RISE AND SHINE

Good (Chilly) Morning out there in the dark!

Yeah, it's kind of cold out there this morning. I was actually able to see my breath heading out today. Bring back the summer. It's supposed to get chilly in October, but I, for one, am not quite ready yet. Is it too much to ask for one more 80 degree day?
Anyway, forget the weather, we have meaningful baseball being played in mid October for the first in what, 15 years.
Thankfully the Dodgers won the other NLDS and get to come to town to play the Phillies. The Phillies have been around since 1883 and this will be only the seventh time the franchise has been to this level of playoffs. (OK, the League Championship Series didn't begin until 1969, but why split hairs.)
Of those seven times, this will be the fourth time the Phillies are playing the Dodgers.
Now, it's not like there's been a lot of fun times playing the Dodgers in the playoffs. Remember 1977 when Danny Ozark should have taken Greg Luzinski out of the game in the ninth. He didn't, Luzinski booted a ball and the Phillies lost.
How about 1978? Garry Maddux made maybe three errors his whole baseball life, but dropped a fly ball then watched another go through his legs as the Dodgers clinched the series.
Sure, there was a victory over L.A. in 1983, but that team was less 'Phillies' and more hangers on. They were led by Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose, three key members of the 1970s 'Big Red Machine' in Cincinnati. Even getting beaten by the Orioles in the World Series didn't seem that bad.
So, now we have the Dodgers again. At least this time if history repeats itself we won't have to see Tommy Lasorda dancing around.
Or will we...


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