NLCS Has It's Phil, again

Well it's over in the National League. The Philadelphia Phillies have repeated as NL champions and will get to defend their World Series Title. As NLCS MVP Ryan Howard described it, the Phillies used a total team effort to get past the Rockies and then the Dodgers. A good mix of offense, defense and pitching propelled the Phillies back into the World Series for the second straight season. The Phillies will now await their next challenge, probably the Yankees in an attempt to repeat as champions of baseball.

Tonight, Cole Hamels wasn't great, Vicente Padilla wasn't great, but the Phils offense was. Philadelphia led the NL in homers this season, and used 4 of them tonight to beat the Dodgers and win the series 4 games to 1.

Congratulations to Charlie Manuel and his team. Charlie is a great guy. I had the chance to meet him this year, thanks to one of the Phillies broadcasters Chris Wheeler. Charlie couldn't be a nicer human being. He wouldn't end our conversation. We chatted about everything from the weather in San Diego, to Tony Gwynn Jr's batting stance at home plate. Manuel is an old fashioned manager, in the respect that he gives his players the chance to just play. No micromanaging from him. He makes decisions from his gut, and believes in his players. If you don't believe me, just ask Brad Lidge. Manuel stuck with the struggling closer and Lidge has been a big part of the Phillies success this post-season.

ALCS...

John Lackey will be the last hope for the Angels, he'll start game 5 against AJ Burnett for the Yankees. New York has a 3-1 lead in the series. I can't see how the Yankees will blow a lead of this margin, they are just too good. It will certainly set up a good matchup of similarly built teams in the World Series if the Yanks can close things out.

Manager Joe Girardi revealed today, that Derek Jeter has been sick this entire series. Battling "a bug" as he put it. Just proves that Jeter is one of the guttiest players in baseball and is a true "captain" in every sense of the word. Alex Rodriguez will be named series MVP and how could he not? 5 homers in the post season, and 3 in the ALCS, it's a lock for A-Rod.

When I mentioned what a class guy Charlie Manuel was, ditto that for Yankees manager Joe Girardi. I got to know Joe very well as a catcher for the Chicago Cubs in his second tour of duty with the team. Girardi was a hard nosed player, and expected the most out of his teammates as well. I had the unique opportunity to interview Girardi after two tragic events in baseball, and in the US. He was gracious enough to grant a request when baseball resumed after the horrible events of September 11, 2001. Girardi was a voice of reason in that interview and I can remember the look in his eyes, it was a look of yes our country is wounded, but it's our job to give them a distraction. In essence he was saying, the game must go on to help heal the USA. Girardi also was kind enough to grant me some time after the Cubs/Cardinals game was cancelled in 2002 after the tragic death of Darryl Kile. The next night the two teams played and Girardi was my pre-game guest. He had to choke back tears several times during the interview. This is a man that understands life and understands what it is to be a major league baseball player and now a manager. I always appreciated his time and just being able to talk baseball with a guy like Joe Girardi.

If it is a match up of Phillies and Yankees, there will be two classy and deserving men at the helm of their respective teams.

Umps...I'm backed up!

Thankfully there were several other national media member to corroborate my thoughts on the horrible display of umpiring not only this post season but all year long. I'll refer you to an online article written by CBS Sportsline columnist Greg Doyel who agrees completely with me, that the umpiring has been atrocious! Thank you Greg!

Valentine again?

What is it about major league baseball GM's, hiring re-treds? I mean are the Indians seriously considering hiring Bobby Valentine? To me they should be looking for a new GM instead of a new manager. Mark Shapiro was the guy that in the last two years traded away an all star team of, CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Casey Blake, Ryan Garko and Victor Martinez. Casey Stengel himself couldn't have managed the Indians any better than Eric Wedge did. Wedge had nothing. Now Wedge is out of a job, and he may be replaced by Valentine. Wow, that's sad.

Senator Please...

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is continuing his crusade for a change to the BCS system. He wrote a letter to President Barrack Obama saying "Mr. President, as you have publicly stated on multiple occasions, the BCS system is in dire need of reform," as the Senator is calling for an antitrust probe of the BCS.

Again, while I agree that the NCAA should go to a college football playoff system, is this really the time for a Senator, who's home state school was dissed by the BCS, to spend even this much time on a problem so minute to our country? I ask the question.

Esteban OchoCinco?

There has been an interesting war of "tweets" going on this week between Chad Ochocinco and players on the Chicago Bears. On a conference call with the Chicago media today, Chad began the conversation by saying "hola" , that he was now Mexican and that his name was Esteban. Ok. He did have one hilarious "tweet", according to the Chicago Tribune Ochocinco told Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, that "I'll make Lance Briggs backpedal so much that his name will become Lance Armstrong". Good stuff. Could be an interesting game as the Bengals host the Bears this Sunday.

A Little Ice Time...

Just got back from a hockey game tonight. As I'm on vacation, I took in a Chicago Blackhawks game as they hosted the Vancouver Canucks. My brother and a friend of his attended and had a blast even though the home team lost 3-2. I know hockey isn't very popular in Southern California, but it's a great sport to view in person. HDTV has certainly helped in being able to watch a game and follow the puck on TV, but being there is awesome. Go to a Kings or Ducks game and check it out for yourself. Lots of fun too!

Alright, that's it for tonight...have a great one...

Andy

Yankees Use A CC Rider...

On a cold night in the Bronx, the Yankees used their horse, CC Sabathia in a 4-1 win over the Angels in game one of the ALCS. It's not a shock that the Yankees defended the home field, however to me, it is a shock the way the Angels lost. Committing errors. Even Torrii Hunter committed one in the game, just his second error in 2009. Hunter is such a good centerfielder that since 1998, that was his 30th career error. The three team errors led to a couple of unearned runs, and that spelled doom for the Angels.

Either way it was going to be a tough chore to get to a "locked in" CC Sabathia. He went 8 dominant innings, and is proving to be quite worthy of the lucrative deal he signed in the off season. He's showing why they were crying in Lake Erie when the Indians traded him to the Brewers. Sabathia almost single handedly led the Brewers to the playoffs, but since he was being used seemingly every day he ran out of gas. He then ran out of Milwaukee and signed the "big bucks, no whammy's deal" with the Yankees. How nice must it be for Joe Girardi to throw Sabathia for 8, then turn to Mariano Rivera in the 9th? Trivia: What does CC stand for? I'll answer that later in the blog!

Game 2...

Another one of the Yankees big money free agents will go in tomorrow's game two, AJ Burnett facing the Angels, Joe Saunders.

NLCS Game 2...

That's the way the Dodgers have been winning games all year long. Andre Ethier is usually in the middle of it as well. Such was the case today in LA, when the Dodgers evened up the NLCS with a 2-1 win over the Phillies. Both starters were dealing (pardon the cliche) in the game. Vicente Padilla, an unwanted man in Texas, found a home in LA, going 7 1/3, while striking out 6. He gave up a homer to Ryan Howard for the only Phillies run. Pedro Martinez was his usual post-season self, going 7 scoreless innings while striking out 3...

Crazy 8...

Then there was the 8th inning...and a typical Dodger rally. Here's the official play-by-play since it's too crazy to recap myself...(courtesy of CBS Sportsline.com)

DODGERS 8TH
Chan Ho Park pitching:
Casey Blake:	Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Blake singled to left
Juan Pierre ran for Casey Blake.
Ronnie Belliard:	Pickoff attempt to first, Bunt foul, Pickoff attempt to first, Belliard reached on bunt single to first, Pierre to second.
Russell Martin:	Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Bunt foul, Martin reached on fielder's choice to third, Pierre to third, Belliard out at second,Pierre scored on Utley's throwing error
Jim Thome hit for Hong-Chih Kuo.
Scott Eyre relieved Chan Ho Park.
Jim Thome:	Pickoff attempt to first, Ball, Thome singled to right, Martin to third
Juan Castro ran for Jim Thome.
Ryan Madson relieved Scott Eyre.
Rafael Furcal:	Ball, Foul, Ball, Ball, Furcal walked, Castro to second.
Matt Kemp:	Foul, Foul, Ball, Kemp struck out swinging.
J.A. Happ relieved Ryan Madson.
Andre Ethier:	Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Ethier walked, Martin scored, Castro to third, Furcal to second.
Chad Durbin relieved J.A. Happ.
Manny Ramirez:	Ramirez popped out to third.
End of Inning (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error)

Jonathan Broxton would then come on in the 9th and go 1-2-3 and even the series at 1-1. It was a much needed victory for the Dodgers with the next 3 games to be played in much chillier Philadelphia.

Game 3...

We have to wait until SUNDAY for game 3. Unbelievable. It's going to be Hiroki Kuroda going for the Dodgers, against another former Indian, lefty Cliff Lee for the Phillies. I still like the Phillies in this series, they play great at home, and their pitching still makes me a believer.

McCourt Case...

I'm not a Dodger fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I am rooting for them in this respect. I certainly hope that the impending divorce of owner Frank McCourt and wife Jamie McCourt. Padre fans know already that this can and will affect ownership and play on the field if it gets out of hand. At first glance, it's not looking good, consider this from today's Los Angeles Times:

Dennis Wasser, who represents Jamie McCourt, on Thursday rebutted claims that Frank McCourt is the club's sole owner.

"We disagree," Wasser said. "We are confident that, if the ownership issue must be adjudicated, the Dodgers will be determined to be community property, owned 50% by each of the McCourts."

But Marshall Grossman, who represents Frank McCourt, said he has documents to back up his assertion that his client is the sole owner.

"Anyone reading them will readily see that Mr. McCourt's ownership is 100%," said Grossman, who declined to release the documents.

Wasser said he was unaware of any such documents and said he knew of no reason why California's community property law would not apply.

This could get ugly LA, enjoy this playoff run...

Odd Pair...

Tommy Lasorda and Kobe Bryant were seen sitting together, in Tommy's seats right next to the Dodgers dugout. LaSorda who is an active Twitterer, tweeted about Kobe today: @TommyLasorda may not know this but Kobe bleeds Dodger Blue just like I do. And we both speak Italian!

Final Musings...

Full disclosure, I'm on vacation now for a couple of weeks, and will certainly try to update the blog as much as humanly possible. Please forgive me if there are a few lapses over this period of time. I'm visiting family out of town and it's great to see them after a long baseball season. Looking forward to getting back to SD though and the start of USD's basketball season which tips off November 13 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against Stanford.

Have a great night!

Andy

TRIVIA ANSWER: CC Sabathia's full name is...Carsten Charles Sabathia