Cole Takes A Walk With The Phils' Legends

Lefty, Schill, and Robin Roberts, your small, exclusive Pantheon finally has a new member. His name is Cole Hamels and the Phillies' Mount Rushmore of Starting Pitchers finally has a fourth face.

Tonight, Cole showed why he is a legit, ACE, #1 starter. There are maybe a dozen bona fide #1's in Major League Baseball and for the first time since the late 90's, we have one. Cole was effective, efficient and at times dominant in running through the Dodger lineup. The only guy who touched him was the incomparable Manny Ramirez. (I'm so happy we won't have to deal with him next series. His skill as a hitter is uncanny. He's so good at his craft, that he brings athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps to mind. Although, I don't think we catch too much of a break between BJ Upton and Evan Longoria.)

Cole's toughness has been questioned over the last two years, but he certainly answered the bell big time when he beared down and struck out Jeff Kent with two on in the 7th. At that point, the game was pretty much game, set and match as Uncle Cholly was about to turn the game over to our lights out bullpen.

Cole truly deserved the MVP and if he we can continue to receive pitching like this, we may be looking at the end of The Curse of Billy Penn.

A couple other items:

-If I'm the Dodgers, I test Ryan Madson for HGH and/or the Juice. He is pitching 95+! Where is this coming from? Just a year ago, he was hitting 91-92. How is he consistently hitting the upper 90's? Is it a change in mechanics?

-It was nice to see Ryan Howard break out of his slump and get a couple hits. I really think we're going to see him break out in the World Series. He's been so hot and cold over the last two years. Maybe tonight's game will kick him into gear.

-Not only is Shane Victorino the heart and soul of this team, but he is the best defensive centerfielder we've had in this town since Garry Maddox. He covers a ton of ground.

-I was watching ESPN after the game and the host of Baseball Tonight was talking about how much the State of Hawaii is behind the Phils due to the Flyin' Hawaiian. Don't know about you, but I think that is really freakin' awesome.

-J Roll's lead off home run was absolutely clutch. It was the linchpin in unsettling Chad Billingsley. He was never the same and it was a matter of time until he imploded further.

-The only negative tonight was our baserunning. We could have scored another run or two if we were a little more aggressive.

-I almost lost it when Chris Myers gave Uncle Cholly his condolences on the death of his mother. Can't imagine what he's going through. It has to be incredibly difficult. I know we rip him constantly in this town, but he's a good man and the right guy for this team.

-I'm starting to appreciate Carlos Ruiz as a defensive catcher, but on the other hand....

-Tim McCarver annoys me to no end. I don't think I can take another week of ball games with him. When he proclaimed after the first inning that "Cole doesn't look right to me", I almost threw something at the screen. Where does he come up with this shit? The Sports Guy always pokes fun at him and his inadequacies and now I finally see what he is talking about. Where's Deion Sanders when you need him to douse him with water?

Well, it's off to the World Series. It's been an awful long wait, but it feel pretty freakin' awesome to finally get here.