At some point this October, Tony La Russa or Charlie Manuel is going to want to bring in one of his top right-handed relief pitchers, but he's going to look in the other dugout and see Jim Thome or Jason Giambi holding a bat, and he may think twice.And then maybe he'll think of Matt Stairs. With one rib-jarring swing last October, a pinch-hit two-run homer that led the Phillies to a victory over the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS, Stairs left an impression that proved to the Dodgers and Rockies how important one at-bat can be.
"Even if you are only winning one or two games, that can be a difference," said Mark Sweeney, a Dodgers coach and one of baseball's all-time most successful pinch-hitters. "Obviously, what Matt Stairs did to us was huge. Even if it doesn't happen, there is that threat, and that definitely plays into a manager's head."
In the 

If you've been reading along here either at FanHouse or any other baseball pundits during this post-season, you've probably read the same thing over and over again about the Phillies: if
In short time tonight, we're going to have posts telling you what the Phillies' huge 7-5 win over the Dodgers tonight means for both teams and all kinds of analysis and opinions on how the series is going to play out. That's all well and good, but before we get to it, I think everyone needs to take a second and acknowledge
He's 40 years old, and hasn't hit a home run in a month. But in the NL East, where the margin between first and second is razor thin, 
He may look like your high-school gym teacher, but journeyman
The Yankees and Blue Jays got into a bit of a bean ball war earlier in the week, and 
























