J.A. Happ loses to Coghlan

The NL Rookie of the year award winner was just announced. Florida outfielder Chris Coghlan (105 points) edged Phils lefty J.A. Happ (94 points).

Happ was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA this season.

In the twisted way the voters (managers and coaches) cast their ballots, Jimmy Rollins apparently couldn't win a Gold Glove until he had an MVP season with the bat.

Rollins won his third straight Gold Glove Wednesday afternoon. He is the first to win three straight in the NL since Rey Ordonez (97-99).

Shane Victorino is also a repeat winner. The Flyin' Hawaiian is the just the second Phils outfielder to be honored the Gold Glove more than once: Gary Maddox won eight straight (75-82).

Former Phillies speedster Michael Bourn was on his first Gold Glove. Bourn was traded to the Astros two years ago in the deal that netted the Phils Brad Lidge.

Hot off the press from the Phils:

The Phillies have declined the 2010 option on third baseman Pedro Feliz’ contract, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. announced tonight.

Feliz, 34, batted .266 with 12 home runs and 82 RBI in 158 games for the Phillies this past season. With runners in scoring position, he hit a team-best .336, which ranked 13th among all National League players.

“This doesn’t preclude us from bringing Pedro back next season,” Amaro said. “While this allows us to explore other opportunities, we will continue to keep the lines of communication open with Pedro and his representative.”

Phils general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced tonight that three Phils have surgeries scheduled for this week: Brad Lidge (elbow), Raul Ibanez (sports hernia) and Scott Eyre (elbow).


Eyre and Lidge have similar ailments - loose bodies in their pitching elbows.

Ibanez first suffered a groin injury in June and battled his health in the second half of the season.

Waiting on a call back from Amaro to see how long each of the players' respective recovering/rehab times is estimated to last.

The Brett Myers' era has ended in Philadelphia.

Shortly after debriefing the press on several offseason issues, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. met with Myers and told him the team would be "moving in a different direction."

Myers was 73-63 with a 4.40 ERA in eight seasons in Philadelphia. The 29-year-old, whom the team selected with the 12th pick in the first round of the '99 draft, was shuttled in and out of the bullpen in his last three seasons.

Myers went 4-3 with a 4.84 ERA in 18 games (10 starts) this season. Myers missed three months while recovering from early-June hip surgery; upon returning in September, Myers missed another three weeks with a shoulder strain.

Myers was in the final year of a three-year, $25.75 contract extension signed in February of '07.

More from Amaro on Myers in Saturday's Daily Times...

As expected, the Phils are retaining Cliff Lee for 2010.

Lee, who was in the last year of a 4-year, $15 million deal, had a $9 million option for '10 in that contract. Being that he went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 regular season starts and 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five playoff games, Lee was an easy decision for the Phils.

The team also holds a club option on Pedro Feliz ($5 million); GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters the Phils are still in the process of deciding whether or not to pick that option up (there's a $500,000 buyout). The Phils may be exploring an upgrade or at least someone who brings more versatility (Mark DeRosa and Chone Figgins, both free agents, would be attractive because of their ability to play 2B and the outfield, along with 3B).

Amaro said the team has until Monday to decide on Feliz's option.


Also: Plenty of Phils are getting end-of-the-season exams that could lead to surgery.

The surprise was Brad Lidge. He'll have his elbow examined.

Amaro believes Lidge might have the same ailment as Scott Eyre - a loose body in his pitching elbow. If both need to have surgery to clear loose bodies in their arms, it is not expect to be the kind that would keep either from being ready to go for '10.

Raul Ibanez was also expected to have his groin/abdomen looked at. The team could know as early as Monday whether he would need to go under the knife, too.


As for roster makeup, here's a story in today's Daily Times.

What's there to say? The better team won the World Series.

The Phils met their match in the big, bad New York Yankees.

New York's baseball goliath battered and bloodied Pedro Martinez early and often en route to a 7-3 victory to clinch the storied franchise's 27th World Championship. Hideki Matsui led the offensive onslaught with six RBIs, including a two-run home run in the second that got NY off and running.

The game ended about 90 minutes ago and they juuuuussst stopped playing "New York, New York" on the one-year-old stadium's P.A. system. Hey, I like Frank as much as anyone, but talk about overkill....

The Phils lost the best-of-seven series in six games, which is nothing to be ashamed of, for sure.... especially against a 103-win team, the best team money can buy.

But let's face it: the Phillies' sore spots reared their ugly bats and arms in the series.

In Game 6, their on-again, off-again problem of hitting with runners in scoring position crept back into play. While the Yanks jumped out to a 7-1 lead off Pedro, the Phils left runners in scoring position in three of the first six innings and grounded into inning-ending double plays in two other innings.

In other spots during the series, the two pitchers who followed career years with off years, Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge, showed off their '09 form. But don't forget Phillies fans: without either of those two guys, you don't beat the Rays in the '08 Series.

Anyway, it's clearing out time. I'll end per usual in the postseason, with some sounds from the clubhouse.

Until next time...

CHASE UTLEY, the Phils' best player in the Series with a record-tying five home runs" "Obviously we didn’t accomplish our ultimate goal, but I’m proud to be teammates with everybody in this clubhouse right now.... I want to reiterate, we didn’t accomplish our goal that we set out for this season, but we got to a spot where a lot of teams don’t ever get the chance to be. For that we should all hold our heads high."


SHANE VICTORINO, whose ground out to second accounted for the game and season's final out: "We would have loved to win again for the city and for us, but unfortunately we didn’t."



RYAN HOWARD, on an offense gone cold other than the home run ball: "We didn’t capitalize on certain situations, getting runs home. They went out there and got hits in certain situations... It’s pretty simple. We just got outplayed."




BRAD LIDGE, on watching the Yanks celebrate: "It’s makes us remember last year when we were able to do it ourselves… it makes us realize how close we were this year. We came really close. I think everyone of us feels like we have the capability of doing it again next year and hopefully for a while afterward. We’re very proud of what we accomplished. We ended up a little short of the goal."




CHARLIE MANUEL, on what went wrong in the Series: "We went through the playoffs, we played real good, and all of a sudden when we got to the Series, and I give credit to some of the Yankees' pitching, but it seemed like our offense... kind of sputtered a little bit.
"But at the same time, their left-handed pitchers, I felt like did a good job on our left-handed hitting and stopped them, and that is a big part of our offense. But at the same time, I felt like they have a real good team, but they definitely deserved to win. They did things right when they had to. We just didn't play as good as we can, but at the same time, we also played a real good team who did a good job, and they've had a great season.
"Like I was telling our guys in there, that just makes us more determined to come back again next year. We've got a good team, and we love to play baseball. I'll tell you, the time I've had there especially about the last three years, it's been really enjoyable to coach and manage our team because of who we've got on our club. I'll tell you something, we will be back. As Mac Arthur said, I guess, we will be back."

Here's you Game 6 lineup for the Phillies:

1. Jimmy Rollins, SS
2. Shane Victorino, CF
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Jayson Werth, RF
6. Raul Ibanez, DH
7. Pedro Feliz, 3B
8. Ben Francisco, LF
9. Carlos Ruiz, C



Also: Charlie Manuel didn't not name a starter for a possible Game 7 Thursday, but here are two interesting tidbits from what he did say --- every pitcher but Cliff Lee is available to pitch tonight AND he did not rule out the possibility of Lee starting a Game 7.

The people that get paid high salaries in Hollywood couldn't come up with a better script:

Pedro Martinez.... in a elimination World Series game.... at Yankee Stadium.

That's what major league baseball fans will be treated to - and Fox is foaming at the mouth with excitement about - 24 hours from now. ("Now" being when I'm writing this entry.

Pedro Martinez has a 2.08 ERA in two playoff starts this season, and a whole boatload of career postseason experience that should serve him well Wednesday. The Yankees are looking to add their 27th World Series pennant to their baseball-best collection.

Here are a few snippets from Tuesday's off-day press conferences at Yankee Stadium:


PEDRO MARTINEZ, on how he hopes to be remembered, and whether "Petey" will resonate like "The Bambino" in the annals of baseball history: "I'm pretty sure that my name will be mentioned. I don't know in which way. But maybe after I retire, because normally when you die, people tend to actually give you props about the good things. But that's after you die. (Laughter). So I'm hoping to get it before I die. I don't want to die and then hear everybody say, "Oh, there goes one of the best players ever." If you're going to give me props, just give them to me right now.

"So I'm hoping to get my name mentioned, yes, just like Babe Ruth is such a legendary name. I hope that my name is mentioned. But not only as a player. I hope that you guys realize that I'm a human being that really likes to help, that really likes to do things in the community, that's a fun human being and a great competitor. That's probably my legacy. I don't want to just leave a legacy in baseball and be a (expletive deleted) human being. I'm sorry about the word.

"I hope I can be remembered more as a human being to take his clothes off to probably give it to a man down the street. I don't mind doing that any time. I hope I'm mentioned in between all those names, even though I will never put myself in that category. That's very different. That's a different level."


CHARLIE MANUEL, on what he can expect from Pedro: "(He has) a tremendous feel to pitch. He knows how to pitch. He knows more about hitters than probably people give him credit for because he'll sit there and study the game and he'll study the hitters and he'll sit there and talk to you sometimes.

"That's one thing I like about Pedro, he'll come over and talk to you and he don't listen when you tell him how to pitch somebody, he'll tell you how he's going to pitch somebody. If you sit there and listen, he's not being smart about it, he's very confident, and he'll start telling you, look at that, Charlie, or something like that, I'm going to do this, that and stuff like that. I like that. And he's got an idea on everybody that walks up there.

"But also, he's got a tremendous feel for the game, and he's still got talent when he executes his pitches, as a pitcher should, he's definitely capable of throwing a very good ballgame, a real good ballgame. I'd look for him to definitely put us in a place where we can win the game.

"How far he can go, I think back there in the summer when he threw against the Mets that night, I think that kind of tells you that he's definitely capable of finishing a ballgame, really."

There's a Spike Lee movie (joint?) called "Summer of Sam." It's about the Son of Sam murders in the summer of 1977.

I admit I dig the flick because, among other things, I like the soundtrack.

Since the movie is set in the Bronx, there are plenty of highlights of the Yankees, and nearly all of them show a showboating slugger named Reggie Jackson swinging for the fences.

It was the Fall Classic of 1977 that "Reggie, Reggie!" slammed three home runs in one World Series Game and set the MLB record by hitting five long balls in the series.

Flash forward 32 years later (it's easy math, I was born in '77). A guy who could probably be fairly described as the polar opposite of Reggie Jackson is putting together a strikingly similar show.

Chase Utley has one definition of "hot dog." It's a popular ballpark delicacy.

But like Reggie, he's a World Series home run hero.

In Game 5 of the World Series Monday night, Utley slammed two home runs for the second time in the series to lead the Phils to an 8-6 victory. Utley have five home runs in the series, tying Mr. October's all-time record.

Chase Utley, Mr. November.

"Obviously it's great company. At some point, not right now, maybe I'll look back on it and see what kind of special moment it is," Utley said. "But right now our goal is to win two more games."

And that's the position Utley has helped put the Phillies in, entering Wednesday night's Game 6 in the Bronx. They trail the best-of-seven series 3-2 but appear to have some momentum and definitely have the Series' hottest hitter in Utley.

"He's one of the most prepared, one of the most dedicated, he has the most desire and passion to play the game that I've ever been around," Charlie said. "I used to say Kirby Puckett was my favorite player, and all those things I just said, I used to say those about Kirby Puckett, and I said Kirby Puckett was my favorite player. The only thing Kirby might have on Chase is he's a more flamboyant because he smiles a lot, and Chase is a little bit different.

"He's quiet and he goes about his business in a real good way. But Chase Utley is one of the most -- he's a pleasure to be around and he's a pleasure to manage. I mean that, and I could not say enough about him because that's what I think about him. I don't want to embarrass him or nothing like that, but sometimes I tell our players, "Just play with Chase," because if you play with Chase, you've got a chance to be a pretty good player."


-------------------------------------------------------------------

A few postgame notes:

- Pedro Martinez is scheduled to pitch Game 6. Martinez was two home run balls away from tossing a gem at Yankee Stadium last week.

-Ryan Howard struck out twice; with 12 strikeouts in the series, he has tied Willie Wilson (Kansas City, 1980) for the all-time World Series mark.



-Shane Victorino was hit in the right index finger with an A.J. Burnett pitch in the first inning. Initially, he stayed in the game, but Manuel removed Victorino in the eighth after the hand swelled so much that he couldn't grip the ball.

The X-Rays on Victorino's hand came back negative and after Tuesday's off day, should be ready to go.

"Initially I thought oh no it doesn't feel right," Victorino said. "I wanted to play... everything is fine."

Since joining the Phils beat in December of '07, I've covered six playoff games that have involved lockers adorned with plastic wrapping and the possibility of alcoholic beverages in orbit.


Here's the interesting tidbit: none of those potential, series-clinching games ever had the team opposite the Phillies in control of the champagne splash.

That will change later on tonight, when the Yankees take Citizens Bank Park with a 3-1 lead in the World Series after taking a gut-punching, 7-4 win in Game 4 Sunday night.

Surely you saw how it happened: the Phils rallied back early to tie it against CC Sabathia (Pedro Feliz got the clutch two-out hit), and then cut the deficit late off CC with one homer (courtesy of CC-killer Chase Utley), and then got an enormous, game-tying homer off Joba Chamberlain (Feliz again).

But then Brad Lidge picked a very bad time to revert to 2009 regular season-form.


Lidge actually looked great in the beginning, punching out Derek Jeter with a 3-2 slider to send down the first two batters of the inning.

But Johnny Damon put together a great at-bat, finishing it with a single, to keep the inning alive. But Lidge plunked Mark Teixeira.

But Alex Rodriguez, who was hit by a pitch for the third time in two days earlier in the night, rifled a fastball into left field to score the go-ahead run.

If there was a moment that could act as the polar opposite of Lidge embracing Carlos Ruiz at the conclusion of the 2008 World Series, A-Rod's hit was it.

The Yanks scored twice more in the inning when Jorge Posada followed A-Rod with a two-run hit.


Not much else to say. Here's a little of what they said in the clubhouse:


BRAD LIDGE, on the latest nightmarish ninth in his '09 season: "It's frustrating. The inning was frustrating. (Damon) had a great at-bat and sometimes he can do that. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the job done after that. It's frustrating. You make good pitches and you hope to get the result. But they did a good job."



ALEX RODRIGUEZ, who is one win away from his first championship: "There’s no question I’ve never had a bigger hit... It feels good, but we have to stay focused... those guys are the World Champs. We just have to stay in the moment."




CHARLIE MANUEL, on the task his team faces: "I think we take a lot of pride on being resilient and the way we bounce back. I know that we're going to come out and play tomorrow to win. I know that. I've seen us go through it before. We've blown 22 games from the seventh inning on or something this year. That's got to tell you something about the resilience of our team.
Tonight is tough. We're in the World Series now. But at the same time, we're down, but you know what, we're still breathing."



PEDRO FELIZ, on the Phils 3-1 deficit: "It’s not over yet. We just have to go out and take them one at a time."

Chan Ho Park may or may not be available for Game 4 Sunday night.

He wasn't able to pitch in Saturday's Game 3, however, as he was the latest Phils' player to catch the flu bug. After Greg Dobbs and Brad Lidge missed Saturday's workout - and non-roster reliever Tyler Walker was sent home before Game 1 in New York, Park came down with a stomach ailment Saturday.


"Right at game time; that’s why he didn’t pitch," Manuel said. "He came and told me he was sick. When I talked to him, he said he was throwing up. You could tell he was feeling pretty rough."

Manuel said he may have called on Park, instead of J.A. Happ, when he pulled Cole Hamels in the fifth; two runners were on base with one out and A-Rod due up.

"In that situation, I might have gone to Chan Ho with a righty Alex Rodriguez standing there," Manuel said.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, Manuel hadn't talked to Park to gage whether he was well enough to pitch in Game 4.

This is a position the Phils aren't familiar with - trailing a postseason series.

The World Series, with CC Sabathia on tap to take the ball in the next game, is not a good time and place to be entering relatively-uncharted territory. The Yankees' 8-4 win in Game 3 of the World Series puts the Phils in their first deficit in a postseason series since falling behind to Colorado 1-0 in the '07 NLDS.

Does the Phils' mentality change?

"It doesn't change," Charlie Manuel said. "We'll come out tomorrow and we'll try to even play better and harder. We're that kind of team."

The Phils have to win tonight, in a Sabathia-Joe Blanton matchup, or in Monday night's Game 5, with Cliff Lee on the hill, to force the series back to the Bronx.

The Yankees, however, have clearly taken the momentum after losing the first game of the Series.


"We feel good," Game 3 winning pitcher Andy Pettitte said. "Not trying to sound too overconfident, but even when we lost the first game, our club feels really good about ourselves. We feel really good about we're doing and we feel good coming in here."

Pettitte, who extended his major-league record with his 17th career postseason win, held the Phils left-handed hitting trio of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez to 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.

Howard, the NLCS MVP, was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He's 0-for-8 with seven strikeouts in the last two games, and has struck out in nine of his last 12 at-bats.

Another former NLCS - and World Series MVP - was also to blame. Cole Hamels threw three very sharp innings but his veered off course in the fourth and never did regain control of the wheel in his shortest career postseason start.

Hamels gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Hamels retired 10 or the first 11 batters. But he also allowed seven of the final 10 hitters he faced to reach base.

A home run to Alex Rodriguez - originally ruled a double and then overturned after instant replay - was the turning point for Hamels, who was handed a 3-0 lead and left trailing 5-3.

"After that it looked like things kind of started to snowball on him," Manuel said.

Cole Hamels has one win in four postseason starts this year, and an ugly 7.58 ERA after rolling off a 4-0 record with a 1.80 ERA in the ’08 playoffs.

“I haven’t got the results that I anticipated and everyone else has anticipated,” Hamels said.

Late night - and long night - at the ballpark. For more on the game, check out the game story and a flurry of other stories from the Delco Times sports staff at delcotimes.com