Milwaukee vs Philadelphia, Game 1

Coming live to you from Citizens Bank Park in Downtown Philadelphia...

Just kidding, I just got back from class, and because I have an exam tomorrow but cannot tear myself away from the tv to study, I figured I'd blog about my thoughts throughout the Phillies second turn in as many years through the postseason.

2:50 p.m.: Confident and nervous at the same time. Being a fan of a Philadelphia sports franchise never leaves you room for confidence. My father's line that has stuck with me: "The Eagles could be winning the Super Bowl 35-0 with six seconds to go in the fourth quarter, and I still wouldn't be comfortable." We love our teams, but are always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jimmy Rollins was quoted in the papers the other day saying the dread from the stands is felt on the field, so perhaps we as fans are our own worst enemies.

3:00 p.m.: Great promo by TBS: "Two tortured cities." Why don't they just say, "Hey, both these places suck, but we still have to cover them. Don't change the channel, ok?"

3:04: John Smoltz is in the booth. Nothing worse than current players giving play-by-play, but hey, I'll give him a chance. Put me down for 10+ whiny references to how small our ballpark is during the telecast.

3:08: John Smoltz on Cole Hamels: "He has a 2.99 earned run average at the Bank, which is unheard of." Only nine more, John.

3:09: Great start, Cole battles back to strike out Mike Cameron. BSB is a Brewers fan and tells me these guys kill left-handers, but the combination of Cole Hamels and the relative anonymity of Milwaukee's line-up makes me confident about Game 1.

3:12: Don't want to jinx it, but Hamels' worst inning has been the first all year. He looked great, 2 Ks and a flyout to put the Brew Crew down in order. Lets see what the offense has in store.

3:17: Bad Omen: Rickie Weeks makes the play of his life to retire J-Roll. I just can't stay positive when watching the Phils.

3:25: Good Omen: Chase Utley makes one of the best plays of his young career to throw out J.J. Hardy and get the Phils back in the dugout. Cole looks great through 2 innings. He's got the change up working. Ryan Howard, Pat the Bat's Balky Back and the Flyin' Hawaiian are due up for the Phils.

3:32: Another hard hit ball at an infielder gets the wild Gallardo out of the inning. Phils have to stay patient at the plate and get into the Brewers' suspect bullpen. The weather also could pose a problem. Overall, not a bad start by the Phils, but they need to get a hit. Cole faces the bottom of the Brewers lineup in the top of the 3rd.

3:39: Really Cole? You're going to leave a pitch in the middle of the plate for the opposing pitcher to hammer to Left Field? Thank God for that weather for keeping that ball in the yard.

3:43: First hit of the 2008 postseason: Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz

3:44: Thank you, Bill Hall/Rickie Weeks. Phils now have a shot at a big inning. J-Roll coming to bat.

3:45: J-Roll to the rescue, Brewer fans. Classic J-Roll, first pitch swinging resulting in a soft pop up to left field. Disgusting.

3:47: Might be another quick postseason in Philly. Two terrible at bats by Rollins and Werth. Chase needs a hit here.

3:50: A hard hit ball finally falls in, and the Phils cash in on the Brewers defensive miscues. John Kruk said defense would make the difference in this series, and so far it has given the Phils a 2-0 lead as Ryan Howard draws an official IBB in his second postseason at bat. He has yet to see a strike.

3:57: It's clear as TBS's cameras pan the crowd, the people of Philadelphia are unlikely to win any beauty contests.

3:59: Milwaukee is really making it difficult on themselves. Gallardo is really wild, and the defense was dreadful in the bottom of the third. Cole, having yet to give up a hit, now staked to a 3-0 lead. Gotta like the Phils chances today, assuming the rain holds off. What a huge hit by Chase.

4:02: Come on, TBS, if you want to be taken seriously as a sports broadcaster, clean the lenses off your cameras. That interview with Rich Dubee was completely undone by the huge water spot above his head.

4:04: Cole Hamels still cruising. Another thought on the aesthetics of the crowd. My dad had noted that the women got much better looking once the Phils moved from the Vet to the Bank. Today, it looks like those people are still at the office, and the uglies were bussed in to wave the rally towels. Oh well, makes for a better atmosphere.

4:15: Phils go down quietly in the fourth. I'm terrified of not adding on and Milwaukee coming back. Lets see what Cole does in the 5th.

4:17: Cole gets Prince Fielder to chase, 13 in a row. Smoltz is letting me down, but his booth mates are picking up the "Small Park" slack. And why is David Aldridge doing baseball now?

4:20: Cory Hart breaks up the no-no. Blame me, I should have known better mentioning it.

4:22: I bitched about Smoltz earlier, but he is doing a great job analyzing the game. He has a lot of incite about a Phillies team he plays against 19 times a year.

4:30: This game has quickly gotten boring, and making it worse is now the Brewers are into their bullpen. It's the 5th inning, and they are already bringing in lefty specialists to get Ryan Howard. Good news, though. If your wife gets hot by you wearing your prom tux but you can't carry her upstairs, you can still get laid because Viagara is in its 10th year. Who writes these commercials?

4:33: TBS is a shameless self promoter. I am going to be so sick of Frank Caliendo by the end of this postseason. And has there ever been a show with such funny promos and miserable programming?

4:38: Unbelievable Craig Counsell is still playing. Even more unbelievable that he has half the Brewers' hits thus far.

4:40: Mike Cameron draws the Brewers' first walk on the day, and they have a legitimate threat here. Important for Cole to get out of this inning and keep his team ahead. CBP has gone into its middle inning swoon. There is little energy right now. Time to bear down.

4:44: Again, I don't want to jinx it, but I can't say enough about this start by Cole Hamels. He was good down the stretch, but not great. He has dominated the Brewers thus far today, and the offense is getting by. I'd like to see them push some runs across the board and put this game away.

4:50: I can't really complain, because the Phils are up, but all of their runs are unearned and they only have 3 hits. That does not bode well for the rest of this postseason. On a completely unrelated note, Captain Morgan is now #1 in my Alcohol Ads Power Rankings.

4:52: Great pick by Ryan Howard to retire the opponents first basemen. Can anyone think of a guy who makes so many spectacular plays but blows so many routine ones? J-Roll talked today about Howard's offensive push late in the year and how his defense contributed.

5:00: Cole hit for himself in the bottom of the 7th, no suprise. Will Chollie let him go 9 if he keeps up htis performance, or go to the bullpen? A good point by the TBS crew about the Phils clinching Saturday night, allowing them to rest Cole on Sunday. Funny how playoff series are so drastically affected by when your team clinches, especially because the LDS are best-of-five.

5:03: More painful to watch: Another Jason Werth strikeout, or a Frank TV commercial?

5:05: Phils bats have been quiet, but a great day defensively. Another nice play by Chase on a bunt by Tony Gwynn, Jr.

5:09: It's a shame the rain has subdued the crowd on hand to see the Phils' first postseason win in 15 years. Ooops, did I jinx them? How about a little Philly faith. I'm going to try it out.

10:30 a.m., Friday morning: What happened? I blacked out after that last entry.

5:12: All joking aside, this game has been fun. I cautiously like this team, and if they keep getting pitching efforts like this, they will be a tough out.

5:25: John Smoltz with reference #2 on the size of the park. A disappointing day for him in that category.

5:27: Counsell was a nice mid-game substitution. It'll be up to Lidge to deliver the Phils the win.

5:32: The Comeback Player of the Year gets Mike Cameron looking for out number 25.

5:41: Waiting with baited breath as Lidge gets a huge second out. One to go.

5:45: Do they not have recording technology in Wisconsin? Did they not see Lidge in any of the 5 loses to the Phils this year? Why do they keep bringing up how seeing Lidge today will help the Brewers? He's been the best Phillies pitcher all year, they haven't been paying attention?

5:47: Wasn't pretty, but Brad got it done. I'm a little worried that the law of averages is going to catch up to him, but he gets the job done and the Phils get off the schnide. Great Game 1.