Why the Phillies will Win

By Rick Eggleston
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The curtain goes up on the 105th Fall Classic tonight that to the surprise of few, finds the Yankees as the American League representative. Of course, $202 million can buy you a lot of things. So, will it be enough for the Yanks to hoist the World Series trophy over their heads for the 27th time in their storied history? I say no, and here are five reasons why the Phillies and their $113 million payroll will beat the Yankees.

1. Experience. The Phillies were just here and with many of the same players back from last season’s championship team, they know what to expect. The newness and awe of getting to the World Series has worn off, so this time around it’s all business for Philly. The Yankees haven’t been here since 2003, when they spit the bit against the Florida Marlins. Six years is a long time and though it’s true, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui were all around for the last rodeo, a few of them probably can’t help but feel like that it’s now or never, so the pressure will be on for the Yanks to win. Matsui, whose four-year deal is up this season, and Pettitte, who signed a one-and-done deal this season, won’t be in New York next season. The Phils are the defending champs — the pressure is off.

2. Pedro Martinez. Junior’s back to exact some revenge on the Yanks, whose fans let Martinez have it in 2004 with chants of “Who’s your daddy?!” in his return to Yankee Stadium with the Red Sox after he — with help from manager Grady Little — allowed the Yanks to come back and win Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Proclaiming that the Yankees must be his “daddy” before a 2004 match-up due to their recent successes against the right-hander, Yankee fans came up with the memorable line. This time around, however, will be different. While the chant is sure reign down from the stadium’s infamous Bleacher Creatures when Martinez toes the rubber for Game 2 tomorrow night, he will quickly make them shut up. Martinez thrives in the face of doubters and adversaries, and relishes the big stage that is undoubtedly Yankee Stadium. And with him entering fresh off a scoreless, six-innings effort over the Dodgers in the NLCS, Martinez will transform the chants into whimpers.

3. Alex Rodriguez. The Curse of A-Rod lives. Admittedly, the two-handed bum-grabbing bandit (watch out Derek Jeter!) Rodriguez has done much in the previous two series’ to shed his image as a postseason choke artist at the plate. The being said, Rodriguez is due for a slump. Unlike Minnesota and Anaheim, the Phillies possess the pitching that will keep the big guy off balance. Cliff Lee is dominant right now, and the aforementioned Martinez has faced Rodriguez enough to know what works. Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton probably won’t be too effective, but at least they’ll have the home crowd behind them for Games 3 and 4 in Philly.

4. Ryan Howard. Like Rodriguez, Howard has been mashing the ball this postseason (11-for-31 (.355) with seven extra-base hits and 14 RBI). Look for that to continue against the Yankees, who if they’re going to have a shot at thwarting the Phillies, must shut down Howard at the plate. Yanks starter CC Sabathia will get the first crack at Howard tonight in a lefty vs. lefty match-up.

5. Joe Girardi. The Yankees manager likes to tempt fate. He made some questionable calls with his bullpen against the Angels in the ALCS, one of which cost the Yankees Game 3 after he elected to lift reliever Dave Robertson with Alfredo Aceves with two-out in the 11th inning. The Angels responded with two straight hits and won the game. Then in Game 5, after the Yankees rallied to take a 6-4 lead in the seventh inning, Girardi’s decision to send starter A.J. Burnett back out to the mound led to the Angels copping three runs and an eventual 7-6 win to force Game 6.

My pick: Phillies in 5.

Dodgers better equiped for NLCS rematch

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Tonight marks game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and brings us a rematch from last season. Last year, the Phillies easily took care of the Dodgers in 5 games on their way to a World Series title. The 2009 NLCS should have a much better feel for the Dodgers than last year. Why is that you ask? Well, let me run through my reasons:

1. The Dodgers are simply a better offensive team this year than last. I know Manny Ramirez has struggled, except for game three of the division series, but the lineup is has more balance, and is not nearly as dependent on Manny. Andre Ethier has been clutch all season, and continued that with a solid performance against the Cardinals in the division series.

2. The Dodgers starting rotation. The front end of this rotation is better suited to go against the left handed heavy Phillies lineup. Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf will start games 1 & 2 to go against the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.

3. Cliff Lee will be making his first start in this series in game 3. As you'll see in my prediction at the end of this article, Cliff Lee will only pitch once in this series. Just that alone is a huge boost for the Dodgers.

4. The Dodgers bullpen. I'll take Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill & Jonathon Broxton over anyone the Phillies can put up against them. the lefty duo of Kuo & Sherrill go back to my argument the starting rotation is better suited to handling to big, left handed bats of the Phillies.

Now don't get me wrong. The Phillies are still a very good baseball team. In fact, I think their lineup and rotation is better this season than last. I just think the Dodgers are a much improved team over last year as well. They have good enough pitching, solid defense up the middle, and have had timely hitting all season.

My prediction: Dodgers over Phillies in 6 games