Morning Extras: Rollercoaster Ride of Success

At one point in the sixth inning, I sent Matt an instant message that simply said, "I want to vomit."

I still feel that way. Has there been, in recent memory, a more entertaining game that has such a combination of great play, poor play, mediocre play, great coaching, poor coaching and mediocre coaching? This game had everything.

The game was a roller coaster ride of emotions. From the great start in the first inning to the uneasy feeling every time Manny Ramirez steps into the box to the decision by Pat Burrell to try and throw Furcal out at the plate (I agreed with his choice) that led to another run to the questionable decision to waste Jenkins for So Taguchi to Chad Durbin's dead arm to Ryan Howard's inability to throw a ball 35 feet to the zone Ryan Madson has been in the last few weeks to Shane Victorino's Carlos Beltran-like performance in the playoffs which may lead to a huge payday in a few months to journeyman Matt Stairs being an unlikely hero to Brad Lidge turning the lights out...phew, tell me that doesn't want to make you puke, just a little.

Let's break down a few quick decisions.

• Charlie Manuel was again the genius for setting up his lineup, but I don't understand wasting Victorino who is your best hitter all playoffs to set up Greg Dobbs, only to take out Dobbs for Pedro Feliz. I'd have to think that Dobbs against a lefty is better than Feliz against a righty.

Again, Charlie played the percentages wasting Jenkins for Taguchi of all people. The lack of a right-handed bat on the bench is scary. If they get to the WS, I'd put Marson on the team instead of Taguchi which gives the option of Coste as a pinch hitter.

To top it off, Charlie puts Bruntlett in left again with Burrell slated to bat in the next inning. I'll never understand that in a two run game.

But it all worked out, because Joe Torre actually managed worse than Charlie. Torre got spooked by Lowe's struggles and pulled him an inning early, which stretched his pullpen too thin. Two rookies coming in during game four of the NLCS? Why did we think this bullpen was so good? Maybe Saito was more important then people realize. And Torre didn't go to Broxton in a save situation, then does put him in when the game is tied. Made no sense, and clearly it seemed to get to Broxton who looked entirely beatable...maybe that's because he got beat.

• Durbin just doesn't have it. I like him a lot, and it's a shame to see him scuffling like that. But Ryan Madson is as good as he's ever been. And Romero seems back to his old self. Lidge is the MVP. The Phillies bullpen is better than the Dodgers. And that's why this series is where it is.

• Chase Utley is the man. His bat is waking up and the double play he made is one of the great defensive plays of the season, and of his career.

• I want to say it again, Madson is really good. So is Lidge.

• Shane Victorino is the MVP of the playoffs, win or lose. He's a whirling dervish and is exactly the kind of spark plug this team needs. I was never the biggest fan of Shane, but I'm his biggest fan now. And for those of you who said the Phils should have re-signed Aaron Rowand, what do you have to say now?

• Carlos Ruiz is playing his ass off. He is batting .417 in this series and is calling a great game behind the plate. Sure he's let two Lidge strikeouts go past him, but no harm no foul as they say. But he has done more than just turn the lineup over. He has been a spark plug for this offense and is really showing how important he can be to this team.

• Matt Stairs is supposedly a great guy. I love when good things happen to guys like that. He's just a professional hitter, and on the biggest stage he go this biggest hit. Good for him. Great for us.

• Madson and Lidge are great. I love those two. Have I mentioned that?

• One game left and Cole Hamels on the mound, with two home games after that if he can't get it done. I like the Phils chances here.

LINKS:

• Must read by Jayson Stark. Random note, he's my second favorite Jayson now, but I think he might be his own second favorite Jayson.

• Zolecki is on the bandwagon. One more win indeed.

• Gonzo points out that Cole has a swagger. That's a good thing for the Fightins. Oh, and he says Dodger Dogs are overrated. MMMMM, overrated dogs.....Bring me one back if you don't mind.

• Mike Jensen has more on the moment for Matt Stairs. Honestly, how far did he hit that ball? My lord.

• Dylan Hernandez has LA's somber game recap. "We have nothing to lose now," third baseman Casey Blake said. Yes, except game five.

• Plaschke takes Joe Torre to task and seems to excuse the fact that the Dodgers had some key injuries to their rotation this year. Looks like someone was on the roller coaster and did puke.

• Everyone's fav...TJ Simers. I don't know if he's a bad writer or not. I don't read him enough. But he's been a bad writer this week. He questions moves that worked. He writes like he's actually talking to Torre, but then has quotes like "What the heck were you thinking when you took Lowe out of the game?" I'll be a box of Dodger Dogs he didn't word it like that...if he worded it at all. Not a fan.

• More Casey Blake fun, from the LA Daily News. "We played well enough to win," Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake said. "It still stinks to lose. It doesn't matter how you lose. But we have been playing hard and doing some good things. We had a chance to win it but you have to give those guys credit."

Last part is right. The rest...you didn't play well enough to win. You lost. You played well enough to have a lead in the eighth. Then you lost that lead. That's how well you played.

• Big League Stew points out that the Phils used all of North America to get last night's win.

• In the other series, last night sucked for the Sox. And at least one Tampa writer seems to have a little bravado. Maybe he has a mowhawk so he thinks he's part of the team or something.

Comments

[theKrisheim]

unreal

one more

[Argive]

"And for those of you who said the Phils should have re-signed Aaron Rowand, what do you have to say now?"

My dad, who never ceases to be highly pessimistic about the Phils, was complaining all year about Rowand leaving. "He was the soul of that lineup" or "They'd be winning if they had him now." On and on.

After Victorino hit The Grand Slam, I confronted my father about our plucky outfielder. His response: "A real man admits when he's wrong."

One more. Go Phils!

[DLo34]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3642466

Sad story. Alexei Cherepanov, age 19, died yesterday.

[jd]

about 5 minutes after stairs' majestic moonshot, the camera's focussed on him in the dugout. he had his jacket on, and was resting his chin against the dugout fence. he had this weird glazed look in his eyes.

all i could think of was frank the tank after he won the debate. "What happenned? i blacked out."

[Chamomiles Davis]

A recap of goodness for this Philly fan...

PSU routs Wisconsin, jumps to #3.

Eagles win, Cowboys, Giants and 'Skins lose. Romo's out for a month and Eli looks like a preschooler again.

Phillies lead NLCS 3-1. Screw you, LA. You're barely the third-best city in your own state.

Flyers lose first two home games of a long season, but Ed Snider's buddy Sarah Palin got booed so loudly at the puck drop Saturday night they had to drown out the boos with music. Good times.

And to think the Sixers and Villanova Wildcats haven't even started playing yet!

[greg]

Does anyone know if there were any good snapshots of Chases epic double play? I searched yahoo and espn and could find a single good picture, I want to remember that play forever

[Rosey]

jd, I noticed the same thing, that look Stairs had after the hoopla and he was settled on the bench.

You can't have anything but love for the guy. Just a freaking great moment in the history of this franchise.

[Mike H.]

I tried measuring his shot based on where it landed and the distance measurement tool on Google Maps. If it landed in the third row of the deeper section of the bleachers, I'm calculating 410 feet on the Stairs homer.

[MikeY]

@ Greg:

Chase Utley dives back to second base to force out Dodgers' Rafael Furcal for a double play in the sixth inning in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS.

[timr]

I agree that the Feliz for Dobbs move was terrible. Seems like everyone but Charlie knew what was coming there.

Also agreed that Marson should be on the WS roster. Coste is wasting away on the bench.

[Rudy]

Stark's article said that Vic's HR almost hit Lou Marson in the head, so apparently he is traveling with the team. I didn't know this.....I hope they put him on the roster.....I can't wait to hear Phily go, "LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!"

[MikeY]

Somewhere up there, Johnny-Marz is smiling down on this team and rooting, cheering, booing and hollering as loud we are down here.

Go Phillies!

RIP Johnny-Marz...wish you could be here to watch this with us.

...that actually brought a tear to my eye as I was typing it.

[Tartan69]

Marson and Seanez are indeed traveling with the team. I know Kendrick is not, and I don't *think* Golson is, but could be wrong there. Not sure about anybody else.

[DLo34]

I love Marson also, and know that he will be a great catcher someday. However you would be absolutely insane to remove a veteran catcher in Coste from a postseason roster (which stays in place for the whole series) to put a catcher on the roster who was playing rookie ball this year and has only one game of experience against the AAAA Washington Nationals.

Could you imagine something happening to Ruiz and then Marson having to catch the rest of the game? i.e. he would have to try and block Lidge's slider. No way man.

[Dan Levy]

No no. We're saying to get rid of Taguchi off the roster and replace HIM with Marson for the WS. That will enable Charlie to use Coste as a pinch hitter when he needs a right handed bat.

That way, if Ruiz gets hurt and Coste is already gone, Marson would be the emergency catcher. Coste is the best righty bat off the bench. He just needs the flexibility to be used.

[Brett]

I believe I saw Golson at the home games, but havent at the away games, but he may be in the clubhouse/bullpen too.

Matt Stairs saying "what am i going to do get a single and then steal second?" with a smile on his face put a little of '93 on this team as those guys knew who they were and they just tried to go out and do it while having fun.

One more the go then I can celebrate like a jackass :)!

[DLo34]

@ Dan Levy

Interesting proposition. I have heard that the emergency catcher right now is Jay Werth. I know Taguchi has been absolutely terrible, with only one relevant hit all season, but the guy has been there before. He has hit a key home run in an NLCS game in the past and won a World Series in the process.

It is a real crapshoot though. We would also be putting all our eggs in the Bruntlett basket with no Taguchi and one of the starting outfielders going down because Stairs and Jenkins are not taking the field anytime soon.

[al]

that game we all witnessed last night will be in my 'memory bank' for years and years to come.. go phils!

[Izziebee]

You read my mind with your take on the game. Some may say that the Phillies used their inner desperation to pull a win out of nowhere, but I think we know better: The Phillies really come to life when the stakes are raised. And they also know how to put on a good show for their fans, intentional or not.

As for the ol' Dobbs/Feliz question: Charlie, pick one and stick with it through the game. They've both had great moments throughout the season and postseason, so stop switching back and forth.

I was so excited to see Geoff Jenkins in the hole until he was yanked for So. I would love to see GJ chip in, I guess it was not the right moment. Charlie better wise up in the future especially when it's all on the line like last night.

Stairs is what it's all about - really good guys playing a great game. That's why I love ALL the Phillies, every last one of them. They play the game with heart and integrity and the fans are there no matter what.

Lidge or V for MVP? To be determined!

[JMS]

I was with you 100% until the "Ruiz batting .417" part. Man I love October baseball.