UPDATED: Steal this game! Hamels, Phils take Game 1 of the World Series

12:02: We win! Cue the mental fireworks. since it's in St. Pete. I said they might steal this game, and that's what did, hanging on for dear life despite the same inability to get clutch hits they showed in the first half of the season.

But let's not dwell on the negative -- the Phillies won with an amazing, "got 'er did" start by Cole Hamels and an equally amazing bullpen, including a flawless 9th from Lidge. That's the 100th win that J-Roll promised us, but we need three more. It's not going to be easy...but why can't us?

Heroes: Hamels, Madson, Lidge, Utley, Werth, Victorino.

Near-Goats: Rollins, Howard, Burrell, Coste (sigh) -- and let's not forget Rays' B.J. Upton grounding into two double plays.

Tomorrow? Which Brett Myers shows up at the Trop?

11:56: Wow -- the Phillies have tried everything possible not to win this game, but they may steal it anyway.

Do you think Howard will able to get himself untracked mid-series -- he sounds lost. Lidge looking good, though. Stay tuned here in the 9th, two strikeouts and the pesky Crawford to go.

11:14: This is why Cole is king -- a shut down 7th inning when mere mortals would be running out of gas. OK, there will be a gap here as I move to an undisclosed location. See you for the dramatic conclusion -- and remember the Phillies usually score when I'm behind the wheel!

11:06: Nope. The Phillies are 0-9 with runners in scoring position (or 0-11, my sleep deprived brain has already forgot). It doesn't feel like they're winning this game, even as they are. Can they make it to Lidge?

11:04: Hopefully Grant Balfour will live up to his name and walk home a couple of runs.

10:51: Ultey gives all of America a free taco by stealing second! Is there nothing that man can't do. Time for Howard to unslump here, especially as Utley moves to 3rd on a wild pitch.

10:41: Howard taketh, and giveth away (on a bad error) and as I type this, taketh again with a nice pickoff and a throw to second. What a huge out with the meat of the order here.

10:35: Fox is doing a live interview with the president....of Taco Bell. No advertiser suck-up there. I believe this president has been endorsed by Ed Rendell, by the way. Phillies doing precious little on offense here.

10:28: Great play by Howard here, reaching into the stands behind first to end a Rays rally. Those Tampa fans should know better than to pull a Jeffrey Meier on the Big Man.

10:25: Nobody said this would be easy. The Phillies are going to regret those squandered chances earlier in the game. It's 3-2, Good Guys, in the fifth.

10:10: Hey, did you see Burrell running on the wrong side of the basepaths there on that error by Pena -- he should have been called out. No matter as Victorino hits into an un-MVP-like groundout.

10:00: Sorry, was editing that body parts story that I told you about -- slight dose of grim reality on a happy night. Anyway, I did see the Phillies bump the lead up to 3-0 out of the corner of one eye, looking good here with Hamels being Hamels-esque. Watching Ryan Howard, who's NOT looking Howard-esque.

Did you notice the contribution by Coste the last inning, moving the runners over to set up the 3rd run. Do you think Disney could use that for the end of the movie, if they used really dramatic music? Probably not.

Also, after Hamels, has Victorino not been the MVP of the post-season. I hope the Phillies annoint him centerfielder for life.

9:36: Hamels was cruising here, and now suddenly he's not cruising. How does this happen.

Nevermind...double play!

9:22: Who is Carlos ROO-eez? Jeez, Tim.

As one of those "pro-America" congressmen might say, Jayson Werth, "got 'er did." Utley and Howard here, not so much. The Phillies are letting the Rays hang around this game....

9:13: Ugh...sending Victorino was the right thing there, he just wasn't safe. Opportunity squandered.

Joe Buck just said "Crawford has been with the team since they were called Devil Rays"....ugh, wasn't that last year?

9:03: Maybe when everybody said Utley would be MVP this year, they meant World Series MVP. By the way, Jimmy Rollins promised 100 wins, and tonight could be 100 wins...if you count the post-season.

Phillies have Kazmir on the ropes here, but no Hollywood heroics from Coste.

8:51: We're going to get a good sense in this first inning how the Phillies' night will go....and what a remarkably bone-headed play by Howard and Hamels to allow an infield hit to Tampa's Iwamura on what should have been a routine grounder, but quickly made up for with a nice double play from the Phils' Hall of Fame infield.

8:43: Sorry, my blogging software is so nervous it froze up here. Soooo...play ball. The Phillies clearly have a game plan, working deep counts on Kazmir....

AND SHE IS.....GONE!!! Two-run home run Chase Utley, just like that, a titanic shot to right. Can you believe it was not long ago we worried whether he could hit in the post-season. This two-run lead is huge, for Hamels. Interestingly, the Rays did a full-blown shift on Utley, something I had not seen before. His response, essentially, was "shift this!"

8:33: So, is the game actually tonight, or is this some kind of three-hour preview extravaganza?

Bonus trivia question: Name a major U.S. corporation that Cal Ripken Jr. does NOT do commercials for.

8:27: What would have been really cool -- if a squadron of F-16s had crashed through that polyester roof at the end of the anthem. Might have delayed the first pitch, though.

So, the conventional wisdom, as voiced by Tim McCarver and others, is that the Phillies won this game...or else. That's kind of scary.

8:19: Ugh, the Backstreet Boys -- looking about 45ish, and when did they go so barbershop quartet? Here's the  National Anthem lineup for the rest of the Series: Game 2, N'Sync; Game 3, Bobbie Sherman, Game 4, Tiffany; Game 5, Aaron Carter; Game 6, Shawn Cassidy, Game 7, Iron Butterfly.

8:16: Interesting to see a fair amount of towel waving in the stands, scattered cheers for Phillies introduction. Mostly boos. About like Palin's reception at the Wells Fargo Center.

I've just got to have less cowbell.

8:06: Shorter Michael Douglas (with help from McCain and Obama): Baseball won World War II and ended segregation, or something like that. Pardon my abbreviation language, but wtf was that. It's the greatest sporting event on earth, the World Series...does it really need bogus additional hype. Fox must be worried about the rating.

Speaking of Fox, please tell their announcers not to ring cowbells.

7:32: Did you ever think this day would really come? Me neither -- which may be why I have no vacation days left. So I'm here, watching the Phillies but -- unlike you -- working, editing stories about chopped up body parts and such -- fun, huh? But I digress. Here we are again, as we every four years or so in this town (remember the 2005 Super Bowl?), on the brink of a parade, and yet still the underdog.

The Rays are the hotter team, younger, nothing to lose, with arguably the best manager in baseball. Which is why I beleive the Phillies will win in five if the regular season Jamie Moyer shows up in Game 3, and 7 games if it's the post-season Moyer. I see that Chris Coste is the DH so my Hollywood story line is playing out just as I'd planned. But what say you?