Blink and it's gone

The MLB playoffs were actually in Philadelphia this year. Did you blink? Cause if you did, you might have missed it. With two beatings starting before 5th graders got out of school, followed by a prime time exit, the Phillies just looked like they were boys playing with men.

The playoffs began with optimism, with the thinking that the Phillies had overcome some great mountain and were about to grind it out in the playoffs. Yet, it became clear enough after the first two games that the team had already made their October plans, and playing baseball wasn't part of the deal.

The franchise mindset of accepted losing snuck back into the players minds, but is it their fault? Pitching is a commodity in baseball because it is so important in the playoffs. The Phillies brass didn't plan on a playoff team. They went out and picked up two starters, Freddy Garcia and Adam Eaton, who they thought would pan out. Eaton was a bum before and a bust now. Garcia is nothing more than a shell of himself who gets more than 10 mil a year. That leaves the oft-injured Cole Hamels as the only true weapon in the starting rotation. (Jamie Moyer is great, for his age. Kyle Kendrick will be good, and did better than most thought he would. Kyle Lohse, well, please stop trying to act like this was a good pick-up.)

In the playoffs, a staff of Hamels, Kendrick, Moyer and Lohse is just pathetic. Now I know what you're thinking, Kendrick and Moyer did well, but the competition only gets tougher as the playoffs continue. Hamels had an off inning, which was the difference in Game 1. There is one more problem, the Phillies bullpen has a huge hole in it if you are going to take a starter out before the 7th inning. Uncle Charlie did just that.

Yet I still focus on the starting pitching, and surprisingly enough on Hamels. What I am left struggling to swallow is not how he played (looking disgruntled that he was forced to play in October by the great Mets collapse), but what he said before Game 3. He went on TV and explained that the Phillies goal all season was just to make the playoffs. Hey, just like the Army - Mission Accomplished!

Phillies Fever

This photo just goes to show that no matter if you are a lifelong Phillies fan (me on left), or someone who doesn't know what home plate is (dad on right), you can still catch Phillies fever. It's sweeping the Delaware Valley like the plague.

Now I'm watching to see who I can direct my "hate" toward throughout the Divisional series, and just when I thought it would be the Rockies (as I am writing this post), the Padres blow it wide open. The SoCal boys took a 4-3 lead after a grand slam, and now lead it 5-3 in the 3rd. I guess it's anyone's game.

Here's to a Red October!