Halladay human, but Phils need to hit
Halladay human, but Phils need to hit
Sam Donnellon, Daily News Sports Columnist
The good news: The Phillies offense showed signs of life against an excellent pitcher.
The bad news: Roy Halladay is human. Especially against the San Francisco Giants.
Tagged with the loss after allowing all the runs in last night’s 4-3 Game 1 loss in the National League Championship Series, Halladay is now 0-3 in four starts against San Francisco, with an earned run average of just under seven runs per game.
"I never expected it to be easy," Halladay said afterwards. "If you can’t handle failure at this point you’re in the wrong business."
The anticipated duel between last year’s Cy Young Award winner and the likely winner this year fizzled quickly via long pitch counts. Neither ace appeared to have the command that punctuated their first forays into the postseason last week, but home plate umpire Derryl Cousins tight strike zone had something to do with that.
Halladay flinched first, surrendering a no-doubt home run to Cody Ross with one out in the third inning. Halladay struck out Lincecum and Torres to end the inning, but the immediate thought was: Would this be enough?
Carlos Ruiz answered that on Lincecum’s second pitch in the bottom of the third, punching a high outside fastball over the rightfield wall to tie the score at 1.
Lincecum spent the rest of the inning battling his control and glaring at Cousins, necessitating a trip to the mound by Giants manager Bruce Bochy after Lincecum fell behind Ryan Howard with two runners in scoring position.
"I could see that he was showing a little frustration," said Bochy. "I just wanted to calm him down. And I mean, he's really hyped up a little bit in this big game. And he was in a jam there. So I just wanted to make sure he calmed down and kept his poise out there and came back, made some good pitches there on Howard. But I could see a little frustration on his part. That's why I went out there."
It was the most pivotal at-bat of the game. After Ruiz’s home run tied the game, Placido Polanco hit a 2-0 pitch for a double into the leftfield corner and Chase Utley walked. Lincecum fell behind Howard 2-0, who had doubled against Lincecum in the first inning hitting the ball to the opposite field.
This time he swung hard at three consecutive pitches out of the strike zone to end the threat. One of those pitches missed the target so badly that it sailed past catcher Buster Posey, moving both runners into scoring position. Regardless, the Giants kept the shift on, providing a huge hole on the left to punch a ball through.
The Phillies had four extra base hits in three games against the Reds. They had three extra-base hits in the first three innings last night, but just two singles from that point on.
And for the third game in a row, they could not muster consecutive hits.
"I’m concerned,’’ said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. "We need to hit better."
Cousins strike zone played big in the Giants sixth, when they rallied for three runs with two outs and no one on. With Buster Posey on first, Halladay thought he struck out Burrell on a 1-2 cutter. "Yeah, I did," he said. "But there were calls they wanted too. If you don’t make a pitch, you have to make the next one."
Instead Burrell ripped the following pitch for a double, the ball glancing off Raul Ibanez’s glove at the base of the wall. Uncharacteristically irked, Halladay had words with Cousins after backing up the play. He then surrendered an RBi single up the middle to Juan Uribe and the Giants led 4-1.
Jayson Werth recovered two runs in the bottom of the sixth, launching a 2-2 fastball over the rightfield wall with Chase Utley aboard to make it 4-3.
It stayed that way the rest of the way, although not without drama and missed opportunities.
With a lineup full of other team’s castoffs, the Giants finished well behind the Cincinnati Reds in virtually every important offensive category this season. But they are a team of hackers, and against Halladay, on a night when the strike zone for both he and Giants ace Tim Lincecum shrunk considerably from their first postseason starts, it was a perfect formula.
Halladay lost for the first time since Aug. 30. "You’re always surprised when Roy gets hit," said Brad Lidge. "It’s once in a blue moon."
"But I’m excited to see him pitch the next time out."
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Buy: NLCS tickets, Phillies gear, front-page reprintsComments (82)
Man, I was really psyched after Cliff Lee's Game 1 win at Yankee Stadium last year...— 5280philly- The Giants will prove to be a very tough opponent mentally in close games. The Phillies have to win a game or two by scoring a lot of runs. This will take some pressure off the Phillies starting and relief pitchers because the Giants can't score runs with the Phillies. The Phillies need to win game 2, and players such as Victorino, Polanco, Utley, Howard and Rollins need to start hitting. I think Werth and Ruiz have carried this team too much lately. It's time for the other guys to wake up, or they'll be watching the World Series at home on their couches.— RunningTheBases
- This could be a problem... The team needs to consistently hit. They let both Lincecum and Wilson off the hook in key situations. The bullpen did their job giving the Phils O a chance to pull it out. The bats have to respond when necessary or this series will go south in a hurry. You can see the Giants are very hungry and that gives them an edge.— eagle_z
- Howard should be embarrassed that he swung at a pitch that went into the stands. He hit a double to lead off a inning but then he struck out the next 3 times when it mattered— Joey0210
- The Phillies are going to let Werth go to another team this winter but keep the three year slumper Jimmy Rollins on their roster . He has lost the ability to hit and it is never coming back.— publius sempronius tuditanus
- And so the numerous man-crushes with Lee begin again...— BrianNJ
Comment removed.- If Ibanez catches that somewhat routine flyball, we'd all be celebrating a Halladay.— retzlaff
- Three runs versus Lincecum should be enough to win.— Freedom Fries
- Cliff Lee > Roy Choke-A-Day any day of the week!!! Halladay can handle the pee in their pants Reds lineup...but when the pressure is turned up and the lights are on, he falls to pieces against Cody Ross??? That was not a big time pitching performance tonight. The ball hit to Ibanez was a sieve off the bat of Pat the Bat. Halladay flat out stunk tonight and if this was Cole Hamels you guys would by frying him. FRYING HIM!!!— jeffmacnow1234
- SF faced a hot Chi-Cubs pitching staff(made them suffer-Giants), Then the Padres Pitching staff-even more filthY!!!!!!, Then the Braves staff(notice the reacuring theme) -The GIANTS staff is used to grinding!!!! Get used to it- be ready for a down and dirty fight!!
— griff-one 
Just one game, folks. We've won the NLCS 5 times since 1980 and we've never swept an opponent.— wylies99- Comment removed.
- Ryan Howard couldn't have come up smaller, and jimmy rollins is finished folks...— Conshy04
- hey folks if the bullfrog had wings he would fly— tobyjoe
- It would be nice if Charley sat Howard against Sanchez and let Sweeney play. Also, after Ruiz homered and Halladay singled, why doesn't Victorino bunt down the 3rd baseline? Puts pressure on the defense to make a play and worse case Victorino's out at first.— etc757
- Yes, Rollins needs to sit: can't hit, can't run w/ the bad hamstring. Put in Valdez. And Howard has been a playoff bust since the Yankees figured out he can't hit a low, outside curve. Victorino can't go 0-5 in leadoff. Ibanez has to make that catch off Burrell.— misterhman
- Oh, Brother...— M60tanker
- What a bunch of frontrunners.— Bella914
- New day, new game tonight. Go Phillies!!
- Discipline..Discipline. The Phillies..how many strikeouts?..Swing at the most incredibly bad pitches. Howard,Rollins, etc., need to be patient. Lincecum wasn't that great last night, yet they proceeded to swing at garbage pitches. I've howled about this weakness for years.I can frequently predict the pitch that'll be thrown next. If I can see it, the opposition knows it better than I do. Sure, other players swing at junk too, but for some reason the Phils make a bad habit of it.. You can't score runs on strikeouts and pop-ups.— oblekr
- Howard is stealing money. He has been a zero the last month when he usually excels. is he another I GOT MY MONEY, WHO CARES GUY? And Rollins, why is Charlie so loyal to this guy. You have to bench him now, and trade him in off season so you can sign Werth. Oh, and Utley needs to step up too.— Phil Checchia
- I noticed a lot of new names of posters tonite. I guess they decide to come out of their holes only when the Phils are in the playoffs and they lose a game. These are the same people that give Philly fans a bad name and rap. Yeah, it was one game but this was a game I thought the Phils needed to win. Should Rollins be starting? Porbably not, but you KNOW Charlie is going to stick with him until the end. In a series where runs may be at a premium, you need to go with the guy that historically has produced in these times. Hence, Rollins starting until the end.— ESFjellin
- What are people doing posting at 4am? Get a life.— beefbr
- Strikeouts with runners on base was the key..Big Money Howard needs to man up!— patrickstar
- Here's what your Phillies have to overcome: Y'all. They are where the Braves once were (though not as good as those '90s Braves teams)where the fans expect a world championship, and anything less means a failed season. Giants could easily win this series and probably will. Ren, are you out there?— rickwise
So if Charlie sticks with an obviously diminished Rollins out of loyalty, we're stuck with big holes in the batting order at the #4 AND the #6 spots? Kinda hard to score runs that way. I guess Howard could stop waving at breaking stuff out of the zone, but that will happen just before the next asteroid hits the earth.- Instead of dropping Rollins in the batting order-how about dropping him out of the line up entirely!?— wmcdowell1
- what front runners you all are. Can you spell P-A-N-I-C?? One missed catch away from winning the game. One strike away..relax. BTW: IT would be nice if a few bats did show up tonight, though— jeff gross
The big bad Pillys lost, they just lost, like a bunch of big mouth losers, watched by their big mouthed fans in red dresses. Giant's Rule !- I'm in favor of benching Rollins. I hope Charlie is not going to pull another 'Lidge' with 'he's my boy' approach. This is not the playoffs, not regular season. Play your best, and Rollins is clearly not the best at this time.— Manor2009
- It's so true. Despite Cole having a ring and Roy having zilch, if he pitched like Roy, the torches and pitchforks would have been out for him. We just about to find out what Roy "Tractor Boy" Oswalt is made of.— Steve Jeltz
- not sure if rollins can't run he moves well in the infield no problem there..I don't think his hamstring is sore at all now he needs to warm up do a lot of stretching,fluids and go all out running the bases from here on in if he hurts it again use valdez. it is a mental thing being fearful you might get hurt again drop him to 8th in the lineup for now. phils are playing a must win game tonite.— only 9
- Ibanez sucks. All he needed to do is was turn around and catch the damn ball. The fing ball almost hit him the back.— Kcsplash
- Condolence to everyone who bought into the Phillies, their bats look like last years world serie's bats, their pitching is a let-down when it counts and the manager needs to change his bubble gum more often....San Fran and the Rangers in the series - except it!— STEPHEN1988
- Comment removed.
- Ibanez BUTCHERED that ball hit by Burrell----routine!!! Game!— george22
Rollins and Howard should sit.— Phil Lee- look what happpens in the 8th and 9th inning when the Giants brought in WILSON. He fall behind WERTH 2-0 in the 8th inning then Werth singles. Next up was Rollins ... and Wilson falls behind 3-1.... of course Rollins strikes out. Then In the 9th inning Wilson fall behind Ibanez 2-0... Ibanez strikes out ... RUIZ hit by a pitch... next batter is GLOAD... wilson falls behind 2-0 ... Gload strikes out.... last batter is Victorino... wilson falls Behind 3-0!!!!! but shane strikes out . One cannot over look that sort of awful at bats. the Phillies are in real danger of getting swept— wxdavid
- The Giants had passion on their faces the Phillies face were stone. Utley if you are intense and a leader.....step up!— Phil Lee
- Is anyone besides me tired of seeing R. Howard strike out over and over again especially with men in scoring position? Why doesn't Manual drop him in the batting order? I'd rather see Ruiz hit fourth. At least he doesn't strike out so much and he is a good clutch hitter. After Howard signed that HUGE contract, when will he start earning it??— fanup
- Great, hard fought game by both teams last night. But hey, how bout you Philly Fans try bringing a little class with you to the ballpark tonight? The homophobic whistling at Timmy and the rude signs mocking his teeth........you guys looked like white trash on national t.v. goin that route. Keep it real, keep it about the game....and you win or lose with dignity. That was weak sauce you were puttin out yesterday.— Go Giants
- Today Mr. Roy 2 OZwalt will have something to say about who he is also... and the 3 runs Phils got last night will be enough this night. Remember people... NO team in either league swept their LCS's the last two years... Not the Phils, not the Yanks, not the Rays. And, if needed, games 6 and 7 are back in Philly. (And Cliff Lee will prove himself to be human this postseason also).
- YES IT IS TIME TO PANIC... 2 home runs by Cody Ross? TWO?! both times on the exact same pitch EXACT same portion of left filed.... the Giants Last in SB in all of MLB steal 2 bases?? Timmy pitch BADLY last night and we still lost. The Phillies hit 10 pop-ups last night? 10....— wxdavid
- Was REALLY hoping to take Game 1....just eases the pressure. But tonight's Game is a "must-win". That bad call against Pat the Bat (Should've been a strike) was a significant turning point. What should've been an out of that inning, cost us two runs. I agree with an earlier post - ROLLINS needs to be benched. You can just see in his face, he is NOT up to par. Put Valdez at short....he got it done for us when Rollins was on the DL. And Howard? Those strikeouts are just HIDEOUS!!! And where are the bats of Victorino, Ibanez and Polanco?? Also....do we NOT know how to bunt???— JustaTXjock
- WOW, some of you Philly fans are real idiots!! One loss and you all jump ship. Are some of you people really bashing Roy Halladay???? This is why none of you were Phillies fans before they started winning. You are not real fans. I agree with some of the statements such as the ineffectiveness of Jimmy Rollins and the terrible at bats by Ryan Howard. But, to bash Roy Halladay? I like Hamels too but he has never won more than 15 games in a season and he has played for a winning team. Halladay played for a bad team and has several 20 win seasons and Cy Yound awards to his credit. Not to mention he pitched 2 no hitters this year, one of which was a perfect game. To say that Hamels is better is just asinine. Some of you should be banned from posting on here.— BigRy2179
- You Philly fans need to ralize, San Fran starting pitching allowed more than 3 runs once in the last month and a half. And that was Barry Zito.
Great pitching neutralizes good hitting every time.— crackheadmike - Where do the umpires keep their seeing eye dogs when they are behind the plate?— Disco Dave
- Hey GoGiants; how about you do what you want when at a ballpark and we'll do what we want?
We don't need any losers telling fans of the most successful team the past 5 years how to behave; we know what it's like to win!— JBinPA - CrackHead, you've won one game; stop acting like you've won the WS! That's right, you don't know what it's like to win a WS! Go back to the crack pipe; you'll make more sense— JBinPA
- You have to give the Giants credit. they came in and took game 1. The phils only got a few hits in one inning once. After chooch homered, halladay singled, then victorino hit into a DP and Polanco doubled.
Even though it was early some teams might have bunted howard over from 2nd to 3rd in the 2nd inning with Werth up to get an early run.
As Charlie says, they've gotta hit. Tough night for the bats. There is one place where the numbers don't lie...for the season Victorino hit 233 left handed (96 hits in 412 bats) and 320 right handed (56 in 175). Rollins hit 218 left handed (52 hits in 239 bats) and 297 right handed. They'll both bat right tonite against Sanchez, however I would have them bat right all the time. Let's go Phils. Get the bats going.— Fan74 - Howard needs to hit better but let's remember he did get a hit. Burrell's hit in the 6th was the game difference. The pitch before that could have easily been a strike and it would be the Giants fans posting these comments. I'm not complaining about the call but, as Charlie would say, "That's baseball." Really, if you take away that 6th the whole thing was pretty even. Let's see how they fare tonight before we panic too much. That said, I probably would have gone to Valdez earlier. Victorino getting no hits was also a huge factor -- bigger than Howard only getting one hit in my opinion. But with Rollins hitting and running the way he is, there's no magic answer for that leadoff spot other than to hope Victorino picks it back up tonight.— s
- This isn't regular season, these aren't just average pitchers. We have great hitters if we are hitting against average pitchers. If we lose today, it is over.— long_long_le
- Everyone relax; we've lost 1 playoff game this year! It' a new day and by midnight this series will be 1-1.— JBinPA
- Everyone relax; we've lost 1 playoff game this year! It' a new day and by midnight this series will be 1-1.— JBinPA
- Heck Yeah! "Offense will be a problem" The Phills are facing one of the best pitching staffs assembled in many years. The Giants are gonna kick some but this series.......it is Giants destiny!!— NvisblMan
Two best comments:
1. jeff gross - what front runners you all are. Can you spell P-A-N-I-C?? One missed catch away from winning the game. One strike away..relax. BTW: IT would be nice if a few bats did show up tonight, though
2. wxdavid (excerpted) - look what happpens in the 8th and 9th inning when the Giants brought in WILSON. He fall behind WERTH 2-0 in the 8th inning then Werth singles. Next up was Rollins ... and Wilson falls behind 3-1.... of course Rollins strikes out. Then In the 9th inning Wilson fall behind Ibanez 2-0... Ibanez strikes out ... RUIZ hit by a pitch... next batter is GLOAD... wilson falls behind 2-0 ... Gload strikes out.... last batter is Victorino... wilson falls Behind 3-0!!!!! but shane strikes out . One cannot over look that sort of awful at bats.- I lived in Boston for 6 years and went to a lot of RedSocks games. I thought they had some of the most classless fans in baseball, then I moved here. It's not everyone but a large majority buy into being pitiful trailer trash. Why? It's embarrassing to every civilized person in the city. Sad.— long_long_le
- all year long the Giants games have neen torture, always close games, late innings comebacks, don't be so surprised that they can play the game, the only thing that surprised me during the game, was how many Philly fans came out of the closet, and declared on national television that the town of Philly has taken over as the city with the most gay men, ROFLMAO....game 2 today, another win for the Giants, Sanchez will strike out 10, Wilson another save! Go Giants— SFGiantsTorture
- lle, you are a GREAT fan; with that said, please go be a fan of the METS! You're a loser too!— JBinPA
Now Roy sucks? I sure hope this is the stupid minority speaking.— COskier- Agree with SFGiantsTorture. First, show Giant's pitching some respect. Sure Wilson fell behind, but he was painting the outside corner to avoid a home run and missing by inches. The HBP was a smart brushback that he had a bit of bad luck with. His control was AMAZING. Outside, outside, outside corner...last pitch to win the game, inside 96mph heat. Phillies stop throwing your hitters and fielders under the bus. Wilson struck out 4 batters because he is damn good. The ball was not caught because he was booking full speed to a ball many dont event reach and having to judge trajectory at a full run. Error free ball, close game, clutch plays by Giants. Give them the respect they deserve. The pitching stats are not by accident, and look what they did to a Rockies team on an amazing comeback. Rocks were rolling to a playoff spot and Giants swatted them down to a painful death. We are pressure-honed and dangerous. I admit Phills are better on paper, but with intangibles, this is a super close matchup. Enjoy the great baseball, we are lucky to watch it.— steveinoakland
- As shocked as I was that we lost Game 1, everybody relax. We'll be ok. Roy Oswalt surely can't be as ineffective as he was in the Reds series, can he? Surely the bats won't be quiet tonight, will they? If so, and we go down 0-2, count this series as maybe being DOOM for the Fightins. Keep your fingers crossed Phillies fans!
- From what I am reading, the majority of Phillies fans are just like the majority of Giants fans. When their team wins, it's like nothing ever goes wrong. When their team loses, all hell breaks lose.
The same kind of pervasive, faulty thinking is apparent with both crowds.
If you Phillies fans would've listened to Charlie Manuel's post game interview, he nailed it.
Baseball is very chancy. Very random. A 4 - 3 loss for the Phillies could've easily been a 3 - 1 win for the Phils.
Here's another thing:
The posters who are posing as Giants fans are some of the most clueless when it comes to baseball.
All they do is play misguided, amateur GM with no real understanding of how the game is played.— cankles - The offense was indeed terrible last night, but Halladay DID pitch well enough to win that game. Stop dumping on Halladay! You want to dump on someone, try Ibanez, who just blew that fly ball catch... a routine catch for Werth or Victorino. Ibanez is playing--both offensively and defensively--like he is sleep-walking.— Tomme
- Tonight is a must win game!!! I don't see us winning 3 in SF against that pitching. I admit it has happened before but with this team I kind of doubt it. ONE THING NEEDS TO BE SAID-- IF CHARLIE CAN'T WIN WITH THIS TEAM AFTER ALL THE MONEY WE'VE SPENT FOR IT WE NEED A CHANGE. PERIOD!!!— Wally 24
- Since when is an inconsistent offense anything new for the Phillies? While the Phillies pitching overall has been very good the offense, unfortunately, has been pedestrian at best. Frankly, the Phillies struggle to score against average pitchers, so when they face a team with excellent pitching like San Fran, it just adds so much more pressure to the Phillies pitching staff. There are many players on the Phillies offense that are paid very, very well to hit the ball and score runs. We've been waiting for this offense to break out and be consistent all year, and it is not a good sign when it is the NLCS and we are still waiting. I do not see this team magically finding an offense throughout the playoffs, so we have to hope the pitching holds up and continues to pitch beyond what should be expected.— MrPhillie
Ryan Howard at the Eagles game today, living it up on the sidelines. Interesting that an obscene high paid player appears to show no interest in tonights game or any remorse about losing last nights game. In fact, he spent the interview segment joking around on the sideline and downplaying last nights loss. Let's see how many times tonight this mega bucks player strikes out tonight...an attitude adjustment is needed with this Phillies team.— dogman5- My first post here was congratulating Doc on his amazing no-hitter last week. As a life long Giants fan I really do think people are underestimating this team. Their entire season has been like a playoff with 1 run games and edge of your seat 9th innings.
With that said, I think the Phillys will bounce back against a VERY tough lefty Sanchez. Our goal was get one in Philly. If you cannot get to Sanchez early though, the pressure will mount and the Giants may come out on top.
Go Giants!!!— StaunchGiantsFan - @cancles. Typical. You make a blanket statement painting all fans as one thing, then criticize others, call the Giant's fans clueless, but then offer no insights and nothing as an example to support any of your points. Useless.
Let's discuss some baseball. Who outmanged who tonight? Bochy had the guts to pull P Burell for the pinch runner who scores the winning run, where Pat is at third. Leaves a high pitch count freak in for the 7th, when pitch count and a sub-par day suggest pull him, puts in the perfect anti-lefty specialist to neutralized two dangerous hitters, then Wilson to handle the pressure in the 8th. All tough calls, but smart moves.
A Phil's loss is bad luck due to baseball's randomness? Yes a close game, but the Giant's made the plays the Phil's didnt. They have done it all Sept. Good luck against Sanchez. He can be inconsistent, but if he brings his best stuff he will own your lineup if they don't step up. Just like several have said.— steveinoakland - @cancles. Typical. You make a blanket statement painting all fans as one thing, then criticize others, call the Giant's fans clueless, but then offer no insights and nothing as an example to support any of your points. Useless. Let's discuss some baseball. Who outmanged who tonight? Bochy had the guts to pull P Burell for the pinch runner who scores the winning run, where Pat is at third. Leaves a high pitch count freak in for the 7th, when pitch count and a sub-par day suggest pull him, puts in the perfect anti-lefty specialist to neutralized two dangerous hitters, then Wilson to handle the pressure in the 8th. All tough calls, but smart moves. A Phil's loss is bad luck due to baseball's randomness? Yes a close game, but the Giant's made the plays the Phil's didnt. They have done it all Sept. Good luck against Sanchez. He can be inconsistent, but if he brings his best stuff he will own your lineup if they don't step up. Just like several have said. (HTML deleted)— steveinoakland
- When asked about the whistles and cat calls as he batted in the fifth inning, he said, "I was thinking I must have a really nice butt."
Classic. His post game interview dressed as the grim reaper was also classic. I love the BIG TIME TIMMIE JIM!
— StaunchGiantsFan - P.S. SFGATE comments beating PHILLY.COM comments about 4 to 1 (roughly 280 vs 80). My favorite: Cody Ross spelled backwards is 'Ssory Doc'. 2 Jacks do beat One Ace.— steveinoakland
- If a Philly fan lives in Philly which is a tough town (just watch Animal Cops)or even the general metro area I have some respect for you. However if you run away to Vermont or Colorado to your little picket fences and B and J Ice cream then you are soft and don't deserve to claim the Phillys as your team. Get it you hippe cowards, Philly Zucks Giants in 3 more.— ErinRowhand
- Why is Manuel keeping Rolins in the lineup when he has proved he is afraid to extend his running and he looks bad hitting i.e. strike outs/pop ups??????— tulsaphil
- A fantastic game that neither team should get too high or low about. This game was as tight as they come and the pitching was great-starting and relief-on both sides. One hit and a shaky umpire made the difference.— trishiae
- If the ball hit to Ibanez was a routine catch he would have caught it-which he usually does-and it would have been ruled an error by not catching it. Some of you so-called fans have obviously never played on a a competitive team in your life and are prone to hysteria when the Phillies drop a game by 1 hit/1 run. You want to fire Charlie, bench Howard, dump Rollins and on and on. Fans should be passionate AND knowledgeable to call themselves fans. Some of you need to brush up on the latter quality before you start spouting off in these forums.— trishiae
- Again the Phillies Strikeout King a 20 Mil Bum has shown his worth. Wake up Philly before it is too late !!!— TEDDYBOO
- Phillies offense can't count on the Giants to walk or hit them with a pitch or throw the ball away. Win or lose, I think the Phillies will need to somehow retool that lineup in 2011.— dasher
- It's so good to be reminded of Halliday when he pitched in the AL East, you know, the cheshire cat grin is gone, and all the tics come out: mouth open, slumped shoulders, muttering to himself....all what he did in the AL......hey Roy, you can't pitch every start against most of the NL AAA teams, once in a while you have to face real lineups,, remember ????? He's not the god that the press has made him out to be here, believe me...I've seen him for many starts in the AL, good lineups beat him regularly, it will be tougher for him the deeper the playoffs get.......lol....so good to see him be reminded of the adversity he used to regularly faced in the AL, we'll see how he responds......— morrisrh
- Do these guys PRACTICE trying to hit the ball? Come on Howard and the rest of you guys too. If I screwed up at work as often as you do at the plate, I'd be in the unemployment line. One Pitcher does not a winning team make.— PhillyS1980
- There were too many blown opportunities. Too many men left on base. They need to get hits when there is an opportunity! Not to say, though, that the umpiring hasn't been bloody inconsistent so far. They show the hitting grid, and it a ball one time, a strike the next!— BEMiller
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Donnellon's career began in Biddeford, Me., in 1981, and has included stops in Wilkes-Barre, Norfolk, and New York, where he worked as a national writer for the short-lived but highly acclaimed National Sports Daily. He has received state and national awards at each stop and since joining the Daily News in 1992 has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Awards. He and his wife of 26 years have raised three fine children, none of whom are even the least bit impressed with the above. E-mail Sam at donnels@phillynews.com
Reach Sam at donnels@phillynews.com.
Sam Donnellon
Daily News Sports Columnist
Reach Sam at donnels@phillynews.com.
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