Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels lasted just 4 1/3 innings.  But the Phils clubbed Los Angeles starter Vicente Padilla for 6 runs in four innings on Wednesday.  Four homers, including 2 by rightfielder Jayson Werth, led the Phillies who pounded the Dodgers by a 10-4 tally to clinch their 2nd NL Pennant in 2 seasons and set-off celebrations in Philadelphia.

With this 2nd Pennant in 2 seasons, the Phils have achieved not only a first in their franchise history but a rarity in Philadelphia sports history. The only other Philadelphia teams ever to make it to a Championship series 2 seasons in a row were the Eagles in 1948 and 1949 seasons, the 76ers with Wilt Chamberlain in 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons and the Flyers in 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons.

1st baseman Ryan Howard was awarded the NLCS MVP award.  Howard, who hit .333 for the series with 2 homers and 8 RBIs while going 5 for 15 in the series also collected a double, a triple. This blog noted after game 4 that Howard tied Lou Gehrig’s 7 decades old MLB record garnering at least one RBI in eight straight playoff games.  Howard’s RBI streak ended in Wednesday’s clincher when he failed to knock in a run.  He went 0-2 in game 5 as Dodgers pitching gave him little to hit resulting in his reaching twice on walks.

The Dodgers notched a first inning run off of Hamels on leftfielder Andre Ethier’s 2 out solo homer, but the Phils came back wth 3 runs in their first inning as Werth homered to right centerfield off of Padilla following 2 out walks to 2nd baseman Chase Utley and 1st baseman Ryan Howard.

The two teams swapped single runs in the second inning as Dodger 1st baseman James Loney reached Hamels for a leadoff homer and 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz followed suit with a leadoff shot off of Padilla.

After Hamels settled down somewhat retiring 6 of the next 7 Dodgers he faced in the third and fourth innings, Werth lead off the Phillies fourth with a single to leftfield and scored on Raul Ibanez’s double to deep centerfield.   That was it for Padilla who was relieved by Ramon Troncosco who first got Feliz to ground out to 3rd base before walking catcher Carlos Ruiz.  Hamels bunt sacrificed the runners up — Ibanez to 3rd base and Ruiz to 2nd.  Then Troncosco proceeded to hit shortstop Jimmy Rollins and was gone, replaced by reliever George Sherrill who plunked centerfielder  Shane Victorino, the latter hit batsmen forcing in the Phillies 6th run.  Sherrill finished the inning by striking out Utley with the sacks jammed. After four innings, the Phillies were up by 6-2. 

Hamels opened the fifth by getting 3rd baseman Casey Blake to pop out to rightfield before pinch hitter Orlando Hudson solo homered to narrow the Phils lead to 6-3.  Shortstop Rafael Furcal followed with a double to leftfield chasing Hamels and beginning a parade of Phillies relievers.  Lefthander  J.A. Happ notched the 2nd out and Chad Durbin the final out of the fifth.  Durbin went clean in the sixth inning to notch the Pennant-clinching win. 

Victorino padded the Phils’ lead to 8-3 with a 2 out, 2 run shot in the sixth off of reliever lefthander Clayton Kershaw, the originally schedule starter for game 5.

Chan Ho Park relieved Durbin and went clean on the Dodgers in the seventh inning.   Lefthander Hong-Chih Kuo replaced Kershaw for the seventh inning and opened by striking out Howard.  But Werth followed solving Kuo for his 2nd homer of the game, a solo shot to centerfield.  Kuo then fanned both Ibanez and Feliz to strikeout the side.  After seven innings, Phillies 9, Dodgers 3.

In the eighth, Park was chased giving up 2 hits to open the inning.  Ryan Madson came on to walk leftfielder Manny Ramirez to load the sacks with none out.  Centerfielder Matt Kemp followed capping the Dodger scoring with an RBI single to center — the run being charged to Park.  Madson then got Loney on a foul-out and struck out catcher Russell Martin.   Madson could almost see himself out of the inning, but still had to get past Casey Blake as the sacks remained loaded with Dodgers.   What ensued was a epic 9 pitch confrontation between Madson and Blake in a situation where one solid swing could have changed the game from a Phillies cruise into a nail-biter.   After 2 balls and 2 strikes including 4 fouls,  Madson coaxed a shortstop fielder’s choice  by Blake to end the only significant Dodger threat of the game.

Leading 9-4 in the game, the Phils capped their scoring as Rollins scored on a wild pitch after singling with 2 outs and going to 3rd on Victorino’s ground-rule centerfield double.

Then, all there was left was for suddenly rejuvenated closer Brad Lidge to close out the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth.  He notched a strikeout, a foul out and a fly out to centerfield to cinch the game, the series and the 2nd NL Pennant in 2 seasons for the Phillies.

Interesting, former disgrunted BoSoxer Manny Ramirez,  who chose to shower and not to stick around with the team in game 4 after removed for defensive reasons, provided some offense for the Dodgers; 6 hits in 19 at-bats with a homer and 2 RBIs in the series, but he was largely not a factor in the offense against the Phillies.

The boxscores for both Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s league championship games in both leagues can be found here and here.

The World Series opener is tentatively set for Wednesday October 28, 2009, barring any weather-related postponements in either the ALCS final games or in the opener itself, in the stadium of the ALCS winner, either the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Angels.  This gives the Phils 7 days to rest, heal and prepare for the series.

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I still remember reading and re-reading that old Sports Illustrated magazine that I found at my grandparents house in Montreal, Canada during a visit some 50 years ago.   I treasured that mag for years until one day it disappeared during housecleaning.

One of the most fascinating things I recall reading in that magazine was about how Phillies lefthanded hurler of the time, Curt Simmons, who was 2nd on the staff to mound ace and now Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, went DL in June, 1953 after having sliced off part of his left big toe in a freak power lawn mower mishap. He returned after a month and still posted a 16-13 record and 3.21 ERA for the season.  Nothing particularly intriguing about that accept that Simmons got back in action that quickly and didn’t skip a beat.  How often do you see that today?  Guys turn an ankle and go DL, then get sent down to the minors to rehab before returning to the active roster.  Never mind that Simmons, after the injury, went strong for the Phillies until the late 1950s when he was traded to St. Louis in 1960 after which he brutalized a hapless Phillies team for years.

Today’s Yahoo Big league Stew reviews two of the more freakish, intriguing injuries to surface this spring, former Phillie and now Cleveland Indians’ outfielder David Dellucci’s alligator yarn and Kansas City Royals outfielder  Jose Guillen’s self-mutilation of his right big toe with tweezers.

The Stew notes:

…The tale he [Dellucci] told reporters on Saturday of how an alligator chomped his thumb while he was saving a child — if only it were true.

From the Associated Press:

    “Right before I came here,” Dellucci explained, “I was fishing on the side of my lake, and I heard a little boy screaming. I ran over there, and an alligator had him by the leg. I jumped on the gator, poked him in the eyes, freed the kid, but he [bit] me in my thumb. I got stitches, had surgery and the stitches will come out on Monday.”

Dellucci had reporters sold on the story, but his conscience got the better of him and he broke the silence with a well-placed “just kidding.” Turns out Dellucci slammed his hand in a trailer tailgate before leaving his home in Louisiana and had to get three stitches that will cause him to miss the beginning of Cactus League play. 

When told by team doctors that an ingrown nail on his right big toe might require surgery, Guillen took matters into his own hands and removed the nail by himself with a pair of tweezers later that night.

…Here’ a short conversation that Y! Sports’ own Jeff Passan had with his own mother, who works as a nurse:

    JP: “How much would it hurt to yank your big toenail out with a pair of tweezers?”

    JP’s mom: “They have a word for that. Torture.”

    JP: “So someone who would do that himself …”

    JP’s mom: ” … is crazy.” 

Guillen’s toe is currently being treated with antibiotics, but he has has since developed a sore shoulder and was limited to light conditioning work Saturday in Arizona. No word yet on whether Guillen plans to scope the shoulder himself with assorted kitchen utensils … 

Wonder how much DL and minor league rehab time these guys will spend before returning to the active roster.  Personally, my money’s on Chase Utley returning before either of these jive turkeys!

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Yes, this is a baseball blog; to paraphrase Rush Limbaugh; “All Baseball, All the time.”

But we can’t live in a total one-sport vacuum when another major Philadelphia sports team advances, as the Eagles did in the post-season on Sunday with a 23-11 win over their turnpike rival New York Giants can we?

The Birds, left for dead just before Thanksgiving with a 5-5-1 record in the regular season, reeled off 4 wins in their finaL 5 games and prospered pummelling the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season final. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles’ major competition for the NFC Wildcard spot, were beaten by the Oakland Raiders enabling the Birds to ascend into the post-season.

The Birds then knocked off the Minnesota Vikings to move on to the Meadowlands.

The Eagles and Giants played to a near-standoff for 3 quarters as quarterback Donovan McNabb scored a 1 yard touchdown to go along with David Akers field goals. The Giants got 3 field goals from John Carney and recorded a 2nd quarter safety as McNabb was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.  The Birds led by 13-11 after 3 quarters.

Giant quarterback Eli Manning could never quite get uncorked as he struggled with a swarming Eagle defense as each quarterback coughed up 2 interceptions.  The Giants were inside the Eagle 20 yardline 5 times and converted 3 field goals to show for it.

But after Carney missed a 47 yard field goal attempt, the Eagles took over on their 37 yardline and reeled off a 10-play drive culminating in a McNabb 1 yard TD pass to make the score 20-13.

After the Giants failed to convert a 4th and 2 on their 48 yardline, the Eagles took over possession.  After running back Correll Buckhalter was thrown for a 1 yard loss, McNabb connected with flanker DeSean Jackson for a 48 yard completion on the 2nd play of the possession placing the Eagles at the Giants’ door at the 1 yardline.  The Birds failed to convert on 3 downs and Akers then booted a 20 yard field goal.

The teams traded possessions and the Giants turned the ball over twice.  The game ended with McNabb falling on the football twice.

Way to go Eagles!   They must be celebrating again Big-Time back in Philly.  Onto the NFC Championship game with the Arizona Cardinals and onto the Superbowl — Hopefully, finally a Superbowl win to go along with a World Series Crown.

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24 year old 2nd year ace of the San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum and 30 year old Cleveland Indians 7 year veteran lefthander Cliff Lee garnered their respective league’s Cy Young Awards in MLB announcements made on Tuesday and Thursday.

Both Lincecum and Lee had phenominal seasons; Lincecum going 18-5 while racking up an incredible league-leading winning .783 percentage and league-leading 265 strikeouts in 227 innings with a 2.62 ERA for a Giants team which finished 4th in the NL West with a 72-90 mark and one of baseball’s least productive offenses.  Lee finished with the best mark in all of MLB at 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 223 1/3 innings pitched.  Between them, they gave up an incredibly low total of 23 homers (11 off of Lincecum, 12 off of Lee) in 450 1/3 innings.

In the NL, Arizona’s ace Brandon Webb finished a distant 2nd in the voting despite his 22-7 mark and 3.30 ERA in 226 2/3 innings.  Webb gave up but 13 dingers.  Johan Santana and CC Sabathia came in 3rd and 4th in the voting while Phillies closer Brad Lidge who recorded a perfect 41 saves in 41 chances in the regular season, 48 for 48 including the playoffs and the World Series, finished in the 5th spot in balloting.

Lincecum is only the 2nd Giant ever to win the Cy Young award with joining  Mike McCormick who won in 1967.  Records show that only Steve Carlton, in 1972, won the Cy Young for a club with a worse record than the 2008 Giants. Lefty went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for the morbund 1972 Phillies team who sported baseball’s worst record that year of 59-97.

Toronto Blue Jays starter Ray Halladay, with a 20-11 mark and a 2.78 ERA in 246 innings finished a distant 2nd in AL balloting and L.A. Angels closer
Francisco Rodriguez who set an MLB record with 62 saves and had a 2.24 ERA finished an even further distant 3rd.

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Following a 48 hour rain suspension, the Phiillies and the Tampa Bay Rays, tied 2-2 after the top of the sixth inning, renewed play by trading single runs in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh before 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz singled in the winning run. J.C. Romero and closer Brad Lidge were lights-out in the eighth and ninth innings as the Phillies bested the Rays for the World Series Title by 4 games to 1 and a 4-3 score.

Ace lefthander Cole Hamels, who didn’t get his 4th post-season win, was awarded the Series MVP award for having pitched a solid 7 innings in series game 1 as well as another excellent outing going 6 innings in game 5 under treacherous weather conditions.

Reliever Grant Balfour stayed in the game to begin the Phillies’ sixth inning and gave up an inning opening double to Geoff Jenkins who pinch-hit for Hamels.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ sacrifice bunted Balfour’s 1st pitch to 3rd base moving Jenkins to 3rd with 1 out.  Rightfielder Jayson Werth followed by lining Balfour’s 2-2 pitch to centerfield scoring Jenkins to put the Phils up 3-2.   J.P. Howell took over from Balfour struck 2nd baseman Chase Utley out on 3 pitches and got 1st baseman Ryan Howard to pop out to 3rd base to end the inning.  But the Phils had taken a 3-2 lead and it looked like Hamels would actually get his 5th post-season win.

Ryan Madson took over pitching duties in the seventh inning and struck out catcher Dioner Navarro for out 1.  But then Rocco Baldelli nailed Madson’s first offering for a solo homer to left and the game was again tied.  Two pitches later, shortstop Jason Bartlett singled to left and advanced to 2nd base on a Howell’s sacrifice bunt to the pitcher.  Manager Manuel then went to J.C. Romero who was greeted with lead-off hitter 2nd baseman Akinori Iwamura’s infield grounder over 2nd base. Bartlett went to 3rd and tried to score on the play when he was fooled on Utley’s alert bluff throw to first. Bartlett was a sitting duck being tagged out at home on the play as the Rays side was retired and Romero and the Phillies escaped a Rays go-ahead threat.

In the bottom of the seventh, leftfielder Pat Burrell led off by lining
Howell’s 1-1 pitch off the centerfield wall for a double.  Eric Bruntlett ran for Burrell and stayed in the game to play leftfield in the late innings.
Pedro Feliz then lined Howell’s 1 strike pitch to centerfield to drive in what turned out to be the winning run.  Catcher Carlos Ruiz and Romero both grounded out to end the inning but the Phils had the lead by 4-3.

After leftfielder Carl Crawford singled to open the eighth inning, centerfielder B.J. Upton grounded into a shortstop-to-2nd-to-1st doubleplay and 1st baseman Carlos Pena lined out to leftfield to retire the side.  Romero, who threw 14 pitches was credited with his 2nd win of the World Series.
 
The Phillies went down in the eighth as only Chase Utley reached on a  David Price walk.

Closer Brad Lidge, who went perfect for the season with 48 save in 48 opportunities through the World Series, rang up the Rays in the ninth inning.  Lidge only gave up a 1 out single to catcher Navarro and wound up the series in true Tug McGraw style — a swinging third strike on pinch hitter  Eric Hinske for the final out.  Then it was fireworks, horn-honking auto caravans and party-time in Philly with Harry Kalas giving another rendition of the Ole’ Blue Eyes tune — “High Hopes.”

Rays reliever J.P. Howell, who gave up the winning run in the seventh, was charged with his 2nd loss of the World Series and his 3rd of the post-season.

For the Phillies, 45 year old Jamie Moyer and all, it was their 2nd World Series title in the franchise’s 126-year history.  AP Sports Writer Rob Maaddi noted for Yahoo sports;

The bullpen led the NL in ERA (3.22) and winning percentage (.589) during the regular season, and was even better in the playoffs. They were the biggest reason the Phillies were 89-0 this year when leading after eight innings— including 10 postseason wins.

MVP winner Hamels received both the MVP trophy and keys to a new sports car.

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UPDATE:  Tim Brown of Yahoo sports is reporting:

As rain and chilly temperatures rendered Citizens Bank Park unplayable again, commissioner Bud Selig pushed the continuation of the Philadelphia Phillies’ potential clincher to 8:37 p.m. (ET) Wednesday.

Wednesday is expected to be cold and wet with a possible break later in the afternoon.

Tampa Bay Rays general manager Andrew Friedman said by email Tuesday afternoon the Rays would leave the game in the hands of their bullpen, rather than come back with a starter. The Phillies are expected to do the same.

Lefthanders Cole Hamels and Scott Kazmir faced-off in a rematch of game 1.  But after the Phillies loaded the sacks and notched 2 first inning runs on centerfielder Shane Victorino’s leftfield single, the Rays came back with single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to tie amidst increasing rain and increasingly torrid playing conditions before commissioner Bud Selig suspended the game in the mid-sixth inning.

The Phillies hoped to end the series on Monday in Philadelphia.

ESPN is reporting;

The game has tentatively been scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, weather permitting.

I’m not going to take Selig to task for the game suspension, or when the game was called.   I’m just dealing with the game as it is.  The Phils had scoring shots in both the fourth and fifth innings — bases jammed in the fourth, but couldn’t deliver.   Kazmir walked 6 Phils in 4 innings and the Phils had left 9 runners stranded through 5 innings of at-bats. 

After Hamels quickly disposed of the Rays in the first, the Phils loaded the bases against Kazmir with two outs as rightfielder Jayson Werth walked, 2nd baseman Chase Utley was hit by a pitch and leftfielder Pat Burrell was walked on 5 pitches.  Victorino then lined a 2-1 pitch to leftfield to put the Phils up 2-0. 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz singled to reload the bases as Phils fans chomped at the bit in eager anticipation.  But Kazmir coaxed a fly out to leftfield by catcher Carlos Ruiz, who had been clutch in game 3.

Both Kazmir and Hamels breezed through the second and third innings.

Tampa Bay scored its first run in the fourth inning as 1st baseman Carlos Pena doubled to rightfield and scored on 3rd baseman Evan Longoria’s single to centerfield.

Amidst continuing steady rain, the Phillies tried to rally in the fourth laoding the bases with 2 outs as shortstop Jimmy Rollins and Werth both walked after Hamels reached on a fielders’ choice grounder.  But Utley grounded out to 2nd base leaving everyone stranded.

The Phillies got their first two runners on as Kazmir walked both 1st baseman Ryan Howard and Burrell.  But reliever Grant Balfour replaced Kazmir and got Victorino to fly out to leftfield and got both Feliz and Ruiz to pop out to 1st base.  Kazmir had thrown 103 pitches through five innings,

As the Phils started the sixth up 2-1, it seemed obvious, rain or not, that they needed to score more runs to win this thing.

As the steady downpour of rain became heavier, the Rays tied the game in the sixth as centerfielder B.J. Upton singled and stole 2nd base as described by AP baseball writer Ben Walker for Yahoo sports;

Carlos Pena hit a tying, two-out single in the sixth for the Rays, and the umpires called it moments later. By then, every ball and every pitch had become an adventure because of the miserable conditions.

“The infield was tough. The ball would do funny things,” Phillies second baseman Chase Utley said. “It was in bad shape. It was not playable.”

There has never been a rain-shortened game in Series history, and this was the first suspension. Whenever this one resumes, it will pick up where it left off, with the Phils about to bat in the bottom of the sixth.

I hold that it was best that the game be called.  And Hamels, as I understand MLB rules, still would be credited with the win regardless whether he bats, or is replaced by a pinch hitter IF the Phils score in the sixth and hold the lead.  I would not want to conjecture or second-guess what could happen in the sixth when the game is resumed  were it to have been stopped after the first 2 outs.

Here is a citing of the MLB rules for determining the winning pitcher;

             WINNING AND LOSING PITCHER

10.19 (a) Credit the starting pitcher with a game won only if he has pitched at least five complete innings and his team not only is in the lead when he is replaced but remains in the lead the remainder of the game.

(4) The winning relief pitcher shall be the one who is the pitcher of record when his team assumes the lead and maintains it to the finish of the game.

EXCEPTION: Do not credit a victory to a relief pitcher who is ineffective in a brief appearance, when a succeeding relief pitcher pitches effectively in helping his team maintain the lead. In such cases, credit the succeeding relief pitcher with the victory.

(d) When a pitcher is removed for a substitute batter or substitute runner, all runs scored by his team during the inning in which he is removed shall be credited to his benefit in determining the pitcher of record when his team assumes the lead.

Whether Hamels bats, or a pinch hitter, and whether we see Ryan Madson, or Chad Durbin, or maybe even rookie lefthander J.A. Happ in the seventh — we’ll see what move Charlie makes.

I just hope that the Phils clubhouse gets over its’ anger and gets down to business.  Otherwise, curses are self-fulfilling prophecies.

Fans should remember that the Phils still hold a 3-1 lead in games.  We’re in the driver’s seat.  Regardless of how the final 2 1/2 innings go down, there are still a maximum of 7 games to a World Series.  I’ll just leave it at that. 

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