Philadelphia

All the bright spots and the warts have been exposed after two games in the 2009 World Series.

Mariano Rivera, perhaps the brightest of all stars, pitched a two-inning save to preserve a 3-1 Yankees victory over the Phillies on Thursday night in New York.

The World Series is now tied, at one win a piece.

Hideki Matsui hit the go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Yankees their first lead of the series, 2-1.

Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee took the mound to begin Game 1 as Yankees stadium bustled, anticipating the start of the World Series. The relaxed 31-year old looked in at catcher Carlos Ruiz, nodded his head yes, and pumped in a fastball that New York Yankees captain and leadoff hitter Derek Jeter fouled off. His outing was underway, and what an outing it would be for Lee.

I find headlines like "Phillies stun Yankees in World Series Game One" comical because the Yankees are not the team to beat. It's almost like last year when the Tampa Bay Rays went through the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox on their way to the World Series.

The Rays were never given a chance to beat the Red Sox after taking out the White Sox. Yet, if you were listening to the broadcast, you would automatically assume that the Rays were the wild card team and that the Red Sox had won the American League East.

Entering the 2009 postseason, only four pitchers in playoff history had recorded double-digit strikeouts while issuing zero walks.

Cliff Lee has now done it in back-to-back outings.

In Game Three of the NLCS, Lee navigated eight innings of shutout baseball while posting 10 strikeouts and zero walks against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lee did it again on Wednesday night in Game One of the World Series, tossing a complete game six-hitter and recording 10 punch outs, with zero free passes, against the potent New York Yankees’ lineup.

In the last 96 hours, we have witnessed the Phillies advancing to their second World Series. As many years—and with an Eagles loss to a team run by a man who still uses an overhead projector at press conferences—never has it been more clear.

The Phillies are everything the Eagles are not.

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.

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.

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.