Game 5 of the NLCS had a few anxious moments, but for the most part the Phillies cruised. After the game, the team looked supremely pleased. It’s clear they wanted to win last night for their manager. Buster Olney explains:

It was tremendous to see the way the Philadelphia players responded to Charlie Manuel after the Phillies clinched the NL championship Wednesday night, each of them giving him a hug. Jimmy Rollins gave him a heartfelt hug, and then the two shared words, and another hug. Having lost my own mother two years ago, I am so relieved for Charlie that he can fly home to bury his Mom without having to worry about baseball the next couple of days.

I’ve Made a Huge, Tiny Mistake has a bunch of pics of Brad Lidge jumping up and down like a crazed monkey.

Phillies Nation links to Phillies Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas calling the last out of the NLCS, and blogger Tim Malcolm shares this tidbit:

I had a dream last night.

No, no, it wasn’t a dream about winning the World Series. Actually, I dreamed I was at a bonfire, and Charlie Manuel was there. I thanked him for the wonderful managing job he did in 2008, and he accepted it wholeheartedly. Then he taught me hitting — in an office, no less — by tossing cough drops at me as I waited with a bat.

The Good Phight offers apologies to members of the Phillies front office, including the man, the myth, the legend, former GM Ed Wade:

Ed Wade: This team, in large part, is your team.  You always resisted trading away young stars at the trading deadline, and now the team is made up of those young stars in the prime of their careers.  Five of the starting eight — Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Carlos Ruiz — were all homegrown products of your time as GM.  On the pitching side, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and Ryan Madson were part of your drafts and have been key parts of the run in 2008.

Finally, Crashburn Alley sums it all up with the simple opening line, “As hard as it may be to believe, the Philadelphia Phillies are the National League representatives in the World Series. Pinch yourself to validate that this is not a dream.”

This should be a tough series for the Phillies.  While the Phillies have a better offense on paper, the Dodgers have good starters, a good bullpen, and play solid defense, being much better than the Brewers in all of those categories.

People are saying that the Phillies should not be afraid of Manny Ramirez, and I agree.  Although Manny has been a monster with the Dodgers these past two months, the Phillies have actually managed to contain him this year, holding him to a .212 average with a .333 slugging percentage and two extra-base hits and five RBIs in 10 games against them this season. The Phillies say they have a game plan for Manny, and they should stick to it, even if Manny gets a big hit early in the series. Because the Dodgers have enough good hitters to make you pay if you pitch around Manny too much – guys like Ethier, Martin, and James Loney.

Actually the Phillies would be well-advised to pound the strike zone in general against the Dodgers.  With the glaring exception of Matt Kemp, who set a Dodgers team record for strikeouts this year, the Dodgers lineup is surprisingly full of patient hitters who are willing to take a walk rather than get themselves out.  In addition to Manny, Rafael Furcal, Russell Martin, Andre Ethier, and Blake DeWitt all have above average command of the strike zone, as they showed in burying Ryan Dempster with 7 walks in game one of the NLDS, so the Phillies should avoid pitching too fine against these guys (Although by all means, extend the strike zone against Matt Kemp).

Finally, the Phillies need to play with confidence that they are the better team.  The Dodgers’ top three starters are all groundball pitchers, which seems like a good combo to limit the home run power of the Phillies lineup, so it may be tempting for to try to mix it up and go with some small ball and try to “make things happen” to get something going against worm killers Lowe, Billingsley, and Kuroda, but this would be a mistake.  As hot as the Dodgers have been since Manny arrived, going 30-25 since the trade, the Phillies were much better, going 34-21 against better competition.  The Dodgers searched all year for a power bat until they finally found Manny, who hit 17 homers for them down the stretch, but the Phillies have Ryan Howard, who hit 18 homers in that same span, not to mention Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, and Jayson Werth. The Dodgers may have a slight edge in starting pitching, but the Phillies would seem to have a huge edge in power hitting, which should give their pitchers some room for maneuver.  The secret to the Phillies beating the Dodgers is recognizing that there is no secret and sticking to their game. Trickery is for teams that are not as good and need to find an edge.  The Phillies are the better team, so they should stay within themselves and make the Dodgers adjust to them.

How about that Endy Chavez catch? That was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. Certainly the best I’ve ever seen in the playoffs. All-time, I’d rank it just behind the Aaron Rowand nose-breaking catch and the Brian Giles scaling the wall in Pittsburgh catch, and just in front of the Kevin Mitchell barehanded catch.

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