Kuzul

The Philadelphia Phillies are in a good place. It’s a place most young kids, high school standouts, and college athletes covet.

The sporting pinnacle.

You’re on a team—your own team—that you helped build with your own hands and you are enjoying success year after year.

This is what Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and the rest of the gang are experiencing now.

They’ve clinched four straight National East crowns, and they find themselves standing alone at the top of the mountain as the hottest team in the MLB.

They’ve even held the league’s best record for a good part of the final stretch this year.

It’s hard to bet against the Phillies right now, with so much going well for them.

Among many different things that work in their favor, I was able to consolidate them into 12 different things, beginning with…

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After clinching their fourth straight division title, the Philadelphia Phillies have established themselves as the team to beat in the National League.

Despite sitting in second place when September began, the Phillies continued to chop away at Atlanta‘s lead in the NL East and overtook them on the 7th of the month. Once they stood atop the division, Philly wasted no time in putting away the fading Braves, pushing their lead to seven games within 15 days of taking control of first place.

Even though they had six of their eight starters on offense hit the disabled list at some point this year, Charlie Manuel’s group relied on starting pitching to bide their time until their lineup could get healthy.

With Cy Young candidate Roy Halladay (21-7, 2.44 ERA) on the mound, the Phillies clinched the NL East title in Washington last night with an 8-0 victory. A fitting end to a roller coaster season, which has seen the rotation dominate opponents since the All-Star break. In September, the starters were especially instrumental in helping Philly finish out the season on a 19-5 tun that included an 8-1 road record.

When you include fellow ace Roy Oswalt, who has gone 7-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his 11 starts since being traded for on July 29th, Philadelphia remains almost unbeatable in a five-game series.

Along with Oswalt and Halladay, Cole Hamels has rediscovered the success that saw him win the 2008 World Series MVP. Leaving out his latest four-inning, five-earned run outing against the Mets two days ago, Hamels had been a perfect 5-0 in his last five starts, having given up only two runs in 36.2 innings over that span. If the lefty can carry over his stellar performance into October, then Philadelphia may walk into the World Series.

Although their rotation has been outstanding in recent weeks, the offense, too, broke out of its slump in September, as players continue to return to pre-injury form.

Philadelphia’s hot streak coincided with the return of Chase Utley, who missed July and a portion of August rehabbing from a thumb injury. In September, the Gold Glove second baseman has hit .326 to go along with five home runs and 22 RBIs. Had it not been for the historic month that Colorado‘s Troy Tulowitzki is having, Utley’s September would be getting far more attention than it has. 

With Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez also revitalized for the stretch run, the Phillies’ offense has finally surrounded behemoth Ryan Howard (.276, 31 HRs, 106 RBIs) with ample protection for the playoffs. 

The biggest surprise of the Phillies’ run, however, has been the quiet bat of Jimmy Rollins. When in the lineup, the shortstop usually plays the role of catalyst for the Phillies late in the season, as seen by his .292 batting average in September and October, up from his otherwise regular .273 stat line. This year, though, he has sported a batting average as low as .236 and looks altogether lost at the plate.

While Rollins has been given the past two weeks off because of a “hamstring” injury, the Phillies have continued to push the pace and have posted four games in which they scored at least eight runs during his time on the disabled list. Philadelphia management hopes that his hiatus, which, according to coach Charlie Manuel, is set to end early this week, will help breath life into the 32-year-old’s bat.

As the Phillies begin to rest their regulars for the playoffs, very few question marks stand in the way of a third straight World Series appearance. Set to be in his first playoff series, ace Roy Halladay knows that Philadelphia knows how to win.

“That’s the reason you want to come to a team like this. They know how to do it,” Halladay said. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve been a part of. It’s just the start, I think.”

Hopefully Doc’s words do come true and his division-clinching victory is only the beginning for the Philadelphia Phillies.

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After Minnesota‘s blundering 10-1 loss to the Tigers and the New York Yankees’ 10-8  loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies sit alone with the MLB‘s  best record.

With a 93-61 record, they are a half-game above the Minnesota Twins and a full game ahead of the Yankees.

Thanks to a 11-game win streak, the Phillies‘ magic number is now down to two with the Atlanta Braves losing to the Nationals, 8-3.

The Phillies are now an amazing 19-3 in September, as scorching as today’s Philadelphia sun. Shane Victorino started off today with a leadoff home run and a second-inning RBI, to give Philadelphia to a 2-0 lead.

From there, the Phillies never looked back, led by Joe Blanton‘s seven innings of two-run ball.

The Mets tied the game up in the top of the fourth inning, but the Phils responded in the bottom of the inning, which has become common for the surging NL champs.

From there, the Phillies pitching didn’t allow any more scoring. The streaking Ryan Madsen and Brad Lidge wrapped the game up in the eighth and ninth inning.

The Phillies look poised to roll into October with unwavering skill and grace

According to Phillies Nation.com, the Phillies’ most wins in a month is 22 in September 1915. A year which eerily resembles 2010. In 1977, the last year the Phillies ended with the best record in the NL, they went 22-7.

This year, they hold the best September record at 19-3 with eight games to play, and have a great chance to break that record if they just split their final eight games.

The 2010 Phillies are putting their bid in as the best version of the team to step foot in America’s birthplace.

They currently have two more games against the Mets this weekend and three games next week against the Nats before finishing with three against the Braves.

For more writing from Vincent Heck visit: www.vincentheckwriting.com

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With just over a week left in the MLB season, I figured it’d be good to look at the possibilities for this postseason’s match-ups.

While certain teams have much work to do in regards of locking their position in the postseason, I thought it would be fun to look into the playoffs as they sit today.

If the postseason started right this instant, the match-ups would look like this:

American League Division Series

Texas Rangers at New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins

National League Division Series

Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies

Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants

The way I calculated these results, were not based on merely opinion, I shuffled season statistics into the following categories.

First I’d look at the series match-up on the season. The latest games being the more influential than the early season games.

I considered the home field advantage records vs. away records.

Next, I considered the teams September record, since it represents how hot they are now, going into the playoffs.

This could indicate a readiness to perform in crunch time.

Also, I consider previous experience, a very overlooked possession. Experience alone sometimes can win a team the ball game.

Lastly, I’ve used some common sense also. Gotta factor that in, because it’s not always what the numbers say. There aren’t necessarily numbers for heart.

With that being said, lets get into the match-ups.

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The advent of sabermetrics has changed the way we look at “clutch.”

“Situational hitting” is luck. “Inducing weak contact” is luck. “Performing under pressure” is luck. It’s all been proven with math and logic and regression analysis.

But screw that, because it’s a pennant race, and even the most logical stathead has subjective ideas about who he’d most want to see step to the plate with his favorite team’s season on the line.

Here is my 2010 All-Clutch team, comprised of the players who have demonstrated the best ability to perform when it counts. I tried to limit my list to players from contending teams, since they’re the only ones who really matter at this point.

Here’s to hoping we get to see one of these guys come up with a big hit this October.

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The Atlanta Braves come to town this week for a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies currently have a three-game lead in the NL East over the Braves, and the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies surging out west, the Braves may very well be playing for their post-season lives.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from this showdown.

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This Sunday afternoon, the Phillies and the Eagles are both playing at about the same time (Eagles at 1pm and Phillies at 1:35pm). So if you have to choose one game to watch, which team would you watch?

I think it should be the Phillies. I am hoping this weekend the city of Philadelphia finally makes the right choice. We should be a baseball town, not a football town. We want to paint the town red, not green.

Why should you watch the Phillies rather than the Eagles?

The Phillies are simply a better team. They won two World Series or two more than the Eagles won Super Bowls. The last time the Eagles won a championship was 1960, before I was even born. Back then, they won the NFL Championship. The NFL was just 13 teams or less than the size of the current NFC. Winning the NFL back in 1960 would be like winning the NFC today. They had to win one playoff game to win the title. These days, you have to win 2-3 to win the conference and 3-4 to win the Super Bowl.

In addition to winning the World Series in 2008, they made the World Series last year and won the division three years in a row (and are currently leading the NL East as we speak). The Eagles made the playoffs the last two years but if they were happy with that they wouldn’t have shipped the star QB out of town (to a division rival, no less).

Which brings us to another reason to choose the Phillies over the Eagles. The Phillies care about winning. The Eagles don’t. Donovan McNabb is just the latest of casualties of players the Eagles got rid of before the end of their careers. How about Brian Dawkins? Brian Westbrook?

Don’t think that trading Donovan McNabb was a spur of the moment thing. They drafted Kevin Kolb in 2007, two seasons removed from a Super Bowl appearance. You don’t think they were planning to replace McNabb?

And don’t forget the whole TO mess. TO wanted to renegotiate his contract after a superb season which led to a Super Bowl appearance. The Eagles refused. Did TO handle it correctly? Of course not. Attacking your QB is like biting the hand that feeds you and I’m sure he enjoyed playing last year in Buffalo with Trent Edwards.

The bottom line is the Eagles care more about making money than winning. If they can find someone who can do your job cheaper, they don’t care if the guy is not as good. Does it matter who your favorite Eagle is? In 3-5 years, they will be playing for another team.

How cheap are the Eagles? If the Eagles had their way, you wouldn’t even have been allowed to bring food into the stadium. Don’t forget that they fired an employee for criticizing letting Dawkins go (I’m sure glad I don’t work for the Eagles).

Meanwhile, the Phillies take care of their players. Look at the contract Ryan Howard got. And they make trades like the ones for Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt. I don’t see the Eagles making those moves (then again the way the Eagles treat players most free agents have no interest in playing for Philadelphia anyway).

The Phillies care about you and their players. The Eagles don’t. And if the Eagles continue to sell out games and dominate the local market, why should they change? If the Phillies played like the Eagles, Citizens Bank Park would be half full. Or if they traded Howard and Utley away, same. Is anyone left from the Super Bowl Eagles team? Look at the 76ers. They made the playoffs and their attendance was still awful. Why should the Eagles get a free pass for being 8-8 or 7-9 or for trading away all their good players?

So that’s where you come in Philadelphia. Why should we accept Kevin Kolb as our starting QB? Why should we accept management that cares more about profits than wins?

So, make a statement. Don’t go to their games. Don’t watch their games on TV. Don’t buy their jerseys (of course if you bought a Kevin Kolb jersey I’m worried about you). And support the team in Philadelphia that cares about you, the fans. Hurt the Eagles the only way they’ll listen.

And this is where this Sunday comes in. The Phillies and Eagles are both playing Sunday afternoon, both on over the air TV. Instead of watching the Eagles game (who cares, they are playing Detroit), watch the Phillies game. The Phillies only have two weeks left before the end of the season. They are in a playoff race. You can watch the Eagles lose all through November and December.

Sure, the US is a football country and of course the NFL is the most popular league in America. But it isn’t unprecedented to see a baseball game outdraw a football game in a local market. Last year, New York of all places overwhelmingly chose the Yankees over the Giants head to head during the playoffs.

Let’s make it happen here in Philadelphia. I want to see this week that more Philadelphians watch the Phillies game than the Eagles game. Let’s see how Joe Banner and company feel about that.

And if a Phillies playoff game is on at the same time as an Eagles game, watch the Phillies. The team that cares about winning. The team that cares about its players. The team that cares about its fans. And by the way, the BETTER team. The team that actually has a ring.

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It’s been 66 years since the National League has seen a three-time National League champion.

The year was 1944 when the mighty St. Louis Cardinals won their third straight pennant after finishing first in the NL with 105 wins.

Looking to rebound from their loss the previous year to the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals won their fifth title in the “Streetcar Series,” against their crosstown rivals the St. Louis Browns. Three consecutive NL pennants hasn’t happened since.

Of course, in 1944 the format was much different. The MLB changed to the NLCS in 1967. But that makes it even more shocking of a statistic when you say that since 1969, when the championship series was implemented, no one in the NL has been able to pull off the elusive three-peat.

The Reds came close in 1976 and the Dodgers came close in the subsequent years of 1977 and 1978. The Atlanta Braves came extremely close, winning four out of five pennants consecutively—not including 1994’s lockout season—splitting two and two in ’91 and ’92, then again in ’95 and ’96.

This year, a similar event has a chance of coming to fruition. The Philadelphia Phillies have a chance to be the first NL team in over 60 years to win three consecutive pennants. This season has showed Philadelphia why it’s been such a difficult feat to pull off.

Plagued by injuries, the Phillies came into this month on a steady mission: continue their quest to tie up loose ends from 2009’s loss to the New York Yankees and make history as the first team to win three pennants in the championship series format. 

Unlike the St. Louis Cardinals of 1944, however, this road was not easy for the Phils. Change of batting order, new acquisitions, battling injuries, and fighting against hitting slumps, the Phillies still find themselves in the same place the Cardinals were around this time 1944—first place in the NL. Granted, the Cardinals had a 14 game lead on the Pittsburgh Pirates; it is, nonetheless, first place.

With their pursuers, the Atlanta Braves, only a game behind them, the Phillies have a long road ahead of them. Anxiously, we await the six games left against that resilient bunch, to find out if our Phightins can make this happen.

While the Phillies do show many similarities with that historical team of 1944, if the Phillies are able to pull off history, they will have done it their way—Phightin’,

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With the playoffs around the corner, potential matchups are being examined. The regular season is winding down and the hunt is heating up. For the Padres and Phillies, two playoff hopefuls, there is a chance the two will face each other in the postseason.

Whether the Phillies and Padres win the wild card or their divisions, there is a good chance they’ll face each other, making for an intriguing matchup.

On one side is the young, up-and-coming San Diego Padres, stacked with solid young pitching. On the other side is the Philadelphia Phillies, a seasoned team that is defending a National League title.

There have been a lot of good things going on in San Diego this year, and they could be the team to dismantle the defending NL champs in a potential playoff series between the two. Here are five reasons why the Padres can knock the Phillies out of playoff contention.

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Overcoming adversity is nothing new to the Philadelphia Phillies, but how the Phillies react to these conditions is what sets them apart from other teams in the league.

In 2007 they overcame a seven game deficit with 17 games to go, the first team in MLB history to do so. In 2008 it was three and a half games back with 16 to play. Both teams ended up playing in the post season, with a World Series title coming home in 2008.

This year it has been injuries instead of games in the won lost column that made things a little bit uncomfortable at times this season. In the off season leading into the 2010 campaign, the Phillies and general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said goodbye to pitchers Brett Myers, Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, Lee and Martinez were added in mid season 2009 to bolster the second march to the World Series in as many years.

Also on the way out were infielders Miguel Cairo and Pedro Feliz. Some of the bigger names that were brought in were Roy Halladay, Jose Contreras, and Gold Glove winning infielder Polanco, who has said in the past how much he enjoyed his first tour of duty in Philadelphia.

He never wanted to leave, which seems to be a common feeling with players that have played in the Philadelphia organization.

The Phillies went 12-10 in April with some of the highlights being Polanco‘s grand slam on Opening Day with seven innings out of Halliday in an 11-1 win over Washington, Ryan Howard passing Greg Luzinski for fifth place on the Phillies all time home run list with his 223rd on April 7th.

On April 9th the Phils took sole possession of first place, and scored 41 runs in the first five games. April also saw the beginning of the calf problems that would haunt Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies for the next few months. Chase Utley homered in four consecutive games in April, and after a loss to the Giants later in the month the Phillies dropped out of first place for the first time in 135 regular season games going back to May 29, 2009.

May saw the Phillies return to the top of the division but also saw the death of a legend, on May 6th Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts passed away, Roberts was still a presence in the Phillies clubhouse among the current pitchers and a patch with his retired number would be worn for the rest of the season.

The Phillies opened interleague play in Boston and were one hit by Daiskue Matsuaka, with the only hit being a Juan Castro single. The Phillies were accused of stealing signs from the bullpen, Carlos Ruiz injured his knee, and the Phillies went 30 innings without scoring a run. None of this seemed to matter when Roy Halladay pitched only the 20th perfect game in MLB history.

And on May 30th the Phillies dropped out of first place, they also finished to month going 68 innings without a home run. Players on the disabled list in May were Lidge, Joe Blanton, Jimmy Rollins and Brian Schneider.

A 13-13 record in June seems sounds uneventful, but there were some interesting match ups and situations in June. Brad Lidge blew his first save of the season, the second round of interleague play saw a Phillies Yankees rematch with the Phillies taking the series one games to one and Jamie Moyer collected his 265th career victory.

There was also the road trip that was played at home, the Toronto Blue Jays were scheduled to host the Phillies but the series was played in Philadelphia because of a political summit that was scheduled in Toronto the same week. The Blue Jays batted last and the designated hitter rule was in effect for the first time ever in a NL ballpark during the regular season. June also saw Utley, Rollins, Polanco, Ruiz, and Chad Durbin on the DL.

July started out with Charlie Manuel serving a one game suspension following an incident with umpire C.B. Bucknor. On July 7th the Phillies were six games behind Atlanta, and took a 4 game winning streak into the All Star break. After the break the Phillies gave the almost lights out Ubaldo Jimenez his second loss of the season, in a 10-2 victory. On July 27th Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins were both injured, clearing the way for Domonic Brown’s promotion to the majors, Brown went 2-3 with two runs scored and two RBI in his debut.

Roy Oswalt was added to strengthen the rotation, in a trade that sent J.A. Happ to the Astros. July was a busy month for disabled list activities, Ryan Madsen and Ruiz were taken off the DL, Moyer and Victorino were sent to the DL. The Phillies finished the month 15-13.

August saw Ryan Howard headed to the 15 day disabled list on the 3rd of the month, with Victorino and Utley coming off the list. John Mayberry Jr. made his return to the bigs in Howards place. The Phillies also got their first look at National’s phenom Stephen Strasburg on August 21st, Srasburg left the game early and headed off to Tommy John surgery.

Ryan Sweeny who was signed on August 4th to take Howard’s spot while he recovered hit his first homer as a Phillie. The squad finished the month 18-10.

September call-ups saw the arrivals of Paul Hoover and Greg Dobbs and Nate Robertson with his 57-77 career record, as well as the recalls of Mayberry and Vance Worley. Moyer was placed on the 60 day disabled list and Ross Gload was activated off the DL. With all the injuries throughout the season the Phillies appear to be in a healthy position right now and seem to be hitting their stride at the right time.

The schedule the rest of the way out will basically let the Phillies dictate their own destiny this season. The rest of the season is played against NL East teams with three versus Atlanta at home September 20-22, and the final three games of the season in early October in Atlanta. While the race could come down to the final three games the Phillies will have an opportunity to close it out earlier.

While other teams have had injury problems this year, most notably the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox, two teams that were expected to make a run at the title this season, both are basically out of the race, while the Phillies, faced with the same situations reacted to differently and it seems to be paying off. The biggest luxury that the Phillies had was the depth of the farm system, it’s a nice problem to have when you can bring a player like Domonic Brown to the bigs and not have to make a trade that depletes the farm system.

Right now the Phillies hold the future in the palms of their hands and the future looks bright.

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