DAVID MAIALETTI / Staff photographer
Jayson Werth dances around during batting practice, as Charlie Manuel, Milt Thompson look on.
- Who will be the unlikely hero?
- Unlikely heroes put on their capes for postseason
- The evolution of Ruben Amaro Jr.
- Phils' Lee keeps life simple
- Manuel picks Lee to start Game 1
- Phillies' Lee looking forward to NLDS Game 1 'challenge'
- He's 7-4; he's 14-13; he's both
- J.A. Happ's focus got him where he is
- Phillies' postseason remedy for relief uncertain
- Phils keenly aware of bullpen vulnerability
- Pedro Martinez happy he found the right team
- Ibanez is always prepared
- In a pinch, they'll have to do
- Phils, Rockies have seen left-field shifts
- Phillies Notes: Phils put Blanton, Happ in bullpen for Games 1, 2
- Phillies Notebook: Kendrick, Bastardo, Cairo get last spots on Phillies playoff roster
- Spotlight on ... Greg Dobbs
- Who's hot; who's not
- Tracy saved Rockies' season
- Managing to Make the Playoffs
- Colorado closer Street: Shades of Lidge '08
- Rockies don't need big names to get it done in NLDS
- Giambi bolsters Rockies' bench
- Rockies' De La Rosa out of NLDS with groin injury
- De La Rosa won't pitch against Phils
- Phillies' 2008 trophy has logged a lot of miles
- Overall, we give Phils the edge
- Phillies-Rockies preview: Planting seeds
- Phillies-Rockies game day
- Phillies-Rockies scouting report
- Phillies-Rockies Game 1 preview
- For Phillies, repetitive advice from Sixers, Flyers
- What the Eck do Phillies do about bullpen?
- TV analyst Simpson familiar with Phillies
- SPORTSNET EXPANDS COVERAGE
- Phils fans turn to high-tech gadgetry
- Putting the NL playoff teams in their place
- Cardinals, Dodgers bring a lot of history to matchup
- Wolf in playoffs, finally
- DODGERS (95-67) VS. CARDINALS (91-71)
- Twins down Tigers, face Yankees
- In a thriller, Twins topple Tigers in 12th
- YANKEES (103-59) VS. TWINS (87-76)
- Yankees banking on Sabathia
- Girardi: Molina to catch Burnett
- Capsules of the other series (all best of 5)
- Angels continue to keep Adenhart's memory alive
- Daulton says he's willing to share the wealth
- Gonzalez returning as Marlins manager
- Baseball Notes: Marlins manager Gonzalez returning
- Bill Conlin: Resilient Phils will be playing November baseball
- Bob Ford: Not wise to put Blanton, Happ in bullpen
- Rich Hofmann: Amaro’s job is done: Phils in playoffs, Lee starting Game 1
- Phil Sheridan: Manuel’s encore showed genius
- Sam Donnellon: Manuel remains true to himself, players
- Ed Barkowitz: Phillies don’t want history to repeat
- You Talkin' To Me?: Pennant fever, almost
- Broad Street Billy: Fans pulling for a Phillies repeat
- Marc Wallace: Welcome to the big leagues
- Live coverage: Rockies-Phillies Game 1, 2:30 p.m.
- The Phillies Zone: The Inquirer's Phillies blog
- High Cheese: The Daily News' Phillies blog
- The Inquirer's NLDS Preview
- The Daily News' NLDS Preview
- Photos: 2009 Phillies season
- Download: Phillies wallpapers for your computer desktop
- From the archives: 2008 World Series coverage
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Ed Barkowitz: Phillies don't want history to repeat
THE PHILLIES' performance in the 2007 playoffs was beyond pitiful - especially in light of how the regular season ended.
They won the National League East on the final day, a stirring victory over the Nationals punctuated by Brett Myers throwing his glove high in the air just after the Marlins had finished off throttling the Mets.
The celebration of the Phillies' first postseason in 14 years hardly got started before it was over. The Rockies won the first two NL Division Series games here and put the Phillies out of their misery by completing the sweep late on a Saturday night.
Though some Phillies assert that 2007 is ancient history, Ryan Howard still tastes the bitterness of that sudden exit.
"It's in the back of our minds," the first baseman acknowledged. "We remember what happened in '07, and we're going to go out there and try not to let history repeat itself."
The Phillies redeemed themselves by winning the World Series last year, which buries 2007's dismal showing even deeper in the memory bank.
"That was 2 years ago," second baseman Chase Utley said. "No matter who we're playing in the first round, we're going to go out there and fight."
Still, they wouldn't be human if they didn't remember being outscored and outexecuted by a Rockies club that went on to sweep Arizona in the NLCS before being swept themselves by the Red Sox in the World Series.
Indeed, before and during last year's championship run, a number of Phillies mentioned how losing to the Rockies actually served as a helpful lesson in postseason baseball. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins mentioned yesterday how the Phillies are better prepared today to deal with the rigors of October than they were at this time 2 years ago.
"We all have a real good idea of how to approach things," he explained. "It still is baseball, but the concentration level that it is going to take to perform on this stage . . . I think that comes only with experience; knowing how to go about handling yourself and being mentally prepared."
And if they can exact a measure of revenge for 2007's early exit, that would be fine with the superstar first baseman.
"You can call it what you want. You can call it revenge, whatever you want. I don't care what you call it," Howard said. "But there is definitely that little piece that is in the back of our mind. This is the first step along the road of where we want to be."
Trouble Bruin
Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins showed a bit of a pulse last week after a mostly miserable season. He came into 2009 averaging 25 homers and 110 RBI over the last three seasons, but struggled with nine homers and 48 RBI this year as he battled a hip injury. He even lost his job to Ian Stewart.
Atkins went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the Rockies' playoff clincher Thursday. He hit .304 against the Phillies this year with three of those nine bombs.
Utley, a teammate of Atkins' from 1998 to 2000 at UCLA, certainly kept tabs on his fellow Bruin.
"I'm always pulling for him," Utley said. "We're pretty good friends. I hope he slows it down against us, though."
New pitch for Lidge
Struggling Phillies reliever Brad Lidge says he will bring a third pitch with him whenever Charlie Manuel summons him to the mound.
Lidge threw mostly sliders and fastballs during last year's World Series run, but says he has added a cut fastball to his repertoire. A cut fastball is half-slider/half-fastball that breaks late . . . when thrown correctly, of course.
"It is a pitch that I plan on using this postseason. I also feel
really good with my [fastball] and slider, and those are my bread and butter," he said. "But certainly I'll be using the [cut fastball], and hopefully it will help me out with lefties a little bit."
Lidge said he used it a few times Saturday when he had his first perfect inning since August.
"Before that, it had been a few years, maybe 2005 or 2006. The thing that you have to be careful with is that if you throw too many, it can start messing up your slider," he explained. "That's the problem I had before. I didn't realize how to use it or why I was using it. I was just trying to throw it as hard as I could. A few years roll by, and now I have a much better idea of why you're supposed to throw it and when you're supposed to throw it."
Odds and ends
Rockies manager Jim Tracy's major league playing career consisted of 87 games with the Cubs in 1980 and 1981. He hit three career homers, his first coming off Dick Ruthven on Sept. 21, 1980 . . . As hard as it is to repeat, it's even rarer that a champion starts its title defense with a pitcher who wasn't on the previous season's roster. Today, Cliff Lee will become the third such pitcher since divisional play began in 1969. Rookie Jim Beattie pitched the first game of the 1978 ALCS for the Yankees, and Matt Clement was on the mound for the ALDS opener when Boston began its unsuccessful title defense in 2005. *
Send e-mail to barkowe@phillynews.com.
