Trade Proposal Contest!

Can You Believe What We Just Saw?

All right, before I write this post proper, I need to stress that I'm writing this as a baseball fan, not as a Yankee fan. Don't worry, I hate the Red Sox as much as ever.

***

Part of the reason baseball has the magic it does is because on any given day,anything can happen.

Unlike the other major sports, in baseball, there's no clock to run out.

In football or basketball, you can build an insurmountable lead and then play easy the rest of the way--if you're up, in basketball, by 30 points with two minutes to spare, you're pretty much set.

In baseball, it doesn't quite work that way.

The young Tampa Rays learned it the hard way tonight, building a sizable lead and then treating it as though it was a guaranteed win.

As for the game itself, however, regardless of what happens in the rest of the series, this will easily go down as a classic LCS game.

Last year's postseason was generally void of excitement; this year's has had some incredible games, and now, it looks like, one incredible series.

It's been a while since we've had a classic Postseason game, a game that reminds you why October is so important, but tonight we had one.

Tampa still has a three games to two series lead over Boston, but if Yankees' fans learned anything from 2004, it's that one game can change the feeling of an entire series. If tonight wasn't that type of game, I'm not sure what is...

On the bright side, it looks like Joe Maddon did well switching Kazmir and Shields, and now has his ace on the mound for Game Six.

Pheelin' Phillie Phantastic

Congratulations are due to the Philadelphia Phillies for winning the National League title.

While you can argue all you want on the merits of Joe Torre, the reason the Phillies won is simple enough:

Better starting pitching and the ability to clutch--yes, I still believe clutch exists.

The ALCS has yet to conclude, but one more win from Tampa and we'll be looking at something no one predicted in April--A Rays/ Phillies World Series.

ALCS and NLCS Snapshot Previews

2008 ALCS

RED SOX

Pros: They've been here before, in 2004 and more recently, last year. John Lester looks like a true ace, and any one of their bats is capable of a clutch hit. And then there's that whole Fenway Park think.

Cons: Outside of Lester, their rotation is not unbeatable and their bullpen is not unhittable. The lack of a substantial bridge to Papelbon could be their downfall. And then there's that whole they-don't-have-home-field thing.


RAYS

Pros: Young, but proving that the playoffs are no obstacle. They have home field--and they've been great at Tropicana Field. Evan Longoria and BJ Upton are playing like this is their tenth time in the postseason.

Cons: Inexperienced. Trouble winning on the road. Starting pitching is good, but not unbeatable.


Prediction Rays in Six


2008 NLCS


PHILLIES

Pros: Scrappy, gritty team that never counts itself out. Lots of mashers. Have Jaime Moyer and know how to use him. Same with Cole Hamels.

Cons: Brad Lidge in a tight game that matters. Brett Myers. Not many guys that know how to pitch to Manny.


DODGERS

Pros: Manny Ramirez, Joe Torre. Oh, and that starting pitching staff--Billingsley, Lowe, etc.

Cons: When's the last time they had to play in cold weather? And Joe Torre is managing their Bullpen. And, if you believe in these things, there's the Curse of Don Mattingly.


Prediction: Dodgers in Five

Fearless Playoff Predictions, 2008

Brief LDS previews--I'll do LCS previews at the appropriate times.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Angels over Red Sox

To me it comes down to pitching--the Angels have the better rotation and the better bullpen. I can see this series going five games, because October is funny like that, but the Angels are a better constructed team, and unlike last year, they're not nearly as banged up.

Rays over White Sox.

While Bobby Jenks is the best pitcher in either bullpen, I think Tampa as a whole has a better team. The Sox barely scraped into the playoffs; they have momentum on their side, but let's see how that momentum carries away from the South Side.


NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies over Brewers

I like the Brewers well enough, and Ryan Braun is amazing, but outside of CC, what starters do they have? As much as the Brew Crew might want to, they can't pitch CC every day. The Phillies do have to worry, though, about putting Brad Lidge out there in a close game in the ninth--Albert Pujols still has a resonance.

Cubs over Dodgers

The Cubs are easily the best team in the National League. Whether or not this translates to postseason glory is yet to be seen, but if the Cubs can figure out how to pitch to Manny, they'll walk all over the Dodgers