LOS ANGELES—Yeah, I figure I’ll just go ahead and do some live stuff again for Game 1. It didn’t go so well in the NLDS simply because the games were so intriguing and there was some news we were trying to track down.
As it turned out, Cole Hamels and his wife, Heidi, had a baby.
So we’ll give it another try for as long as possible this afternoon in sunny Southern California. The truth is, it’s a perfect day here at Dodger Stadium. The temperature is in the low 80s with a bit more humidity than they are used to around here. For Game 2 the temperature should reach 90 at game time.
We’ll travel on Saturday and then have a rainout on Sunday.
Anyway, here are the lineups for Game 1:
Phillies 11-Jimmy Rollins, ss 8-Shane Victorino, cf 26-Chase Utley, 2b 6-Ryan Howard, 1b 28-Jayson Werth, rf 29-Raul Ibanez, lf 7-Pedro Feliz, 3b 51-Carlos Ruiz, c 35-Cole Hamels, p
Dodgers 15-Rafael Furcal, ss 16-Andre Ethier, rf 99-Manny Ramirez, lf 27-Matt Kemp, cf 23-Casey Blake, 3b 7-James Loney, 1b 10-Ronnie Belliard, 2b 55-Russell Martin, c 22-Clayton Kershaw, p
Here are a few notes…
The winner of Game 1 of the NLCS has gone on to the World Series in 14 of the last 17 years. … In the last 39 NLCS, the home team is 20-19 in Game 1. …The Phillies are 5-2 all-time in Game 1 of the NLCS and the Dodgers are 4-4.
The Dodgers and Phillies are meeting for the fifth time in the NLCS. In the history of the NLCS there have only been four rematches of the previous year’s matchup. In 1977 and 1978 the Dodgers beat the Phillies; in 1991 and 1992, the Braves beat the Pirates; and in 2004 and 2005 the Cardinals and Astros split.
Clayton Kershaw will become the youngest pitcher to start Game 1.
In 2009 Jimmy Rollins had the second-lowest on-base percentage in history for a player that scored 100 runs.
Stay tuned… going to go see what Pedro has to say.