World Series
Bad night in NY for the phillies
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 | MLB | No Comments
The Phillies had to take a bus back to their NY hotel last night after losing the game to the Yankees. To make things worse there are no fans around to make the team feel any better. Don’t know about you but I would not want to stay in NY after losing the World Series.
Maybe it isn’t over just yet?! Angels Prolong ALCS with Thrilling 7-6 Win over Yankees
Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Sports | No Comments
Talk about a gutsy performance – I was shocked (on so many different levels) to see the Angels defeat the Yankees 7-6 to push the ALCS back to the Bronx for Game 6 on Saturday night.
First: I could not believe how the Angels jumped out to a 4-0 lead before even recording their 1st out in the 1st inning. Torii Hunter’s big 2-run single seemed to relax the rest of the team and electrify the Angels fans. The place went nuts, and when Vladimir Guerrero and Kendry Morales got hits to drive in 2 more runs, I thought I was back on the east coast in Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium. That set the tone for what looked to be an easy Angels win.
Second: But then it all went wrong in the 7th inning. John Lackey, who had allowed just 5 hits to the Yankees through 6 innings, seemed to implode. After Lackey got the 1st out, he gave up a double to Melky Cabrera. Lackey thought he had struck out Jorge Posada, but the home plate umpire called the 3-2 pitch a ball – instead of man on 2nd 2 outs, it was now 1st and 2nd with just 1 out. Lackey lost all focus when he walked Derek Jeter to load the bases, and even after he got the 2nd out of the inning on a Johnny Damon fly out, Manager Mike Scioscia opted to go with a lefty reliever – Darren Oliver – to turn Mark Teixeira around to his “weaker” right side of the plate. Teixeira ended up delivering a 3-run double that cut the Angels lead to 1. After intentionally walking Alex Rodriguez, Oliver served up a Hideki Matsui run-scoring single that tied the game at 4. The Angels still had a chance to get out of the inning all even, but another Scioscia move backfired when K Jepsen gave up a rocket triple to Robinson Cano that brought home 2 runs to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. You could have heard a pin drop in the stadium as the Yankees players were going nuts in their dugout. Game over, right? No way the Angels could rebound from this disaster – they would go quietly with their final 9 outs and the Yankees would advance to yet another World Series to take on the Philadelphia Phillies who had already disposed of the Los Angeles Dodgers in ho-hum 5-game NLCS for the 2nd year in a row.
Third: A.J. Burnett has settled down after his awful 1st inning, but he let 2 Angels reach base to start the bottom of the 7th inning, and it was Manager Joe Girardi’s turn to remove his starter for a bad reliever. Damaso Marte gave up a sacrifice to Chone Figgins and then got Bobby Abreu to ground out for the 2nd run of the inning. The Angels scored a run to cut the lead to 6-5, but there 2 outs and Phil Hughes could get that final out for the Yankees. Think again… Hughes promptly walked Torii Hunter to put the go-ahead run on base. Then he gave up Vladimir Guerrero’s game-tying single that scored Erick Aybar. Kendry Morales then drove in Hunter with the go-ahead run to give the Angels a 7-6 lead, but would it be enough.
Fourth: Brian Fuentes had blown a save before in the series – on A-Rod’s solo home run way back in the 11th inning of Game 2 that the Yankees ultimately won in 13 innings. Fuentes had to go through the heart of the Yankees order 2-3-4 to record the save. But the baseball gods wouldn’t let the Angels get this far just to have Fuentes blow it, would they?! Well Fuentes sure made it interesting, even after he recorded the 1st 2 outs of the inning. Fuentes then intentionally walked A-Rod – great move Scioscia (seriously!) – but then he walked Matsui and hit Cano to load the bases. What in the hell is going on here? Here we go again – another come-from-behind win for the Yankees as we are forced to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver get all goo-goo over how good the Yankees are at erasing leads late in games. But my prayers were answered – Fuentes got Nick Swisher to pop out to left field and the Angels lived to see another day.
And I get another day (2 actually) to hope that the Yankees somehow blow this 3 games to 1 lead over the Angels to let the Angels battle the Phillies in the 2009 World Series. Gotta love October baseball…
We have our MLB playoff line up
Thursday, October 1st, 2009 | MLB | No Comments
Oct is here so that means its playoff and World Series time. We have the lineup of all the teams in it for 2009.
For the American League we have
Minnesota Twins at the New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox at the Los Angeles Angels
For the National League we have
St. Louis Cardinals at the LA Dodgers
Colorado Rockies at the Philadelphia Phillies
You can click on any of the teams to see the full schedule for the 2009 playoffs.
Phillies Win World Series
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in World Series Game 5 to capture the World Series crown. It was the first World Series win for the Phillies since 1980. The teams were finally able to resume Game 5 48 hours after it started on Monday, October 27th. Game 5 had been suspended because of inclement weather with the score tied at 2 in the middle of the 6th inning. The resumption of the game got off with a bang as Geoff Jenkins pinch-hit for Cole Hamels and delivered a lead-off double to right center field. Jimmy Rollins sacrificed Jenkins to 3rd base and Jayson Werth drove in Jenkins with the go-ahead run with a bloop single to shallow center field that Akinori Iwamura could not hold onto. The Rays prevented further damage in the bottom of the 6th inning by getting out the Phillies 2 best hitters – Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
The Rays struck right back in the top of the 7th inning. After reliever Ryan Madsen struck out Dioner Navarro to lead off the inning, Rays right fielder crushed a Madsen pitch deep to left field for a solo home run that tied the game at 3. After a single by Jason Bartlett and a sacrifice by the pitcher J.P. Howell that moved Bartlett to 3rd base, Chase Utley made a great fielding play to stave off anymore Rays runs. Iwamura hit an infield single behind the 2nd base bag, and instead of throwing an off-balance throw to 1st base to try to get the speedy Iwamura, Utley held onto the ball. Once Utley saw Bartlett round 3rd base and head for home, Utley made a perfect skip throw to the plate where Ruiz tagged out Bartlett to the end the threat and keep the score tied at 3.
The Phillies took advantage of the momentum swing when Pat Burrell led off the bottom of the 7th inning with a long double to deep left center field. Burrell thought he had hit it out of the park and was leisurely jogging around 1st base while he admired his swing. But the ball ventured more to center field than to left field where the outfield wall is 10 feet higher, and the ball hit the top of the wall and bounced back into the field of play. If Burrell had been hustling from the start, he may have had a triple, so with Burrell at 2nd base, Manager Charlie Manuel elected to pinch-run for the power-hitting Burrell. The move paid off as Shane Victorino moved the pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett over to 3rd base on a groundout to the right side and Pedro Feliz drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single to center field.
Now all the Phillies needed to do was record 6 more outs. After Carl Crawford singled to lead off the 8th inning, Phillies reliever J.C. Romero induced a B.J. Upton double-play groundout and then a Carlos Pena flyout to left field. The Phillies brought in Closer Brad Lidge to start the 9th inning. Brad Lidge had been perfect all season long – 47 saves in 47 save opportunities. But Lidge is most-often remembered for giving up a monster Grand Slam to Albert Pujols in Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS that forced the Astros to go back to St. Louis to win 1 more game on the road to advance to the 2005 World Series. And although the Houston Astros did win that Game 6 in St. Louis, the Astros were swept in the World Series by the Chicago White Sox and Lidge’s career turned south following confidence problems that he couldn’t shake for the last 2 years.
So here we were – Lidge had all the weight of the city of Philadelphia on his shoulders, and he didn’t disappoint. He got the all-important 1st out on an Evan Longoria pop out to shallow center field. Dioner Navarro singled and pinch-runner Fernando Perez stole 2nd base, giving the Rays a golden scoring chance with a man on 2nd base with only 1 out. In an interesting move, Rays Manager Joe Maddon elected to pinch-hit Ben Zobrist for Rocco Baldelli to get the righty-lefty match-up (Maddon had let the right-handed hitting Baldelli hit against right-handed throwing Madsen in the 7th inning and Baldelli came through with the game-tying home run). Lidge got Zobrist to line out to right field and then he closed out the magical night by striking out pinch-hitter Eric Hinske on 3 pitches to preserve the World Series win.
J.C. Romero picked up the win – his 2nd win of the World Series. Brad Lidge picked up the save – his 2nd save of the World Series. Cole Hamels was named the World Series MVP, going 1-0 in 2 starts and keeping the Rays hot hitters in check in each start.
After that final pitch, Lidge fell down to his knees with his arms outstretched in celebration. Catcher Ruiz ran out to celebrate with him. And then the real party was on – with towel-waving fans going berserk as they experienced the joy of a World Series Championship for the city of Philadelphia.
World Series Postponed Again
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
Because of continued inclement weather again in the Philadelphia area, MLB has postponed the resumption of World Series Game 5 until Wednesday, October 29th at 8:35 PM EST. The forecast for Wednesday still calls for rain and possible snow showers, but MLB thinks they will be able to get the final 3 1/2 innings (or more) in at some point during the night on Wednesday.
The Phillies lead the World Series 3-1 and can clinch a World Series title with a win in Game 5. The game was suspended in the middle of the 6th inning on Monday night with the game tied at 2. Grant Balfour is in the game as the pitcher for the Rays. Cole Hamels is scheduled to lead off the bottom of the 6th inning, but will definitely be replaced with a pinch hitter.
If the Phillies win, it will bring the 1st World Series Championship to Philadelphia in 28 years. If the Rays win, World Series Game 6 will be played on Thursday, October 30th, with a potential Game 7 slated for Halloween Night, Friday, October 31st. The coaches have announced likely Game 6 starters as Bret Myers for the Phillies and James Shields for the Rays. If there is a Game 7, the Phillies would reap the benefits of the Tuesday night suspension by having Cole Hamels available to pitch on 3 days rest. In Game 5, Hamels only needed 75 pitches to get through 6 innings of work before the game was suspended and would be fairly well-rested for a start on Friday night.
Major League Mess, Dictator Selig Suspends World Series Game 5
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
Bud Selig found himself in a Major League mess during Game 5 of the World Series at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia. The Phillies led the series 3-1, and had their ace on the mound for what could have been the deciding game in the 2008 World Series. The weather forecast for Monday (the scheduled date for Game 5) and Tuesday (a scheduled off-day) was not good, but the powers that be thought there was enough of a window to get World Series Game 5 in on Monday night. We would either have a World Series Champion or we would be heading back to cowbell land for Game 6 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. By the end of a raw, wet, dangerous night, we had neither.
The umpires and MLB called the game in the middle of the 6th inning, just after the Rays’ Carlos Pena got only his second hit of the World Series – maybe the most important hit of his young career. That hit tied the game at 2, and took a lot of pressure off of MLB’s Commissioner, Bud Selig. You see, little did we know that Dictator Selig had altered the MLB landscape by usurping complete authority over World Series competition. Following the suspension, Dictator Selig announced that there would never be a World Series Game that did not go the full 9 innings under his seemingly endless watch. Now under “regular season rules”, once 4 1/2 innings are played, if the home team is winning and a game is delayed because of inclement weather and ultimately not able to be completed, the home team is awarded a victory. Nowhere in the MLB rulebook does it state that post-season games or World Series games are to be treated any differently. So how does Dictator Selig make the determination that there won’t be any non-9-inning World Series games under his watch? I don’t know.
Now as a baseball fan, I didn’t want to see a World Series Game end after 5 1/2 innings either. Especially with Game 5 being an elimination game, it would have been a shame to see the Phillies win the 2008 World Series with a close 2-1 victory in Game 5 where the Rays only had 18 outs instead of the normal 27. But the rules are the rules and if Dictator Selig and MLB intended for all World Series games to go the full 9 innings no matter what (even if it meant suspending play and picking up where the teams left off on the following day), then Dictator Selig should have proposed the rule change during the off-season, obtained the necessary ownership approval and announced the new rule to the media and the fans. Selig’s authoritative mantra and unilateral decision flies right in the face of baseball and the legends who played the game well before Selig became King. This is not the first time Dictator Selig has shown blatant disrespect for the game. Selig intentionally ignored baseball’s rampant steroids use, turning a blind eye to the abuse so that the fans would come out to see McGwire and Sosa chase Aaron’s home run record. We saw a glimpse of Dictator Selig when he unilaterally called for the 2002 All-Star Game to end in a tie after 9 innings had been played to protect the players from unwanted injury. While respected entrepreneur Mark Cuban is still in the hunt to buy the Chicago Cubs because he has offered one of the highest bids, rumors abound that Dictator Selig and his “old-boys” network will never allow Cuban to be an owner of an MLB team because he isn’t of the right “pedigree”. And last night, Dictator Selig and the umpires allowed the players to risk injury all night long in the wet, sloppy, dangerous field conditions, simply because the Phillies had taken that 2-0 lead in the 1st inning, and still held onto that slim 2-1 lead after 4 1/2 innings had been played. Dictator Selig and his cohorts finally got the lucky break they needed in the 6th inning, when Carlos Pena drove in B.J. Upton to tie the game at 2. Now Selig could suspend the tie game and announce his edict that no World Series game would end until all 9 innings had been played. With the game tied at 2-2, that outcome was obvious, but if the game had still been 2-1 during the middle of the 6th inning, it would have been interesting to see what Dictator Selig would have ruled.
Given the weather forecast, World Series Game 5 probably should not have been played in the first place. Once started, however, the game should have been played according to the current MLB rules in place. Selig and the umpires should have called the game prior to the top of the 5th inning – given that it did not appear likely that the rain would stop at any point soon – to avoid any controversy. Or if the game had been delayed (and ultimately suspended) during the middle of the 5th inning, the Phillies should have been declared the World Series Champions with the rain-shortened Game 5 victory. I’m sure Phillies fans would have welcomed their first World Series Championship in 25 years regardless of the circumstances.
As for the “game” itself, it was hard to analyze the play on the field given the poor conditions the players faced. Cold, raw weather, driving rain – it was not a night meant for baseball. The Phillies sent 8 men to the plate in the 1st inning, scoring on Shane Victorino’s 2-RBI single to take a 2-0 lead off Scott Kazmir. The Rays cut the lead in half on an RBI single by Evan Longoria in the 4th inning that scored Carlos Pena. Going into that inning, Pena and Longoria were hitless for the entire series. Then as the rain continued to pour down, we had the Carlos Pena 6th inning drama that tied the game at 2. Cole Hamels was as good as it gets again – 6 innings, only 75 pitches, 2 earned runs, 5 hits and 3 strikeouts. It doesn’t get much better than that and he probably could have gone another 2-3 innings if not for the rain. Kazmir did not have his best stuff, but he kept his team in it until the suspension. Kazmir struck out 5, but he gave up 4 hits and walked 6 in only 4 innings of work.
The resumption of World Series Game 5 – weather permitting – will occur tonight at 8:35PM EST. Stay tuned for more drama – hopefully the teams will be able to clean up the mess created by Dictator Selig.
Hamels, Phils Set To Bring World Series Title to Philly
Monday, October 27th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
The Philadelphia Phillies are 1 game away from bringing the 2nd World Series title to the city of brotherly love. The Philadelphia Phillies lead the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in the World Series and will send ace Cole Hamels to the mound to finish off the job and bring home the first World Series Championship to Philadelphia in 28 years. 42 teams have led 3 games to 1 in the World Series, and 36 of those teams have gone on to win the Championship. After losing World Series in 1983 and 1993, however, Phillies fans aren’t taking anything for granted.
Cole Hamels has been as close to perfect as you can expect during the 2008 post-season. Hamels has gone at least 7 innings in each of his 4 post-season starts this year. He has not given up more than 6 hits or 2 earned runs in any of those starts. He beat the Rays 3-2 in World Series Game 1, striking out 5 while only walking 2 Rays’ batters. Hamels will go up against the Game 1 loser Scott Kazmir. Kazmir did not have the best command of his pitches in Game 1, but was able to work out of jams to keep the Rays in the game. Kazmir gave up 6 hits and 4 walks in only 6 innings of work, but yielded only 3 earned runs. His performance made it possible for the Rays to work a comeback, but the Phillies pitching was just too good.
If the Rays have any chance in Game 5, Kazmir will have to be at the top of his game. The Phillies’ bats exploded for 12 hits and 10 runs in World Series Game 4. Ryan Howard blasted his first 2 home runs of the World Series and Jayson Werth and Joe Blanton also hit home runs. The Phillies’ batters were also patient at the plate, drawing a total of 5 walks from 4 Rays’ pitchers. Kazmir will have to keep the Phillies’ batter off-balance and utilize his off-speed pitches to keep Howard and the rest of the wrecking crew in the ballpark.
At this point, it will be hard to imagine this Series going back to the cowbell heaven of Tropicana Field, but anything is possible. All season long, when critics started to write off the young, upstart Rays, that’s when they would go off on one of their long winning streaks. It would take an almost-perfect performance from both the Rays’ batters and pitchers in order to pull off the improbable, but that’s why they play the games. Hamels took home the NLCS MVP honors for his 2 victories against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and I’m thinking adds the World Series MVP trophy to his mantel with his 2nd win over the Rays tonight.
Phils Crush Rays 10-2, 1 Game Away From World Series Championship
Monday, October 27th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
The Philadelphia Phillies crushed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-2 in World Series Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the World Series. Phillies starter Joe Blanton limited the Rays to only 4 hits and 2 earned runs on 2 harmless solo home runs by Eric Hinske and Carl Crawford to earn the victory. Blanton pitched 6 strong innings, striking out 7 and walking only 2 Rays batters. Phillies relievers Chad Durbin, Scott Eyre, Ryan Madsen and J.C. Romero pitched the final 3 innings, allowing only 1 hit and striking out 5. The lethal pitching combination shut down one of baseball’s best hitting lineups and put the Phils in a great position to close out the World Series at home at Citizens Bank Ballpark on Monday, October 27th.
The Phillies bats finally came to life, making it all that much more difficult for the Rays to mount any sort of comeback. The Phils took a 1-0 first inning lead on a walk to Pat Burrell with the bases loaded. Pedro Feliz’s RBI single in the 3rd inning increased the lead to 2-0. The final 10 runs of the game (2 for the Rays) came courtesy of the long ball. Ryan Howard crushed a 3-run home run to deep left field in the 4th inning which put the Phils up for good with a 5-1 lead. After Blanton served up an Eric Hinske solo home run in the top of the 5th inning, he helped his own cause in the bottom of the inning with a monster shot to deep left field. The Phillies put the game out of reach for good in the 8th inning – Jayson Werth drove in Jimmy Rollins with a deep home run to left field, and then Ryan Howard hit his 2nd home run of the game – a 2-run shot to deep right field that scored Chase Utley. That closed out the scoring and put the Phillies up 10-2.
The Rays pitching was atrocious on Sunday night – 8 earned runs; 12 hits, 4 home runs, 5 walks and only 4 strikeouts. The Rays defense hasn’t helped either – they have now committed an errors in each World Series game and have a total of 5 errors for the series. The hot bats have also deserted the Rays – Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are a combined 0 for 29 in the series. Only one regular is hitting above .300 for the series – catcher Dioner Navarro.
Things do not look good for the Rays – with Phillies ace Cole Hamels set to start World Series Game 5 on full days’ rest. Things don’t look good for my predictions either:
Rays in 7 – not gonna happen.
B.J. Upton MVP – his .250 average doesn’t help and unless he hits several home runs and leads the team in a comeback World Series win, it’s not gonna happen.
Cole Hamels – winning both of his starts – looks good right now and I like his match-up tonight. The Rays have their backs up against the walls, it will be a cool night in Philadelphia and the Rays’ youngsters will be playing tight.
At least we won’t have to hear anymore cowbell – hooray for that!
Phils, Rays – World Series Game 4 Battle
Sunday, October 26th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
On Saturday, October 25th, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in World Series Game 3 to take a 2-1 advantage over the Rays. Game 4 is set for 8:07 PM EST on Sunday, October 26th. The Rays have their backs up to the wall. If they lose Game 4, they will have to face the Phillies ace Cole Hamels on his home turf at Citizens Bank Ballpark in an elimination game on Monday, October 27th. The Rays will send Andy Sonnanstine to the mound in Game 4. Sonnanstine has won both of his 2008 post-season starts – over the White Sox and Red Sox – and has only allowed 5 earned runs combined in both starts. The Phillies will counter with Joe Blanton. Blanton has only allowed 4 earned runs in his 11 innings of 2008 post-season work. He defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the decisive Game 4 of the NLDS, but took a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his only NLCS start. If ever there was a pivotal game to a series, this would be it. Let’s see if the Rays bats can come back to life – thereby tying the series at 2 and forcing a return to St. Petersburg, where everyone will be happy to be able to hear those crazy cowbells for at least one more time in 2008.
Phils Top Rays 5-4, Lead Series 2 Games To 1
Sunday, October 26th, 2008 | MLB, Sports | No Comments
The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in World Series Game 3 to take a 2-1 advantage and maintain home field advantage. If the Phillies can win the next 2 games at Citizens Bank Ballpark, the Phillies will bring the 1st World Series Championship to Philadelphia in 25 years. After blowing an early 4-1 lead, the needed some quirky plays in the 9th inning to secure the 5-4 win. In the 9th inning, Eric Bruntlett led off with a walk. Bruntlett went to 3rd base when Rays reliever Grant Balfour threw a wild pitch that caromed back to Catcher Dioner Navarro. Navarro’s throw to 2nd base sailed into center field, and Bruntlett was able to take 3rd base on the error. The Rays then walked Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs, bringing up Carlos Ruiz who was hoping to make up for his throwing error in the 8th inning that allowed the Rays to tie the game. Ruiz hit a slow dribbler up the 3rd base line that Evan Longoria tried to flip to home plate to force Bruntlett out, but his throw was not in time, and the Ruiz ended the game with his “perfectly placed” single.
After the Phillies took a 1st inning lead on an RBI groundout by Chase Utley, the Rays tied the game in the top of the 2nd inning with a sacrifice fly by Gabe Gross. Carlos Ruiz gave the Phils a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to deep left. The Phils extended the lead to 4-1 in the 6th inning with back-to-back home runs by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. The Rays didn’t go down without a fight however, scoring on RBI ground outs by Gabe Gross and Jason Bartlett in the 7th inning to cut the lead to 4-3. In the 8th inning, B.J. Upton led off with a single and stole second base with 1 out. Upton then stole second base and was able to score the tying run on Ruiz’s throwing error to 3rd base. Then came the 9th inning craziness.
Both starting pitchers kept their teams in the game that was delayed at the start by 90 minutes because of rain. The Rays Matt Garza pitched 6 innings giving up 4 earned runs on 6 hits, while striking out 7. The Phils Jamie Moyer pitched into the 7th inning giving up only 3 earned runs on 5 hits, while striking out 5. Each team’s bull pen gave up 1 run.
It was an exciting game if you were a disinterested baseball fan. Each team played well and each team had chances to register big innings. But the pitchers really buckled down all game long to keep within striking distance of the other team. The Phillies are in a great position right now. If the Phillies can win Game 4 on Sunday night, they will have Cole Hamels pitching on 4 days rest in Game 5 of the World Series, looking to bring that elusive World Series Championship home to the city of brotherly love.
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