Phillies-Dodgers: Philadelphia Takes Stairs to Doorstep of World Series

Wes Chamberlain. Todd Pratt. And my all-time favorite: John Wockenfuss. You figure out what I called him as he strode to the plate. Kind like the acronym: WT*. What do these baseball players have in common? They were late-inning pinch hitters for the Philadelphia Phillies in the past 20 years. They more often failed than succeeded. It is also the laws of baseball. Even a .300 hitter fails seven out of 10 times. The odds finally caught up for Phillies fans. And the stakes have never been bigger. Matt Stairs connected on a 3-1 Jonathan Broxton fastball to break a 5-5 tie game in the top of the eighth and put a dagger in the hearts of Dodger fans. It gave the Philadelphia Phillies an improbable 7-5 win and a 3-1 NLCS series lead. Shane Victorino tied the game with his own blast earlier in the inning and sealed his fate and his own delight as the player Dodger fans love to hate. Who can forget Victorino pointing to his head, then his chest when Dodger pitcher Hiroki Kuroda ... (link)