October 2008
Some more on the parade, courtesy of Phillies.com.
Fans cheer on Phillies at parade
Hundreds of thousands pack streets to celebrate Series champs
By Mark Newman / MLB.com
Hmm, can’t wait to see the rebroadcast of this on CW 57 on Sunday. It’s going to be worth it while waiting for the Eagles-Seahawks game to start. 
It is the rough road that leads to the height of greatness.
PHILADELPHIA — Those words begin the highlight video that was played on the giant screen in left field at Citizens Bank Park before each game during the Phillies’ run to a World Series title, and on Friday, the road was an unbelievable parade route through town and the perfect ending to a perfect October.
Maybe you felt it at City Hall, where the world’s loudest parade took a right turn and there was a sea of red humanity in every direction.
Maybe it was the sign “SKIPPED SCHOOL ’08″ held by boys who were like so many other youngsters on this day, here to see their heroes and decided not to be in classrooms. It made you wonder if anyone went to school Friday.
Maybe it was at Broad and Locust streets, where you first saw how deep they went, hundreds and hundreds of rows back, filling every nook and cranny, perched on roofs and packed tightly and clinging on tree branches.
Maybe it was the chants of “Stay, Pat, Stay!” and “Pat the Bat!” every time the Clydesdales passed fans wearing “BURRELL” and No. 5 on their backs. He was up front and up high next to the reins, hair slicked back with a black sweater and jeans and showered with love every inch of the route.
Maybe it was when the route bottlenecked at Broad and Bigler, with irrepressible crowds pushing right against the vehicles, as they cheered at Cole Hamels and Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino and all those people who had just touched their lives in a way no one ever imagined.
The parade finally happened in Philadelphia. They never have to wonder when the parade will come again, even though they look forward to more. This was a cathartic moment in America’s fifth-largest city, for roughly hundreds of thousands strong, the confirmation that what they just saw really happened, that the Phillies are 2008 World Series champions.
It began at 20th and Market streets, and it carried the players and team personnel to Citizens Bank Park, as well as Lincoln Financial Center. The players stopped first at the latter facility, where the Eagles play, and players like Victorino and Jamie Moyer showed them the Commissioner’s Trophy and spoke to the adoring crowd. Then it all went back to the “Bank” — the scene of the Wednesday clincher over Tampa Bay.
They needed to fill that venue as well, because there were simply too many Phillies fans for the number of seats. When tickets went on sale Thursday afternoon at Phillies.com for the concluding events, they vanished in an hour and a half. This is what everyone waited for, many for their whole lives.
“It’s amazing — better than Christmas,” said Annette Mira of South Philly, wearing a grass skirt and a lei and waiting for Victorino, the Flyin’ Hawaiian. “I am so happy. My father [Anthony] brought me here, and I saw him cry. It was a beautiful cry.”
“It’s been 25 years of waiting, and hopefully it won’t be another 25,” said Howard Sperling of Voorhees, N.J. “My kids stayed home from school. They should have just closed the schools today. You can see that they’re all here. I want to see Cole.”
Soon after he said that, Hamels passed by. Everyone had a favorite player to see. You realized as you walked along with this parade that it was not just any parade. Each winning city has done something superlative with its celebration, and it is hard to single one out. Every city probably thinks it just threw a parade like no one else.
This one’s pretty close, if you’ve been to a lot of them. The concentration of humanity was just beyond belief. The outpouring of glee, just indescribable. It had bottled up for so long. They partly released it on Wednesday night, when they all stayed around at the ballpark or spilled out onto the streets to party. But this was the moment. No place has been like Philly in terms of always talking about the “P word” — how it was often described by long-frustrated fans who were afraid that saying it would jinx it.
It has always been about the parade in Philly.
Now they have done it. It was beautiful.
It was loud. The consistency of the noise level from start to finish eclipsed almost anything you could ever imagine, any indoor venue.
“It’s not only a dream come true, but it’s all to see this city engulfed in community,” said David Rosenzweis of Philadelphia.
Ryan Leven, 15, of Doryleston, Pa., had been waiting five hours, hoping for that first glimpse of Hamels, the World Series MVP. Then it happened.
“I’m lucky enough I’m able to be here early,” Leven said, meaning “early” as in young age. “My hockey coaches and my baseball coaches always told me how long they had to wait. I hope they do it again now.”
One fan held up a sign that read: “PATrick or Treat.” The fan, Rachel Hezlep of Philadelphia, wore No. 5 and she swooned when the Clydesdales click-clacked past carrying Burrell, his wife and an English Bulldog.
“We tried to make up a Halloween theme sign,” she said. “I love him. He’s my favorite.”
“I broke both wrists clapping for the Phillies,” said one sign, held by a man with a red cast on each arm.
The Phillies are 2008 world champions. Hundreds of thousands of fans were able to complete the picture with a parade they needed a long time. (H/T Phillies.com)
Hopefully when can do this again next, unless one of the city’s other teams finally win it all. Hear that Eagles, Flyers, Sixers. It’s your turn to win one.
I love a parade…. :)
Just got back from watching the parade, or at least watching what I could see from along 20th and Market St. over two hours ago, and I’m still reeling from all the excitement. I’m sure that some of the other Phillies’ mlbloggers will be giving better and fuller reports on the parade later on, so I’m just going to blog about it from my own perspective. Around 11:35 am, I have left Drexel University’s (which I am an alum) Hagerty Library and began to walk towards 20th and Market. As I did, I noticed several other people, all wearing various type of Phillies gear (I was only wearing the hat that I’d gotten last year when I went to see my first Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park) and they were all in various states of happiness over the Phils finally winning it. When I heard someone mention the so-call Curse of Billy Penn, I told them that it was a lame excuse to explain away why our sports team kept on crapping out towards the end after I’d first heard about it a couple of years ago, and quite frankly folks, I still do. That Curse is in my my opinion a joke. Just an lame excuse someone came up with to explain away the reasons why none of the city’s major sports team had won a major championship since 1983 and the Sixers. Sorry, I just can’t buy into it. If our boys lose to a team that was better prepared to win, just say so and be done with it. Do not make excuses. Anyway, we had a good laugh on that, and I’d continued on. By the time I’d reached 30th Street Station and the now closed 30th Street Post Office Building, the place was starting to fill up with Philly red like you would never believe, and all headed for the downtown area and the parade route. Me, I was determined to just find a place around 20th and Market so that I can get a good enough view to see the floats go by. As I continued on, and walked past even more folks in Phillies gear, I began to see the area that was blocked off to traffic (I would say about 25th and Market) as well as notice several cop vans. As I started to cross about 23rd and Market, I saw a couple of Philly cops. I stopped next to them and then congratualted them on doing a good job. One of the officers smiled and thanked me, since I’d obviously made his and his partner’s day, before I continued on. Upon about 21st Street, I’d saw the place starting to fill up and I began to do some strategic manuevering so that I could get to the corner of 19th and 20th and Market Streets. I won’t give you the details, but I soon reached where I wanted to get to around about 11:50 am. At the moment, I’d decided to take a break, and go into my green bag and get out the lunch that I’d made for myself before I’d left my apartment in West Philly: a couple of hot dogs and a bottle of water. As I’d ate, I’d noticed that across the street from where I was, there were a couple of double decker tour buses filled with people, which I was to later learn contained photographers who would be taking pictures of the parade as it went along its way up Market, around City Hall and then down Broad Street towards the Sports Complex, and behind them was what I believe to be the Budweiser Clydesdales wagon. As I was doing that, I was listening to the people around me and to say that they weren’t a very happy bunch of people is an understatement. They were, like me, very glad that one of the big local sports teams have finally won the big one. Anyway, as soon as I was done eating, and had put the wrapper inside one of the pockets of my ‘tanker’ jacket, to throw it away later, I began to move again so that I could find myself a spot in front of the Soverign Bank Building on 20th and Market from which to watch the parade. After a while, I’d finally found a spot, and began to wait for the parade to start. While waiting I struck up several short conversations with the people around me, especially one with a lady who was about my age, who, unlike me, had seen the earlier 1980 parade with her 4-years old son, and was now going to watch it with her young teenage (or close to teenage) daughter. It was quite obvious to me that she was going to enjoy herself. Before then, the confetti has began to appear, being blown forward by some big fans, and soon starting to cover the area with it. Of course, as we waited, we all noticed that it was now after 12 noon and that the parade hasn’t started yet. The lady and I were soon talking about that, with both of us joking about things never being on time here, but hey, this is Philly. We’re never on time with anything. Soon we started to hear cheering and whooping, and I’m figuring that the parade must have finally started, but we just can’t see the floats yet. Around the same time, the two double decker buses with the photographers were both starting to head for the corner of 19th and 20th and Market Sts., so that they could make the turn onto Market Street so that they could start taking photos of the route, soon followed by the Clydesdales and their wagon. After a few more minutes of waiting, what we have all been waiting to see have finally arrived, as here comes the floats, as a very loud cheer is heard from the crowd around me. On the first float, at the front, was of course, the Phanatic, being, well, the Phanatic, along with, I can assume, the folks who work for the team. Also on the float, a couple of guys were holding up a couple of the local newpapers upon which were placed banner headlines that both announced that the Phillies have just won the World Series. Shades of 1980!!! About the second or third float in, there it was, what folks out here have wanted to see again for 28 years, the World Series Trophy, with it being raised high in the air for everyone to see. That cause a very big roar to erupt from the fans, but not as big a one as when the first of the floats that contained the players and their families have finally arrived. Not only did it produced a loud roar, but there was also some loud clapping, several yells of “PHILLIES” and dozens of excited fans putting their fingers into the air in the we’re number one sign. The floats would stop several time to give everyone a chance to see the guys, and, of course, that caused even louder cheers to occur. Around about the seven or eight float, we all began to see, at the back end of the float, the 2008 flag that Ryan Howard had carried around the park in a victory lap during the middle part of this Wednesday’s celebration. I know a lot of fans were happy to see that flag, since it meant what we had all year been hoping and praying for, a new championship flag to fly over the park alongside the 1980 one. After that float went by there came one more float, upon which one of the folks standing on it was holding up a placard that displayed the symbol for this year’s World Series. A short time after that float went by, soon followed by the police in car and on horseback, the crowd began to leave. It moved slowly at first, because of the large numbers of fans trying to leave at the same time, but it would start to move a bit more quickly once the bottleneck has been gotten through. While some folks soon headed towards 15th Street, or probably to the rest of the downtown area, I’d head back here to Hagerty so that I could write this report up. Well, I can now say that I’d seen a victory parade, and man, this one rocked!!!
Update: Pat Burrell was on the Clydesdales wagon!!! Yay, Pat the Bat! I hope he stays here.
Pat Gillick is to leave as Phillies’ GM on a high note.
World Series is ‘icing’ for Gillick
If GM sticks to word and doesn’t return, he leaves Phils a winner
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
Well, look like Pat is going to leave on a high note. Congratulations. You’d made the right deals that would help get this team over the top.
PHILADELPHIA — If Phillies general manager Pat Gillick is indeed riding off into the sunset for the fourth time in his storied career, he couldn’t have picked a better way to go out.
Fifteen years after his Blue Jays defeated the Phillies in the 1993 World Series, he was on the other side of field, as the Phillies won the second World Series title in their 126-season history by defeating the Rays in five games on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Gillick’s contract expires on Friday, the day the big parade is planned to head up Broad Street from Center City to the Sports Complex. It will be the Phillies’ first championship parade since 1980.
“You always want to walk away as a winner,” Gillick said as a sellout crowd bellowed in collective glee around him after the Phillies defeated the Rays, 4-3, in the resumption of suspended Game 5 on Wednesday night. “You always want to win. Every time you go out there you want to win. That’s what’s important to me. Winning like this is kind of special and kind of puts the icing on everything for me.”
To their chagrin, Gillick has told the Phils he’s not coming back in 2009, and he’s holding fast to that stance.
Instead, Gillick, 71, said he’s moving back to Seattle, one of his previous general manager spots, because his wife is living there and the distance has become too great.
It’s become a pattern in Gillick’s tremendous career. He’s gone to a place — Toronto, Baltimore, Seattle and now Philadelphia — and brought success. And when he leaves, the sunshine of that success seems to leave with him.
This is his third World Series victory, following the ultimate success with the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. And the Orioles and the Mariners both made it as far as the American League Championship Series under his reign.
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A PERFECT HOME RUN
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| Since the LCS began in 1969, nine teams have gone undefeated at home in the postseason. | ||
| Year | Team | Record |
| 2008 | Phillies | 7-0 |
| 1999 | Yankees | 8-0 |
| 1989 | A’s | 7-0 |
| 1987 | Twins | 6-0 |
| 1984 | Tigers | 4-0 |
| 1978 | Yankees | 5-0 |
| 1976 | Reds | 3-0 |
| 1971 | Pirates | 5-0 |
| 1969 | Mets | 4-0 |
With the Phillies, he joined a veteran management team that includes general partner Dave Montgomery, chairman Bill Giles and Gillick’s adviser Dallas Green.
All three were with the club when it defeated the Royals in 1980 and lost to Jays in 1993. Green was the manager of the 1980 team.
Montgomery said in the din of the immediate postgame celebration that it will indeed be a sad day if Gillick follows through and leaves the team. It was Gillick, joining manager Charlie Manuel after Larry Bowa was fired in 2004 and Ed Wade was let go in 2005, who helped pull the team together.
“Well, we’re really very disappointed if that’s Pat’s decision,” Montgomery said. “But at the same time, he gave us three spectacular years. And I know we all learned a lot from him. The fact of the matter is that every move is important and that’s exactly what Pat teaches you. It’s not just the big moves, it’s every move imaginable.”
Gillick has done this all before. He left the Blue Jays after 18 years and two World Series titles in 1994. He resurfaced with the Orioles in 1996, stayed there three years through two losses in the ALCS and left in 1998.
He joined the Mariners for four years in 2000 and presided over teams that lost to the Yankees in the 2000 and 2001 ALCS. His family was in Toronto at the time, and when he left in 2003, it was supposedly for good as a full-time general manager.
But in 2006, he had to scratch the itch one more time, and he replaced Wade as GM of the Phillies to take them to the next step into the postseason, which they’ve done in consecutive years for the first time since 1980-81. The effect of Gillick’s effort has been immeasurable.
“So far, it’s almost impossible to put this in any perspective,” Montgomery said. “You can see the fan support. It’s unbelievable and we managed to get through the postseason at home undefeated [7-0]. The support is enormous.”
The key to this season was Gillick acquiring closer Brad Lidge from the Astros last offseason. Lidge saved Wednesday night’s finale and was 48-for-48 in save attempts this year, an element the Phillies just didn’t have on their 2007 team that was swept by Colorado in its NL Division Series. He added Joe Blanton to the pitching rotation at midseason and Matt Stairs to the bench.
Blanton won a pair of postseason games, including Game 4 of the World Series here on Sunday night. Stairs has been used sparingly, but his two-run, pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the NLCS helped defeat the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“You really need 25 people in the NL to be competitive,” Gillick said. “You need a bench and you need a bullpen. There are a lot of people you have to fill in and there are a lot of people you need to put in the right slots, the right pegs in the right holes. We’ve been able to do that over the last few years and you saw the culmination of it tonight.”
Now it has come around full circle. From his Jays beating the Phillies on Joe Carter’s walk-off Game 6 homer in 1993 to his Phillies defeating the Rays in the great suspended Game 5 of 2008.
Life couldn’t be any sweeter.
“Does this cap my career? You never know,” Gillick said. “Now I’m just worrying about having a good time tonight, visiting with our players. We’ll worry about what happens down the line.” (H/T WorldSeries.com, MLB.com)
Once again, congratulation Pat. You made the right deals and decisions in the front office that give you the chance to leave here a champ. I just hope that your successor will have equal success once he takes over from you on Friday.
Cole Hamels is named the 2008 World Series MVP.
Perfect Hamels is World Series MVP
Phils lefty is fifth player to earn award in LCS, Fall Classic
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
And a well deserved award it is, too.
PHILADELPHIA — Phillies left-hander extraordinaire Cole Hamels hails from Southern California, home of the famous In-N-Out Burger chain with its equally famous double-double burger.
So he’ll understand the reference to his rare double-double this postseason: the World Series MVP award, presented by Chevrolet, and the MVP for his stellar performance in the National League Championship Series.
Heavy on the grilled onions, please.
“I’m definitely going to have to enjoy this moment, because there’s a lot of times you don’t have everything go your way,” said Hamels, the 24-year-old who is a World Series winner and MVP in only his third season in the Major Leagues. “I was just fortunate enough to be on the good end of these victories and winning a [few] trophies. But, truly, it was my teammates behind me who really helped me through these times. They’re the ones who scored the runs.”
Hamels, 4-0 this postseason with a 1.80 ERA, received the World Series MVP in an on-field ceremony just after the Phillies defeated the Rays, 4-3, on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park in the back end of suspended Game 5 to win the best-of-seven series.
Along with the trophy, Hamels won a bright red 2010 Chevy Camaro. He received the car and hardware from Commissioner Bud Selig after Major League Baseball’s No. 1 official handed the World Series trophy to Dave Montgomery, the Phils’ long-time general partner, and Pat Gillick, their outgoing general manager.
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TWICE AS VALUABLE
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| Five players have been named MVP of a League Championship Series and World Series in the same season. | ||
| Year | Player | Team |
| 2008 | Cole Hamels | Phillies |
| 1997 | Livan Hernandez | Marlins |
| 1988 | Orel Hershiser | Dodgers |
| 1982 | Darrell Porter | Cardinals |
| 1979 | Willie Stargell | Pirates |
Since the advent of the League Championship Series in 1969, Hamels is the fifth player to enjoy the double-double, joining outfielder Willie Stargell of the Pirates (1979), catcher Darrell Porter of the Cardinals (1982), and pitchers Orel Hershiser of the Dodgers (1988) and Livan Hernandez of the Marlins (1997).
Hamels is also the fourth pitcher in postseason history to win four games in as many starts. The others were Josh Beckett for Boston in 2007, David Wells for the Yankees in 1998 and Dave Stewart for Oakland in 1989.
Hamels started Game 5 on Monday night and worked soaking wet through the top of the sixth inning before heavy rain and dangerous field conditions caused Selig to suspend it with the score tied at 2. When it resumed on Wednesday night, Hamel’s spot in the batting order was the first up.
Hamel’s jokingly harbored hopes that manager Charlie Manuel might not take him out.
“Shoot, I was telling myself I was still in the game,” Hamels said. “I was hoping Charlie might put me up to hit. No, really. I thought that was the best I possibly could do. I thought that was the worst weather I’ve ever pitched in in my entire life and I really did make the best of it. That game easily could have gotten away from me and the score could have been a different magnitude.
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STONE COLE LOCK
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| Following his NLCS MVP performance, the Phillies’ Cole Hamels continued his postseason mastery in the World Series against the Rays. | ||||||||
| Series/Gm | Opp. | W-L | ERA | IP | H | R | K | BB |
| NLDS Gm 1 | MIL | W | 0.00 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| NLCS Gm 1 | LAD | W | 2.57 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| NLCS Gm 5 | LAD | W | 1.29 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| WS Gm 1 | TB | W | 2.57 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| WS Gm 5 | TB | ND | 3.00 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Totals | 4-0 | 1.80 | 35 | 23 | 7 | 30 | 9 | |
“And going into today it could have been a completely different game. We might have been looking at having to head down to Tampa and win it. But I feel like I succeeded, even with all the hard conditions that were thrown my way.”
Hamels pitched the first six innings — half of them in the rain — on Monday night, allowing two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out three. In his last half-inning, the infield was as slick as a hockey rink, the ball was as wet as a sponge and the Rays scored the tying run.
When the game resumed on Wednesday night, Geoff Jenkins pinch-hit for Hamels, led off with a booming double and scored on Jayson Werth’s single.
So it worked out on both ends.
“I felt like the rain and the wetness of the ball and stuff definitely played a role in the end,” Manuel said of Hamels’ start on Monday night. “I felt like that definitely he would have gone farther in the game because he had [75] pitches. But that’s gone now and, like tonight, we bounced back and we overcame the problem the other night and won the World Series.”
All this happened on the night when Hamels’ wife was celebrating her birthday.
Heidi Strobe was once a contestant on the CBS show “Survivor: The Amazon” and a Playboy model. They married last year in her Missouri hometown, where she grew up a Cardinals fan.
“It’s my wife’s 30th birthday today,” Hamels said. “She’s just excited for this moment, this one thing she loves most. She was the one crying when St. Louis won [in 2006]. I said, ‘Why are you crying? I play for the Phillies.’ I think she won’t ever forget this. At least I won’t.”
Hamels succeeded in this postseason under all kinds of conditions.
In his Game 1 victory under the Tropicana Field dome, he kept the Rays off balance for seven innings, mixing his dancing changeup with a curve and fastball to allow two runs on five hits in the 3-2 win.
Hamels previously defeated Milwaukee in Game 1 of the Division Series and the Dodgers in Games 1 and 5 of the NLCS. Like Monday night, he also started the second-round clincher, working seven innings, allowing one run on a Manny Ramirez homer and four other Dodgers hits in a 5-1 victory.
Growing up in San Diego County, Hamels competed with a plethora of fine high school players and followed the local Major League teams with relish.
“I rooted for the Dodgers and Padres,” he said. “It depended on who was winning.”
Since Hamels was born on Dec. 27, 1983, he wasn’t yet 5 years old when the Dodgers last won the World Series in 1988. But he was a wiry 14-year-old when the Padres won their last NL pennant in 1998 and were swept by the Yankees in the World Series.
Little did he know that 10 years later he’d have his own World Series title and the double-double MVP. It was something he couldn’t even conceive back then.
“No, I couldn’t,” he said. “I just wanted to play the game. I didn’t know where I’d ever end up. And I was fortunate enough for the Phillies to draft me and knowing that they were trying to put together a really good team, and now being a member of what they were able to establish is something I can’t thank them for enough.
“Because they truly did give me the opportunity to be here in this city and to win this World Series. All they asked of me was to go out there and play this game that I enjoy and that I live and die for every day.” (H/T Phillies.com)
Hamels, you certainly do deserve this award for the way you’d pitched. And, I hope your wife is enjoying her birthday present.
2008 World Series: Game 5.5: The Phillies are the 2008 World Champions of the Baseball World.
The Phillies have won the 2008 World Series, winning the series four games to one, as they would outscore the Rays in the final three and a half innings of this past Monday’s suspended game five, 4-3. As play resumed, Rays’ manager Joe Maddon would decide to leave Grant Balfour in the game. Pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins would be the first batter to face him in the Phillies’ half of the sixth, and he would greet him with a hard hit double to center. Jimmy Rollins would follow with an excellent sacrifice bunt, that would go 5-3 for the inning’s first out, as he would move Jenkins over to third base. Then, with the Rays’ infield pulled in to prevent a run, Jayson Werth would hit a pop up into shallow center field. Ray’s second baseman Akinori Iwamura would be unable to make an over-the-shoulder basket catch of the ball, as it would drop in for a RBI single, scoring Jenkins, and giving the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Balfour is then taken out of the ballgame by Maddon and is replaced on the mound by J.P. Howell. Howell would then end the inning by first getting Utley to strike out swinging for the inning’s second out, and after Werth would steal second, he would get Ryan Howard to pop out to third for the final out of the inning. Charlie Manuel would then put out in place of Cole Hamels, who is now in line to be the game’s winning pitching, Ryan Madson. Madson would proceed to strike out Dioner Navarro looking for the inning’s first out. But then he would give up a solo home run to Rocco Baldelli to left, tying the game up at three apiece, and thus denying Hamels his chance to make World Series history by winning all five of his starts. Jason Bartlett would then follow with a single. The next batter, Howell, would sacrifice the runner over to second, 1-4, for the inning’s second out, as he put a runner in scoring position. Madson is then replaced by J.C. Romero. Iwamura would then hit a ground ball towards second base, that Utley would be able to grab, but would then have no play to make at first, as Iwamura would get an infield single. But, Utley would then throw a strike towards home plate as he would see Bartlett trying to score from second on the play. His throw would beat Bartlett to home plate and then Carlos Ruiz would tag out a sliding Bartlett to keep the game tied at three all. In the Phillies’ half of the seventh, Pat Burrell would start the inning off with a double to left center field. As he would be replaced on second base by pinch runner Eric Bruntlett, the Rays would replace Howell on the mound with Chad Bradford. Shane Victorino would then hit the ball to the right side of the infield, after being unable to put down a bunt, for the inning’s first out, 4-3, while Bruntlett would move on over to third base. This move would once again force the Rays to bring in their infield. Pedro Feliz would take advantage of this move as he would hit a RBI single to center, scoring Bruntlett and giving the Phillies’ a 4-3 lead. Ruiz would then follow Feliz by hitting into a force out, 4-6, wiping out Feliz at second for the second out. Romero would then bat for himself and proceed to hit into a force out, 4-6, for the inning’s final out. Romero would then stay in to pitch the eighth. Chris Crawford would start the inning off with a single. B.J. Upton would then hit into a 6-4-3 double play, doubling up Crawford at second base, putting no one on base with two men out. Romero would then end the inning by getting Carlos Pena to fly out to left for the final out. In the Phillies’ eighth, the Rays would send out David Price to keep the game close. Prince would proceed to get Rollins to fly out to left for the inning’s first out and then would strike out Werth for out number two. Utley would then get on base with a walk. After Utley would steal second, Howard would end the inning by striking out. In the Rays’ ninth, the Phillies would hand the ball over to Brad Lidge to end the game. Lidge would get Evan Longorio to pop out to Utley for the first out of the inning. Navarro would then get on base with a single. Navarro would be replaced at first by pinch runner Fernando Perez, while pinch hitter Ben Zobrist would come to the plate. After Perez would steal second base, Lidge would get Zobrist out as he lines out directly to the right fielder for the second out of the inning. Maddon would then send out pinch hitter Eric Hinske to try and take the lead with one swing of the bat. Instead, Lidge would strike Hinske out for the game’s final out, as he would record his forty-eighth straight save in forty-eight attempts and his seventh save of the post-season, and lead to the start of a celebration among the Phillies, as they would win their second World Championship in the team’s 126 years of existance.
Cole Hamels would get a no-decision, as he would pitch six strong innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out three. Ryan Madson would pitch two-thrids of an inning, giving up an earned run on two hits, while striking out one. J.C. Romero would get the win as he pitches a scoreless inning and a third, giving up only two hits. His series’ record is now 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA. Brad Lidge would record his second save of the series, pitching a scoreless inning, as he would give up just a hit, while striking out one, as he records his forty-eighth straight save, and his seventh in the post-season. Scott Kazmir would also get a no-decision, as he would go only four innings plus two batters, giving up two earned runs on four hits, six walks and a hit batsman, while striking out five. Grant Balfour would pitch an inning and a third, giving up an earned run on two hits. J.P. Howell would get the lost as he would pitch two-thirds of an inning plus one batter, giving up an earned run on one hit, while striking out one. His series’ record is now 0-2 with an ERA of 7.71. Chad Bradford would pitch a scoreless inning, giving up only one hit. David Price would also pitch a scoreless inning, giving up just a walk, while striking out two.
During the celebration, which would include Bud Selig giving David Montgomery, Pat Gillick and Charlie Manuel the World Series Trophy, Cole Hamels would be announced as being the 2008 World Series MVP. It would later be announced that the city of Philadelphia plans to hold its World Series parade on Friday. And it would appear that the parade wouldl be shown on at least one of the local networks. I can’t wait.
Now that the Phillies have won the series, I would like to first apologize for the number of times that I’ve shown a lack faith in the guys actually being able to get into the World Series. Next, I would like to laugh in the face of the so-called experts who during the post-season have never given the Phillies the chance to win the Series, including FOX. Ha-HA, in your face, experts. Lastly, I would like to congratulate the Tampa Bay Rays for doing as well as they did this season to get into the World Series as well. I am sure that they’ll be back in the series at some point during the next few years.
Next stop, the victory parade. I love a parade, etc. etc.
2008 World Series: Game 5: Hours away from a possible clinching party as the Phillies send ‘Young King’ Cole Homels to the mound to end the World Series.
The 2008 World Series will continue, and hopefully end, tonight in Philadelphia with game number five. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will begin at 8:22 pm Eastern time. The Phillies will send to the mound their ace Cole Hamels (1-0, 2.57), who is coming off a brilliant win against the Rays in Game 1 on October 22, as he would pitch seven very strong innings, giving up only two earned runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out five, in the Phillies’ 3-2 win. Hamels will be trying to clinch the World Series crown for the Phillies while trying to set a new post-season record by going 5-0 as a starter in post-season starts. The Rays will counter with Scott Kazmir (0-1, 4.50), who is coming off a lost against the Phillies in Game 1 on October 22, as he would pitch six innings, giving up three earned runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out four, in the Rays’ 3-2 lost. Kazmir will be trying to win game five to send the series back to Tampa Bay, as he hopes to be able to put the reawaken Phillies’ offense back to sleep.
The main keys for tonight’s game will be for Cole Hamels to just continue pitching the way he has been pitching in his previous four starts in the post-season while the offense will just need to continue what they did to the Rays in last night’s ballgame, and the Phillies should have won their second World Championship in the oganization’s 126 years of existance. At the same time, the team will need to keep an eye out for any tricks that the Rays might try to pull to help get the series back to Tampa Bay for games six and seven. Right now, Tampa Bay’s offense has been handcupped by both Phillies’ pitching and by the way that Carlos Ruiz has been handling the staff, with the heart of their lineup being given the collar. As long as the Phillies can continue to keep them in particular quiet, liked they did with the middle of the Dodgers’ lineup around Manny Ramirez in the NLCS, the Rays are going to go down quickly.
GO PHILLIES!!! WIN!!!!
And the Awards just keep on coming: Brad Lidge is named Delivery Man of the Year.
Lidge named Delivery Man of the Year
Phillies closer set a team record for consecutive saves in 2008
By Kevin Horan / MLB.com
And once again, he deserves it. Way to go Brad!!!
PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies had a tremendous amount of confidence in Brad Lidge after they acquired him in a trade before the 2008 season, and they let him know it right away.
“‘You’re our closer,’” Lidge recalls being told by manager Charlie Manuel, general manager Pat Gillick and assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. “‘You’re going to get out there, and we’re going to give you the ball, and if it doesn’t go good on the first game of the season, you’re still going to get the ball the next game, because you’re our closer.’”
None of the parties involved has had to worry, however, about the “if it doesn’t go good” part. As the Phillies’ closer in 2008, Lidge has been better than good.
He’s been perfect.
The most reliable closer in Phillies history has been recognized with Major League Baseball’s Delivery Man of the Year Award, presented by DHL.
The Phillies won 92 games during the regular season to win their second consecutive National League East title and now stand one win away from their first World Series title since 1980, thanks in large part to Lidge’s consistency in the ninth inning.
Lidge saved 41 games in 41 chances during the regular season, setting a team record for consecutive saves. He finished the regular season with a 2-0 record and 1.95 ERA in 69 1/3 innings pitched.
“He’s just that type of guy,” fellow reliever Chad Durbin said. “He wants to be out there, and we’ll give him the ball, let him go do his thing.”
That string of success has continued in the postseason, as Lidge has saved six games to bring his streak to 47. The Phillies are an astounding 85-0 when leading after eight innings in 2008.
But don’t expect Lidge to revel in the accolades just yet. His team has a few more items on its agenda.
“I try, honestly, not to pay attention to the amount of saves or where the streak is at,” Lidge said. “We’re in the postseason, and you [have to] go out there every single time and get it done.” (H/T Phillies.com)
Let’s face it. Without Lidge the Phillies wouldn’t be knocking on the door to a World Series win. Congrats, Lidge. You so deserve this reward for being ever so perfect this year.
2008 World Series: Game 4: Phillies hoping to take a 3 games to 1 lead over the Rays behind Joe Blanton while waiting for the offense to finally break out.
The 2008 World Series will continued tonight with the fourth game of the seven games series from Philadelphia. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park and will start at 8:29 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Joe Blanton (0-0, -.–), who is coming off a no-decision against the Dodgers in the NLCS on October 13, as he would go five innings, giving up only three earned runs on seven hits and four walks, while striking out four, in the Phillies’ 7-5 win. In the post-season, his record is 1-0, with a no-decision, with an ERA of 3.27, as he would pitch eleven innings, giving up four earned runs on twelve hits and four walks, while striking out eleven. His regular season record is 9-12 (4-0) with a 4.69 (4.20) ERA in thirty-three starts, where he would give up 110 runs, 103 of which were earned, on 211 hits and 66 walks, while striking out 111 batters in 197 and two-thirds innings. He will be trying for his second post-season win and to put the Phillies in position for clinching the World Series crown at home. The Rays’ will counter with Andy Sonnanstine (0-0, -.–), who is coming off a win against the Red Sox in the ALCS on October 14, as he would pitch seven and one-third innings, giving up four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits and a walk, while striking out two, in the Rays’ 13-4 win. His post-season record is 2-0 with a 3.46 ERA, as he would pitch thirteen innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks, while striking out six. His regular season record is 13-9 with a 4.28 ERA in thirty-two starts, where he would give up 105 runs, 94 of which would be earned, on 212 hits and 37 walks, while striking out 124 in 193 and one-third innings of work. He will be trying for his third post-season win while trying to even the series up at two games apiece.
The keys in this game will be for the Phillies to find some way to get to Sonnanstine with their bats, especially since he seems to give up very few walks. This may require that the batters not only work the count on him, but also go full bore small ball against him to produce runs any way they can. At the same time, Joe Blanton will need to go onto the mound and pitch a better game then he normally would against the Rays. Hopefully Carlos Ruiz will be able to help with that in his pitch selection. The Phillies have a chance to take a commanding three games to one lead in the series and give the ball back to Cole Hamels to possibily clinch the World Series crown on Monday with a win tonight.
The Flyers have won last night, the Eagles have just won this afternoon, and the Phillies won last night. Come on guys, lets make it a weekend victory sweep.
GO PHILLIES!!! BEAT THE RAYS!!!
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