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The Phillies didn’t do anything I recommended in my World Series blog posts–and they won in five games.

Here are three things I’ll remember about Chase Utley:

1. The amazing tag-the-runner and throw to first double play
2. The dazzling fake throw to first that made the runner on 3rd base think he could score, followed by the strike thrown home and the tag at the plate by Carlos Ruiz
3. Getting up on live television in the stadium ceremony and, without any delays or beeps, saying, “World Champions. World Fucking Champions!”

Chase hit a 35 bombs and dropped two televised F-bombs this season.

Top fan questions about the resumed Game 5 that is starting in the bottom of the 6th inning tonight at 8:37pm:

1. Do I have to park in the same parking space? What if I want to park in the same space (it’s my lucky Phillies space)?
2. Will my half-full plastic bottle of Bud Light still be in the cup holder in my seat? I wanted to finish it.
3. How can it be that I can’t buy a beer after the seventh inning but the players can pour Moet & Chandon over their heads when the game is over?
4.  Will the umpire say “Play Ball” (He’s only supposed to say it at the beginning of the game)?
5. Do the players have to get their uniforms dirty “before” the game?
6. Will the MLB cut the trophy into two pieces this year?
7. Did the umpire who said the game never reached the “comical” state actually watch the game?
8. When Bud Selig finally does celebrate Thanksgiving, will he eat his turkey and stuffing on Thursday, then have the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie on Saturday?
9. If baseball gets really popular in China, will Fox start games at 8:30am to allow the largest number of users to watch in prime time?
10. Is there anyone who can make sense of MLB’s rules regarding suspended games?

Topic  #1: Fox Broadcasting Weasels

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were unbelievably biased in their commentary while the game was proceeding in the middle of an East Coast cold-weather monsoon. McCarver at one point said something like, “The pitcher has a dry ball and the batter has a wet bat” and went on about how the pitcher had a huge advantage. How does McCarver explain how the ball stays dry when the catcher has to throw it 60 feet back to the pitcher. Ruiz is accurate, but I don’t think he can throw balls that dodge raindrops in a dogs-and-cats downpour. After the game, Cole Hamels said he could not grip the ball and had no choice but to throw fastballs. McCarver then suggested that it would be impossible for B.J. Upton to steal second base with all the mud and puddles in the basepaths. One of them asked, “How do you slide into that?” About two seconds later, Upton stole second and executed a perfect slide. A few seconds after that, the “disadvantaged” Carlos Pena hit a single into left center with his wet bat (Impossible! How can a batter possibly get a hit with a wet bat? The batter is at such a huge disadvantage!) that scored Upton to tie the game. If those broadcasters had any objectivity and credibility, they would have been talking about how the game should have been stopped in the 4th inning at the latest (the truth is that the game should have never been started). Of course, the MLB has made them rich and fat and they’re not going to bite the hand that feeds them. McCarver of all people, as a former catcher (and a Phillies catcher at that) should know better.

Topic #2: Pitching

I suppose it’s decided. Both managers have already said that they’re going with their bullpens for the continuation of the game. Mitch Williams also said this morning on 610 WIP Sports Radio that the teams should treat this game exactly like a regular game that is in the 6th inning. I beg to differ. It cannot be just like any other game in the middle of the sixth. The players will be in clean uniforms. This is a new 3-inning game. The Phillies have the advantage because they get to bat first and last (this is probably why McCarver said that the entire game should be replayed–that’s a pro-Tampa position). If it were me, I would hand the ball to Brett Myers and ask for three good innings at home, in front of a frenzied, wild Philly crowd. He eats that stuff up. Three innings and you get the glory, Brett. Who is the first player you think of when you think of the 1980 Phillies? Tug McGraw, of course. That final pitch is always memorable. I think Brett would take that over the insult of not being able to start in a possible Game 6. It would be beautiful symmetry. Myers was the opening day pitcher. He had to go back to the minors for a stretch go get his head together. He did it. Why not let it come full circle and have the guy who threw the first pitch of the season prove that he’s all the way back by pitching for the final out in the clinching World Series game.

If it goes back to Tampa, I don’t want to pitch Myers there. He already lost once. He stinks on the road. By then Moyer is rested. Moyer starts game 6 if necessary and Hamels goes in game 7.

But like I said, it’s not happening. We’ll see Chad Durbin, Ryan Madsen and Brad Lidge. As I’ve said before, I don’t care how they do it, as long as the Phillies win, I’ll be happy.

Topic #3: John Bolaris is also a Weasel

During the initial delay of the original game 5, the local Fox affiliate cuts to FOX-29 Meteorology Guru John Bolaris and he hems and haws his way through a phony explanation that the rain came about a half hour later than everyone expected. Well, everyone except a real weather guru like Joe Bastardi of Accu-Weather who demanded at 6:30pm (two hours  before the game), “Cancel the game.” Bolaris says he was not approached by Fox or the MLB.   More proof that Bed Selig is as dumb as a bag of diamond dust. How can you not check with the local weather experts at the affiliate of the network that is broadcasting the game? MLB says it uses WeatherBug. I note that WeatherBug’s copyright statement says “2007.” I think their forecasts are also off by more than a year.

The Phillies got screwed royally by Fox Television and Major League Baseball last night.

Leeks.

Jayson Werth made two costly mistakes in Game 2. His fielding error in the first inning put two Tampa runners in scoring position. Later, Werth strayed too far from first base during a shallow fly ball to center field and was doubled off. On top of that, Werth leads the Phillies in strikeouts this postseason.

As I write this, it is the 8th inning of game 3. The score is tied 4-4. Werth just got picked off of second base.

I would have benched him for this game and put Jenkins in right field against right-handed Matt Garza. Charlie Manuel has the option again tomorrow with the Rays sending right-handed Andy Sonnanstine to the hill. It’s one thing for a manager to have a player’s back, but it’s quite another to keep sending a guy out there whose head is in the wrong place.

Let’s hope the Phillies can pull this one out tonight after the gutty start they got from Jamie Moyer tonight. Let’s hope as well that Geoff Jenkins name is on the lineup card at right field tomorrow night (er, make that tonight).

The Phillies lost Game 2 of the world series to the Rays, 4-2. While I don’t think Brett Myers pitched poorly, he did put the two runners on base in the first inning who scored what proved to be the decisive runs in the game (he walked Iwamura and gave up a single to Upton). Myers is shaky on the road. This season he was 3-8 on the road with a 6.21 ERA. Moyer, on the other hand, was 10-3 on the road with a 2.92 ERA. In the Tropicowbell Dome, I think the wily veteran would have fared better. Sure, the Phils would have been going lefty-lefty, then righty-righty. I know it’s ideal to mix it up and make the other manager tweak his lineup and not let hitters get too comfortable, but Myers is the one looked uncomfortable last night. He wasn’t terrible, but he’s a guy who thrives on positive energy. He loves the crowd in Philly. He gets pumped up and that perks up the general attitude in the dugout and when that happens, the bats tend to come to life. I’m hoping for a rainout on Saturday. The Phillies could pitch Myers at home on Tuesday and go back with Hamels in game 6 in Tampa (a little extra rest for Cole, who is a guy who refuses to pitch on short rest–so more rest shouldn’t bother him; it would give him more quality time with his chiropractor). I’m OK with starting Moyer in Game 7 in Tampa. This is his first World Series after 22 years in the majors. People are talking about the Phillies signing him for an additional two years (he’ll be 47 years old in two years). If he were to win Game 7 of the World Series, he could retire and go out on top.

After watching Dobbs strike out for the second time, I would have benched him and put in Stairs at DH. I was shocked at how badly Dobbs missed strike three in his second strikeout. He didn’t have it last night.  Apparently, it’s quite a visual adjustment for batters to see the pitches in the Trop. Dobbs clearly didn’t make the adjustment.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20 (a visual adjustment that everyone tends to make).  Everyone knows (or should have known) that the Phillies were not going to sweep Tampa Bay. The Rays are too good a team to be swept. They won 97 games. Look at how they came back against the Red Sox after that humiliating game where they blew the 7-0 lead. They have a lot of moxie. The Phillies were fortunate to win the first game in Tampa and they should be satisfied that they got away with a 1-1 split on the road.  I don’t see them beating Tampa three times in a row–even at home. I expect that if the Phillies are going to win it, they’re going to have to close it out on the road. What sweet justice it could be to see Brad Lidge close out the World Series on the road. After all, the reason that Tampa got home field advantage is that the American League won the all-star game. Lidge gave up the winning run in the all-star game in the bottom of the 14th inning and was tagged with the loss (after warming up six times). I like the idea of Moyer getting the win and Lidge getting save and the Phillies getting their second-ever World Series victory and Philadelphia getting its first major pro sports title in 25 years–all in Game 7 in Tampa. It probably won’t play out that way, but if the Phillies win it, it doesn’t matter to me how it plays out.

With the World Series between my hometown Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays happening so close to the Presidential election, I can help but confabulate them in my mind. Philadelphia hasn’t won a professional sports championship since 1983. Each of the four major sports teams (Flyers, Sixers, Phillies and Eagles) have made it to the finals, but none has won it all since the ’83 Sixers with Moses Malone and Dr. J.

Pennsylvania has also not gone to a Republican Presidential candidate for the last four elections. This time around, it will be five in a row for the Democrats. Obama will take Pennsylvania. To win PA, you have to win Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Obama will win both big cities (Philadelphia and Allegheny counties) by a huge margin, so large that it won’t matter much what happens in the rest of the state (OK, add the densely populated bobo suburbs and it won’t matter that McCain wins the 55 rural counties in PA)

Will the Phillies also continue the pattern of losing in the championship? I like their chances of winning for a lot of reasons (the exact opposite reasons I cited in my criticism of the team when they were slumping earlier in the season). I keep hearing commentators and sports writers say “Jimmy Rollins sets the table.” I hate that metaphor.  The truth is Jimmy Rollins sets the agenda; he sets the tone. He is literally the leader of this team. He bats first. When he scores, they usually win. Whether he hits a lead-off home run (as he did in the elimination playoff games against the Brewers and the Dodgers) or walks or gets a hit, when he’s on base the Phillies chances of winning are better than they are with him in the dugout. Rollins may write the plan for success, but it’s Ryan Howard who executes it. Rollins may be the President of this company, but Howard is the Chairman and CEO. How does a player lead the league in strikeouts and errors for his position and also lead the league in home runs and RBI? He’s larger than life. He’ll need to drive in runs for the Phillies to win. Shane Victorino has surprisingly carried the load in RBI with 11 thus far in the postseason. Toward the end of the Dodgers series, Howard was getting a lot of hits–singles and doubles. The Phillies may hit a few long balls, but everyone knows that to win the World Series you have to have great pitching and you have to manufacture runs. If the top of the order gets on base and moves runners into scoring position, singles and doubles by Howard will get runs in and the Phillies will win–that is, if their pitching holds up.

The Phillies pitching has been good throughout the playoffs with the exception of Jamie Moyer, who lost twice. However, Cole Hamels and Brett Myers have had plenty of bad games this year. If they can hold the Rays to three runs or less, I like the Phillies chances. If they have an off day and give up six or seven runs, I’ll be worried. The Phillies have the bats to win games 12-10, but you can’t depend on out-slugging the other team when your pitchers are throwing slow-motion pomegranates right down the middle of the plate. That’s like being one of those basketball teams that wins by hitting 60% of their 3-pointers. The problem is no team can do that four times in a seven-game series.  The Phillies aren’t going to score double-digit runs in four of these games. They’ll need to win a few games 2-1 or 3-2. Their pitching will need to shut down the Rays. They’ll need to play small-ball and use their speed to steal bases and capitalize on sacrifices.

The World Series is going to be close. Obama might as well cheer for the Rays. He’s going to have a harder time winning Florida than Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: 10/22/2008

It’s now been NINE days since Microsoft said that they would  initiate a payment to me in approximately 7 days.  Apparently the margin of error in their approximation is greater than plus or minus two days. So much for Microsoft as a company that’s all about precision. When is the approximate release date of Windows 7? Let’s review: Microsoft’s Live Search cashback program advertises that it will refund a percentage of the price of a purchase made via live.com within 60 days. It has been 70 days since I made my purchase and I haven’t seen dick from Microsoft. I followed all of their instructions carefully. Maybe they’re delivering the cash in a burlap sack (all nickels) via donkey from Redmond to Omaha. Yo, Microsoft: Give me my stinkin’ money!

On August 14th, 2008 I bought a Nintendo Wii system on ebay via Microsoft Live Search cashback. I was offered 25% cash back. I would just have to wait 60 days until the funds were available to me. A few weeks ago I decided to check my cashback account to see how long I would have to wait to collect my savings. The cashback site said that the funds would be available on October 13th, 2008. If you count from August 14th (not counting the 14th–using the 15th as day 1), then October 13th is the 60th day from August 14th. So on October 13th I logged into my cashback account and what did it say? My funds would be available on October 14th. OK. No problem. It’s just one day.Alas, today is October 14th. So I log in and find that my funds are available. I choose to redeem them via Paypal (the only option). How long would you expect it to take Microsoft to make a payment to my Paypal account? My freelance clients who pay me via Paypal send me payments that I see literally minutes after they enter the payment in Paypal. So you can imagine I was a little surprised to receive this message from Microsoft:

Microsoft will initiate a payment to you in approximately 7 days.

I have to wait seven more days? This cashback refund which is supposed to be paid back in 60 days is actually (we’ll see) paid back in 68 days. That gives Microsoft an extra eight days to hang on to my money. Greedy, lying bastards.