NL East

In what might have been a game that could have put the Los Angeles Dodgers back against the wall, this series stands even at one game a piece. Charlie Manuel’s decision to remove Pedro Martinez after seven brilliant innings in Game Two, only to see his bullpen give away the game in the eighth inning.

The bright side is that Pedro will certainly be ready for a repeat performance in Game Six if it should go that far. As I have mentioned in earlier stories I like the way the Phillies rotation sets up for the rest of the series.

The Mets have several holes to fill this winter, and one of the many concerns is the starting rotation.

Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Mike Pelfrey all may have the talent to be solid starters behind Johan Santana, but all three of them need to prove that they can contribute positively to the rotation for the whole season.

Perez missed a significant portion of the last season because of lingering knee trouble, which did require surgery, but prior to that, he had a lot of problems with his control and was placed in the bullpen. 

More on the WFAN curse I tweeted last weekend. (The Mets haven’t won the World Series since WFAN has been in Queens. Now that they’re in Manhattan…good sign for 2010?).

WFAN’s first broadcast in Queens was July 1st, 1987. The Mets were the defending World Champions. The Mets went 17-30 from that point for the rest of the season, finishing in second place. The Mets have been back to the World Series just once in that time.

If Jimmy Rollins doesn’t beat you, then Shane Victorino will beat you. If Victorino doesn’t beat you, then Jayson Werth will beat you. If Werth doesn’t beat you, then Chase Utley will beat you.

And if none of those guys beat you, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Carlos Ruiz will beat you.

That is how deep and powerful the Philadelphia Phillies lineup is. The Los Angeles Dodgers found out firsthand how deep the Phillies lineup is in their 8-6 loss in Game One of the NLCS last night.

Scott Franzke is the play-by-play voice of the Phillies. His career began as a studio host for the now-defunct Prime Sports Radio Network (now Fox Sports Radio) in 1994, which led him three years later to be the host of the Texas Rangers radio pre- and post-game shows from 1997 to '98 and again from '02 to '05.

In 2006, he came to Philadelphia to take over those same duties when Tom McCarthy was hired away from the Phillies by the New York Mets, their National League East division rivals.

Last year, some of us got all googly-eyed at the potential of seeing a World Series where Manny Ramirez would go against the very same team that traded him just a few months prior. It had all the makings of the perfect media circus.

But then it never even happened.

When I think back to the 20 years I lived just across the Delaware River in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, I always felt like a big fish out of water trying desperately to catch my breath.

It's not easy being a Mets fan in South Jersey when every living soul north to Trenton, east to the Jersey Shore, and south to the twin bridges into Delaware eats, breathes, and sleeps with never-ending Philadelphia sports talk.

Whether it is the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, or Sixers, these are some of the most passionate fans in the world.

Now that the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs are behind us, I thought I’d check back in and see how well my prognostic skills were doing.  When I made my predictions for the 2009 post season I was clearly hopped up on cough syrup or some sort of delusional medication.

By Ryan of The Sportmeisters

About The Philadelphia Phillies:

The Phillies march into the NLCS by virtue of winning a four game series against the Colorado Rockies.

In the NLDS, the Phillies were led by six players hitting above .300 in the series.  Leading the charge were RF Jayson Werth (.357, two home runs) and Shane Victorino (.353, home run).