NLCS - Phillies lead 2-0

This is just going to be a very short post. I've been Comcasted (meaning my Comcast internet connection was down for about 24 hours this weekend).

So , Go Phillies!

2 great games.

Update Sunday Morning: The title now reads correctly, Phillies lead 2-0.

Thursday Night at the Movies - Appaloosa

This is a special Wednesday night edition of Thursday Night at the Movies. Tomorrow night is the first game of the NLCS between the Phillies and the Dodgers. I'm not missing that. So we decided to go to the movies tonight.

We actually never saw a trailer for this movie and pretty much decided to see it based on the ad we saw at the theater. The cast is compelling with Ed Harris (who also directs) , Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Renee Zellweger. The movie was excellent. It's pretty much an old fashioned western, without 20th or 21st century angst. It has a good story. In the end the story is about the loyality one man can have for another. It features a woman (Zellweger) who comes between two men (Mortensen and Harris) but the interaction is different then is typical which makes this a much better story then it might have been. Mortensen and Harris are enjoyable to watch together, in the tradition of an Redford and Newman movie.

Virtual Bike Tour of Baseball Sites - Tomball Texas

I reached the next stop on my virtual tour, Tomball High School, home of the Tomball Cougars baseball team. Former Cougar, Troy Patton was the 9th round draft pick of the Astros in 2005. This is his 2005 Bowman Draft Picks card. This card lists his birthplace as Tomball but other cards, and baseball-reference.com, lists his birthplace as Spring, Texas. I have it on the authority of the sports editor of the Tomball Potpourri that Troy is a graduate of Tomball High School. Troy is now with the Orioles. He was part of the trade which brought Miguel Tejada to Houston. Unfortunately, Troy suffered a torn labrum in his left (throwing) shoulder and had surgery last March which ended his 2008 season before it began. The next leg of the trip is to Hempstead Texas, 29.4 miles.
Total days riding: 6, total miles: 40.9; total time on bike: 2 hr, 42 mins.

Phillies win NLDS in 4

There wasn't much time to recap Game 3 so let's just skip it other than to say the Brewers won 4-1.

Even though the Phillies were up 2 games to 1 entering Game 4, there is no question that their offense was sputtering. Their pitching has been great but guys like Utley, Howard, and Burrell were not producing.

The offense got this one going in a hurry as Jimmy Rollins hit a lead off home run on a 3-2 count. In the Phillies third, Victorino got a 1-out double and was moved to third by an Utley ground out. Howard was intentionally walked. Next up was Pat Burrell, batting something like 10 for 20 career against the Brewers starter Jeff Suppan. Pat the Bat took him deep into the left field bleachers to make the score 4-1. Then Jason Werth also took Suppan deep, this time to center.

Prince Fielder got his first hit of the series in the 7th with a home run off the Phillies starter Joe Blanton. Burrell got that run back with his second home run of the game, off Parra in the 8th.

Blanton was a late season pickup for the Phillies who went 4-0 for them down the stretch.

Brad Lidge pitched the 9th, even though it wasn't a save situation. He gave up one hit, struck out 1 but no runs. Phillies win 6-2.

I can't seem to find who was named MVP of the series, but if I was naming someone, I guess it would be Pat Burell.

Song of the Week - Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Richard Hawley

I have 5,541 songs in my iTunes. This is one of them.

I never listen to music on the radio anymore and I pretty much can't stand to watch music video shows (I can't understand how kids can watch these shows since they have so many commercials), so where do I hear new music? One good source is podcasts. I currently subscribe to Minnesota Public Radio's Song of the Day podcast and the KEPX Song of the Day podcast. KEPX is a public radio station operating out of the University of Washington in Seattle. There is a lot of great music being made by people I never heard of and I get some of it delivered right to my computer everyday for free. You can easily find either of these by doing a Google search. Every once in awhile, when the podcast bin starts to get full, I listen to the first 30 seconds or so of the song. If it grabs me, I keep it, if not, I dump it. I tend to keep most of the songs. I sometimes change my mind on subsequent listening, then I dump it.

Richard Hawley is a British singer who's been working since the mid-1990s in various bands and solo efforts. The song is a great pop tune which sounds like a lot of other great pop tunes but plesently so. You can read his Wikipedia entry here. If I had to guess, I'd say that Hawley wrote the entry himself. The video is just about incomprehensible to me.

NLDS Game 2, Phillies 5, Brewers 2

Brett Myers vs C. C. Sabathia. Battle of the jersey cards.

After a one-year experiment with Myers as the closer in 2007, the Phillies returned him to a starting role this year. He got off to a rough start and, in fact, the Phillies sent him down to the minors in early July to work on his stuff. After coming back, Myers had a 7-2 record (his over all record was 10-13), including a complete game win against the Brewers in that 4-game sweep of the Brewers the Phillies pulled off in mid-September.

The Brewers acquired Sabathia from the Indians for a bunch of prospects. He was 11-2 for the Brewers, one of the biggest reasons perhaps for the Brewers being in the playoffs.

Myers got off to a shaky start, loading the bases in the first but, with the help of a double play, allowed only 1 run. He pitched 7 innings, only giving up 2 hits and 2 runs.

Sabathia had a good first inning but came a bit unglued in the 2nd. After getting Burrell out, he give up back to back doubles to Werth and Feliz, which plated the tying run. He then got light-hitting catcher Ruiz to ground out. Up came Brett Myers for the most pivotal at bat of the game. Sabathia got two quick strikes on Myers, but then Myers starting fouling off pitches and taking pitches outside the strike zone. The fans started getting into it, actually giving Myers a standing ovation for a fly ball foul. Then, after 9 pitches, Sabathia walked him. Jimmy Rollins was up next and was walked on 4 pitches, loading the bases. Up next, Shane Victorino, who already had a double, hits a ball into the left field bleachers to make the sore 5-1.

Sabathia's line: 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 5 ER, 3 walks, 5 Ks.

The Phillies had 9 hits and the Brewers walked 7, but they left 10 men on base, most of them after the 2nd.

A big win for the Phillies who go to Milwaukee for the next game on Saturday.

2008 NLDS Game 1: Phillies vs Brewers

The first game of the National League Division Series between the Phillies and the Brewers gets underway in Philadelphia at 3 PM Eastern. That will be 2 PM Central where I am. I'll be recording the game on my DVR at home and avoiding the Internet and radios until I get home from work to watch the recording.

The Phillies are starting Cole Hamels. Hamels was 14-10 this season with a 3.09 ERA. He was 1-1 against the Brewers, his win coming during the 4-game sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee in mid-September.


This card is a 2008 UD A Piece of History Timeless Moments Jersey that I got in a trade with another baseball card blogger.

Yovani Gallardo will be starting for the Brewers. Gallardo, a 2nd year player, was 0-0 in 4 starts this season, with a respectable ERA of 1.88. He apparently did not pitch against the Phillies this year.


This card is a 2008 Topps Chrome Refractor which I don't actually own anymore. I traded it to a Brewers fan earlier in the season.

Other Phillies news. Reliever Brad Lidge who was 41 for 41 in save attempts this year, was named the NL Comeback Player of the Year. Lidge, who seemed to go into a 2-year funk after giving up a game-winning home run in Game 5 of the 2005 World Series while pitching for the Astros, made the most of a change of uniform.

Post Game Update: The Phillies won 3-1. Cole Hamels pitched a great game, giving up only 2 hits while striking out 9. Lidge got the save. He struck out the side in the 9th but also gave up 2 hits and a walk but only 1 run. The Brewers pitchers actually pitched pretty well but were done in by shoddy defense (an error in the 3rd which lead to all the scoring) and too many walks (including 3 in the 3rd).

Tomorrow's game features Sabathia for the Brewers, pitching on 3-days rest (now I understand why he didn't pitch tonight). C. C. was 11-2 after coming over to the Brewers. Brett Myers will be making his first post-season start for the Phillies.