http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford RSS Feed for Inq Col Bob Ford en-us Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:37:17 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091108_Bob_Ford__Phillies__future_hinges_on_Hamels.html If the Phillies are going to get back to the World Series in 2010, they will need Cole Hamels to pitch like Cole Hamels and quit channeling his inner Tyler Green. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091105_Bob_Ford__No_shame_in_loss__but_Phils__business_unfinished.html NEW YORK - There's nothing particularly unique or shameful about losing a World Series to the New York Yankees. It had been done 26 times before last night when the Phillies became the latest victim of the most decorated team in baseball history. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091104_Bob_Ford__Short_rest_for_pitchers_was_once_routine_in_Series.html If you want to win the World Series despite a three-games-to-one deficit and need to finish off the comeback with a pair of wins on the road, the best formula to follow would be the one employed by the Detroit Tigers in 1968. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091103_Bob_Ford__Next_win_for_Phils_will_be_harder.html Now comes the hard part. Last night's World Series win over the New York Yankees was hardly a sure thing, but it was the surest card the Phillies had in their hand as they attempt to play their way out of the deep hole they dug in the first four games of the series. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091102_Bob_Ford__It_s_not_over_yet__but_it_s_pretty_close.html Well, it's been nice. The Phillies, as you know and have witnessed and been told endlessly, are a resilient team. They are never finished until it is finished, are never out of it until it is over. They battle, they scrap, they come back when there is very little hope of coming back. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091101_Bob_Ford__Putting_it_all_on_Joe_Blanton.html So, it is Joe Blanton to save the season tonight. That's the way it works now, after Cole Hamels disassembled in the middle innings against the Yankees last night. That is the rotation the Phillies have devised, and that is the savior you get. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091030_Bob_Ford__Manuel_s_rotation-juggling_carries_a_lot_of_risk.html NEW YORK - Every decision Charlie Manuel has made since the postseason began has been with the intent of putting the Phillies in better position to repeat as World Series champions. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091029_Bob_Ford__Utley_does_it_again__sets_tone_for_Series.html NEW YORK - There was no way to expect what Chase Utley did last night in the opening game of the World Series, of course. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091027_Bob_Ford__Eagles_feasted_on_Redskins__mistakes.html LANDOVER, Md. - One week after laying an egg in Oakland, the Eagles finally located the henhouse. It was right there off the Capital Beltway, a big, old burgundy-and-gold henhouse with lots of chickens ripe for the plucking. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/bob_ford/20091026_Bob_Ford__Westbrook_s_reality_has_been_losing_touches.html The game against the Raiders last week had reached its final minutes and the costumed customers in Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum shook their plastic weapons and growled their meanest growls as Donovan McNabb took a shotgun snap and searched the stage for a redemptive exit.