Everyone's making a huge deal out of the whole Mr. November thing, and I can't blame them. I watched the highlight thing twice. It's actual Tino Martinez footage! It's the purple D-Backs uniforms! It's old Yankee Stadium!

So Derek Jeter's month is ushered in, and perhaps he can perform up to standards. Perhaps not. But when I watched that, I didn't realize that the WS had been pushed back a week because of 9/11 and that was why it was so late in the year. But...it's pretty amazing.

Doesn anyone else remember it? I mean, of course you remember it, it's the world series, but does anyone else remember it well? Obviously, I wasn't allowed to stay up that late, I was seven, but I remember my sister excitedly telling me about it the next day. It was the first person to bat in November, it was *Derek*, and he hit a home run! The Yankees won!

Which is about the extent to which I remember it.

But people forget that there are three other men who are to thank/blame for Mr. November's title: Tino Martinez, Bob Brenly, and Byung-Hyun Kim.

Obviously it's still a huge clutch performance, a great thing, and I am not trying to diminish that.

But people forget. They forget who tied the game in the ninth: Martinez. He did so with a two-run homer. Without Martinez, the D-Backs would have won and Jeter would not have had the oppurtunity to hit. And if Bob Brenly had not left in Kim after that first homer, then would another reliever have given up the second one? Perhaps, perhaps not.

And that's where the World Series is dependent on luck. No, the Yankees did not win that WS, but if one tiny thing had been changed then that game might have turned out differently. If Martinez hat not launched that ball, if Brenly had been cautious, if Kim had thrown that pitch just a tad differently...

But they didn't and it happened and Mr. November was made.

What if Brenly had managed much differently...say, Joe Girardi-style? Would he have won the series still? What if Martinez had slumped? Would the Yankees have gotten that far? What if Jeter had hit a double instead of a homer? Would he have scored? What if it took him a few more innings and he came up again, would he have hit the homer then? Would he still be Mr. November?

What if 9/11 had not happened? Would the Yanks be as fueled to win, would they have all that motivation from their city? Would something else have happened to push the series back? Would Jeter still have hit a homer at 12:04 in the morning?

We will never know.

I prefer having the Yankees fans shout "26! 26! 26!" to "27! 27! 27!" so I'm not sure I really want to.

It was a close game. The defense and pitching were really what made the difference--it could have been high scoring if they weren't sharp. But they made good plays and kept cool where it really mattered. Quality starts on both sides, good relief, too.

But the Yankees won. Sadly. But the Phillies fans believe that this is not adversity (note: I can count the Phillies fans I know here on one hand) and that they can come back tomorrow. Cole Hamels is pitching! The great one! Last year's hero!

Who has not done so great this year. Of course, of course, injuries, cover jinx, whatever you want to blame it on. But it's a wild card vs. a wild card, both have been proven in previous postseasons. Fun. Interest. Like the last two games. Pretty even pitching matchups.

In the absence of the Diamondbacks, I have taken up listening to sports talk radio even when it's unbearable bad because there might be some mention of that hopefully nonexistent Drew trade or whatever, and so I've ended up listening to hockey...and I'm hooked on the New Jersey Devils.

I gotta say, last night was exciting. It was scary, but it was good and I just pose one question to you hockey fans: Why do the Devils do badly at home? They are perfect (including last night) on the road, but have won one game only at the Prudential Center. Why is this so? No one player in particular seems to do badly, nor do they all stick out as being significantly worse than usual. It's not even that the goalies let so much more in than usual. They aren't letting in like 5 goals or anything.

But...sports work in mysterious ways.

But back to baseball. Phils, Yanks, and all.

  Including this guy.

That's right, Cole Hamels. I drew him, his face looks a bit scary (probably because of the lack of color?) but it matches okay with his profile pic on the main page.

And so Cole, even if you don't win tomorrow no one expects you to. No pressure. Just go out there, pretend it's last year, you're invincible, Lidge is invincible, Utley isn't making any errors.

These guys you're facing: yeah, they're in the AL. So were the Rays. You beat the Rays. Why not these guys? Sure, they cost more, but what's money? You've got some, your teammates do, too, and your teammates have more Cy Youngs than the Yanks. Of  course, if Cy Young was synonym for championship the Giants would just display Randy Johnson on a pillar for the world to see, throw in a couple of other guys and their awards, and win the thing without trying. But you have Cliff, Pedro, and Brad who should have won the Cy last year. And don't forget the silver sluggers, MVPs, gold gloves, ROYs...well, it could take me forever to find out and at the end of the day I'm just too lazy. I'd say that the teams are about evenly matched in that regard, though I could be wrong. And honestly, what do sportswriters know?

Nothing. Right. I feel as if that's my catechism. I'm like Napoleon Bonaparte and forcing all of France to memorize these answers to these irrelevant questions. But wait...are any of my readers in France? From France? Have French ancestry? Related to Napoleon Bonaparte, who was actually Italian?

   Well, tomorrow is Halloween. Will Derek Jeter do his little Mr. November act again? Will the Devils beat the Lightning? Will Cole Hamels pitch well? Will Jimmy Rollins say something stupid again?

Are any of you dressing up? Please tell me if you are, and what you're being...crazy outfits are just too fun. I miss being able to trick-or-treat. Ah, well. Have fun, everyone!

So at about 10:00 last night I go into my room ready to study and lo and behold, I have a message waiting on my cell phone!

It is my best friend Harmony who is telling me all about how Cliff Lee is awesome. That's every other sentence, in fact. The message: "Hey, Caroline...Cliff Lee is awesome! He's pitching really good. We're whooping the yankees' @s$es. Well...okay, it's only 1-0, but we're winning! Oh, yeah, Cliff Lee is doing an amazing job. He is really amazing! I'm sorry I missed all your calls because I was being really nerdy and going to sleep at like 8. But I'm up tonight because I'm watching the WORLD SERIES!!! So if you call me back, I'll probably be watching the world series...did I tell you how amazing a job Cliff Lee is doing?"

And I wake up to the WFAN people telling me random stuff about the weather...and Cliff Lee gave up no earned runs in his CG.

No earned runs...

And he is God.

Well who is the Devil?

If you're a Yankee fan, it's anyone besides Derek Jeter.

If you're a Jets fan, it's as always Rex Ryan.

If you don't like the Pittsburgh Penguins, it's Sidney Crosby and his stupid hat trick.

If you're sick of hearing about him, it's Isaiah Thomas.

If you're a Phillies fan, it's whoever decided to put Ryan Howard on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

If you're Eli Manning, it's your foot problem that I'm not attempting to spell.

If you play for the Nationals, it's your contract.

Who's your devil?

And, just because it's the return of Pedro vs. the New York Yankees: who's your daddy?

But they did.

The Yankees used the Star Wars music: main titles for their roster, imperial march for the Phils. And now it's end credits for the Yankees' lineup.

I am bashing my head in because...uh, does Brian Bruney, former Dback, make the Yanks Jedi? Do Werth, Park, and Martinez make the Phils Sith? I really don't think so.

I know, I know, not the issue here. But stilll, it makes you wonder.

The Mets heavily favor Star Wars music, too. They play it a lot. Is this some baseball thing that this Star Wars nerd didn't know?

I mean, I knew Endy Chavez used the Imperial March as his walkup song (and maybe Damian Easley did too) and they've played the Star Wars theme before...

Perhaps it's just a New York thing.

Oh, who knows? If you do, DROP ME A LINE

There is a symphony called the "Pathetic Symphony". The title is in French. It is by Tchaikowsky. That is completely random, and though I have a transcribed-for-piano edition of the theme and finale I haven't tried playing it, but it doesn't look very pathetic.

Perhaps it's just Tchaikowsky's little joke or something.

Anyway, it's going to be pathetic and what not but here goes: The TYIB award noms are out and surprise surprise I don't really agree with lots of the nominations. But what do I know? I'm just a bored, procrastinating kid with a big mouth.

BUT since the actual award thingies (Cy Young, MVP, blah blah blah) are coming out in a few weeks (soon after the WS, right?) I will just dole out my own to who I feel is deserving. Which may not be very fair because there's no vote or anything, but you can't say the sportswriters are fair, either.

So...the Cici Pathetically Patented awards (complete with celebratory blingees) are:

AL CPP Best Pitching Performance: King Felix! When you are pitching against the scary Angels lineup  fairly often compared to most other starters, you're bound to have a gruesome ERA...right? Wrong. King Felix, while pitching for the woeful Mariners, managed to rack up 19 wins (tied for first in the majors) and have a 2.49 ERA. For one of the youngest pitchers out there, that's amazing, and considering he's top 5 in the league in the top 4 pitching categories? Not bad. Bow to the ruler, guys.

NL CPP Best Pitching Performance: Chris Carpenter had an outstanding season. 48 earned runs? That's ridiculous. That's scary. That's run-for-your-life evil. That's as wicked as Yankee Fans with their cackles of doom as they descend upon you because their team did better than yours. We all know that feeling, don't we? Unless I have several unknown Yankee fan readers who have chosen not to show themselves...

AL CPP Most Valuable: Adam Lind. This year was not a good one for the Jays: At one point, their entire starting rotation from opening day was on the DL, and only one or two of them made it back. They had to give in and release their overpaid, cringe-worthy closer BJ Ryan, and Travis Snider, the Next Big Thing, turned out to not be ready for the majors yet. Roy Halladay wanted to be traded, Alex Rios and Scott Rolen were traded, and starting in May the Jays kinda imploded. But Adam Lind was a beacon in that horrible season. Halladay's 100-pitch shutout was cool, Hill broke out of his shell, but behind those guys there was the very important DH/LF Adam Lind. 35 homers, 93 runs, and 114 RBI on a mediocre team. Considering he faced AL East pitching quite a lot? Not too shabby, Adam. Not at all.

NL CPP Most Valuable: You gotta hand it to Adam Wainwright. 233 innings without an error. 19 wins. Decent hitting, too. Say what you will about his teammates, but without Wainwright? The Cards go nowhere. Carpenter, Pujols, Holliday, and Molina don't go very far. Their division is always up for grabs, so it's pretty tough. It's also really crowded. But all those wins Wainwright gave the team are hard to find. It's a good year to play baseball if your name is Adam.

AL CPP Rookie: Do I know much about the AL? No. Will I try to make an educated guess? Sure. That's what this is all about. So I'll say Rick Porcello. I keep forgetting about him. I mean, I'm hearing about him but I forget he's a rookie. I think he's like Verlander's pal or something, the two of them have been anchoring Detroit for ages, even though that's totally not true. But he fits in with the big picture so well...(I apologize to Mr. Porcello and Mr. Verlander if they don't get along or something. Didn't mean to link the two of you together in any way. Sorry.)

NL CPP Rookie: I do know about the NL. Blah, blah, blah, JA Happ. I don't care about JA Happ. He's going to win the Sportswriters' ROY, so why should I comply to their "Let's choose a lucky guy on a good team" thing? Why not vote for a guy who I was so surprised was not nominated for a TYIB? Gerardo Parra, who's kinda like the NL Porcello. He blends right in with the team. His first at bat he slams a homer, and he just keeps on rolling. Decent bat, power on occasion, but can this guy play the outfield better than anyone else I saw all year? I think so. Granted, I did not see him live a lot, but I saw him on TV several times and you can't disguise great plays. Gerardo puts effort into everything and if he doesn't make the play he makes a quick recovery and doesn't let extra damage get done. That's cool, that's levelheaded, he's a pro not just another rookie. He doesn't give up even if his team loses (which they did quite a bit), he just keeps playing. Well, everyone does that, you say? Did you see the Mets in September? They were clearly going through the motions, all of them. Thole, Sullivan, Redding, Murphy, Wright, Castillo...And Gerardo Parra's team finished with a record that was exactly the same as that team.

Honorable Mentions:
AL-Aaron Hill, Mark Teixeira, Bobby Abreu, Zack Greinke, Ricky Romero, Mariano Rivera, any pitcher who hit a homer this year in his 1 or 2 games at bat.
NL-Dan Haren, Tommy Hanson, Justin Upton, Matt Cain, Orlando Hudson, Jayson Werth, Omir Santos, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson.

Well, it's not whether you win, lose, catch the ball, get hurt, or whatever: it's the way you play the game. Correct?

The National League doesn't have home advantage?
The NL is always worse than the AL?
The Angels/Yankees are the better team?

Oh, I think not.

The Phils are going to win, and there are actually a few reasons why:
They can capitalize on the other team's mistakes. The Yankees and Angels cannot--the Phils are more clutch. Nevermind Mr. November or El Comedulce, the Phillies all around are more clutch. They may not be especially known for their clutch skills, but they are more well-rounded. The Yanks and Angels are not.

The Phillies have better pitchers. Lackey, Sabathia, blah, blah blah, the Phillies are more well-rounded. After that first starter, who cound definitely best anyone in the AL (see 2008 Cy Young season), they've got choices: Martinez, who can go deep into games and keep the pitch count low but also get some key strikeouts. He's got playoff experience (see Red Sox, Mets) and is probably the most clutch guy on the team. Hamels, who can perform against the AL and even coming off a mediocre year could probably get the best of anyone besides the AL aces. Happ, who has been horrible out of the bullpen, is a good starter and almost definitely rookie of the year. Joe Blanton, who has pitched well in the AL before (see Oakland Athletics/pals with Nick Swisher) but isn't too clutch. Say what you will about the bullpen, but Charlie watches so carefully that he'll switch pitchers as often as he can. Probably not as often or as erratically as Joe Girardi, so if he faces the Yankees he will be overmatched in the overmanaging department.

The Phillies have been at home spending time with their families/watching the Flyers/chilling for a few days. The Yanks and Angels have been traveling, adjusting to the weather changes, etc etc. They'll be tired and they won't have too much momentum--they'll have battled really hard for this series and will need time to reload. Of course, the WS starts on Thursday, so they'll have had a break, but not as much of one.

The Phillies are more than just one dimensional. They have guys who can hit for average and power, guys who can hit and run well, guys who can hit and field well, guys who can pitch and hit, pitchers who can get strikeouts and groundouts...versatility is a key to winning championships. The Phillies have it, and it's one of the reasons they won last year.

And if they don't, well...the world series is based on luck, and they should have won, and I wouldn't mind settling for the NL pennant at all.

Before I get to that, thanks to all of you who commented on my last real, non-blingee entry. I really appreciate it. Also, congratulations to everyone who made the latest leaders. It's quite cumulative, and really gives us an estimate on who has a lot to say consistently. Great job, guys!

And now.

This is 2001.

Seriously, guys, maybe it's not, we all know 2001 was the year of Luck In The World Series: both teams won games based on luck. What if Byung-Hyun Kim threw a different pitch to Derek Jeter? What if Roger Clemens knew how to swing a bat? Things that really made all the difference were small things, and if those things are different, everything is changed. I'm being a bit premature here, we don't even know who's going to the world series. And as we can learn from 2004, you can have the champagne all but fizzing and it might blow up in your face, leaving you with none to drink.

But it's similar.

Quite, quite similar.

Pick a team. Any team.

Say...the Sith Lords. I mean, that's an awful thing to think about, but let's pretend it's a worst-case scenario and they make the series.

They're...well, frankly they could be either team, there are similarities both ways, but because this is me talking they're the Yankees. Well...Joe Torre is their manager. He has won exactly the same amount of world series titles as he did in 2001. Randy Wolf is Roger Clemens (though he is awfully reminiscent of Curt Schilling and he can actually hit), an hired gun who's got about the same number of years left. Broxton is Rivera: closer, very good, got a lot of time left in his career. Martin is Posada, a catcher who's still developing into the very good player we know he can be. These guys have won the division and kinda fell apart at the end, and they have had some luck thus far.

Okay, pick another team.

Do we have the Angels?

The D-Backs? Western team, smart manager, young closer, blah blah blah. Fuentes seems a bit more clutch than Kim, though. Their manager does not closely resemble one of their starting pitchers. And Morales is a bit like Gonzo, just breaking out of a career that's been mostly "meh", and he hits the most homers on that team. You could say Abreu is Gracie, patient at the plate and all, but he doesn't have the glove. That would probably go to Torii Hunter, though not of late.

Okay, so far this analogy doesn't seem so great, but my English teacher told me to save my best arguments for later. So if you haven't given up...

Of course Cliff Lee is Curt Schilling: goes deep into games, is efficient with pitching, hired gun who came up in the AL. And extend to the rest of the Phillies: Jayson Werth is totally Gonzo, he's had a smash year after a fair amount of major league experience. Cole Hamels is Randy Johnson, almost definitely. I can totally see him closing out the games...can't you? Perhaps Pedro Martinez is, though, because you can make similar RJ comparisons. And if he wants 300 wins, he's going to have to pitch that long. Chase Utley is somewhat like Gracie, and Ryan Madsen has definitely had his moments at blowing semi-crucial saves, though pretty much everyone has. It doesn't matter whether they put in at this point, it could be Happ, Park, whoever. They have a chance at blowing it with a homer.

And the Yankees are the Yankees. Some of the same guys, but Sabathia is Clemens (he can hit, though, and he's young and a bit smarter) and Teixeira is Martinez. Johnny Damon is a lesser Paul O'Neil, and you can sense a few parallels between Melky Cabrera and Bernie Williams, especially in the attachment to the organization. Alex Rodriguez is NOT Scott Brosius, but the mantle has been passed. 

Or perhaps it's not like this at all. You can't predict baseball, you can't predict luck, but history does repeat itself.

Blingees=No Luck Effect.

Just look at Mark Teixeira's incredible catch last night. He stretched like a slingshot to make that grab in time for the out. How can someone be so limber when it's so cold? Clearly, the Angels of SoCal felt the effects of the temperature, because they didn't hit, they didn't field, and they didn't look good.

It's not like they haven't felt the cold before. This is Bobby Abreu's first year out of the northeast, Torii Hunter played in Minnesota for 10 years, Juan Rivera was with Montreal for a year (they couldn't play most of the earlier games there due to weather), and they've all just been to New England to face the Red Sox.

But it was all new to them as the Angels blundered about haplessly, misjudging balls right and left...just like Chase Utley. What's gotten into him lately?

But tonight, the Angels can redeem themselves. All they need to do is stay warm...or something. So with extra fire and scarves, El Comedulce should be all right.

Why is Bobby Abreu's nickname El Comedulce, anyway? Well, according to John Sterling (take this with a grain of salt) Bobby's father loved candy, and when he was a baseball player in Venezuela, he was nicknamed El Comedulce. So Bobby is El Comedulce to honor his father.

And this year he should be AL MVP. Clearly, several MLB sportswriters voted for him, but it remains to be seen whether anyone else did.

Would you vote for him?

Who do you think will win Game 2? Will the cold weather be too much for the Angels?

So for the first 7 innings, the Phillies had it under their control. The lead was precarious, but it was there, and the pitching was phenomenal. 7 innings, 87 pitches, and Charlie Manuel made a phone call.

Chan Ho Park came out to pitch. He used to play for the Sith, and...those dark impulses are hard to get rid of, especially with all that pressure, I guess. He gave up a couple of hits, one of them a bunt he (or Ryan Howard) really should have had but didn't. Then came another badly-fielded play, but this time it was Chase, star of my Blingee fun-a-thon last night.

He made an error.

Another botched double play, the run scored (to be fair, it shouldn't have been earned, but it was) and Scott Eyre came in.

Scott Eyre didn't do very well (after one batter), so Ryan "I give up runs" Madson came in. And I made him a motivational blingee, but it didn't work. And Charlie didn't seem too concerned about his phone bill, because then he called in JA Happ, who walked a guy, but as the radio announcer said, "He took the pitch right down the middle for ball 4" and the carousel continued.

But by then it didn't really matter, and then there were 2 outs and Chase (him again) Utley didn't deliver.

Am I making bad-luck blingees?

I don't know. I doubt that the motivational intentions of a 15-year-old girl in New York have much of an effect on the performance of several baseball players in Los Angeles.

Nevertheless...perhaps I should withold. Or maybe...

Not that he's allowed to ride a motorcycle.

Beginning of the end for the Sith Lords, guys. Give a rousing cheer for Chase and the boys!

Of course, Chase did not really deliver his first time up, but if he just hits it a bit farther...

Starting off with irrelevant stuff as always, cause that's my selling point! (good thing this is free)

While I was on the bus going to my piano lesson, i was looking out the window and out over the Hudson river, which is polluted and blah, so I decided to look at the sky. And through a break in the clouds was a visible beam of light.

Whoa.

That never, ever, EVER happens in real life! I don't think I've ever seen it, I thought it was just one of those affectations of comic book artists to show you that it was sunny out even though they were inside a black-and-white scene. So I was like, am I in ION now? Or is this something related to hitting my head hard on a desk this morning?

But then I realized how magical it was. Like when Big Z has his game on and throws beautiful, swings beautiful, and there are homers and beautiful strikes that just float by the batter. That kind of magic.

And it's a long time before we see the Big Z magic in action again.

Speaking of magic...

Dexter Fowler on the basepaths? Man, he is awesome. That flip over Utley...it totally blows that he won't be in the next round. Though I can't really say that of everyone who didn't advance. But anyway, now I have to root for the Phillies.

Even if they lose in the World Series, I still, still do NOT want the Sith in the next round.

Why? What could be so bad? More pride, harder fall, right?

Well...an all-LA World Series would be so late at night that my parents would make me go to bed and not watch the TV (even if we get that channel--our antenna is so bad we only get like PBS and ABC) or listen to the radio. I'm running on too little sleep already, anyway. Not that I'd mind the Angels winning the World Series. They're kind of my pick. I want them to win.

And if the Yankees win it...oh, forget about it. A whole city full of Yankee fans ready to rub it in my face how well their team did? Absolute, total HORROR. They're scary even when they're losing.

But if they lose the World Series against those stupid Sith Lords...

Let's not talk about that.

Uh, so, about those Yankees...

Did anyone else think, "THE MANTLE HAS BEEN PASSED AND ABOUT TIME TOO!" when Rodgriguez hit that homer? And whose mantle did I mean? Why, Scott Brosius', of course. Not that the two are otherwise comparable, besides being in the AL their whole careers...and being 3rd basemen for the Yankees. But no. No one will ever, can ever, replace Scott Brosius. Say what you will about the first ballot for Rodriguez, but...a game-tying homer? Pop quiz: When was Scott Brosius' most famous game-tying homer?

The postseason. In one of the last games of his career.

Honestly, all you Yankee fans remember this. And you remember Drew Henson (you don't want to, but you do), you remember Aaron Boone, and you remember Alex Rodriguez until now. None of them had game-tiers. Game-winners, well, yeah, a little, but none were as clutch as Brosius. Cause a game-tier is at a more desperate point, where you're about to cave, elimination is so close, and BOOM! Out! Gone! Saved! You are back in the game!

Perhaps it was a fluke, in a week where another player looked like a 2001 ghost, come back once more in a uniform he once wore, in someone else's body, to just for a day relive that year.

You should know who this is. Who pitched 3 CGs in the 2001 playoffs?
Who might do it this year?

Curt Schilling.
Cliff Lee.

Schilling wore 5 different uniforms in his career, and he was at his best in Phillies crimson. That's who he's getting into the HOF for, because he embodies the Phillie spirit and because that's what we all associate with him. Except, you know, world series MVP, and bloody sock. But besides all that: Schilling in the 2001 postseason was creepily good. You could see he had powerful stuff and it's the same way with Lee. Lee has a very Schilling-like ability to go deep into games, and it wouldn't surprise me if by the end of his tenure with the Phillies, if it lasts as long as Schilling's, he'll have the exact same number of complete games.

61. You can do it, Cliff.

In any case, it'll be exciting.

What postseason do you think this year's is reflecting? Is it its own entity? Is  this entry pointless and lacking sense?

I apologize profusely to anyone who I potentially or actually offended in any way, shape, or form, because whether intended or not it was cruel and/or stupid on my part.

In addition, thanks to you all for supporting me in my futile attempt(s) to become a sportswriter. I'm aware that sometimes (usually) the quality of my writing is bad and my thoughts are totally disconnected. Reading my old entries, I realize they don't make sense even to me any more and I just cringe at the writing quality.

So until I become a better writer and have more time that I'm willing to spend on quality entries, I'm taking an indefinite leave of absence from this page thing.

Until then.