It's been fascinating to watch the reaction of Philadelphia to the Phillies' loss of the World Series -- after a day or two of baseball-style mourning, the whole town is talking in an upbeat, can-do fashion about how do we get back, and how do we win like we did in 2008. (Eagles? Who dat?) Both the actual news and the rumors are fast and furious; it looks like what will happen will be an expensive upgrade at 3rd base and new additions to the bullpen and the bench; what probably won't happen is a deal for Toronto pitching ace Roy Halliday or, even less likely, getting Halliday or another starter by trading away 25-year-old enigma Cole Hamels.
I think the Phillies are playing the hand they've been dealt, but it makes me nervous. The entire 2009 postseason for the Phillies was a massive gamble that Hamels and Brad Lidge would return to their 2008 form rather than play like they did in the 2009 regular season; that didn't work, but despite all the distractions the bottom line is that the Phils are now doubling down on the Hamels/Lidge wager for 2010.
Meanwhile, Bill Conlin channels his frustration over losing to this Yankees into this:
Once again, I call for the National League to restore the measure of competitive balance the DH rule has drained from the game since 1973. It's not because I like it - although the National League sometimes reminds me of an auto industry where the automatic transmission was never invented. Since the players union will never give up the highest-salaried position in the game, the ball, as always, remains in the NL court.
Conlin's column also has the fascinating detail that a Phillies' communication mix-up (shocking, I know) was the only reason the NL didn't also adopt the DH in 1973. But it's too late to close the barn door; the rule difference between the two leagues -- and the endless arguments every October -- are now one more piece of what makes baseball great, and why it's game that people are still talking about this sport days after the season officially ended. Besides, even with the DH disparity the NL's World Series record the last decade is an OK 4-6, and the only reason it's not .500 or better is the numbers inside the wallets of the Yankees and the Red Sox, not the letters in baseball's rulebook.
That always seems to be baseball's first concern: How does this effect the Yankees and Red Sox? That's why they'll never have a salary cap, because who would a cap effect the most? As for the DH, it's not going away due to the reason above, so the NL has to go with it to have uniform rules across baseball.— jmc
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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