Skip to main content

The Phillies win the pennant!


So many possible headlines after this win. "Cole-ywood." "Phall Classic." A "Cole Train" reference. "I'll name my first born Charlie...even if it's a girl." I took the easy route.

Who remembers Jimmy Rollins predicting that the Phillies would win 100 games this year? Well, with this NLCS victory, the Phillies are now 1 win short of 100 wins this year. Jimmy leads the Phillies in all time lead off homeruns in the regular season. In addition to that, all 3 of Jimmy's career post season homeruns are of the leadoff persuasion.

Dodger shortstop, Rafael Furcal, who is usually tight on defense, made three errors in the 5th inning of game 5. This really took any wind out of the Dodgers' sails and put the Phillies up 5-0 at that point. There was no coming back for LA, as they lost 5-1.

Cole Hamels is your NLCS most valuable player. Through 3 post season starts, Cole has surrendered just 3 earned runs in 22 innings pitched. That is a 1.23 ERA. Cole will start game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday the 22nd.

Ryan Madson also deserves a lot of credit for having an outstanding post season. Through 7 post season appearances, "Mad Dog" has pitched 9 innings and has only allowed 1 earned run while striking out 6. Madson has really proven to be a solid bridge from the starters to the closer.

Geoff Jenkins's wife Jennifer gave birth to the couple's first son on Wednesday also. Justyce Tyler Jenkins arrived over 3 weeks early, at the same hospital that Chase Utley was born.

As for the World Series, have no phears. In a post game interview, Charlie Manuel congratulated Phillies phans and assured them that, "We gon' do it!"

Do it, Charlie. Do it, Charlie. And do it well.

Comments

uncle al said…
Cole, Cole...He's our man! If he can't do it...NOBODY can!
mark evans said…
Balz! Great note on the clincher. Let it go on the record that yesterday I declared early in the day, that Wednesday the 15th would be known as "Clinch Wednesday". Clearly, I was right, though off a bit on my predicted final score of 5-1. At least I knew where King Cole would take it!

Phillies North reports great pleasure in winning the Pennant, but exudes the same, reserved, calm, mature, expectent vibe that the Phils Clubhouse carried as they said "four more wins and we can celebrate".

Kudos to Gentleman Pat Gillick for acknowledging Fast Eddie Wade for laying the foundation of this soon-to-be legendary ball club.

Onward and upward!
Phils-Rays: Phillies in six...
Anonymous said…
I had tears in my eyes....what a night. And I got to share it with the hubby...perfect! Phils are on fire with no water in sight! This will be the year. Great blog Ballz..you really know how to capture it all in words.

Nik Nasty
Jay Floyd said…
Yes, no doubt Mark. Recognize Ed Wade for drafting Pat, Hamels, Brett, Chase, the Ryans (Howard & Madson) and Jimmy. Also...for giving us BRAD LIDGE.
-JB

Popular posts from this blog

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 71

Gene Kelly was the radio voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1950- 1959. Born in Brooklyn NY, Kelly pitched in the minor leagues after graduating from Marshall College in 1941. He would soon experience arm trouble, which ended his playing days. Kelly managed to continue a career in sports by turning to radio. When legendary announcer By Saam, who pulled double duty beginning in 1939 calling both Phillies and Athletics games, moved over to the A's side exclusively, Gene Kelly was the man who would fill the void and took over as the Phillies play-by-play man. The Phillies began broadcasting their games over the air in 1936, but until the 1950's, the broadcasters only attended home games and did not travel with the team. All road games were recreated, on the air, by the announcers who read a Western Union teletype account of the games from the studio in Philadelphia. During the decade of the 50's, Kelly was partnered with several different broadcasters, including Claude Ha...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...