Philadelphia Phillies

Tom Verducci SI.com: How the Phillies beat the Rays to win the World Series

On Sept. 10 the 79-67 Phillies were 3 1/2 games out of first place, had the same record as the Houston Astros and were only one-half game better than the St. Louis Cardinals and Toronto Blue Jays, three teams that didn't sniff the playoffs.But the Phillies became yet another team to prove what makes world champions in the era of six divisions and three rounds of playoffs: Staying in contention and then getting hot at the right time.

Philadelphia, including the postseason, finished 24-6 -- the first time any Phillies team in franchise history won 24 of its final 30 games. The Phillies rode ace Cole Hamels (6-1 in that stretch) and a lockdown bullpen (7-0) for more than half of their wins during that run to the championship.

It was a classic late-season formula, especially when you essentially remove the fifth starter, middle relievers and most of the bench from the playoff equation. Philadelphia played 14 postseason games over 31 days, an entirely different pace from the regular season.

The Phillies had 16 days off to play 14 games in October (accounting for Game 5, which took two days) after having 19 days off to play 162 games in the regular season.

WOW! just ... WOW!

Congrats to all you Philly fans out there.

This was without a doubt one of thee most boring World Series in memory. The rain game starting at 10PM. And then the final three innings being played out, two days after the game actually began, totally anti climatic. None of that matters of course, Philly got their ring, and the history books will simply begin ..

Should I be concerned with Cole Hamels 2008 pitch counts, going into 2009?

I know Cole Hamels throws a ton of change ups, about a third of the time actually, and that act alone has the net effect of lessening the strain on his arm some. Heck, I have never been one of those alarmist when it comes to pitch counts anyways. If anything, todays pitchers are babied beyond belief. But I do believe in huge innings jumps from season to season, and Cole Hamels is close to 80 innings pitched over last season, at least he will be by the time the World Series is done.

That should send up a few red flags, for everyone.

I haven't been near Mexicali or Yuma lately, but it is right out my back door, a simple three or four hour drive, and next February the 2009 Caribbean Series, the “Serie del Caribe”, will be held in Mexicali.

Why Mexicali I have no idea. I always remember the area having nothing but a bunch of farm land, lots of factories, being insanely hot, and pretty much a dump. Thankfully this is the winter leagues, eh?

If you ever bought something that said made in Mexico, chances are, it came from Mexicali.

The Serie del Caribe teams are typically from Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and many Major League players are called on to fill the rosters, so the quality of play is high, with national pride often at stake.

Wikipedia - Mexicali Baseball

The Águilas de Mexicali is a Mexican baseball team playing for the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico in Mexicali, Baja California.

The team was founded in October 14, 1976. They have won the championship three times, 1985-1986, 1988-1989, 1998-1999. The team also won the 1986 Caribbean Series, played in Venezuela. Their brightest moment came when they won the 1986 Caribbean Series, only becoming the second Mexican team to take the title

Jimmy Rollims has been without a doubt, the most frustrating player for me this season. I built everyone of my teams around the guy. I own him on every roster except maybe one. Talk about taking a beating.

sure I am happy to see him finally coming around, but it is just a tad too late to make a difference me thinks.

Someday, these game of the day posts will be a catch all for in game commentary type things. I didn't post a game of the day thread yesterday, and then later wanted to post a few comments about the Padres smacking around Brandon Webb, and I couldn't. I was denied.

Here's todays game.

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Beyond the Box Score's Peter Bendix, has an excellent look at Joe Blanton's career, and career numbers, and explains how Blanton is not even a league average pitcher.