... a few thoughts to end the year:

* The Philadelphia Phillies are a deserving champion, and at a time when weather reports and economic woes dominated news headlines, the Phillies gave us a reason to watch the World Series and a reason to be intrigued by the game. They have been a club of tough achievers and undying believers. The Phillies began to change the landscape of the NL East last season by chasing down the New York Mets and stealing the division title in the last two weeks. That magnificent run was capped by a swift sweep at the hands of the National League Champion Colorado Rockies. This year was to be different, they said in spring training. Jimmy Rollins still believed the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East and Brett Myers said, "Why not us?" when asked whether or not they could win it all. That attitude has been evident throughout the entire season, and it just happened that the rest of the country was able to see seven months of hope come to fruition on a national stage.

This team was so much fun to watch because of the stories and the non-star players involved. Brad Lidge is a star, but he has been under fire and reconstruction ever since the 2005 playoffs when he pitched for the Houston Astros. Many lost belief, but luckily for Philadelphia, General Manager Pat Gillick wasn't one of them. Gillick traded for Lidge in the offseason and the man responded with a perfect season. Forty-eight save opportunities and forty-eight of them converted, with none bigger than the final one on Wednesday evening that ended with a 0-2 slider to Eric Hinske, sending Lidge to his knees, catcher Carlos Ruiz to the mound, and Citizens Bank Park into Happy Holidays. 

The bullpen wasn't all about Mr. Lidge in the ninth inning. Ryan Madson came on in the second half of the season to be the primary set-up man, dominating the eighth inning and sometimes part of the seventh. Madson has great stuff but he struggled in the first half of the season until a veteran Phillies teammate sat him down after a poor outing against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and told him to simply forget it and keep moving forward and keeping believing in his abilities. That was the common denominator on this club. Belief. Madson took the words to heart and now looks ahead to 2009 where he will be a big-time fixture in that bullpen.

J.C. Romero was a lefty picked from the scraps last season. After being released in June by the Boston Red Sox, the Phillies signed him days later and added him to the pen for the final three months of the season. He performed well enough to be asked back this season. For a guy that couldn't seem to fit in with the Red Sox or with the Angels before that, he put on the red pinstripes in Philadelphia and turned into a dominating southpaw. Romero pitched 59 innings in the regular season in 2008, posting a 2.75 ERA with 52 strikeouts. Romero was a valuable piece for the Phillies heading into the post season, but I don't think Charlie Manuel really knew how valuable he would be. Romero was the man to face Prince Fielder in Milwaukee, Andre Ethier and James Loney in L.A., and Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena in Tampa Bay. For a man in his ninth big league season and beginning to bounce around teams, Romero proved to be a remarkably uplifting story this October. Romero was a force in the World Series, pitching 4 2/3 innings with a 0.00 ERA with as many wins as hits given up (2). 

We got to see a group of veterans win a ring with their final days of baseball upon us. Who knows how many more times Jamie Moyer, Matt Stairs, and Geoff Jenkins are going to put on a baseball uniform, but if they decide this is it, they couldn't have ended great careers in a more fantastic fashion. We know Stairs will be able to hit a fastball until the day he decides he is a just a little bored with it; we know Moyer will be able to bait hitters into chasing his pitches until his kids grow tired of playing wiffleball with him in the backyard; we know Jenkins is going to grind through productive at-bats until he says it's time to go home and travel -- how great was that at-bat he had to begin the bottom of the sixth against Tampa's Grant Balfour?

It was refreshing to watch Shane Victorino pester pitchers at the plate and stalk fly balls from center field. The "Flyin' Hawaiian" gave us an October of energy and relentless attitude, attributes that too many players lack and too many clubs need. I can only think of the good a guy or two like that would do for a club like the Yankees. Victorino, I used to think, was 'purely Philadelphia'. But come to think of it, what Victorino is is 'purely baseball'. He is an ambassador of the game and a true sports figure, the type of player that I would pay to go watch play. We all love watching stars, but I would rather watch a pure ballplayer. 

When I think of Pat Burrell, I think of Scott Rolen and Curt Schilling and The Vet. Why? Because both of those men were his teammates at some point, even if he didn't play a full season with Schilling, and the steaming hot summers spent boiling on that green cement called "astroturf" in Veteran's Stadium was where Burrell made his name in Philadelphia. Burrell has been the face of this franchise along with Jimmy Rollins for the entire decade, and yet he has been the target of the Philly wrath in the past couple of seasons. The city cried for his walking papers in 2007 until he responded with 33 home runs this season, lending a big hand to a struggling Ryan Howard in much of the second half.

Burrell now becomes a free agent and may not be back in Philadelphia next season, but he can be on the short list of people thanked for bringing the Phillies first championship since 1980. Burrell did not have a great Series, but his lone hit was arguably the biggest hit of the season -- Pedro Feliz may have something to say about that. Burrell led off the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 5 with a deep double to left center, and Eric Bruntlett came around to score his run (after pinch running for him), which ended up being the Series-clinching run.

* What is the career defining moment for a player? Or, in some cases, is it a collection of moments? This is a question that I ponder when looking back on great careers or projecting the future of young stars when they accomplish something magnificent, if only because it is a fun question to kick around with some friends. This World Series gave us career-defining moments for four players -- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels. Of course, this championship is much bigger for the city of Philadelphia and for the Phillies organization than it is for any one player, but when the playing days of these four men are done, this could be the summit of their days as a ballplayer. And that's pretty special to witness.

It feels like Rollins has been running around the Philly infield for over a decade with all of his accomplishments and sound bites, but Rollins came up in 2000 with the Phillies and he won't be turning 30 until next month. Rollins seems older and plays older, but he is in the prime of his career and should remain with the Phillies throughout his career. He is a franchise player that would look odd in another uniform. The man has put so much heart and soul into the game and to sticking with losing Phillies' teams and bickering crowds that it feels like this is his sending-off moment. Except for the fact that he should have at least another five good seasons left in him. Rollins may have another chance at a ring, but it is very likely that this will be his only opportunity, and how fulfilling it must be. He can come to spring training in 2009 being the laughing, energetic guy that he is and prepare for another long haul without the weight of winning a championship before he retires on his back. This sense of relief may end up just making him a better player for the next handful of seasons. We'll see.

Utley is in almost the exact same position as Rollins, except for the fact that he debuted in the big leagues three years later than Rollins did. Utley will turn 30 this December and he appears to be only getting better. His prime is now, but he is the type of player that will remain in his prime longer due to the great shape he keeps himself in and his style of play. What do you say about a guy that can do it all, on and off the field? Utley is a better defender than he gets credit for. He makes the routine play and has better range to his right than I initially thought. The thing about Utley is that he is all business on the field, but that doesn't mean he isn't loose and having fun. I haven't witnessed a player more in tune with his "role" and his job than Utley. He hit two home runs in the World Series, but we saw him hit at least that many ground balls to the right side with a runner on second and no outs. He does more things to win than simply the numbers that show up in the box score. It's nice to see the consummate professional experience what it's like to be a champion.

Ryan Howard appears to be a young pup because his first full season in the big leagues wasn't until 2005, and he therefore hasn't reached free agency yet. But Howard will be 29 years old in November and his best years are now. Howard is one of the game's premier sluggers and will continue to be so into his mid-thirties. Howard has two years of arbitration left that will keep him in Philadelphia, but he is a prime candidate to land somewhere else via trade or free agency and get a crack at more titles with another club. That's the business side of baseball. What defines Howard about this championship is that he takes the leap from "young star" to "veteran". He is a leader on the Phillies and will be looked at as a leader on the next club that he plays for given his pedigree and sudden October success. 

The oddball in this group is Cole Hamels. Hamels is only 24 years old and it is rare to be this good this young and be nothing less than The Man on a championship club. With his outstanding performance this post season and with 'World Champion' now tied to his name, Hamels is no longer a rising stud. He has taken the leap to superstar and now will be talked about in the category of the elite pitcher's and he will be viewed as part of the face of baseball. He should have plenty of more chances to reach this level again as the only thing that is stopping him from pitching until he is 40 is injury. More than anything, though, Hamels remained his So Cal self when thrown into the fire of raging Philadelphia. It was fun to watch.

* This is to Charlie Manuel and the job he did given the circumstances in Philly. Manuel has been a fine manager since coming to this club, but due to the Phillies recent inability to claim the NL East title and advance in the playoffs, the fans grew tired and began heckling The Virginian Grandfather and demanding the Phillies find a new skipper. Even this season, Manuel was hearing the boo birds and the jeers. But give it up to him. Manuel kept his head in the dugout and on his ballclub, continuing to keep them moving forward and pushing to win. That was all before Manuel lost his mother a couple of weeks ago.

It wasn't enough that Manuel was facing the biggest challenge, and the most exciting moment, of his managing career. He had never been this deep in the playoffs, or this closer to a World Series title. And then real life happens. But Manuel didn't make excuses, and God knows he didn't leave the dugout. He believed his mother would want him to stay with his club, to go after what every man who dons a uniform dreams of: a World Championship. So he did. Citizens Bank Park erupted with cheers as Manuel stepped to the microphone after clinching Game 5 to thank the fans and the city for sticking with the team and sticking with him as they carried along their October quest. Funny how it goes sometimes. That speech should have been the other way around. The city wouldn't have this without Manuel. 

* We can't wrap up the World Series without giving a nod to the Tampa Bay Rays and the season that they had. It was nice to see a manager "get it". A real man understand baseball and the role it plays in life. Joe Maddon applauded his players after the game and thanked them for everything they gave this season. He couldn't have been prouder of them. But not only did Maddon understand how far they have come on the baseball field, he acknowledged how much they grew as men as well. This was a club of inexperienced kids who became slightly experienced adults over the course of the last seven months. This was a clubhouse of newcomers in March who became poised public figures by October. 

Nobody expected the Rays to do what they did this season. Nobody expected them to win the AL East division that has been held hostage by the Yankees and Red Sox. The talent has been accumulating in Tampa and we knew this day was coming. But maybe in 2009, or more likely in 2010. But 2008? Most would have said you were crazy. But they did it. They won the division, they buried the White Sox, and they snatched the AL pennant from the defending World Champion Red Sox. A nice year's work for a club expected to finish fourth. It is never easy to come this far and go home with as much bling as you had entering it, but this season will benefit this club for the next four or five years to come.

The future couldn't be brighter in Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton are going to be forces for a full season in 2009, and Carlos Pena should continue to improve. Dioner Navarro became an All-Star catcher under the eye of Maddon, and he played a monumental role in the transformation of this pitching staff. Carl Crawford will continue to be the Oldest 27 Year Old I have ever seen due to his "veteran" role on a club full of graduate-school aged kids. David Price is expected to step into the starting rotation next spring and join Scott Kazmir and James Shield and Matt Garza to make the Rays the only club in baseball with four Number One starters in the same rotation. The Rays can add another run producer to the mix, most likely a left-handed hitting outfielder, and they can add another piece to the back end of the bullpen. But, even after this post season run, they are still the Rays and will have to continue to be creative with their payroll. Those issues will be handled in the coming weeks and months. Now it is time for them to rest and be thankful for the unexpected experience of a lifetime.



by: Teddy Mitrosilis
www.teddysportblog.blogspot.com