(Part 4 of a series recalling five of our favorite moments from the 2008 Phillies season.)BY SCOTT LAUBER
Matt Stairs wasn't the Phillies' most practiced hitter. In fact, he had gotten only two at-bats through the first seven playoff games. But swinging a bat has never been overly complicated for Stairs, a short and stocky 40-year-old wannabe hockey player from Canada. His two-part philosophy couldn't be more simple.
Wait for a fastball.
Swing as hard as you can.
So, Stairs was the perfect hitter to send to the plate on Oct. 13 at Dodger Stadium, in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the NLCS. Three batters earlier, Shane Victorino, Public Enemy No. 1 in La La Land after his Game 3 flare-up with pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, belted a game-tying two-run home run into the Phillies' bullpen. Now, with two out and Carlos Ruiz on first base, Stairs ran a 3-1 count against hard-throwing Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, who loves his mid-90s fastball. Desperately needing to throw a strike, Broxton unleashed a 95-mph heater that Stairs launched over the right-field pavilion to give the Phillies a 7-5 victory.
Brad Lidge recorded a four-out save, and the Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the series. Joe Torre canceled the Dodgers' workout the following day, effectively waving the white flag and handing the Phillies their first NL pennant since 1993.
"In hockey, you shoot as hard as you can, so I've always figured, why not swing as hard as I can," Stairs, the everyman hero, said later. "In batting practice, I try to hit every ball out of the ballpark. I'm not going to lie. I try to hit home runs, and that's it."
1 comment:
what a moment! I'll remember this one for EVER! I remember thinking as he was coming up to pinch hit that he's an all-or-nothing hitter... Just smack one out of the park... And he delivered in the biggest way possible. Easily biggest hit/HR of his career!
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