Cole Loses His Cool
It was an incredible game last night, the thriller in Dodger-land with knockdowns and counter punches. There are so many storylines, from Carlos Ruiz as the principle Dodger killer with his three-run blast, Ryan Howard’s two run double off a spooked Clayton Kershaw and Raaauuuul’s three run blast off the Dodger’s lefty specialist, George Sherrill. There was Chan Ho Park looking like a true shutdown pitcher and Ryan Madsen looking out of sorts, followed by Brad “Dim-the-Lights” Lidge getting a Mitch Williams-like save with a couple of hard hit balls and a gift double-play.
However, there is one storyline that really bothers me, and that was Cole Hamels showing up his teammates after Jimmy Rollins had trouble getting a double play grounder out of his glove, which resulted in a hurried throw by Chase Utley that went into the dugout. Hamels threw his hands up in disgust, and then served up three straight change ups to Manny Ramirez, who hit the third one for a two-run homer.
If there is one thing we know about this Phillies squad, it’s that they are a great team. They pick each other up and leave the blame game to others.
What Hamels did was bush league. We haven’t seen that kind of crap in the post season since Curt Shilling used to put a towel over his head when Mitch Williams went into a game in a save situation.
I hope we don’t see it again. Yes, the Phillies won and all was forgiven. However, I hope his teammates took Cole aside and told him it was not cool what he did. They win as a team and they lose as a team and it is that unity and confidence in each other that is this Phillies’ squad biggest strength beyond all the talent.
This afternoon Pedro Martinez will show us if he has another great post-season game left in his 37-year-old pitching arm. If not, here’s hoping the Phillies team finds a way to win anyway.
Tags: Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez, Phillies