A Few Non-Phillies Baseball Thoughts

While we wait to see if Roy II (Oswalt) can live up to the performance of Roy I (Halladay) in Game 2 of the NL Division Series tomorrow, here are some comments on some of the other series...

Both Tampa Bay and Minnesota are on the brink of elimination already, both losing twice at home to fall behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series. And today, both teams' managers were ejected under similar circumstances.

At Tampa Bay, the Texas Rangers' Michael Young tried to check his swing on a 2-2 pitch in the 5th inning. The umpires ruled he did. On the next pitch he hit a 3-run homer to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead. Rays manager Joe Maddon (who was just shown in a vitamin commercial saying it's important he keep his focus, or something) went out to talk to his pitcher, yelled at the first-base ump who made the checked-swing ruling, and was thrown out of the game.

At Minnesota, Twins pitcher Carl Pavano thought he had the Yankees' Lance Berkman struck out looking in the 7th, but the pitch was called a ball, and Berkman then doubled in the go-ahead run. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire came out to talk to Pavano, and stayed until the home plate umpire came out to break up the gathering at the mound, and Gardenhire then said something that led to his ejection.

Just a strange coincidence, but both the Rays and Twins are struggling and the loss of composure needs to be solved if either team wants to make a miraculous comeback and prevent a Yankees-Rangers AL championship series.

Phillies: Ode To Roy

It's times like these that make a boy want to sing! (And if you don't know the tune this boy is singing, shame on you. And turn in your gay card if you own one.)


Halladay, celebrate
Halladay, celebrate


Yeah, we've got Roy Halladay
It's our time to dominate
Dream of one more parade
As the Phils, the Phils got it made
Everybody spread the word
We'll have another celebration
All across the town
In Phillies Nation
It's time for Doc-tober
The Reds will soon be over, oh yeah
Braves or Giants, say adieu
And those AL losers too
'Cause we've got Halladay...

Just about everyone expected Roy Halladay would thrive under playoff pressure, though some thought that it might be more difficult for him since he hasn't been in the postseason before, and others worried about his workload (leading the majors in innings pitched).

No one could have expected him to pitch just the second no-hitter in postseason history, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.

2010 Division Series Predictions

I figured I'd better document these before tomorrow, when the baseball playoffs begin.


American League

Texas vs. Tampa Bay: Texas has Cliff Lee now but Tampa has playoff experience from 2008 and had a much tougher road to get into the postseason than did the Rangers. Rays in 4.

NY Yankees vs. Minnesota: Boy, would I love love love to see the Twins finally break through and beat the Yankees. Unfortunately, Yankees in 5.

National League

Atlanta vs. San Francisco: Braves staggered in September. Giants not only caught up to San Diego but held off Colorado as well. Low-scoring series. Giants in 4.

And, as always, saving the best for last...

Cincinnati vs. Philadelphia: The Reds are the Phillies...of 2007: an upstart division winner that goes out in the first round. The Phillies are the Reds...of 1976, the Big Red Machine that easily pushed aside another upstart division winner, the Phils. Phillies in 4.