Baseball

I'll be up in the early hours of Sunday morning here in England watching the Yankees, hopefully, progress to a World Series date with the Phillies next week with victory in Game Six of the ALCS.

No thanks to the never-say-die Angels taking Game Five at Angel Stadium on Thursday to reduce the deficit to 3-2 in favor of the Yankees.

Maybe it's me.

Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I didn't watch the same Mets games as other Mets fans this year. Maybe I wasn't watching the same Daniel Murphy that everyone else was this past season. That's the only way I can explain how I seem to be the only Mets fan on the planet that believes Murphy should not be the Mets first baseman in 2010.

Game five of last night’s ALCS game between the Yankees and Angels was fascinating not just because Los Angeles staved off elimination, doing it in comeback fashion late.

Last week the lady behind the counter at Wawa told me people are always nice when the sun shines and the Phillies win.

Well, it’s a great time to work at Wawa.

What happens to a team when its strongest attribute goes south? Although the Dodgers' hitting was nothing to write home about, what really ruined them was their pitching.

A 5.30 ERA in the postseason. A 7.30 ERA in the NLCS.  Starters like Kershaw, Wolf, and Kuroda fell apart against the Phillies.

Who would have thought it? Would the Dodgers have won their division if their pitchers had pitched like this in the regular season? Probably not.

By contrast, the Phillies had ERAs of 3.04 in the postseason, and 3.07 in the NLCS, basically Dodgers type numbers.

Despite the Philadelphia Phillies seemingly ending the National League Championship Series in a brief and dominant five games, TBS is pushing Los Angeles Dodger manager Joe Torre to name a Game Six starting pitcher.  

"You really never know. The Dodgers are such a fantastic team and have come back so many times this year, " TBS play-by-play man and legacy hire Chip Caray said, "it would make a lot of baseball sense to do it." 

Two weeks ago, I begged other Cubs fans to watch John Lackey pitch this October.

After his performance both on the mound and leaving it Thursday night, I again step before Cubs Nation at large and submit that Lackey should be Cubs' GM Jim Hendry's top target in free agency this winter.

It's the clinching game for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 National League Championship Series, and their 2008 ace takes the mound.

With two outs in the first inning, Andre Ethier stands in.

Hamels gets the sign from catcher Carlos Ruiz.

Fastball, away.

Hamels shakes him off.

TBS's cameras zoom in to show Ruiz again, dropping his index finger, pressed against his left leg.

Fastball, away.

Cut back to reveal Hamels, dropping his chin in disgust, sighing, and stepping off the mound.

I had the chance to attend Game 2 of the ALCS this past weekend, in which the Yankees took on the Angels. 

First off, let me say it was the most exciting game I have ever gone to.

Sitting in Section 202 of the bleachers, I had a great view of the game, and an even better scent of all the drunk fans around me.

Better yet was the atmosphere. 

There were many ups and downs to the game. Many fans booed when Joba was taken out, and even more when Damaso Marte was brought in (I booed the loudest). 

But that really didn't matter. 

First base is a power position.  First basemen such as, Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, Mark Teixeira, and many more are among the top home run hitters in the league.

The Mets did not have much power last year.  Albert Pujols singlehandily had more home runs than the whole Mets' team. 

The Mets' new stadium, Citi Field was brought up by many as the reason why the Mets suffered this huge power outage in the 2009 season.  I don't believe it is, because the Mets had one more home run at home then away this season.