I love these match-ups that have some meat on the bone.  There’s a lot of history woven between these Phillies and Dodgers teams about to duke it out, but it’s not all recent.  It goes back to consecutive playoff meetings in the 70’s, when the Dodgers got the better of those Phillies. 

But what’s really cool about this NLCS match-up, is all the former Dodgers who are now Phillies and vice-versa. Shane Victorino was original Dodger property, picked up in the Rule 5 Draft by the Phillies.  Jayson Werth spent 2 beat up, injury-plagued years in L.A.  They gave up on him, and now he has turned into a terrific player for the Phillies.

In our game 2 match-up, Pedro and Padilla are another example of players flip-flopping. It’s easy to drift back to seeing Pedro as the unknown flame-throwing brother of Ramon, and the Padilla Flotilla in full force out in the stands of Veterans Stadium. 

Some of the coaches who have switched sides have had huge impacts on their team’s success.  Davey Lopes was vital to the Dodgers’ success in the 70’s, leading the league in stolen bases twice.  Now, his journey through baseball has taken him to the Phillies, where he has really helped their powerful base-running game evolve.  He’s shared the intuition and discipline which defined him as a player with the Phillies, and they have really taken off with it.

On the Dodgers, Larry Bowa is not a warm and fuzzy man, but that attitude has brought him success as a player, manager, and now a coach.  Like Davey, he’s the textbook, old-school coach, who knows how to get the most out of his players.  His influence is most evident in Matt Kemp, who has always been gifted with exceptional athletic ability but limited baseball knowledge. Bowa’s teachings have rubbed off on him and now we see what kind of baseball skills he’s able to possess.

I hope the series goes 7 games, and I don’t have any predictions for who will come out on top, but I do predict that this series will be more about the role players than the superstars who have dominated in the past.

For the Dodgers, we are seeing a young class of players emerging into top-of the-line players.  It’s no longer the “Manny Ramirez Show,” staring a superhuman, dreadlocked, goofball, waving a magic RBI bat.  Since the All-Star break, he’s been just a guy, not the superhero character people have made him out to be.  That magic has now jumped to Kershaw, Kemp, Ethier, and Broxton, who now carry this Dodgers team.  Manny’s not going to be the same factor and the Dodgers are stronger because they have a better supporting cast behind him. 

For the Phillies, we know what their stars bring to the table, but guys like Happ, Ruiz, and Werth are going to be the key to the Phillies’ success.  They need those supporting players to give them a lift into another World Series. – Matt Vasgersian