Sports Thread #1 for 10/9/08- Philly Vs. LA, is this 80s basketball? NLCS Preview

Are The Dodgers Ready To Make It To The World Series Or Will The

Phillies Prove That Consistent Winning Is The Key To A Championship

(AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

By James Eddy

Preview

Tonight the Philadelphia Phillies and The Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to meet in the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers made it to the NLCS by sweeping the favorite Cubs in 3 games. While the Phillies made it into the CS by beating the Brewers in 4 games taking the series 3 to 1. Now this is where the similarities end between these two teams.

Now not only do these teams wear the exact opposite colors; the Phillies wear red, while the Dodgers wear famous Dodger blue, but their path to the playoffs was completely different. The Phillies were a favorite to repeat as National League East division champions, but things were shaky early when slugger Ryan Howard got off to a slow start. Despite the slow start by Howard, the Phillies were carried by second baseman Chase Utley, who seemed to be poised to be the Philly that took home the MVP this year.

The Phillies jumped to an early lead in the east and seemed poised to run away with the division with the rival New York Mets looking old, and ready to implode with the firing of manager Willie Randolph. Surprisingly the Mets began to come back in the division, and similar to the year before had a lead in early September. But just like last year, the Mets lost the lead and ended up watching the playoffs at home.

On the other hand the Dodgers were a question mark from the beginning of the season. The Dodgers made big time offseason acquisitions; the problem was the personnel they acquired would have been good to have about 5 years ago. The Dodgers signed uninspired (and a little overrated) centerfielder Andruw Jones (not Jerell) to add to the 20 (exaggeration) they already had. The Dodgers brought over former Yankees skipper Joe Torre. Though the Dodgers made all of these moves, they still were behind in the division. All things changed when the Dodgers traded for outfielder Manny Ramirez, with the team looking and playing like the 2008 version of the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Thanks in large part to Manny's bat, the Dodgers stormed into first place in the division and rode their hot streak all the way to the NLCS.

Pitching Rotation

Now the experts believed the reason the Cubs were going to beat the Dodgers in the National League Division Series was because they had a stronger rotation. However, the Dodgers proved them absolutely wrong. How wrong you ask? The Dodgers had a team E.R.A of 2.00, held the Cubs to a .240 team batting average, and sported a team WHIP (Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.15, shutting down a dominant Cubs offense. The Phillies weren’t slouches either, sporting a team E.R.A of 2.31, with a team WHIP of 1.03, and stifled a young Brewers team holding them to a team average of .206. Statistically it is a pretty even match-up; however the Phillies pitching staff was facing a young Brewers team who had little playoff experience.

Both teams are coming into the series with quality pitching, but the Dodgers faced a tougher task than the Phillies. The Phillies pitching has yet to be proven, taking nothing away from the Brewers, who weren’t hitting as well as the Dodgers down the stretch. In terms of the pitching rotation, the edge goes to the Dodgers. They have more playoff experienced starters and proved themselves against the tough Cubs offense.

Bullpen

In terms of bullpen we will leave stats out of the equation and go purely off of the eyeball test, because according to season stats, Brad Lidge is supposed to come in and shut the game down. Anyone who watched game 1 of the NLDS knows this might not be the case. According to the stats, Jonathan Broxton is supposed to be inconsistent finding the strike zone and can lose control of his 99 MPH fastball. To this last notion, the Cubs are still waiting (however, at home) for Broxton to miss the plate.

Broxton is replacing regular season closer Takashi Saito, and making it seem harder for Saito to snuggle back into his closing job next year. On the other hand, Lidge looked shaky in Game 1 of the NLDS, and this is not the first time that the former Astro closer has looked shaky in the playoffs (anyone remember a certain October night with one Mr. Albert Pujols coming to the plate). The middle relief is up in the air, with different situations calling for different pitchers to be used (i.e. in a series ending decision a manager might decide to use a starter as opposed to a reliever). In terms of definite bullpen relief, the edge goes to the Dodgers.

Lineup/Bench

Now this is where the fun starts, the Dodgers have a meek lineup on paper in comparison to the Phillies. Despite having a weaker lineup on paper the impact that Manny Ramirez has had on the Dodgers lineup needs to be noted. The teams numbers have become video game statistics since the addition of Manny Ramirez. In saying this the edge goes to the……Phillies. That’s right.

The Phillies have more fire power than the Dodgers. The Phillies have a home run threat at every position, if speedy outfielder Shane Victorino continues to smack grand slams. Brett Myers proved even the pitcher is a devious weapon in the series against the Brewers. If the Phillies take Manny Ramirez out of the game the Dodgers lineup is still good, but not nearly as powerful as the Phillies lineup that has weapons from top to bottom.

Managers

The managerial battle pits Joe Torre against Charlie Manuel, both of these men are quality managers with playoff experience. However, the sole reason the Dodgers brought Joe Torre to LA was for this reason exactly. Joe always seems to find a way to get the best out of his players whenever the playoffs come around (Scott Brosius, anyone?). When it comes time to make crucial decisions, Joe will have no problem making a move. While if Manuel makes a questionable move, he could be under the scrutiny of not only a whole city, but the baseball world.

Prediction

With all of these factors on the table the team making it to the World Series will be the Los Angeles Dodgers. The boys in Dodger blue will take the series in a hard fought battle in 6 games (winning the series 4-2). Los Angeles will be rocking and prime to avenge their loss in the NBA Finals (slight spoiler for ALCS preview). The Dodger pitching will stifle the Phillies lineup just enough so that their lineup is able to manufacture just enough runs for the wins. These are going to be close hard fought battles, though the games in Philly might be high scoring. The Dodgers will be trying to do their best St. Louis Cardinals impression and win the World Series with only 84 wins.