Philly Sports Today

Pandemonium. That’s probably the best word to describe the city of Philadelphia during its parade to honor the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The entire parade route–from 20th and Market Streets all the way down to the Sports Complex at Broad and Pattison–was jam-packed with wall-to-wall people. Early estimates are 2 million people. It was totally nuts the entire time, including on the bus and subway heading down to South Philly. SEPTA clearly was not ready to handle the flood of people that swarmed the city early this morning.

Pat Burrell led the parade on a Budweiser beer wagon pulled by Clydesdales with his wife and bulldog also on board. The rest of the team was split up on either double-decker tour buses or long, flatbed trucks. The parade took almost twice as long as they originally expected and fans flooded the street as the cars made their way to the stadium. Once they made it down to the stadium complex, the team did a victory lap at Lincoln Financial Field and Shane Victorino, Jamie Moyer, and Charlie Manuel gave brief speeches. In my opinion, it was clearly not worth being at the Linc during the parade.

I was one of the lucky few who was inside Citizens Bank Park for the celebration. It was absolutely incredible. They raised the 2008 World Series flag. They introduced every member of the team, including guys in the front office and random coaches and the like that nobody even cared about. It was still fun though. Everyone initially came out and took a victory lap in a convertible. Then there were tons of speeches by Pat Gillick, Charlie Manuel, Mayor Michael Nutter, Harry Kalas, and pretty much every important player. Chase Utley gave the best speech hands down. Utley started it off by saying, “World Champions. World f-ckin’ Champions!” The Bank exploded and the players thought it was hilarious. It was awesome. Jimmy Rollins poked some fun at the fans booing the Phils at times during the season and also took some shots at the Mets. That was pretty cool as well. Finally, the team took a victory lap around the field, with Shane Victorino carrying the trophy, as confetti rained down from the sky and fireworks were set off. It was such a fun day and an unforgettable experience. I never thought I’d see the Phillies win the World Series, but now that I’ve seen it, it is truly fantastic.

In the words of Cole Hamels, “One thing I can’t wait to do is go down Broad Street for that parade again and again and again.” We can’t wait for it either, Cole.

Go Phillies.

After nearly 50 hours, Game 5 ended just the way it was supposed to on Monday night–with the Philadelphia Phillies as World Series Champions. I cannot even put into words how excited I am. I never thought that I would see a Philadelphia team win a championship. Now that I have, I don’t know what to do with myself. Well, except go to the parade tomorrow with 3 million of my closest friends.

Game 5 was an exciting 3 1/2 inning sprint as opposed to a typical 9 inning marathon. With the score locked up at 2-2, Joe Maddon started the game by leaving reliever Grant Balfour on the mound to start the “game.” A total bonehead move in my estimation when you have stud lefty starter David Price sitting in the bullpen. Geoff Jenkins led off the bottom of the sixth with a pinch hit double that missed going out by only a few feet. Jimmy Rollins sacrificed Jenkins to third and Jayson Werth hit a bloop single to shallow center that was dropped by Akinori Iwamura to brink Jenkins home. 3-2 Phillies. The Bank was going crazy.

The lead didn’t last for long as Ryan Madson gave up a solo shot to Rocco “100 total at bats this season, counting the playoffs” Baldelli in the top of the seventh to tie it up at 3-3. During the World Series, Madson seemed to revert back to the normal inconsistent Ryan Madson that wore a Phillies uniform for every other year of his career. However, without his late season contribution as a set-up man, the Phillies may not have been able to get this far. Luckily, J.C. Romero has been a stud in the playoffs and closed out the inning without further damage. The game-changing play of the inning was when Iwamura hit a single up the middle that Chase Utley fielded deep in the hole. Utley faked the throw to Howard at first and threw home to nail Jason Bartlett trying to score the go-ahead run. I think that play alone swung the game. Utley’s play was probably one of the most heads-up defensive plays that I’ve seen in a long time. Mad props.

In what most likely is his last at-bat in a Phillies uniform, Pat Burrell led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double that just missed being a home run. In almost any other part of the ballpark, that ball is gone. Burrell was lifted for pinch runner and defensive replacement Eric Bruntlett hoping that the Phils would take the lead. Shane Victorino followed with a fantastic at-bat that moved Bruntlett to third with one out. Then, like he has so many times this season, Pedro “Peter Happy” Feliz slapped a single up the middle. The Bank exploded. 4-3 Phillies. 6 outs away.

It looked like Romero was going to struggle in the eighth after Carl Crawford led off with a single, but B.J. Upton grounded into a double play on the next pitch and you could just sense that the Phillies were going to pull it off. With the wind out of their sails, Romero forced Carlos Pena to fly out to end the inning. David Price came on in the eighth inning and did what he was expected to do–dominate. Rollins flew out, Werth struck out, Utley walked, and Ryan Howard struck out.

The game was set up exactly the way every Phillies fan would have wanted it–the Phils have a one run lead and Brad “Lights Out” Lidge is coming in to close it out. Lidge started off the inning by getting Evan Longoria to pop out, but Dioner Navarro followed with a solid at bat that led to a single. He was lifted for pinch runner Fernando Perez, who subsequently swiped second to put the tying run in scoring position. Ben Zobrist gave Lidge a tough battle, but Zobrist ultimately lined out to Werth for the second out in the inning. Eric Hinske came off of the bench to pinch hit for Jason Bartlett with hopes of at least tying the game. Luckily, Lidge, who’s uniform number is the reverse of 1980 Phillies closer Tug McGraw, buckled down. Three pitches later, Hinske whiffed at a slider to give the Phillies their first World Series title since 1980. It’s kind of eerie that Lidge’s number is 54 when McGraw, who also ended the World Series with a strikeout, wore number 45. Oh yeah, there’s also that whole ‘80 to ‘08 thing. The Phillies definitely had the numerology working last night.

Cole Hamels was named World Series MVP, mainly because none of the hitters did anything that spectacular to take it away from him. One thing is certain; Cole definitely earned a monstrous raise this month.

Who would’ve thought that the Phillies would actually win the World Series? Clearly not me if you read my articles dating back to late August. The team just came together down the stretch and flat out got a ton of breaks. It was the perfect end to a perfect season. I really don’t know what else I could say about them that hasn’t already been written. This win was something that I have literally waited my entire life for. Now that it’s here, it’s just an amazing feeling. I don’t think I’m ever going to get tired of hearing the phrase “2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies.” This team is probably immune from criticism for a decent amount of time. Or until they lose a series to the Mets. Whichever one comes first.

Go Phillies.

The NFC East once again put forth an impressive showing, going 4-0 in Week 8. The most impressive win was the division-leading New York Giants winning in Pittsburgh. In my opinion, the Giants are the best team in the conference. The Eagles appear to be healthy again with the return of Brian Westbrook (167 yards rushing, 2 TDs) and took out a very competitive Atlanta squad. The Eagles can make a run, but they’re going to have to win at least three of their remaining four divisional games. I was also shocked that Dallas beat a strong Bucs team in what proved to be a defensive struggle. That’s not the type of game you’d expect from Dallas’s weak D, but I think they also took advantage of the not-so-high-powered Tampa O. Finally, the Redskins didn’t impress me by barely beating Detroit, but somehow they just keep winning. Right now, the G-Men are the best team and the rest of the division is pretty even.

Besides the Lions still being bad, they lost to the ‘Skins this week, the rest of the NFC North was idle, so nothing really new to report.

In the NFC South, I think it’s still a toss-up with Carolina, who rallied for a home win over Arizona, and Tampa Bay, who was edged in Dallas. Both play great D. Both are undefeated at home. Neither is very good on the road. Whichever team can do better on the road will win the division. New Orleans won a shootout in London over San Diego. I don’t think the Saints can win an “ugly” game, but I don’t know if there are many teams that can hold down their offense to force them to play “ugly.” The Saints probably are not physical enough to beat out the Panthers or Buccaneers for the division crown. The Falcons came back to Earth a bit with their loss in Philly. Atlanta is full of potential, but they may be a year or two away from winning this division.

Even with Arizona’s loss, they are in no danger of losing this division unless something crazy happens. It may only take seven wins to get to the playoffs from this division. I’m dead serious. The Rams lost a tough game in New England, but showed that they are at least getting more competitive. The Seahawks annihilated the 49ers in San Francisco. Neither team is very good.

In the AFC East, the Bills were just outplayed by the Dolphins, who have the best record against the rest of the division. The Pats beat St. Louis to move into a first place tie with Buffalo and the Jets rallied to get by the Chiefs. We’ll learn a lot more about this division over the next two weeks with the Bills, Patriots, and Jets all playing each other. It should be interesting.

In the AFC North, Pittsburgh’s lead is down to one game over Baltimore after the Steelers’ loss to the Giants while the Ravens crushed the Raiders. I think Pittsburgh will wind up winning this division because their offense is light years ahead of Baltimore’s offense. Even the Steelers’ D is better. Cleveland scored a big win in Jacksonville, but they’re still on the outside of the playoff picture. The Bengals remained winless after getting blown out by Houston. Cincy just sucks.

The AFC South is all about the Tennessee Titans, who snatched the crown from the Colts by delivering a Monday Night beat down to remain the league’s only undefeated team. Tennessee’s D is just insane and their offense is good enough to get the job done. They’re reminiscent of the Baltimore team that won Super Bowl XXXV. The rest of the division (Indy, Jacksonville, and Houston) is a mediocre 3-4. This race is pretty much over.

In the AFC West, Denver won by not playing because San Diego lost. Neither team seems to want to win this division, but it’s going to come down to which one is less mediocre. The Raiders and Chiefs are not even worth discussing because they’re a combined 3-11.

Projected AFC Playoff teams through Week 8: Buffalo (East; Last Week’s Projection: Buffalo), Pittsburgh (North; Last Week’s Projection: Pittsburgh), Tennessee (South; Last Week’s Projection: Tennessee), Denver (West; Last Week’s Projection: San Diego), New England (Wild Card; Last Week’s Projection: Indianapolis), Baltimore (Wild Card; Last Week’s Projection: Jacksonville)

Projected NFC Playoff teams through Week 8: New York Giants (East; Last Week’s Projection: New York Giants), Green Bay (North; Last Week’s Projection: Green Bay), Carolina (South; Last Week’s Projection: Tampa Bay), Arizona (West; Last Week’s Projection: Arizona), Washington (Wild Card; Last Week’s Projection: Washington), Dallas (Wild Card; Last Week’s Projection: Carolina)

Stunned.

That’s the only word to describe my emotions right now after watching the debacle that was Game 5 of the World Series. Oh yeah, the biggest blown call of the series might have stolen a championship from the Phillies. With the Phillies leading 2-1, this game easily could have been suspended before the start of the fifth inning. The rain was exactly the same in innings 4, 5, and 6, but they waited until the Rays tied it? And then they didn’t even give the Phillies a chance to at least bat? Are you kidding me? If they were going to stop the game, why did they wait so long? They could have easily stopped it in the fourth or fifth inning. Hell, they could have just delayed the game until Wednesday. Major League Baseball did a fantastic job with this one. Bud Selig truly knows how to handle big games.

By the way, Selig better not show his face in Philadelphia ever again after the way he handled last night. Even if the Phillies were willing, he would have “delayed” the game instead of calling it? Really? We’re allowed to change the rules as the game goes on? Selig should be forced to resign after all of the crap that he’s pulled as the commissioner. This game is by far his biggest blunder, especially if the Rays win this game and the series. However, that wouldn’t be a bad thing to the media since they’re obsessed with seeing the Rays win. The media has been so anti-Phillies through the entire postseason that it is sickening. Clearly MLB is anti-Phillies, too.

What makes it worse is that they also took Cole Hamels out of the series. This is definitely the worst case scenario for the Phillies. All of the momentum has clearly shifted to Tampa. The Rays are starting to heat up and they seemed upbeat. On the flip side, the Phillies look ice cold and are clearly psychologically damaged from this incident since most of the team wouldn’t speak to the media. If/When the Phils lose on Wednesday or whenever they resume, I think they’re done. One thing seems to be clear at this point: The Phillies just aren’t meant to win the World Series.

Go Phillies.

27 outs. That’s all that stands between the Phillies and the second World Series title in franchise history. After last night’s 10-2 thrashing of the Rays, during which the Phightins slugged four home runs, a championship is finally within reach. With ace Cole Hamels on the mound tonight, a victory seems inevitable. On the other hand, this is Philadelphia, so anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. However, this team has been playing extremely well, catching breaks, and getting production from unlikely sources. The stars appear to be aligned for the team with over 10,000 losses and the city of Philadelphia is ready to explode. But as always with the Phillies, you need to expect the worst and hope for the best.

The Phillies took an early lead when Pat Burrell drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first, but they blew a chance to really break it open early. If I have one complaint about the way that they’re playing in the World Series, and it’s tough to have any when the team is on the brink of a title, it’s that they still aren’t consistently driving in runs by keeping the ball in the park. Although, Pedro “Peter Happy” Feliz singled home Chase Utley in the third to push the lead to 2-0, that type of at bat has been the exception and not the norm. It also was the first hit with RISP that left the infield in this series.

The Rays cut the lead to 2-1 on Carl Crawford’s second home run of the series in the top of the fourth. Even though “Fat” Joe Blanton was pitching well up to that point, people started to get anxious. However, the anxiety would be short-lived as Ryan Howard crushed an opposite field three-run home run in the bottom of the inning that put the Phils up 5-1. At that moment, you knew that Howard had finally broken out of his slump. It also seemed to be a big blow to the spirit of an already rattled Tampa team.

Tampa had one last gasp in the fifth when Eric Hinske connected on a pinch hit solo homer to dead center that made it 5-2 Phils. In the bottom of the inning, the most unlikely hero completely demolished any fight that the Rays still had in them. Blanton, who was 2-for-31 in his career with two singles and an RBI, belted a solo home run that would have been out of most, if not all, ball parks. Citizens Bank Park erupted. With one swing, Blanton has out-produced both Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, who are a combined 0-for-29 with 15 strikeouts in the World Series. That’s pretty pathetic. After Blanton’s offensive exploits, the Rays’ psyche appeared to be crushed. It was 6-2 Phillies with more yet to come. Speaking of Blanton, he was brilliant on the mound and giving the Phils six strong innings while allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. It was probably a “best case scenario” performance by “Farmer” Joe. I, for one, am grateful that he is a Phillie. At least for one game.

Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, and Ryan Madson combined to keep the Rays off the board in the seventh and eighth innings before the Phillies’ bats came to life in the eighth. Jimmy Rollins laced a one-out double to right and Jayson Werth finally showed up by smashing a two-run bomb to deep left center off of Dan Wheeler. 8-2 Phils with more on the way. Trever Miller came on in relief of Wheeler, but he suffered the same fate. After walking Utley, Howard annihilated Miller’s offering into deep right for the second two-run homer of the inning. In Game 4, the Big Man got his groove back, going three-for-four with 2 HR and 5 RBI. The RynHo is hitting .353 for the series with 3 HR and 6 RBI. He’ll definitely be in the discussion for World Series MVP, assuming the Phillies win, but it’ll be really tough to take it from Hamels if he winds up closing it out tonight. In the ninth, J.C. Romero was called on to seal the win. After struggling slightly, J.C. settled in and struck out Jason Bartlett and Rocco Baldelli to end the game. 10-2 Phillies. 3-1 series advantage for the Phillies.

The World Series title is so close that I can already taste the champagne. The Phillies are 23-6 in their last 29 games. They’ve also been phenomenal at home, winning their last nine games at The Bank. It also doesn’t hurt that a miniature statue of William Penn was placed on top of the Comcast Tower in an effort to reverse the Curse of Billy Penn. For those who don’t know about the curse, no buildings in Philadelphia were supposed/allowed to be taller than the hat on the statue of William Penn atop city hall. From the late 1970s through 1983, Philadelphia sports teams had a ridiculous run of success. Then in 1984, once construction started on One Liberty Place, which was approved to be taller than William Penn’s hat, there were no major sports championships. So far, little Billy Penn on the Comcast Tower seems to be doing its job.

Go Phillies.