Rox Talk

Not much in the way of actual Rox talk since the end of the season.  Fall out continues on the dugout changes.  Really not a whole lot on the coaches but seems there is quite a lot of bad blood on the strength conditioning coach.  Little odd.  I think ultimately that a manager type will play second fiddle to Hurdle so if the Roxs start slow next season there will be an immediate hook and replacement of our not so favorite manager.  

On to playoff talk.  Now that all the preliminaries are over let's get on to the World Series.  Bit surprised by the dominance of the Rays (although they got a tired White Sox team and an injured tired Red Sox team).  HTis should give all the small market teams some hope even though it appears to take on average 10 years of good drafting to make a quality playoff ready team.  The Rays certainly showed some resilience after a devastating Game 5 lost (see below):

The Rays were 7 outs away and were at the time 99.4% likely to win the game.  So much for statistics.  For the third time in a row it looked like the Sox were going to do it but no magic in Game 7 this year (although the bases were loaded in the 8th with Drew at the plate).  While over in the senior circuit the Phillies dismantled the Dodgers who made mincemeat of the Cubs.  Amazing how one series can be so different from the other.  One thing I have to call BS on is the continued love for Manny.  Everyone on the radio kept falling over themselves on how great Manny is when he is behind in the count.  Well if you check out baseball reference  his average is 0.194 with 0-2 (0.173 NL avg), average 0.216 with 1-2 (0.187), and average 0.265 with 2-2 (0.202). With 2 strikes he is batting 0.226 (0.185).  Of course with and 3-0 count he is only batting 0.165 (0.290).   So whatever...

So with the Phillies heading to Tampa for an East Coast showdown what can we expect?  History has shown that Tampa hasn't been too good for Philly franchises having the Flyers and Eagles both being defeated by Bay area teams recently. Obviously this match up doesn't have alot of "must see" TV although I do think that these are representative teams that deserve to be there (the Cubs probably more so in the NL). Since both teams pounded there opponents, my guess is that we will have close games decided by monstrous home run.  Teams are pretty evenly matched. Both have good starters although Tampa probably has a better 4th starter (and no Moyer). Phillies bullpen has been better in the playoffs (see Game 5 above). Offensives have both been on. Tampa has the advantage of being the home team (thanks to Hurdle) and yet Philly probably has a more passionate fan base. Tampa won the best division in baseball and yet Philly has 2 reigning NL MVPs (possibly a third...). AL has been dominant over the years yet the Rays are an extremely young team who has to come back from an emotional ALCS. Phillies had a long wait and might come out flat (i.e. like the Roxs). The Rays lose a bat when going to Philly. Manual vs Maddon? Cheesesteak vs Fishstick(?) Franchise with the most losses of any professional team vs team with its season's first winning record? Liberty Bell vs Pirate Ship?

Bottom Line: Phillies in 6