Because I just wouldn’t feel right without giving a parting shot to the other team….

The Philadelphia Phillies are your 2008 National League Champions.

Behind a performance about as good as you could possibly hope for by the Phillies official ace, Cole Hamels, the Phillies have just defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1, and will now face the winner of the ALCS next week in the World Series.

Go ahead, read that run-on sentence a couple more times and let it sink in.  The Phillies are going to the World Series.

It was quite the anti-climatic game for a clincher, but it’ll most certainly do.  Jimmy Rollins — just as he did in the final game vs. the Brewers — led off the top of the first with a homerun that quieted the visiting crowd and gave the Phils the early lead.  Cole Hamels pitched seven brilliant innings allowing 5 hits and just 1 run via the long ball from super-human, Manny Ramirez.  In the end, we didn’t need any of the runs caused by Rafael Furcal’s errors, and for the 20th time in the last 25 games (an .800 clip btw), the Fightins’ emerge victorious.

Lookit the scene right down the street from The Fightins’ headquarters on Frankford & Cottman:

GO PHILLIES!!!!

According to various reports, tonight’s game will feature the Phillies and Dodgers battling it out with Excel spreadsheets, briefcases, and calculators.  Clearly, the team that wins the game will be the first to abandon this ridiculous baseball shit and conduct some business…

[Inquirer]

[MLB.com]

BUT, even if both teams stick to their respective cubicle’d gameplans, I’m still picking the Phillies.

They look pretty serious in their freshly tailored suits..

Enjoy it, these kinda games don’t come around too often.

Who’s ready to celebrate?

Imagine, if you will, that you’re a little girl attending your very first baseball game — A PLAYOFF GAME! — in historic Dodger Stadium, courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. During a lull in the game, the camera pans over to your section for some rare face time and the three seconds that you’re featured on TV, you get caught digging in both nostrils.

Then, some asshole blogger from Philadelphia takes those screen caps and features them for anyone who may have missed it.

Okay, now stop imagining:

She’s ambidextrous!

Read more »

According to his post-game quotes, Matt Stairs must be into some freaky celebratory shit. Following the 2-run blast that made Jonathan Broxton the new old-Brad Lidge, he had this to say:

“When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys — there’s no better feeling than to have that done.”

Hey, I’m not here to judge, Matt. Do whatcha gotta.

Audio courtesy of WPHT 1210 am

I’m not quite sure what I just saw, but I know I liked it.

After giving up a not-so-safe 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Phillies fought back, worked themselves out of a couple jams, and put themselves in position to mount a comeback. And comeback they did.

Joe Torre’s horrific bullpen managing set the stage for a Shane Victorino 2-run homer off of Cory Wade to tie it. Then, with one out in the eighth three batters later, Super-Canadian Matt Stairs launched what proved to be the game-winning 2-run blast deeeeep into the right field seats.

This pretty much sums it all up:

And you know what that means, kids… the Philadelphia Phillies are now one win away from their first World Series appearance since 1993. Enjoy your day off tomorrow, I’ll have plenty more then.

During the bottom of the eighth inning of last night’s game, eccentric outfielder Manny Ramirez is sporting a grin on his mug that would lead you to believe the Dodgers were the ones with a 2-0 series lead heading back to L.A.  Of course we all know that’s not the case, so why does Manny look so happy?

Well, because the lovely Phillies ballgirl Gina Papili is prancing across the field and just happened to get in his field of vision.  You can’t blame him, really.

I have just returned from a phenomenal Game 2 of the NLCS where, once again, it was the Brett & Shane show.  Incredibly, Brett allowed five earned runs but also made up for every one of them with his bat and on the base paths.

There will certainly be more to discuss tomorrow. For now though, I’ll leave you with video of the only guy in either LCS batting 1.000 so I can get some shut-eye:

From the diabolical creators of digidigidigi comes…

MAN-RAM!*

Superb work, gentlemen. Apparently, his only weakness is a Ryan Madson changeup.

By the Power of Grayskull… | digidigidigi

*Featuring a spring loaded body that blasts back! (FOR AGES 5 AND OVER)

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