Yesterday I made sure I got a good nap in the afternoon, because I wanted to make sure I was awake at 2:35am Israel time for the restart of Game 5 of the World Series. I was pretty interested in this years WS because of the new teams that were involved with all their fresh faces. The days of the Yankees and Red Sox year in and year out representing the AL in the WS might be over, due to the unbelievable young talent the Rays have. And the Phils, once again stormed to the finish in September knocking out the Mets on the last day of the regular season. I personally thought the Phils would struggle in the post-season because their lack of starting pitching depth, after Hamels, they really don't have much. Every team in the NL portion of the playoffs had better SP, but the Phils threw it back in my face, and advanced to the WS. The bottom line is the Phils starting pitching was rock solid, not spectacular, but good enough, and they gave their lineup a chance to win every game... and because the Phils lineup is so good (maybe the best in baseball 1-6) they won the World Series easily in five games. The Rays were the suprise team in baseball this year, and proved the haters wrong once again when they got past the Red Sox in the LCS. A big difference in the WS was the managing. I don't want to say that Charlie Manuel out-managed Joe Maddon because Manuel really didn't do anything spectacular, he just did his job. On the other hand, I think Maddon (who had managed very well all year) did a particularly poor job in the World Series. The main example that keeps coming to my head is starting Balfour in the 6th inning of the game 5 restart. Balfour had been very good all season, but he had the most untouchable pitcher on either team's staff withering away in the bullpen, David Price. It seems as if Maddon was managing for a game 6 and maybe even a game 7 without realizing he needed to get a W in game 5 to even get to that point. If I was Maddon, I would have started Price and let him go until his arm fell off. I don't know if he was being 'careful' with him or what say you, but the bottom line is it was the WORLD SERIES. That is the ultimate goal to win the World Series right??? Who cares if David Price wins 20 games next year, they had a great opportunity to win it this year, and they didn't. Price eventually came in with the Rays down 1 in the bottom of the eighth and pitched a scoreless inning striking out 2. He looked great, and I think Maddon will look back on the game, and realize he should have been called upon before all three relievers (Balfour, Howell, and Bradford). Anyhow, the Rays were unbelievably fun to watch this season, and their fearless attitude against Boston in the LCS was impressive for such a young group of guys. Unfortunately, it will be hard for them to live up to the high expectations they will have put upon them next year, but it will be mighty fun watching them try.
