Let's go Phils!!

I'll start off by acknowledging a few things. One, I'm a huge homer. I love the Phillies and I always have; they were my first true sports love. So this isn't going to be unbiased, and you shouldn't be surprised. With that being said, number 2 is that I'm not going to jinx them by predicting quick and easy victories up to and including the World Series. I'm merely going to lay out a couple of reasons that the Phils might be the best team in the NL side of the playoffs:

1. Their regular season record doesn't reflect how good they are. They lost key players for months at a time, and that definitely slowed them down at times. It affected the offense in particular:
Chase Utley was lost for 28 games because of a broken hand, and at the time he was the hottest hitter in the league not named ARod.
Ryan Howard was out 17 games, not consecutively, in the months of April and May and when he wasn't hurt he was day to day. Despite the two wasted months, he still ended up second in the National League in both homers and RBIs (third and fourth overall).
Shane Victorino, the Flyin Hawaian and key top of the order guy, missed 30 games in August and September. Still ended up with 78 runs scored and 37 stolen bases.

What's impressive to me, and what should scare other teams, is that with all of that time missed by those key guys the Phillies ended up with the second best offense in baseball. Yikes.

Injuries affected the pitching staff as well:
Cole Hamels, future Hall of famer and husband of a hot ex-Survivor contestant, missed 30 games with a strained elbow. That derailed a potential Cy Young season.
Jon Lieber, dependable middle of the rotation guy, was in and out with an oblique injury before finally going on the DL for good on June 23.
Freddy Garcia, now officially "The biggest free-agent disappintment ever," pitched in 11 games total, compiling a horrendous 5.89 ERA, before heading to the DL for good on June 9. The fans of Philadelphia will be happy to see him go, and wish TBFADE luck elsewhere. Far, far, far away from us.
Brett Myers, stud starter turned lights-out closer, missed 55 (count 'em, 55) games with a strained right shoulder. This is probably because our knucklehead manager (love ya Chuck) threw him into approximately 2,000 games in a row when he was used to having 4 days in between appearences.

And I'm not even going to go into the games missed by everybody else on both sides of the ball, because I think I've made my point. Still, what's more important then who got hurt and when is that they're all healthy now. We've got a healthy and complete team, on the field and on the mound, for basically the first time all season. That's gotta count for something.

2. MVP candidate Mr. James Calvin Rollins. The man is having one of the best statistical seasons by a shortstop ever. He's the first shortstop in 34 years to start all 162 games; he set modern NL records for runs scored (139) and extra base hits (88) and blew away the record for at bats (716); he became the fourth player in baseball history to join the 20-20-20-20 club (stolen bases, doubles, triples, and homers); and he plays Gold Glove caliber defense. Finally, he has amazing mental toughness that he acquired after overcoming his difficult childhood as both a white boy and chainsaw killer. Ok, I made that last one up.

3. Just to say it again, the offense is frightening. There's no rest for a weary pitcher with this bunch. They've got the two guys to set the table on top, a series of sluggers in the middle, and tough outs at the end. They can score any way you please: you like manufactured runs? Sunday, Jimmy Rollins singled, stole second, stole third, and then was sacrificed home. That kind of thing happens a lot. You like power? Even as I write this, Pat the Bat and Aaron Rowand went back to back in the fifth. And they're not even the two best power hitters on the team. Finally, not only can they kill you with speed and power, but they'll wear you out. To steal a note from the Sports guy, they've got two guys in the top three in pitches per at bat in the NL, and 5 in the top 43.

Their ability to score runs in bunches is what allowed them to stage the most comeback wins in baseball, and it means you can't ever count them out. In the two decisive series against the Mutts, they made former All-Star Billy Wagner look very sad more then once. It was delicious.

4. The pitching isn't half bad. It might not be half good, but it's not half bad. The top of the rotation is good enough, with ace Cole Hamels, rookie sensation Kyle Kendrick, the surprising Kyle Lohse, and the timeless wonder who is Jamie Moyer. The bullpen has been pretty good of late, and the shorter playoff roster makes them look better. The Phils are in trouble when the bullpen gets stretched, and since apparently MLB is determined to make the playoffs last for a calandar year the pitchers should all get plenty of rest. Also, keep an eye on new closer Brett Meyers. He needed to get adjusted to being in the bullpen but now that he has, he's been lights out. He mixes a live fastball and a filthy curveball and he locks down the end of the game.

4. Inasmuch as we take a lot of flak, the Phillies fans are some of the best in the game. The atmosphere during home games is electric and we only get louder as the game goes on. We're also the most genial in the area; Eagles fans are crazy, Flyers fans are crazier, Soul fans are crazy and stupid, and Sixers fans are always drunk. I don't think anybody's ever felt threatened at a Phillies game while wearing the other team's jersey and that's rare in this town. You'll be hard pressed to find fans that more desperately need something to cheer for and that means the amp will be turned to 11 for every home game.

Quick side note: I'd appreciate it if columnists would stop taking lazy and cheap shots at Philly fans. I think everyone in the country knows by now that we don't mind booing, and that we booed Santa Clause, and that we cheered when Michael Irvin got carted off the field. But let's be honest here: If your team is stuck in a rut, and the management stinks, and the coach stinks, and the players stink, and all they do is lose, would you be placated by a lame Santa Clause? I don't think so. And at the time, we weren't the only ones who hated Michael Irvin. Everyone hated Michael Irvin. Plus, there was no way to know that his career was over. We probably wouldn't have cheered if we'd known that, we'd just have quietly clapped. So give it a rest guys, will ya?

Those are the best reasons that the Phillies could make a deep run. TBS doesn't want me to see any of it, scheduling the games at 3 in the afternoon and 9 or 10 at night. Nonetheless, I'll watch as much as I can and cheer on the inside. Let's go Phils!!!