Actually, the words running through my mind last night were much more, uh, colorful than that, but if I use them here they'll just get asterisked out by the filter that protects our delicate sensibilities.

I was downright giddy after Cliff Lee's Game 1 gem, so giddy in fact that I never got around to blogging about it yesterday. Now that good mood has been replaced by one a bit more foul. I keep reminding myself that my rational mind knew the Phils wouldn't sweep the Yankees, that there would be at least one loss, but that doesn't make it any less unpleasant.

As I have a tendency after a loss to think not-very-nice thoughts about the opposition and the vast majority of their fans, thoughts molded by my formative years spent growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania surrounded during the summer by very annoying denizens of NYC who chose to vacation there while complaining that nothing was as good there as it was in New York, making me wish I could tell them all to go back home if it was so much better there, but...oops, sorry, got sidetracked there a bit...and darn it, I was going to once again abide by my not-saying-anything-at-all-if-I-couldn't-say-anything-nice rule, but my fingers betrayed me.

Anyway, Ryan Howard can add a less glamorous "award" to his NLCS MVP trophy, the dreaded Golden Sombrero. Yep, Howard struck out four times last night; three times against Burnett and once against Rivera. Not good, Ryan, not good. Please get back in the groove you had against Colorado and L.A.

Recent history would suggest that the Game 2 loss is not a portent of doom - the Phillies lost Game 2 of last year's World Series and this year's NLDS and NLCS, and all of those series ended up turning out pretty good for the boys in red. So I'll get my bad mood out of my system today, and be ready to watch on Saturday as the series moves to Philadelphia (after washing the bad luck out of everything I was wearing last night, of course).

After a few days of waiting to find out who would be the Phillies' World Series opponent, the Yankees sent the Angels back home, defeating them in Game 6 of the ALCS. I was kind of hoping they'd go to Game 7, so the winner would only have one day off, they'd be nice and tired, and hopefully CC would not be available the first game or so. No such luck.

Nonetheless, destiny was fulfilled, and I will not have to hear those freakin' thunder sticks booming out of my TV any more.

So why do I say "destiny"?

If you're a regular reader of Jane Heller's Confessions of a She-Fan, you may recall an entry she wrote back in February, after consulting a tarot card reader on the fortunes of the Yankees this season. Here's an excerpt from the tarot card reader's comment clarifying the results of her reading:

... So, for all of you fans out there that would really like to see the Yankees win the championship, keep your thoughts and feelings positive and in this way we can co-create a resonant field of success that energetically supports their win. It's just quantum physics.

Patricia

By patriciadiorio@cox.net on February 9, 2009 4:50 AM

So Jane, does this mean that if Jenn and I concentrate hard enough, we can get the Phillies back to the WS? A Phillies-Yankees series would be cool!
Loved the article - it was really funny!
Sue

By mrsmudboy on February 9, 2009 3:58 PM

 

Glad you liked the article, Sue. Yes, we must concentrate and we will "manifest" our guys to victory! A Yankees-Phillies WS would work for me.

By Jane Heller on February 9, 2009 7:36 PM

 

The Phillies are headed to the World Series for the second straight year (yay!), and now await the conclusion of the ALCS to see who their opponent will be. The Angels rallied to beat the Yankees last night, forcing the series back to New York for at least Game 6. Personally, I am rooting for the Yankees.

Yes, it pains me to say this, as I've always professed to be a Yankee-hater. But I've come to realize that it wasn't so much the individual Yankees I disliked (except maybe A-Rod), but the whole concept of the Yankees. I mean, 26 (!) World Series championships? That's almost one-fourth of all the championships ever. The Phillies, on the other hand, have exactly two. So I guess it's more jealousy of all that success than hate - call me a Yankee-envier.

An all-East Coast WS would have the benefit of none of those late West Coast games. No worries about jet-lag affecting the Phillies players. Alas, no palm trees (because everything is better with palm trees), but I can overlook that.

In the meantime, since the World Series doesn't start until next Wednesday, I can b*tch and moan about one of my major peeves with postseason baseball - the starting times of the games and the length of the games.

Is there any reason that we have to wait until 8:07 to begin a night game? 7:05 is good enough the rest of the season. If MLB wants to attract and retain a new generation of fans, having games start that late and not end until almost midnight is not the way to do it.

Of the nine postseason games the Phillies have played so far, only three of them have finished in about 3 hours. Two of those were started by Cliff Lee (thank you, Cliff, for being so efficient). The other one was Game 2 of the NLCS, when Pedro Martinez and Vicente Padilla were both dazzling.

The other six games averaged 3 hours and 49 minutes in length, with two games going beyond 4 hours. This is well beyond the attention span of many young fans, and even a lot of adult ones. Maybe Lee could give the other starters some lessons on mound efficiency.

 

Every Girl Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man

Maybe ZZ Top could pull off some of the looks sported by TBS reporter Craig Sager during the NLCS, but I sure can't say I was crazy about them. See for yourself:

Game 1: OK, this one's not too bad, it's kinda reminiscent of one of HK's favorites, which hangs in the dugout during each game.

 

Game 2: Yikes! How did Ethier manage to keep a straight face while being interviewed? My 8-year-old daughter might think this is a good look - she thinks everything looks better if it's pink.

 

Game 3: Though it doesn't really show in this photo, on TV the jacket appeared to be velour or some similar material, and is a very dark purplish/eggplant color. Has Craig been raiding Liberace's closet?

 

Game 4: This one makes me think of a pumpkin. I guess he wanted to get in the holiday spirit, since the World Series will only be at Game 3 (!) on Halloween.

 

Game 5: Slightly less garish, but still on the loud side. And c'mon, Jayson, smile - you just clinched the NLCS!

Since I don't normally watch much sports on TBS, I don't know if this is the way he always dresses. I can only hope he's doing this on purpose, and doesn't actually think this is a good look. And what must his closet look like? Seeing all those jackets hanging side by side would be enough to make my eyeballs pop (or at least scorch my retinas).

Thank goodness the WS is not on TBS; I don't know if I can handle any more of these visual assaults!

Last night's NLCS Game 4 was just a little too stressful for my tastes. After jumping out to an early lead in the first inning via a Ryan Howard long ball (which I missed, by the way, while helping my young procrastinator finish a school project which was due today), the Phils' bats went silent as Randy Wolf found his groove for the next several innings.

Joe Blanton, on the other hand, started out strong, but then began to falter the second time through the Dodgers' lineup. The Dodgers took a 4-2 lead, and I began to resemble this:

Yep, I was giving some serious hairy eyeballs to the Dodgers, particularly when ManChild, oops I mean ManRam, was for once not "being Manny" in the outfield, as he ran in to make a shoestring catch on an Ibanez liner to end a Phillies scoring threat.

The Phils did manage to cut the margin to 4-3, but the Dodgers still held a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the ninth. But now it was payback time. Last Friday, it was the Phillies who blew the one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth to lose, 2-1, when their pitching began to unravel.

Jonathon Broxton, last night was your turn.

Broxton retired Ibanez for out number one. Matt Stairs came in to pinch hit, and worked a walk; Eric Bruntlett came in to pinch run. After Carlos Ruiz was hit by a pitch to put two men on base, Greg Dobbs came in to pinch hit and was retired on a humpback liner to third.

Two outs, I'm starting to imagine how bad my mood will be today.

Up to the plate comes Jimmy Rollins, who was only hitting .167 so far in the NLCS (not good, Jimmy). Miraculously, Jimmy smoked a liner to the gap in right to score both Bruntlett and Ruiz. Happiness ensued! I felt like doing this:

but unfortunately I don't live near a beach (must change that situation!).

In the postgame interview, Rollins looked like he was doing his best Etta James impersonation:

Love the look, Jimmy - I hope we see it again this season!

The Joy of the NLCS Schedule (she says sarcastically)

So why is it that during the regular season, teams can play eight, nine, even ten games in a row, but come the postseason, they can't seem to play more than two days in a row?? Why exactly do we need an off-day in the middle of the three games being played in Philadelphia? I'm sure it has something to do with TV and advertising revenues, but I don't like it.

The Joy of Technology

It seems that StubHub experienced an "email glitch", and accidentally sent messages to fans of the Mets that said,

"Be there alongside your New York Mets as they chase baseball immortality. Go to StubHub, where you'll find a fantastic selection of tickets to every playoff game -- so you experience the championship chase live and in person."

Hee hee! I wonder if there were any dimbulb Mets fans who got confused and actually tried to order tickets?

Apparently fans of a few other non-playoff teams also got erroneous messages (see full story here), but I always take secret glee in the travails of Mets fans. Sorry, but I can't help it :-).

Last night, the Phillies apparently put Friday's painful Game 2 loss out of their minds, and set about administering a good old-fashioned butt-whuppin' to the Dodgers, winning 11-0. Game 2 saw the Phils' bats stymied by former Phillie Vicente Padilla (gotta admit I didn't expect that), as they mustered only one run on Ryan Howard's solo homer. In Game 3, they exploded for 11 runs!

And I wasn't even wearing the lucky shirt! Mind you, it had been washed since Game 2, hopefully removing any bad luck remnants. But prior to the game, I'd been so busy helping my son with a school project, that I didn't even think about changing shirts. So I sat down to watch the game still wearing my Penn State sweatshirt, and my Eagles not-so-lucky garment that didn't do any good at all for them yesterday. And still the Phils won! So maybe I can just wear whatever I want for the rest of the series.

Random thoughts on Games 2 and 3:

- Talk about temperature extremes! Friday's game was played under bright blue skies with temps in the 90's; last night's game had mid-40's temps with windy conditions. Given my choice, I'd much rather the conditions in L.A., and besides, everything is better with palm trees!

- Cliff Lee once again pitched a gem for the Phillies, going eight shutout innings. So far this postseason, he is 2-0 with a miniscule 0.74 ERA.

- Pedro Martinez also pitched a gem on Friday, going seven shutout innings, but ended up with no decision in the 2-1 loss.

- Ryan Howard hit a two-run triple in the first inning last night. Now there's something you don't see every day, as Howard is obviously not known for his speed. Howard has now driven in at least one run in seven straight playoff games, setting a new record for a single postseason. Way to go, Ryan!

- Carlos Ruiz is quietly having a great postseason so far, hitting .429 with 7 RBIs. He doesn't get the same amount of attention as the rest of the lineup (except possibly Pedro Feliz), but he's been very productive batting in the number 8 spot.

The Nose Knows

Speaking of Pedro Feliz, not sure what was up with his nose last night, though I'm assuming this was a Band-aid, and not his attempt to impersonate Rudolph:

I would've assumed that there were products available for people with darker complexions, but surprisingly I can't find any such thing on the internet. But there are lots of fun products out there for more interesting situations.

Celebrate a birthday:

 

Let the other team know you're watching them:

 

Let the other team know you think they're toast:

 

And since Halloween will only bring Game 3 (yes, this year's postseason definitely goes too late into the fall) of the World Series:

Shocking TV Scheduling!

In a real surprise, the Yankees/Angels game is on at 4 pm here on the East Coast, and the Phillies/Dodgers game gets the prime time spot. What gives? Has the world tilted on its axis? Has hell frozen over? Steinbrenner wants to watch the Yankees and can't stay up that late anymore?

Whatever the reason, I'll be watching Game 4 tonight from the cozy comforts of home. If anyone has tickets they don't want to use, I'd be more than happy to brave the elements! ;-)

(Feliz photo by Mary Schwalm/MLB.com)

The lucky shirt's power continues. I almost forgot to put it on - we turned on the TV just as the game was beginning, and there it was lying nicely folded on my bed, next to all the other laundry currently being folded. I quickly changed and all was (eventually) right with the world.

The game was a nail-biter (metaphorically speaking, thankfully that is not one of my bad habits), but we did not have to resort to actually turning the TV off at any point.

I'm not going to recap the whole game - that info is out there elsewhere if you want it - but I will share some of my random thoughts from the game.

- Here we are in the entertainment capital of the world, and the best they can do for the National Anthem is Billy Ray Cyrus!?!? The guy best known at the moment as Hannah Montana's, um, I mean Miley Cyrus's dad? Why not at least have them do a duet? It's not like he's even a native of SoCal - wait, is anyone actually a native of SoCal? Hopefully this Kentucky native's heart wasn't too achy-breaky after the Dodgers dropped Game 1.

- At one point during the game, Russell Martin slipped while putting on the brakes after rounding third, and the announcer (not sure which one) mentioned that it had rained the day before. Rain in SoCal - hmm, I guess Albert Hammond lied to us when he sang that "It Never Rains In Southern California". Well, he is from London, so I guess he can be forgiven for not really knowing.

- Cole Hamels once again lost his composure on the mound, thowing his hands in the air after Rollins and Utley failed to turn an inning-ending double play. This allowed Manny Ramirez to come to the plate and deliver a two-run bomb. Come on Cole, get your head on straight!

- Speaking of Manny's bomb, is it ever a good idea to throw three straight change-ups, as Cole did to Manny in this at-bat? Isn't the whole point of a change-up that it is a different speed from the previous pitches? If you throw three in a row there is nothing for it to "change-up" from.

- I would love to sneak up behind ManRam with a big pair of scissors. Like the Biblical Samson, would he lose all his power if I cut off his hair?

- Is it just me, or does Chan Ho Park truly look like a "deer in the headlights" on the mound while looking in for the signs? Nonetheless, he looked great for having not pitched in almost a month. Way to go, Chan Ho! I'm sorry I doubted you earlier in the season.

- Choooooch! Rauuuuul! Are there two more fun names to say after a pair of three-run jacks? I think not.

- Lastly, we are still tortured with the announcers on TBS. Thankfully it is not the same crew as the NLDS (they were about as exciting as watching paint dry), but now I must listen to Buck Martinez, who inexplicably reminds me of the (fictional) announcer Jimmy Shorts from my son's MLB Slugfest 2003 game.

Game 2 starts in less than four hours, with Pedro Martinez taking the mound for the Phils against former Phil Vicente Padilla. Should be interesting, to say the least. The lucky shirt is ready.

 

...to keep the Phillies out of the NLCS! After a very stressful pair of games (for me, anyway) against the Rockies at tundra-like Coors Field, the Phillies have a repeat engagement with the Dodgers for the National League Championship.

I will admit to missing the end of Game 3. I just could not keep my eyes open, and around 1:30 or so, turned the TV off in the middle of the eighth inning with the score still tied. Sacrilege, I know. My husband was already snoring by this time, and I was not feeling terribly optimistic and did not want to stay up even later if they were going to lose.

Then, I dreamed that they had won the game. Imagine my delight to wake up the next morning and find out they really had!

Game 4 thankfully came on earlier, so I didn't have to worry about nodding off. The Phils took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning, but it looked like things were about to implode after the Rockies scored 3 runs in the bottom of the eighth. I couldn't bear to watch, so I again turned it off and proceeded to get the kids to bed.

Before settling down (glumly) to watch The Big Bang Theory - which is a really funny show, if you haven't seen it yet - I had a few extra minutes and decided to check to see if the game was over, and to my shock saw Ryan Howard driving in the tying runs!

Me (to husband who is coming down the steps): Oh my God, Ryan Howard just hit a two-run double to tie the game!

Him: You're kidding!

Me: No, I turned it on just in time to see it!

So of course we watched the rest of the ninth, saw Jayson Werth drive in the winning run and Brad Lidge get the final out, and went to bed happy that night.

The First Key to Victory

After many years of watching the Phillies, I've come to the realization that quite a few of their winning rallies coincide with my (or my husband's) act of turning the TV off. Maybe there is a connection! While it results in our missing a lot of the excitement, I'll try to stick with that plan for the NLCS.

The Second Key to Victory

L.A., meet my lucky shirt...

I realized that I was wearing this very shirt during all three Phillies victories (or at least the parts of them I was awake for), but not during the dreadful Cole Hamels debacle of Game 2. Where was it then, you ask? Well, it was (gasp!) in the laundry. I will not make that mistake again! I will only wash it on off days during the NLCS, which by the way, there are too many of, but that will lead me into a whole new rant.

Game 1 is tomorrow, so I better get started on that laundry!

[blogging note: You may have noticed a lack of entries from me since last week. That's because when I am very tense about the games, I have a tendency to think not very nice things about the other team. So as everybody's mom always said, "If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all." Hence my silence.]

They say that "hitting is timing".

According to Warren Spahn, "pitching is upsetting timing".

Thanks to Cole and Heidi Hamels, we now can surmise that "timing of wife going into labor is upsetting pitching". Cole was not sharp in yesterday's 5-4 loss to the Rockies, giving up four runs in five innings.

Ah yes, timing. Cole Hamels, who seems to already have his whole career planned out, was certainly not thinking ahead when he and Heidi decided to engage in some baby-making, presumable back in January. Would it have been that hard to realize that January plus nine months equals new baby smack in the middle of playoffs? Maybe he was assuming the Phillies wouldn't make it to the postseason?

(alright, yes that last paragraph was typed with tongue planted in cheek, but still...)

As for Baby Hamels, I haven't been able to find any confirmation this morning that the baby actually arrived. Nonetheless, congrats to the new parents.

Which leads me to wonder why Charlie even decided to have Cole start this game, if labor was that imminent. Sure, we can say that professional athletes should be able to set their personal lives aside while on the field, but who knows how much that might have affected his concentration?

And then there's Cole's abysmal record in day games this season: 0-6 with a 5.44 ERA. What's up with that? His performance in night games is markedly better, at 10-5 with a 3.95 ERA. No wonder he was whining to the press earlier this week about the ridiculous start times of Games 1 and 2.

So why not start Happ or Blanton? Okay, Happ had pitched two innings in the final regular season game on October 4th, but Blanton had last pitched on October 2nd. As it turned out, both Happ and Blanton were used out of the bullpen, so now the Phils have burned through three starters in one game.

That would seem to leave Pedro Martinez as the Game 3 starter, though Charlie has not yet made his decision, saying Blanton is still in the mix, according to phillies.com. Happ says he would be ready too, even though he took a liner off the leg yesterday from the first batter he faced.

Now the series moves to Denver, where the forecast for Game 3 includes temperatures in the 30's and snow showers (!). That's football weather, not baseball. At least I'll be watching from the cozy comfort of my home.

Some quick thoughts on yesterday's game, before I settle in to watch Game 2 on TV. No visual aids today.

The "August" version of Cliff Lee was in the park yesterday, going the distance as the Phils beat the Rockies 5-1. Thank goodness it wasn't "September" Lee that showed up! Today Cole Hamels takes the mound - let's hope we get "2008 Postseason" Cole, and not the inconsistent 2009 version.

Though it looked like a nice sunny day, the gusting, swirling winds made for some entertaining fielding. On one pop-up, the ball must have taken a U-turn while in flight, as Jimmy Rollins first ran out to short left, then abruptly ran back towards third base before making the catch. The wind also robbed Jayson Werth, and possibly Ryan Howard, of homers.

I can breathe a little easier with the Phillies victory yesterday, but if they can win today I will definitely feel more comfortable.

Speaking of TV, I despise the coverage by TBS. They seemed to be having some sort of technical difficulties yesterday, as the sound kept cutting out. I also have it on good authority from Jenn of Phillies Phollowers, who was there in person, that the crowd was REALLY LOUD. You would not have known that from the broadcast - the crowd sounds were buried in the mix, leaving the announcers all too easy to hear. Maybe I should try muting the TV and listening to the local radio broadcast :-).

The Phillies will face the Rockies in Game 1 of the NLDS on Wednesday afternoon. Quite frankly, I would rather see them face the Dodgers, but of course the recently-hot Rockies had to go and lose the final two games of the season to the Dodgers. Otherwise, the Rockies would have been the NL West champs, and the Dodgers would have been the wild-card team.

Of the four NL playoff teams, the Rockies seem to be the only one with any momentum. The Phillies, Dodgers, and Cardinals all seemed to go pretty flat after clinching their divisions. So I'd rather play against an equally flat team - despite winning the last two games, the Dodgers had lost 5 straight prior to that, while the Rockies had won 5 straight before the final two losses.

Also, if the Phillies were facing the Dodgers, we (hopefully) would not have this ridiculous 2:30-ish start time. The fans in the L.A. market don't want to watch a game that starts before their lunch! But I guess the powers-that-be must think that the Phillies-Rockies matchup is the least desirable, therefore we get the crappy start times.

Besides, the Rockies bring back unpleasant memories. I've only seen the Phillies play the Rockies in person twice, and both games had outcomes that I would prefer to forget.

The first time was in 2007, and the Rockies were in town on my birthday. So we went to the game. The Rockies' starter that night had an ERA hovering around 19 (!) at the time, which would seem to be a good thing, but that usually means the Phillies will make him look like the reincarnation of Cy Young.

After loading the bases with no outs in the top of the first, the Phillies managed to pull off a triple play, which was really cool, but things went downhill quickly from there. They ended up losing 12-0, in one of the most uninspired performances by a baseball team I have ever witnessed.

The second time was Game 2 of the NLDS later that same year. We managed to get standing-room tickets (which I will never do again - my feet were absolutely killing me by the end of the game), and this was our view:

Though the Phillies led briefly, for all purposes the game was over after the fourth inning, when Kyle Lohse gave up a grand slam to Kaz Matsui (!), not exactly a power hitter, who had hit a grand total of four home runs all season. The Rockies went on to sweep the Phillies in three games.

Which brings us to the present. The lineups are not the same, the Phillies now know what it's like to win in the postseason, but nonetheless I still have my doubts. Just the natural Philadelphia pessimism that seems to be impossible to get rid of.

I'll be watching on TV, back to holding my breath again, and hoping I can exhale happily later this week!

Yes, even though it was fairly certain that the Phillies would reach the postseason, I was somewhat holding my breath the past week or so, given the frequency of poor pitching, sloppy defense, and overall ineptitude that was on display. Yes, I am a pessimist about such things. I think it is genetically coded into all Philadelphia sports fans.

I also hadn't blogged in awhile. Frankly, I don't think well when I'm all tensed up.

So I have finally exhaled. Figuratively, not literally. If I'd actually been holding my breath for that long, I wouldn't be typing this right now, would I? Blood is flowing to my brain again.

The Phillies clinched, then had a big letdown game last night. Oh well. Now we just need to see who our first round opponent will be, the Dodgers or the Rockies. And since they play each other for the final series of the season, it should be interesting.

Introducing Flackmauer

As we are apparently among the minority who don't have Tivo or some such technology, there we were Wednesday night madly flicking back and forth between the ninth inning of the game, and the start of CSI:NY.

After the clinching and subsequent exhaling, my husband started flicking to the Twins/Tigers game during commercials. I was suddenly struck by the resemblance between Twins catcher Joe Mauer, and actor Eddie Cahill, who plays Detective Flack.

Let's see what happens if we put a Twins cap on Eddie:

Why, they could be...twins!

Eddie's even got the sideburns. Then again, a few years ago the Twins gave away Joe Mauer Sideburns as a promotion. Maybe Eddie was at the game that night, too.  

(Sports Illustrated photo)