THEY ARE called red-light players, meaning that they are at their best when the television cameras come on. It's a shorthand version of saying a certain guy tends to rise to the occasion. It's a compliment.

Rollins, the Phillies leadoff hitter, is batting just .237 this postseason.

And he's a big reason why the Phillies are a win away from returning to the World Series for the second straight season.

Of course he delivered the thunderbolt double that drove in two runs and lifted the Phillies to an improbable, 5-4 win over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series last night at Citizens Bank Park.

He drilled a fastball from fearsome Los Angeles closer Jonathan Broxton into the gap in right-center. "I wasn't afraid," Rollins said. "I've faced him a number of times and that helps."

Before that, though, he was in the middle of the rallies that allowed the Phillies to beat Rockies closer Huston Street in the final two games of the NLDS.

"He likes that. He likes the moment," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He wants to be there. He can control his adrenaline and handle the moment."

Reggie Jackson was a red-light player. So was Lenny Dykstra.

Jimmy Rollins is adding his name to that list.

Conspiracy theory

 

Mitch Williams looks at the same plays everybody else is looking at. The two potential doubleplay throws Phillies second baseman Chase Utley airmailed at Dodger Stadium. The throw to first that Ryan Howard had to dig out of the dirt in Game 3. The subtle herky-jerky that seems to have crept into his game.

And when he does, the former Phillies reliever sees something different from what most see.

He sees a player who's hurt.

"Something is wrong. When the season's over, there's going to be something come out that Chase has been playing with this [injury]. He will not talk about it. He doesn't want an excuse. That's just how he is. He's not going to talk about an injury," Wild Thing said.

Williams first made the observation in his role as an analyst for the MLB Network and expounded on the subject standing in the box seats behind home plate before the Phillies' stunning, 5-4 comeback win last night.

When asked what makes him think the All-Star is hiding an injury, Williams shrugged.

"Watching the way he's trying to throw the baseball," he said simply.

Utley played much of the 2008 season with a hip injury that required postseason surgery, but was said to be fully recovered by Opening Day. While his .282 batting average this year was his lowest since becoming an everyday player in 2005, he still hit 31 homers, scored 112 runs and drove in 93.

He did, however, bat .193 with only two homers from Sept. 1 to the end of the season.