Philly Sports Today

With both men vying for their second NL MVP award, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols won the award after receiving 18 of the 32 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and collecting 369 total points. Ryan Howard finished in second, picking up 12 first-place votes and 308 points. Brad Lidge, who was a perfect in 48 save opportunities during the regular season and playoffs, drew the other two first-place votes and 104 points, which was good enough for eighth place in the voting.

I’m a little disappointed that the Phillies did not maintain their stranglehold on the NL MVP trophy, but it’s tough to argue against Pujols. Fat Albert hit .357, had a .462 on-base percentage, and led the NL with a .653 slugging percentage. In comparison, Howard hit .251, had a .339 on-base percentage, and had a .543 slugging percentage. While Howard’s 48 homeruns and 146 RBIs dwarf Pujols’s 37 homers and 116 RBIS, Albert’s 104 walks with only 54 strikeouts look a lot better than Ryan’s 81 walks and 199 strikeouts. Finally, Howard had two months (July and September) when he looked played like an MVP. Pujols had five (six if you project his June numbers since he missed the half of the month). Oh yeah, Pujols also played with an elbow that could explode and require surgery at any point.

Pujols winning the award this year kind of makes up for him not winning it in 2006, the year that Howard was named MVP. In 2006, Pujols’s Cardinals won the World Series, but Howard won the MVP even though the Phillies missed the playoffs. This year, Howard’s Phillies won the World Series, but Pujols won the MVP even though the Cardinals missed the playoffs. I guess it all evens out.

On another note, hopefully Howard not winning the NL MVP will mean that the Phillies will save a little bit of money when they take him to arbitration. For some reason, I don’t think there is any way that a second-place finish in the NL MVP voting will hurt Ryan’s 2009 paycheck.

Go Phillies.

The Phillies had plenty of chances to put runs on the board with runners in scoring position, but they could not get any of them home. James Shields and the rest of the Rays were practically begging the Phillies to score off of them, but like good guests, they refused to cause problems for their host. It’s really pathetic how bad they are with runners in scoring position. What makes it worse is that most of the time they had RISP, they had either zero or one outs. What a disgrace.

You knew it was going to be a long night right from the start. The Phillies went down quietly in the first, while the Rays jumped all over Brett “Can’t win on the road” Myers. Akinori Iwamura led off with a walk and B.J. Upton hit a single and the runners advanced on a Jayson Werth-”less” error. Tampa used two RBI ground outs to take a 2-0 lead. Manufacturing runs is a pretty novel idea. Maybe the Phillies should try it. The Rays used a combination of singles and walks in the second to score another run to make it 3-0. The umps are solely responsible for costing the Phillies this run because they extended the inning by allowing Rocco “No way in hell did I hold up” Baldelli to get awarded a walk despite the fact that the he did not check his swing and the home plate umpire initially called him out. Total B.S. Tampa scored another run on a safety squeeze in the fourth. So the Rays can score in a variety of ways, and the Phillies can’t do anything right to score a run. Totally ridiculous. The Phils also got screwed by the umps again in the ninth inning when Jimmy Rollins was blatantly hit by a pitch, yet the umpire said he wasn’t. How did such a bad ump make the World Series crew? Who knows? All I know is that it may have cost the Phillies the game.

The Phils put their lead-off runner on in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, but came up empty every single time. That is the sign of a team that is not going to win a series. How can you not get at least one of those runners home? It doesn’t help that Werthless ran the Phils out of a prime scoring opportunity. Another fun note about Werthless is that he has the franchise record for most strikeouts in a single postseason. 16 and counting. How much of a bum is he?

Another World Series All-Star is Jimmy Rollins. A lead-off hitter that can’t get a hit in the World Series is a pretty nice weapon to have. You certainly can’t complain about a .000 average. The Phillies will not win this series if J-Roll doesn’t play well. It is impossible. Greg “I look like I’m blindfolded at the plate” Dobbs is another player in the running for World Series MVP. You couldn’t pick the ball up from James Shields, who is a righty? Really? The only reason that you’re even in the game is because you can hit righties. Pat Burrell has put up amazing numbers this series by piling up zero hits. Real glad he’s been coming through in the clutch. I could probably go on and on about how terrible this team is. They’ve really been in an offensive funk the entire playoffs. They haven’t consistently been able to score in any series.

Brett Myers actually wasn’t really bad, but he got no help. He only threw 85 pitches in 7 innings and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Again, he wasn’t great, but I thought he’d do a lot worse. Playing in Tampa also didn’t do him any favors since he couldn’t bat. The Phillies probably would’ve scored another run solely due to Brett’s offensive prowess.

The lone bright spot for the Phightins was Eric Bruntlett who hit a pinch-hit solo home run off of stud rookie David Price. If only he could’ve been the DH instead of Greg “My at bats looked like I was playing in the dark” Dobbs. Yes, he was that brutal at the plate that he got two nicknames to describe it. Dobbs definitely resembled a typical Ryan Howard swing. I also want to give mad props to Carlos “Clutch” Ruiz. I’ve been one of the few people writing about how well he’s played in the playoffs. The only postseason series he didn’t play well in was the NLDS against the Brewers. Check the numbers.

In Game 3, “Old Man” Jamie Moyer will do battle with ALCS MVP Matt Garza. I think Moyer is going to get shelled in a similar fashion to his other two post season starts. It may actually be worse since I think the Rays have a more potent offense than both the Brewers and Dodgers. On the other hand, I think the Phils may have a chance to hit Garza. The Phightins have played well at home in the postseason, so I think playing at Citizens Bank Park can help a bit. However, if they lose Game 3, the Phillies may not have to worry about booking a return flight to Tampa.

Go Phillies.

For the fourth time this post season, “King” Cole Hamels was a master on the mound. There’s really not much to say about Cole other than the fact that he is blatantly one of the elite pitchers in the game. Hamels out-dueled fellow 24-year old lefty Scott Kazmir to pick up his fourth win of the playoffs. Cole’s line was 7 innings and two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking two. That’s the type of line that you expect from your ace in the World Series. He also displayed the ability to work out of a jam, including forcing B.J. Upton to ground into two double plays during his first two at bats. Hamels did an excellent job of taking home-field advantage away from the Rays.

Before Cole even threw a pitch, the Phillies had the lead courtesy of a two-run home run by Chase Utley off of Kazmir. Utley’s homer seemed to suck the life out of Tropicana Field a little bit and had to have some effect on the young Rays by forcing them to play from behind so early in the game. The Phils tacked on another run in the fourth inning on a Carlos “Clutch” Ruiz ground out that drove in “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Shane Victorino and pushed the Phillies’ lead to 3-0.

Then the Rays started to chip away. Carl Crawford answered in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer and Akinori Iwamura drove in Jason Bartlett on an RBI double in the fifth inning to make it 3-2 Phils. The Rays were threatening again in the sixth when Carlos Pena led off the inning by reaching on a Ryan Howard error. However, Hamels bailed himself out by picking Pena off and then cruised through the sixth and seventh inning before turning it over to the ‘pen.

The Phillies’ bullpen did not disappoint. “The Mad Dog” Ryan Madson came out throwing heat, and even touched 97 m.p.h. a couple of times. Tampa’s hitters were no match for him. Then it was time for Brad “Lights Out” Lidge, the man who entered the World Series a perfect 46-for-46 in save opportunities through the NLCS. Mr. Lidge had his slider working tonight and it was vicious. Pena and Evan Longoria were lucky to make any contact. Ultimately, both struck out. Crawford came to the plate as Tampa’s last hope, but Lidge forced him to foul out to Pedro “Peter Happy” Feliz to end the game. I have to give credit to Feliz on the final out since that was definitely a tough catch to make.

My major complaint with the Phillies is that Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, the past two National League MVPS, totally sucked. The terrible two-some combined to go 0-for-9 with five strikeouts and nine left on base. The Phils cannot afford many games like that from those two. Throw in an 0-for-3 night from Pat Burrell and it’s amazing that the Phillies were able to win. Luckily for them, they have the best pitcher in the series. However, let’s hope that Rollins, Howard, and Burrell can get it going or else wins will be hard to come by. I also didn’t enjoy the fact that Chris Coste was the DH. I know Uncle Charlie was playing the match-up, but it’s not like Greg Dobbs could have done any worse, and playing Coste forced Manuel’s hand in terms of any moves because there was no catcher on the bench. Charlie, I want to see Coste on the bench tomorrow night. None of this DH’ing nonsense for him.

The Phils will look to take a 2-0 series lead tomorrow when they send Brett Myers to the mound to take on James Shields. Myers is definitely a wild card because he is a total wack-o, so he could be really good, like he was in his first two starts, or he could be really bad, like he was the last two weeks of September. Nobody really knows. Brett’s been mighty terrible on the road this season (i.e. 3-8 in 16 starts with a 6.21 ERA), so things could get ugly. On the other hand, James Shields pitches extremely well at the Trop. That could be trouble for the Phightins. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Go Phillies.

Philadelphia Phillies v. Tampa Bay Rays
This is the World Series match-up that nobody wanted to see, except Phillies’ fans or Rays “fans.” I use the term “fan” very loosely when describing the people who cheer for the Rays because 99.9% of them never cared about the team or knew that they even existed before this September when they realized that the team was good. Now that the Rays are in the World Series, their bandwagon is overflowing and the stand-by line for it is out the door. I rooted for the Rays to get this far (even if I didn’t pick them to get here), but it would be a travesty for their “fan base” to get rewarded with a championship. They couldn’t even pack the stadium for Game 7 of the ALCS! That should speak volume about the fans in Tampa. However, none of this has anything to do with my prediction. It’s just some commentary on Tampa’s “fans.”

Anyway, the Phils and Rays are very evenly matched. Both teams have a strong nucleus of young hitters. For the Phils, it seemed to be a different hero at the plate each night. Except Ryan Howard and Pedro “Peter Happy” Feliz were never among the heroes. Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, Pat Burrell, and even Carlos Ruiz came up with big hits. The RynHo has been pretty invisible for the majority of the playoffs. If he can snap out of his October slump, the Phils will be tough to stop. However, despite a relatively inconsistent offensive performance, the Phils somehow dominated both the Brewers and the Dodgers. With any luck, the Phillies’ bats will come to life a little bit more with it all on the line.

On the other side, the Rays have also had contributions from pretty much everyone. However, B.J. Upton (7 HR, 15 RBI) and Evan Longoria (6 HR, 11 RBI) have shouldered much of the load. Carlos Pena has also been a major contributor. For most of the playoffs (i.e. through the 7th inning of Game 5 of the ALCS), Tampa’s bats were scorching. They cooled off quite a bit from then on, so who knows what they’ll do at the plate. Will they respond like the 2003 Florida Marlins or the 2007 Colorado Rockies? Who knows? For the Phillies’ sake, I’m hoping the latter. I really won’t be shocked if they tear the cover off the ball or if they look like they’re trying to hit a grain of rice with a toothpick. Anything can happen with a young team.

On the mound, Philadelphia will look to NLCS MVP and total heart throb/dreamboat Colbert Michael Hamels. He has been utterly dominant in the postseason, going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA. The Phillies need Hamels to win Game 1 or else they will be in a ton of trouble. As long as he goes out there and wins, it’s all good in the hood. After Hamels is when it gets really dicey. Brett Myers has pitched really well in his two postseason starts, but they were both at home. Since the guy is a totally nuts, who knows how he will respond to a road game in a hostile environment? Jamie Moyer will take the ball in Game 3 despite having been totally awful in his two starts. The Phils cannot afford to have Jamie “8 runs in 5.1 innings over two playoff starts” Moyer show up. They desperately need Jamie “16-7 with a 3.71 ERA in the regular season” Moyer to make an appearance for six innings or so. Joe Blanton is just alright. He’s not terrible, but is not exactly good. As long as he pitches well enough to at least keep the game close, that’s all I want. Even though none of the starters have ever pitched in the World Series, the extra year of playoff experience has to count for something at this point.

For Tampa Bay, Scott Kazmir is their Cole Hamels (i.e. a 24 year-old stud lefty). Fortunately for Phillies’ fans, Kazmir has not been as dominant in the playoffs as Hamels, but he pitched his best game in Game 5 of the ALCS. The All-Star left-hander will be tough on the Phillie hitters. James Shields follows in Game 2 and he’s also been very solid despite his 1-2 record. You can’t really blame him for losing 2-0 and 4-2 to the Red Sox. ALCS MVP Matt Garza takes the hill in Game 3, and he has been very tough his past two outings. Andy Sonnanstine will throw in Game 4 and he has also pitched well in the postseason. Really, all of Tampa’s starters have been pretty much the same and they all have pretty good ERAs. It’ll be interesting to see how these young starters respond to pitching in the World Series.

Overall, the Phillies should have the better bullpen. Brad “Lights Out” Lidge has been superb as the closer in his first season with the Phils. Mr. Lidge went 41/41 in save opportunities in the regular season and is currently 5/5 in save opps in the post season. However, I have this sinking feeling that he will blow at least one save in the World Series. He’s walked the tight rope too many times not to blow at least one save this year. The rest of the Phillies’ pen has been very good in the playoffs as well. It’s been the team’s strength all season and the guys are still stepping up. However, J.C. “Holds” Romero and Ryan Madson are the two relievers that I want to see building the bridge to Lidge late in the game.

Tampa also has an equal, if not better, bullpen. The ‘pen has been the key to Tampa’s success all year, so there’s no reason to think the Phils will be able to get any cheap runs off of them. Trever Miller, Chad Bradford, and J.P. Howell have been unbelievable in the playoffs. Dan Wheeler and Grant Balfour both pitched extremely well during the regular season, but both of them looked pretty cooked in the ALCS. Either they’ll both return to regular season form or they’re going to totally implode. The secret weapon in the ‘pen is rookie David Price. The 6′6″, 225 lb. lefty was the #1 overall pick in the 2007 draft and only made his MLB debut on September 14th. Price didn’t get any decisions in the regular season, but picked up his first professional win in ALCS Game 2 and his first professional save in Game 7. His stuff is so filthy that it is pornographic. I can’t see the Phillies getting a hit off of him in this series. He’s just too good.

Prediction: Phillies over Rays in seven games. These teams are evenly matched. This could be one of the most entertaining World Series match-ups in a long time because both teams are young and exciting. You really don’t know what you’re going to get from either team. I think the slightly more experienced Phillies will persevere and get the job done. Even though the Rays are a very good team (97 win teams are normally pretty good), I just can’t pick them to beat the Phightins. This pick is definitely more influenced by my heart than my head. I really hope my heart is right on this one.

Go Phillies.

Los Angeles Dodgers v. Philadelphia Phillies
Fresh off of their three-game sweep against the heavily-favored Cubs, the Dodgers are coming into the NLCS on an absolute tear having won 22 of their last 31 games. Manny Ramirez has truly done wonders to this team which was dead in the water until he arrived. You also cannot overlook how much better L.A. is with a healthy Rafael Furcal at the top of the order. With Furcal in the lead-off spot and Manny in the three-hole, it takes a lot of pressure off of their young players. Manny is also one of the few players in baseball history that can carry a team. The Dodgers’ pitching has carried over its regular season success into the playoffs. Derek Lowe and Greg Maddux provide leadership and experience, while Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, and Clayton Kershaw are just filthy. I think their biggest problem will be when they turn it over to the ‘pen. The Phils are going to have to run out to early leads if they want to have a chance in this series.

It’s interesting to note that with all of the talk about how hot the Dodgers are, the Phillies have also won 22 of their last 31 games. There definitely seems to be a media bias about that as everyone seems to be drooling over the prospect of Manny facing the Red Sox in the World Series. So far in the playoffs, the Phillies pitching has been outstanding. “King” Cole Hamels has thrown like an ace, Brett Myers showed flashes of his late-July to mid-September self, and “Fat” Joe Blanton even threw a gem in the NLDS-clincher. I’m a little worried about Jamie Moyer’s performance so far and the fact that guys like Manny Ramirez seem to feast on his pitches. However, I think he should be fine as long as the umps stop squeezing him. The bullpen has also been solid, although not as solid as I would have liked to see. As long as Brad Lidge is picking up saves, I really don’t care how he gets it done. My main concern is with the offense. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard have once again gone missing in October. Same for Pat Burrell, at least until Game 4 of the NLDS. Luckily, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth picked up the slack. If Utley, Howard, and Burrell stay cold, the Phillies will be in trouble.

Prediction:Phillies over Dodgers in seven games. Nobody is giving the Phillies a shot. The Phillies mashed the Dodgers in four games at Citizens Bank Park this season, and although they were swept in La-La Land, the Phillies played them extremely tough and should have won three of the four if not for banished starter Kyle Kendrick and a bullpen which was struggling mightily at the time. Hamels needs to once again set the tone early and Myers needs to continue to pitch well. I think that the Phillies’ offense will come around and the Phightins will take care of business. They beat the best pitcher acquired at the trade deadline in the NLDS and now its time for them to beat the best hitter acquired at the trade deadline.

Boston Red Sox v. Tampa Bay Rays
How good is Jon Lester? Really Good? Ridiculously Good? Extremely Good? Yes, yes, and yes. The kid is a shooting star and is Boston’s ace. That’s really scary on a team with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett. In his two post-season starts this year, Lester is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 14 innings. In his only post-season start last year, which just happened to be the World Series-clinching game, Lester allowed 0 runs and three hits while striking out three in 5.2 innings. So basically if you’re facing Lester on the mound in October, you’re probably not going to score a run unless it’s unearned. Dice-K and Beckett are going in Games 1 and 2, but it’s not like that is catching a break for the opposition. You also have to love closer Jonathan Papelbon at the back end. He’s straight money in the playoffs. This Red Sox team is not as explosive offensively since they traded Manny Ramirez, but they have a nice mix of youngsters (Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jed Lowrie) and veterans (David Ortiz, J.D. Drew, Jason Bay, Kevin Youkilis) that continues to produce and come up with big hits. Oh yeah, they’re also the defending World Series champions and are in their fourth ALCS in the last six seasons. That definitely counts for something.

On the other hand, the Rays are destiny’s darling. Maybe it has something to do with their off-season exorcism that took the “Devil” out of their name? I’m willing to bet it has more to do with all of their young stars coming into their own at once. With Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, and B.J. Upton, the Rays are an exciting team that is fun to watch. They’re also one of the best defensive teams in the game. My major concern with them is that they don’t really have an ace in their rotation. They have a fantastic bullpen that can certainly close out games, but that won’t matter if their starters don’t get the job done. Who knows how their young starting rotation will respond with a trip to the World Series on the line? It could go either way. The Rays have been counted out all season and look where it got them–eight wins away from a World Series championship.

Prediction:Red Sox over Rays in six games. I think this is when the clock strikes midnight for baseball’s Cinderella Rays. I don’t see any way how Boston can lose this series unless Tampa’s starters can equalize Lester and Co. The Rays won the season series 10-8 and were 8-1 over the Sawks at the Trop. Boston was 7-2 against Tampa at Fenway, but they did drop their last two games against them at home. The Rays definitely will not be scared of the Red Sox, but I think Boston’s pitching is too good. Tampa is built to be a really good team for a long time, but this is the time when Lester, Dice-K, Beckett, and Papelbon shine.