Noah Feingold
03-23-2011, 01:14 PM
A Glimpse At Game One Of The World Series 2011?
By Staff Writer Noah Feingold
Halladay vs. Jon Lester
For the most part, spring training is like the line to get off of a long plane flight going on vacation. You are glad the flight (off season) is over, but you aren’t getting too excited because you still have to go through baggage claim, get your rental car or a taxi, and check into your hotel. Essentially for major league clubs this is the process of getting back into playing shape, and figuring out the lineup and roster for each team. For fans it’s another month without real baseball, only the waiting gets harder as the season nears.
There are two reasons that spring training isn’t real baseball. The first is that teams don’t play to win, they play to get ready for the season, and stars rarely get more than a couple at bats before they call it a day. Still, if you are patient and lucky, a game that feels real will come along. That happened on Monday, when both Jon Lester and Roy Halladay were making their final starts of Spring Training.
If you consider pitching an art, then Halladay and Lester were each painting a masterpiece through 5 innings. Each posted a 10 pitch 1-2-3 first inning and dominated hitters by getting ahead and showing control of their entire arsenals. Halladay looked sharp; he was throwing his patented two-seam fastball hard, accurately, and with excellent movement. His curveball and change up were equally difficult to hit. David Ortiz compared Halladay to a fine wine, speaking to his ability to improve with age; a testament to Halladay’s work ethic.
Meanwhile, the 5th inning arrived and Lester still hadn’t allowed a hit. It came off the bat of none other than Roy Halladay; a hard line drive to right field. After 5 innings, the game was tied 1-1. In the sixth, the Phillies were able to put three runs on the board in the 6th. While this is a good sign that the Phillies offense was finally able to get to Lester, they did it with two walks, a groundball single and two relatively weakly hit fly balls in front of the Red Sox outfielders. This is hardly a reliable way to score runs. The Phillies ended the game with 6 hits, all singles. A concern for the Phillies this year after losing Werth’s bat has been how they will handle good left handed pitchers. This game does little to ease that concern.
Still, this article is more about Hallladay than the Phillies line up, and Halladay was very good. Staying under his 100 pitch limit, Halladay was able to go 7 2/3 innings against a very good, although not full strength, Red Sox line up (neither Crawford, Youkilis nor Adrian Gonzalez played). The Red Sox only had two extra base hits off Halladay and looked off balance and out of sync against him. His 3 walks is really the only category he wasn’t spectacular in, and 3 walks is hardly an aberration.
Halladay left the game due to pitch count. Afterward he said, “I felt good, both arm and body. I felt strong. I didn't feel like I got tired. I felt like I had a lot more left. Physically, I feel like where I need to be." Charlie Manuel would also comment on Halladay saying, “He’s ready.”
For both of the pitchers it was their final start before the regular season. The 33 year old Halladay out-dueled the 27 year old Jon Lester this go around. Halladay’s arm which was taxed for over 270 innings last year including playoffs looked fresh and ready for another great season. Halladay is ready for the season, and now so am I. All we can do now is wait for those magical two words when the Phillies open against Houston on April First, “Play Ball”.
By Staff Writer Noah Feingold
Halladay vs. Jon Lester
For the most part, spring training is like the line to get off of a long plane flight going on vacation. You are glad the flight (off season) is over, but you aren’t getting too excited because you still have to go through baggage claim, get your rental car or a taxi, and check into your hotel. Essentially for major league clubs this is the process of getting back into playing shape, and figuring out the lineup and roster for each team. For fans it’s another month without real baseball, only the waiting gets harder as the season nears.
There are two reasons that spring training isn’t real baseball. The first is that teams don’t play to win, they play to get ready for the season, and stars rarely get more than a couple at bats before they call it a day. Still, if you are patient and lucky, a game that feels real will come along. That happened on Monday, when both Jon Lester and Roy Halladay were making their final starts of Spring Training.
If you consider pitching an art, then Halladay and Lester were each painting a masterpiece through 5 innings. Each posted a 10 pitch 1-2-3 first inning and dominated hitters by getting ahead and showing control of their entire arsenals. Halladay looked sharp; he was throwing his patented two-seam fastball hard, accurately, and with excellent movement. His curveball and change up were equally difficult to hit. David Ortiz compared Halladay to a fine wine, speaking to his ability to improve with age; a testament to Halladay’s work ethic.
Meanwhile, the 5th inning arrived and Lester still hadn’t allowed a hit. It came off the bat of none other than Roy Halladay; a hard line drive to right field. After 5 innings, the game was tied 1-1. In the sixth, the Phillies were able to put three runs on the board in the 6th. While this is a good sign that the Phillies offense was finally able to get to Lester, they did it with two walks, a groundball single and two relatively weakly hit fly balls in front of the Red Sox outfielders. This is hardly a reliable way to score runs. The Phillies ended the game with 6 hits, all singles. A concern for the Phillies this year after losing Werth’s bat has been how they will handle good left handed pitchers. This game does little to ease that concern.
Still, this article is more about Hallladay than the Phillies line up, and Halladay was very good. Staying under his 100 pitch limit, Halladay was able to go 7 2/3 innings against a very good, although not full strength, Red Sox line up (neither Crawford, Youkilis nor Adrian Gonzalez played). The Red Sox only had two extra base hits off Halladay and looked off balance and out of sync against him. His 3 walks is really the only category he wasn’t spectacular in, and 3 walks is hardly an aberration.
Halladay left the game due to pitch count. Afterward he said, “I felt good, both arm and body. I felt strong. I didn't feel like I got tired. I felt like I had a lot more left. Physically, I feel like where I need to be." Charlie Manuel would also comment on Halladay saying, “He’s ready.”
For both of the pitchers it was their final start before the regular season. The 33 year old Halladay out-dueled the 27 year old Jon Lester this go around. Halladay’s arm which was taxed for over 270 innings last year including playoffs looked fresh and ready for another great season. Halladay is ready for the season, and now so am I. All we can do now is wait for those magical two words when the Phillies open against Houston on April First, “Play Ball”.