Thursday, January 31, 2008

Johan vs. Yo Adrian. Game On.

Johan Santana makes the Mets the clear frontrunners in not just the East, but the entire National League as another high priced, high profile superstar is set to grace Shea Stadium this season. Meanwhile, those poor Phillies… those poor defending division champion Phillies… will go into the season as underdogs.

I love it.

Remember in Rocky II, when Apollo Creed wanted a rematch with Rocky, but Apollo’s trainer, Duke, was against it? “I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before,” Duke said. “And the man kept coming after you.”

Doesn’t that sound just a tad bit like the 2007 Phillies? Howard, Utley, Myers, Hamels, Victorino, Gordon, Lieber, Garcia, Madson and others all spent time on the disabled list at some point. But the Phillies just kept coming.

These Phillies didn’t whine and stop running out ground balls like Jose Reyes. They didn’t crumble under pressure like Willie Randolph. Charlie Manuel, for all his strategic shortcomings, kept these Phillies loose and playing hard-nosed baseball.

The homegrown core of Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels, Myers and Burrell never quit. Instead, they finally developed the clubhouse chemistry that was severely lacking in past seasons. That core remains intact and the chemistry should be even stronger. How’s the chemistry in Flushing? Who’s their leader?

Johan Santana makes the Mets much better. He may even win the Cy Young Award. But don’t pencil in the Mets for the World Series just yet.

Underdog is a great role for this Phillies team, even though they can easily make a case for being the favorite. This just puts more pressure on the Hollywood Mets and gives the Broad Street Phillies even more motivation.

Game on.

By the way, Rocky knocked out the favored Apollo in the 15th round of their rematch, similar to the way the Phillies beat the favored Mets last year to win the division. I know it’s a movie, but I’m just sayin’.

No comments: