Simp-Lee Amazing

The weather was cold but the bats were on fire. The Phillies battered and beat the Dodgers 11-0 in game three to take a 2-1 series lead in the NLCS. From the start of the game with a 1-2-3 top and a four-run bottom first inning to the 1-2-3 9th pitched by Chad Durbin that ended with a great snag by Carlos Ruiz, the Phillies dominated this game for 27 outs.

Ryan Howard drove in three runs tonight. With his two-run triple in the first, he has driven in a batter in all seven games this post season, a new MLB record, and is now one game shy of tying Lou Gherig's eight-game streak that spanned over multiple post seasons. Pedro Feliz also added a triple and Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino hit home runs to spark a potent Phillies offense that only managed a run on four hits during game two on Friday.

Cliff Lee was fantastic in his third start of the post season. He went eight shut out innings, allowing three hits and striking out 10. He tied Curt Schilling (1993) and Steve Carlton (1980) for the Phillies record with strikeouts in a single post season game. He also went 1-3 at the plate with a single and a run scored.

The offense got rolling early with Howard's two-run triple. Werth followed that up with a two-run home run that got the Phillies on the board early. Victorino capped off the fire works with his three-run homer in the eighth.

Manny Ramirez managed two hits out of Lee and Ronnie Belliard got the third.

Next Game: Monday in Philadelphia, 8:07 EST

Series: Phillies lead 2-1

Probables: LAD: Randy Wolf (0-0, 4.91); PHI: Joe Blanton (0-0, 4.91)

Game Day Discussion: Liberty Bell Sports

The Phillies have the momentum back in their favor and will look to go for the kill. Joe Blanton will be making his first post season start this year after pitching 3.2 innings of relief. Randy Wolf will look to get the Dodgers evened up versus his former team. Expect no love from the Wolf Pack in this one.

The Phillies are 4-0 in game four since Charlie Manuel took over. The last game four the Phillies played versus LA: Victorino hit a two-run homer to tie the game at five and then Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer later in the same inning to put the Phillies up for good, 7-5.

This game means a lot to both teams. It will either put the Phillies closer to going back to the World Series and the Dodgers on the brink of elimination or it will tie the series up for the Dodgers.

All Douche Bag Team

I was bored at work today and my friend challenged me to make a line up of the biggest douche bags in baseball. I decided to one-up him and make a 25-man roster. This may not be the most loved team but it would sure win a World Series if the players were at their best. The only stipulation is that they played from 1993-on. This way I could give a fair assessment of how big of an asshole these guys really were.

Here is my roster. Please don't throw any batteries at them:

Manager: Tommy Lasorda
1B Coach: Tony LaRussa
3B Coach: Lou Pinella
Bench: Don Zimmer

Starters:
C: AJ Pierzynski
1B: Rafael Palmiero
2B: Jeff Kent
SS: Jose Reyes
3B: Alex Rodriguez
LF: Barry Bonds
CF: Milton Bradley
RF: Jose Canseco

Bench:
C: Mike Piazza
IF: Mark McGwire
IF: Alberte Belle
OF: Darryl Strawberry
OF: Gary Sheffield
OF: JD Drew

Starting Pitchers:
1: Roger Clemens
2: Brett Myers
3: Curt Schilling
4: Carlos Zambrano
5: David Wells

Relief Pitchers:
RP: John Rocker
RP: Ugueth Urbina
RP: Kyle Farnsworth
RP: Guillermo Mota
RP: Billy Wagner
CL: Francisco Rodriguez

FIM #2: Joe Carter....

...That's all I needed to really type for a title. You say his name and every Phillie fan will instantly remember 1993 and the Phillies being one out away from forcing a game 7 with Toronto. Instead, Joe Carter belts a game winning 3-run homer that won the World Series. He became the 2nd player in the history of baseball to win the World Series for his team via air mail. The first being Bill Mazeroski of the 1960 Pirates when he hit "The Shot Heard 'Round the World."

After taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Curt Schilling stepped on the mound for Philadelphia in game five and shut out the Blue Jays 2-0 to pull Philadelphia within one game. Terry Mulholland took the mound for Philadelphia and Dave Bush pitched for Toronto in Game 6. After being down 5-1, Philadelphia scored five runs in the top of the 7th.

It’s the bottom of the 9th of and Mitch Williams stands on the mound. The Philadelphia Phillies, trailing 3-2 in the series, are leading the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in Toronto. All Williams needs is three more outs and the Phillies take Toronto to game seven.

It’s now the 9th inning. Ricky Henderson steps in and is walked. Devon White comes up to the plate next and hits a pop fly for out number one. Paul Molitor then singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Joe Carter steps up to the plate and has a 2-2 count on him.

Carter has been ineffective all series, and is looking to get a hit off of Williams. Williams knows Carter is a dangerous hitter, despite his cold spell. He also has Henderson standing on second, waiting to take third at any given moment. Carter steps in. The 2-2 pitch, and Carter hits a shot deep to left field that made the city of Philadelphia moan and mumble to themselves, "maybe next year."

The Whit: Which Moment in Sports History would You Change?

I had a small clip in this semester's final issue of the Whit. I want to thank Cody Crusciel for being my first sports editor and congratualtions to Kate Harman for taking his role for next year. Here is my clip. Enjoy:

1993 World Series
Philadelphia Phillies vs Toronto Blue Jays
By John Russo

After taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Curt Schilling stepped on
the mound for Philadelphia in game five and shut out the Blue Jays 2-0 to pull
Philadelphia within one game. Terry Mulholland took the mound for Philadelphia
and Dave Bush pitched for Toronto, after being down 5-1, Philadelphia scored
five runs in the top of the 7th.

It’s the bottom of the 9th of game six of the 1993 World Series and
Mitch Williams stands on the mound. The Philadelphia Phillies, trailing 3-2 in
the series, are leading the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in Toronto. All Williams needs
is three more outs and the Phillies take Toronto to game seven.

It’s now the 9th inning. Ricky Henderson steps in and is walked. Devon
White comes up to the plate next and hits a pop fly for out number one. Paul
Molitor then singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Joe Carter
steps up to the plate and has a 2-2 count on him. Carter has been ineffective
all series, and is looking to get a hit off of Williams.

Williams knows Carter is a dangerous hitter, despite his cold spell. He
also has Henderson standing on second, waiting to take third at any given
moment.

Carter steps in. The 2-2 pitch, and a swing and a miss! Williams
strikes out Carter to bring up John Olerud, who will ground out weakly to end
the game and the Phillies hold on to win game six, sending the series back to
Toronto for the final game of the World Series. Williams could potentially
become a hero in Philadelphia.

We all wish that was what happened that late October night in the
SkyDome. Instead, Carter infamously hit a three run home run and Williams was
practically run out of town.

Phillies March Madness: Final Four

Here is your Philadelphia Phinal Phour

#1 Chase Utley vs #2 Curt Schilling

Why Utley: Mr. Utley was THE man for the Phillies since 2005. He has a .298 average going into the 2009 season and is one of the few guys producing offensively during the Phillies current slow start. Some of his career achievements in Philly include his grand slam in his MLB debut versus the Rockies and most recently his infamous pump fake to first - throw out at home during game 5 of the World Series which kept the game tied.

Career w/ Phillies: .298 AVG / 130 HR / 492 RBI / 60 SB

Why Schilling: He started his career in Baltimore and then was traded to Philadelphia. he quickly became their ace, most notably during the 1993 NL Pennant team. He posted great numbers throughout his career in Philly but got the 3 rings he owns somewhere else, one in 2001 with Arizona where he and Randy Johnson were one of the greatest pitching duos of all time and two in 2004 and 2007 with Boston. Sure he was successful elsewhere but he became the pitcher he was playing in Philly.

Career w/ Phillies: 16591.1 IP / 101-78 / 3.35 ERA / 1554 K

#1 Mike Schmidt vs #1 Richie Ashburn

Why Schmidt: Michael Jack Schmidt, as we affectionately remember Harry Kalas calling him that, is considered the greatest Phillie of all time and greatest third baseman in the history of baseball. He is the only Phillie on this list to play his entire career in Phillie (we hope guys like Utley, Ryam Howard, and Cole Hamels do so as well) and be great. I could go on for hours as to why the 9 time Gold Glover, 12 time All Star, 6 time Silver Slugger, and 1 time world champion is the best ever. His #20 is also retired in Philly and was inducted into the baseball Hall Of Fame in 1995. 

Career w/ Phillies: .267 AVG / 548 HR / 1,595 RBI / 174 SB

Why Ashburn: Whitey is considered more than just a player. He was also the 2nd half to the greatest broadcast team in Philadelphia history, Harry and Whitey. Ashburn was one of the greatest center fielders of all time and a member of the 1950's "Whiz Kids" team. He could hit, get on base and steal them. He is 3rd in Phillies history in runs scored. He is a 5 time All Star and has his #1 retired. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame with Schmidt in 1995

Career w/ Phillies: .311 AVG / 22 HR / 499 RBI / 199 SB