World Series Preview, Predictions

The Fall Classic will get under way on Wednesday night on Fox, and will likely cause you to be late to work, or at the very least, tired on Thursday, thanks to start times that will be after 8 pm eastern. Of course, I could write a whole post about how much of an ass clown Bud Selig is, but I won’t (for now, at least.)

Let’s take a look at it, position by position:

Lee has been dominant this postseason

• Starting Pitching- Both teams have legitimate ace’s at the top of their rotation, with the past 2 AL Cy Young winners and former teammates, set to square off in Game 1. Cliff Lee will, of course, start for the Fightins. He has been dazzling this postseason, with a 0.74 ERA through 24 1/3 innings pitched with a 0.699 WHIP. That’s an incredible run, and he has given no reason not to think that he can’t keep it up against the Yankees. Charlie Manuel has said he will be willing to use Lee on 3 days rest, if needed. For the Yankees, C.C. Sabathia has been nearly as good…but not quite. Also, there’s no need to have to remind any Phillies fan of exactly what happened to Sabathia, who at the time, was unbeatable, when he faced our beloved Fightins in the 2008 NLDS as a Brewer. Sabathia lasted just 3 2/3 innings, while giving up 5 earned runs thanks to an amazing at bat by Brett Myers who worked a walk. Eventually, The Flyin Hawaiian himself, Shane Victorino came to the plate with the bases drunk. And boy, did he deliver. A crushing blow to Sabathia, and it was all over. Beyond the aces, I feel that the Phillies have the better rotation. Pettitte isn’t on the juice any more, and I’m not concerned with him. Burnett, come on. Frankly, no starter in this series worries me. Good starting pitching, but not GREAT. It will come down to our ’08 hero, Cole Hamels. If the Hamels of ’08 shows up, the Phillies will win this thing in 5 games. Yes, you heard me. But, if the 2009 Hollywood Hamels shows up, it won’t be quite as easy. Hopefully, Hamels starts in Game 3, and Pedro Martinez gets the nod in Game 2. That’ll look familiar, won’t it? Pedro against the Yanks, big game…I like it.

See the rest, after the jump…

Phillies Big Bats Deliver KO Punch to LA

Pop the bottles, light up the cigars.  The big bats came to play tonight, and you had to have a feeling they would.  Coming off a dramatic walkoff win in game 4, one would assume that this run producing machine would come out swinging, doing everything in their power to avoid taking that plane ride across the country.

They certainly did everything they needed, and then some.  A 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by the big bat of Jayson Werth and his awesome facial hair that I can only describe as a landing strip on the chin, and the Phillies are heading to their second straight World Series appearance.  Werth had a 3 hit night, including a pair of round trippers, Hamels did enough to get by, and the bullpen continued their strong postseason run.  Brad Lidge recorded the final 3 outs, in 1-2-3 fashion, hugged Chooch, and the champagne showers began.

Ryan Howard raises his newest piece of hardware above his head, the NLCS MVP award.

Ryan Howard was named the NLCS MVP, but the award could just as easily been given to the Phillies rock behind the plate, Carlos Ruiz.  Ruiz was incredible, between calling great games behind the dish and swinging the hottest bat in the series.  You won’t be hearing many complaints about The Big Piece winning the MVP though, as he has been a run producing machine since the playoffs started.  Howard tied Lou Gehrig’s MLB record, recording an RBI in 8 consecutive playoff games.  Howard finished the NLCS with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs, but failed to record an RBI in game 5.

The Phillies will have nearly a week off to finish celebrating their NLCS win, and to begin to prepare for the winner of the ALCS.  The New York Yankees currently lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3 games to 1.  Game 5 is set for Thursday night in Los Angeles.

In what would be a very intriguing match up, should it be the Yankees and Phillies in the Fall Classic, game 1 would likely feature the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner, C.C. Sabathia, and his former teammate and current Phillies ace, 2008 NL Cy Young award winner, Cliff Lee.  The Yankees/Phillies series would be a very interesting set to watch, as both teams feature solid starting pitching and high powered offenses.  All in all, it should be a very fun series to watch, should the Yankees be able to close out the Angels.

Game 5 Tonight…Phils Looking to Clinch NL Pennant

Just about 15 hours from now, the Philadelphia Phillies will try to win game 5 of the NLCS and prepare for their second straight World Series appearance. The Phils will send “Hollywood” Hamels to the mound, and the Dodgers will counter with Vicente Paddilla.

Padilla looked good in his game 2 start in Los Angeles, while Hamels didn’t look like the Hamels we knew last year. Despite his line for game 1, Hamels was actually better than his stats indicate. Who knows what happens if the Phillies were able to turn that double play, which was botched and then answered by LA with a round tripper. Regardless of that, Hamels hasn’t been dealing this year like he was last year. Frankly, I’m not upset with him too much. His workload last year was incredible. Just by the sheer number of innings he pitched last season, I wasn’t expecting a great year from him. However, despite a forgettable season, he did show flashes of brilliance with a couple of nifty complete game shutouts. To be honest, there isn’t a Phillie (not named Clifton Phifer Lee) that I’d want out there in the potential clincher. I’m expecting a modest line for Hamels, something like 7 IP/3 ER/7 H/2 BB/6 K. I think if he can put up something similar to that, the Phils will come out on top. Hopefully, the Phillies offense will be energized coming off the dramatic 9th inning come back on Monday night, and they will be able to feed off the crowd which will likely be in a frenzy. I’m expecting the Phils to get to Padilla early, and the crowd should get in his head and throw him off a little.

Also, look for (The Big Piece/Big Brown/Black Lava) Ryan Howard to stretch his incredible RBI run to an MLB record 9 straight postseason games. He has been incredible, and when combined with “Senor Octubre” Carlos Ruiz, they have created quite the unstoppable, unlikely, incredibly hot postseason duo.

This could be quite the night for the city of Philadelphia, and for Phillies fan all over. Myself, I’ll be parked in front of my big screen, ready to take it all in. I’ve got my lucky Ryan Howard jersey ready to go, a box of TastyKakes, and enough chewing tobacco to get me through the pregame, game, and any postgame celebrations that could occur.