So, this is what October baseball feels like.Last night, only 48 hours after the game-time temperature was a sweltering 95 degrees, the Phillies and Braves opened a three-game series with significant playoff implications in a 64-degree chill. A howling wind made it seem even cooler, and you didn't have to stretch your imagination to think of the postseason.
In fact, that's exactly what was running through Wes Helms' mind.
"I said to [third-base umpire] Bruce Froemming, 'This is playoff weather,'" Helms told me after the game. "'If we make the playoffs, this is what it's going to feel like. So, maybe somebody is telling us to get used to it."
Maybe after a few more wins like last night's 5-4 victory.
*
As always with the Phillies, with the good comes some bad. Aaron Rowand left last night's game after the first inning because of blurred vision in his right eye. He told Charlie Manuel the ball looked "fuzzy and gray-looking." Not good. Rowand is being examined today at the Wills Eye Hospital. Check back here for updates later today.
*
Before we got the news about Rowand, the emotional Wall of Fame induction ceremony for late John Vukovich was the focus of the notebook. And, I suppose, it still is. Jimmy Rollins offered his memories of Vuk, and Bonnie Vukovich gave a nice speech on the field. I didn't know Vuk well, but after his death in March, I got the full effect of how beloved he was.
Manuel thought it was fitting, and I agreed, that Helms hit the game-tying homer last night. Helms wears No. 18, which, of course, was Vukovich's longtime number.
What are your fondest memories of Vuk?
*
Martin Frank chimes in with this column on Cole Hamels, whose lucky 13th win didn't go according to script. Hamels allowed four first-inning runs, but it's what happened in the next six innings that was so impressive. Hamels held the Braves hitless, looking exactly like the shut-down ace the Phillies need him to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment