Damn It, Missed March LOL

Damn it. Looks like my streak has ended yet again. Gonna try harder to stick to it

So what’s happened? Major events include going on a 2 week trip to Melbourne with Jenny in February (fantastic city. Seriously considering moving there!) and celebrating my quarter century birthday with Mum, Dad, Dill, Steph and Jenny at an Italian restaurant in the City called Da Vinci (very nice food and atmosphere, if I may add!).

Work-wise, just been working at Newmarket a few nights a week (including the odd extra shift when Pete needed cover), and pretty regular locum shifts at St Lukes, Avondale and Epsom. Quite steady.

In the MLB and NBA sports world (I don’t care much for cricket )…
- The Phillies just routed the Mets 11-0 behind Doc’s stellar 7-inning shutout;
- The Yankees edged the Twins with smart hitting;
- Mo picked up his 4th save of the season, quietly marching towards the record books. I believe he needed 42 to tie The Hoff’s 601 save record, so 42 – 2 = 38… 38 saves to go;
- Cole Hamels was raped a few days ago in the third inning. Hope he regains his 2008 playoffs MVP form soon!! The Phils need him;
- The Lakers have been slumping (2 game losing streak) since going 19-1 after the All-Star break. Not too worried about them. They’ve already clinched a playoff berth I think

MLB Championship Series

American League Championship Series:
** New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers **

What I want to see: The Yankees to win the Series, setting up a World Series re-match with the Phillies

Prediction: Tough one. As much as I like the Yankees, NY’s pitching seems to be a little shaky… CC Sabathia should have lost Game 1 against the Twins, but the Yankee bats picked up his slack. CC will need to step up even more and eat up innings as usual, Andy Pettitte will need to step up even more and prove to the world that he is still indeed the Postseason King, Phil Hughes must continue to shine like he did against the Twins, and A.J. Burnett needs to start pitching again.

Yankees in 6 or 7 games. HOPEFULLY…

National League Championship Series:
** Philadelphia Phillies vs. San Francisco Giants **

What I want to see: As above. The Phillies are my favourite National League team, so I definitely want to see them win this one. A Yankees vs. Phillies re-match would be epic!!

Prediction: The Phillies’ “Monster Three” (haha that reminds me of Monkey D. Luffy, Roronoa Zoro and Sanji from “One Piece” LOL) of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt are more imposing than the three the Giants (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez) are pitting them against. “The Freak” will probably be the most difficult to crack for the Phillies bats; Cain and Sanchez shouldn’t be as troublesome. The Phils had a “cold bat” slump in the regular season, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen in this series!!

Phillies in 5 or 6 games. Fingers crossed!!

Olajuwon

Sunday, 3rd October, 2010… After a thoroughly enjoyable late brunch at The Coffee Club in Sylvia Park, this (below) happens LOL

@Sylvia Park Footlocker store:

Me: “Hey they’ve got Olajuwon’s!!” (referring to an NBA Swingman jersey)

Bobo: “Do you need a large one?”

LOL.

The Yankees and Phillies are both in the post-season (which starts tomorrow). Re-match of 2009′s World Series in the works, anyone? Although I have a feeling the Phils will get their revenge this time around.

Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt are a more solid trio than, say, Sabathia, Pettitte, Burnett (that’s if he even gets a nod…) Provided Hamels doesn’t have another meltdown and pitch like he has been pitching of late

Run, Johnny, Run!!

One more win. One more win for #27. Didn’t manage to catch the game live on ESPN again, but caught most of the action on Gameday (as usual lol). The Yankees were up 4-3 when Joba Chamberlain serves up a home run to Pedro Feliz, tying it at 4-4 to end the 8th.

Send in “Mr. Blown Save” Brad Lidge at the top of the 9th inning to preserve the tie and what do you get? You guessed it; a loss for the Phillies… I have nothing against him (he seems like a genuine guy who’s struggling and trying hard to bounce back), but seriously. Cole Hamels and Lidge both need to work out where they went wrong this season/postseason…

After breezing through the first two outs, getting pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui to pop out to Jimmy Rollins AND striking out Derek Jeter, Lidge crumbles after a lengthy 9-pitch duel with Johnny Damon, giving up a single. THEN on the first pitch to Mark Teixeira, Damon takes off, bringing chaos along and an eventual win for the Bombers. Not only does he steal 2nd, but he manages to steal 3rd base as well on the same play (you have to watch the replay/highlight at MLB.com, because it’s simply epic). Lidge proceeds to hit Teix with a pitch, then Damon comes home on Alex Rodriguez’s clutch RBI-double. By now, the Yanks re-claim the lead, 5-4. Next up, Jorge Posada drills a two-RBI single to center, inflating the lead to 7-4.

Enter Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th. Mo only needs EIGHT pitches to dispose of Matt Stairs, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino. All three grounding out/popping up harmlessly to Teix at 1st. Game over, save, victory for the Yankees.

So there you have it. Clutch hitting from Damon, A-Rod and Jorgie; combined with clutch (and epic) base-running from Damon; and a solid save from Mo brings the Yankees within ONE win for #27. I look forward to Game 5 tomorrow!

Player of the Game for today? Johnny Damon. Period.

LET’S GO YANKEES!!

Phillies, Hamels Agree To Three Year Deal

The Phillies announced yesterday that they have managed to avoid arbitration with Cole Hamels and both parties have agreed to a 3-year, $20.5 million deal. This has got to be the best news I’ve heard since the Yankees (my favourite American League team) announced that they managed to swipe Mark Teixeira from every other teams’ noses.

Considering Hamels is one of my favourite pitchers in the Majors, and he also plays for my favourite team in the National League (Philadelphia Phillies), I’m definitely relieved that he’s going to be sticking around in Philadelphia!! Couple this with the fact that Jenny just bought be an authentic Cole Hamels home jersey for Christmas, I definitely didn’t want to see Cole run off to another team anytime soon!

Great job inking your ace, Phillies!