FanHouse Eric Bruntlett

NEW YORK -- Just when you think you've seen everything there is to see in baseball, a second baseman shuffles his body just a tiny bit to his right and bedlam breaks out. It was only a few inches, mind you, almost an unconscious move choreographed by Eric Bruntlett as he tried to shake the cobwebs from his head.

He'd already made an error in the bottom of the ninth, clumsily booting the ball and allowing the hapless Mets to hang in. Bruntlett was also on the end of what was generously called an infield single, and now the Mets had two runners on base, the winning run at the plate, and Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge was flirting with another meltdown.

A few inches. That's the gap between incredulous rub-your-eyes wonder and here-we-go-again exasperation. A few seconds. That's the time it took to once again seal the disparities between baseball's defending champions and this season's cursed losers.

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The 15th unassisted triple play in major league history was turned by Phillies second baseman Eric Bruntlett on Sunday, ending Philadelphia's 9-7 victory at Citi Field. According to STATS, it was only the second unassisted triple play that ended a game; the first feat was accomplished by Johnny Neun for the Tigers way, way back in 1927.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

Things move fast in the Internet Age. That's the nature of a 24-hour news cycle or maybe just the short attention span of Americans. Either way, before you know it we're going to be talking about CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (And Jake Peavy and Manny Ramirez and maybe even Prince Fielder).

So let's take the chance, while we still can, to pay tribute to the 2008 champions. With a cheesesteak in one hand and a Yuengling in the other, here's to you Philadelphia.

- Here's to the Phillies fans, first and foremost. You're not always the easiest folks to understand. You've booed just about everyone including many of your own players. Even among East Coast baseball fans you can seem like a cynical, sour bunch. But your passion and loyalty is undeniable.

In frigid temperatures and pouring rain on Monday night, Citizens Bank Park was packed to the hilt. In more than 100 years of existence, you've been rewarded for your devotion with a title only twice. It hardly seems like enough.

- Here's to Cole Hamels, who at just 24 has established himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball, and just maybe its greatest changeup artist.

Until his magical October run, Hamels wasn't widely recognized by casual fans for his dominance. He wasn't even an All-Star this year. Hope you enjoyed the relative anonymity while it lasted, Cole.

In the Playoff Pulse series, our MLB editor takes on a hot October topic.

It took two whole games, then another two hours for the World Series to really get interesting. Boy, was it ever worth the wait.

The upshot of Game 3 is that the Phillies are suddenly looking extremely formidable, needing just two wins to capture a championship and with at least one more start from Cole Hamels -- a seemingly guaranteed win -- still in the offing. But that's just the fallout from the first real classic of this series, and maybe the best World Series game outright in the last five years.

The devil is, of course, in the details.

We should have known right from the get-go that this was going to be wild one. It had the latest start time of any game in World Series history. Jamie Moyer threw the first pitch at 10:06 PM ET, and right from the start he was painting corners.

There was nothing normal about this particular World Series win for Philadelphia. For starters, Tim McCarver actually called the five-man infield for the Rays in the ninth inning, so you know things were straight up weird. It was a game that ended at 1:47 am EST on Sunday morning and saw the first Series win in the city of Philly since 1993.

Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz provided solo shots and Jamie Moyer provided an inexplicable six-and-a-third innings of one-run ball after playing the role of punching bag for most of the NLCS.

The game ended as late as it did because weather created more problems than we thought, and the first pitch didn't get thrown until after 9 pm EST.
Eric Bruntlett and his sickening beard provided the game winning run, sliding in under Evan Longoria's underhand grab/throw on a dribbler to the left side of the infield. It was eerily reminiscent of Jamie Moyer's earlier play on a Carl Crawford bunt single, in which a 47-year-old man made a grab and flick with his glove that should have forced Crawford out regardless of the bad call.

Matt Garza was good, but not great, and it was a night when youth got served by the elderly Moyer and the Philly bats really got going. But more importantly, it was a Philly win that didn't involve Cole Hamels on the mound -- we all know that the Phillies are good, but it seemed like a distinct possibility that the Phils might need Cole to pitch three times. That could still happen, but a win tonight at least means there will be options.

The Phillies came into Tampa Bay and got what they wanted in Game 1, so losing Game 2 isn't going to affect them all that much. They're going back home for three games (which should make Greg Dobbs extremely happy since he could barely see the ball at the plate in Tampa), and even if they lose Game 3 they always have the option of coming back with Cole Hamels in Game 4 if they so choose (and if there's a rainout in Game 3 as speculated, he'll definitely come back for Game 4). So no panic in Philadelphia.

What the Phillies have to avoid is to let the strange calls by Kerwin Danley get to them: The weird "almost" punch out of Rocco Baldelli that turned into an appeal that gave Baldelli new life (after which he singled), and the hit by pitch that wasn't of Jimmy Rollins (ticked his jersey) and turned into a fly out to left. The problem is that Rollins had four other chances to do some damage and he didn't. He's 0-for-10 and that has to worry the Phillies, along with the fact that they had the leadoff man on base in six of the nine innings, and still could only muster a home run by Eric Bruntlett and a late run in the ninth inning. (Jayson Werth also had a terrible night with an error in the first that cost the Phils a run, and getting doubled off first base by Baldelli in the fifth, though he did throw out Baldelli at the plate in the third.)

The good news is that they got a home run by Eric Bruntlett, which came off wunderkind David Price, and now they know he can be hit (although Price was extremely good on Thursday). Also, Ryan Howard is finally getting warm ... he went 2-for-5 including a long double to center. Other than that, there are some things to worry about for the Phillies. But again, with Hamels a possibility for Game 4 and a split on the road, things don't look bad for the Phils.

Charlie Manuel is going use opposite handed hitters to match up with the pitchers in the designated hitter slots. That much we know.

Other than that, though, Manuel is either playing it close to the vest or really doesn't know who he's going to use in the batting-only position for the two to four games in Tampa Bay (yes, I know they play in St. Pete, but they are the Tampa Bay Rays ... contact Bud Selig with complaints, not me).

"When I put out my lineup, I never know," he said. "I might look and change it at the last moment. Seriously, you never know."

Two options being discussed for the spot against left-handed Scott Kazmir for Game 1 are Chris Coste and Eric Bruntlett. Coste, of course, leaves the Phillies without a backup catcher, which is always a dangerous game. Bruntlett, since he's a better defensive player than Pat Burrell, would likely play left-field and move Burrell to the DH-spot. A possible issue there, though, is that sometimes guys used to playing in the field lose concentration when they move to DH.

Burrell didn't seem concerned.

It may be a stretch, but you can make the case that the Mets first victory over the Phillies since June 30th, 2007 on Wednesday night can partly be blamed on Hall-of-Famer and ESPN broadcaster Joe Morgan. Last season's MVP (and Met killer) Jimmy Rollins sat out that game as a precaution with a bum ankle, and his replacement (Eric Bruntlett) committed two errors to help the Mets to an 8-2 victory.

After testing the ankle before the game and consulting with head trainer Scott Sheridan, hitting coach Milt Thompson, and ESPN broadcaster and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, Rollins decided to remove himself from the lineup.

"I want to go out there and play every day, but Joe Morgan and Milt said it. You go out there on a bad ankle you start getting some bad habits at the plate," Rollins said. "My swing feels pretty good right now so I don't want to start that."

Rollins said he was hopeful that he would be able to play in the series finale against the Mets tonight. He was available to pinch-hit against a righthanded pitcher last night.

Turns out Rollins is resting his ankle again tonight against the Mets, thanks in part to Joe Morgan, who is obviously offering his top notch announcer skills (and medical advice) on a one-on-one basis. As the Mets broadcast team noted during tonight's game: "Charlie Manuel must be thrilled."

Tadahito Iguchi officially hit the open market yesterday after being released by the Phillies. Of course, the Phillies more or less had their hands forced; under the terms of the contract Iguchi signed with the White Sox three years ago, the Phillies weren't allowed to offer Iguchi arbitration, which means that not only is Iguchi free and clear, but the team that signs him won't have to give Philadelphia any draft picks as compensation. From the Philadelphia Daily News:

"[Iguchi] thinks he can get a job playing second every day somewhere. I think he and his agent are correct in that assumption," said Gillick, who added the Phillies asked him whether he would be willing to play third base.

So who plays third for the Phillies next year? Probably some combination of Wes Helms, Greg Dobbs and Eric Bruntlett, considering Pat Gillick shot down any rumors of Philadelphia's interest in Mike Lowell.

As for Iguchi, he will be competing with a handful of prominent second basemen on the market -- Luis Castillo and Kaz Matsui, for instance, as well as Marcus Giles and Mark Loretta -- though he has to be considered one of the most desirable.

It's deja vu all over again!. Just over four years ago I remember reading a headline saying the Phillies had traded some minor leaguers/fringe players to Houston in exchange for their closer, Billy Wagner. Tonight it happened again when the Phils sent Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo to Houston in exchange for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett.

Wait, is this really happening? Lidge found his form again in Houston this year and for much of the second half of the season was his old dominant self, especially after coming back from an early season injury. The Astros will also send Eric Bruntlett, but Bruntlett and Geary are basically a wash (because they're both basically worthless). Costanzo is mildly interesting as a guy that hit 27 homers in AA this year, but I'd put his ceiling at the moment right there, at "mildly interesting." That means the bulk of this five player swap is Bourn for Lidge.

Bad news for Astro fans, but Bourn for Lidge is not a good trade. Bourn looks like he's headed down the Juan Pierre/Willy Taveras career path. That's not a compliment, that's me saying that he's a fast outfielder that can't hit for power or get on base and he's going to make a ton of outs. Lidge, on the other hand, is still one of the best closers in baseball, even with all his recent struggles. I understand the desire to trade Lidge to a contender that needs him, but he's got to be worth more than Michael Bourn. Ed Wade knows he works for the Astros now, right?

The final ramifications of this deal, as noted by Mullet on the A-Team MLB FanHouse e-mail list, are that Brett Myers will likely be headed back to the rotation and the Phillies are pretty clearly planning on keeping Aaron Rowand. That's actually way more interesting than the trade itself, which seems more like a fleecing to me.