Phillies smash Rays' pitching, take 3-1 lead in Series

I'm so sorry for not posting last night, but I hope this is epic enough to make up for it: Joe Blanton became the first Phillies pitcher ever to hit a home run, and (as the odds against Scott Kazmir going deep are nearly incalculable, and Cole Hamels had a regular season batting average of .224) I'm almost totally sure this has earned Blanton the Arkham's Child Most Random Home Run award for the World Series.

Pat Burrell received a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 1st for the first run of the game - and a walk from Andy Sonnanstine is a rare event no matter what the circumstance - Chase Utley had two walks, and to top it all off, Ryan Howard is back, with two homers and 5 RBIs in Game 4. Jayson Werth had a double and a home run, and (just to mention something positive about the Rays) Eric Hinske launched a ball really far into center to continue the strange Postseason '08 tradition of pinch-hitters doing theoretically important things. But it didn't do them much good, as it was their final run of the game (Carl Crawford had hit a solo shot to right field in the top of the 4th).

The Rays' bats didn't do a lot to help out their unfortunate pitchers - Peña and Longoria seem to be perpetually hovering on the brink of a "combined 0-for-infinity", and the Tampa Bay box scores are starting to look like one bad joke. (I hate bad jokes.) But I'd be willing to assume that Joe Maddon is quite aware that his situation is about as un-funny as you can get, although I can't really see how he's going to successfully deal with his newfound problem (which, by the way, has a name: Cole Hamels).

Hamels and Kazmir are scheduled to pitch Game 5 tomorrow, and for anyone who cares enough to read this blog post, you have to watch that game, (actually, everyone in the world should watch the game, but obviously that's not possible,) for although it seems like an obvious final win for Cole "undefeated-in-postseason-starts" Hamels and the Fightin' Phils, there is, um, only one October. Or something like that.

WS tied at 1 after Rays' 4-2 win, heading to Philly for Game 3

My first reaction to this game is disappointment, primarily in Brett Myers. Obviously, none of the other Phillies starters has had quite the same stellar postseason that Cole Hamels has had, and yet most teams don't see such a sharp drop-off from their #1 pitcher to their #2. The Phils' 0-for-13 record with RISP in Game 1 set a new World Series mark, and with anyone but Hamels on the mound, they would've surely lost the game, perhaps by a large margin - and with Myers on the mound and a 1-for-15 RISP hitting record in Game 2, they still lost by a small margin.

It could have been a shutout, if not for Eric Bruntlett, whose pinch-hit solo homer in the 8th put the Phils on the board for the first time, and Carlos Ruiz, who scored on an error in the 9th after getting his second double of the night - and it could have been a 5-0 shutout if not for RF Jayson Werth, who threw out Rocco Baldelli as he tried to score from second base on B.J. Upton's RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd. The violent collision at home plate was the highlight of the inning, at least in terms of entertainment value.

It's a pretty safe bet that James "Big Game" Shields will be the official Player of the Game, and so I feel no need to give him an Arkham's Child award. However, I feel that two Other Team MVP awards are necessary - one for PH Eric Bruntlett, who hit the only home run of the game and started the rally that just wasn't big enough, and one for catcher Carlos Ruiz, who reached base 4 times (2 doubles and 2 walks) and managed a narrow escape from Death By Rocco Baldelli (see above paragraph).

Hopefully, taking this series back to Citizens Bank Park (which features real grass and a real sky) will bring enough confidence into the Phillies' clubhouse that they can bounce back and win Game 3, ideally backed by a shiny performance from Jamie Moyer and helped along by a couple of those good ol' Chase Utley RBIs - even if the game is postponed an hour or twenty-four by the predicted "afternoon thundershowers".

Phillies score 3-2 win in Game 1 of the World Series

The World Series has begun!

It's an epic day in the otherwise boring history of 2008 (can you tell I'm not into politics?), and the Phillies have left their mark on it by scraping past the Rays' offense and defense with a 3-2 win. This was mostly due to Cole Hamels (7 IP, 2 ER, 1.55 postseason ERA, and now a perfect 4-0 in postseason starts) and Chase Utley (with a 2-run shot in the top of the 1st, he became only the 34th player in baseball history to hit a home run in his first WS at-bat). If there was a single-game MVP award, it would definitely go to Hamels, who would probably start wondering what to do with all those postseason MVP awards (besides getting a larger salary increase than the one he would have already been looking at even if the Phillies' 2008 had ended in September).

Scott Kazmir certainly left his mark on the game as well, although not in a way that would endear him to those people just jumping on the Tampa Bay bandwagon. In a postgame interview, he stated that he just wanted to change that "one bad pitch" that Utley homered off of - and, well, Scott, I'd want to change that pitch too, if it'd been me. In fact, that one pitch could mean the difference in the series - the team that wins Game 1 has gone on to win the Series in 10 of the last 11 instances - and yet, with such a dynamic pairing of teams, it hardly seems advisable to look at the past as a prediction of this postseason's future.

THE RAYS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!

I'm currently far too emotional to write anything that's greatly coherent. I mean, THE RED SOX AREN'T GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! I'm so happy I could scream ... oh wait, I did! I think I may have scared my neighbors.

In honor of the occasion, I drank about half a bottle of apple cider (we didn't have any non-alcoholic champagne) and jumped up and down and screamed for several minutes before I had the discipline to sit down and write this blog post. My hands are still shaking a bit, and in my mind, I am shouting insults at Lester, Pedroia, etc.

I also have some news that will shock and dismay you greatly (is that grammatically correct?): Due to the epic failz of my math professor's scheduling skills, I will only be able to watch the first three or perhaps four innings of World Series Game 1. I know, I know, it's treasonous ... but I'd prefer not to skip class, and I can always have a friend text me the highlights.

Matt Garza won the ALCS MVP award, and personally, I think he deserves every bit of it! I find that the value of good pitching is often left sadly unappreciated by the general population, but if anyone is going to teach the masses that the best games are often won or lost by the subtle skills of pitching rather than by a slew of home runs, Matt Garza and Cole Hamels would certainly be top of my list to do it. (Wow, what an awkwardly structured sentence.) Since the Red Sox lost, I will not be giving out an Other Team MVP award for the ALCS - however, Dustin Pedroia gets points for making a really funny face when they lost, and Manny Delcarmen gets points for being really not helpful.

Phillies cash in on 3-1 NLCS lead

Only a couple days late, I present my much-anticipated, theoretically epic Phillies-are-going-to-the-World-Series post! Of course, I wouldn't want you to hear my opinions before I gave you a summary, so here we are with the mandatory paragraph (or two).

Normally, the 4-run gap in the 6th inning between the Dodgers and the Phils could've been taken care of easily by the powerful Dodgers lineup - but not against the Phillies' Game 5 pitching staff. Their relief pitching is rock solid (right-handed closer Brad Lidge is a perfect 41-for-41 in save opportunities this regular season), and with a 1.88 postseason ERA and the 2008 NLCS MVP title, LHP Cole Hamels can hardly be taken lightly. (Chase Utley didn't really do anything, but I feel that as a Pasadena native and UCLA graduate, his traitorous qualities deserve a mention.) And so, despite Ramirez's solo shot to deep right field, the Fightin' Phils are going to the 2008 World Series and the Blue Crew isn't.

Cheer up, though (unless you're a Phillies fan, in which case I don't know why you're reading this blog, or how you even found it) - this is sports, after all, and there's always next year! And in the spirit of my NY-raised family, I will present the also theoretically-much-anticipated Rays-aren't-going-to-the-World-Series...yet post. It'll probably be slightly more emotional than this post, which is basically just a fact reel (case in point - you really needed to know what Hamels' postseason ERA is).

Also, I'd like to present the Arkham's Child Other Team NL MVP award to RHP Hiroki Kuroda, who had a perfect 2-0 record and an ERA of only 1.46 this postseason. No one knows about this award, it is not officially recognized, and it does not officially exist - therefore, if the Rays make it to the World Series, I have no obligation whatsoever to present this to any member of the Red Sox, no matter how valuable people think they may have been.

With a 13-4 victory, Rays lead Sox 3-1 in ALCS!

...I'm going to take this opportunity to GLOAT (obviously I'll be as tactful and inoffensive as possible, hehehe) about how the Red Sox got totally CREAMED tonight!

Wakefield pulled a stellarly Moyer-esque first inning out from under his stupid black-and-red hat, and Boston's second reliever then used a series of bases-loaded walks to kindly notify his team that they would have been much better off sticking with the other guy named Manny. Longoria broke the record for most postseason homers by a rookie, and (despite recording 2 errors in the process) managed a narrow escape from Death By Jason Bay's Bat. Upton made some amazing catches, plus his homer, and Andy Sonnanstine pitched the best game I've seen since Kuroda's NLDS clincher.

All in all, it was a roaring success for the lovely Tampa Bay Rays, and a wonderful humiliation to the apparently undeserving Boston Red Sox.

10/13/08 - *sigh*

I'm not really sure what to say about last night's game, except that it was definitely the wrong time for Wade, DeWitt, and Ethier to start having problems. So, I'm just going to tell you what I'm going to do, depending on which teams get into the World Series:

1. Phillies vs. Rays: Against all common sense, I'll root for the Phillies. After all, they've got Utley and Hamels, and it isn't like they're bad. Neither are the Rays, though - so it'd be interesting. Actually, any WS pairing would be interesting at this point.
   
2. Phillies vs. Red Sox: DEFINITELY go with the Phillies. Hell, I'd be Howard's biggest fan if it meant beating the Red Sox!
   
3. Dodgers vs. Rays: The Dodgers, obviously. I'd be worried, though, with the way these two teams are playing right now - but of course, if the Dodgers did in fact come back and beat the Phillies, I might not be so worried.
   
4. Dodgers vs. Red Sox: The ultimate justice would be for the Dodgers to beat the Red Sox in the WS while the Sox are still paying 100% of Ramirez's salary. Wouldn't it have a sort of poetic brilliance? On the other hand, I'd rather the Red Sox not get to the WS at all.
   

10/10/08 - What Happened to Chad?

I speak, of course, of Chad Billingsley (#58, RHP), of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seriously - did any of you watch last night's game (NLCS game 2 vs. the Phillies)? I was shocked, but most of all, I was depressed. (Feel free to leave comments!)

However, I hope we will not forget his NLDS game against the Cubs! The nearest word I have to describe that is "gorgeous" - so, don't even think about claiming he isn't good. Papelbon isn't even close to deserving to wear the same number that Billingsley does.

On a semi-different note, the Rays' win tonight (this morning?) was really quite incredible - I found myself shaking my couchmate to keep her awake even as I booed JD Drew into clumsy misery and cheered BJ Upton on to the most spectacular piece of situational hitting I'd seen all day. I'm really rather happy, and in an ideal world, that would motivate me to do my homework.

ze epic first post...

...Of course, unless this blog becomes famous (against all odds!), this post won't be particularly epic, but that's not gonna stop me from saying that it might be.

I figured that I could start by giving everyone my very interesting and highly detailed homework assignment from the first week of the Fall Writing Class Of Doom.

Write about a character and an incident that you feel strongly about. Your piece may turn out to be funny or sad, neither of these, or both. But it is important that you CARE ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER and about what happens. Make the reader aware of the place in which you set your characters and of the time.

It's really a rather verbose way to say, "write a scene".