As a fan, I can't complain about all these 8:07 p.m. starts for the NLCS games. Nor will I lodge a complaint as a blogger, but I won't attempt to get final scores in my nightly posts.
Here are the pregame doings:
--Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 vs. Vicente Padilla. Who'd have thunk that? I've been meaning to comment on how Big Joe Blanton has gotten the shaft this postseason. He was arguably the Phillies best starter and definitely the most consistent. So how come he gets bumped again for the 37-year-old who hasn't pitched since Sept. 30 and has a bum rib, neck or whatever body part he claims is hurting?
But if Charlie Manuel must pitch Pedro, this is the best possible plan. Pitch him in the warm weather with Blanton or J.A. Happ ready to come in at the slightest hint of trouble. If Pedro can't cut it, whichever starter relieves him should get the Game 6 start *if necessary.
--Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick were booted from the roster for Eric Bruntlett and Chan Ho Park. Brett's response: "I'm (ticked)."
I'm not going to carry the flag for young Brett, but I don't understand how you can take a pitcher who hasn't pitched since Sept. 16. Forget Myers, how could they take Chan Ho over Kendrick and Tyler Walker - two of the Phillies most reliable relievers at the end of the season.
By the way, if you heard Howard Eskin say that the Phillies cannot change their roster if they make it to the World Series, ignore him. He's a dolt. Teams can change their roster before each round. The afternoon ass said they purposely made this move because LCS rosters are frozen for the rest of the playoffs. Dolt.
Red Sox (former ones anyway): One storyline I forgot was the matchup of Pedro and Manny Ramirez. Thankfully, Nick Cafardo is on the beat:
They are competing in the National League Championship Series, on opposite sides, Martinez with the Phillies and Ramirez with the Dodgers. They are a huge part of Red Sox lore, teammates in 2004 when they helped pull off the greatest comeback in baseball history against the Yankees and went on to win the World Series.
Who could forget it, especially with the fifth anniversary coming up?
Manny could.
"I don't remember anything, man," he said yesterday. "I don't remember too much about that or about last year or any of that. I just don't think about the past."
It was one of those Manny conversations. Pretty random. It had an impromptu start and an impromptu ending. It was all about what Manny wanted to talk about, after the media pummeled him with questions in Spanish and English as he sat near his locker. He smiled and laughed and didn't elaborate on a whole lot.
Tonight's game: In the top of the 5th, the Phillies trail 1-0 on a James Loney home run. With 67 pitches through four innings, this feels more like a 2009, than 2008, Cole Hamels start.
Christine is taking the score quite well. She's quietly kept the phaith so far.
Sometimes I forget that my first allegiance is no longer to the story. Christine hit me because I made a disappointed noise when it appeared Jayson Werth hit a home run that would have caused me to rewrite this post.
The ball didn't go out, and I would up having to write more anyway.
I miss being a reporter sometimes.
Chooch Chooch Chooch!!! Is what I just chanted when Carlos Ruiz hit his three-run home run. Mr. Clutch. Phillies 3, Dodgers 1. Chooch!!
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