Phillies Repeat As NL Champs!

October 21 should be declared a new holiday in the city of Philadelphia: Phillies Day. Even if it's not an official shut-down-the-government, close-the-banks, paid-day-off holiday, it needs to be recognized. Just look at the record:

• October 21, 1980: the Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals to win their first World Series championship. Since I was at the Vet that night, I don't feel quite so bad about not being at any World Series games since.
• October 21, 1993: Curt Schilling's shutout keeps the Phils alive in the 1993 World Series against Toronto. It was a temporary reprieve, but we won't dwell on that.
• October 21, 2009: the defending world champions punched their ticket to the 2009 World Series, with a 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers finishing off a 4-1 win in the National League Championship Series. Ryan Howard was named the Most Valuable Player of the NLCS (he's shown here holding the MVP trophy).
  

Let's go, Mayor Nutter. Come on, City Council. Just make it a holiday already: Phillies Day.

It's hard to imagine sometimes how the Phils could be so successful this year. At the beginning the starting pitching was hideous. Coming off his stellar 2008 postseason, Cole Hamels was mediocre all year. The bullpen has been hit-or-miss most of the year, with Brad Lidge blowing more save opportunities than Madonna's blown...never mind. Their leadoff hitter, Jimmy Rollins, didn't show up until July. Their key free-agent addition, Raul Ibanez, was mostly MIA in the second half after a groin injury disrupted what had been an MVP-caliber performance in the first half.

Yet every time they seemed ripe for the taking -- when the Braves and Marlins started getting close in the NL East race, after a disappointing Game 2 loss to the Rockies in the Division Series, after a very disappointing Game 2 loss to the Dodgers in the NLCS -- the Phillies bounced back. The thrilling come-from-behind wins in the NLDS clincher and in NLCS Game 4 were just the most recent demonstrations of a resilience that was missing from the teams that fell short in this decade prior to 2007.

This is an unprecedented era in Phillies history. The 2007-08-09 Phils have surpassed the 1976-77-78 teams that also won the NL East three straight years. That team lost in the playoffs every year. This one will be appearing in its second straight World Series, with one championship already won; no other Phillies World Series team has ever been to the World Series in back-to-back seasons. These truly are the glory days for this franchise.

The Phils are the first World Series champs to return to the Series the following year since the 2001 New York Yankees and the first repeat NL champs since the 1995-96 Braves. If they win the Series again they'll be the first NL team to win back-to-back Series since the Cincinnati Reds did it in 1975 and 1976. Barring an epic collapse, they'll face the Yankees on Wednesday night. It should be a tough test, but it's not hard to imagine another Broad Street parade in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, with a week before the Series begins, let's get to work on that holiday.

Does J-Roll Want To See That Thong?

In baseball, when a player gets a walk-off hit to win a game, it's rather common for one or more teammates to plaster his face with a towel or paper plate full of shaving cream, preferably during a post-game TV interview. Last night was no different. After his two-run 9th-inning double gave the Phillies an incredible 5-4 win over the LA Dodgers and a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series, Jimmy Rollins got the shaving cream treatment. Apparently it was all over his head, and when he cleaned it up some it was left like this:


Remind you of anyone?

Fortunately, for J-Roll, his team and its fans, his career has been more successful and sustained than that of Sisqo...then again, Jimmy Rollins hasn't been seen quite like this:

My League Championship Series Picks

Baseball's best-of-five Division Series -- the mini-playoffs, if you will -- are over (and rather quickly, with three sweeps and a four-gamer). Now it gets serious. The National League Championship Series starts in less than 20 hours, and the American League series gets under way a day later. I correctly predicted three of the four participants. Let's see if I can get both of these right...

AL: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels -- I keep going back and forth. The Yankees have the best closer, which is important, but I think the Angels might have better pitching overall. The media will hype up the Yankees, and Alex Rodriguez in particular, but I'm still not convinced. The Minnesota Twins barely showed up for the ALDS after scratching and clawing their way into the playoffs. The Angels took care of Boston, and I think they'll take care of the other AL East team. Angels in 6.

NL: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies -- Here we go again. For the second year in a row the Dodgers swept the highly-touted NL Central champs, while the Phillies took out the Wild Card team in four games. Some circumstances are different. For one, the Dodgers have home-field advantage. Needless to say, it probably comes down to the Phillies' bullpen. Does Brad Lidge's two saves in those two terrific wins in Denver mean he's back? No one can say that and really, truly believe it. With Pedro Martinez starting Game 2, J.A. Happ is back in the bullpen and Chan Ho Park is on the NLCS roster (replacing Brett Myers, who isn't happy about it). I'm going to stick with what I said about the last round: I'm giving the defending champs the benefit of the doubt. Phillies in 7.

My MLB Division Series Picks

After 162 games -- 163 for the Minnesota Twins -- it's time for major league baseball's postseason to begin with the best-of-five Division Series round. Here are my observations and predictions, starting with the two American League series. The team listed first in each pairing has home-field advantage.

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins: It took a hot streak for the Twins to tie the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central lead, and 12 innings in their one-game tiebreaker to win the division. Their reward: flying to New York to face the Yankees less than 24 hours later. The AL East champion Yanks won 103 games, best in baseball, including all 7 against the Twins in 2009. As much as I'd love to see the Twins pull off an upset -- and even if they win Game 1, which I half-expect, because strange things happen a lot -- I can't see them moving on. Yankees in 4.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Boston Red Sox: Again? This is the 4th time in 6 years these teams have met in this round. The Sox have won every time previously, in sweeps in 2004 and 2007 and in four games last year. I think this one goes five, though. As to who wins...tough call. I think the Angels may finally break through. (Note that I use the word "may" and not "will.") They had more of a challenge winning the AL West, and the Red Sox struggled a little more than they should have to get the Wild Card. I just think LA is in slightly better shape. Angels in 5.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals: The Cards had a fairly easy run to the NL Central title. The Dodgers had a big lead most of the year, but a late 5-game losing streak nearly cost them the NL West, although they had a playoff spot locked up. In this series the biggest factor is the starting pitching, and I think the Cards' rotation is clearly better. Cardinals in 4.

And finally...

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies: After an awful start that got their manager fired, the Rockies poured it on the rest of the way to win the NL Wild Card and nearly steal their division from the Dodgers. The Phillies have issues. The starters were lousy early, and inconsistent at the end; the bullpen is extremely shaky; the hitters slumped through much of the last few weeks. It would be easy to pick the Rockies in this series, but every time it seemed like the Phils were in serious trouble in the NL East, they bounced back and put more distance between them and their chasers. So, for this round at least, the defending World Series champions get the benefit of the doubt. Phillies in 4.