I'm sure Phillies fans would love to see their team in the postseason every year for the next 10 years, but the way the Phillies made it happen this season -- breaking a 14-year drought and making history in the process by catching the Mets with 17 games to play -- certainly seems to have made everybody appreciate this a little more.
That moment is here.
The Phillies play the Rockies in Game 1 of the National League division series at 3 p.m. today.
It's Cole Hamels vs. Jeff Francis.
It's power vs. power.
It's the two hottest teams in the National League.
It should be fun. There are few things like postseason baseball. Every pitch becomes magnified. Every at-bat. Every move. Every play. I have had the chance to see some incredibly memorable playoff games in person in the previous four years -- the Steve Bartman game in Chicago in 2003, the Red Sox winning Game 7 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium in 2004 immediately come to mind -- and it would be nice to see a few more this October.
Ready?
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The latest Philliescast is up.
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Cool. Calm. Cole.
Jim Salisbury tells us why Hamels never seems to be rattled on the mound, and how his teammates feed off that.
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Phil Sheridan thinks the start times for the NLDS are lousy. So do most of you.
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In the Phillies notebook, we look at Adam Eaton, the health status of Carlos Ruiz and Geoff Geary and more.
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J.C. Romero has been a God send for the Phillies. The Boston Red Sox released him, and the Phillies signed him to a minor-league contract. A couple months later he's one of the Big Three in the bullpen along with Brett Myers and Tom Gordon.
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Ryan Howard had a great final week of the season, winning NL player of the week honors. He seems relaxed and ready to go.
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The Phillies have lit up Francis this season, but he's not worried about that.
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Fans are getting creative so they can watch the games this afternoon. (MLB and TBS provide their explanation for the start times here.) Like I said on the Philliescast, 10 years from now those inconvienences should make for some pretty good stories ... especially if the Phillies go deep in the playoffs.
So lock it up!
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The Inquirer's postseason predictions. I said weeks ago that if the Phillies made the postseason they could get to the World Series. I'm sticking with that, although this match up against the Rockies is scary. ... We also have some predictions in video. ... SEPTA plans. ... Fashion advice for Phillies fans. ... Mike's Baseball Rants finds the 1964 and 2007 collapses are the worst in baseball history, and both involve the Phillies. ... A Citizen's Blog breaks down the series. ... Thanks to Swing and a Miss, which liked the lead to my Phillies story today. ... The Good Phight also takes a crack at breaking down this series. ... We Should Be GM's picks the Phillies in four.
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Got some great clips from Conan and the Daily Show if you scroll down.
Comments (10)
I drove six hours and 300 miles last night, but I'm home for playoffs. It'll be good to be back with all my Phillies brethren. Go Fightins.
It's go time.
Posted by V | October 3, 2007 8:57 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 08:57
Hey, as bad as the start times are, and as poor as TBS coverage is (man they did a bad job during the Rockies/Padres game) at least comcast has added TBS-HD, well down in South Jersey anyway. Small favors are nice...
Posted by Greg | October 3, 2007 9:33 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 09:33
For those of us that are working and don't have cable available, has anyone seen a source to watch the game on the internet? It looks like mlb.com will only stream outside the US.
Hopefully I can get radio reception in the office. I'm recording the game at home, but it just isn't the same on tape delay.
Posted by Josh | October 3, 2007 10:06 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 10:06
3pm means I'll be listening on radio, but that's OK. I love baseball on radio.
I just can't believe this is it! Wow. The Phils in the playoffs. And the Bank has been magical - I expect the Phils to come out swinging hard today.
I love the Phils' chances in this series and beyond, even perhaps taking it all. Why not? Everything is peaking - especially the arms. Did you notice that the four guys in the Phils' playoff rotation are all coming off great performances? Loshe beat Hudson, Kendrick beat Smoltz, Hamels dominated Washington, and Moyer, with all the pressure in the world, was brilliant in the Phils' biggest game in years. And along with all of that, the bullpen has been quite reliable. It's all come together at precisely the right moment. This is going to be fun.
Posted by Louis DeVizia | October 3, 2007 10:08 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 10:08
Josh - not that I know of today, but if you are feeling a little techy after work you could go buy a slingbox tonight and set it up on your tv. if your not sure what a slingbox is (you can get it any any electronic store), it allows you take your tv feed (or tivo shows) and watch it on your computer via the web. won't help today but could for tomorrow.
Posted by timm | October 3, 2007 10:47 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 10:47
Almost 3 hours to go. Looks like clouds too so shadows shouldn't be an issue.
Hope that Cole can get it done in the afternoon and starts strong.
Let's knock Francis around too so they can go to their tired bullpen early.
Go Phils!
Posted by Murph | October 3, 2007 11:56 AM
Posted on October 3, 2007 11:56
Listening on the radio from work - it will bring back memories of me and my dad listening to home games on the radio in the days before cable tv....GO PHILS!!!!!!
Posted by Mike D. | October 3, 2007 12:57 PM
Posted on October 3, 2007 12:57
That thud you heard was the hopes of Phillies fans for a fast start.
No excuses...not the fault of Wes Helms, umpire, fans, shadows over plate....when your 3 and 4 hitter combine for 7 strikeouts and your top five hitters go 0-15, you lose games.
Severe case of no plate discipline against a guy who dosn't throw much harder than Moyer. They looked like they were at a driving range, diving for balls that were low.
But, we have 4 more games to make up for today's effort. Tomorrow is really now the most important game, we go back to Colorado down 2-0, we are in deep doo-doo.
Posted by jimmymack | October 3, 2007 7:51 PM
Posted on October 3, 2007 19:51
Hmm... The last two outings against lefties weren't so hot - today looked painfully like the game against Chico last week.
Remember that the Phils lost the first game to the Braves last week and came back with Kendrick the next day against Smoltz. Tomorrow we get a rookie, but he's a pretty good looking lefty.
It was weird to follow a Phils game today without needing to watch the score of another game. Seems like we've been scoreboard watching for a long time.
I think the boys will bounce back with a vengeance tomorrow.
Posted by Louis DeVizia | October 3, 2007 9:26 PM
Posted on October 3, 2007 21:26
Today looked/felt almost exactly like this past Saturday against the Nats - they looked flat, sluggish, overwhelmed with the size of the moment. Tomorrow's another day, though.
Good point about that first loss to the Braves last week, how deflating that was. Kendrick has come up big all year. And there's no way Utley and Rollins come up this small 2 days in a row. I'd also prefer Dobbs and Werth in the line-up for a little more punch. We'll see.
Question: In the event the Phils are down 2-1 going into Sunday nite, Hamels would pitch, right? I realize he threw a ton of pitches today. But with the season on the line...
Anyone?
Posted by John in LA | October 3, 2007 9:44 PM
Posted on October 3, 2007 21:44