2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Save the ticket stub and program. They will become a collector's item.

Just about every time someone throws a no-hitter in the Majors, and every time they toss a perfecto, I dig into my rather small envelope of sports souvenirs and look at my stub from Tom Browning's 1988 perfect game. I have the ticket, and a couple of articles and the boxscores from the (at the time) two local Cincinnati newspapers, including a couple of notes I jotted down the night of the game.

I watched the first seven innings yesterday at home. In the 8th I had to begin making my way to the rink, so I listened to the game on the radio. Fortunately I was stopping at my brother-in-law's to ride there with him and ran into the house just in time to see Halladay take the mound for the 9th. Unbelievably nerve wracking. After the game he said "you're either gonna play like sh! t tonight, or you're gonna have a hat trick." Unfortunately, it wasn't the latter. Fortunately though, it wasn't the former.

Given the circumstances, I think I have to consider this arguably the second best pitched ball game in Major League history, after Larson's perfect game in 1956. And while my feelings are obviously tainted with a little bias, I have seen a couple of perfect games that I would say fall somewhere behind Halladay's game last night as far as how well they were pitched. First off, it's the post season. There were just 3 balls hit hard all night. This was the NL triple crown winning team, leading the league in average, homers and RBIs. A lot is riding on the opening game of a playoff series, especially a 5 game one. Halladay was making his first post season start after 11 years of watching the playoffs from the outside, and coming off 8 days rest. If he was less than unhittable, or overthrowing due to the extended time between starts, one could certainly understand.

It seems like a lifetime ago that this franchise once was able to frustrate me so much, that following a blown game against the Cubs I actually stripped off the Phillies jersey and hat I had on, marched into my backyard, and literally set them on fire. Yes, literally. Even sent the charred and gas-soaked remains of the jersey to the Phils. Never get away with THAT in a post 9-11 world. Now they're going to the playoffs, winning a World Series, and throwing post season no-hitters. What's next? Notre Dame winning an NCAA hockey championship????

 

[Puck Swami]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

As I said in the MLB thread, I only wish that Doc could have spun a post-season no hitter for the Jays.

Speaking of which, I assume you cried in '94, but not tears of joy.

I was living in Toronto that year. Still have Mitch Williams nigtmares, echoed by "Touch 'em all, Joe....."

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

What's next? UNH winning an NCAA hockey championship????

FYP

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

I was living in Toronto that year. Still have Mitch Williams nigtmares, echoed by "Touch 'em all, Joe....."

I think I remained slumped on my living room floor in front of my couch from that moment until sometime on the night of October 29th 2008. Or at least it seemed so.

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Ugly win tonight, but it's the playoffs so we'll take it. Oswalt wasn't sharp giving up 4 runs, 3 earned in 5 innings tonight. The BP shut down the Reds the rest of the way though. The offense took 6 innings to wake up, but thanks to the Reds four errors, the Phils were able to come back and eventually go ahead. Up 2-0 going to Cincy with Hamels and Halladay due up, things look pretty good for the Phightin's.

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

The Reds walk 6, walk in a run, hit three batters and commit 4 errors, blow a 4-0 lead, and then blame the umpires? The Phils gave away some at-bats early on, committed 2 errors of their own, and Oswalt was very pedestrian in his 5 innings of work. Had Philly lost I think I'd be looking first at those issues. C'mon Cincinnati, man up. As my brother-in-law said last night, leave it to Dusty Baker to never know exactly when to take a pitcher out or leave him in. He saw it up close for years since he is a Cubs fan.

I do think the Reds will play much better Sunday. If Hamels throws only as well as Oswalt did, they will have a much tougher time winning that one. But Hamels has owned the Reds in his career. 6-0 in seven starts and the Reds have hit just .163 off him. And just as well, 3-0 in four starts at GAB, with some fairly remarkable numbers, 1.67 ERA, .172 batting average against, just 16 hits allowed in 27 innings. Would have gone to this game if I could have gotten tix from the Reds, and since they have had such trouble drawing well this season I thought there was a chance. But $175 via StubHub is too rich for my blood.

 

[candycanes99]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

So... that was a quick series. Hamels was filthy last night.

We're going to need our offense to do a lot more in the NLCS, hopefully a handful of days off here doesn't put them them to sleep completely.

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that is

So... that was a quick series. Hamels was filthy last night.

We're going to need our offense to do a lot more in the NLCS, hopefully a handful of days off here doesn't put them them to sleep completely.

Ya, this offense has been a total enigma all year. I have no idea what it's going to take to get them going, but whatever it is I hope Charlie figures it out soon. As good as the starting pitching is and has been we can't continue to put up 2 and 3 runs a game and expect to win games.

That being said, it's got to be a pretty daunting task for any team playing the Phillies to know that you are going to face Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels in the first three games of a series.

Nice to dispatch the Reds in 3 and just be able to sit back and prepare for the winner of ATL - SF. Good stuff boys, now let's win the NL!!

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Well, tonight's the night.

I heard a blurb on ESPN 1000 in Chicago (they do a nice local baseball show which is a MUCH welcomed respite from the overwhelming 365 days a year NFL talk of sportsradio) about how tonight's match-up is the most anticipated postseason pitching duel ever. Is that a bit much? Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax squaring off twice in one World Series (1963, Koufax came out on top both times) or 30 game winner Denny McLain going up against Bob Gibson twice in 1968 are two examples of highly touted pitching match-ups. But it should be a great duel. 2 time defending Cy Young winner against a guy coming off only the second post season no-hitter.

Another interesting tidbit I heard was one of the talking heads on MLB Network saying he thought Lincecum's 14 KO performance in his NLDS start was better than Halladay's no-hitter. I respectfully disagree with whatever gas bag said that.

Best of all, thanks to Notre Dame's home football game against Western Michigan (yes, Notre Dame is playing Western Michigan in football, revising a series dormant for 90 years) our hockey series against Lake State was Thurs-Fri and I don't have to choose which event to attend/watch.

 

[candycanes99]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Another interesting tidbit I heard was one of the talking heads on MLB Network saying he thought Lincecum's 14 KO performance in his NLDS start was better than Halladay's no-hitter. I respectfully disagree with whatever gas bag said that.

He was likely referring to Bill James game score formula, which values 2 strikeouts the same as devaluing for a hit. I understand that strikeouts are great because you don't need to rely on your defense, but the formula is far from perfect. Especially since a fool could see that no-hitting the Reds is more difficult than shutting out the AAA Braves that showed up in that NLDS.

Not to belittle Lincecum at all though, he's a great pitcher already in his young career, but even if he was capable of matching Halladay pitch for pitch (which I'm not so sure about), he's hopefully going to be facing the tougher offense of the two tonight, in their home park. An extremely important game tonight, hopefully the Phils can come out on top (I'll be there!)

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

An extremely important game tonight, hopefully the Phils can come out on top (I'll be there!)

Have fun at the game! Get your tickets from the lottery, secondary market or season ticket privileges? Been to one Phillies playoff game, 2008 NLDS Game 2, the Victorino grand slam game, the most electric environment of any sporting event I have ever seen in person in 35 years of attending live events. Can't imagine what it would be like to see them win a pennant in person or watch a WS game in person.

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Very poorly played game last night IMO.

A lot of throwaway at-bats by the Phillies. How many times did Lincecum or the relief fall behind in the count and the at-bat ended with a pop-up or strikeout, sometimes falling behind 3-0 and 3-1? Victorino was one of the worst offenders in the bad at-bat brigade. Flailing away at the first pitch he sees from Lincecum to pop out. The double-play in the 3rd in one of those many at-bats where Lincecum fell behind. And getting ahead in the 9th 3-0 before striking out on the next three pitches.

I'm getting a little nervous that if we want to see a decent number of runs on the board the other team has to kick the ball around. Unearned runs helped Philly win 2 of the 3 NLDS games, and while Halladay was given a hit on his 3rd inning at-bat in the no-no to drive in a run, I still think that was a catchable ball. While you have to take advantage of the opportunities given to you, you have to earn more runs on your own.

As well, they have to find a way to take advantage of the potential big inning. Look at the 3rd last night. A walk, a single, a passed ball, a double and a home run amounted to one run. One. That can't happen.

Tonight is the proverbial must win. While the Phils can certainly win this thing having surrendered home field advantage, I don't like our chances if they have to go to San Fran for 3 games down 0-2. But hitting is contagious. One breakout game tonight may lead to 2 or 3 more in a row.

 

[candycanes99]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Have fun at the game! Get your tickets from the lottery, secondary market or season ticket privileges?

Season ticket. Got Game 1 NLDS, Game 1 NLCS, and Game 7 WS. I don't know if I could take the anxiety of a World Series Game 7, but we still have a long way to go to even have that chance.

Tonight is the proverbial must win. While the Phils can certainly win this thing having surrendered home field advantage, I don't like our chances if they have to go to San Fran for 3 games down 0-2. But hitting is contagious. One breakout game tonight may lead to 2 or 3 more in a row.

I hope it does. 6 runs is not necessarily an outburst for this team, but they did a good job being patient with Sanchez early, and while I think they started to let him settle down way too much, they still got him out of the game and dug in against the Giants pen to put it out of reach.

Some fun facts looking forward to game 3.

• Cole Hamels would rather pitch in night games. (4.27 ERA in day games vs 3.20 ERA in night games)
• Matt Cain would rather not face the Phillies. (6.23 ERA against us, vs. his career 3.45)
• The menace that is Cody Ross has had Cole Hamels for lunch in the past. (.300/.333/.733)
• Jimmy Rollins likes facing Matt Cain, so hopefully he has some confidence from last night (.600/.800/1.600 career, just 10 AB though)

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

yuck. This one doesn't leave quite the taste the Saturday loss did, but still... Matt Cain didn't seem like he was pitching himself out of trouble all game long, like Lincecum did. Still, there were certainly issues. It looks like Ibanez is wearing the horns pretty heavily right now, and if Philly can't come back, he'll probably be a big reason why. 12 plate appearances, and all he has to show for it is a bases empty walk. 5 Ks to go along with that and he's stranded 10 runners. Blanton goes tomorrow and that will be his first start in 21 days, his first action of any kind in 17. Our bullpen should be ready to go if need be, but unless this team can figure out how to sting together more than one good inning a game, or score runs WITHOUT the aid of brick gloved fielders, the return trip to Philly will be to clean out their lockers.

 

[Kepler]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Neither championship series is going anything like I expected.

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

I think the motto for this years offense should be "Three up, Three down".

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

The Phils are down 1-0 already. This game could be over.

 

[WeAreNDHockey]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

The Phils are down 1-0 already. This game could be over.

What had me worried was that once again right out of the shoot in the first inning, Lincecum seemed to get behind in the count and yet we struggled to hit him. I believe Utley and Polanco both made outs after getting ahead 3-1 in the count, and Victorino popped out weakly after Lincecum was down 2-0 to him. Manuel has been trying to lower expectations by alledging this team hasn't hit since the middle of last year, and while that may be true technically, there is no good reason for it. We've got switch hitters, lots of power, lots of supposedly great base-running, a couple of experienced pinch hitters (although I believe Dobbs is not rostered for this series) so there isn't any way these guys should struggle to come up with big innings once in a while.

Last night the bullpen really impressed me. 3 scoreless innings, no walks, 1 hit. Madson and Lidge then finish the job. This looked like so many games in 2008.

I'm still not sure they can win this thing. But I bet there are a ton of Giants fans who feel the same way, if they're being honest.

Anyone know if the game on Saturday is going to be a 4:00 start regardless of the Rangers/Yankees series? Right now their game 7, if there is one, is the late game and our game 6 is the early one. I wonder if the Phils/Giants game is the only game in town, so to speak, if it won't be moved to the later start. I hope not. Notre Dame plays #1 Boston College Saturday night. Kind of don't want to miss that one. I almost had to miss one Notre Dame game in 2008, but game 4 was the Saturday game that was delayed until 10:00 p.m.

 

[candycanes99]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Right now their game 7, if there is one, is the late game and our game 6 is the early one. I wonder if the Phils/Giants game is the only game in town, so to speak, if it won't be moved to the later start. I hope not. Notre Dame plays #1 Boston College Saturday night. Kind of don't want to miss that one. I almost had to miss one Notre Dame game in 2008, but game 4 was the Saturday game that was delayed until 10:00 p.m.

They had already said we will be flexed to 8pm start if ALCS ends tonight. It's dumb that people have to wait to plan their day.

 

[gounhwildcats]

Re: 2010 Philadelphia Phillies - Going for the Threepeat...of NL championships that i

Congrats to the Giants, and bring it back for the NL guys.

The Phils just did not deserve to win that series. The Giants have a great pitching staff, but the Phils offense was nothing but a disappointment this entire series. It was a huge disappointment all year long. The good thing is, that we have Oswalt, Halladay and Hamels for next year. If they can get someone to replace Jayson Werth then things still look very good. Thanks for a great season guys, and we'll see you in March.

LET'S GO GIANTS!!!