As sports, baseball and golf are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
One involves nine players performing on the same field of play, the other, one man against the golf course trying to post the lowest score. About the only thing they have in common is money. When you are great in either sport, you will make obscene amounts of money, enough to keep yourself, your children, your grandchildren and your great grandchildren living the high life.
In an obtuse way, they are also linked by a phrase: drive for show, putt for dough.
In baseball terms, the drive is hitting and putting is pitching. And in the first round of the 2010 Major League Baseball playoffs, a.k.a. the League Divisional Series, that old golf adage fits like an infielders’ glove.
Look no further than what went down as the Philadelphia Phillies had their way with the Cincinnati Reds. Roy Halladay comes within a walk of his second perfect game of the season, "settling" for a no-hitter in Game 1. The next day, with the Reds’ collective heads still spinning, the Phillies bullpen picked up an average Roy Oswalt, firing four innings of one-hit ball. That allowed Philadelphia to erase a 4-0 deficit at the game’s mid-point and rattle off seven unanswered runs to really put the stranglehold on the series.
Then, all that Cole Hamels had to do to send the Phillies off towards their third consecutive NLCS was throw a complete game, five-hitter. Game, set and match.
(Note for you seam-heads): Halladay and Hamels were the first teammates to drop bagels in the same playoff series since Oakland left-handers Ken Holtzman and Vida Blue did likewise in the 1974 ALCS against the Orioles en route to their third straight World Series title.
The Phillies sweep off a playoff-green Reds squad should not have come as a surprise to many. This outcome was predicted by almost everyone. The fact that the Reds couldn’t hit, except for Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce, proved just how valuable a dominant staff can be in a short series. By shutting down Joey Votto and Scott Rolen – the heart of the Cincinnati lineup during the regular season – it made the sweep all the easier, something that will keep them fresh moving forward.
None of the wins had any stress attached to them.
This also allows Philadelphia to hook up with the winner of the Braves/Giants series with its rotation in proper order and ready recapture the World Series crown that the Yankees snatched away a year ago.
Speaking of those pinstriped New Yorkers, they too had a walk-over against the Twins. While their pitching couldn’t possibly reach the lofty bar set by the Phillies, they did dominate from the bump. Veteran starters CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte had, statistically-speaking, quality starts, but they had nothing on Phil Hughes. Making his first career post-season start – 12th appearance overall – the young right-hander allowed just five base runners in his seven innings of work in the Game 3 clincher, in front of a rabid Yankee Stadium throng.
It’s quite shocking that the Yankees could just flip the switch on come playoff time, after struggling horribly down the stretch. I believed that this series would go the distance. New York’s starting pitching was in absolute shambles when we last saw them visit Rogers Centre. Even Mariano Rivera was looking mortal. But none of that was evident, especially from the pitchers, who held Minny to a .216 average and just seven runs in three games.
And with the Rays and Rangers being extended to a full five-game set, the extra time off will certainly help the older Yankees roster. They will also have their rotation in order with five full days off between starts.
Things could not have been scripted out better for the two defending league champions, with the tone for both teams set by the pitching.
Hit for show, pitch for dough.
