As much as I hate to admit it, the Philadelphia Phillies are going back to the World Series. I'm not taking anything away from the Phillies, its just that as a New York Mets fan, you don't want to see anyone else in your division succeed. The Phillies are the defending world champs and they didn't rest on their laurels. They improved their team in the off-season with Raul Ibanez (who only hit 272 with 34 home runs and 93 rbi's), and again at the trading deadline with Cliff Lee (who went 7-4 with a 3.39 era after becoming a Phillie), so their second consecutive appearance in the World Series should not surprise anyone (and let us not forget about Pedro Martinez who only went 5-1 after being signed by the team).
I used to think that the 1993 Phillies team was the best Phillies team in my lifetime. With the likes of Dykstra, Kruk, Williams, Daulton, Pratt, Hollins and Incaviglia, I nicknamed this team "a travelling softball team". By that, I meant those are the type of players who like to get dirty and play hard. It might not be pretty, but they will beat your brains out. Now, after watching the Phillies of the last two years, I'm not sure anymore. Position by position, the 2009 Phillies might be even better. The pitching staff definitely favors the current Phillies. And now that Brad Lidge appearing to have worked through his end of season problems, I don't know if there's anything that will be able to stop them.
With a week to go before the World Series starts, the team has a chance to rest, get their rotation in order and get ready to defend their championship. Regardless of whether its the Angels or the Yankees, the Phillies are going to pose a tough challenge to whoever wins the American League pennent.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment