Congratulations New York Yankees. And Congratulations Philadelphia Phillies
Posted by Johnny Goodtimes on November 5th, 2009
I’m wiped out, my girlfriend is furious with how all of our nights on the town for the past month have included the chant “Let’s Go Phillies”, and I am dead broke. But it’s been a damn fun ride. I want to send out congratulations to the 2009 New York Yankees, unquestionably the best team in baseball this year. And I would also like to congratulate the Philadelphia Phillies, the first team in 127 years to win back to back pennants. Folks, that is nothing to sneeze at. We will have more coverage in the morning. In the meantime, I have to promise my girlfriend that it won’t be like this again if the Eagles make the playoffs. Pitchers and catchers in just over 3 months. Can’t wait.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Now that it is over, sober minded baseball fans can agree that Chollie had his false teeth handed to him by Girardi in this series. While Girardi was willing to make the tough decision to change his rotation to put his best pitchers out there each game, Chollie went with “experience” and the standard days of rest. Thus, we got two losses from Pedro (who despite pitching effectively in Game 2, had NOTHING—having had it stripped from his arm by Chollie in the 130 pitch performance against the Mets in mid-September) and only 2 starts from Lee, who was better than anything the Phils could send out there even if he started every game. Happ, the Phils’ second best pitcher, was used in mop-up only so they could send Pedro out there. Then, of course, even when it was clear that Pedro could not get Matsui out, and Happ was ready, Chollie refused to give the veteran the hook and lost the game right there.
I am leaving aside questions about Rollins swinging at first pitches, since that is what Rollins does. However, the management of the pitching staff lost this winnable (albeit difficult) series.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Bringing to mind the 130 pitch performance a month and a half ago is ludicrous. Pedro had taken essentially a month off after that and looked extremely sharp against both the Dodgers and the Yankees. It was obvious in the first inning, however, that he didn’t have that stuff tonight. There were a few things that really frustrated me last night: why was Chooch, probably the Phils 3rd most consistent hitter in the postseason, batting 9th? And why did the Phillies pitchers keep giving Matsui fastballs down the middle? A fastball down the middle on an 0-2 count by Pedro was a headscratching back breaker. Yes, I agree that Pedro should have been pulled earlier, but I have no problem with him starting that game.
November 5th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
He was doing fine batting 8th and 9th. I don’t think the 6th game of the World Series is the time to start tinkering with the lineup.
People were talking about dropping Howard down to 5th or 6th in the lineup. That’s crazy. Based on a 5-game slump?? Short-sightedness.
If Feliz is the weak point in our lineup, then that’s a good lineup. I’ll take his solid defense for the decent offensive production we normally get from him (82 RBI and .266 average).
Other than Ibanez and Happ, I am not expecting a big drop off in production from any major player on this team. And, I am not necessarily expecting one from Happ or Ibanez.
Lidge has to be better. Hamels should be better.