Philies News-Lee goes distance,wins Game 1

PHILADELPHIA -- Cliff Lee took a step back, looked around and savored the moment.


He had waited his entire career for his first postseason opportunity, and he needed just one more strike to finish it in grand fashion. Lee, arguably the biggest acquisition by any team before the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline, had Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki down to his last strike with a runner on second and two outs in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park.

"I wanted to give myself a chance to really absorb it and take it all in," Lee said following the Phillies' 5-1 victory on Wednesday.

The largest crowd in Citizens Bank Park history -- 46,452 fans -- recognized the moment.

"Let's go, Lee!" they chanted. "Let's go, Lee!"

"I don't remember the last time the whole stands chanted one man's name," center fielder Shane Victorino said. "It just showed what he was doing throughout the game and what he meant to this crowd and what he meant for the game."

Tulowitzki ultimately doubled to score a run to end Lee's shutout bid, but Lee became the eighth pitcher in Phis history to throw a complete game in the postseason, and the first since Curt Schilling threw a shutout in Game 5 of the 1993 World Series.

"What he did today was absolutely amazing," Victorino said. "That's what they got him for."

The Phillies took the early lead in the best-of-five series against the Rockies, who swept them in the 2007 NLDS. They have left-hander Cole Hamels on the mound Thursday at 2:37 p.m. ET in Game 2 on Postseason.TV and TBS.

Lee gave a good challenge to Hamels, who went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts last postseason to earned World Series and NL Championship Series MVP honors. Lee allowed six hits and one run in nine innings. He walked nobody. He struck out five.


YOU COMPLETE ME
Cliff Lee pitched the 34th postseason complete game since the Wild Card era began in 1995, the 10th in the NL Division Series and just the fourth in an NLDS Game 1. The pitchers with an NLDS complete game in that time span: Year Player Tm. Gm. Opp. Score
2009 Cliff Lee PHI 1 COL W, 5-1
2004 Jose Lima LAD 3 STL W, 4-0
2003 Jason Schmidt SF 1 CHC W, 2-0
2003 Mark Prior CHC 3 ATL W, 3-1
2001 Curt Schilling ARI 1 STL W, 2-0
2001 Curt Schilling ARI 5 STL W, 2-1
2000 Bobby Jones NYM 4 SF W, 4-0
1999 Kevin Millwood ATL 2 HOU W, 5-1
1997 Greg Maddux ATL 1 HOU W, 2-1
1997 John Smoltz ATL 3 HOU W, 4-1
"He got really, really good as the game went on," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. "To the point where by the third inning, I don't know if he missed a spot."

Rockies right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez also came out firing. He threw a 100-mph fastball to Victorino and a 101-mph fastball to Chase Utley in the first inning. He threw just 46 pitches through four innings. He did not get into a three-ball count until Utley got into one with one out in the fourth.

"Early, he had everything going," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "He had his curveball. He had his changeup. He was throwing them for strikes. He had his fastball at 97 to 99 mph. That makes it a little tougher. But we got some guys on base and I think he became concerned with the runners, and he was leaving some balls up in the zone. Even if you throw hard and you leave it up in a hittable part of the zone, a professional batter is going to find a way to put the barrel on it, and that's what happened."

Jimenez walked Jayson Werth to lead off the fifth. Raul Ibanez ripped a 3-1 changeup into the right-field corner to score Werth to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Pedro Feliz's fielder's choice advanced Ibanez to third, and Carlos Ruiz worked an eight-pitch at-bat, hitting a 3-2 slider for a single to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

Jimenez finally got out of the inning, but he needed 35 pitches to do it.

After getting to just one three-ball count in the first four innings, Jimenez got to four in the fifth. Those problems continued in the sixth as he allowed a single to Utley, a double to Howard and a triple to Werth -- his ball off the left-center field wall would have been a home run had strong winds not been blowing to right field -- to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. Tracy pulled Jimenez for left-hander Joe Beimel to face Ibanez, who singled to right to score Werth to make it 5-0.

"We seem to have a knack for getting hits when they're most needed," Rollins said.

They seem to play their best when its most needed, too. The Phillies did not play great baseball down the stretch. They lost nine of their final 16 games, while the Rockies went 9-5 in the same span for the second-best record in the NL.


THE 1-0 SERIES
The advantage of winning Game 1 of a Division Series is far more pronounced in the National League than in the American League since DS play began in 1995.
Records of teams going up 1-0:
ALDS 14-14
NLDS 25-3
All DS 39-17
All Series 153-84
Teams to come back from 1-0 in NLDS:
2003 Marlins (won World Series)
2000 Mets (lost World Series)
1999 Braves (lost World Series)
It's not that the Phillies played lackadaisically. They just seemed to be missing something.

The Phils never had less than a four-game lead after Aug. 11. It seemed like they were just waiting, waiting and waiting for the playoffs to begin.

"We definitely have been," Rollins said. "We pretty much knew all we had to do was close the season out. We weren't going to let anybody catch us. We weren't concerned with that. Now winning feels like you're doing something rather than just moving the win-loss column up. Just win a game, win a game, win a game. Next. Ultimately, go out there win 11 and you're hoisting up the trophy again."

Thanks to Lee, who also became the first pitcher in Phillies history to steal a base in the postseason, they got one victory down Wednesday.

"Finally, it's here," Rollins said. "We can finally let the wins actually count for something. You win, it's one less game you have to win to go to the next round. One down, 10 more to go."

Philadephia Philies Award

Five Phillies have won an MVP award during their career with the team. Mike Schmidt leads with three wins, with back-to-back MVPs in 1980 and 1981 and in 1986 as well. Chuck Klein (1932), Jim Konstanty (1950), Ryan Howard (2006), and Jimmy Rollins (2007) all have one.[26] Pitcher Steve Carlton leads the team in Cy Young Award wins with four (1972, 1977, 1980, and 1982), while John Denny (1983) and Steve Bedrosian (1987) each have one.[26] Four Phillies have won Rookie of the Year honors as well. Jack Sanford won in 1957 while Dick Allen won in 1964. Third baseman Scott Rolen brought home the honors in 1997, while slugging first baseman Ryan Howard was the most recent Phillies winner in 2005.[27]

Of the fifteen players who have hit four home runs in one game, three were Phillies at the time (more than any other team). Ed Delahanty was the first, hitting his four in Chicago's West Side Park on July 13, 1896. Chuck Klein repeated the feat nearly 40 years later to the day, on July 10, 1936, at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. Forty years later, on April 17, 1976, Mike Schmidt became the third, also hitting his in Chicago, these coming at Wrigley Field.

source:www.en.wikipedia.org

Philies Team Uniform

The current team colors, uniform, and logo date to 1992 but are meant to recall in the script, "Phillies", and red trim the style the team wore from the "Whiz Kids" era in 1950 until 1969. The main team colors are red and white, with blue serving as a prominent accent. The team name is written in red with a blue star serving as the dot over the "i"s, and blue piping is often found in Phillies branded apparel and materials. The team's home uniform is white with red pinstripes, lettering and numbering. The road uniform is traditional grey with red lettering/numbering. Both bear a script-lettered "Phillies" logo, with the aforementioned star dotting the "i"s across the chest, and the player name and number on the back. Hats are red with a single stylized "P". [20]


Cole Hamels wearing the 2008 alternate uniformIn 2008 the Phillies introduced an alternate, cream-colored uniform during home day games in tribute to their 125th anniversary. The uniforms are similar to those worn from 1946 through 1949, featuring red lettering bordered with blue piping and lacking pinstripes.[21] The accompanying cap is blue with a red bill and a red stylized "P." The uniforms were announced on November 29, 2007, when Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, pitcher Cole Hamels, and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts modeled the new uniforms.[22]

For the 2009 season the Phillies added black, circular "HK" patches to their uniforms over their hearts in honor of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas, who died April 13, 2009, just before he was to broadcast a Phillies game. From Opening Day through July 26, 2009, the Phillies wore 2008 World Champions patches on the right sleeve of their home uniforms.

The Phillies are one of five teams in Major League Baseball that do not display the name of their city, state, or region on their road jerseys, joining the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Tampa Bay Rays. They are also the only team in Major League Baseball to wear their numbers on the sleeves as well as the backs of their uniforms.

Source:www.en.wikipedia.org

Information About Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and are the defending World Series champions. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.[1] The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. Since 2004, the team's home has been Citizens Bank Park in the South Philadelphia section of the city.

The Phillies have won two World Series championships (against Kansas City in 1980 and Tampa Bay in 2008) and six National League pennants, the first of which came in 1915. The franchise has also experienced long periods of struggle. The age of the team and its history of adversity has earned it the distinction of having lost the most games of any team in the history of American professional sports.[2]

The franchise was founded in Philadelphia in 1883, replacing the team from Worcester, Massachusetts. The team has played at several stadiums in the city, beginning with Recreation Park and continuing at Baker Bowl; Shibe Park, which was later renamed Connie Mack Stadium in honor of the longtime Philadelphia Athletics manager; Veterans Stadium; and now Citizens Bank Park. The team's heated rivalry with the New York Mets has been an issue of contention within the division in recent seasons. The team's spring training facilities are located in Clearwater, Florida, where the single-A minor league affiliate Clearwater Threshers play at Bright House Field.

Source:www.en.wikipedia.org