The Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants have shocked the rest of the baseball world into submission — none of us predicted the Giants to advance to the World Series in our League Championship Series predictions!

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to predict who will win the World Series and why. And for bonus points, why not try to guess the World Series MVP for good measure…

-DSF

Dr. Sports Fan

I really have no clue which team will win, after all, I picked the Yankees and Phillies to win their respective LCS. Overall, I think the American League was better than the National League this year, but I think AT&T Park favors the pitching heavy Rangers. The only problem, Cliff Lee will be pitching one of those games. The problem for SF is that the Rangers offense is as good on the field as it is on paper (not mentioning any names on this one… COUGH-Phillies-COUGH). While I think the Giants have enough fight in them to take this one the distance, I don’t think it will be enough to finally end Frisco’s title drought.

So here goes nothing: Lee and the Rangers take game one, lose game 2, take 2-of-3 at home, and hold on for a win in either of the final two games in San Fran.

World Series Champion: Texas in 7

MVP: Why not? Cliff Lee

P.S. Even though the Giants beat my favorite team, I’m still excited to watch them (and the Rangers) play in the World Series. Am I alone?

Mr. Dude and Stuff

Man, some egg on our faces with our LCS picks, huh?  Even my MVP picks were duds with Teixeira pulling the hammy running to first and Howard caught looking to end the whole series.  Sheesh, did I call it wrong.

This could be a pretty epic World Series considering both teams played spoilers and upset elite defending champions who were all but shoe ins for a rematch.  Both teams played their asses off to get where they are so I tip my cap to both of them.

That being said, I like the Rangers in this series.  Granted, I could be totally wrong again so that bodes well for the Giants, but Texas has been playing with that magical winning run grit that stifled the Yankees.  At first I thought it was just pure luck (and some pretty questionable umpiring) with the Tampa Bay series, but after what they did to the Yankees, I’m sold.  Cliff Lee will very likely gun down these Giants hitters as well as a big series out of CJ Wilson I think as well.

World Series Champion: Rangers in 6 or 7.

MVP: Josh Hamilton if it’s in 6 or Cliff Lee if it’s in 7.  Sorry, I can’t decide.

Sports Drone

I have no interest in watching this World Series.  And it’s not because I’m not a baseball fan.  I will watch any team… any time.  I reserve the right to pull my “poor sport” card out at this moment.  I am so pissed off about the Phillies catastrophic failures at the plate that I don’t want to watch another game until April.  That being said… I probably will anyway and I’m going with Texas in 5.  Texas is batting something like .286 BAA as a team.  The Giants are batting .230 BAA.  Texas went through the Rays and the Yankees like a hot knife through butter and they’ll take down the pack of nobodies and journeymen that are the Giants.  The Giants went through a tired and depleted Braves team and a Phillies team that refused to play small ball and seemed content to stare at pitches down the heart of the plate and swing at balls that bounce on home plate.  The Giants could have rolled the ball from the mound and the Phillies players would have probably swung at it.  Plus… I want to see Cliff Lee win a World Series title.

World Series Champion: Texas Cliff Lee’s.
MVP: Oddly enough, not Cliff Lee.  I’m going with Nelly Cruz, he’s been a beast.

Interesting side note… Bengie Molina will get a World Series ring no matter which team wins since he played for the Giants earlier in the season.  Lucky him.

The Phoenix

Okay .. stop me when you’ve heard this one:

The Giants are going up against a team with a vastly superior offense…

“.. stop ..”

…their pitching as a team may be the difference in this series…

“.. please stop ..”

…and their inexperience in this situation may come back to haunt them at the wrong time.

“.. I beg you to stop because it still hurts ..”

In short, I’ve heard this argument before, and I’m not going to get fooled into thinking Texas can pull this off. Unless Cliff Lee is pitching nine innings in every game, the Giants are winning this series. Texas’s offense is just as good (if not better) than Philadelphia’s was. They may be swinging a bit hotter of a bat, but as we saw in the NLCS, Lincecum, Sanchez and Cain sprinkled with that re-donkulous bullpen was enough to keep CBP quiet until March — much to my chagrin.

World Series Champion: Giants in 6.

MVP: Tim Lincecum.

Jack Bauer of All Sports

World Series Champion: Rangers in 6

MVP: Josh Hamilton

Both teams are playing great, especially Texas. I think both teams are equal in pitching matchup, but offense slightly favors Texas. I know its a cliche argument, but I’m Jack Bauer of All Sports, and I approve this prediction

1. Cliff Lee
2. Curt Schilling
3. Josh Beckett
4. Chris Carpenter
5. John Lackey
6. Randy Johnson
7. Cole Hamels
8. Other

- Jack Bauer of All Sports

Dr. Sports Fan

Other.

I’m going with the best pitcher in the game not named Cliff Lee: Roy Halladay. I mean he was one blown call from winning game one against Lincecum — not too mention that dominating no-hitter against the Reds. I have a feeling that he’s gonna be lights out in his next start. I’m calling it now because, unfairly or not, he is being judged against Cliff Lee. He has to keep up with him.

He knows it. We know it. You KNOW IT!

Mr. Dude and Stuff

I don’t know.  It’s hard to argue against Cliff Lee.  He’s just making hitters look foolish up there.  The only postseason start he had that wasn’t absolutely dominating and completely manhandling the lineup was Game 5 of the 2009 World Series against the Yankees, and he still won the game.

The Phoenix

As much as I would love to pick Cliff Lee strictly for his ownership of the New York Yankees (which is so comical), I can’t because it’s too small a sample size right now (only 8 games) despite how dominant he is.

I can’t say Halladay despite his no-hitter in his postseason debut.  As impressive as it was, that game was his debut.  He’s got another three years on his deal with the Phillies so he’ll probably get more notches on that postseason win belt.  Too early to go with him right now.

Much like Dr. Sports Fan, I’m gonna go with “Other”.  As much as this pick will cause boos and hisses and possible excrement on (or in) my car, I’m taking Andy Pettitte.

I know he’s only won 20 games twice in his career (’96 & ’03).  I know he’s 38, but the dude flips a switch come playoff time.  He is 19-10 all-time in postseason play with a 3.83 ERA.  Not overly dominant, but serviceable.

But why Pettitte specifically for me?  NO ONE has more wins in series clinching games than Pettitte (6).  World Series.  Game 7.  Give the ball to Andy Pettitte.  As good as Lee was in Game 2 last night, Pettitte wasn’t horrible: 2 runs, 5 hits and 5 strikeouts through 7 innings.  That match-up last night was the equivalent of a Texas Hold ‘Em game where Pettitte had a full house, but Lee flopped quad aces.  What the hell was Pettitte gonna do?

I’m not saying that Lee can’t nail down a series or he can’t be dominant, but I am saying I need more of a body of work than eight games.

Mr. Dude

I don’t discount the argument against Pettitte because he does have quite a track record, but that is quite insane to be dismissive of Cliff Lee because 8 postseason games is only a “small sample size.”  When some pitchers on any given postseason run may get 3-4 starts a run if they’re lucky.  Most of the pitchers on this list had 15 postseason starts or less.  Randy Johnson has had 10 over the past 10 years and Chris Carpenter has 9.  Pettitte had the good fortune to play for a Yankees team that allowed him to get 42 postseason starts, but that’s not the norm for any other pitchers in the league.  Any other dominant pitcher you can think of in the modern postseason has what you would deem a small sample size.  Postseason games are few and far between for starters.  They’re not everyday lineup players so 8 games, 7 of which absolutely dominant, are a pretty big sample size.  Dominating in the arguably biggest stage in sports against the Yankees for 2 starts and winning 3 is nothing to snuff at.

So in conclusion, I’ll still take Lee’s 8 games and 1.26 postseason ERA over Pettitte right now in a must win situation

Phoenix

I’m not trying to be dismissive, and I do recognize the greatness that is Cliff Lee from last year to now in the postseason (can’t argue the 7-0 1.28 ERA and 3 complete games).  For me, experience matters in the postseason.  Nothing against Lee at all, but in a “gotta have this win situation”, I’m taking a guy with 13 playoff seasons of experience than a man with two.  For that reason, I’d take Pettitte over Lee, and I’d probably take Beckett over Lee as well.

Mr. Dude

Beckett over Lee?  That’s 4 seasons of postseason experience with two of them being complete duds?  He was downright awful in the 2008 and 2009 postseason.  2008 ALDS 7.20 ERA, 2008 ALCS 9.64 ERA, and 2009 ALDS 5.40 ERA.

Once again, I just find dismissing Lee’s pitching performances because other people started more games (some of which not by much) ignorant.

Dr. Sports Fan

I have to call Bonkers on that notion as well, Phoenix. Your Andy Pettitte argument can hold water, but this new Josh Beckett one is just plain crazy talk. True Beckett was once in the same rarefied air that Cliff Lee currently occupies until injuries (and arm fatigue?) slowed him down.

Where you erred — if I may be so bold — was in saying that Cliff Lee’s playoff resume is brief because of having a mere 8 starts, plenty of pitching for a postseason career. You might have been able to say that just two postseasons might be a small sample size, but even that’s pushing it. Lee has dominated the best lineup in the past two postseasons. Thoroughly.

The way I see it: you might just be the only person that hasn’t seen enough of Lee in the postseason.

The Phoenix

Listen, I have no problem getting rick-rolled for my opinion on the matter, but I’m sticking to my guns on this one.  When it comes down to the postseason, I prefer to have more experience on the mound.  As I stated previously, there is no doubting what Lee has done.  He did a little to sway my opinion in game 5 of the ALDS vs. Tampa Bay when he went the distance striking out 11, but Pettitte has been in more “gotta have it” games.  Experience in those situations speaks VOLUMES to me.  If Jimmy “The Gent” Conway has a gun to my head saying, “Okay, you pick Pettitte or you pick Lee.  Your pick has to win, or I’ll kill you,” I take Pettitte.

(And yes, Beckett has been lambasted lately when he pitches, so I’m starting to regret saying that.)

Mr. Dude

Although Pettitte didn’t pitch badly at all the other night, Lee’s “inexperience” with a team clouded in postseason inexperience did beat Pettitte’s experience.

Dr. Sports Fan

Obviously if we were going on a body of work, then Pettitte would be the guy. I think for one postseason game, with either pitcher at the top of his game, I still have to go with Lee over Pettitte. And I’d go with Halladay over Lee — so there!

Jack Bauer of All Sports

Give me Curt Schilling. Between 2001 and 2007, Schilling was a part of three world series winning teams (Arizona-2001, Boston- 2004, 2007) and was simply lights out as a big game pitcher during this time span. Pitching in the steroids era, Schilling compiled a 11-2 career postseason record with a measly 2.23 ERA and 120/25 strikeout to walk ratio. In seven World Series starts, Schilling was 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA. Over the last ten years, nobody was consistently better (Adio’s track record test: PASS) when it mattered most.

When I originally thought of this 5 minute break topic, Schilling was the first to come to my mind reflecting back, and the numbers back it up. Lee and Halladay are simply fantastic right now, but I accept to a degree Adio’s argument of a longer track record. Schilling has that. I understand Adio’s case for Pettitte, but it is no contest for me on who I’d rather have with a season on the line. I agree Pettitte is a fine choice for a pitcher who I can count on to keep my team in the game and have a chance to win, but in the postseason and when championships are at stake, give me the ultimate clutch performer on the mound from the past ten years.

Sports Drone

I gotta agree with Jason.  I took time to think about every one of these guys and there was something to be said about each of them.  Cliff Lee has been unbelievable in his playoff time… but until he wins a WS, I gotta go with someone who has.  Some players may never see 7 playoff games, and what Lee has time with his playoff time has been legendary.  But, Schilling is my guy.  Schilling was legendary during the season and stepped it up even more in the playoffs… every… single… time.

Cincinnati hitters didn’t just swing and miss at Halladay’s pitches in their 4-0 loss in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series; they sometimes missed balls by more than six inches. His sinking fastball and cut fastball — which break in opposite directions at about 93 mph — were darting all over the place, and just when the Reds thought they had a handle on them, Halladay unleashed a devastating curve ball or change-up to make them really look silly. His stuff was so filthy that the league’s best lineup was reduced to cheap defensive swings, pesky time-out calls, and abject failure. It almost wasn’t fair.

Carlos Ruiz wasn't the only one in South Philly who wanted to hug Roy Halladay. (Carr/AP)

So in case you haven’t heard, Roy Halladay is really, really, really good. What did the Reds — who led the National League in most statistical categories, including average (.272), homers (188) and runs (790) — think about him? They did, after all, have an up-close-and-personal look at Doc’s stuff.

• “Tough night,” manager Dusty Baker said. “The sumbitch was dealing.”
• “It’s like trying to hit nothing,” first baseman and MVP candidate Joey Votto said. “He’s an ace among aces.”
• “That is the best pitched game I’ve seen since I’ve been going to the playoffs and World Series,” Baker said.
• “Luckily, he’s not pitching the next game or the following game,” outfielder Jonny Gomes said.

Bad news to Reds fans: Halladay was the team’s third best starting pitcher in the month of September. Cole Hamels is back, having regained his transcendent 2008 form, and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. dealt for former Houston ace Roy Oswalt before the deadline. Both pitchers have no-hit stuff in their own right which means that the league’s best offense might fall victim to baseball’s postseason adage: great pitching beats great hitting.

With that I owe Amaro a BIG apology. Sure, the Lee trade looks atrocious now, but he didn’t compound the error by standing pat or trying to reacquire him at twice the value they traded him for. Instead, he went with Plan B and acquired another playoff-starved ace in Oswalt. Since coming to Camelot Philly, Oswalt looks every bit the 20-game-winner he was five or six years ago. With Hamels looking like a future 20-game-winner in his own right, suddenly Cliff Lee is old news — which is good news for Amaro, who probably was kicking himself mid-May. If you still aren’t convinced of Amaro’s greatness, check out the top three starting pitchers on the three previous Phillies teams:

• Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer in ‘07
• Hamels, Brett Myers, Moyer in ‘08
• Lee, Hamels, Pedro Martinez in ‘09
• Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels in ‘10

I call that progress.

Yesterday, Cliff Lee opened the playoffs with yet another brilliant pitching performance and improved his postseason record to 5-0. On any other day, Lee’s work on the mound would be the top story, but Roy Halladay followed him with perhaps the most dominant pitching performance of my lifetime. It was as if Doc Halladay had been waiting all year to finally upstage his predecessor, who shined his brightest in the postseason. How fitting then for both pitchers to lead off the 2010 postseason with a pair of dominant performances. After all, they’re the two best pitchers in baseball — Roy being 1a to Cliff’s 1b. Yes, it would be nice to have both of them — and still have J.A. Happ on the roster — but that is now a thing of the past. The Phillies have moved on, and now it’s time for us fans to move on as well.

Lost in all the shuffle of this past offseason, I didn’t realize that Halladay took Lee’s number (34). Talk about putting pressure on yourself! And as obsessive (that’s the word) as I am about Philly sports, how did I not know that?! While I was living under a rock, it was actually Halladay’s wife who put this little issue in the proper perspective:

“Everybody says, ‘Oh so interesting, he’s taking Lee’s number,’” Brandy Halladay said at the time. “It should have been ours to begin with.”

Agreed. And if Halladay has a few more games in him like he did last night, something tells me that no one else will wear the number 34 in red pinstripes ever again. I guess the new 34 is helping me finally get over the last 34. I call that progress, too.

As Harry Kalas would put it: “Roy Halladay, you are the man!”

After steadily progressing from a team out of the playoff picture at the 2006 trading deadline — which saw outfielder Bobby Abreu and late pitcher Cory Lidle traded to the aforementioned Bronx Bombers — all the way through the 2009 postseason, which unfortunately ended the Phillies’ shot at the first back-to-back World Series Championships in franchise history.

But GM Ruben Amaro wasn’t going to stand pat with his team. Early in the offseason, he upgraded the third base position by signing former Phillie Placido Polanco and letting Pedro Feliz and his World Series-winning RBI sign with the lowly Houston Astros (hello, Ed Wade).

This was supposed to be the best Phillies team of all-time. Since that salary dump-turned-revitalizing trade of Abreu and Lidle, the Phillies only got better, never worse. Then word came out that the Phillies were once again shopping for Roy Halladay. When I heard that the Blue Jays didn’t need Lee in the trade, my heart skipped a beat. You mean we get Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay? They’re only the two best pitchers in the entire league. The Yankees are going down in ‘10!

Then it happened. The all-time “YES!–wait, what?” moment. The Halladay trade was actually a three-team deal that included Lee going to Seattle for three low-level minors prospects. Since we had already pretty much known that getting Halladay was a done deal, losing Lee became the first negative blow for Phillies fans in four years.

Time out.

(Quick heads up. I never had the opportunity to fully express myself on the Cliff Lee-Roy Halladay-prospects three-way deal. Didn’t like it at the time and am still not quite over it. But before I slam the whole idea of this trade, let me get one thing absolutely straight: I love Halladay.)

Ok, time in.

Cliff Lee is to Phillies fans as Kelly Kapowski was to Zack Morris. No offense to Roy Halladay — who may be a better pitcher — but we loved Lee. The dude was our fall-back date to the prom when Amaro’s initial push for Halladay bogged down last summer, and he didn’t disappoint. Just like Jim found out when he took Michele (from band camp, if you will) to the prom in American Pie, Lee was the pitcher the Phillies should have wanted all along. He went 7-4 during the regular season, but his postseason was the stuff of legends. Lee went 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA and won both his starts in the World Series against those damn Yankees.

Funny how the Lee trades had such polar opposite effects on Amaro’s reputation. Bringing him aboard at the trade deadline in ‘09 made him the front office man of the year, while trading him away made him a villain in the eyes of most Phillies fans. Hard to argue with his logic — Halladay is the master — but Lee endeared himself to the city and his teammates unlike anyone really before him. Logic doesn’t win ballgames, and Amaro will face the heat if the Phillies don’t make the playoffs this year. Or worse, what if Halladay isn’t the same dominant pitcher in the playoffs?

But I guess when you can trade the starting pitcher that won both of your team’s World Series victories, you gotta do it, right? Amaro wanted Halladay, and Lee was once again the second choice. The Phillies farm system needed some restocking, but why at the expense of an uber-dominant one-two punch of Halladay and Lee at the front of your rotation? Need prospects, deal Cole Hamels and his 2008 trophy case. That’s what I would have done.

Let me ask you one thing before I let you go. Do you think the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner would have traded Cliff Lee for prospects after back-to-back World Series appearances? I don’t think so either.

Now while I definitely want to talk some Cliff Lee today, I’d first like to say a few words about the late Jim Johnson.

While most of us never knew him personally, the former Eagles defensive coordinator was a source of pride for Birds fans this past decade. We love our players and coaches to attack you (see Ryan, Buddy), and we also like a guy that tells it like it is. Johnson gave us both in spades.

With Jeremiah Trotter up the middle and Brian Dawkins, the Eagles made their bones in the early Andy Reid era with a dominant defense. While Donovan McNabb struggled to find his early career consistency with a mediocre receiving corps, Johnson’s crew — led by Dawkins, Trotter, defensive end Hugh Douglass, and defensive tackle Corey Simon — was the heart of the teams that made those first trips deep in the NFC playoffs.

When age and free agency ate away at the talent on the defensive side of the ball the Eagles fell from their high ground in the NFC East. While Dallas and New York gained on us in recent years, last season’s turnaround was keyed by a defensive renaissance.  Johnson’s defense finished third overall in yards allowed and fourth in points allowed (one of the stats that Johnson cared the most about), and once again the Birds had a date with in the NFC Title Game. (I’m just going to pretend that’s the end of the story for the ‘08 team. Please don’t mention anything about Larry Fitzgerald, I’m begging you.)

My dad would always point out how Johnson would wag his tongue between plays. (I used to do the same thing when I colored as a little kid.)

While it made us laugh, we knew it was because Jimmy J. was concentrating hard on what he was going to throw next at the opposing quarterback. Most of the time, the other QB didn’t know what player or what position was about to hit him. I’ll miss that.

Rest in piece, Mad Scientist.

Anyway, on to the good news: the Phillies just sent notice to the rest of baseball that the defending champions are not satisfied with just one title.

The Phils sent three Triple-A prospects (catcher Lou Marson, infielder Jason Donald, and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco) and one Single-A prospect (fireball pitcher Jason Knapp) to the Cleveland Indians for Cliff Lee and bench player Ben Francisco. In other words, we sent four guys there weren’t not good enough to play in the majors for the best pitcher in the AL last year. (Remember, the Toronto Blue Jays wanted starting pitcher J.A. Happ, top minor league arm Kyle Drabek, and top position prospect Dominic Brown for super ace Roy Halladay.)

While the drop off from Halladay to Lee is minimal, the Phillies were able to avoid giving up the three key players in their future. Talk about your no brainers — even Ed Wade would’ve done this.

I know a lot of Phillies fans were dying for Halladay, and you can’t blame them one bit. This trade for Lee, however, has a lot to do with what General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was willing to part with. The rookie GM seems to have pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Here is why I think the Lee trade is easily more valuable than the proposed Halladay trade.

• Carrasco and Donald are not better than the team’s current options and Knapp is a few years away from any impact, so Marson is the only loss that hurts the team in the near future. Current backstop Carlos Ruiz will never make anyone forget Johnny Bench (or Mike Lieberthal for that matter), and Marson was beginning to look like the catcher of the future. Looks like the team will continue to look for the preverbial catcher of the future. (Of course, if Ruiz has another World Series like he did against Tampa Bay, good riddance Sweet Lou!)
• This move allows the Phillies to keep Happ and Drabek. Young J.A. has been a solid pro in every one of his starts, but more importantly, the Phils have him for cheap for several more years. Giving him away certainly would’ve hurt the back end of the rotation. Drabek, on the other hand, seems ticketed for the front end of the Phillies rotation sometime in the next season or two. Like Hamels before him, Drabek was given the “untouchable” decree from the Phils front office. Now, whether he’ll be taking the Hamels route or the Gavin Floyd detour to stardom…
• The only thing I had against the Halladay trade was not wanting to disturb the current Phillies hot streak. By not dealing anyone from the 25 man roster, problem solved! (On a side note, my dad would like to pass along that he was against the Polanco trade mainly because he thought that Polanco should have been moved to third base. Like the rest of the Philly Phaithful, my dad wasn’t too fond of David Bell.)
• Cliff Lee did win the Cy Young Award over Halladay last season. Just saying.

After giving away zero major leaguers for Lee, the Phillies are ridiculously deep and talented in almost ever facet of the game, and it all starts with the Phillies lineup. From one through six, the Phillies lineup has All-Star caliber players at every spot — with four hitters (Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, and Jason Werth) currently on pace for over 30 home runs.

But how about their starting pitching?

Here are the SEVEN pitchers the Phils can plug from for their eventual starting rotaton: Hamels, Lee, Happ, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, Rodrigo Lopez, and soon Pedro Martinez. Manager Charlie Manuel has options with his rotation. Here’s my recommendation for ol’ Chuck for his eventual regular season rotation:

1. Cole Hamels
2. Joe Blanton
3. Cliff Lee
4. J.A. Happ
5. Pedro Martinez

After moving Moyer to the bullpen for long relief and waiving/demoting Rodrigo Lopez (who did a great job filling in the past month), this is how I’d set it all up. Hamels and Lee are similar pitchers, so separating them with Blanton — the team’s best pitcher this season — seems logical. My guess is that Manuel will have to decide between Happ and Moyer for the fourth starter spot. My gut tells me that Charlie puts Moyer in the rotation.

Now here’s where it gets tricky. When the postseason roles around, one of the starters will need to be dropped from the rotation. Charlie will have to decide between Happ/Moyer and Pedro for that last spot. That decision I suggest we table until we see just how good Martinez looks in the September stretch drive.

But wait, there’s more!

No it’s not an infomercial, it’s the return of Brett Myers.  When Myers returns from hip surgery late in the season, he’ll go right into the bullpen, which has really been the only chink in the armor of the defending champs this season, surprising given last year’s dominant performance. Now Myers, the closer for the 2007 Division Championship team, joins the late inning fray to help spell Ryan Madsen and even Brad Lidge – both of who have stuggled in 2009.

I’m don’t like to get ahead of myself with these things — growing up in Philly, who could blame me — but this move really makes the Phillies favorites to win the next two World Series titles. (Wow, say that out loud a few times.) With their deep pitching staff, and that lineup, who is going to stop them? No one could stop them last year, and that was before Ibanez and Lee joined the team.

Not that I like to brag or anything, but I’m feeling pretty good about the Phillies chances for a repeat AND a threepeat. It sure is great to be the defending champs!

I’m feeling so good, kind of like I did at that first fraternity party…