Ray's Corner: The Fall Classic is nearly here!
Phillies will face the ALCS winner for the 2009 World Series
Raymond Hupfer
Issue date: 10/28/09 Section: Sports
By: Raymond Hupfer
Outside, the air is crisp and cool. The trees have become an explosion of reds, oranges, and yellows. On the ground, the squirrels scamper around burying their acorns for the upcoming winter. Indoors and in lawns, pumpkins, fake spider webs, ghosts, and witches are appearing. This can only mean one thing-that it's time for the Fall Classic.
NLCS:
Fresh off of an NLDS sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers seemed more than ready to give the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies a run for their money. But the Phils would have nothing to do with any team standing in the way of a repeat, easily dispatching of the Dodgers in five games.
Despite All-Star 2B Chase Utley struggling at the plate, the Phils' juggernaut offense, led by Ryan Howard (.333 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI), Shane Victorino (.378 BA), and Jayson Werth (3 HR, 6 RBI), put up a whopping 35 runs in the five games. Cliff Lee continued his dominant postseason with eight innings of shutout ball in his lone NLCS start, while a rejuvenated Pedro Martinez tossed seven scoreless in his lone start.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, picked a poor time for an offensive slump and a starting pitching breakdown. Scoring 16 runs in five games when the starting rotation's combined ERA is 6.85 all but guarantees an exit from the playoffs. Young Clayton Kershaw unraveled quickly in his Game 1 start, consistent hurler Randy Wolf was banged around in his lone start, and Vicente Padilla was unable to capture the magic from his NLDS performance.
ALCS:
After winning the first two games of the ALCS, the New York Yankees were in the driver's seat. And one can still argue they are with the 3-2 lead, but the resilient Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are not going down easily.
Two of baseball's most notorious postseason chokers, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia, are doing everything in their power to shed that stigma. A-Rod is hitting .368 with 3 HR and 5 RBI in the ALCS, while Sabathia is 2-0, allowing just 2 runs in 16 innings in the ALCS. But the success of Rodriguez and Sabathia help cover up the struggles of Nick Swisher (.118 BA), Robinson Cano (.238), and $180-million-dollar-man Mark Teixeira (.171 BA).
Outside, the air is crisp and cool. The trees have become an explosion of reds, oranges, and yellows. On the ground, the squirrels scamper around burying their acorns for the upcoming winter. Indoors and in lawns, pumpkins, fake spider webs, ghosts, and witches are appearing. This can only mean one thing-that it's time for the Fall Classic.
NLCS:
Fresh off of an NLDS sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers seemed more than ready to give the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies a run for their money. But the Phils would have nothing to do with any team standing in the way of a repeat, easily dispatching of the Dodgers in five games.
Despite All-Star 2B Chase Utley struggling at the plate, the Phils' juggernaut offense, led by Ryan Howard (.333 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI), Shane Victorino (.378 BA), and Jayson Werth (3 HR, 6 RBI), put up a whopping 35 runs in the five games. Cliff Lee continued his dominant postseason with eight innings of shutout ball in his lone NLCS start, while a rejuvenated Pedro Martinez tossed seven scoreless in his lone start.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, picked a poor time for an offensive slump and a starting pitching breakdown. Scoring 16 runs in five games when the starting rotation's combined ERA is 6.85 all but guarantees an exit from the playoffs. Young Clayton Kershaw unraveled quickly in his Game 1 start, consistent hurler Randy Wolf was banged around in his lone start, and Vicente Padilla was unable to capture the magic from his NLDS performance.
ALCS:
After winning the first two games of the ALCS, the New York Yankees were in the driver's seat. And one can still argue they are with the 3-2 lead, but the resilient Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are not going down easily.
Two of baseball's most notorious postseason chokers, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia, are doing everything in their power to shed that stigma. A-Rod is hitting .368 with 3 HR and 5 RBI in the ALCS, while Sabathia is 2-0, allowing just 2 runs in 16 innings in the ALCS. But the success of Rodriguez and Sabathia help cover up the struggles of Nick Swisher (.118 BA), Robinson Cano (.238), and $180-million-dollar-man Mark Teixeira (.171 BA).
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