The top of the list is in sight, and while I'm sure those of you reading this know what it is, the next six moments leading up to Number 1 have their own appeal and significance in Philadelphia sports. In fact, without some of them, the top moment never would have happened. That's the case with this moment at Number 7. The Phillies have made some under the radar moves that have paid off for them in the last few years, but very few gave them a return like this one.
Moment #7: Matt Stairs hits a moonshot against the Dodgers-October 13, 2008
On August 30, 2008 then general manager Pat Gillick made a move that was considered a late waiver wire deal, at best. He aquired 40 year old Matt Stairs from the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later. Stairs had been in the major leagues since 1992, and the Phillies were his 11th team, so he was used to moving around, but the Phillies brought him in for one reason and one reason only: to hit home runs off the bench. The Phils needed a power bat to come off the bench, and Stairs was that. He hit two home runs in 16 games with the Phillies, and because he was aquired before September 1, he was allowed to join the Phils in the playoffs.
After cruising through the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS, the Phillies were set to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had swept the Chicago Cubs in their first round series. The Dodgers had only won 84 games during the regular season, but a trade deadline deal for Manny Ramirez had turned their season around. With Manny leading the way, the Dodgers cruised through the NL West. Manny hit .389 with 17 home runs in just 53 games with the Dodgers, and was the main reason why some people had favored Los Angeles over the Phillies in the NLCS.
The Phillies quickly showed that they were not afraid of the Manny mojo, winning Games 1 and 2 in Philadelphia. However, when the series moved back to Los Angeles, the Dodgers turned things around, pounding Jamie Moyer for a 7-2 win in Game 3 that involved a benches clearing incident. As Game 4 approached, Phillies fans had a feeling that the series, and the season, would rest on how this game played itself out.
Things started out well, as Chase Utley and Ryan Howard drove in first inning runs off of Derek Lowe, but the Dodgers would chip away at Joe Blanton. Los Angeles took a run back in the first inning on a James Loney double, then took the lead in the fifth inning with a Manny Ramirez single and a Russel Martin RBI groundout. Even when the Phils tied the game in the top of the sixth inning, the Dodgers build a two run lead up in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a home run by Casey Blake and a Ryan Howard throwing error. Suddenly, the Dodgers had the momentum, and the Phillies were running out of outs. It looked certain that the series would be tied, and even with Cole Hamels pitching Game 5, things were looking bleak for the Phillies.
Things didn't get any better in the seventh inning, as Hong-Chih Kuo retired the side in order. Then came the top of the eighth inning. Ryan Howard started things off with a single, and Kuo was replaced by rookie Cory Wade. After getting Pat Burrell to pop out, Shane Victorino, whose reaction to being thrown at sparked the dugout clearing incident in Game 3, took the first pitch he saw from Wade over the right field fence. The game was tied at five, but there was still work to be done.
Wade bounced back, getting Pedro Feliz to line out to left, before Carlos Ruiz singled. Los Angeles manager Joe Torre had seen enough, and called for big Jonathan Broxton. The young righthander struck out 88 batters in just under 70 innings in 2008, and the Phillies responded by sending Matt Stairs out to face the hard throwing Broxton. Stairs was up there to do one of two things: either strike out and end the inning, or launch a pitch into the California night that would give the Phillies the lead.
After Broxton ran a 3-1 count on Stairs, everyone had their answer.
Broxton hung a belt high fastball right over the plate, and Matt Stairs didn't miss. From the moment the ball hit the bat, everyone watching the game knew that ball wasn't coming down until it landed well into the stands in right field, and that's exactly what happened. A sea of blue coated Dodger fans began shuffling collectively to the exits as the Phillies had taken a 7-5 lead. All the momentum, everything that the Dodgers had gained throughout Game 3 and most of Game 4, had just shifted back to the Phillies side of the diamond. J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge worked scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, and the Phillies had taken a 3-1 lead in the series.
The rest, as you all know, is history. The Dodgers came out in Game 5 and were shut down by NLCS MVP Cole Hamels. Jimmy Rollins led off the game with a home run, and Rafael Furcal committed three errors in one inning, which was more than enough to give the Phillies a 5-1 win and their first trip to the World Series in 15 years. Matt Stairs only had one hit through the 2008 playoffs, but it was the biggest hit of his life, and it's the reason why, even though he didn't play well this past year, that he was still greeted with nothing but cheers each time he came to the plate in Philadelphia.
Oh, and the player to be named later in the deal that brought Stairs to the Phils? A one Fabio Castro, who has yet to see the major leagues with the Blue Jays. All in all, I think that deal worked out pretty well for Philadelphia.
Now, if you're like me, you love to watch the video of this moment, even though Joe Buck is cold and emotionless during it. Here it is, thanks to MLB.com's video service.
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=3618349
We say goodbye to the 2008 Phillies for a while now, and say hello to Freddie Mitchell once again. For the last of his moments on the countdown, we head back to an NFC Divisional game, where one of the longest conversions in Eagles history set up another trip to the NFC Championship.
No comments:
Post a Comment