Fearsome Phillies finish off Dodgers

Jimmy Rollins silenced Dodger Stadium with a leadoff homer in the top of the first inning. AP Jon Heyman's Mailbag Got a question or comment for Jon? Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Heyman on Twitter

LOS ANGELES -- Just a minute or two into Game 5 of the NLCS (Recap | Box Score), Jimmy Rollins, the diminutive Phillies leadoff hitter known for his big talk and even bigger stick, sent one over the same right-field wall that teammates Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs cleared two days before. The game wasn't quite over eight pitches in ... but it sure felt that way.

Built on pitching and power, the Phillies bullied their way to their first World Series since closer-turned-casino-host Mitch Williams watched Joe Carter jump with joy around the bases back in 1993. Philly earned its way in, first outlasting the star-laden Mets, then overwhelming the nothing-to-lose Brewers and finally beating back baseball's best one-Manny team ever.

Even if the Phillies don't have anyone to match the otherworldly Manny Ramirez, they showed they have a deep and balanced team. They have brawn and a bullpen better than anyone imagined. And even without slugger and possible league MVP Ryan Howard hitting homers, they wiped away a Dodgers team that carried Manny-made momentum into the series after sweeping the lovable Cubs.

By the time the Phillies closed out the Dodgers with a 5-1 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday night, there was little doubt which team would win, and which was better, especially not on a night like this, when the Dodgers reverted to their pre-Manny days and couldn't do many things right (of course, the incomparable Ramirez provided the lone Dodger run with yet another bomb, his fourth of the postseason). But this was really about the Phillies, who overcame their own defeat-filled history (it's a little like the Cubs, though their lone title came much more recently, in 1980) and were overlooked on their ride to the pennant.

It didn't help them that the Phillies were pitted in the NL East against the marquee Mets, then won the least glamorous of the four division series. But by now, this team of Howard, Rollins, Chase Utley and and the rest needs to be taken seriously. They await the winner of the Rays-Red Sox ALCS that currently favors the upstart Rays, 3-1.

"This is our year to win this thing,'' Phillies closer Brad Lidge said. "Our desire is high to win this thing. We've done it time and again. We played to our highest level. And that's what we've been doing for a while now.''

"We'll be ready. That's all that matters,'' Rollins said. "Our goal is to win the World Series, not just to get to the World Series. We still have work to do. We still have to find a way to win four more games.''

Rollins, who also homered to lead off their Division Series clincher at Milwaukee, wrote a beautiful beginning to Game 5, sending nervous young Dodger Chad Billingsley's eighth pitch into the right-field bleachers. A few hours later, Lidge provided the usual ending. When it comes to closing, these Phillies couldn't be more different than that '93 team. Lidge, 46-for-46 in save opportunities this year, sent the Phillies back to the Series by closing out the game with a scoreless inning after their ace Cole Hamels, who like Rollins and Utley is a Californian, pitched seven efficient winning innings.

Lidge is no Wild Thing. He's the sure thing.

As much as anyone, he is the reason the Phillies have gotten this far. General manager Pat Gillick acquired Lidge from ex-Phillies GM Ed Wade for practically nothing (to be fair, Lidge isn't Wade's only contribution to this team, as he was GM in Philly when draft guru Mike Arbuckle drafted Rollins, Utley, Hamels and Howard). Gillick, of course, already holds a place in the Phillies' long and mostly unsuccessful history. Coincidentally, he was the architect of the Blue Jays' '93 championship team that ended Philly's dreams in six games on Carter's homer. That Philly team was a phun bunch, with guys like John Kruk and Lenny Dykstra; this one, with the exception of Rollins, is much quieter and more about business.

"It's been a long time,'' Rollins said. "It's been a long time since baseball made a statement in this city. 'We have a whole bunch of characters,'' Rollins also said. "You can't find anyone in here who's just like the next guy. That's what makes a team -- 25 guys.'' And like that '93 team, this one is full of fight.

They didn't back down in Game 3 when Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda threw one over Shane Victorino's head. Victorino played the villain roll to a T, then hit the game-tying home run in Game 4 before Matt Stairs, playing on his 11th team, sent one deep into the bleachers to win it. That set the stage for what happened Wednesday, which would have been a total washout if not for yet another homer by Ramirez, who'll surely follow his amazing season and postseason by signing a megabucks deal somewhere.

But by the time of Ramirez's shot to right field in the sixth, it was already 5-zip, as RBI singles by Howard and Pat Burrell made it 3-0 before the Dodgers came unglued in a fifth inning that turned especially messy. One play summed up the Dodgers night: when shortstop Rafael Furcal, their best defensive player besides the Cooperstown-bound pitcher Greg Maddux, booted a grounder, then accidentally kicked that grounder into short left field, then threw the ball away. He was flagged for two errors, but technically, it could have been three.

Every time the Dodgers threatened, it seemed like rookie Blake DeWitt or aged veteran Jeff Kent came to bat. DeWitt grounded into two rally-killing doubles, while Kent whiffed twice with men on after entering as a pinch hitter. Manny, though, was great again, going 2-for-4 to keep his NLCS average at .500. He energized this franchise, and by the top of the ninth inning, the Dodger faithful (and some fans did actually stay 'til the bitter end, belying their rep) serenaded him with a chorus of "Stay Manny Stay.'' It was the last great hope of Dodger fans. By this time, Lidge was warming up in the bullpen.