The BUZZ in Philly
For fourteen years Philadelphia has waited for baseball in October. Yesterday, for the first time in their history, the Fightin’ Phils opened up a baseball playoff series at home.
The parking lots started filling up before noon. Unlike an Eagles game, when fans only have to miss church, work and school commitments kept many away from the stadium until close to game time. But plenty of people clearly called in sick.
The stadium was drenched in red and white and unlike every other sellout I’ve attended, nearly every seat was filled for the first pitch. A sure sign that this was more than just a regular-season sellout was that Ashburn Alley was empty during the innings and only sparsely populated in-between.
The crowd was whipped into a frenzy by a video of the last month of the season. The cheering started then and continued until the final out. I’ve never been to a Phillies’ game and heard the fans cheer so loudly, for so long. They never gave up.
If not for one …
The BUZZ in Philly
Manager Charlie Manuel made his first brilliant move of the playoffs before the first pitch was even thrown.
The Phillies’ roster for the National League Division Series was announced today and Adam Eaton’s and Geoff Geary’s names were not on it (insert sigh-of-relief sound here).
Although he is being paid much more than the other starters on the playoff roster ($24.5 million over three years), the Phillies let common sense outweigh the almighty dollar and will keep the ineffective Eaton off the mound. Eaton is 1-4 with a 7.36 ERA in his last ten starts. Via the Associated Press on ESPN’s website:
“It’s the best case for the team,” Eaton said Tuesday.
…
“Because of the way others have performed, he’s the odd man out,” general manager Pat Gillick said.
All-Star Cole Hamels will start tomorrow and rookie Kyle Kendrick will take the mound on Thursday. Kyle Lohse will be available out of the bullpen in games one and two, and if not used, would likely be the starter for game three. Veteran Jamie …
The BUZZ in Philly
It’s official ~ the Phillies will host the Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series Championship, beginning tomorrow at 3pm at Citizens Bank Park.
Lefty Cole Hamels will take the mound for the Phillies against the Rockies’ left-handed hurler, Jeff Francis.
Hamels’ most recent performance speaks for itself. Francis is 17-9 with a 4.22 ERA this season. Against the Phillies on September 13th he lasted only 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up 8 runs on 8 hits. It was his worst performance of his last ten outings and certainly won’t help his confidence on Wednesday night, when he once again takes the mound in hitter’s-heaven.
The other much-anticipated matchup pits MVP-candidate Jimmy Rollins against Matt Holliday, also considered a favorite for the award.
Holliday scored (well, sort of) the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning last night to allow the Rockies to slide (no pun intended) into the NLDS. Holliday is hitting .340 with a .607 slugging percentage that includes 36 homeruns and 136 RBI’s. The right-handed slugger will certainly be …
The BUZZ in Philly
Major League Baseball announced today that the starting times for the first two games at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday and Thursday will be 3pm vs the winner of tonight’s wild-card playoff between the Padres and Rockies.
Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies, hoping to pick-up where he left off after pitching a gem on Friday night.
Once the series moves off the East Coast to either San Diego or Colorado, the game times will be 9:30pm on Saturday and 10:00pm on Sunday. Game five, if necessary, will be played next Tuesday in Philadelphia at 6:30.
TBS will carry all of the playoff games. Cal Ripken, Jr. will serve as the studio analyst for the games. Ripken’s Orioles defeated the Phillies in the 1983 World Series in Ripken’s 2nd year in the majors. It would be the only World Series victory of his stellar career.
Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.
The BUZZ in Philly
Charlie Manuel doesn’t have Tony LaRussa’s speaking skills or Willie Randolph’s clean-cut, fit look. But despite his southern-drawl and protruding belly, apparently what he does have is the utmost respect of his players. And this, above all, might be the most important characteristic for any successful manager ~ at least in Philadelphia.
I’ve been as hard on Manuel as anyone this season, questioning his moves up until the very end and being very critical about the team’s lackluster start, when he put so much emphasis on the importance of winning early.
But as I watched the clubhouse celebration and listened to everyone in the organization praise him, from the President on down, I couldn’t help but conclude that Charlie Manuel is the right manager for this team.
I’m not convinced at all that Larry Bowa or Jim Leyland or even Dallas Green would have taken this team as far as it came. All three probably have better managing skills, but none of them have better people skills.
The bottom line is that teams rarely win or lose because of …
The BUZZ in Philly
Back in spring training, Jimmy Rollinsdeclared that the Phillies were the team to beat in the National League East. After a 4-11 start, Rollins’ declaration appeared to be foolish and the NY media had a field day with it. It appeared for all the talk, Rollins and the Phils were not walkin’ the walk.
Tomorrow’s New York papers will be having a field day once again, scrutinizing the complete collapse by the NY Mets that allowed the streaking Phillies to capture the NL East title for the first time since 1993.
Both teams turned to their veteran pitchers in must-win games. Forty year-old Tom Glavine didn’t get through the first inning as the Marlins hit him hard and took advantage of his throwing error, to post seven runs, much to the delight of the Citizens Bank crowd awaiting their games’ first pitch.
In sharp contrast, 44 year-old Jamie Moyer went 5 1/3 innings, giving up no earned runs, striking out six and walking none, before turning the ball over to the now-reliable trio of Tom Gordon, JC Romero and Brett Myers, to hurl …
THE BUZZ in PHILLY
The Phillies’ magic number is now 2. Basically what that means is that if they win this afternoon on national TV, they clinch at least a spot in the play-in game on Monday against the Mets at Citizens Bank Ballpark (the Mets couldn’t even come through at the coin toss).
What that means is that Manager-Extraordinaire, Charlie Manuel, needs to manage today as if it is an elimination game. And that means every member of the bullpen, with the exception of Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer (tomorrow’s starter), should be ready, willing and excited to enter today’s game, whether it’s to get one out or three.
Just like every fan, reporter and announcer, I was questioning why Manuel didn’t pinch hit for Hamels in the 7th and send out a reliever in the 8th. I, like every fan, reporter and announcer, proved why I’m not the manager (unless of course Hamels’ arm is sore today, in which case we’ll all second guess the decision and rip him for it).
By keeping Hamels in the …
THE BUZZ in PHILLY
There hasn’t been a left-handed pitcher since Steve Carlton to remind us of, well, Lefty himself. That is, until now.
Cole Hamels plowed through the line-up, whiffing 13 batters and holding the Nationals scoreless through 8 innings.
Meanwhile, the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Mets, 7-4, moving the Phillies into sole possession of first place for the first time, in who knows how many years, this late in the season.
Jimmy Rollins got the Phillies on the scoreboard first with a two-run single to center field in the bottom of the 5th inning. Chase Utley then doubled near the “Marlins-6, Mets-3″ scoreboard on the right-field wall to put the Phillies up 3-0.
Pat Burrell chased Nationals’ starter Tim Redding from the game with a lead-off double to start the bottom of the 6th. Carlos Ruiz reached on an error, moving pinch-runner Michael Bourn to third base. Bourn then scored on sacrifice-RBI by Hamels, to put the Phillies up 4-0 after six innings.
Ryan Howard added a two-run homer in the seventh to put the icing on the cake ~ and maybe, do …
THE BUZZ in PHILLY
It was 1980……..the USA hockey team won the gold, the Eagles were in the Super Bowl, the Sixers played in the NBA Championship and the Flyers skated in the Stanley Cup. It was a great year to be a sports fan in Philadelphia. There has never been as great a time since.
I was in 8th grade and remember laying in bed listening to the Phillies on the radio on a school night (up later than I should have been). Back then, only some of the away games were on TV, so it was baseball at its purest ~ on the radio (and it wasn’t satellite, so the crackle of static was part of the broadcast).I remember Bake McBride hitting a walk-off homerun at about this time of the season and thinking to myself, “This is our year!” And sure enough it was, as the Phils won perhaps the greatest-ever NLCS over the Astros, and then beat the Royals in six games to bring a long-awaited World Series championship …
THE BUZZ in PHILLY
The Phillies came into tonight’s game 2 games back of the NL East-leading Mets and trailed the Padres by 1 in the wild card.
The Mets’ magic number is four and they sprinted out to an early 5-0 lead over the Nationals after a nearly miraculous comeback in the 9th inning last night.
The Phillies scored early themselves and took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning behind a strong pitching effort by Kyle Lohse.
Lohse was scheduled to lead-off the 7th and was lifted for pinch-hitter Shane Victorino, who homered into the upper-deck in right field to give the tired bullpen an insurance run. The cheers got even louder when, later in the inning, the out-of-town scoreboard was changed to read: Nationals – 7, Mets – 6.
Tom Gordon entered the game and gave up a lead-off walk, but then got the next two batters out before being lifted for lefty JC Romero to face switch-hitting Chipper Jones (1-5 lifetime against Romero). Romero struck out the league’s leading hitter …
THE BUZZ in PHILLY
The Phillies and the Mets both got off to identical starts on Tuesday night in their key games against the Braves and the Nationals. Both gave up several runs in the top of their first innings.
It seemed as though both teams would lose, but the Mets would gain, as their magic number would decrease to four.
From the very first pitch, Jamie Moyer was getting no borderline calls from home plate umpire CB Bucknor. A lead-off double, followed by a walk, brought Mark Teixeira to the plate. He was apparently struck out looking, but instead got the close call on the inside corner for a ball and then hit the next pitch to deep center for a three-run homer.
Moyer settled down and didn’t allow another base-runner until Andruw Jones doubled with two outs in the 4th. This proved costly when he then scored on Brian McCann’s single up the middle to put the Braves up 4-1.
Moyer and the Phillies got a ray of hope when home plate umpire CB Bucknor was hit in the throat by an attempted …
The Phillies had Monday off and managed to pick up 1/2 a game in both the division and wild-card races as the Mets and Padres both lost.
Both teams continue to swoon late in the season and the Phils can only hope it continues. The Padres have lost 2/3 of its outfield to injury ~ one game-related (but freakish) and one just flat out stupid. The Mets’ fallout is being blamed primarily on a struggling bullpen. As Phillies fans, we don’t care how they lose, as long as it continues.
The Atlanta Braves come into Citizens Bank Park trying to play the role of spoiler. Although not mathematically eliminated, the Braves realize their playoff hopes are virtually gone. As they begin making tee times for next week, the Braves’ players hope to help get the Phillies’ working on their wedge shots, sooner rather than later.
Manager Charlie Manuel keeps saying that 90 wins should get them into the playoffs. Of course, this is just his guess, not a flat-line number to reach. With his job arguably on …
