FanHouse Charlie Manuel

NEW YORK – Finally, there was life in Ryan Howard's bat, energy in his words. "Come on man, let's go," he shouted upon crossing the plate, as if adding a hardy exclamation point to his two-run homer in the sixth inning would spark whatever the defending champions had been missing since they took a brief World Series lead way back in October.

The Philadelphia Phillies brought the bravado, for sure. On the eve of the Fall Classic, Jimmy Rollins made one of his many extemporaneous observations, saying on the Jay Leno Show, of all places, "If we're nice, we'll let it go six. But I'm thinking five. Close it out at home." So here's the first lesson, to any budding big leaguers: try not to mouth off when playing the wealthiest, hungriest, most talent-stacked team on the planet.

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NEW YORK -- This was not the type of World Series that the Phillies are going to spend much time replaying in their minds. Not long after they watched the Yankees celebrate on the field, taking the title that they won last year, the Phillies were already in full shoulder-shrug mode.

Regrets? Not really.

"They got the hits and we didn't," Jimmy Rollins said. "Simple. There's no science other than that. Get a hit or you don't. And they did."

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PHILADELPHIA -- This is where they booed Santa Claus but gave a standing ovation to a dog killer named Michael Vick. This is where they taunted Mike Schmidt, maybe the best third baseman ever. This is where Donovan McNabb is viewed as an emotional dishrag, where MIchael Irvin was cheered when he lay motionless on the field, where I saw a woman in an UTLEY jersey tell a guy to "stop being a (p----)," where men are men unless someone wonders otherwise, which means your life is screwed.

It is in this Yuengling-and-cheesesteak culture that Cole Hamels, a California pretty boy not blessed with the Bruno/Rocco/Angelo first name like many Philly tough guys, decided to commit parochial suicide. Shelled again in Game 3 of the World Series, he emotionally unraveled afterward, suggesting very strongly that he wanted his season to end right then and there. In any town, such an acknowledgment would be viewed as a breach of cowardice. In Philly, where the home team trailed only 2-1 at the time, Hamels is being called a sulker, quitter, crybaby, wimp and (p----) of the worst ilk.

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NEW YORK -- Cole Hamels may still have to fight a public perception that he's not ready to pitch a possible Game 7 of the World Series, but his manager apparently has no qualms about giving him the ball.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel isn't saying whether Hamels would pitch that game, but he said on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium that he is convinced that the flap over a Hamels comment following Game 3 was overblown or misunderstood.

"He came in and talked to me [Monday] night, and we sat in there for 10 or 15 minutes and we talked about some of the things that were said, and I felt very good about it, really," Manuel said. "I know Hamels. I've been a Hamels guy ever since I seen him pitch in Lakewood and when I first came to work here. I never, ever -- I want you to listen to this -- never ever questioned his mental toughness because he's just as tough as anybody on our team."

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Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

Much will be made in the lead-up to Game 6 of another Yankees starter -- Andy Pettitte -- going on three days' rest, assuming of course that that is officially announced Tuesday. Of course, there wasn't much of a choice for Joe Girardi.

The Phillies do have some interesting options as they head back to New York. Game 6 starter Pedro Martinez was the easy part, but you can't expect him to go all nine innings, so, especially if the Phillies have a lead, what happens then?

PHILADELPHIA -- They have nothing in common but history. Chase Utley is a southern California dude with gel in his hair who speaks in cliches and has all the pizzazz of a resin bag. Reggie Jackson was the portrait of flamboyance, the straw that stirred the drink, the problem child who jarred the equilibrium. But today, they are joined in baseball lore by the five home runs each hit in a single World Series, with Utley's latest two shots propelling the Phillies to an 8-6 victory in Game 5 and renewed life for a repeat title.

"It's pretty cool. It's pretty surreal," Utley said with typical nonchalance. "I'm glad we got the win. It was a do-or-die game."

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

For the seventh time in his playoff career as a closer (1995-96 not included), Mariano Rivera made a second consecutive appearance of two innings or more Thursday, sealing it with a six-out save in Game 2 of the World Series after he shut the door on the Angels in Game 6 of the ALCS.

That, of course, is a tribute to Rivera's unrivaled excellence and his durability, but it may also reveal something about the state of the Yankees' bullpen.

PHILADELPHIA -- As the Phillies celebrated the NL's first repeat championship in 12 years Wednesday, a fan at Citizens Bank Park held up a sign:

"Bring On The Bronx."

Oh yeah.

Asked about a potential Yankees-Phillies World Series, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins whistled.

"Two big boys," he said.

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PHILADELPHIA -- They wear red for a reason. The Phillies have become the lifeblood of successive Octobers, a team with a heart bigger than Rocky Balboa, a gang with an edge like south Philly, a cause that doesn't crack like the Liberty Bell or Donovan McNabb, all managed by a country savant who sounds a bit like Ricky Bobby. Bruce Springsteen played across the street the other night, and when the folks discovered that Dodgers manager Joe Torre was watching a fellow sixty-something rock the house, they busted into a "Beat L.A.!" chant that could have drowned out Jungleland.

There is much to love in Citizens Bank Park, a warm and cozy yard in a hard, crusty town. There was much less to admire in the National League Championship Series about the Dodgers, feeding directly into why the Phillies completed a 4-games-to-1 romp Wednesday night, this while rowdies tried to climb greased lightpoles and frothed to finally resolve a lifelong inferiority complex against New York in the World Series. All you need to know about the Phillies is that every player crowded on the top step of the dugout when it mattered most, symbolizing the unity and camaraderie of the first team to win a repeat NL pennant in 13 years.

"We have one more step," said Ryan Howard, the series MVP. "Then we got action."

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies' incredible victory in Game 4 of the NLCS on Monday started not with Matt Stairs' walk, but in the last week of the 2006 season.

That's when the team's confidence began to coalesce, and it eventually cemented into a feeling of near-invincibility that has manifested itself so often the past two seasons.

And peaked Monday.

"We believe in ourselves," Jimmy Rollins said after his two-out, two-run, ninth-inning double off a 99 mph Jonathan Broxton fastball put the Dodgers in a 3-1 series hole. "We believe in our ability. ... About the seventh inning is when we start really getting, I guess, locked in, if it hasn't happened earlier.

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