MLB 2008

[Johnny E]

YES!! My Phillies won!!

I watched it at home- wish I had a Schmidt's beer....

Or an Ortlieb's

..it would have been cool to be watching the game at a bar in South Jersey (where I'm from).

Where at in South Jersey? I went to High School in Blackwood - walking distance to the Lindenwold stop of the High Speed Line through Camden to 8th and Market.

[Johnny E]

Nice post J.H. Wish I could go to the parade. I'll have to get the report second hand from my brother.

GO PHILLIES!!!

[blind-blake]

I think Utley was surprised that Bartlett ran. If it was earlier in the game- I don't think he goes home- being a 3 inning game made things different.

Is there a definitive camera angle of the base running on this play? I haven't seen one yet that shows Bartlett rounding third -- whether he hesitated or was going all the way; what the third base coach was doing. That might put Utley's play in a little better perspective. If they didn't have a camera on third base, Fox screwed up royally. I've yet to see that shot. Thank goodness they captured the reactions of every single individual in the stadium at the final out though ...

I heard Ryan Howard on Mike and Mike this morning, and he said the coach sent Bartlett when he saw the fake.

[blind-blake]

Wow.

Here it is a little over 24 hours later and I'm still trying to comprehend what happened last night. What a roller coaster ride the last 3-4 days have been here for everyone in Philly! After 25 years and all of the nearly there but just coming up short endings I can't tell you how great this feels. This win was a cathartic experience on so many levels. Philly sports fans are used to their teams snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory(Game 6 1993 WS, Super Bowl XXXIX, etc.) I guess Cubs' fans or Red Sox fans' can relate but then again they had other teams in their towns that had won championships to lessen the blows. Not us. 98 seasons(100 if you count the '94 baseball strike and the NHL strike) without a championship. This losing thing really had a psychological grip on the city. And when the Rays came back and tied the game a good two innings after the game should have been halted the thought going through everyone's mind here was,'Oh no. Not again." I talked to my dad on Tuesday morning and he said he was so mad at Selig that he could not fall asleep until 3:00am. Tuesday truly was a dreadful day. Cold, rainy, windy - just awful. The kind of weather we might get in January. It just seemed so ominous, the lowest of lows. How could we go from up 3-1 w/ Cole Hamels on the mound, he of the un-hittable change up, cruising along before the rain - now out of the game? It wasn't supposed to end like that. And now with one of the most improbable outcomes to one of the most improbable World Series games ever played it's all forgotten. Mitch Williams? You're off the hook. Donovan McChoke? Love ya. Lindros? Come here you knucklehead. AI? Practice is canceled.

After the game last night I went out to Broad Street w/ my video camera just so that I could have my own record of the celebration. It was awesome. There were probably somewhere around 50,000 fans out on Broad, between South Street and City Hall last night. Complete strangers were coming up to me and giving me hugs, offering me beer, laughing/crying/shouting with glee. This morning as I was walking my son to his preschool people were giving him high fives when they saw his Phillies cap. The women who runs the store where I get him a bagel every morning gave him a freebie when she saw his hat. Nice.

I tried to get some World Championship gear at 3 or 4 different stores today but there were lines just to get into the stores. F that. So I'll just be wearing a battered old cap and my Obama button that says,"GO PHILLIES!" on it for the parade tomorrow. Maybe my red Phillies t-shirt w/ "Utley 26" on the back if it warms up to the low 60's forecast. My wife's school gave her kids the day off figuring, rightly, that most of the kids are going to cut school anyway. Can you blame them? Hell Jamie Moyer cut school to attend the 1980 parade. And now look at him!

I'm so happy for the this city, the Phillies, the fans, Harry Kalas, and my dad and my father-in-law who were both wondering if they would live to see another championship in Philly. I'm especially happy for Pat Burrell who had to endure more grief from the fans than anyone. He also played on all of those crappy teams but to his credit his stuck it out and now's he's a fan favorite. His double breaking an 0 for World Series slump led to the Phils' scoring the winning run. What an ending to his career here in Philly. Thanks Pat.

Phew. What a ride.

Yeah, I'm happy for Pat, too. (And for your dad and father-in-law, as well, of course.) I'll be a little sad to see Pat go.

[blind-blake]

Did anyone happen to see Sarah Palin congratulating the "Phillies fans" during her speech in Erie, PA, yesterday? She was subsequently booed by the overwhelming number of Pittsburgh Pirates fans in the audience. Guess she needs to study her Pennsylvania geography.

[blind-blake]

Wow.

Here it is a little over 24 hours later and I'm still trying to comprehend what happened last night. What a roller coaster ride the last 3-4 days have been here for everyone in Philly! After 25 years and all of the nearly there but just coming up short endings I can't tell you how great this feels. This win was a cathartic experience on so many levels. Philly sports fans are used to their teams snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory(Game 6 1993 WS, Super Bowl XXXIX, etc.) I guess Cubs' fans or Red Sox fans' can relate but then again they had other teams in their towns that had won championships to lessen the blows. Not us. 98 seasons(100 if you count the '94 baseball strike and the NHL strike) without a championship. This losing thing really had a psychological grip on the city. And when the Rays came back and tied the game a good two innings after the game should have been halted the thought going through everyone's mind here was,'Oh no. Not again." I talked to my dad on Tuesday morning and he said he was so mad at Selig that he could not fall asleep until 3:00am. Tuesday truly was a dreadful day. Cold, rainy, windy - just awful. The kind of weather we might get in January. It just seemed so ominous, the lowest of lows. How could we go from up 3-1 w/ Cole Hamels on the mound, he of the un-hittable change up, cruising along before the rain - now out of the game? It wasn't supposed to end like that. And now with one of the most improbable outcomes to one of the most improbable World Series games ever played it's all forgotten. Mitch Williams? You're off the hook. Donovan McChoke? Love ya. Lindros? Come here you knucklehead. AI? Practice is canceled.

After the game last night I went out to Broad Street w/ my video camera just so that I could have my own record of the celebration. It was awesome. There were probably somewhere around 50,000 fans out on Broad, between South Street and City Hall last night. Complete strangers were coming up to me and giving me hugs, offering me beer, laughing/crying/shouting with glee. This morning as I was walking my son to his preschool people were giving him high fives when they saw his Phillies cap. The women who runs the store where I get him a bagel every morning gave him a freebie when she saw his hat. Nice.

I tried to get some World Championship gear at 3 or 4 different stores today but there were lines just to get into the stores. F that. So I'll just be wearing a battered old cap and my Obama button that says,"GO PHILLIES!" on it for the parade tomorrow. Maybe my red Phillies t-shirt w/ "Utley 26" on the back if it warms up to the low 60's forecast. My wife's school gave her kids the day off figuring, rightly, that most of the kids are going to cut school anyway. Can you blame them? Hell Jamie Moyer cut school to attend the 1980 parade. And now look at him!

I'm so happy for the this city, the Phillies, the fans, Harry Kalas, and my dad and my father-in-law who were both wondering if they would live to see another championship in Philly. I'm especially happy for Pat Burrell who had to endure more grief from the fans than anyone. He also played on all of those crappy teams but to his credit his stuck it out and now's he's a fan favorite. His double breaking an 0 for World Series slump led to the Phils' scoring the winning run. What an ending to his career here in Philly. Thanks Pat.

Phew. What a ride.

I'm also happy for Charlie Manuel! http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/200...last_laugh.html

[Johnny E]

Did anyone happen to see Sarah Palin congratulating the "Phillies fans" during her speech in Erie, PA, yesterday? She was subsequently booed by the overwhelming number of Pittsburgh Pirates fans in the audience. Guess she needs to study her Pennsylvania geography.

She is so pathetic.

[Brad]

Wow.

Here it is a little over 24 hours later and I'm still trying to comprehend what happened last night. What a roller coaster ride the last 3-4 days have been here for everyone in Philly! After 25 years and all of the nearly there but just coming up short endings I can't tell you how great this feels. This win was a cathartic experience on so many levels. Philly sports fans are used to their teams snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory(Game 6 1993 WS, Super Bowl XXXIX, etc.) I guess Cubs' fans or Red Sox fans' can relate but then again they had other teams in their towns that had won championships to lessen the blows. Not us. 98 seasons(100 if you count the '94 baseball strike and the NHL strike) without a championship. This losing thing really had a psychological grip on the city. And when the Rays came back and tied the game a good two innings after the game should have been halted the thought going through everyone's mind here was,'Oh no. Not again." I talked to my dad on Tuesday morning and he said he was so mad at Selig that he could not fall asleep until 3:00am. Tuesday truly was a dreadful day. Cold, rainy, windy - just awful. The kind of weather we might get in January. It just seemed so ominous, the lowest of lows. How could we go from up 3-1 w/ Cole Hamels on the mound, he of the un-hittable change up, cruising along before the rain - now out of the game? It wasn't supposed to end like that. And now with one of the most improbable outcomes to one of the most improbable World Series games ever played it's all forgotten. Mitch Williams? You're off the hook. Donovan McChoke? Love ya. Lindros? Come here you knucklehead. AI? Practice is canceled.

After the game last night I went out to Broad Street w/ my video camera just so that I could have my own record of the celebration. It was awesome. There were probably somewhere around 50,000 fans out on Broad, between South Street and City Hall last night. Complete strangers were coming up to me and giving me hugs, offering me beer, laughing/crying/shouting with glee. This morning as I was walking my son to his preschool people were giving him high fives when they saw his Phillies cap. The women who runs the store where I get him a bagel every morning gave him a freebie when she saw his hat. Nice.

I tried to get some World Championship gear at 3 or 4 different stores today but there were lines just to get into the stores. F that. So I'll just be wearing a battered old cap and my Obama button that says,"GO PHILLIES!" on it for the parade tomorrow. Maybe my red Phillies t-shirt w/ "Utley 26" on the back if it warms up to the low 60's forecast. My wife's school gave her kids the day off figuring, rightly, that most of the kids are going to cut school anyway. Can you blame them? Hell Jamie Moyer cut school to attend the 1980 parade. And now look at him!

I'm so happy for the this city, the Phillies, the fans, Harry Kalas, and my dad and my father-in-law who were both wondering if they would live to see another championship in Philly. I'm especially happy for Pat Burrell who had to endure more grief from the fans than anyone. He also played on all of those crappy teams but to his credit his stuck it out and now's he's a fan favorite. His double breaking an 0 for World Series slump led to the Phils' scoring the winning run. What an ending to his career here in Philly. Thanks Pat.

Phew. What a ride.

I'm also happy for Charlie Manuel! http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/200...last_laugh.html

There was a nice article about him in today's NYT.

[vajerzy]

YES!! My Phillies won!!

I watched it at home- wish I had a Schmidt's beer....

Or an Ortlieb's

..it would have been cool to be watching the game at a bar in South Jersey (where I'm from).

Where at in South Jersey? I went to High School in Blackwood - walking distance to the Lindenwold stop of the High Speed Line through Camden to 8th and Market.

Forgot about Ortlieb's!!

Margate City... I thought I was a long way from where I grew up- how many times you get back to see family?

[vajerzy]

I think Utley was surprised that Bartlett ran. If it was earlier in the game- I don't think he goes home- being a 3 inning game made things different.

Is there a definitive camera angle of the base running on this play? I haven't seen one yet that shows Bartlett rounding third -- whether he hesitated or was going all the way; what the third base coach was doing. That might put Utley's play in a little better perspective. If they didn't have a camera on third base, Fox screwed up royally. I've yet to see that shot. Thank goodness they captured the reactions of every single individual in the stadium at the final out though ...

On the replay I saw- Bartlett never turned his head so I'm guessing the 3rd base coach was waving him on- I DVR'd it so I'll watch again. Carlos Ruiz made a great play catching the one-hopper from Utley and tagging Bartlett in the face.

[Chalupa]

Phils fans should check today's Inky/Daily News www.philly.com for coverage of yesterday's parade. Some incredible photos. I have to say it was a lot of fun. Estimated 2 million people lined the parade route. One of the highlight's was Chase Utley dropping the F bomb at the ceremony.

http://larrybrownsports.com/youtubeage/vid...ade-speech/3492

Man, I'd never thought I'd say this but I'm glad this is finally over. I'm just so exhausted - mentally and physically. I just laid around house today. Took a nice long nap - probably some of best sleep in two weeks. My voice is still hoarse from all of the yelling on Wednesday night.

[Brad]

Someone mentioned to me that Rollins had something to say about the Mets in his speech so I found a You Tube clip where he says a couple of things (nothing big) and frankly they're entitled to it because they are World Champions and they've beaten them in the NL East, etc. ad infinitum and so forth but I'm wondering why even bother. You're the World Series Champs, why even mention it. If the Mets ever get where the Phillies are now (which may take awhile considering the solid team the Phillies have now), I'm sure that's the last thing that will be on the minds of the Mets players.

[Chalupa]

Someone mentioned to me that Rollins had something to say about the Mets in his speech so I found a You Tube clip where he says a couple of things (nothing big) and frankly they're entitled to it because they are World Champions and they've beaten them in the NL East, etc. ad infinitum and so forth but I'm wondering why even bother. You're the World Series Champs, why even mention it. If the Mets ever get where the Phillies are now (which may take awhile considering the solid team the Phillies have now), I'm sure that's the last thing that will be on the minds of the Mets players.

Oh you're right . The Phillies are just obsessed with the Mets.

C'mon now, like you said Rollins didn't say anything that big about the Mets so I wouldn't read more into then it is BUT.... I think the Phillies definitely will be on the minds of the Mets players if they win a championship. I mean they already are on the Mets' minds. Look at what Beltran said when they signed Santana last winter,"Tell Jimmy Rollins that we're the team to beat now." WTF? I think that the reason Rollins mentioned them is that the Mets are their number #1 rival and it's only natural to want to tweak your rival whenever you get the chance. Especially in Rollins' case after he took A LOT of flak for his,"We're the team to beat" comment. Really it was nothing more than some good natured ribbing.

One of my son's favorite movies is "Chicken Little". In the movie there's a high school baseball game played for the championship and the announcer says,"This excitement isn't just about the fun of baseball. It's not about the prize. It's about the gloating and rubbing their noses in it. The "Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah-Nah! We beat you!" taunting if you will, that comes with the winning." Obviously the announcer character is joking but I think there's a bit of truth in that statement as well.

Edited November 2, 2008 by J.H. Deeley

[Dan Gould]

I haven't seen the clip but there's also the element of getting a "pop" from the crowd if you rag on your biggest rival.

[Tim McG]

Two words:

Tim Lincecum!

2008 Cy Young winner

[WorldB3]

Two words:

Tim Lincecum!

2008 Cy Young winner

Way to go Timmy!

For the last two years out of the all the teams in the bay area at least once every five days there was a reason to catch a game and be excited. Very well deserved. Nice to see the voters not only focus on wins.

[Neal Pomea]

It's official.

Managers of the Year:

Maddon

Piniella

[Dan Gould]

No surprises there. But the MVPs should be interesting, since it seems at least possible that Manny could win with only two months in the NL, and with no dominating statistical performance in the AL, I'd be very happy with little mouthy Pedroia gets it (Youk wouldn't bother me either, doncha know).

[BERIGAN]

Very belated congrats to all the Phillies fans, even the ones that came out of the woodwork here only after they won the WS!

And Tim Lincecum was the best pitcher over the full year, so he should have won it. And what's with announcing both winners on the same day??? Did I miss this last year with Rookie of the year, etc???

[Quincy]

No surprises there. But the MVPs should be interesting, since it seems at least possible that Manny could win with only two months in the NL, and with no dominating statistical performance in the AL, I'd be very happy with little mouthy Pedroia gets it (Youk wouldn't bother me either, doncha know).

I like Pedroia as the choice back ever since you pointed him out. After eye-balling the list of past winners who bat 2nd it seems like they stand the best chance in years like this, when there's no big power hitter or the better slugger is on a losing team.

In the NL Pujols getting it would kind of be like John Wayne getting an Oscar for True Grit. Oh Pujols has won before, but a certain someone's numbers in front of him in other years might have been smaller had that certain someone been clean. As C.C. didn't win Cy my guess is Manny won't win either, though both of those guys were amazing with their NL teams.

[tkeith]

I like Pedroia as the choice back ever since you pointed him out. After eye-balling the list of past winners who bat 2nd it seems like they stand the best chance in years like this, when there's no big power hitter or the better slugger is on a losing team.

In the NL Pujols getting it would kind of be like John Wayne getting an Oscar for True Grit. Oh Pujols has won before, but a certain someone's numbers in front of him in other years might have been smaller had that certain someone been clean. As C.C. didn't win Cy my guess is Manny won't win either, though both of those guys were amazing with their NL teams.

Youk really had the outstanding year of the two of them (which may hurt them both), but deep down, I'd love to see little Dusty pull it off. He batted 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, and that's just off the top of my head. I wonder how many MVPs could make *that* claim.

[Tim McG]

Two words:

Tim Lincecum!

2008 Cy Young winner

Way to go Timmy!

For the last two years out of the all the teams in the bay area at least once every five days there was a reason to catch a game and be excited. Very well deserved. Nice to see the voters not only focus on wins.

Thanks, Man.

Not bad for a second year newbie on a suckie team, eh?

[Chalupa]

You know I think Fredi Garcia should have got the NL manager of the year award. Nobody expected the Marlins to contend and they were in the mix until late August. They had the lowest opening day payroll and still managed to win 84 games in a division w/ the Mets and the World Fucking Champions. Their payroll role of $21 million was dead last in the MLB this year. The Cubs, who were just about everyone's preseason pick, nay lock for the WS; had a payroll role of $116M. I mean do you give the award to the guy who's team plays up to expectations or do you give it to the guy with the minor league payroll?? Hello.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/salaries

[papsrus]

You know I think Fredi Garcia should have got the NL manager of the year award. Nobody expected the Marlins to contend and they were in the mix until late August. They had the lowest opening day payroll and still managed to win 84 games in a division w/ the Mets and the World Fucking Champions. Their payroll role of $21 million was dead last in the MLB this year. The Cubs, who were just about everyone's preseason pick, nay lock for the WS; had a payroll role of $116M. I mean do you give the award to the guy who's team plays up to expectations or do you give it to the guy with the minor league payroll?? Hello.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/salaries

That's a pretty good argument.

[Brad]

You know I think Fredi Garcia should have got the NL manager of the year award. Nobody expected the Marlins to contend and they were in the mix until late August. They had the lowest opening day payroll and still managed to win 84 games in a division w/ the Mets and the World Fucking Champions. Their payroll role of $21 million was dead last in the MLB this year. The Cubs, who were just about everyone's preseason pick, nay lock for the WS; had a payroll role of $116M. I mean do you give the award to the guy who's team plays up to expectations or do you give it to the guy with the minor league payroll?? Hello.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/salaries

That's a pretty good argument.

I would probably have given Charlie Manuel my vote although I think Garcia would have been a choice too.