NEW YORK -- Greetings from the American Airlines terminal at LaGuardia Airport, only a few miles from Shea Stadium. Like most of you, I'm still trying to get my head around another Phillies sweep of the Mets. It really is remarkable a) how well the Phillies play against the Mets and b) how many breaks go their way whenever they face their division rivals. I mean, six errors and 11 walks yesterday? C'mon, people. You couldn't have predicted that.But it also makes me wonder: how might this NL East race be different if only the Phillies had held a five-run lead Aug. 19 in Pittsburgh or Sept. 2 in Florida or a six-run lead in the eighth and ninth innings Sept. 5 in Atlanta? The Mets won Aug. 19 and Sept. 2, allowing them to pick up a game on the Phillies each time. They lost Sept. 5, so if the Phillies had only done something teams had done without fail 517 times before them (protect a six-run lead with two innings to play), they would've picked up a game. A different outcome on those three days, and the Phillies would be a half-game behind the Mets right now.
Then, we'd have ourselves a division race.
Instead, they're 3-1/2 back, four in the loss column. And, while it's still mathematically conceivable that they could overtake the Mets, the odds remain decidedly against them. So, it's still probably wild card or bust for the Phillies, as they get ready to play in St. Louis tonight.
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Talked to Greg Dobbs yesterday about his big grand slam, and since I wasn't able to get many of his comments in the 50-center, I wanted to share them here. He said it was undoubtedly the biggest hit of his career. "You're just floating on air," Dobbs added. "You're just happy to be able to do something to put your club ahead. That's the most gratifying, that I was able to give us the lead. That's very special, and I feel fortunate to be able to do that in this arena, especially at this time, with how much we've been battling." Dobbs, by the way, has 18 pinch-hit RBIs this season. The major-league record is 25, shared by Joe Cronin, Jerry Lynch and Rusty Staub. And, with a .281 average, 10 homers and 52 RBIs in only 292 at-bats, you'd have to say Dobbs, a waiver claim from the Mariners, was Pat Gillick's best offseason move, wouldn't you? You might even call it a steal.*
Special thanks to Dave Smith of the University of Delaware and the fantastic statistical Web site, retrosheet.org. Even before yesterday's game had ended, Dave e-mailed me with the longest winning streaks in Phillies-Mets history. Here they are ...
Phillies over Mets
10 games -- June 29, 1980 through May 25, 1981
8 games -- June 21, 1964 through Aug. 16, 1964
8 games -- Sept. 5, 1976 through June 4, 1977
8 games -- July 1, 2007 through Sept. 16, 2007
Mets over Phillies
10 games -- Sept. 10, 1971 through June 28, 1972
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Ryan Howard broke Jim Thome's franchise record for strikeouts in a single season yesterday with his 183rd. But it's all good. Thome hit his 500th career home in Chicago. If Howard winds up having the career Thome has had, nobody will fixate on the strikeouts.
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About to hop on a plane to St. Louis. I'll check in later today from Busch Stadium, hopefully with an update on Tom Gordon's aching back.
1 comment:
No doubt Dobbs was a good pick up. So was Werth. If you add in-season low risk/high reward moves, you have to include Romero.
Mesa and Durbin were good at times (though not lately). Alfonseca was very good at times. Branyan was responsible for a win. Laforest could contribute.
Mateo hasn't had a chance to do anything and Rosario hasn't helped.
But all in all, Gillick has a good eye for these kind of low-profile moves. He just needs to do better with the bigger pick ups (Garcia, Eaton, Helms, Barajas, and Garcia again because it turned out extra bad).
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