Well, my Fightin' Phils are back in the World Series!! It's only the first time a National League team has made repeat appearances since the '95/'96 Atlanta Braves. If they win it they will be the first National League team since the '75/'76 Cincinatti Reds' Big Red Machine to win back-to-back titles. This is a great time to be a baseball fan in Philadelphia, and this team has been fun to watch all year since my foray to Spring Training back in March. Frankly it's been an up and down year, specifically in the bullpen. But with the lineup they send to the plate every game, they seem to just bash teams into submission and overcome most pitching miscues. How fun it would be if the Yankees and Phillies were to meet in the Series. Revenge for 1950 !! So you Yankee fans out there...when/if your team finally does away with the Angels of Anaheim, we'll be waitin' and it'll be a war - so let the trash talk begin! GOOOO PHILLIES!!!!
As a Yankee fan since the dog days of 1991, I can say that a Yankee/Philly WS would be great. However, the Yankees need to take care of business in game 6. I do not want to see a game 7 against the Angels. I only trust CC and Pettitte. AJ (I love to bake a pretty pie) Burnett can be wild . It would be a 7 game series. Lots of baseball gods claim the Yankees would be heavily favorites but I think both teams stack up well. The major difference is the bullpen even though Hughes and Joba have spit the bit lately. Mariano > Lidge. The Phillies lineup is deep just like an American League team. When they play at (hopefully) Yankee Stadium in the WS, they will have Matt (Steroid) Stairs as the DH and he is a threat to hit it out of the park. If the Yankees can somehow avoid a game 7 against the Halo's, then they will have CC for games 1, 3 and 7. That could be the difference.
Go Phils! I am a South Philadelphia native and I've been loving the Phillies since the Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa, Broad Street Bullies, (oops that's the Flyers) etc. days. Anyone wanna trade Ravens Club Seats ($285 face) for a World Series pair?
Ravens? Why did you have to mention something as depressing as Baltimore sports team. First, the Colts packed their bags and snuck out of town in the middle of night for a sweeter stadium deal somewhere. Then, new ownership for the O's brought in the most ineffectual management team possible and tried to win by buying talent. It's worse than the Cubs. you can't even feel pity for these guys.
The Phillies are getting a break here by having time to set up the rotation for the WS. I hope the Yankees can close out the Halos tonight so CC can pitch Wed night. If the Yankees play the Angels Monday night for game 7 and win, they will be in trouble right off the gate in the WS. First off, Wild Burnett would start game one followed by a 4th starter (Joba or the Goudan guy) for game two. CC and Andy wouldn't be available until games 3 and 4 and if the series goed deep, only one of them would pitch twice. Yankee bats better come alive against Lee, Pedro?! and Hamels. Joe Blanton?!?!
Whereabouts? I'm from southern NJ originally (still) but spent many a day/night in South Philly back in the 70's and 80's. Mostly in the area surrounding Capitolo Center/Pat's & Geno's Steaks...played lot of b-ball! Also up and down Passyunk (read: "Pashunk" ) Avenue and in/around the Melrose Diner vicinity. Ahhh, the good ole days! "Everybody who knows...goes...to Melrose..." . Best fries and gravy you've ever had! Anyway, back to the point - GOOOO PHILS!! SPANK THE YANKS! Win this series and they will be mentioned with the great teams in Baseball lore...
Waiiit a second...can't believe I almost missed this...you're from Philly and you actually pay money for Ravens tickets? Sheesh!
Game one will probably be a low scoring game. I can see 2 or 3 runs combined. If Pedro starts game two for the Phillies then it will be interesting. Yes, he shut down a rather weak Dodger lineup but lets see how well he does against the Yankees. He can handle the pressure/spotlight in Yankee Stadium and has the experience so he should be a no-brainer over Hamels. The Yankees plan on only using a 3 man rotation which means that Andy and Pie Man will only have 3 days rest after games two and three. CC would pitch on three days rest twice if the series extends all the way to seven games. On another note, Mitch Williams is such a homer. I was listening to him on Boomer and Carton on the FAN and he picked the Phillies in 5 games. He covers the Phillies and he kept referencing the Phillies as "we". "We have a clear advantage over at 1st base, 2nd base, SS and the outfield". Now mind you, he doesn't even mention A-Rod, who has only been the best postseason player thus far . Just because of his idiotic comments, I hope the Yankees bury the 10,000+loss team.
Can't disagree with you there. CC and Lee are 2 complete shut-down pitchers and are both "old-school" kinda guys...Lee goes 8/9 innings consistently, CC needs little rest. I never understood these guys (case in point - Hamels) who need 5 days rest and go no further than 6 or 7 innings. Carlton, Gibson, Koufax, etc. took the mound at least every 4th and went into the late innings more often than not. You should'a heard Dick Vitale on Mike and Mike this morning..."ohhh baby, Yankees this and Yankees that, it's awwwesome baybeeeee...". Blech...almost crashed the E39 in disgust listening to him bloviate and wax Yankee poetic! Now don't be hatin' 'cause of one commentator's opinion! These are two pretty evenly matched teams. I'll give NY the edge in the bullpen, I think Philly is a bit deeper than the Yanks at the plate overall. Both teams have intangibles to lean on (Yankee tradition/mystique, Phils own the trophy now and are managed slightly better). Shame this isn't an 11 game series! I hope it's a good series with lots of drama (unless the Phils happen to take it in 4 - LOL!).
Dick Vitale needs to be put on a rocket ship and that will be it. Since I have been following sports since 1991 I would roll my eyes whenever he opens up his trap. I know he does a ton of charitable work but lets not forget he charges a fortune for his speeches, appearances, etc... then puts a measley 10% of that for charities. Hey Vitale, why not put 95% of it towards charities and then you would still have $$$$$$ left over each time. End rant. I have to disagree with you about the Phillies being deeper at the plate. Better hope that Swisher doesn't get hot in these next few games . The Yankee hitters work the count and get pitch counts up. Both teams love to beat up on middle relief. Should be a great series. I would be shocked it it were a 4-5 game series.
I can see the series going back to Yankee Stadium. Cliff Lee should pitch another gem tonight. BTW, J Rollins was way off thinking that the Phillies would win in 5 games
Yeah, J-Roll's a bit flaky but one has to love his "atty-tude" ! This baby's goin' 7. Vote for PEDRO! Who's yo DADDY??
I swear you sports fans speak some kind of unintelligible language that the rest of us human beings can't understand!
Both Andy and Pedro will probably last 5-6 innings each for game 6. It will be another battle of the bullpens. If it does get to a game 7 then things will get interesting. Lots of rain is in the forecast for Thursday so if they push it back to Friday, the Phillies could opt to use Lee on three days rest. Your meddling with powers you cannot possibly comprehend
Sort of the way I feel when you gear-heads start talking car-smack... I live for driving the Bimmer, love keeping her clean and looking new, love talking about her and other models...but when it comes to keeping it running right and having problems fixed, there's nothing like having a good, trustworthy mechanic.
OHHH NOOOOO!! Not the bullpens...if it gets to the bullpens, especially late relief or the closer, I'll crap a brick for sure. Give the edge to Noo Yawk there... Thanks a lot Chris, now I'm officially scared...get me a DOG! From your lips to God's ears!! That would be a dream (for me)!
The Yankees did get to Lee in Game 5 so its not written in stone that he would pull a Josh Beckett (he pitched a CG shutout in Game 6 of the WS back in 2003 for the Marlins against the Yankees). I think the Phillies might start Cole Hamels for Game 7, however, he has had a shaky postseason.
