October 2008
World Series Notebook–October 30, 2008
This World Series will not go down as a classic–the Series really has to go six or seven games to achieve such status–but as five-game Series go, this was one of the best. Outside of Game Four, all of the games were competitive, close, and entertaining, even if the lateness of the games here on the East Coast continued to be a drag on World Series enthusiasm. Three of the Phillies’ four victories came by one run, which means that with a slight turn of fortune here and there, the Rays could have easily extended this to seven games, if not won it outright. But the Phillies pitched a little better, played much better defensively, and ran the bases far more wisely, giving themselves a much deserved world championship…
Chase Utley’s fake throw to first base, and follow-up throw to home to nail Jason Bartlett, will be remembered as one of the most cerebral plays in postseason history, right up there with Derek Jeter’s flip toss against the A’s in 2001. But let’s not blame Bartlett for the end result here. According to every analyst in attendance at the game, Bartlett never saw Utley’s pump fake to first. Rather, Bartlett was simply following the cue of his third base coach, who waved him on in an attempt to score. Already a great hitter to begin with, Utley has succeeded in enhancing his reputation as one of the headiest players in the game. Is there any second baseman that you’d rather have than Utley right now? I can’t think of one…
As well as Joe Maddon guided the Rays through their season of surpasses expectations, he did not manage one of his better games in the fifth game clincher. I thought he pulled Grant Balfour too quickly and then stayed with JP Howell too long, actually allowing him to come to bat in the top of the seventh inning. With a rested bullpen at his disposal and the season on the line, Maddon needed to pull out all the stops, including the use of pinch-hitters for his relief pitchers. Instead, Maddon managed like he was the one who was up three games to one, as the Rays fell just a bit short against Brad Lidge in the ninth inning…
Finally, a world championship for the Phillies brings to me my good friend, Don Casey, who died far too young a year and a half ago. A former Hall of Fame employee and the ultimate Phillies fan, one who stayed faithful to the cause during the many lean years that came after 1980, Don is probably smiling widely from above right now. For me, that’s what I’ll always think about most when I remember these championship Phillies of 2008.
World Series Notebook–October 28, 2008
If Game Five of the World Series had been suspended on Monday night with the Phillies in the lead, Commissioner Bud Selig has indicated that he would have circumvented baseball’s rules, which dictated the Phillies be proclaimed the winners, and declared that the game be continued from that point at a later time. And that certainly would have been the right thing to do.
Frankly, it is time that baseball, rather than relying on the judgment of its commissioners, simply change its archaic rules about suspended and rain-interrupted games as they apply to the World Series. The rule should be simple: no World Series game can be considered final until it is played to its normal nine-inning or extra-inning conclusion. (Heck, we should probably expand this to include all of the postseason.) After all, the World Series is considered the showcase of the sport, the championship that pits the two best teams, at least in theory, in a given year. That way, there would no risk of the unthinkable: a World Series game declared a final after the fact–after the rains had made continuing the game an impossibility. There would also be no risk of a team being declared a world champion after the fact, which is exactly what could have happened if the Rays had not tied the score in the top of the sixth inning.
Baseball does not need such sister-kissing kinds of letdowns. These games are the most important of the season. They deserve to be played from start to finish, even if the finish happens a day or two later. Better said, they simply must be played to the finish. So let’s change the rules and make sure that always happens.
World Series Notebook–October 27, 2008
After three highly competitive games that had done well to entertain most of the country, the World Series saddled us with a stinker on Sunday night. The Phillies’ 10-2 blowout lacked the sustained drama of the first three games, but may have marked the turning point in the Series. If the Rays had won, they would have guaranteed themselves a return trip to Florida; as it is, they are now fighting for their postseason lives while facing the unenviable project of having to defeat Cole Hamels on his home turf. It doesn’t look good for the Rays, though it certainly didn’t look good after they lost Game Six to the Red Sox, forcing them to beat Jon Lester the next day.
The Rays’ problems have been easy to diagnose. Their No. 3 and No. 4 hitters–Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria–have combined to go hitless through the first four games of the Series. Their starting pitching has been an utter disappointment, with Matt Garza and Andy Sonnanstine falling flat the last two games. And their defense continues a recent mysterious fade, after looking so strong in the early days of the postseason. Akinori Iwamura’s mishandling of a leadoff ground ball was the latest malfeasance, setting up an early unearned run for the Phillies.
In the meantime, the Phillies have solved their hitting woes with one fell swoop. On Sunday night, the Phils rapped out four hits with runners in scoring position, quadrupling their total from the first three games. Ryan Howard has simultaneously emerged from a postseason batting slump with three home runs in his last two games, including two dingers and five RBIs in the Game Four blowout. Jimmy Rollins is now hitting like the 2007 MVP edition, making life much easier for Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, and Howard.
So is there any way that the Phillies can be stopped? Of course they can. Hamels is due for a bad start, Longoria and Pena are due for a few hits, and the speed of B.J. Upton (when he wants to run) and Carl Crawford remain constant sources of concern for Philadelphia. But the Rays will need a stellar effort from Scott Kazmir, who has the ability to neutralize Utley and Howard and will force Rollins to swing from the right side. If Kazmir can at least match Hamels on the scoreboard, the Rays might be able to make David Price a factor again over the final three innings.
If not, then this World Series will end almost quickly as all the other Fall Classics have been doing since 2003. Though I’m still rooting for the Phillies, the baseball fan in me wants to see the Rays pull out a win on Monday and push this Series to Wednesday in Tampa.
World Series Notebook–October 26, 2008
Evan Longoria is taking some heat for his decision not to allow Carlos Ruiz’ game-winning grounder to go foul at the end of Game Three, but I think the criticism is a bit over the top. First off, no one can be sure that Ruiz’ ground ball would have gone foul. It looked like it might have, but in that situation a player has to be sure, and there’s no way that Longoria could have been given the distance between the ball and the foul line. Some of Longoria’s critics have also overlooked an important consideration: if Longoria’s throw had been true, he would have retired lead runner Eric Bruntlett at the plate. When all was said and done, Longoria made the right decision, if not perfect execution, on what amounted to a difficult play….
Given the Phillies’ monumental struggles with runners in scoring position–stunningly, they have only once hit in such situations through three games– it’s rather remarkable they’ve taken a lead of two games to one in the World Series. The Phillies can thank the quality of their left-handed starting pitchers, with both Cole Hamels and the ageless Jamie Moyer turning in gems, and the power their batters displayed with the bases empty in Game Three. Still, the Phillies will have to step up their situational hitting if they are to complete a World Series win over the resilient Rays…
Baserunning continues to be astonishingly bad in this World Series. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Jayson Werth (representing the go-ahead run in the game) managed to get himself picked off at second base with only one man out. Werth joins Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton as baserunning goats in the Series…
I was a bit surprised that Joe Maddon didn’t pinch-hit for Gabe Gross in the ninth inning of Saturday night’s game. With left-hander J.C. Romero on the mound and Gross struggling monumentally since mid-September, a move to use a pinch-hitter like Rocco Baldelli seemed logical. Maddon did use a pinch-hitter later in the inning when he called on Ben Zobrist, but by then, there were already two men out and no one on base, which dramatically reduced the Rays’ chances of scoring. Baldelli never did get in the game, despite the fact that he has put together some excellent at-bats during the postseason.
World Series Notebook–October 23, 2008
As much as anything, bad baserunning did in the Rays in Game One of the World Series. The enigmatic B.J. Upton continued to display his atrocious habit of lackadaisical effort on the basepaths, not once but twice failing to run hard on batted balls that resulted in double plays. I’ve talked ad nauseam about Upton this year, but it is absolutely unfathomable that a major league player would fail to run out batted balls on the ultimate stage of the World Series. In response to the Upton apologists who have tried to rationalize his indefensible lack of hustle, I have to ask: what in the world is Upton conserving his energy for? The season has a maximum of six games to go; there’s no reason not to run out every batted ball the rest of the way, no matter where on the field it is hit. Unbelievable.
Then there was the hard-to-figure baserunning of Carlos Pena in the sixth inning. After Pena reached on a leadoff gift by Ryan Howard–a groundball that he fumbled twice before throwing to first base late–Pena got caught leaning by Cole Hamels, who threw to Howard, who in turn made a good throw to second base. I’m not sure why Pena was even contemplating a stolen base in that situation. He’s has average speed to begin with, plus the Rays had the middle of the order coming up with no one out. Pena’s faux pas erased what turned out to be the Rays’ best scoring opportunity over the final four innings. That’s because Ryan ”Mad Dog” Madson, once again throwing in the high 90s, and closer Brad Lidge were virtually unhittable over the final two frames, cementing a 3-2 win for the Phillies in Game One…
On paper, the Rays appear to have the advantage in Game Two, with James “Big Game” Shields rating the nod over the up-and-down Brett Myers. It’s practically a must-win game for the Rays, who would otherwise be staring down the barrell of a two-game deficit, with both losses coming before their frenetic fans at Tropicana Field…
Shields’ presence on the mound will allow Greg Dobbs to make his first start of the Series as the DH. He’s already one of the game’s best pinch-hitters, and might become Philadelphia’s everyday left fielder in 2009–assuming that Pat “The Bat” Burrell signs elsewhere as a free agent…
In the meantime, Joe Maddon is making an interesting choice in right field for Game Two. Even though a right-hander is on the mound for the Phils, Maddon’s opting for Rocco Baldelli over the left-handed hitting Gabe Gross. That means that Gross and Ben Zobrist will both be available as pinch-hitters late, which could give Maddon some extra options in the late innings of a close game against Madson and Lidge. If Maddon needs a pinch-hitter for Jason Bartlett late, he’ll certainly have his choice of a good one.
Postseason Notebook–October 22, 2008
More than anything, baseball needs a long and competitive World Series. Remarkably, we haven’t had anything other than four and five-game Series since 2003, when the Marlins and Yankees played a six-game Series. And we haven’t had a classic Series since 2002, when the Angels pulled off their late-inning miracle in Game Seven against the Giants. Let’s hope that the Phillies and the Rays, at the very least, can give us a six or seven-game event that isn’t a foregone conclusion by Game Three…
The Phillies face perhaps the most intriguing strategical dilemma as the Series approaches. Who will DH for them in Games One and Two, which will be played at Tropicana Field, the American League home site? Greg Dobbs, one of the game’s best pinch-hitters, is the obvious choice for Game Two, when the Rays will throw a right-hander at the Phillies. But what about Game One, which will feature Tampa Bay southpaw Scott Kazmir. In my mind, the best option would be to play supersub Chris Coste at first base and move Ryan Howard to DH. That way, if the Phillies need to pinch-hit for starting catcher Carlos Ruiz late in the game, they can move Coste behind the plate without losing their DH for the rest of the game. Coste is also a far better hitter than either So Taguchi or Eric Bruntlett, who represent the two other right-handed options for Charlie Manuel…
I keep reading that scouts feel the Rays have the better bench than the Phillies, but I don’t see it. Coste is a much better backup catcher than Michael Hernandez, and Dobbs is the best pinch-hitter on either team. Furthermore, the Phillies have an excellent power bat in Matt Stairs, who will be available to pinch-hit in the late innings of all seven games. As for the Rays, they have two good platoons going in right field and DH, which will give them two solid pinch-hitting options each night. After those two players (coming from a group of Rocco Baldelli, Gabe Gross, Willy Aybar, and Cliff Floyd), the Rays also have the versatile Ben Zobrist, which probably puts their bench on equal footing with the Phillies, but not better…
All in all, this is a tough Series to call. The Rays compiled the better record this season against tougher competition, but the Phillies have the best pitcher in Cole Hamels, and a bullpen that is better and deeper than the Rays, even with the David Price factor being included. So let’s go with the Phillies in seven, with most of the games being decided by three runs or fewer.
Postseason Notebook–October 20, 2008
The Tampa Bay Rays have themselves a new closer–along with their first American League pennant!
On Sunday, the Rays did what probably 85 per cent of baseball fans thought they would not do, and that is win a Game Seven against a steamrolling Red Sox team featuring its ace, Jon Lester. Among others, Rays manager Joe Maddon redeemed himself for that awful collapse in Game Five. Maddon managed the eighth inning of Game Seven as if it was the ninth inning–and that is exactly what he should have done considering that the Red Sox had the heart of the order batting. After relieving a tired Matt Garza and replacing him with Dan Wheeler to start the inning, Maddon played the matchups throughout the fateful frame. He skillfully used JP Howell, Chad Bradford, and David Price, taking away Boston’s platoon advantage whenever possible, And then Maddon showed true grit in the ninth, when he left the inexperienced Price, who has less than a year of pro ball on his resume, on the mound to finish off the game. Price has the best stuff of anyone on the Rays’ staff–and that includes Garza and Scott Kazmir–making him the best option to handle the bottom of the Sox’ order. Price will also become the Rays’ principal closer in the upcoming Series against the Phillies.
Along with Maddon, I feel especially good for Rocco Baldelli, who drove in the game-winning run for the Rays in the bottom of the fifth. No major league player has suffered the swarm of injuries and illness that has plagued Baldelli, a onetime top prospect whose career seemed over at more than one juncture this year. We now know that the former comparisons to Joe DiMaggio are ridiculous, but Baldelli still has a chance to become a serviceable major league outfielder. He can play all three outfield positions, has legitimate power, and has shown little fear throughout this postseason. Outside of Phillies fans, just about all of America will be rooting for Baldelli in this World Series.
As for the Red Sox, another incredible postseason comeback ended because of their inability to hit after the first inning of Game Seven. After Dustin Pedroia’s early home run against Garza, the Sox managed exactly one hit the remainder of the night. The Red Sox’ hitters still grinded out at-bats in typical Soxian fashion, fouling off pitch after pitch with two strikes, but they simply could not finish off those at-bats with a sufficient number of hits and walks. The Red Sox were also done in by the lack of right-handed bats available to pinch-hit in the ninth. Mark Kotsay, allowed to bat against Price, went down easily, as did Jed Lowrie, the replacement for Alex Cora. Here’s where the Red Sox may regret their decision to carry three catchers in the series, including two light-hitting backups.
With the Red Sox eliminated, the World Series ratings will suffer, but diehard fans of the game probably care little about the lament of television executives. Those fans will now prepare for what appears to be a very even matchup, featuring two franchises with a grand total of one world championship between them. Well, that total will double over the next 10 to 12 days.
Postseason Notebook–October 17, 2008
Two thoughts come to mind in recalling the Red Sox’ historic comeback in Game Five of the ALCS. First, the Red Sox are an amazingly good team when it comes to hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position. From Dustin Pedroia to David Ortiz to J.D. Drew, the Red Sox’ hitters continue to display the kind of doggedness, determination, and patience that make them as tough to pitch to as any team in the game.
Second, Joe Maddon did not manage a very good game for the Rays. He made several tactical errors in Game Five, mostly involving his pitching staff. For example, Maddon didn’t necessarily have to take Scott Kazmir out after pitching six shutout innings. Yes, Kazmir had already thrown 111 pitches, but he had shown few signs of tiring and could have been pushed a little harder considering that his next start would not have occurred until a) the World Series next week or b) next season. Maddon also displayed far too much patience in keeping Dan Wheeler on the mound throughout the seventh and eighth innings. Wheeler doesn’t have much raw stuff to begin with, but can survive when his control is good. Unfortunately, it was abysmal on Thursday night. He should have been taken out after coughing up the two-run homer to Drew in the eighth inning, if not sooner. That brings us to a third point with Maddon. He failed to call on one of his most reliable relievers, Chad Bradford, despite the fact that his bullpen was taking on flood water in the final three innings. As Wheeler, Grant Balfour, and J.P. Howell blew up, Bradford remained chained to the bullpen.
So what does all of this mean for Game Six? Damned if I know. The Red Sox have the same kind of true grit that helped them come back in 2004 against the Yankees and in 2007 against the Indians. They’re certainly capable of winning two more games in this series. As for the Rays, they’ve forged a remarkable record at home this year and have shown little inclination toward allowing crushing defeats to leave lasting impressions.
While I have no idea who will win this series, I do know this. I am glad that we will have some baseball to enjoy and savor this weekend.
Postseason Notebook–October 16, 2008
More than anything, I’m thinking of Don Casey today. Don was a good friend of mine who died a year and a half ago, the victim of a heart related ailment. In addition to being a caring and outgoing guy, he was also the most loyal Phillies fan I’ve ever met, someone who was patiently waiting for a repeat of the 1980 championship season. Don left us before the Phillies could do justice to his wishes, but today he must be nodding approvingly from his perch high above us. Congratulations, Don. You deserve it…
In winning a 5-1 decision in the fifth game clincher against the Dodgers, Cole Hamels solidified his position as the best starting pitcher left standing in this postseason. I’m sure that Jon Lester’s fans will beg to differ, but he lost his No. 1 ranking to Hamels after his flameout in Game Three of the ALCS. Hamels also has the best change-up of any pitcher in this postseason; that pitch, coupled with his 94-mile per hour fastball and solid control, will make the Phillies very difficult to defeat in the first and fifth games of the upcoming World Series…
Shane Victorino’s temper tantrum against Hiroki Kuroda might have changed his name from “The Flying Hawaiian” to “Hawaiian Punch,” but his impressive defensive play in center field left a far more lasting impression with me. Few center fielders cover the right field gap the way that the rangy Victorino does. He also has a right fielder’s throwing arm, which could make for an interesting showdown against Tampa Bay’s speedy base runners, assuming the Rays are able to finish off the Red Sox. We’ve already heard plenty of comparisons between Victorino and former Phillies stalwart Lenny Dykstra. “Nails” was a better offensive player than Victorino and might have been a slightly better center fielder, but Hawaiian Punch brings exactly the same kind of energy and grit that Dykstra did during his hey day in New York and Philadelphia…
I’ve never seen Ryan Madson throw as hard as he did in pitching a scoreless eighth inning in the Game Five clincher. Madson regularly hit 97 miles per hour, giving him a nice contrast between his riding fastball and sinking change-up. Madson has always been a mystery man for the Phillies, a talented right-hander who couldn’t hold up to starting every fifth day, but has become a devastating set-up weapon in Charlie Manuel’s deep bullpen. With Madson and Chad Durbin from the right side and Scott Eyre and J.C. Romero from the left, Manuel has four terrific options for the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings of games…
So what exactly happened to the Dodgers? Other than Manny Ramirez, few of their hitters showed up in this five-game series. Dodgers cleanup batters left a dozen runners on base throughout the series, while Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier failed to set the table in the top two spots. Furcal had a miserable series all the way around, doing his best Willie Davis impression with three errors in the fifth inning of Game Five. Then there was the managing of Joe Torre, who misused his bullpen in Game Four and mysteriously buried Matt Kemp in the seventh spot in the batting order. Kemp, who hit batted .333 in the five games, should have been batting ahead of Russell Martin and Casey Blake in the Dodger lineup. In fact, Kemp would have made perfect sense as the cleanup man behind Ramirez.
Postseason Notebook–October 13, 2008
Normally masterful during the postseason, Joe Torre made a series of highly questionable bullpen moves in Game Four of the National League Championship Series, as the Dodgers absorbed their third loss in four games. The second-guessing–or was it first-guessing?–began when Torre took Derek Lowe out after five innings, despite the fact that the veteran sinkerballer had a low pitch count in the 70s and seemed to have settled in to a groove. Instead, Torre turned to rookie left-hander Clayton Kershaw, trusting the 20-year-old in a critical one-run playoff game.
Two innings later, Torre delivered the real head-scratching moment of the game. In the top of the eighth inning, he removed Hong-Chi Kuo, who had breezed through the seventh inning, replacing him with Cory Wade. After watching Wade allow a game-tying home run to Shane Victorino, Torre then summoned closer Jonathan Broxton, who proceeded to give up a game-deciding two-run shot to supersub Matt Stairs. By the end of this quagmire of befuddling bullpen moves, the Dodgers had to crawl home as 7-5 losers, putting them on the precipice of postseason elimination…
While the Phillies have taken control of the NLCS, the resurgent Rays are threatening to do the same in the American League. It’s amazing how quickly momentum can shift in these short postseason series. Let’s remember that the Red Sox, fresh off a 2-0 win in Game One, had taken an early lead in Game Two, scoring two first-inning runs against a laboring Scott Kazmir. Since that moment, the Rays have dominated the scoreboard, scoring 18 runs against one of the game’s premier pitching staffs. Their young hitters, led by B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria, have shown little fear in taking in their first doses of postseason play.
The Red Sox’ offense simply hasn’t been able to keep pace with the Rays. As good as the Red Sox are, they do not have the offensive firepower of their 2004 and 2007 editions. We all know that Manny Ramirez is gone, but it’s the back end of the lineup that really suffers, in part because of the absence of Mike Lowell. Their bottom three of Mark Kotsay, Jed Lowrie (or Alex Cora) and Jason Varitek brings little thump to the table. Kotsay is playing for the purposes of speed and defense, Varitek is virtually shot as a hitter, and Lowrie, while a good complementary player, doesn’t hit with much more than occasional power. With their offense running at something less than full efficiency, it becomes even more imperative for the Red Sox’ vaunted pitching staff to regroup and keep them close at the outset of Games Four and Five.
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