Wednesday, May 22, 2013
At Home Plate
Phillies, Rockies Series to Provide Great Baseball
Written by Jonathan Leshanski (Contact & Archive) on October 07, 2009
  

It's not all that often that I go to a playoff game.  Sure in the grand scheme of things I've probably seen a lot of games.  I've seen the Mets, Giants, Reds, Yankees, Royals, Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Cardinals matchups in person. But I've ever seen the Phillies or Rockies live in the playoffs before today.

phillies_rockies
The Phillies and Rockies met in 2007, too.
That's kind of ironic, since I've probably seen more Phillies and Rockies games live than any other team over the past five years -- and that's the only time in recent memories that either team has managed to make the playoffs.  So today when I show up at Citizens Bank Park, stomach already full of cheese steak I'll be debating just who to root for.   My gut tells me to wear a Rockies cap to the park, but my brain is screaming that I'll spend the afternoon drenched in beer if I dare to do so.

That's alright, because in truth I'm torn.  Neither of these teams is my hometown nine.  That honor goes to the godawful Mets.  But both these teams have special places in my heart.  You see the Rockies come from my wife's adoptive home town and that means I tend to see a lot of games at Coors Field every year, and the Rockies never really seem to disappoint.  Every game at Coors seems to be a good one, from the very first one, where I watched Todd Helton outslug Barry Bonds, to the Rockies seeming to crush the Mets, Reds or Yankees all of which I've witnessed.

But the Phillies are pretty special too.  I was there to say goodbye to the Vet, to watch one of the most incredible interleague games between the Red Sox and Phils, and to help christen the new park in a series against the Reds (and man was it cold that day).  I said goodbye to Slamming Sammy Sosa there, cheered on Brad Lidge (who one day tossed me a ball), and rooted for Chase Utley one of the most exciting players in the game.

No, deciding who to root for isn't easy.  Especially since the two best offenses in the NL will match up and face very solid pitching.  The question might well be which pitcher will break first, Cliff Lee or Ubaldo Jimenez, both of whom can be virtually untouchable or throw batting practice to the opposition?

In truth I think this series is a toss up.   But whatever way it breaks it should be some great baseball.


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