5 minutes baby!!!  GOTTA LOVE IT.  THANK YOU PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES!!!!

Ok people, here we are.  Instead of bitching and moaning, we should be appreciative that we actually get to celebrate game 5 over three full days!  I, for one, am greatful, just because I actually got some sleep and didn't miss any baseball.  So, what should we do?  Not often do you have such time like this to discuss mid-game decisions.  Cole is obviously out, which means a pinch hitter is going to lead off the bottom of the 6th.  It better not be So Taguchi. 

I am guessing he comes out with Dobbs, prompting the Rays to put in Price.  I consider that a decent tradeoff since we then have Rollins and Werth up to hit against him.  Do you let dobbs hit, or put in Coste?

Call it a draw after God cheated.  I might be the only one who wanted to see them finish the game in the rain.  I  thought it was great.  I didn't like the fact that Cole gave up that last run, but they had a shot of Hamels on the previous pitch grunting his way through a pitch and I thought, this is what memories are made of.  Would have been a great way to finish off the World Series.

This is it people.  This could finally be the day we've all been waiting for as Phillies fans.  28 years of frustration may finally come to close.  If we win today, good things to come out of this:

Finally get to stop living in the past.  Yay 1980 team.  Now go back where you came from, we got a new dog in town.

Finally get to stop hearing about the lightning in a bottle.  Man, I loved that team when it happened, I almost hate them now.  At the very least, they go to the back burner cause this team has equaled or passed their achivements.

The city can stop having it's pity party.  How come they focus on the Cubs?  How come they focused on the Red Sox.  We play whiney little brother too much.  However, if we do win, the focus then goes completely on the Cubs for another 100 years.  I guess that's a drawback.

Cole Hamel's superstardom.  He is on the brink and hopefully he can eclipse all that came before him. 

A repeat next year.  Yeah, I said it.  Jimmy's next.  We gonna win 140 games baby!

Met's fans.  HAHA!

Don't worry, I am predicting who the MVP will be in all instances.  So, not black cat.

Phils win in 5: Cole Hamels (unless he gets roughed up an we win, but this seems like a lock).

Phils win in 6: Carlos Ruiz.  He is hitting .417 and has an OPS of 1.396

Phils win in 7: Ryan Howard.  He'll have another game against a righty, and if we are to win in the Trop in a game 7, we'll need at least one homer from Howard.

Rays win in 7: BJ Upton.  If the Rays are going to win, he'll have to play ridiculous over the next 3 games.  He is probably the only player on that team who could actually do it.

Some other tidbits:

Phillies:
OPS For: .785
OPS Against: .522

Leaders in OPS:

Bruntlett: 1.833
Blanton: 1.667
Ruiz: 1.396
Howard: 1.362
Werth: 1.326
Utley: .968
Dobbs. .833
Rollins: .632
Feliz: .619
Victorino: .544
Burrell: .200

Also, this could be Pat's last game as a Phillie.  In fact, I am pretty sure it will be.  I'll miss Pat on a few levels.  He became my cause celebre, and I am pretty sure he owes me at least 2 cases of beer for sticking by him through the tough times.  I'll also miss him as I like lone time Phillies who are under rated and worthy of playing here.  That being said, I think I am ok with him leaving.  I have never been a fan of Manuel and this team looks poised to win despite his mismanaging.  That means Pat would continue to be a part time player here, for at least 3 more years (the minimum of a contract) and I think that is too frustrating for Pat and me (as a fan).  Here's hoping that Pat takes one deep in what could be his final game.

I was thinking about the decsion to load the bases to get a force play at hom because of the runner on third.  The more I think about it, the more I realize just how bad of a play it was last night to do that.  The common misconception is that the only "run" that matters is the run on  third.  I put run in ""s because it isn't that.  It isn't a run.  It is a baserunner and too often people misconstrue the implication.

The addage proves correct if there are 2 outs.  That baserunner represents either nothing or a run.  But it holds less true with 0 or 1 outs.  Let's say Evan makes that play and gets the out at home.  Then we still have the bases loaded with the winning run STILL on third.  You were in a bad situation with a man on third and nobody out, but now you have created the situation where if you DO get him out at home, you still have to deal with a man on 3rd and 1 out.  Those runners have value as long as there are still outs.

The right play there is to try to get Victorino out.  The strategy to load the bases with nobody out is doomed from the beginning. 

What an opener for the Phillies at home.  Stupud MLB kept everyone waiting and up late, but I'll give them a pass because it is a Saturday night.  Great win last night and I think the gameball might go to JC Roomero who, if there is a such a thing called momentum, completely took it away from the Rays.  It will be interesting to see how the bullpens are played out today.  If you want to talk about the Eagles, go ahead as well.

Well, we are sitting in a lot better position before game 2 than we were before game 1.  But that goes without saying.   Offense only showed up halfway, but it happens.  Now we need Myers to do what Myers of the second half did: use his breaking stuff more.  I am feeling pretty good about this game as well and hopefully we'll see Dobbs and Stairs tonight.

I figured we could start up a pre-game chat on the day of each World Series game.  I know there is a lot of anxiety out there and we are all pumped to get this series started.

If you haven't yet, read MattS's player by player splits.  It's definitely an interesting read, especially for those who are just picking up on higher end statistical analysis lately.

Or his similarly excellent team-by-team splits and analysis.

Or Whole Camels' Series preview.

Or enter our World Series prediction contest . . . with prizes!

Or take a look at the Rays/Phillies history (not so good for our Phils).

Lots to read here.  That being said, comment away!

Now that we have had some time to let the World Series and the Tampa Bay Rays sink in, it's time to look at the keys to attaining our first World Series since 1980 and the second overall.  Many apologies to those Philadelphians who past away in 1979.  You were the true victims.  Anyway, the Rays are certainly an interesting team.  Very young and they have certain players that fill roles very nicely on their team.

Here is a brief team comparison:

Hitting:
Phillies:  4.93 R/G 103 OPS+
Rays: 4.78 R/G 103 OPS+

Pitching:
Phillies: 4.20 R/G 115 ERA+
Rays: 4.14 R/G 114 ERA+

Which team is which again?  Both teams played almost identical to each other with respect to their leagues.  The Phillies look like they had a better offense (factoring the DH), but they also played in a more hitter friendly field.  The same goes for the pitching. 

On to the keys...

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