Phightins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnxpgw35GNU The Onion comes through as usual. Hopefully you all have a good sense of humor.

I'd imagine so.

Joe Blanton will start game 4, Cliff Lee will start game 5. This means only one more start out of Lee. Kind of sucks not having him matched up with Sabathia every time, but I saw no way Charlie would have gone to Lee on short rest in game 4. Everybody (media and fans) was talking as if it was a sure thing he was going to pitch game 4, but he has never pitched on short rest in his career, and starting guys on short rest is not Charlie's thing, especially for guys who have never done it before.

To make matters worse, SEPTA (the Philadelphia mass transit system) is in all likelihood going on strike tonight. Tons of people use that to get down the sports complex, so this is a huge deal. Tons of stuff going on down there this weekend...the three World Series games, Sixers-Bucks tonight, Eagles-Giants on Sunday, Flyers-Hurricanes tomorrow afternoon, and a Pearl Jam concert tomorrow night. And on a more personal level, I use SEPTA to get to school every day, so I am extra [expletive]ed, haha.

Injuries starting to add up. Simon Gagne is in all likelihood having surgery on his groin, so who knows how long that will be. Danny Briere left practice today with a "lower body injury" and is most likely out for tomorrow.

He should and will be booed, which is a shame because of the glory years he had with that franchise. But I expect him to receive a poor reception, and deservedly so.

You are right, across baseball it's pretty inconsistent and doesn't seem to be as big a deal as it is in other sports. But when you play as well at home as the Phillies do, it is absolutely a big deal on an individual level. They have been nearly unbeatable at home the past two Octobers. The reason the Phillies beat the Dodgers this year is because they took one of two to open the series in LA, and then wrecked them in 3 straight at Citizens Bank to end the series. That is what happened against Tampa in the World Series last year as well. So even though across baseball it doesn't seem to be a big deal, there are certain teams with awesome home field advantages, the Phillies being one of them. Obviously the Yankees are far superior to the Dodgers, and even the Rays of last year, so this will be a bit different, but it still helps the confidence level knowing how comfortable they are in their home park.

CBP: 329 down the line to left, 330 down the line to right. Matsui's ball was not straight down the line and was 3 or 4 rows back and was still only estimated to be 320 feet. CBP is a bandbox, but nothing like that haha. Anyway, both teams have to deal with it, no matter where the game is being played, so I am not complaining or anything, just pointing out that the Matsui ball barely reaches the warning track even in Philly, if it reaches it at all. Moot point though. The Phillies are 11-1 at home in the postseason the past two years. Pardon us for being happy about grabbing home field back.

Anyway....still think the Phillies are in good shape. Would have loved the win tonight, but I will settle with the split in NY and reclaiming home field. The Phillies hardly ever lose at Citizens Bank Park in October. And it seems like they have mastered this 7 game series plan. Win game 1 on the road, lose game 2, then win all 3 at home. Steps 1 and 2 have gone exactly according to plan so far here haha.

90% of the problems have been caused by the guy you just suspended. Other than his [expletive], pretty much everything in this thread has been good discussion.

I know plenty about baseball. If there was "retaliation" for every unintentional hit by pitch, baseball would have been outlawed years ago. Just get over it and enjoy your win, there was no intent to hit Teixeira.

With A-Rod, Matsui, and Cano coming up with no outs, and absolutely no way he could afford to let the Yankees add to a 2 run lead with Rivera in there, the last thing Madson wanted to do was give Tex a free base. Not the situation. Batters get hit, it is part of the game. Sometimes there is intent, but absolutely not there. Plus, Madson's command was spotty anyway, he just lost the grip on a fastball. His changeup was wicked and that bailed him out in the end.

If you think there was any intent to Madson hitting Teixeira, you have a lot to learn about baseball.

What? And to Fish, no, that Matsui ball wouldn't even get to the warning track in CBP. I never really complain about park dimensions though since both teams have to deal with the same ones, but that is only a homerun at Yankee Stadium. Whatever. Anyway, still in good shape heading back to South Philly. Would have been nice to win tonight but this team never wins game 2 on the road.

I know, I just hope the Phillies don't take the "this game doesn't matter, we've already accomplished everything we needed to here" approach. Yes, going home with one win is huge, but winning both of these games and taking the 2-0 stranglehold would be absolutely fantastic. In the Phillies past two 7-game series', they have won game 1, lost game 2, then won 3 straight at home, so I hope they don't have that mindset of not needing tonight's game. We cannot count on winning 3 straight against this Yankees team.

Interesting to see the lineup changes. For the Yankees, I guess it was a matter of time until they gave up on Swisher. And for the Phillies, Greg Dobbs was in the original lineup as the DH, but he was sent home with the flu. So, this bench is super thin right now.

ECN, shut up and stop being jealous. If you have such a problem, then here is an idea, don't watch the [expletive]ing games. And please spare us your opinions of the fans. Red Sox fans are not typically loved by the general population either, so you know. Anyway, tonight's lineups... Phillies: Rollins SS Victorino CF Utley 2B Howard 1B Werth RF Ibanez LF Stairs DH Feliz 3B Ruiz C Yankees: Jeter SS Damon LF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Cano 2B Hairston RF Cabrera CF Molina C

Florida IMO

I think we will know pretty quickly whether or not Pedro has "it" tonight. He is known for [expletive]ty first innings, but I have a feeling Charlie will have him on a short leash.

I am already pumped for Pedro tonight.

Cliff Lee in the postseason thus far.... 4 starts, 3-0, 0.54 ERA, 30 Ks, 3 walks, 2 CG. Not too shabby.

Are you kidding? Lol. Well, about the first part of your statement. You also have to remember that network TV muffles crowd noise big time. It's a major disappointment, especially when you're watching with surround sound. They want to make sure that the only thing the fans hear is the sound of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver's voice. If you get the chance to go to a playoff game, trust me, it is nothing like the regular season lol.

The Sixers looked pretty solid until I turned it off, and Dalembert was actually looking like he had pulled his head slightly out of his [expletive]. Not sure I want to know what happened.

A lot less pressure for tomorrow now. Cliff Lee is alright.

The Phillies haven't been favored in a postseason series in any of the past 3 seasons (other than maybe the Brewers series last year, I do not remember).