October 28, 2008
Joe the Lumber? World Series 2008
By Chad Durbin, Showcase U Co-founder
Joe Blanton, folks!! What a performance! He is a great guy, the type you really enjoy as a teammate. He's also a very good pitcher who had a down year, by his standards, this season. This entire clubhouse in Philly knew he was capable of the pitching performance. The home run, though??? Wow, is all I can say! He really got ahold of that one...Edwin Jackson ran a 93 mph heater right into his barrel and off it went. To tell the truth...after Hinske's homerun, the momentum was in limbo and Joe's homer put the momentum fully back in our favor.
Ryan Howard showed everyone what all the fuss is about...that man can hit a baseball. When he's staying on the baseball and working the opposite field, he's pretty amazing. It puts so much pressure on opposing pitchers when he's swinging it well. His production is enough to scare other teams, but (btw, Scott Eyre is sitting next to me and says "hi") now the rest of an extremely talented lineup becomes even more dangerous. You have to pitch to Chase Utley differently, which can be problematic. Meanwhile, Jimmy Rollins has been on base a lot the past two games...TROUBLE. I don't want to forget Jayson Werth swinging it well and Pedro Feliz breaking the seal on base-hits with runners in scoring position. Carlos Ruiz has called great games behind the plate and has also really swung the bat well. One last name...Shane Victorino. He has been amazing this post-season and he's a big game player. I could go on and on and on. Maybe I'm a little excited!!
So, last night...Cole Hamels battled Scott Kazmir. It was COLD in Philly last night. I think gametime temp was 48 degrees...it felt that cold at 6:00pm during batting practice. Needless to say, adrenaline overmatched the cold, but I think it needs to be said. Where else would you want to be? This is October and World Series baseball weather!
If we win tonight, this town will make an attempt to turn itself inside-out! It will be chaos, bedlam...and long-awaited. You can feel the excitement in fans both at the field and away from Citizens Bank Park. Fans thanking players for everything in local grocery stores and restaurants. I hope we can pull it off here at home, for Philadelphia and for this team and this organization.
Tune in! One more win - a three inning race to the finish line.