BALLPARK BANTER RELOCATION

Ballpark Banter has moved to FoxSports.com. 

Please refer to the following address:

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/tm4000

Thank You.

Before we put this thing to bed...

... a few thoughts to end the year:

* The Philadelphia Phillies are a deserving champion, and at a time when weather reports and economic woes dominated news headlines, the Phillies gave us a reason to watch the World Series and a reason to be intrigued by the game. They have been a club of tough achievers and undying believers. The Phillies began to change the landscape of the NL East last season by chasing down the New York Mets and stealing the division title in the last two weeks. That magnificent run was capped by a swift sweep at the hands of the National League Champion Colorado Rockies. This year was to be different, they said in spring training. Jimmy Rollins still believed the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East and Brett Myers said, "Why not us?" when asked whether or not they could win it all. That attitude has been evident throughout the entire season, and it just happened that the rest of the country was able to see seven months of hope come to fruition on a national stage.

This team was so much fun to watch because of the stories and the non-star players involved. Brad Lidge is a star, but he has been under fire and reconstruction ever since the 2005 playoffs when he pitched for the Houston Astros. Many lost belief, but luckily for Philadelphia, General Manager Pat Gillick wasn't one of them. Gillick traded for Lidge in the offseason and the man responded with a perfect season. Forty-eight save opportunities and forty-eight of them converted, with none bigger than the final one on Wednesday evening that ended with a 0-2 slider to Eric Hinske, sending Lidge to his knees, catcher Carlos Ruiz to the mound, and Citizens Bank Park into Happy Holidays. 

The bullpen wasn't all about Mr. Lidge in the ninth inning. Ryan Madson came on in the second half of the season to be the primary set-up man, dominating the eighth inning and sometimes part of the seventh. Madson has great stuff but he struggled in the first half of the season until a veteran Phillies teammate sat him down after a poor outing against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and told him to simply forget it and keep moving forward and keeping believing in his abilities. That was the common denominator on this club. Belief. Madson took the words to heart and now looks ahead to 2009 where he will be a big-time fixture in that bullpen.

J.C. Romero was a lefty picked from the scraps last season. After being released in June by the Boston Red Sox, the Phillies signed him days later and added him to the pen for the final three months of the season. He performed well enough to be asked back this season. For a guy that couldn't seem to fit in with the Red Sox or with the Angels before that, he put on the red pinstripes in Philadelphia and turned into a dominating southpaw. Romero pitched 59 innings in the regular season in 2008, posting a 2.75 ERA with 52 strikeouts. Romero was a valuable piece for the Phillies heading into the post season, but I don't think Charlie Manuel really knew how valuable he would be. Romero was the man to face Prince Fielder in Milwaukee, Andre Ethier and James Loney in L.A., and Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena in Tampa Bay. For a man in his ninth big league season and beginning to bounce around teams, Romero proved to be a remarkably uplifting story this October. Romero was a force in the World Series, pitching 4 2/3 innings with a 0.00 ERA with as many wins as hits given up (2). 

We got to see a group of veterans win a ring with their final days of baseball upon us. Who knows how many more times Jamie Moyer, Matt Stairs, and Geoff Jenkins are going to put on a baseball uniform, but if they decide this is it, they couldn't have ended great careers in a more fantastic fashion. We know Stairs will be able to hit a fastball until the day he decides he is a just a little bored with it; we know Moyer will be able to bait hitters into chasing his pitches until his kids grow tired of playing wiffleball with him in the backyard; we know Jenkins is going to grind through productive at-bats until he says it's time to go home and travel -- how great was that at-bat he had to begin the bottom of the sixth against Tampa's Grant Balfour?

It was refreshing to watch Shane Victorino pester pitchers at the plate and stalk fly balls from center field. The "Flyin' Hawaiian" gave us an October of energy and relentless attitude, attributes that too many players lack and too many clubs need. I can only think of the good a guy or two like that would do for a club like the Yankees. Victorino, I used to think, was 'purely Philadelphia'. But come to think of it, what Victorino is is 'purely baseball'. He is an ambassador of the game and a true sports figure, the type of player that I would pay to go watch play. We all love watching stars, but I would rather watch a pure ballplayer. 

When I think of Pat Burrell, I think of Scott Rolen and Curt Schilling and The Vet. Why? Because both of those men were his teammates at some point, even if he didn't play a full season with Schilling, and the steaming hot summers spent boiling on that green cement called "astroturf" in Veteran's Stadium was where Burrell made his name in Philadelphia. Burrell has been the face of this franchise along with Jimmy Rollins for the entire decade, and yet he has been the target of the Philly wrath in the past couple of seasons. The city cried for his walking papers in 2007 until he responded with 33 home runs this season, lending a big hand to a struggling Ryan Howard in much of the second half.

Burrell now becomes a free agent and may not be back in Philadelphia next season, but he can be on the short list of people thanked for bringing the Phillies first championship since 1980. Burrell did not have a great Series, but his lone hit was arguably the biggest hit of the season -- Pedro Feliz may have something to say about that. Burrell led off the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 5 with a deep double to left center, and Eric Bruntlett came around to score his run (after pinch running for him), which ended up being the Series-clinching run.

* What is the career defining moment for a player? Or, in some cases, is it a collection of moments? This is a question that I ponder when looking back on great careers or projecting the future of young stars when they accomplish something magnificent, if only because it is a fun question to kick around with some friends. This World Series gave us career-defining moments for four players -- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels. Of course, this championship is much bigger for the city of Philadelphia and for the Phillies organization than it is for any one player, but when the playing days of these four men are done, this could be the summit of their days as a ballplayer. And that's pretty special to witness.

It feels like Rollins has been running around the Philly infield for over a decade with all of his accomplishments and sound bites, but Rollins came up in 2000 with the Phillies and he won't be turning 30 until next month. Rollins seems older and plays older, but he is in the prime of his career and should remain with the Phillies throughout his career. He is a franchise player that would look odd in another uniform. The man has put so much heart and soul into the game and to sticking with losing Phillies' teams and bickering crowds that it feels like this is his sending-off moment. Except for the fact that he should have at least another five good seasons left in him. Rollins may have another chance at a ring, but it is very likely that this will be his only opportunity, and how fulfilling it must be. He can come to spring training in 2009 being the laughing, energetic guy that he is and prepare for another long haul without the weight of winning a championship before he retires on his back. This sense of relief may end up just making him a better player for the next handful of seasons. We'll see.

Utley is in almost the exact same position as Rollins, except for the fact that he debuted in the big leagues three years later than Rollins did. Utley will turn 30 this December and he appears to be only getting better. His prime is now, but he is the type of player that will remain in his prime longer due to the great shape he keeps himself in and his style of play. What do you say about a guy that can do it all, on and off the field? Utley is a better defender than he gets credit for. He makes the routine play and has better range to his right than I initially thought. The thing about Utley is that he is all business on the field, but that doesn't mean he isn't loose and having fun. I haven't witnessed a player more in tune with his "role" and his job than Utley. He hit two home runs in the World Series, but we saw him hit at least that many ground balls to the right side with a runner on second and no outs. He does more things to win than simply the numbers that show up in the box score. It's nice to see the consummate professional experience what it's like to be a champion.

Ryan Howard appears to be a young pup because his first full season in the big leagues wasn't until 2005, and he therefore hasn't reached free agency yet. But Howard will be 29 years old in November and his best years are now. Howard is one of the game's premier sluggers and will continue to be so into his mid-thirties. Howard has two years of arbitration left that will keep him in Philadelphia, but he is a prime candidate to land somewhere else via trade or free agency and get a crack at more titles with another club. That's the business side of baseball. What defines Howard about this championship is that he takes the leap from "young star" to "veteran". He is a leader on the Phillies and will be looked at as a leader on the next club that he plays for given his pedigree and sudden October success. 

The oddball in this group is Cole Hamels. Hamels is only 24 years old and it is rare to be this good this young and be nothing less than The Man on a championship club. With his outstanding performance this post season and with 'World Champion' now tied to his name, Hamels is no longer a rising stud. He has taken the leap to superstar and now will be talked about in the category of the elite pitcher's and he will be viewed as part of the face of baseball. He should have plenty of more chances to reach this level again as the only thing that is stopping him from pitching until he is 40 is injury. More than anything, though, Hamels remained his So Cal self when thrown into the fire of raging Philadelphia. It was fun to watch.

* This is to Charlie Manuel and the job he did given the circumstances in Philly. Manuel has been a fine manager since coming to this club, but due to the Phillies recent inability to claim the NL East title and advance in the playoffs, the fans grew tired and began heckling The Virginian Grandfather and demanding the Phillies find a new skipper. Even this season, Manuel was hearing the boo birds and the jeers. But give it up to him. Manuel kept his head in the dugout and on his ballclub, continuing to keep them moving forward and pushing to win. That was all before Manuel lost his mother a couple of weeks ago.

It wasn't enough that Manuel was facing the biggest challenge, and the most exciting moment, of his managing career. He had never been this deep in the playoffs, or this closer to a World Series title. And then real life happens. But Manuel didn't make excuses, and God knows he didn't leave the dugout. He believed his mother would want him to stay with his club, to go after what every man who dons a uniform dreams of: a World Championship. So he did. Citizens Bank Park erupted with cheers as Manuel stepped to the microphone after clinching Game 5 to thank the fans and the city for sticking with the team and sticking with him as they carried along their October quest. Funny how it goes sometimes. That speech should have been the other way around. The city wouldn't have this without Manuel. 

* We can't wrap up the World Series without giving a nod to the Tampa Bay Rays and the season that they had. It was nice to see a manager "get it". A real man understand baseball and the role it plays in life. Joe Maddon applauded his players after the game and thanked them for everything they gave this season. He couldn't have been prouder of them. But not only did Maddon understand how far they have come on the baseball field, he acknowledged how much they grew as men as well. This was a club of inexperienced kids who became slightly experienced adults over the course of the last seven months. This was a clubhouse of newcomers in March who became poised public figures by October. 

Nobody expected the Rays to do what they did this season. Nobody expected them to win the AL East division that has been held hostage by the Yankees and Red Sox. The talent has been accumulating in Tampa and we knew this day was coming. But maybe in 2009, or more likely in 2010. But 2008? Most would have said you were crazy. But they did it. They won the division, they buried the White Sox, and they snatched the AL pennant from the defending World Champion Red Sox. A nice year's work for a club expected to finish fourth. It is never easy to come this far and go home with as much bling as you had entering it, but this season will benefit this club for the next four or five years to come.

The future couldn't be brighter in Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton are going to be forces for a full season in 2009, and Carlos Pena should continue to improve. Dioner Navarro became an All-Star catcher under the eye of Maddon, and he played a monumental role in the transformation of this pitching staff. Carl Crawford will continue to be the Oldest 27 Year Old I have ever seen due to his "veteran" role on a club full of graduate-school aged kids. David Price is expected to step into the starting rotation next spring and join Scott Kazmir and James Shield and Matt Garza to make the Rays the only club in baseball with four Number One starters in the same rotation. The Rays can add another run producer to the mix, most likely a left-handed hitting outfielder, and they can add another piece to the back end of the bullpen. But, even after this post season run, they are still the Rays and will have to continue to be creative with their payroll. Those issues will be handled in the coming weeks and months. Now it is time for them to rest and be thankful for the unexpected experience of a lifetime.

With that, we put the 2008 baseball season to rest. This has been one of the most satisfying and thrilling seasons from start to finish in recent memory. So many great stories. 

Ballpark Banter will take a few days off to regroup and decide how to spend the rainy days until pitchers and catchers report. We will then be back to kickoff the "hot stove" season and have more baseball talk throughout the winter. See you in November. 

Philly left in winter wonder

We have breaking news out of Philadelphia this morning. Game 5 of the World Series that was suspended in the sixth inning on Monday evening and was scheduled to resume tonight at 8 PM Eastern time has now been rescheduled and moved to Wednesday night due to inclement weather. First pitch is expected to be thrown Wednesday evening at 8:37 PM EST, weather permitting of course. So that brings us here, a long day of chilly gridlock and diamond-shaped slip and slides.

The rain is continuing to fall and there are reports of possible snow fall at Citizens Bank Park today, making tomorrow's start time hardly brighter. Whether play resumes Wednesday or not, we will have to wait and see, but Commissioner Bud Selig has said that both teams will remain in the Philadelphia area and this game will be finished, regardless of the ramifications regarding the previously scheduled ball games. The Rays need to win Game 5 in order to take this series back home to Florida. There are plenty of angry people and plenty of happy people alike, and the newest management malfunction has been char-broiled on sports talk radio today.

Bud Selig just simply can't escape controversy, it seems to me. It wasn't his fault that both clubs ran out if pitchers in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee and an unpopular decision had to be made in order to protect the health of the players and the best interests of the organizations that those players represented. The Mitchell Report and  the steroid scandal business was partially his fault as the Commissioner of the league, but it certainly wasn't only his fault. And now when all the man wants is to put on a great World Series, he gets this. Rain, rain, and more rain. There are some things that should have gone differently, but lets not put all of this on Selig.

It is understandable why the Phillies may not like the way the events unfolded last night. The rain was going to come, everybody knew it, and the game was played regardless. It began pouring around the third inning, and yet the game was allowed to go deep into the sixth inning where all Cole Hamels was missing on the mound was some soap, shampoo, and a shower curtain, and he would have been set for his post-game wash down. But lets get something straight. The only hiccup involved in last night's game was the decision of when to delay the game. The other issues were unavoidable.

Selig had convincing weather reports in the hours leading up to the game, reports that suggested there would be only a little rainfall. Certainly not enough downpour to alter the play on the field. It could be argued that the start time of Game 5 should have been moved up to, say, 7 o'clock instead of the regularly-scheduled 8 o'clock start. But was that really a plausible suggestion? If reports are fairly good in the afternoon leading up to the game, how do you change a start time that quickly? A start time would have to be altered at least a day in advance to make the fans and players aware. Some talk about what a mockery this situation has been because it has hurt the "integrity" of the game, but shifting up a start time on short notice when many players rely on entire afternoons to prepare for the ball game and conduct their pre-game routines would have been much worse.

And I simply can't buy the argument that Selig should have called off the game before it even started. The city of Philadelphia and Phillies fans have been waiting quite a while for this one night, this opportunity to watch their beloved ball club close out a World Series. Do you think thousands of fans would have understood why Game 5 of the World Series is being postponed before rain even began falling from the sky? I wouldn't want to be the one making that decision. So, as good as it sounds today to have not even started the game, I don't think that was possible. Because after all, these decisions were being based off of weather reports that stated the game would be able to be played and completed. Sometimes you just can't fight Mother Nature.

With that being said, the place where Selig displayed poor judgement was when the game was actually delayed. Play should have been stopped long before it was. In reality, the clubs probably shouldn't have finished four innings, let alone slush through the sixth. It was an impossible situation for Hamels on the mound with hardly any grip of the ball, BJ Upton came around to score the tying run after spending an inning of Basepath River Rafting, and then play was halted with the score tied 2-2. The Rays never should have had the opportunity to tie the score until another day when we would no longer be watching slosh ball. Chase Utley couldn't even stand on the dirt at second base because his position looked like Like Michigan, and Jimmy Rollins was playing shortstop on roller blades.

But, make no mistake about it, these decisions have as much to do with FOX as they do with Commissioner Selig and Major League Baseball. FOX wants the games to be played at times when they will have the highest viewer rating, not at a time that is most conducive for competitive baseball. If the standards of the game were really at the forefront, Game 3 would not have started at 10:07 PM, and Game 5 would not have been played into the teeth of a storm. FOX wants appealing baseball, but "appealing baseball" apparently can't be played in the afternoon time. The critics of the World Series complain that "baseball isn't made for late October", but the authorities aren't even doing what they can to make the best out of how the schedule is set up. Instead, the remotes make the decisions and therefore the games are played at the coldest possible time of the day -- late evening.

Look, in a perfect world, the games would start on time at 8 o'clock, good weather would accompany great baseball, and everyone would go to bed happy by 10:30. But that simply isn't going to happen, and now it becomes a question of what is more important: FOX television ratings or giving the Phillies and Rays the best chance to win a championship? One is about money, the other is about integrity. Money will prevail whether we like it or not. If this was about the game, why not have 5 PM start times on the East Coast?

 That would give the game a chance to be played in the fairest conditions possible. But too many people are at work at that time and not enough television sets would be tuned in. That is unfortunate because I would be willing to bet that the people who were planning on attending those games, and the great baseball fans who were planning on watching those games, would still find a way to get their World Series fix. They may have to call in sick or use a vacation day, but that would be worth it for a Philadelphian to witness his or her team win a championship. The folks that can't get out of the office may have to stay off the internet until they could get home to watch on Tivo or tape, but they would still find a way to do it. No, it's not ideal and it is not the best-case scenario, but it's not about those things at this point. It is about cutting viewing losses and keeping the game and its history in tact. Every World Series becomes a part of baseball's history and the games should be treated as such. You do the best you can, and you make no apologies for it. 

Where Bud Selig is right is doing anything and everything to play the entirety of this baseball game, whether that is Wednesday or Saturday or whenever. Selig bucked the rule book and basically said there is no way that he would allow a World Series game, especially a clinching game, to be shortened by rain. That is absolutely the right call. In fact, why doesn't the rule book state that? It should be written in bold print that no playoff game -- any round -- can be shortened by any factor. All twenty seven outs must be recorded or else the game cannot be deemed complete. The Phillies certainly don't want to be remembered as the team who won a championship but "oh yeah, the clinching Game 5 was only six innings." Talk about a blotch of pine tar on a team's history books.

On the baseball side of things, this has to be seen as an advantage for the Rays. It is unfortunate for the Phillies, but they were going to be at a disadvantage regardless of when the game was delayed. If the game was delayed around the fourth inning, Hamels would have already been spent for the evening and for the next couple of days. So the fact that the umpiring crew let the game go to the sixth didn't really affect the Phillies any more than necessary. In fact, they got two more innings out of Hamels than they would have. But with Hamels a non-factor after only 75 pitches, this comes down to a three and a half inning tug-of-war between the bullpens. The Rays caught a break because Grant Balfour is still technically in the game, and he will be back on the mound when play is resumed. This extra day of "rest" wouldn't have mattered as Balfour is a reliever and can work on consecutive days. 

After Balfour, Joe Maddon can turn to David Price or JP Howell or Edwin Jackson or Dan Wheeler. He has many options. The Phillies aren't as deep. Charlie Manuel will probably send Ryan Madson out to the mound to begin the seventh, but then have to rely on JC Romero as their last impact arm before Brad Lidge. After the mess that has been made and the sidestepping around the puddles, Game 5 will be completed sometime and there is still a few intriguing innings left to be had. The shelter of Tropicana Field looks gorgeous now, but this is the situation that we have been dealt and it's not all on FOX or Bud Selig or MLB. Chase Utley was asked about the predicament and he responded, "We have been playing for seven months, so it's not like another day or two is going to hurt us." It's not surprising that one of the toughest and most respected men in the business would provide the most sensible and responsible answer. Many folks share the blame of this, but nature is what it is, and it's time to simply make the best of it with baseball's well-being in mind.

Moyer not to be forgotten after midnight madness

If you didn't spend any of your Saturday tuning in to Game 3 of the World Series, you didn't miss much. Turns out that the action didn't even begin until Sunday morning, a sacred day in Philadelphia reserved for barbecue and beer and Eagles football. But you couldn't convince Chase Utley and the Phillies of that. In the bottom of the sixth inning, just after the stadium clock struck midnight, Utley got an inside fast ball from the Rays' Matt Garza and crushed it through the damp night air into the right field seats to make it a 3-1 ball game. Ryan Howard immediately followed and drove a breaking ball deeper into the same section in right field to push the Phillies' lead to 4-1.

This game couldn't have had more drama, this stadium couldn't have had more energy, and this crowd couldn't have been awake any longer. After a rain delay of around 90 minutes, the first pitch of Game 3 was thrown at 10:07 PM at Citizens Bank Park. Rain had covered the field for hours before, but for the first World Series game in the City of Brotherly Love in 15 years, a little rain and a little wind wasn't going to turn the night sour. To be sure, Jamie Moyer wasn't going to let that happen. He had waited too long for this moment.

This was one of the best nights an October can offer. A veteran coming home for his first World Series appearance and turning in a gem. Moyer has played 22 seasons in the big leagues, dipping his pitches and singeing the corners of the strike zone with the best of them. Until this season, Moyer had never had a crack at the World Series. He never knew what the Fall Classic air felt like on the back of his neck, staring down a hitter with an entire city hanging on every pitch. He never knew what late October baseball looked like in front of  a raucous crowd that put their weekend agendas on hold to help reel in a championship for a city that has had one in their entire existence. 

Moyer grew up in Pennsylvania rooting for the Phillies and dreaming of wearing the same red that Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton wore. He dreamed of dumbfounding hitters a couple more times as fall begins to beckon for winter and  an ice cold champagne shower would be viewed as cruel punishment in any other arena. But here he was, Saturday evening, taking the ball for his Phillies trying to give them a 2-1 series lead. Charlie Manuel was certainly in question giving the ball to Moyer who had been roped in his first two post season starts. The Milwaukee Brewers waited him out and then drilled him. The Dodgers just showed up and drilled him. Slow torture and quick pain -- both had worked. So to give the ball back to the veteran in the biggest game of the season was a bold move. But it couldn't be that bold, could it? Manuel had no other choice. This night had to be Moyer's.

Moyer sat around the clubhouse all afternoon, waiting and relaxing and preparing for the day he has always waited for. He was calm. He knew the opportunity and he relished it. His opponent, Matt Garza, was relying on an iPod and youthful exuberance to get himself ready to hurl mid-90s fast balls through the rain. But I guess 45 years of age and 22 years of The Show and a lifetime of appreciating the gift of a baseball game makes a man calm and mentally methodic. For most, waiting around until 10 PM was agonizing. For Moyer, it was simply one last road block to the performance he had dreamed of delivering.

As dinner time came and went on the West Coast, Moyer strolled out to the mound in his comfortable red regalia and delivered his warm up pitches. Moyer looked ready on the mound, those red Philadelphia pinstripes appearing as if they have always draped his long limbs and limber frame. By the time Akinori Iwamura stepped into the batter's box to lead off, the white rally towels were swirling from four levels of the stadium, the Liberty Bell had nestled up and gone to bed for the night, and Moyer was ready for the graveyard shift.

Moyer didn't give us a sturdy performance before handing it to the bullpen. He gave us an October gem before being persuaded it was time for a hot shower. The southpaw didn't give us four innings of shoddy ball and half a game of bullpen mixing and matching. He gave us 6 1/3 innings of hometown love for the people that had watched him all year, for the mothers and fathers and grandparents and children that stroll through his old neighborhood where he once believed in Philadelphia glory. For nearly seven frames, Moyer gave his World Series coming out and goodbye performance all wrapped into one. A month away from 46 years old, who knows if Moyer will ever get this opportunity again. 

The performance was masterful in its design. It's no secret that Moyer has to be more precise than any other pitcher in order to win. He needs to expand the strike zone and get strikes called a couple of inches off of the plate. He needs the hitters to be a little aggressive and chase pitches that look like grilled ribs slathered with barbecue sauce until they get to the plate and turn out to be nothing more than undercooked poultry. He needed the Tampa Bay Rays to swing and swing and swing as if strikes were going out of style. It's all a tease. Moyer doesn't give you that firm 91-mph fast ball over the heart of the plate that big leaguers feast on. That is what makes his game so beautiful and fulfilling for the fans watching it. We didn't watch Moyer's chuck-and-duck log ride; we walked into Jamie's Butcher Shop and got handed Tampa Bay's remains. Happy Halloween, kids.

Of course, it would be easy to overshadow Moyer's performance given the fact that almost all of the action, all of the plays that create the headlines, happened after the lefty departed from the game in the seventh inning. Moyer's final line says that he gave up 3 earned runs, but the last of the three scored after he was pulled with a runner on third and one out in the seventh inning. For the third consecutive game, an umpire ruling was involved in a big way and this missed call could have turned out to be the one that sent the city into riot mode. Fortunately for the umpiring crew and Major League Baseball, the Phillies won the ball game the botched call that opened the seventh inning didn't impact them.

Carl Crawford led off the top of the seventh with an attempt for a bunt base hit. Moyer raced up the first base line, scooped, flipped, and dove all in one motion with the ball nestling into Ryan Howard's bare paw at first base a half step before Crawford reached the base. All good, except for the small detail that first base umpire Tom Hallion ruled the speedy Crawford safe, giving the Rays an opening to a rally. If he is called out, there is one out and nobody on and the entire dynamic of the inning is changed. It is possible that even if Navarro still doubles, he is stranded at second base and none of those runs score. Instead, two runs scored and it was a one-run ball game going to the Seventh Inning Stretch. And did the ball park ever begin to moan and rumble after that call.

The Rays relied on their speed to generate multiple runs in the past two ball games, and B.J. Upton tied the score practically by himself. Upton led off the top of the eighth with an infield single. After Carlos Pena struck out, Upton took off and swiped second base. With Evan Longoria still at the plate, Upton broke for third and was called safe and then advanced home as the throw from Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz got away from Pedro Feliz at third base. Tie game without the ball even leaving the infield.

The bottom of the ninth was the climax of this ball game as the Phillies walked off on a Carlos Ruiz infield single with the bases loaded and nobody out. The inning was sloppy. Two intentional walks, a wild pitch, an errant throw from Rays catcher Dioner Navarro that allowed Eric Bruntlett to reach third base, prompting the intentional passes and Joe Maddon's strategic five-man infield in order to create a force play at home plate. A nubber up the third base line, an impossible play for Evan Longoria, and Philadelphia goes to sleep happy. A weird night couldn't have ended in a more unpredictable fashion. But maybe that really was fitting after what had transpired before The Biggest Hit In Carlos Ruiz' Life occurred. 

After all, how many people really expected the Phillies to win this game, even given the fact that it was the first home game for them in the World Series and the crowd was certain to be ramped up? How many people thought Matt Garza was going to come out on the losing end and Jamie Moyer was going to pitch like a post season version of vintage Greg Maddux? Did anyone see this coming? Did anyone expect more from Moyer than five innings and 3-4 runs? Probably not.

But that is what makes all of this so compelling and what makes October baseball and the World Series such a special event. Yeah, the Super Bowl is a week long festival and we hear about all of the parties and the celebrities and all of the bells and whistles of the event. By the time Sunday comes, everyone has forgotten about the game and is drained. Not the World Series. Why? Because baseball doesn't put the spotlight on tuxedos and the scanty outfits donned by the finest fans. This sport doesn't work that way. The attention is on the field and the stories that grow there. Heroes like Carlos Ruiz and Jamie Moyer are built on diamonds throughout the country in the middle of October nights. That's why we watch this stuff.

In a series that was billed as a town with a tradition of losing against a young club of hungry kids, the biggest kid of all slung the ball 96 times -- 64 of them for strikes -- towards home plate and pulled the string just before it got there. This game will probably be remembered because of the errant throws and the base running and the gamesmanship played between the managers, but we should never forget the performance that Jamie Moyer turned in on Saturday evening, on a night where a cold Citizens Bank Park was begging to be warmed by the Philadelphia blood that has ever consumed Moyer. The darkest of rain clouds couldn't wash away Moyer's moment. We enjoyed hearing how he dreamed it, but we absolutely loved watching how he lived it. And now he is two Phillies wins away from feeling that bubbly Fall Classic shower.

Three thoughts after two games of The Series

* There is no other pitcher in this series quite like Cole Hamels. Hamels got the Phillies going in this World Series by dominating the Rays in Game 1, a crucial pitching performance considering the Phillies hadn't played for six days and their timing at the plate was certainly to be behind a bit. Hamels has pitched like an ace this season, and now he is taking that status to a post season hero level with his October performances. By winning Game 1, Hamels is now 4-0 this post season with a 2.57 ERA. And he's 24 years old. We knew Hamels was a great pitcher, but I certainly didn't expect him to come out and pitch like the 2007 October version of Josh Beckett.

Hamels tossed seven innings on Wednesday evening, holding the Tampa Bay Rays to 2 runs while striking out five. What transpired with the offense was about what we expected. They got two quick runs off of Scott Kazmir with a Chase Utley home run in the first inning, and then managed one more run the entire ball game -- a ground ball to shortstop in the top of the fourth by Carlos Ruiz scored Shane Victorino. That's it. Kazmir held off the big hitters the rest of the night and the Rays' bullpen threw 3 innings of shutout ball.

But luckily for Philadelphia, 3 runs is plenty when Hamels is on the mound. What we got to see from Cole Hamels was the art of pitching. We didn't see a thrower or an emotional trampoline a la Grant Balfour attempting to throw the ball 200 mph and threw the press box. What makes Hamels so good besides his stuff is that he is so inclined with his strengths that he knows what he can and can't do and he doesn't waver from that game plan. He knows -- and so does every body else -- that his change up is his go-to pitch. He has a good fast ball and curve ball, but it would be foolish for him to challenge guys up in the zone with the four-seamer the entire night. He's not that type of pitcher. If he throws his change up like he is capable of and puts it in a good location, it really doesn't matter who knows that it's coming. 

What makes Hamels so fun to watch -- and so hard to hit -- is that the change up is a pitch he will go to against both right handed and left handed hitters. Lefties have a chance against it because it should tail in to them a little bit allowing them to have a chance at dropping the barrel on it. For righties, tailing and dropping away from them, it is death. But lefties can't hang over the plate and sit on the change because Hamels will just as quickly bust them inside with a good fast ball that reaches the low-90s.

Hamels doesn't become arbitration eligible until the 2010 season and won't hit free agency until the 2013 season, but if this is simply a sneak peak at where his performances are going to be going, he may be in line to break any records for pitcher's contracts. Johan Santana set that bar with his $137.5 million deal with the New York Mets, and there is every indication that CC Sabathia will break that this winter. But if Hamels stays healthy and keeps improving and is truly at the top of the pitching totem pole by the time he reaches free agency, he may break whatever record Sabathia sets given the fact that he will be 28 years old and his body type appears to be more conducive to aging than Sabathia's. Either way, Hamels need to worry after ripping through this post season.

* The depth of the starting rotations may prove to be huge as this series moves to Philadelphia. The Phillies have Hamels, but after him it thins out rather quickly. Brett Myers is certainly capable of a big performance -- he proved that down the stretch against the Mets -- but he was tagged for four runs in Game 2 and never really seemed to find his groove. The ageless Jamie Moyer will take the ball in Game 3 for the Phillies and Joe Blanton will go in Game 4. Moyer is a great story. A hometown kid growing up to play 22 seasons in the major leagues and the only World Series he reaches is with the club he grew up watching. But, to be fair, Moyer is living on the black of the baseball world these days. 

Moyer cannot get by on stuff alone like he once was able to, and now he needs his command to be so sharp or else he the opposing lineup will get to him. The way for Moyer to have success is to bait hitters in to expanding the strike zone. In other words, he needs to execute pitches on the corner early in the game and get the corners called for strikes. Once he gets those calls, he can gradually work a little more off of the plate and see just how far off of it he can get the umpire to call. This is establishing the strike zone. Now the hitter knows how far out a pitch will be called a strike. Once that is established, it is Moyer's job to throw pitches that start on the corner of the strike zone and then tail off of it by the time they get to the hitting zone. This should allow him to force contact more towards the end of the bat rather than the barrel. Moyer could have this accomplished by the third inning. The problem is getting to the third inning if the Rays' hitters come out attacking first pitches over the plate.

For Tampa Bay, the starting rotation is arguably their greatest strength. Scott Kazmir overcame an early home run by Chase Utley in Game 1 to turn in a strong performance, it just happened to be against a better Cole Hamels. That's baseball. James Shields live up to his billing in Game 2 by pitching scoreless ball into the eighth inning, allowing the Rays to build a lead against Brett Myers that their bullpen nailed down. The passionate Matt Garza will go to the mound in Game 3 against Moyer. Much has been made about Garza and his ability to control his sometimes volatile emotions. That has been tabbed as his potential downfall and the one factor that may keep him from reaching his potential as a great major league pitcher.

I think those issues are behind Garza and he should come up big in Game 3 just like he did in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox. Controlling your emotions is a maturity thing. Every player learns how to do it at some point if they want to be good, whether that be sooner or later. Garza has learned how to deal with failure this season and has been magnificent at simplifying the game to the present pitch. His mind is tuned for one inning at a time, and he no longer allows poor pitches or mistakes to alter his focus on the next pitch. Once we get beyond those concerns, we get to witness one of the best young pitchers in baseball, a guy that can be as exciting as anybody in the sport. A mid-90s fast ball and a sharp slider are his go-to pitches, and those alone are enough to dominate any lineup.

Game 4 will be Joe Blanton against Andy Sonnastine. Blanton is a good pitcher, but his stuff is not the same as it was when he came up with the Oakland A's. Blanton no longer pitches at 93-94 mph. He throws his sinker around 89-91 and mixes in a breaking ball and change up. The promising thing about the sinker is that hitters can know it is coming and it can still be an effective pitch if properly located. And in Citizens Bank Park, a ton of ground balls is exactly what the Phillies need. It comes down to one simply fact, though. The Phillies have one guy (Hamels) that has a legitimate chance at dominating the Rays, while the Rays have three guys (Kazmir, Shields, Garza) who have a legitimate chance at dominating the Phillies.

* The Phillies are lucky to be heading home with this series at 1-1. They are fortunate that Cole Hamels acted like Cole Hamels in Game 1, or else they would be in trouble. The Phillies offense has not been good -- they are hitting .239 with a .333 OBP in the series -- and Ryan Howard appears to be lost at the plate against anything off speed, especially from a left hander. The Rays have actually been far worse at the plate overall as a team -- they are hitting .207 in the series -- but they were able to scratch out a win because they are a multidimensional lineup unlike Philadelphia. The Phillies need the sluggers to drive the ball and hit home runs for them to score runs. The Rays can hit home runs, but as they showed in Game 2, they can also move runners around and make productive outs on the ground. Not to mention manager Joe Maddon putting on a squeeze and then a safety squeeze on successive pitches with Cliff Floyd at third and Dioner Navarro at the plate.

There is still enough baseball to be played in this series for both teams to make or break their championship run. Although that is true, we still must acknowledge the obvious, and that is the fact that there have been a few questionable umpiring calls in the first two games that would be broken down on every major radio station if they happened in, say, Game 6 instead of Game 2. There were two calls that went against the Phillies in Game 2 that they could have a beef about. The Rocco Baldelli check swing was a mystery call. Baldelli surely went around, the home plate umpire raised his hand to ring him up before checking the call down to first base where the first base umpire ruled no swing. That call was blown but didn't really have an outcome on the game.

The call that did effect the outcome of the game was the call against Jimmy Rollins in to the top of the ninth inning. Carlos Ruiz was on first base with no outs when David Price threw an inside fast ball to Rollins that clipped his jersey. Home plate umpire Kerwin Danley ruled that it did not hit Rollins, and instead of being award first and making it runners on first and second with no outs and down by two runs, Rollins ended up popping up and the rally was not nearly what it should have been. That was a mistake that will be extremely overblown if it happens in Philadelphia. I would understand any animosity the Phillies have after not getting that call, but there is a rule in October baseball that you may or may not know about: when a team goes 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position through the first two games of the series, they lose the right to complain about a couple calls not going their way. The Phillies have had their chances. Luckily for them, they enter Game 3 with the chance to go ahead in the series.

A great opportunity for Rays

The clock struck midnight early Friday morning at Fenway Park and the Rays were clinging to what had been a comfortable lead, only to have the ball game ripped from their hands by Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, and the Boston Red Sox. They were three innings away from heading to the World Series for the first time in franchise history, three innings away from knocking off the defending World Champs and divisional rival. There surely would have been nothing sweeter for the Rays than to party at Fenway Park, the home of the historic club that tried to push them around in May when James Shields and Johnny Gomes and Co. decided that they had had enough. They decided they weren't going to continue to be the welcome mat for Boston's front porch, and they had to make a statement. One bean ball and a nasty brawl later and the Rays had made their sales pitch. This is a different club, a different organization, a different year.

So, yes, allowing Game 5 to slide right through their fingers like ash through a grill was a punch to the gut, the type of haymaker that forces you to grasp for air for a week. It was devastating in the sense that the emotional letdown could be huge and the fact that they were so close they could taste the champagne and smell the Fall Classic air that would ensue upon capturing that ever elusive twenty-seventh out. But it didn't happen that way. Red Sox lore and Fenway tradition happened instead.

All of that makes for compelling theater, but in reality, it has nothing to do with the baseball game that is going to be played tonight at Tropicana Field. Talk radio went wild in Florida, calling this a major collapse for these young Rays, contemplating the ramifications of such a loss. There is validity in those arguments, but that is not the feeling I get from this club. They aren't worried about what they could have done or should have done the other night in Boston. They are mature beyond their roster ages, wise beyond their baseball years. Worrying is for the fans, not for the guys who put the uniform on and play the game.

The Rays return home where they had the best home-record in baseball this season, and they are giving the ball to "Big Game" James Shields. Scott Kazmir pitched like an ace in Game 5 but Shields is the go-to guy on this staff. He is a bulldog with a relentless approach, sticking to his game plan rather than trying to out-think the opponent. He will come at the Red Sox with a low-90's two-seam fast ball with good movement, and he will offset that offering with one of baseball's best change ups. In a game like this, one where the Rays have a chance to meet the Philadelphia Phillies for a chance at the ultimate hardware, we know that Shields will not be afraid of the spotlight and the pressure.

Tampa's bullpen imploded in the late innings of Game 5, but given their attitude and makeup, they should be able to flush that performance and come to the park ready to dominate the end of the game. I don't see Grant Balfour being hesitant to challenge the Red Sox with his fast ball, despite the home run that David Ortiz hit that just may now be landing in Fenway. J.P. Howell has been huge for Joe Maddon out of the bullpen coming from the left side, and he will not shy away from J.D. Drew or other guys he may be matched up against, say Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. Dan Wheeler has had better days than Thursday evening, but he is a veteran and understands the ups and downs of competition.

The Red Sox are still the ones with the pressure in this series. They need to win Game 6 to live another day, and that test looms large enough. They have Josh Beckett taking the ball and, even with how he has performed this post season dealing with an oblique injury, I don't know if Terry Francona would really want to start anyone else over him, even considering Jon Lester and the performances he has turned in. Beckett hasn't been anything like the power pitcher we have come to know in October, throwing bullets and breaking off hammers that equal double-digit strikeout masterpieces. He has been vulnerable this October, and we know that. But based on who he is and what he has done and his competitive nature, there is a part of me that can never really count him out and restrict expectations.

I predicted Beckett to get back to his old performances in Game 2 against Tampa, and he couldn't make it out of the fifth inning after getting knocked around the yard by Evan Longoria, et al. That's two starts where he has been below average, and so maybe we should expect him to give a good performance, but not a great performance. Maybe we should expect him to battle his way through five or six innings and merely keep the Red Sox in the game. Those sound like reasonable expectations given recent events and his medical reports, but the problem with that is that we just can't think that way. For various reasons, we can never count out that 8 inning, 3-hit, zero runs, 12 strikeout game that could just be awaiting his next start. We have Game 6 of the 2003 World Series in Yankee Stadium burned into our memory. We have Game 5 against the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 ALCS singed into our brains.

For every poor performance that he has had, we can think of at least two good ones. So, sure, he may not be the same guy this season that he was last season. That we can be fairly certain about. But would you really be surprised if he comes out tonight and tosses seven shutout innings and completely overpowers the Rays? I wouldn't. Not at all really. Because that is his reputation, that is what we have come to expect from him, that is his big game pedigree. All of these things are intangibles that may or may not play a part in the ball game tonight. My guess is, still, that they will. But even if we look only at the surface, there is still enough to work with.

Beckett's velocity has been down. He isn't throwing 95-97 mph like he did last October; he is throwing 91-93 mph this year. His breaking ball isn't as sharp and biting as it was last season. But he is still throwing that pitch for strikes and he has introduced his change up. The raw stuff may be a step down, but the fire and will and determination are still there. The key factor for Beckett is not that his stuff has diminished a bit due to his rust or injury, but it's that his command has suffered as well. His fast balls have been over the middle and his breaking balls have hung. If he improves that tonight, the stuff he has is plenty to dominate a game. If he can command his fast ball, we will see the old Beckett results tonight. With fast ball command, he doesn't have to be perfect with his secondary pitches.

Both teams have their question marks, but both teams have a chance to really accomplish something in Game 6. The Red Sox can get this series to Game 7 where we know anything can happen. The Rays can get to the World Series, a great treat for a city that may not be able to keep its baseball team and possibly some incentive for the Rays to make plans for a new ballpark. The thing with new ballparks is that you must have a stable fan base and consistent attendance to support it, something the Rays haven't had yet in their history. Maybe this season will change that. Winning does things like that.

And so it is for the usual contenders and the new scrappers on the block. The papers and sports talk shows want to put the clamp down on the Rays, they want to create a scenario where they have a juicy story to tell should they falter. Red Sox Nation is waiting for their boys to pull through two more times so they will have an opportunity to sing "Sweet Caroline" on their way to a third championship in the last five seasons. The Rays cannot go into tonight's game thinking "we must do this, we must do that", rather they need to look at this ball game the same way they did Game 5. They have a chance to go to the World Series and rewrite the sullied pages of their first decade of existence. Tonight is a great opportunity for the Rays to do something special, not a day for them to recover and try again. And in the event this goes to Game 7, the Rays should look at that game the same way. This isn't panic mode. This is just post season baseball. This is a golden opportunity to accomplish and experience the summit of being a professional athlete.

Don't turn the game off for your winter books just yet

After storming Hollywood and trouncing the Dodgers twice in three games on their own field, the Philadelphia Phillies are heading to the World Series for the first time in fifteen years after trouncing the Dodgers 5-1 Wednesday evening in Game 5 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. This series turned into a route after we expected it to be a barn-burner. On paper, Philadelphia and Los Angeles matched up pretty evenly, the Dodgers even taking the edge in most areas. So much for paper predictions and forecasting the post season.

The Phillies were the better team, the tougher team, the more poised team, and the hungrier team. It is really as simple as that, and we can sit around today and point to all of the reasons why the Dodgers failed -- poor pitching, shoddy defense, stranded runners, all the way down to lack of respect in the clubhouse -- but that wouldn't do this Phillies team, or this series, justice. In what began as a sexy series, a series between two teams with great tradition and history, turned out to be a boat race by the team that feeds off of a fan base that expects them to lose. The Dodgers' fan base, well, may just not expect anything of them since there is too much to get caught up in in Hollywood. 

Oh, let the ranting and raving begin today. Will Frank McCourt pony up to keep Manny Ramirez in Los Angeles? Unlikely. Will the Dodgers make an attractive enough offer to bring back Derek Lowe to anchor the rotation for another three years or so? Unlikely. Will they fill their issues at third base with an established bat? Maybe, but most believe that answer won't come in the form of Casey Blake. Will the Dodgers try to reel in CC Sabathia to "compensate" for the disappointment that will undoubtedly ensue when Manny takes his bat to the highest bidder (which won't be the Dodgers)? Probably. The Dodgers have a lot of holes to fill, but they also have a lot to work with. It is time for McCourt to stop hoarding dollars and open up the checkbook in what should be the most active off season for the Los Angeles franchise in some years.

But the Dodgers can begin thinking about those issues today while the Phillies get to fly home and think about when to show up for batting practice on Friday. This story is much more compelling than any non-rabid baseball fan cares to believe. The country wanted to see a Dodgers-Red Sox World Series for the Manny-Boston confrontation, but we may be better off to have the Phillies going to the fall classic. Why? Consider these reasons:

1. Chase Utley is the best player in baseball who you would never hear about because he doesn't say a word. We said that Utley had to show up in the NLCS for the Phillies to have a chance to beat the Dodgers. How did he respond? Utley hit .353 with a .522 on-base percentage, 3 RBI's, 4 runs score, and a momentum-shifting home run off of Derek Lowe in Game 1. He is tougher than nails, and the southern California native embodies the city of Philadelphia and the Phillies organization. He is a superstar without the ego, a leader without the spotlight. All he does is grind out at-bats, spray balls all over the field, and make the routine plays at second base while making more than his share of the great ones. He sets the tone for the entire lineup by complementing the top and bottom halves. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are catalysts with a bit of pop, and Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell are the big boppers. Utley fits right in the middle as he can do some of both, stringing together one of baseball's most potent lineups.
2. The Dodgers have exciting home-grown kids beginning to make names for themselves, but the Phillies have two bona-fide home-grown superstars, not including Utley, in Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. Rollins has been criticized this season for voicing his opinion throughout the media, calling the Philadelphia fans "front-runners" and immediately drawing their wrath. He is the match and gas can for this Phillies club, unafraid to stand up and say what needs to be said, regardless of the consequence. Ball clubs need a guy like that. The New York media laughed at Rollins when he proclaimed the Phillies the "team to beat" in the NL East before the 2007 season. It was Rollins who had the last laugh as the Phillies overcame the Mets in September to steal the division. But this year, the Phils did two better, making it to the World Series after being bounced in the first round by the Colorado Rockies last year. Howard is a gentle giant off the baseball diamond but a menacing warrior on it. He sets up in the batters box, stance slightly open with his bat hovering just above his back shoulder, daring pitchers to challenge him. When they do, he makes them pay more times than not. After having a quiet division series, Howard hit .300 with a .391 OBP and 4 runs scored against the Dodgers in the NLCS.
3. A reborn closer who is taking center stage as one of baseball's elite stoppers and is taking this post season by the throat. Brad Lidge has been to the pedestal of the closer role in his days with the Houston Astros. Then came the 2005 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals and the hanging slider that Albert Pujols launched halfway to Dallas from Houston's Minute Maid Park. The ball had to be by far the furthest one ever hit off of Lidge -- in his life, probably -- and generated numerous columns and internet-site hits. The Astros went on to win that series, but Lidge began spiraling downward. After losing his closer role in 2006, the Astros traded Lidge to the Phillies in 2007 where he was given the opportunity to begin fresh, albeit it in a rough and tough baseball epicenter. Lidge contests that those people who claim that the Pujols home run sent him into a two-year flunk have the story wrong. The All-Star closer admitted that some mechanical flaws coupled with a failing mental approach led to his demise. Now come to 2008 and Lidge has nailed down all 46 save opportunities, including five in the post season. He will play a huge role in the World Series for the Phillies and what a great story that will be.
4. The Phillies have arguably the best starting pitcher in the post season this year in Cole Hamels, who at 24, is quietly becoming one of the ten best pitchers in the entire sport. During the NLCS, Hamels went 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 14 innings and his wins were the opening and closing acts. Hamels stifled not only the Dodgers' lineup on Wednesday evening, but the Dodger Stadium crowd as well by commanding his fast ball to both sides of the plate and dangling the game's best change up, Johan Santana's offering included. Hamels grew up in San Diego rooting for the Dodgers because the San Diego Padres were lackluster during his youth, and he had the chance to beat his childhood team at a ballpark that he only dreamed of playing in. And he turned in one of the best pitching performances we have seen this October.
5. A great story about a manager and reaching a career milestone that many put out of reach for him. Charlie Manuel has done a great job keeping this Phillies team afloat in previous seasons when the papers and fans were calling for his job and the city was all but counting the days until football season after the All-Star break. As if the pressure of advancing in the post season is not enough, Manuel's mother passed away just days ago. With the extra time off due to their early clinching, Manuel has the opportunity to put his mother to rest and visit with family before he comes back to the park and prepares himself and his club for the World Series. Manuel insisted that he would not leave his ball club during this tough time because his mother cared so much about him and his team that she would demand he be in the dugout this time of year. It's hard not to root for a man overcoming professional odds and personal adversity.

The best thing about playoff baseball is that it is about unsung heroes and surprising teams and great stories more so than it is about the powerhouses and the favorites and the those who are "supposed" to win. There is no such word in baseball like "suppose". October baseball is absolutely about Ryan Madson and Matt Stairs and Shane Victorino and Greg Dobbs. Television ratings are bound to go down during the World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies in it, especially if their opponent ends up being the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. But what we will be frowned upon in the sports entertainment industry will be a remain a jewel for the baseball fans who love to see great match-ups and energetic young players and studs who haven't hit mega-star status quite yet. We won't whine that not enough people are watching these games instead or that Thursday night college football looms larger than Game 2 of the Fall Classic. We will know what lies underneath the label, and it will be everybody else's loss.