Philadelphia Phillies

I have never been one to second guess. It's so easy after the fact to say he should have done this or he should have done that. If you raise the concern before it happens, then you have some validity in making a point.

I am what many would consider an "old timer" when it comes to watching baseball. It's been over a half a century and plenty of games have happened where it's very easy to say why did you do this when speaking of a manager's move.

I generally have a huge distaste for the month of October.

It’s typically the beginning of Jack Frost’s six month reign over my life. It includes grown adults dressing up as anything from Harry Potter to Michelangelo’s David. Parents turn cute three-month-old babies into flowers, clowns and any array of Disney characters.

By now, my fantasy football team has suffered through five weeks of “come on Larry Johnson."

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.

It is no secret among these parts of my love affair with Pedro Martinez. I can qualify that statement by the countless number of articles I have devoted to him in the past year on these very pages. I have been enormously critical of the Mets organization for their lack of foresight when it comes to this living legend.

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.

The postseason is the time of year when true fans endure ninth-inning heart palpitations and fair-weather fans pay closer attention and invest in playoff merchandise. More importantly, it’s when MLB teams’ reveal their true grit. It’s the season when the players either flourish or flounder.

Tonight, as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of the NLCS, the Phillies send Cole Hamels to the mound.

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.

The huge NL showdown is coming up as the Phillies and the Dodgers will meet on Thursday night in Dodger stadium. Over the course of the regular season, the Dodgers had the Phillies' number, as they earned the home field advantage.

However, things have changed since then, as both teams have made key additions and in the postseason, anything can happen.

Pitching