Dynasty, shmynasty! Just enjoy the ride

PHILADELPHIA baseball fans and the local press can't seem to make up their minds about the Phillies' prospects of defeating the Colorado Rockies in the divisional playoff.

There are concerns that the Fightin's don't have the starting or relief pitching to keep the Rockies' explosive offense in check. After all, Colorado finished second in the National League this season in home runs (190) and runs scored (804). They also enter October as the hottest team in the league, going 20-11 in their last 31 games.

Advantage: Rockies.

On second thought, the Phillies were the only other team in the league to finish higher in those categories, with 224 homers and 820 runs. They also enjoy a 4-2 season record against the Rockies and have all that postseason experience from last year.

Must be a dynasty!

Actually, postseason predictions are futile. What the Phillies did or failed to do during the regular season is a poor indicator of how they will perform in October.

The mind-set, intensity and approach players take for a short, best-of-five series is completely different from what they do in the 162-game grind.

Hot teams can suddenly turn cold. Inconsistent pitching can become unhittable. And hitters who suffered prolonged slumps can carry their team in the playoffs.

The only clear thing is that the Phillies have the talent to compete with anybody. No team can win 93 games without it. But their success will be determined by the mental toughness of the individual players and their desire to win.

"Mental toughness" means confidence in one's ability, the discipline to focus and act on the specific situation at hand and the guts to take the calculated risk in order to win. It is most often demonstrated in the many "one-on-one" competitions that unfold during the course of a game.

The scenarios are endless:

* Jimmy Rollins resisting the temptation to swing for the fences by laying off a high fastball from Rockies' ace Ubaldo Jimenez because the situation calls for advancing the runner or working the count to get on base.

* Jayson Werth challenging the arm of Colorado outfielder Brad Hawpe by extending a double down the right field line into a triple.

* Brad Lidge having the moxie to throw a 3-2 slider to Colorado slugger Todd Helton in the ninth inning with a one-run lead and a man on third, even though he might not have his best stuff.

Collectively, these individual competitions and whoever prevails most determine the outcome of a game. And yet talent and mental toughness are not enough.

THE PHILLIES must have a desire to win that burns white-hot each and every game they play this postseason - much like Cole Hamels and Lidge demonstrated during last season's championship run.

Funny thing about these Phillies is that they simply don't know how good they are because the team is still evolving. They've already captured a world championship and still have a two- or three-year window of opportunity to steal another one.

With a team like that, it's difficult to predict how far they can go this October.

So let's just enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.

William C. Kashatus' most recent book is "Almost a Dynasty: The rise and fall of the 1980 Phillies." You can e-mail him at bill@historylive.net.