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“Win or go home,” “it’s do or die,” “winner takes all,” “must-win,” “this one’s for all the marbles.”
Use whatever cliché you want for a decisive game of a playoff series, but there’s also another one: “there is no tomorrow if you lose.” The fact is, this might be the last game of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies.
It is just too soon to end.
The Phillies grinded out 162 games and became the winningest team in Phillies history, obliterating the rest of the NL East. With one of the best starting rotations ever, the Phillies are clearly the best team in the National League.
The Phils won consistently, quietly, and methodically. They didn’t blow teams away and collect huge winning streaks. The Phillies simply took care of business and won series after series and eventually had enough wins to put the Braves to sleep nice and early. Everyone contributed as the Phillies survived placing 12 players on the disabled list.
All said, it takes a combined effort and consistency to win 102 games in a season. But that doesn’t matter in the playoffs.
The regular season is a marathon and the playoffs are a sprint, as they say. You don’t see many marathoners running sprints, but in professional baseball you must do both. Some teams just aren’t built for the postseason rush. Just look at the Atlanta Braves who won 13 straight divisions and only one World Series.
For better or worse, the Phillies entire season rests on this one NLDS game 5 against the Cardinals. 12 more wins than the Cardinals in the regular season, yet the season now rests on one crucial game.
But that is the position the Phils have put themselves in. Blown leads by two of their “ace” pitchers and poor hitting got them here. Now, the Phillies are in a place where luck may play too large a role. A bloop hit, a bad call by an ump, a unfortunate hop, or even a runaway squirrel can decide the fate of the entire season.
It’s not the ideal situation, but it is the reality.
But the Phillies have put the fate of their season in the capable hands of Roy Halladay. There’s nobody to trust more with the season on the line than Roy Halladay. The 5:00am workouts in spring training, the 66 complete games, the 2 Cy Young awards, the 2,531 innings, the demotion to the minors in 2000, and the 14 years of experience has prepared Halladay for this very moment.
However…
I’ve seen too many times where Halladay was victimized by bloop hits after jamming a good hitter. Two bloopers and a well placed hit can be the difference between golf on Saturday or more baseball on Sunday. And the Cardinals are filled with scrappy, contact hitters with a knack for stringing together four or five hits.
Some things are out of your control as a pitcher, but if anyone can defeat luck, it’s Doc. All we can do now is watch the game.
And just remember, “it aint over until the fat lady sings.” Or something like that. |
