Results tagged ‘ September ’
On the eve of the 2008 World Series, let us take another look at the numbers.
It is now two days before the start of the 2008 World Series, which will be played at the home ball park of the American League Champion, the Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field, on Wednesday, October 22, at 8:22 pm Eastern. The Tampa Bay Rays will be hosting the National League Champion, the Philadelphia Phillies, a team that has just won only its sixth pennant in its 125-years history. So, how did Charlie Manuel’s boys get here, on the verge of possibily winning the franchise’s second World Series crown? Let look at the numbers, shall we?
First, let’s see how well this team did month by month.
March/April: 15-13
May: 17-12
June: 12-14
July: 15-10
August: 16-13
September: 17-8
Total: 92-70
As can be seen, the team has winning records in six of the seven months shown above, with their best month being September, when the team, with Ryan Howard’s resurging bat leading the way, would sprint their way to the National League Eastern Division pennant, and with their worst month being June, which coincided with their bad spell of Interleague play. More on that later.
Another thing that people have said is that you have to win series to win pennants, and the Phillies have also done that. At the end of the regular season, they have ended up with 27 series wins, 19 series loses and 6 series splits. Of their 27 series wins, they have won all of the games (sweep) in nine of them (Colorado (2), Atlanta (3), Washington (2), Los Angeles (NL) (1), Milwaukee (1)) for a total of 28 wins, while in their 19 series defeats they were swept only twice (Los Angeles (AL), Los Angeles (NL)) for a total of 7 loses. Of their 10 series wins during the last two months of the regular season, their most important ones would be the one against the Padres in San Diego as it would help to get the team back on track after having been swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles; their home sweep of the Dodgers since it would help prove to the team that they can beat anybody at home; their win against the Mets in New York at the beginning of September as it would help the Phillies stay close to the Mets, especially after having lost the previous series in Washington; their four games sweep of the Brewers, as it would give the Phillies the option of winning either the Eastern Division or the Wild Card, putting them in the driver seat of the later as they challenged the fading Mets for the former; their final sweep of the Braves in Atlanta as it would help to build up momentum for; their series win against the Marlins in Miami, in which they would help to kill the Marlins’ own hope for the post-season; and lastly, their second sweep of the Nationals which would see them clinch their second straight divisonal crown on the last Saturday of the regular season, while the Sunday win by the rookies and the bench players would help them to maintain momentum going into the National League Divisional Series against Milwaukee.
Another thing that you need to do is to win games in your own division. And the Phillies have actually accomplished that, believe it or not. In fact, they have done pretty well against both teams in their own division and against the teams of the other two divisions within the National League:
National League East: 41-31
National League Central: 27-16
National League West: 20-12
Unfortunately, they have not done so well this year against teams from the American League, going 4-11 in Interleague play.
But, how well have they performed against the other clubs in the National League? The Phillies would end the regualr season with losing records against only two other NL teams, both of them being teams within their own division:
National League East:
Atlanta Braves: 14-4
Washington Nationals: 12-6
Florida Marlins: 8-10
New York Mets: 7-11
Total: 41-31
The Phillies’ best record in both the division and against the NL overall was their 14-4 record against the Braves, which included their three straight three games sweeps of the Braves’ in their own ball park, something that have not happened to the Braves since they were swept by the Chicago Cubs in 1909, when they were known as the Boston Doves. Their worst record in the division was their 7-11 record against the New York Mets, who won all but the last two series with the Phils, including their series spilt of late August in Philadelphia and the Phillies’ 2-1 series victory in New York in early September, including the spilt of a day/night Sunday doubleheader which would keep the Phillies close to the Mets before they would make their final move to win the Eastern Division pennant.
National League Central:
Milwaukee Brewers: 5-1
Cincinnati Reds: 5-3
St. Louis Cardinals: 5-4
Chicago Cubs: 4-3
Houston Astros: 4-3
Pittsburgh Pirates: 4-2
Total: 27-16
Against the teams of the National League Central Division, the Phillies would do rather well, winning most of their series against them. They would do best against the Brew Crew, spliting the series in Milwaukee and then sweeping them in an important August series in Philadelphia that would help propel the Phillies into the lead of the National League Wild Card race, on their way to their eventual winning of the National League Eastern Division.
National League West:
Colorado Rockies: 5-0
Los Angeles Dodgers: 4-4
Arizona Diamonbacks: 4-3
San Diego Padres: 4-2
San Francisco Giants: 3-3
Total: 20-12
Against the West, the Phillies would end the season with a 20-12 record, doing their best against the Rockies, as they would get even with the former National League Champions for losing the 2007 National League Divisional Series by sweeping them in five games, although they would do the home portion of the sweep against a wounded team, while doing their worst against both the Giants and the Dodgers, as they would spilt home series with both teams, winning the series at Citizens Bank Park (2-1 (Giants), 4-0 (Dodgers)), while losing the series on the road (1-2 (Giants), 0-4 (Dodgers)).
Last, and certainly not least, the Phillies did not do very well this year in Interleague play. Lets face facts, people, they stank, as they went 2-4 against two teams in the American League East, and 2-7 against three teams from the American League West, while going 1-5 against two of the elite teams in the American League (Boston and Los Angeles Angels):
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 0-3
Boston Red Sox: 1-2
Oakland Athletics: 1-2
Texas Rangers: 1-2
Toronto Blue Jays: 1-2
Total: 4-11
With their record against American League teams in Interleague play, it should means that this team might have a hard time with the American League Champion Tampa Bay Ray. But the team that got creamed by the American League in May and June is not the same team that have finished crushing first the Milwaukee Brewers in the Divisional Series and then the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Championship Series, and with little help from either their set up man (Jimmy Rollins) or their biggest offensive threat (Ryan Howard) until the end of both series. This team appears to be a lot more confident now then they did when they faced the American League elite teams the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels at home back in June. That might make all the difference by the time the World Series is over.
The Phillies also had a very good home-road split. At Citizens Bank Park, they had a record of 48-33, where they were in a four way tie for the second best record for the National League, while they were 44-37 on the road, the best record in the National League. Overall, their 92-70 record was the second best in the National League, trailing only the Chicago Cubs (97-64) and the fifth best in the Majors. Those two records of success at both home and on the road should help the Phillies when they face the Rays starting on Wednesday.
Ryan Howard has just been announced the Pepsi Clutch Performer for the Month of September.
And for the second straight season, they were able to reach that goal thanks to the booming bat of Ryan Howard.
The hulking first baseman batted a sizzling .352 with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs and 26 runs scored in 25 September games, leading the Phillies to a 17-8 finish and the National League East division crown. For his efforts, he was selected by fans in an online vote as the winner of the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi.
Howard’s timely hitting was put on full display from Sept. 11-18, when he led the Phillies to successive sweeps of the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves. He racked up a dozen RBIs in that seven-game span, with his most memorable ones coming in the form of a two-run, eighth-inning homer that lifted his club to an 8-7 win over Atlanta on Sept. 16. The win pushed the Phillies into first place for the first time in September, a half-game ahead of the New York Mets.
Howard also drove in 14 runs over a seven-game span from Sept. 7-14, a stretch that concluded with a two-run blast vs. Milwaukee in a game Philadelphia would eventually go on to win.
The outstanding finish left the super slugger with a Major League-leading 48 long balls and 146 RBIs, numbers that place him among the favorites for NL Most Valuable Player honors.
Howard becomes the sixth and final winner of the 2008 Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi. Earlier winners include Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox, who took home the award in May; New York Yankees Chien-Ming Wang (April), Jason Giambi (June) and Mike Mussina (July); and Milwaukee Brewers ace CC Sabathia (August).
Also up for September consideration were Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Carlos Delgado of the New York Mets, Roy Oswalt of the Houston Astros, Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians and Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The MLB Clutch Performer of the Month Presented by Pepsi winner is selected by the fans from a list of six nominees chosen by a special editorial panel from MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball. Each month, fans can visit a microsite powered by MLB.com specifically created for the Clutch Performer Platform, pepsiclutch.mlb.com, to vote for the nominee they believe was the best Clutch Performer.
From Oct. 1-19, fans have the opportunity to vote on the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Year Presented by Pepsi winner at MLB.com, and the award will be presented during the postseason. Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was named the inaugural recipient of the 2007 MLB Clutch Performer of the Year Presented by Pepsi. (H/T Phillies.com)
To say that this one came in as a complete surprise, as far as I’m considered, and since it was voted by other major league fans, makes this even sweeter than Howard winning the Player of the Month Award. Nice going, Big Guy.
Ryan Howard is named the National League Player of the Month for the Month of September.
While helping to boost the Phillies to the NL East title, Howard had 32 RBIs and an .852 slugging percentage in September. His home run, RBI and slugging percentage marks led the NL.
“Ryan’s our carrier,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “When I was in Cleveland, we had more than one carrier. He’s our carrier. He’s the guy who puts up the big numbers. He’s the guy that knocks in the 130 to 160 RBIs. He’s the guy who’s big in the moment.”
Howard hit just .213 in August, but it all came together for him at the plate in September. Before 2008, Howard had been a career .318 hitter in September and October.
“You just go up there with your game plan and, whatever happens after that, happens,” Howard said. “You want to come through when your team needs it and provide a lift.”
Howard was locked in at the plate in September and the breaks went his way, too.
“When the balls are falling in, it’s different,” Howard said. “There are some things you could be doing when you’re in a slump that you’re doing when you’re hitting .400. It’s all about the ball falling in.”
Howard, 28, had nine multi-hit games in September, including consecutive multi-hit games on Sept. 7 against the Mets and Sept. 8-9 against Florida. He also had a multi-homer game on Sept. 3 at Washington, when he hit a pair of two-run shots.
Howard, who was the 2006 NL MVP, finished the regular season with NL-best marks of 48 homers and 146 RBIs. He’s the first Phils player with three consecutive 40-homer seasons.
It’s the third Player of the Month award for Howard, who also was chosen in both August and September 2006.
Others receiving votes included Dodgers teammates Manny Ramirez (.370, 8 HR, 28 RBIs) and Andre Ethier (.462, 8 2B, 18 RBIs) and D-backs shortstop Stephen Drew (.337, 6 HR, 12 RBIs).
Sharp, the presenting sponsor of the NL Player of the Month Award, will present Howard with a 52-inch AQUOS. Sharp AQUOS is the official high-definition television of Major League Baseball. Howard will also receive a specially designed trophy to mark his achievements. (H/T Phillies.com)
And Howard deserved this, hands down. The ‘Big Man’ and his bat came through for the team this month, and how. Now if someone would just find some way to fix his leaky glove, everything will be okay when the playoffs begins Wednesday.
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