LOS ANGELES – We’re back here at Dodger Stadium after a morning run through Pasadena and Santa Anita. Soon it will be time to find something to eat, which looks very promising. Guys with my habits and mindset do better with the culinary choices in California than in Philadelphia. So far I have seen concession stands by Panda Express, California Pizza Kitchen, Corona and a few other progressive-styled eateries.
Yes, a guy like me could do well here in Southern California.
The big question will be if Jamie Moyer and the Phillies do well in LaLa Land. A victory tonight will be (as they say) huge. A 3-0 advantage could make this trip to California shorter than planned.
Then again, the Dodgers have been down 0-2 in the playoffs and come back to win three different times and in all instances they won four games in a row. In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers rallied to beat the Yankees; in 1965 Sandy Koufax helped the Dodgers come back against the Twins; and in 1981 the old gang with Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey finally beat the Yankees.
But all of those comebacks were in the World Series, not the NLCS.
In the meantime, here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:
Phillies 11 – Jimmy Rollins, ss 8 – Shane Victorino, cf 26 – Chase Utley, 2b 6 – Ryan Howard, 1b 5 – Pat Burrell, lf 28 – Jayson Werth, rf 7 – Pedro Feliz, 3b 51 – Carlos Ruiz, c 50 – Jamie Moyer, p
Dodgers 15 – Rafael Furcal, ss 16 – Andre Ethier, rf 99 – Manny Ramirez, lf 55 – Russell Martin, c 5 – Nomar Garciaparra, 1b 30 – Casey Blake, 3b 27 – Matt Kemp, cf 33 – Blake DeWitt, 2b 18 – Hiroki Kuroda, p