Tag: Cole Hamels (Page 5 of 6)

      Take Five: Phillies win 2008 World Series

      October 29, 2008 /

      Philadelphia PhilliesThe 2008 World Series had a little of everything. It had a team that hadn’t played in the Fall Classic in over a decade, another that was making its first ever appearance and two starving sports cities dying for something to finally cheer about. Throw in not one, but three separate weather delays and baseball fans were treated to one of the more bizarre Series in some time. And thanks to their 4-3 Game 5 victory, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays four games to one to win the 2008 World Series.

      Below are five observations from the 2008 World Series.

      1. The team with more momentum didn’t win. After beating the Boston Red Sox in a thrilling seven game ALDS, the Tampa Bay Rays steamrolled into the Fall Classic with all of the momentum. But maybe the ALDS took too much out of them, because the big “mo” didn’t play a factor in this Fall Classic. The Phillies disposed of the Dodgers rather easily in the NLDS and obviously had no issues getting back up for the Rays.

      2. The AL didn’t dominate in the end. Baseball pundits liked to wax poetically throughout the season about how the American League has more dominant pitchers, better lineups and more complete teams. But the Rays, who arguably had the better pitching, the better lineup and more complete team, couldn’t measure up. While Philadelphia might not have had the better club according to all the so-called experts, they proved it all comes down to execution.

      3. The Phillies had to deal with the weather too. Obviously the weather had an effect on the Rays’ performance. They weren’t used to playing that late in October and especially not in cold climates like the ones they faced in Philly. But it’s not like the Phillies played in that kind of weather year round. The rain and cold could have had an affect on both teams, but only one was in the end.

      4. Cole Hamels is unbelievable. Hamels played the role of Josh Beckett in this year’s postseason in that he was absolutely un-hittable. He rebounded from a shaky 2007 postseason and shined like a true ace when the Phillies needed one the most.

      5. Phillies-Rays killed the causal fan. The Phillies and Rays deserved to play in the Fall Classic because they earned it. They were the best teams in their respective leagues and nobody can take away their accomplishments. That said, this was a boring Series for the causal fan. While it was fun to root for the underdog Rays and a Phillies team that was going after their first title in 28 years, there wasn’t much to tune into. There was no team to root against like the Yankees or Red Sox. There was no crazy character to follow like Manny Ramirez. This Series flat out lacked some luster, but then again – too bad. The Red Sox didn’t deserve to be there; nor did the Yankees. The Phillies and Rays did and in the end, that’s all that matters.

      MLB

      Game 4 was a must win for Rays

      October 26, 2008 /

      Joe BlantonMy title is stupid – all wins in the World Series are “must wins.” But surely you catch my drift – the Rays dropping Game 4 to the Phillies was incredibly detrimental to them winning a championship.

      Even though Tampa isn’t used to the weather they’ve seen the past two games, the cold had nothing to do with why they lost 10-2 Sunday night. Philadelphia was just better and Joe Blanton (a castoff in Oakland before he was traded at the deadline) deserves a ton of credit for mixing up his pitches and keeping the Rays’ hitters off balance the entire night. Tampa just has to tip their hats to the Phils tonight for knocking around Andy Sonnanstine, who is a young, developing pitcher who had won each of his previous two postseason starts.

      There’s no other way to put it – the Rays are in major trouble. Not only are they down 3-1 in the series, but they also have to face Cole Hamels – who has been nothing short of sensational – on Monday night. Crazier things have happened, but playing at home and with Hamels on the hill, the Phillies seem destined to close this thing out.

      MLB

      Phillies prove that there is another team playing in World Series

      October 22, 2008 /

      Philadelphia PhilliesFor good reason, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the talk of the 2008 MLB Season. Not only are they a rags-to-riches story, but they also are a young, likeable club and one hat is easy to root for. We love pulling for the underdog and the Rays certainly fit the bill.

      Of course, they’re not the underdogs anymore. As soon as they beat the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, they instantly became World Series favorites because they’ve created the best storyline. Not to mention, they come from a better conference, arguably have better overall talent and they’re the hotter team, as well.

      But as they proved in their 3-2 win in Game 1 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies are competing for a title, too. Nobody outside of Philly is talking about this club and for those who missed Game 1, it might have come as a surprise that the Phillies have thrown the first punch in this series.

      The media (and I’m throwing myself into the mix here too considering I dedicated my column to the Rays this week) needs to start paying attention to the Fightin’ Phils or else we might wind up missing an even better story than the 2008 Rays. Philly has been a long-suffering sports city that is craving a title as much as anyone. And with phenomenal ace Cole Hamels (7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 Ks) and a solid lineup that features all-everything 2B Chase Utley (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 R), the Phillies might just close in on that title. (Although they’re going to need Ryan Howard to start hitting because Tampa won’t be held to just two runs every night.)

      It’ll be exciting to watch the Rays’ magical season continue to play out, but ignoring the Phillies’ story would be a mistake.

      MLB

      Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels continues to mature

      October 9, 2008 /

      Philadelphia Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels will start in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday night. And as the Philadelphia Inquirer points out, the 24-year old pitcher learned in his one postseason start last year that the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season.

      Cole HamelsBut talent isn’t enough in the playoffs, which Hamels realized last season when he walked an uncharacteristic four batters and allowed three runs in his postseason debut against the Rockies. In front of a packed house, with a nip in the air, and the realization that every pitch can hasten the end of a season, the psychology of the game can change.

      The X-factor is to harness that change. And, ultimately, to ignore it.

      Hamels admitted that in the past he has allowed the emotions of pitching in a big game to affect him. But in Game 1 of the NLDS last Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, he pitched one of the finest games of his career. He threw eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out nine.

      Hamels attributes the success to a peace of mind he achieved through his workout routine.

      “I think when [I’m] so focused on making myself feel healthy and feel strong, then you don’t really think about the game as much,” he said. “You just think about trying to be in the best possible shape I can be in…I think that’s taken a lot of my thought processes away from all the games I had during the season…And I think it’s helped me right now, because I want to be that guy that can go out there into the postseason and have success. And I think the success for me is not necessarily what’s on the scoreboard, but feeling healthy, because I know if I do feel healthy I can help this team out.”

      I hope this kid succeeds. He’s got a great head on his shoulders and you can tell in his comments that he respects himself and respects the game. It’s incredibly hard for young players to perform on the postseason stage when they’ve never been there before, but succeeding in the playoffs is what great players do.

      Can’t wait to check out Hamels vs. Manny Ramirez.

      MLB

      Is this Phillies team one of destiny?

      October 5, 2008 /

      Not since the 1993 World Series team has the Philadelphia Phillies gone this far. With their 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 4 of the NLDS, the Phillies are heading to the NLCS to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. And as Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, this Phillies team might be one of destiny.

      Philadelphia PhilliesFor the homegrown nucleus of this team – Utley and Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels and Brett Myers – reaching the NLCS marks a major milestone. Having grown up in this organization together through mostly futile years, they have lived in the shadow of the 1980 world champions and the beloved 1993 World Series club.

      Now it is their time. Now they can write their own chapters in the book of Schmidt and Carlton, of Dykstra and Schilling.

      “This team has a lot of heart,” Myers said. “To be the first team to go this far since ’93, it’s huge. We’re going to try to put ’93 in the past where it should be. We’re going to try to take it a little further and actually win this whole thing.”

      Rollins, who led off the game with a towering home run to right field, has been this team’s oracle. He predicted 100 wins for these Phillies, a number he realized was still attainable. After all, he never said “in the regular season.”

      “We can get to 103,” Rollins said. “That’s the number.”

      It would take eight more wins, of course, to get to 103: four against the Dodgers and four more in the World Series.

      The Phillies’ 95th victory was a perfect example of what they will have to do to beat a Dodgers team that exploded offensively to sweep the Chicago Cubs in the division series. They will have to continue pitching well, but they will also have to hit the ball. They did just that today, blasting four home runs – two by Burrell, one by Rollins, and one by Jayson Werth. It was the kind of game this lineup hadn’t produced in its six previous playoff games, going back to last year.

      I think Philly was fortunate to get a weary Milwaukee team, but that’s not to take anything away from them. They’ll get a great test in the Dodgers and I think it’s a great matchup all the way around.

      Cole Hamels vs. Manny Ramirez? Sign me up.

      MLB

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