Congrats Phillies

Well, that certainly was worth the wait. It was a historical finish to the 08 World Series last night when Brad Lidge, who had been perfect in save chances all season long, struck out Eric Hinske (who else..?) bring to Philadelphia their first pro sports championship in 25 years.

It was unexpected. The AL had been dominant, as usual, and a Tampa win would have made a brilliantly inspirational underdog story. But the Phillies outpitched them, albeit not by much and squeezed out victory.

Long story made short, Tampa Bay stopped hitting. Everything seemed to go the Phillies way. But that's what's beautiful about baseball. It's so unpredictable!

So, now that another season is in the rear view mirror, bring on the free agent and trade markets. Mike Jacobs of the Florida Marlins, who slugged 32 homers this year was dealt to the Kansas City Royals for reliever Leo Lunez. Ken Griffey Jr. is now jobless. The White Sox declined his option.

Ken Macha, former manager for the Oakland A's has been hired by the Brewers. He's a really great manager, and with that young crew they've got in Milwaukee, the Brews will be a force to be reckened with next year.

The Raptors won their season opener in Philadelphia last night. Bosh had more than two dozen points. Overall, a great offensive game.

The Leafs won!!! Even more surprisingly, they won in Shootout!! Yup, that's right, the New Jersey Devils were beaten 6-5 yesterday by Toronto. Feel good win, but nothing much substance wise.

Argos will close out an ugly season tonight.

5 Days until the US Election! (I will be live blogging that night!)

-D

THE PHILLIES ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!

It took 3 days, but it's official!!

28 years after their last win, the Philadelphia Phillies have won it all!

Their 2nd championship in 125 years, and the City of Philadelphia's first sports banner in quarter of a century. And it came in one of the weirdest World Series Game ever!!

More to come tomorrow!!!!

-D

The Fall Classic

Did you SEE that finish last night at Citizen's Bank Ballpark??

That crazy bottom of the 9th is exactly why baseball fans refer to the World Series as the Fall Classic. It's moments like those that won it for the Phillies that will be etched in memory. I've lovin' this!

Really, I don't know who to root for in this Series. Who isn't touched by Tampa's miracle story, how they are on the verge of going, literally, from worst to best in just one year's time? But then again, those Phillies have a story of their own, having been under the radar all season long.

I thought this would be a superb series, and last night sure proved why. These are two very potent teams, with strengths in different areas. Tampa Bay has the starting pitching and can flat out fly while Philadelphia can flat out hit. This is no A-Rod-Jeter World Series or a Manny-Big Papi World Series, this is the Utley-Howard World Series and the Longoria-Crawford World Series. Joe Madden and Charlie Manuel are incredibly different managers. The former, as shown last night, can get very creative. The latter, is subtle, but will become intense when necessary.

I think that this Series will go the full 7 because neither side has a clear edge on the other. The youngsters are not blinded by the limelight at all. They all seem to be enjoying it. I'm enjoying it too.

But I do hope that matinee World Series games will make a return sometime soon...

I'm tired of having to go to bed in the 5th inning!

-D

Phillies vs. Rays-An Unlikely Matchup

If anybody told me in April that the 2008 World Series was going to be a match up between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays, I woulda laughed at them. The Phillies? The up and down, roller coaster-like, inconsistent, trade-this-player-for-that Phillies?? No way, not in 08. And the Rays? Are you kidding me? Sure, they are a bright young team with a ridiculously fast outfield, but they've been cellar dwellers for a decade. They couldn't make the steep climb all the way to the pinnacle of the AL East, could they? Well, 6 months later, those doubts have been ripped apart, cooked, stewed, and absolutely chewed up. I am truly impressed and somewhat shocked.

Tampa Bay has been impressive all season long. Right off the blocks, they were in contention. They were perched either first or second in the standings virtually from start to finish. Many skeptics doubted their ability to endure the grinding 162 game schedule. To be honest, I didn't think they'd make it this far either. But the guys proved us wrong by not only defeating the red hot White Sox in the ALDS, but fighting out and winning the ALCS against a very tough Red Sox team.

Phillies, on the other hand, have been under the radar all season long. Everybody was talking about the Mets. The spotlight early on was on the Mets inability to play good baseball. It cost Willie Randolph his job. Then, everybody started rambling on about how hot they were, climbing atop the East by the dog days of summer. Come September, the Mets were in the driver's seat, threatening, but unable to pull away. Later that month, they choked. They choked like they had done just a year prior. It was like all the gas in their tank spilled out at once. Taking advantage of all of this, the Phillies cunningly slided into first place and sailed to their first World Series berth in 15 years.

This was supposed to be the year that Yankee Stadium received its emotional send-off. It did, but it came one month early. The Mets were supposed to have had the NL East locked up, but they choked...again. Bostonians had started to believe that a new Red Sox dynasty was at birth, only to see their beloved Sox stop completely hitting in the ALCS. It was the year where Cliff Lee racked up 22 wins, and Josh Hamilton led the AL in RBIs. In all things improbable, we top it off tonight with the Phils and the Rays in one of the most bizarre World Series matchups in recent memory.

Oh and by the way, these two teams have a grand sum of exactly 1 World Series title in a combined 137 seasons of existence. No Philadelphia sports team has ever won a championship in the last quarter of a century! And if Tampa wins, the Rays will become the first ever team in pro sports history to go from having the worst record in the league to become Champions. How's that for an unlikely match up?!

-D

Back in 2004??

In about half an hour, Red Sox Nation will hold its breath once again in hopes of witnessing another improbable comeback in the League Championship Series. It's become all too familiar. Remember 04? THE year for Boston? Do you recall Boston being down 3-0 to the Yankees and coming within a couple innings of going home empty handed for another year? And then, do you recall how Dave Roberts stole the show from Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th followed by that infamous blast by David Ortiz in the 12th? And how the very next night Johnny Damon trotted home in extras to force a Game 6. And how Boston held firm in New York and stunned the baseball world by advancing to the World Series?

We might as well be back in 04, cause after seeing the Sox down 3-1 to the Rays, I thought they had no shot of coming back. Boston was demoralized by Tampa at Fenway in Game 4, losing 13-4. The next night, they were down 7-0 in the 7th, but somehow, with the ghost of Dave Roberts and Johnny Damon lurking somewhere in Boston, the team pulled the greatest comeback in playoff history. JD Drew was the hero that night, singling in the winning run in the 9th inning. Saturday night in Tampa, Boston held firm, just like they did 4 years ago in Yankee Stadium. And tonight, nobody knows how Game 7 will play out. Jon Lester, who 2 years ago, was embattled with lymphoma, will attempt to save the Nation. Matt Garza, who 2 years ago, nobody had every heard of, will try to push Tampa into uncharted waters.

This is baseball at its best. Whomever advances, this ALCS has been full of drama. This feels like the World Series already...watch out Phillies!

-D

An Aside

It's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted. Long time, I know. These two weeks have been ridiculously busy, with all kinds of stuff at school and outside of school. In particular, the last 5 days have been insane. To be honest, I don't even remember much of the stuff that happened during the weekend. Well, just for the heck of it, I'll describe what it was like.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11TH

First thing in the morning, homework. After homework, it's off to the campaign office for the final weekend of volunteering in the Canadian federal election. I got to go shop for goodies for election day as well as do a literature drop in a couple apartment buildings. After coming back to the office, some friends and I organized a few kits of things. We were done by 3, earlier than we expected and decided to go play some baseball. Sandlot style of course. We did that for a couple hours. I came home. I was tired. I somehow still managed to stay up until 1 o'clock.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12TH

First thing in the morning, homework. After homework, it's off to more campaigning, this time at another MP's office. We were sent on a drop in the Warden/McNicoll area (for those who live in Toronto) and finished our work at around 3 again. I rushed off to violin lessons at 4:30 and came back at 5. More homework during the evening and I was really tired again.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13TH

First thing in the morning, homework! Finally, homework was finished! At arond 11, a friend and I made our way, one last time, to the campaign office. It was the day before election day, so there was loads of stuff to do at the office. We did things like typing and drawing charts. The lunch was particularly delicious with the potato salad and the chicken strips. We finished around 3. I went home to see the Dow close up 900 points. Completed some work for my school's newspaper and was tired by the time I went to bed.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14TH

Ha, the big day. Election day 2008 for Canadians. I just couldn't wait to finish school so we could get the scrutineering started. School itself was busy as usual with an SLC meeting at lunch and a not so smooth science period tucked in the end. I went home, got rid of whatever I didn't need for the night and headed out to GET OUT THE VOTE.

Four friends and I were assigned to Kingslake Public School for the evening. We made our way on foot there and swore into the polling stations. There were 7 polls in that one gym. After cross-referencing stats on who's voted and who has not, we hit the streets to knock on some doors. The group of five decided to split into 3 and 2. I was part of the 2. We walked up and down the streets in our polling area and knocked on dozens of doors to remind voters of Election Day. We even stopped by at a rather ugly apartment building. Across the street from the apartment, we found a nearby washroom, tucked nicely on the lower level of a strip mall, which we needed to use pretty badly.

After about 2 hours and 15 minutes of knocking, we strolled back to the school to do more cross referencing. After we did that, it was time to hit the phones to pull out the last lazy bunch of voters. In the meanwhile, we also got to catch up on some homework in the school's front lobby. At around 9:15, the five of us made it into the gym to do one more cross referencing. As the clock slowly ticked to 9:30 and the doors closed, we grabbed a chair and sat at our respective counting tables.

At my table, there was some initial confusion as to how many voters hit the polls on the day. But we got that sorted out after about 20 minutes. The counting took about 20 more minutes. The paperwork took a few more minutes and we were off out of that gym. We had requested a ride to the victory party, but there was very little sign anybody was coming to pick us up. We waited for more than half an hour before we finally decided to take public transit and as we just stepped out the door, we caught up with our ride. We squeezed into the car and finally arrived at the party at quarter after 11.

The results were already flooding in. The Conservatives had emerged victorious once again. They had strengthened their majority and the Libs (who I was working for) lost significant ground. After some desparately needed food, we shared a few laughs, took some pictures, and ordered some very unique drinks. After Stephane Dion, the Liberal leader had made his concession speech, we all parted ways. It had been a really long day and actually, I didn't feel extremely tired for some reason. As the clock struck 2 AM, I drifted away to sleep.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH

Morning paper-"MINORITY FOR CONS". After lunch, there was this thing called Club Olympics being organized by the SLC. It was where extra curricular clubs compete against one another in small games like Capture the Flag. It was fun and I got to miss class. So, things were good. After school, I headed to an editorial board meeting with the school's newspaper and now I'm back at home, feeling very drowsy.

Anyway, so the party I disliked the most won another election. But at least the two candidates I campaigned held their seats. The stock markets are on a roller coaster ride. No body seems to know what the hell's gonna happen to the economy. Obama's still owning McCain in the polls. Debate tonight. I need serious work on the violin. The Leafs are just what they promised to be. The Rays and Phillies look to be in good position to set up a very interesting World Series. And it's 1380 days until London 2012!

I am tired.

-D

PS: This is my 100th post! Woohoo!

Don't Worry...I'm Still Here!

It's been 11 days since I last posted...

Long time, I know. I've just been insanely busy with everything related to school and extra curriculars. It's really good for time management and they're mostly things I love to do. So, no harm, no foul. Life is good.

A lot has happened in the world of baseball since I bid adieu to Yankee Stadium in my last post. The Angels, Red Sox, Tampa, Dodgers, Phillies and Cubs all clinched a spot for October play. The Brewers and Mets went into the last Sunday of the season tied atop the NL Wild Card. Brewers won, so not only did we see the Mets freefall for a second straight year. We witnessed the last ever game at Shea Stadium. Again, having been there earlier this summer, I can somewhat relate to this event instead of pretending to be sad.

The White Sox had to make up a postponed game against Detroit because they were within 0.5 games of Minny. They won that and ensued with another victory over the Twins to reach the playoffs. And since the only playoff club whose gear I own, I will be rooting for the ChiSox. You know what I'd love to see?! A Windy City World Series!!

So, then, the MLB playoffs ACTUALLY started this week! After some 5 months and 162 games, it's all come down to this. Right now, it's not looking good for the Cubbies, who last won it all exactly a century ago. They're down 0-2 in the series to Joe Torre and his crew. The other 2-0 lead belongs to the Phillies who are in position to sweep the Brewers. The Red Sox have a 1-0 lead on the Halos while Tampa leads the other Sox by 1 game as well.

It should be a fun matchup tonight-Buerhle vs. Kazmir-two lefties, two aces, what more can you ask for? And speaking of lefties, there seems to be near unanimous opinion that Cliff Lee will capture the Cy Young. Personally, I'll push the case for Roy Halladay who ended up just 2 wins shy of Lee and probably should have had 4 or 5 more. There was a run early in the year where Halladay lost 4 consecutive complete games. To me, Doc is a lot more reliable and valuable to a team than Cliff. Lee had a spectacular season, there's no denying that, but Halladay has eaten more innings and can claim a much better SO-BB ratio. Those stats are important too!

There's a guy in baseball named Zack Hample who is one of a kind. He's not a player, but instead a fan. Hample, over the past 17 years has collected 3 814 baseballs. Don't believe me? Check out his website at www.zackhample.com or snaggingbaseballs.mlblogs.com. It is truly amazing what this guy does and truly amazing how much luck he has too. For example, he made headlines in New York City earlier in September by catching homers on back to back nights at Yankee Stadium. Just this past Sunday, Zack snagged the third-last home run ever hit at Shea Stadium, via the bat of Carlos Beltran. Nonetheless, it is still the last Mets homer ever hit at that place.

Lots of good stuff happening in politics. Sarah Palin looked credible last night. She actually knew her stuff and did pretty well, I thought. The second presidential match up will take place this coming Tuesday. The Canadians also took to the roundtable for two leaders debates this week. Frankly, it doesn't do much to persuade my opinion, as I am a hardcore Liberal. Speaking of which, I'll be out canvassing for a couple local MPs this weekend. Lovely!

The weather's getting cold here in TO!

497 days til Vancouver 2010! 1393 days til London 2012!

-D