A few notes and observations before Game 2...
I had hoped to write a little ditty about Chase Utley last night, but a couple of things happened. One, we were informed by the Phillies that the All-Star second baseman would be available on the podium at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Yeah, Chase Utley on the podium. Imagine that.
Normally, Chase Utley is about as interesting as shoving a Bic pen into your middle ear when it comes to talking about baseball. The guy is just not into it, which I don’t understand but accept. Some people don’t like talking about their jobs—what are you going to do?
However, upon waiting to see if Utley would come into the clubhouse after the victory in Game 1 on Wednesday evening, I was told that he would not be discussing his work with the big media throng. Or even the smallish one that waited around, for that matter.
“He didn’t really do anything,” I was told.
For a second I thought it was me. Maybe I shouldn’t believe my lying eyes? Maybe something occurred in the game that I completely missed… you know, whiffed on. But then I took a nanosecond to scout the outline of the ballgame in my mind, and blurted out.
“He got a key hit, swiped a base that was huge and played defense,” came the blurt. “Plus, the last time he faced the Rockies in a Game 1 of a playoff series he struck out four times on 13 pitches. He’s an All-Star with a .154 average in the NLDS and a .213 playoff average.
“He was integral!”
By that point I was standing by myself in the middle of the clubhouse bantering out loud like a crazy person on the street. It could have been worse, though. Instead of talking about baseball I could have been imitating trumpet noises as if I were the acapella version of Chet Baker because who doesn’t like to do that when they are alone and talking to themselves?
The point remains, though—Chase Utley was a big part of the Game 1 victory for the Phillies. Yes, he rode a 3-for-37 from the regular season into the playoffs and struck out in his first two plate appearances to stretch his hitless streak to 18 at-bats.
“Zero-for-a week,” I said to no one in particular when Utley struck out a second time.
But his leadoff single and stolen base in the sixth inning broke the game open like a piñata. To that point the Rockies’ hard-throwing righty Ubaldo Jimenez had been dealing. He needed 46 pitches to buzz through the first four innings and looked as if he was going to settle in nicely. However, in the fifth inning an eight-pitch leadoff walk to Jayson Werth resulted in a pair of runs to set the table for Utley’s table-setting. With the second baseman in scoring position after the stolen base, Jimenez was like Randall “Tex” Cobb in that fight against Larry Holmes. Sure, he was standing, but please, for the love of God, someone throw in the towel or stop it or make the guy go down.
A long double by Ryan Howard and a crazy triple from Werth delivered the knockout punch.
And it all started with Utley…
Who didn’t really do anything.
Statage: Utley is 2-for-12 in opening games of the NLDS and 6-for-20 with two homers in opening games of playoff series.
Two years ago the Phillies were playoff novices. Of the 25 men who went to the quick, three-game series against Colorado in 2007, only Abraham Nunez, Aaron Rowand, Wes Helms, Tad Iguchi, Rod Barajas, Kyle Lohse, Jose Mesa and Jamie Moyer had appeared in a playoff game.
The funny thing about that was only Moyer came back the next season. The rest were long gone by the time spring training rolled around.
During the past month it's been very difficult not to get excited about the Phillies. They have scored runs with impunity, won games at nearly a 1993 rate all while the bullpen corps established itself as one of the better groups in the game. When it comes to rallying for a lead in the middle to late innings before the relievers come in and nail it down, the Phillies are as good as any team in baseball.
In the process, the Phillies have established themselves as the best team in the NL East and baring a collapse of New York Mets-like proportions, the Philllies should return to the playoffs in 2008.
By now we have heard all about the resiliency of the Phillies. They started the season poorly, winning just one of their first seven games and two of their first nine. As the season progressed the club was plagued with injuries, bad luck and other oddball maladies that often send the average ballclub spiraling down the standings.
Busy, busy, busy, busy day today for 50 percent of 
Cole Hamels is in the bullpen warming up, the fans are filtering into the sold-out ballpark and the oppressive humid has finally broken and given way to a decidedly autumnal tinge.
Speaking of the New York Mets, there was a helluva quote in the Oct. 1, 2007 edition of the 
I heard David Wright, the third baseman, on the radio this morning talking about how his Mets’ teammates haven’t “made off-season plans yet.” At least I think it was the radio – at this point it’s really hard to decipher the voices in my head from the ones coming out of mechanical devices. I wish I was being funny, but I’m not… I feel like 
“It was ridiculous. It was like they were waiting around to lose
Talked to Aaron Rowand, the center fielder, after last night’s game and offered a query whether this Phillies’ club had any similarities with the World Champion 2005 Chicago White Sox. Rowand, of course, was an integral player on that team, which was known for having fun and being colorful in the press. It also seems as if that White Sox team was a lot like a college fraternity, but not like the one that held 
OK. Go find a quiet room, sit in a comfortable chair and clear your head from any and all distractions. I’m going to attempt to explain how the playoff tiebreakers will work if the Phillies don’t surge past the Mets to win the NL East.
