The Philadelphia Phillies entered this postseason with two
major concerns. And in the end it was those two concerns that ultimately cost
them another victory parade down Broad Street.
As a big a factor as Brad Lidge and Cole Hamels were in Philadelphia's second
World Series title a year ago, they are that much to blame for the team's
failure this season.
It was no secret that Lidge had his problems this year. Just one year after
going a perfect 48-for-48 in save opportunities, Lidge went on to blow a
league-high 11 games this season while pitching to an outrageous 7.21 earned
run average.
I thought Charlie Manuel may have helped Lidge's fragile psyche late in the
year by letting him get the final out of the team's NL East title-clinching
victory.
Just being in that moment, I felt Lidge could have been headed in the right
direction. Closers are a weird bunch. They don't need a lot to get straight.
It only takes one or two strong outings.
Manuel's slick maneuver seemed to pay dividends early on in the postseason, as
we all watched Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Ryan Franklin, and Brian
Fuentes blow saves, while Lidge, along with Mariano Rivera, remained perfect
through the first two rounds.
All that mojo, though, came to a crashing halt on Sunday in Game 4.
In a series that had featured as many momentum shifts as I can ever remember
one series having, Pedro Feliz swung the pendulum back in Philly's favor in a
big way in the eighth inning of Game 4 with his rocket off what appeared to be
an unhittable Joba Chamberlain to tie the game.
Once that ball left the park I defy you to find me someone who thought the
Yankees were going to come back. I am not a betting man, but I would have bet
my house that the Phils would have found a way to win after that.
Then, Manuel summoned Lidge, who got two quick outs. But a long at-bat by
Johnny Damon, who walked, then made one of the most heads-up baserunning plays
in the history of the postseason with his steal of second and subsequent
taking of third, before scoring on a rocket down the line off the bat of Alex
Rodriguez and this Fall Classic was over.
This went from being a 2-2 series with Cliff Lee on the hill for you in Game
5, to a 3-1 Yankees advantage, one they had never relinquished in eight other
chances.
Game, set and match.
Then there's Hamels, who went from winning both the NLCS and World Series MVP
Awards in 2008 to the guy who nobody wanted on the hill had Philadelphia
reached a seventh game.
Like Lidge, Hamels' struggles were no secret entering this postseason. His
regular season started by getting rocked in Colorado and ended with losses in
his last two starts, surrendering 13 runs over his final three outings.
Things did not get any better for the lefty once the playoffs started, as he
was charged with the loss in his first postseason start against the Rockies
before allowing four runs in a win against the Dodgers. In his final NLCS
start, he could not even get out of the fifth inning, despite being staked to
a 6-2 lead.
But the wheels really came off for Hamels in Game 3 against the Yankees.
Hamels appeared to have some of the best stuff he had had all season,
especially in the playoffs, through the first three innings of that one.
However, a video-reviewed home run off the bat of Rodriguez, and that was all
she wrote. Hamels unraveled and exited with one out in the fifth, having
surrendered five runs.
Just like that, the homefield advantage that Philly had snatched with Lee's
gem in Game 1 was now gone.
Hamels didn't help his cause after that Game 3 start either, as he mentioned
that he just wanted his year to be over. Probably not something you want to
hear from a potential Game 7 starter.
It is easy to say that had Hamels been the guy who he was a year ago, this
would not even be a series. Well sure, but if Hamels had been the guy who
he was in 2008, the Phillies never would have had to go out and get Lee.
But even with Lee and the Hamels from last year, the difference in this series
would still have been the fact that the Yankees had Mariano Rivera and the
Phillies did not.
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