Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins is mobbed at third base after hitting a two-run walk-off double against the Dodgers in Game Four of the NLCS on Monday night.

The Braves performed the same feat in 1991-1992 when they lost in the World Series to the Minnesota Twins in seven games in 1991 and lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games in 1992. Prior to the Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers performed this rare feat in 1977-1978 when they lost back to back World Series to the New York Yankees in six games both times. The last National League team to win two straight World Series titles was the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds. The Reds defeated the Red Sox in seven games in 1975 and the Yankees in a four game sweep in 1976.

Unless you live under a rock, you know how the Phillies have put themselves in the position they are in right now. With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the bases empty, Pedro Feliz was scheduled to hit for the Phillies Monday night. Feliz, who is hitting .148 in the postseason (.077 in the NLCS), was lifted for pinch hitter Matt Stairs. Stairs has 19 regular season pinch hit homeruns in his career and hit the biggest homerun in Phillies playoff history in game four of the NLCS in 2008 against Jonathan Broxton. Broxton has said often during the 2009 season that he would like to face Stairs again. This time the Phillies were trailing 4-3 in Philly, not tied at 5 in LA. Stairs dug in against Broxton, who did not throw one strike even remotely close to the strike zone. Obviously, the image of the Stairs homerun was still fresh in the mind of Broxton.

The Phillies mob Carlos Ruiz at homeplate after he scores the winning run Monday night in a 5-4 win over the Dodgers.

After Stairs took first, Manuel sent out Eric Bruntlett to pinch run for the power hitter as Carlos Ruiz stepped to the plate. On the first pitch of the at-bat Broxton threw a 96 MPH fastball inside to Ruiz, who took it off his elbow, putting the tying run at second and the winning run at first. The next batter to the plate, Jimmy Rollins, worked a 1-1 count against the overpowering right handed pitcher when lightning struck again in Philadelphia. Rollins laced a two out double into the right centerfield gap scoring Bruntlett as the tying run and Ruiz as the winning run. As Ruiz crossed the plate, the city of Philadelphia celebrated as the clock closed in on midnight.

The Phillies won the game 5-4 and took a 3-1 series lead with Game five slated to be played at 8pm on Wednesday night in Philadelphia. The reigning League and World Champions will send 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP Cole Hamels to the bump against former Phillie Vicente Padilla. Padilla threw 7.1 innings of one run ball in game two in LA for the Dodgers but did not factor in the decision as the Dodgers took the game 2-1. There is still a slight chance that the Dodgers might make a risky decision and throw Clayton Kershaw in game five, who was roughed up by the Phillies in game one, but they need to win this game. You never know what type of pitching decisions will be made with Joe Torre at the helm. As one of my close friends (a lifelong Yankee fan) said in reference to Torre on Sunday night: “It’s not hard to manage when you are up by 7 every night but when you are in a tie ballgame or trailing he is an idiot.”

Rollins Walk Off Double

Jim Vassallo is the creator of JAV Baseball. He also owns his own Internet Content company, JAV Freelancing. Vassallo coached baseball for three years at the high school level in New Jersey and has since joined the prominent D-III program at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He can be reached at jim@javbaseball.com for questions and comments.

We have finally hit the month of October, which means the playoffs have finally arrived, and three of four teams have already reached the League Championship Series (Dodgers, Angels, Yankees). Every off-season brings important decisions from front office personnel, on-field staff members, and players alike. One of the hardest decisions for some players to make (see Brett Favre of the NFL) is whether or not to end their playing career. Once you make it to the Majors, if you pitch or hit well enough, you will hang around for a long time.

Retiring from baseball can be a difficult and emotional decision to make. A handful of talented players have retired from the game over the past couple of years including Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Greg Maddux, Ricky Henderson, Jeff Kent, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Piazza and many more. On the other side of things there are players still toiling around baseball that have yet to retire but should consider hanging up their spikes once the 2009 season comes to an end. We will discuss those players in this article.

We will begin with the reigning World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. They have two players on their roster that should seriously consider retiring once the team’s 2009 title defense comes to an end. Those two players are left handed pitcher Jamie Moyer and left handed pinch hitting specialist Matt Stairs. Moyer was acquired by the Phillies from the Seattle Mariners in 2006 for two minor leaguers. Stairs was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays by the Phillies late in the 2008 season for minor league left handed pitcher Fabio Castro.

Since joining the Phillies in 2006, Moyer has recorded 47 wins, led the team in wins with 16 in 2008, and picked up his first World Series title also in 2008. 2009 hasn’t been as kind to the 46 year old veteran out of Saint Joseph’s University. Moyer struggled in his 25 starts before being moved to the bullpen with the activation of Pedro Martinez. In 30 total games pitched in 2009 Moyer has a 12-10 record with a 4.94 ERA. He was shut down for the remainder of the season at the end of September with tears in his groin and abdomen. Many in the Philadelphia area felt that Moyer should have called it a career after the 2008 title run but he signed a two year deal in the off-season with the Phillies. He is under contract until the end of the 2010 season.

Matt Stairs is the next person on our hit list. Stairs hit .294 with the Phillies in 16 regular season games after being acquired, with 2 homeruns, and 5 RBIs. But in the postseason Stairs made a name for himself with the Phillies faithful. He hit a monster two run pinch hit homerun off of Jonathan Broxton at Dodger Stadium to give the Phillies a 7-5 lead in Game four of the NLCS. In 2009 Stairs has struggled at the plate, hitting only .194 but he launched 5 pinch hit homeruns and drove in 17 runs during the regular season. Stairs has yet to record a hit in the 2009 postseason.

As we continue to look at players in the Major Leagues who need to retire following the 2009 season, John Smoltz is next on our list. Smoltz began the season, for the first time in his career, with a team other than the Atlanta Braves. Even though Smoltz was drafted by the Detroit Tigers, previous to 2009 he had only appeared in the Majors with the Braves. Smoltz joined the Red Sox to begin the 2009 season but struggled mightily with a 2-5 record and an ERA of 8.32 in eight games started. He was released by the Red Sox and signed on with the St. Louis Cardinals where he had somewhat of a revitalization. Smoltz went 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA in seven games started. No, those numbers are nothing to write home about but they are much better than his Red Sox numbers. So, in 15 starts in 2009, Smoltz is 3-8 with a 6.35 ERA.

Our next retiree comes from another playoff team. Jason Giambi is riding the bench with the Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series against the Phillies. Giambi began the 2009 season with the Oakland Athletics, where he began his career in 1995. Giambi returned to the A’s after seven seasons in the Bronx with the Yankees. 2009 hasn’t been too kind to the slugging first baseman, who hit only .193 with the A’s. He did launch 11 homeruns and record 40 RBIs in 83 games. His Oakland homecoming did not turn out to be as special as he wanted it to be. After being released from the Athletics, Giambi signed on with the upstart Colorado Rockies. In 19 games with the Rockies Giambi hit .292 with two homeruns and 11 RBIs. In two playoff games against the Phillies, Giambi has yet to record a hit and has struck out once, with the bases loaded in Game Two of the NLDS.

There are only three players left to discuss who we here at JAV Baseball feel should retire following the 2009 season. One of those players spent the 2009 season with the Toronto Blue Jays. Kevin Millar, once a feared slugger with the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox, struggled throughout the 2009 season. He hit only .223 in 78 games with 7 homeruns and 29 RBIs. In his prime, Millar slugged a career high 25 homeruns and 96 RBIs with the Red Sox in 2003 and won a World Series with Boston in 2004. Millar hasn’t hit above .255 since 2006, when with the Baltimore Orioles. In 2007 he hit .254, in 2008 he hit .234, and in 2009 he hit .223.

The final two players on our list come from the Texas Rangers. They are catcher Ivan Rodriguez and shortstop Omar Vizquel. Rodriguez joined the Rangers in 2009 after playing in 93 games with the Houston Astros. In a total of 121 games played in 2009, Rodriguez struggled at the plate with a .249 batting average, 10 homeruns, and 47 RBIs. Pudge was brought to the Rangers in a late season deal in the hopes of bolstering the team’s offense during the stretch run as they aimed for the American League Wild Card.

Omar Vizquel, another Ranger, is the final player on our list of players who should retire following the 2009 season. Vizquel joined the Rangers for the 2009 campaign after spending four years with the San Francisco Giants. Vizquel debuted with the Seattle Mariners in 1989 and has also played for the Cleveland Indians. Vizquel hit a decent .266 with one homerun, and 14 RBIs in only 62 games played. The 62 games played were the fewest in his career since 2003, when he played in only 64 games with the Indians due to a knee injury. In a recent article on the Rangers website, Vizquel said he plans to play again in 2010, against our wishes.

Surely there could be at least three or four other players added to this list (Randy Johnson, Tim Hudson, and Scott Rolen to name a few). If you feel that we left anyone off this list who you think should retire following the conclusion of the 2009 season drop us a line and let us know.

Jim Vassallo is the creator of JAV Baseball. He also owns his own Internet Content company, JAV Freelancing. Vassallo coached baseball for three years at the high school level in New Jersey and has since joined the prominent D-III program at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He can be reached at jim@javbaseball.com for questions and comments.