EVIL~! alkeiper

Perspective. This series is just tied. It's now best of five, and the Phillies have home field advantage.

1-23 now with RISP. This is a joke.

1-RISP. That Victorino single counts.

Couple quick facts: -That is the fourth career postseason win for Cole Hamels, and fourth this postseason. He is already the second most winningest Phillie in postseason history, trailing only Steve Carlton's six wins. -Brad Lidge saved his 12th postseason game. That ranks third all time, behind only Mariano Rivera (by a lot) and Dennis Eckersley.

Ryan Howard really, really can not hit left handed pitching.

We switched to a satellite dish at the house. No more WWE 24/7 for me, unfortunately.

ESPN Classic is showing the World Series film from 1980.

Hell, even Detroit won the pennant the next season. He did a great job prognosticating the future.

For an outsider, 2002 was interesting. The Angels had never won and had blown several chances to reach the World Series in agonizing fashion (namely 1986 and 1995). The Giants have yet to win a World Series since moving to the Bay. I don't think I need to tell you that this is the most eagerly anticipated World Series in my lifetime.

Old topic. From Jim Callis' chat today. Which is why even the best looking player at 15 is no sure thing. That prospect by age list is interesting three years later. Cody Johnson is in the Braves' organization. Hit 26 home runs in the Sally League but his plate discipline is awful. Brett Anderson is a legit top prospect. Andrew McCutchen is nice though Jay Bruce surpassed him. And sorry Mik, but I WOULD take David Wright over Miguel Cabrera now. Wright has a chance to rank among the ten greatest third basemen ever to play the game. (I said a CHANCE.)

I guess in that era cage matches were meant to be more decisive without screwy finishes. Zbyszko actually had a brief run against Backlund, and that was it. Odd that it turned out to be the apex of his career. Going to '80s AWA will do that to you.

My feeling on this one is Rays in six. The Phillies are 17-31 the last three years in interleague play. They never inspire much confidence in me when they play against the American League. I was planning on Rays in five, but I think in a 3-1 hole Hamels pitches the Phillies back to St. Petersburg. From a viewership standpoint, I see a lot to like in this series. Back in 2004, minor league analysts were hard pressed to pick the better prospect between Cole Hamels and Scott Kazmir. They match up in game one. Game four looks like Blanton vs. Sonnanstine, that could turn out to be a battle of team defense. And who's better. Pena or Howard? Crawford or Burrell? Victorino or Upton? Jamie Moyer will be the oldest player in MLB history to make his World Series debut. And what about David Price? I should have net service back at the house Wednesday, and we'll have World Series chats fired up.

Honestly, I find sporting events more enjoyable the less mainstream America is interested. How any football fan can sit through the Super Bowl is beyond me.

Check out the Studd/Andre cage match, fast forward to the finish if you must. Holy crap how did Studd survive that vertical splash?

It's easy to look excited when you're having an MVP season. I wouldn't read too much into it. I've still been without net access at the house, which is why I've been absent through most of this. I'll get that back on Saturday. This has been quite the run.

In the Philadelphia city limits it's the Eagles. In Eastern Pennsylvania, Penn State football is by far the biggest attraction.

Clearly as well, there's a difference between watching a team where Rico Brogna is your RBI man and one where Ryan Howard is the cleanup hitter. The Phillies became a better team, have a new ballpark, marketable players, and for only the second time in their history have established themselves as a long term winner. Philadelphia's fan base has really underwent a dramatic transformation the last five years or so.

The Dodgers went 17-8 in September. Of course, the Phillies had the exact same record so whatever advantage the Dodgers had from being "hot" went completely out the window. Announcers last night harped on teams winning without the benefit of the home run. As if scoring runs without doing it via the most effective manner is a sign of moral character or something. I took at look at ten teams. There is a very strong connection between runs and runs scored via home run, and a smaller but significant correlation between scoring runs and percentage scored via home runs. Hitting home runs is a good offensive strategy, no matter how sexy smallball sounds this week. That of course assumes you're not just bailing and wailing.

Watching last night, they showed a few video packages highlighting mainly the NLCS in 1983. The Phillies and Dodgers though had far more memorable encounters over the years. A few highlights. 1947: Led by manager Ben Chapman, the Phillies engage in disgraceful bench jockeying of Dodgers' star Jackie Robinson. Chapman is forced to apologize later in the season for his behaviour. 1950: Phillies defeat the Dodgers on the last day of the season, 4-1 in 10 innings, to clinch the NL pennant. A loss would have sent the teams into a best-of-three playoff. 1977: The Phillies suffer what I consider their most devestating franchise loss. Leading by two runs in game three, the Phillies give up three runs in the top of the ninth, all with two outs. A double off Greg Luzinski's glove and a safe call at first are particularly costly. Larry Bowa and Davey Lopes, now coaching for opposite teams, still argue about that call. The Dodgers go on to win in four games. 1978: The Dodgers again defeat the Phillies 3-1 in the NLCS. Bill Russell drives in Ron Cey in the 10th to score the walkoff run. 1990: August 21. Trailing 11-3 going into the top of the ninth, the Phillies score nine runs and win 12-11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LA...199008210.shtml

MSG from 1975 is sweet, I love those '70s house shows. A 20 minute best of three falls midget match though?

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/ Cot's Baseball Contracts. Roberts isn't a free agent. I think the Cubs offense is in good shape, though they could probably use another outfielder as Fukudome insurance. They have a few bullpen guys on the market and they will probably need another starting pitcher.

Since I was in a bit of a rush last time, let me expand on my prediction a bit. 1. The Phillies swept the Dodgers in four games last series, WITH Manny Ramirez in their lineup. 2. The Dodgers' front three of the rotation is all right-handed pitchers. It's lefties who give Utley and Howard problems. 3. The Dodgers still only won 84 games this season. One interesting note about this postseason. If it ends up Rays vs. Phillies in the World Series, it will be father vs. Son in the broadcast booths. Harry Kalas does tv for the Phillies, son Todd works tv for the Rays.

Phillies in six, maybe five. My internet is out at the house, so I may be around only sparingly during this series.

As an aside, Bill James raised a good point on the shift. What's the point? If the offense wanted, they could beat you with a single the other way. So the purpose is really to negate the hitter's power. If he parks one, it's going over their heads anyway.

Bingo.