Live Thoughts on World Series game 4

I'm going to put some random thoughts that go through my head during the game, talk about how I watch the game, mock the announcers, and really just have some fun with this.

The "scrappy" Phillies got it done last night according to Fox's pregame analysts. Scrappiness always wins out, they shouldn't have to mention that, duh!

Rob Neyer is chatting over at ESPN.com. I like his analysis a lot, so I will probably pull from what he chats about and try to add to what he has to say, or disagree and back it up.

8:07- Patti Labelle is not so much good.

8:22- I think that if Sonnanstine isn't really on his stuff we will see the hook quick and David Price will be asked to go for a while, and maybe Edwin Jackson will be on alert early too. They have to win this game and Maddon should mangae like it.

8:33- They just showed a graphic that said Joe Blanton is "unusually over the top" and I had to explain it to my girlfriend. If they are giving us the horrible Buck and McCarver duo that means they are marketing to the masses not the die hards. They should be explaining what things like this means.

8:35- Blanton goes 1-2-3 in the first and looked good doing it other than a long fly ball to the track by Iwamura. By the way I love when guys behind the plate yell strikeout really loudly, it's funny.

8:40- McCarver just said "cut fastball inside" to the pitch Jimmy Rollins hit for a double. Pitchtrax showed it to be on the outer third.

8:45- Another horrible call. Rollins was out at third, tagged by Longoria. Instant replay, Instant replay, Instant replay. That could decide so much. Instant replay.

9:00- Tampa Bay needs to take more pitches and make Blanton labor a little. Zobrist just swung at the first pitch after a goot at bat by Navarro, getting the Phillies out of the inning.

9:09- Sonnanstine has been pretty decent, but not pitch effecient. I'm predicting Price by the 5th inning. The run was given to the Phillies on the bad call. Blanton has been particularly sharp with 4 K's through 3, and allowing only two softly hit singles to the opposite outfield.

9:18- Iwamura just kicked a ball that was an easy play. Utley should have been out, especially with the shift on. Howard singles hard, and gets Utley to third. Maddon should be on the phone.

Update: Utley scored on a Pedro Feliz single, then Andy (we're on a first name basis now) loaded the bases but got Blanton to pop up. I would start the next inning with Price and hope to get 3 innings from him.

9:34- A friend, Kellan, asked me to comment on the smudge of dirt on Blanton's cap. Obviously I don't know what it is. But with the Kenny Roger's situation of having pine tar on his hat it might come up. (Pine tar allows a pitcher to grip the ball more tightly, thus giving it more rotation upon release.) I'd probably have it checked especially because Blanton has been particularly sharp and Maddon at least could get in his head a little. Although I have not seen him adjusting his cap, and it doesn't seem to be nearly as brown as pine tar is.

Crawford smacked a Blanton fastball offering into the right field seats about a row in as I typed that. 2-1 Phils.

9:45- Edwin Jackson is up. I guess he is the long reliever tonight. I hinted that might be the case. They just interviewed the Ray's pitching coach and he said that if we see Price it would be later in the game with a lead.

I am on the record saying that what they had done with Price thus far was a good idea not just using him as a 3 out closer but for long appearances in high leverage situations. They should not get so tied to the idea of that being his "role." Managers get in trouble when they define roles instead of looking at skill sets. These are high leverage situations, better pitchers for the situation should be in.

Howard is up and there is no way I'd let a right hander face him given his platoon splits (batting against RH or LH piitchers). Trevor Miller is getting loose in the bullpen for a reason.

9:49- Homerun. I swear I wrote that before the swing happened. Maddon may have just cost his team a real damn shot at the game, and with Hamels on the mound in game 5, the series.

9:57- Hinske just nailed a HR deep to center pinch hitting for Sonnanstine (told you no 5th inning). Cliff Floyd got injured and he was added for todays game. That's a nice little addition. But I'd like to say that I think Baldelli should be playing in right field, even though he is right handed and Zobrist is left handed. He is much better in the field, and I doubt if there is any value lost at the plate.

10:05- Edwin Jackson is in for the Rays, and he is throwing 94-95. And as I start to type about how he looks, the pitcher Joe Blanton, hits a ball into the bleachers and becomes the first pitcher since 1974 to hit a HR in the World Series. Wow. The Rays have not looked good as a whole this evening.

10:11- Neyer just said he thinks the Rays are probably about 5 wins or so better than the Phillies next year. They won more games, in a tougher league, and are quite a bit younger. I'd bet the Rays are forcasted for more like 8-10 more wins. Something like 90-82. We won't know until the moves this offseason are made, but that is just my guess. I am no PECOTA.

10:14- Pena and Longoria still yet to get a hit. They are both up this inning. 1 out walk of Pena (Blanton's first). Longoria strikes out on a good outside fastball by Blanton.

10:19- The home plate umpire just called a strike on a ball that was so far outside ESPN pitchtrax had already listed it as a ball. No lie. Strikeout victim number 7 is Dioner Navarro. Only 9 more outs, and down 4 runs the game certainly looks over at this point. The Phillies should go full pipeline with the bullpen, 7 innings from Blanton, Madson, then Lidge. Don't let the 4 run lead change anything, just pretend it is a one run game. Let's see if Manuel is thinking the same thing. Obviously Maddon and I have been off all night.

10:24- Rob Neyer just commented on the substance on the bill of Blanton's cap, and he said the exact same thing as me basically with a few less words. And another lead off batter on base with Werth's double over the head of Carl Crawford.

10:30- Maddon is walking Howard intentionally. I would just bring in a lefty, David Price actually, since the guy can't hit lefties. Then I wouldn't have to have two men on base. Manage this game like it is game seven Joe! As soon as I say that Burrell hits into a 6-4-3 double play making me look bad. But the idea is still wrong even if it worked.

10:42- Walk and a hit and now the top of the lineup. Time for the rally caps, or rally monkeys, or cowbells. Scott Eyre coming into the game. There is one out. I haven't said it because it is fairly obvious but this is pretty much a must win with Hamels pitching tomorrow at home. If this inning is going to be a big one, it will go straight through Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, who still are yet to have a hit. I wonder if the BBWAA will start talks of how unclutch Longoria is already. I doubt it but it would be like them to forget all he did to get them to this point, in high pressure situations.

10:47- Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus just posted an e-mail where Joe Sheehan said he wouldn't let Howard face a righty when he hit that bomb that opened it up. I am in pretty elite company with that and it makes me smile. Although it wasn't all that hard to figure out, managers still struggle with it. Which makes me wonder about managing and the credentials it takes. Probably its own post so that's all I'll say.

10:52- Upton struck out just before it got to Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena.

10:58- The game is getting a little solemn for those of us rooting on the Rays, or just rooting for a longer series so that we can have more baseball. I can't help ask what if Maddon hadn't let a right handed pitcher face Howard. It most certainly was the type of situation that can allow a game to get out of hand quick. Howard lead the league in HR, and there is just no excuse not to use the knowledge of his platoon splits to your advantage. Iwamura and Pena just made a great double play to end the inning.

The 3-4-5 hitters need to make some noise, to produce runs without making outs and flip the lineup over so it isn't the worst hitters up in the 9th.

11:09- Longoria and Pena strikeout. It is extremely difficult to win ballgames when you lose all the production in the middle of your lineup. Their OPS + were 125, and 127 respectively. That is a lot to lose. Add in the bad call that cost a run, and the managing mishap, and it has been a long night for the Rays. Although it has been a pretty entertaining game. Homeruns, by big stars and pitchers, hat controversy, bad call controversy, managing tactics, etc.

11:19- Jason Werth hit a 2 run HR. 8-2 Phils. This will be me signing off unless something super crazy happens, which I really doubt.