The Philadelphia Phillies need a third baseman. Look no further than speedy Chone Figgins, a hitting machine who dazzled with the Anaheim Angels and is now a free-agent.

The Boston Red Sox were busy to begin the offseason, acquiring outfielder Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins, and remained busy in their effort to build a championship-caliber team. General Manager Theo Epstein restructured Tim Wakefield ’s deal, replacing a $4 million team option for 2010 with a two-year contract for the 43-year-old knuckleballer worth a guaranteed $7 million. He also intelligently picked up the $7 million team option on catcher Victor Martinez . Then, he made another wise move, declining their $5 million team option on over-the-hill captain and catcher Jason Varitek .

The re-signing of Wakefield gives Boston two more years of dependability at the back-end of their rotation. Having a knuckleballer is a hit-or-miss proposition; he will get hit hard, then be unhittable. But for the most part, he pitches deep into games, allows a minimal amount of runs, and keeps the Red Sox in contention, which are the reasons why they have so much faith in the longest tenured member of the team.

His re-signing means either the fourth or fifth spot in the rotation is his. This leaves Boston with a formidable five-man rotation: Josh Beckett in a contract year, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is looking to rebound after an injury-plagued 2009, young Clay Buchholz, and Wakefield. If there is one drawback to the re-signing of Wakefield, however, it doesn’t give Boston the opportunity to sign a free agent pitcher. Unless they plan on using him just in long relief or for spot-starts, or unless they plan on using a six-man rotation, they can’t pursue the likes of Rich Harden .

Harden would come relatively cheap solely because of his injury history. He has a world of talent in his right arm, but because of recurring arm injuries or other such setbacks he has had, there is no way to guesstimate how man starts he could make. He could make ten and spend the majority of the season on the shelf, or he could make thirty and contend for the Cy Young. If I was at the controls, I’d take the risk, considering what the 27-year-old could do if injury-free.

Wakefield has had severe back problems throughout the latter stages of his career, so given that he isn’t a sure-thing either, the Harden possibility becomes much more plausible. I would rather see the Red Sox sign Harden for $7 million than have to commit an obscene amount of money to a star on the market, such as John Lackey, who would command at least a  five-year deal worth upwards of $80 million.

Picking up Matinez’s option is an obvious decision, as the 30-year-old catcher hit .336 with a .405 on-base percentage to compliment his 8 homers and 41 rbi’s in 56 games with the Red Sox after being acquired at the July 31 trade deadline. He fit in immediately and gave Boston the power bat and dependability they were lacking from the catcher position.

Varitek was the catcher, but there was a reason why the Red Sox declined their team option. The captain hit just .209 last season, an offensive liability the team couldn’t afford to use on a daily basis; hence the acquisition of Martinez. The title of “Captain” carried a lot of weight the year prior and that stature along with the way he handled the pitching staff was the reason Boston stuck with him regularly until the Martinez trade. But they felt it was time to move on, and rightfully so, despite the overwhelming impact he had made to earn the “Captain” title.

He can still return, however, but it is his choice. The Red Sox declined a $5 million team option, clearly gesturing it was time to part ways, but he can excercise a $3 million player option in order to remain. Reports were as of Sunday night that he would do so and return, but Epstein informed the media on Monday that Varitek had not yet indeed picked up the option. According to Sports Illustrated Jon Heyman , Varitek will discuss the option with the devil of the Agent world, Scott Boras, his representative.

In other offseason news, The Philadelphia Phillies, instead of resuming talks of a possible trade for Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay, will focus on bulking their bullpen and finding a more suitable option at third base than Pedro Feliz . Feliz, who was serviceable, could return, but the team is seriously pursuing Chone Figgins to man the hot corner, according to Heyman .

Figgins, formerly of the Anaheim Angels (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, if you prefer), is an interesting target by Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr.. Despite struggling in the playoffs, the 31-year-old is a very good hitter, and is extremely fast. He would give the Phillies three leadoff types, as Heyman mentioned: Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino , a duo that sits atop their lineup, are built around speed, and are relatively light-hitting. This is not to say that Figgins would be a bad signing. I think it would be excellent, given their crop of power hitters–Chase Utley , Ryan Howard , and Jayson Werth . Adding Figgins would bolster their offense considerably, and improve upon an already stellar power-speed combination.

Moving onto the team the Phillies lost to in the World Series, the New York Yankees have had internal discussions about bringing all three of their big free-agents back : Outfielder Johnny Damon , who was a hitting machine all season long and throughout the playoffs, designated hitter Hideki Matsui , who won the World Series MVP, and pitcher Andy Pettitte , who won four of his five starts during the postseason. Re-signing all three would be wise for the World Series champions, not only because all three are very valuable to their success, but also because this might mean they–for once–aren’t looking to make a big offseason splash.

They still could. It’s the Yankees. Time will tell, as the offseason has just begun. Who knows what it is on the horizon, especially for the teams in Boston, Philly, and the Bronx.

New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett, their $82 million man, shut down the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Two of the World Series.

His fastball was lively, and his off-speed pitches had their bite, sharpness, and were perfectly located. He tossed seven stellar innings, allowing just one run on four hits, walking one while striking out nine.

Manager Joe Girardi hoped for a repeat performance in Game 6, choosing him in the potential World Series-winning game on only three-days rest.

The 32-year-old right-hander could not baffle the Phillies once more. Instead, he was erratic, clearly off his game on short rest. His fastball was grooved and though his curveball and changeup had some movement, they were poorly placed. From the onset, Philadelphia, needing a win to live another day, wasn’t fooled.

By the beginning of the bottom of the first, the Phillies were already behind by one, but the deficit didn’t last long. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins singled to end a six-pitch battle, and then Shane “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino painfully reached after getting hit squarely on the hand by a first-pitch fastball by Burnett. The trainer came out to check on their energetic center fielder, who shook off the sure-fire bone bruise, if not a break, and took his base.

Burnett missed his location by three feet against Victorino, and two feet with his first pitch to Chase Utley.

Utley hit two home-runs off CC Sabathia in Game One, and another off the hefty left-hander in Game Four. The second-baseman who hit 31 home runs during the regular season kept on hitting the long ball, crushing an inside fastball that was meant to be outside that didn’t get inside enough deep into the left-field seats.

The fan who caught the souvenir thrust his arms in the air, and the other 46,177 spectators waving their rally towels followed suit in celebration of Utley’s three-run blast.

Phillies ace Cliff Lee, who tossed a complete game in the series opener, had a two-run lead with which to work. He wasn’t at his best, as his first inning indicated, but was certainly much better than his counterpart. He settled down after allowing a single, double, and a walk in the opening frame, shutting down the Yankees in both the second and third, then in the latter innings after his offense knocked around Burnett some more.

Burnett walked Utley to start the third inning, missing with five fastballs, but given a generous call on an outside offering. He was all over the place, unable to hit his spots. This happened periodically during the year, and he picked a bad time for his wildness to resurface.

Utley stole second and Ryan Howard watched three curveballs miss badly, the pitch that worked wonders for Burnett in Game Two, to work the fourth walk issued by Yankee.

Burnett actually managed to get ahead in the count to the next hitter, Jayson Werth, but a hanging curveball added to his misery, as the Phillie with seven homers this postseason socked a RBI-single to center.

Raul Ibanez then tried the left side of the field, ringing a single to Johnny Damon, scoring a hustling Howard from second. That lifeless fastball was Burnett’s final pitch. Of the 15 batters he faced over the two-plus innings, nine reached.

While Burnett, whose two-plus innings worth featured six runs on four hits, and four walks, settled into his seat in the eerily silent Yankees dugout.

Lee mowed down the Yankees through the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh before running into Burnett-like trouble in the eighth. He allowed a lone run in the fifth, which was countered by Utley’s fifth homer of the series that ended a seven-pitch battle and Ibanez’s first, both coming off New York’s third reliever, Phil Coke, in the seventh. So, he took a 8-2 advantage heading to the eighth.

The way he was pitching, the game could presumably be considered well in hand, but the Yankees didn’t back down. The second, third, and fourth-hitters in New York’s lineup–Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez–reached with a single and two doubles.

The second double pushed across Damon and sent Lee to the dugout amidst cheers from the fans appreciating his outstanding effort. His relief, Chan Ho Park, had a pretty outstanding effort of his own as Lee waited nervously behind the dugout railing.

Park, who has been brilliant throughout this postseason, was once more, limiting the damage, allowing just a sacrifice fly in his inning of work. Philadelphia held a four-run lead entering the ninth.

Closer Brad Lidge, who allowed three runs in Game Five, would presumably be summoned to pitch the ninth in an attempt to close the door and send the series back to New York.

He wasn’t warming up, though. Ryan Madson, their stellar middle reliever, was instead. He took the hill, and instead of making manager Charlie Manuel’s decision pay immediate dividends, he harnessed his inner Lidge.

Jorge Posada nailed a 3-1 fastball to begin the frame off the top of the wall in right-center field for a double. This wasn’t the worst thing in the world, seeing as the Yankees needed three runs, but it was a bad start in his attempt to close out the game considering pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui was due next, followed top of their very dangerous order.

Matsui, making the most of his final at-bats as a Yankee, singled through the left-side to bring the tying run to the plate.

First and third, with nobody out, and Derek Jeter was the batter. Throughout his illustrious career, he has relished in these situations, giving him the appropriate nickname “Captain Clutch.”

Madson fell behind his third straight hitter before Jeter did something that entirely caught me off guard. He hit a grounder to Rollins, who then flung it to Utley “covering” second base (he pulled off the neighborhood play), who then fired to Ryan Howard, who was actually on the base, to retire Jeter. It was a double play. Who would have thought Jeter would be the rally-killer?

Damon followed with a two-out hit in the now 8-6 game to keep the rally alive. But it was the Phillies who would stay alive in the series, as the Yankees’ last hope, Teixeira, took a called strike and then swung through two changeups, allowing all of Philadelphia to celebrate.

The Phillies, with solid pitching by Lee, a good recovery by Madson, and the power display by Utley, are headed to the Bronx, living to see another day in a series the Yankees desperately wanted to end in Philly.

In Game Two of the World Series, the New York Yankees guessed wrong early. Many of their hitters have experience against Martinez, but not this Martinez.

When he pitched with the Boston Red Sox from 1998 through 2004, they faced him with regularity. But that was the Martinez who worked his off-speed pitches off his fastball.

This Martinez, who was seeking revenge against a once-bitter rival, has pitched in the National League ever since he left Boston, and as he reached his late 30’s, he became more of a control pitcher, working his fastball off his devastating off-speed pitches.

To begin his outing against Derek Jeter, the Yankee captain with whom he had many duels during the rivalry years, he threw a first-pitch changeup for a ball, and then three more. He worked in a curveball, and then another changeup to bring the count full.

It wasn’t until the seventh pitch of the at-bat that a fastball was thrown. And it was a dandy, as Jeter swung right through the deception and movement.

He didn’t even feature a fastball to the next hitter, Johnny Damon, managing to strike him out with four changeups and a slider. He worked both sides of the plate to both hitters, and when he did challenge them, as he did Jeter with the last offering, the fastball had so much movement and pep to it that it was nearly impossible to make good contact, or even to make contact at all.

Matt “The Professional Hitter” Stairs , 41 years old and in his 17th year, broke a scoreless tie in the second with a two-out, sharply-hit single that snuck under Alex Rodriguez’s glove at third base.

It was a play Rodriguez probably should have made, and maybe he took that error officially scored a hit with him to the batters box. Or maybe it was just Martinez that stumped him.

The slugger who struck out three times in Game One against an unbelievable Cliff Lee fouled off two changeups to begin the bottom of the second, aggressively attempting to make up for Stairs’ grounder with one swing.

Martinez missed with a fastball, evidently just low, and then Rodriguez continued to take his hacks, fouling off four straight fastballs.

Martinez knew who to challenge, and when to stop challenging them over the course of an at-bat. The fastball wasn’t fooling Rodriguez, and if he threw it many more times consecutively, odds were Rodriguez would have connected and launched a shot deep.

So, he mixed up his repertoire, throwing a slider that Rodriguez tapped foul, and then a fastball purposefully located high.

He offset the heater with something Rodriguez didn’t expect, the first curveball of the battle. It began in Rodriguez’s kitchen, which made up his mind: swing. Then, the ball dropped off, landing in Rodriguez’s basement. Rodriguez missed it by a mile; strike three, one out.

Aside from benefiting from a great diving catch by left-fielder Raul Ibanez to thwart what could have led to a big second inning for New York, Martinez was in control for the next three innings.

His only mistake over those three, and the first five altogether for that matter, was costly. He missed with a changeup barely off the plate inside against Teixeira to begin the fourth inning, and then tried the same pitch. The second changeup, unlike the first, rolled into the strike zone.

It was located well, tailing to the outer portion of the plate, but the offering hung ever so slightly. That was enough for Teixeira, who turned on it, whacking it into the left-field bullpen for the tying run and just his fourth RBI of this postseason.

Martinez stared blankly at the black-clad fans, pondering the small yet damaging mistake in location, but recollected himself and became the Martinez who tossed three scoreless frames.

Rodriguez got under an inside fastball, flying out to left field, and after a walk to Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano flied out to center field. And Jerry Hairston, who was thrown sliders and changeups in the second inning, saw all fastballs and struck out as Martinez’s fifth victim.

Martinez threw Melky Cabrera all changeups to begin the sixth, and sent him down swinging. His 12-to-6 curveball resulted in a weakly hit groundout by A.J. Burnett’s personal catcher Jose Molina.

Then, after a double by Jeter, with the crowd on its feet, Damon skied a curveball to Howard at first, ending the frame and the threat.

To start the sixth, Martinez struck out Teixeira, throwing four changeups and a curveball, then struck out Rodriguez with an entirely different approach—three fastballs in succession and a changeup.

He allowed nine home runs during the regular season and all were solo shots. He allowed one to Teixeira in the fourth, and another to Matsui in this sixth. He threw a good pitch, a curveball, but Matsui somehow managed to connect solidly with the pitch at his ankles and muscle it into the left field seats.

At the 99-pitch mark after six innings, he talked to manager Charlie Manuel in the dugout and told him he felt fine and could pitch the seventh. He thought he had something left, just like in Game Seven of the 2003 American League Championship Series against the Yankees, but really didn’t.

His over-confidence certainly didn’t work in the ALCS then, and not in Game Two of the 2009 World Series, as he uncharacteristically left his pitches up, even his offspeed junk, which resulted in two singles by the Yankees to begin the seventh. These two hitters, Hairston and Cabrera were his final two.

He walked off the mound, pointed to the Gods, then as boos reigned throughout his favorite place to pitch, he looked into the hecklers’ eyes and cracked a wry smile upon entering the dugout.

He pitched brilliantly . Teixeira and Matsui just put together a pair of good swings, and fatigue set in in the seventh.

Pedro didn’t collect the win, nor did his Phillies, but though he would have loved to shut up the 60,000-plus and duplicate Lee’s complete game, he managed to make a majority of the Yankees lineup look ridiculous, and quiet the jeers from his favorite fans.

J.A. Happ walks off the mound after being taken out by manager Charlie Manuel. AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

In the fifth inning of Game one of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins gobbled up Andre Ethier ’s groundball. Rollins, an above-average shortstop, hesitated before shoveling the ball to second baseman Chase Utley , who was standing on the bag waiting for the throw.

Because of his hesitation, Utley’s timing was thrown off. He received Rollins’ throw, touched the bag, but didn’t set his feet for the throw to first base. His attempt to complete the potential inning-ending double play missed Ryan Howard, a big target at first base, by a good ten feet and sailed into the dugout.

Starting pitcher Cole Hamels looked back at Utley in dismay. This error not only allowed a run to score and extend the inning, but it was followed by a two-run shot by Manny Ramirez that cut the deficit to one.

The second error committed by Utley in the series was identical, but far more costly. Runners were on first and second in the bottom of the ninth inning with nobody out when Russel Martin hit a groundball to third baseman Pedro Feliz.

Prior to the eventful bottom of the eighth, the game was brilliant pitchers duel between two veterans. One is a  future Hall of Famer, the Phillies’ Pedro Martinez , and the other, Dodgers’ Vicente Padilla , is trying to resurrect his career. The 37-year old and 32-year old matched each other inning by inning, mowing down the opposition almost effortlessly.

Martinez, one of the top-ten pitchers of all-time in my book, has lost some velocity as his career has progressed, but though his ability to overpower an opponent with strikeouts galore has left him, his effectiveness remains.

He isn’t intimidating heighth-wise, but his postseason pedigree, reputation, and whipping delivery does strike fear into the opposition, and did on a glorious day in Los Angeles.

The Dominican and former Boston Red Sox ace, with curly black hair protruding from his cap, was vintage Pedro. His fastball touches 90 on the gun nowadays instead of 98, but his three-quarter arm angle and powerful arm action through the delivery makes it look 95 to the hitter.

He offsets this fastball with one of the nastiest changeups the game has ever seen, an 86-mile per hour pitch that, for the first 55 feet, looks like a fastball, then breaks down sharply. This combination baffled the Dodgers as it has so many others.

Padilla, sturdy at 6′2″, hasn’t had nearly the career of Martinez. He had his best years as a member of the Phillies, winning fourteen games in 2002 and 2003, but as had an average career overall, and is as known more for his tendency to hit batters than his accomplishments.

His ERA was in the high four’s over the course of his tenure with the Texas Rangers, and he became so ineffective that the club designated him for assignment. He was open to sign with any team, and the Dodgers pounced. Their pitching was in disarray and they needed a back-end of rotation starter–perfect fit.

Padilla relished in the new start and pitched extremely well in his month-plus with Los Angeles, allowing 14 runs in six starts. His performance earned him a start in the division series against the St. Louis Cardinals and all he did was throw seven shutout innings in victory. This outing against the Phillies was equally as dominant .

The only blemish was a solo-homer allowed to slugger Ryan Howard in the fourth. That was the only run either team pushed across until the eighth. Padilla pitched into that eighth, and left with this line: seven 1/3 innings, four hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts. Martinez was done after seven and relinquished only two hits while walking none . They were brilliant.

The first two hitters in the Dodgers half of the eighth reached against Chan Ho Park , who made his first appearance since September 16th in the first game of the series and is still hampered by the hamstring injury that sidelined him. The second hitter, Ronnie Belliard, laid down a bunt, attempting to move the speedy Juan Pierre over to second.

He bunted it hard in between the mound and first base. Park jumped off the mound and made a sliding attempt, but his hamstring wouldn’t let him do so effectively, and the ball evaded him and trickled past Howard as well.

Then came the play that changed the game. Martin lined a grounder to Feliz. The slick-fielding third-baseman picked the hot-shot and rifled it over to Utley, who was covering second. The ball arrived far before Belliard, so his slide wasn’t an issue. Utley got on the wrong foot again, and fired woefully off target .

His terrible throw was similar to his one in Game one. The only difference was that it bounced off the mesh protecting the dugout instead of ricocheting amongst his teammates in the dugout.

Pierre alertly kept on running, and put on the afterburners when he realized the ball stayed in play. He scampered home for the tying run. Martinez would not get the win he deserved. When all said and done, the Phillies wouldn’t either.

Philadelphia’s manager Charlie Manuel took out Park and used four other pitchers in the inning. The third of the ensuing four, J.A. Happ , came into a bases-loaded, two-out situation. He made life difficult for himself against Ethier after jumping ahead 1-2 in the count, missing outside for ball-two and low for ball-three.

In danger of walking in a run, he went to his fastball. It went over the plate, but it missed low. Carlos Ruiz tried to frame it and move his glove up a notch, but the umpire wasn’t buying his sell. Martin walked home for the go-ahead run as Happ just stared at the plate.

The Phillies lost by that score, 2-1. Martinez did nothing to lose. Happ was called upon in the toughest of situations. It was Utley, once again, who cost Philadelphia. In Game 1, he allowed the Dodgers to climb closer. In Game 2, he gift-wrapped the Dodgers a win they desperately wanted.

He had started in the minor leagues, and was their top prospect entering the season. But, after his remarkable rookie season, there were varying opinions within the Dodgers front office regarding his long term durability and whether he would be best suited to start or continue to relieve.

Since they didn’t know how to use their most talented player, Los Angeles decided to give him up for some loose change.

What?

Yes, then-General Manager Fred Claire pulled the trigger on the infamous 1993 deal that sent Martinez to the Montreal Expos for second baseman Delino DeShields .

It seemed like a great deal for both teams at the time.

DeShields, an incredibly gifted athlete, hit for average and had some power, but his greatest attribute was his speed. He averaged 47 stolen bases over his first four seasons in the majors, all spent with the Expos.

He was 24 at the time of the trade and had come off a stellar season in which he stole 43 bases, had only 64 strikeouts in 481 at-bats (an incredible ratio), and batted .295 with an impressive .389 on-base percentage.

So, Claire wasn’t completely out of his mind, but it wasn’t long before he felt some regret.

DeShields’ first season with the Dodgers was a strike-shortened one, he played in 89 of the teams 114 games, but his batting average dropped 45 points from his 1993 campaign and, though his stolen base numbers were still there, he wasn’t the Delino DeShields the Dodgers traded for.

He played only two more seasons in L.A., and, thanks to a paltry .226 batting average in his final year with the team, was proclaimed a bust.

While DeShields floundered, Pedro flourished in Montreal.

He won 38 games in his first three seasons, and then in his fourth, at the age of 25, he won 17 games. That year, he had 13 complete games, four shutouts, and struck out 305 batters while allowing just 156 hits in 241 1/3 innings.

Then, with the small-market Expos unable to sign him to an extension, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox before he could enter free-agency.

Pedro picked up in Boston where he left off in Montreal, winning 19 games and posting a 2.90 ERA. The following season was one of the best ever by any player.

He took home the Cy Young award with 23 wins and four losses, and struck out one hundred more batters (313) than innings pitched (213), while relinquishing just nine home-runs.

He won the Cy Young the following year by winning 18 games and boasting a 1.74 ERA, then after an injury-shortened 2001 season, won 20 games in 2002.

He was arguably the best pitcher of his generation, while Delino, whose career ended in 2002, was nothing but a .230 hitter with speed. The trade was dubbed the worst in Dodgers history, and rightfully so.

Pedro won 30 games over the next two seasons and helped the Red Sox win their first World Series championship in 2004, ending the franchise’s 86-year drought. He left Boston after that season, the first season in which he recorded an ERA in the threes or above since 1996.

He signed a four-year contract with the New York Mets and, after an outstanding first season, was only a shade of his former self. He won only 17 games over the next three seasons, and, at the age of 37, was without a job.

That was until the Philadelphia Phillies called and wanted to schedule a workout. Pedro impressed the Phillies, and was signed to a one-year contract on July 14.

He made a few starts in the minor leagues before being added to the roster in early August, and then won his debut. He pitched well in his next three outings, entering his matchup with the San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum on a high.

Tim, 25, reminds me of a young Pedro. His windup is entirely different from Pedro’s, and everyone else’s for that matter, but he has a similar, lanky build, has similar stuff—a 95-97 mile per hour fastball and a devastating curveball and slider—and strikes out the opposition at an alarming rate.

He has a Cy Young award already under his belt (that came last season, when he went 18-5 with a 2.27 ERA; he struck out 265 batters in 227 innings, kept home runs to a minimum, and had a well above average hits-per-nine-innings ratio of 7.2. Sound like anyone?).

It was vintage Pedro versus the usual Tim, and I expected nothing less. Pedro, with two wins this season, matched Tim, who entered the contest with thirteen, inning for inning. Pedro allowed a home-run to Eugenio Velez to begin the game and wouldn’t give up another.

He struck out two hitters in that opening inning, two more in the second, and three in the third. His fastball, clocked at 88 miles an hour, ten miles per hour lower than in his prime, had the same movement, and that’s what mattered.

His curveball had lost a bit of his bite, as had his slider, but the offensively-challenged Giants were still baffled.

The Phillies were similarly baffled by Tim. He struck out eleven over his seven innings, while Pedro whiffed nine in his seven. Lincecum had the lone walk between the two. It was masterful.

Lincecum came up on the losing end, as Philadelphia won 2-1, but even though the Giants need every win they can get, he had to enjoy matching wits with Pedro, twelve years his senior.

Pedro turned back the clock to the glory days of the late 1990s, while Tim was just his usual self. Similar in so many ways, Pedro, the best pitcher of his generation, and Tim, arguably the best of his, dueled like few have this season.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer had a rough outing, to no one’s fault but his own. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

The reason why Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays was his ability to locate every pitch. If he went inside, it was to set up a pitch outside. If he went high, he went too high for a hitter to hit. He didn’t live in the middle of the plate, he worked off it, throwing changeups and sliders that started in the strikezone and dipped inside and out that kept the hitters off guard.

Retired starting pitcher and sure-fire first ballot hall-of-famer Greg Maddux was the same way. Rarely did catchers have to move their glove, as he, throughout his illustrious 23-year career, hit the target at a remarkable rate. He won 355 games because of his repertoire, which heavily consisted of offspeed junk. Maddux had a fastball clocked in the mid-80s and so does Buehrle, but if well-located, it can be just as effective as a 94-98 mile-per-hour heater.

While some pitchers excel solely by blowing fastballs past the opposition, like the Boston Red Sox Jonathan Papelbon, it is not to best route if one wants to have a prolonged career. Papelbon throws in the mid-90s and has late life on his pitch, but though he racks up the saves, he has continuously been in trouble because he throws it eye-level and doesn’t have the offspeed stuff make up for his lack of location.

Todd Wellemeyer, who started for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies, didn’t have the control of a Maddux or Buehrle, nor the intelligence of either, or even the one-pitch repertoire of Papelbon. He didn’t have anything.

Wellemeyer is fourth on the Cardinals with seven wins, but his win total is misleading, as he’s been the beneficiary of fantastic run support. He entered his 20th start of the season with a 5.79 ERA, allowing 144 hits, 79 runs, and 17 home-runs in 110 1/3 innings. Those numbers just got a lot worse, as the superior Phillies took advantage of his mediocrity.

The 30-year-old righthander refused to pitch inside, instead leaving every 93 mile-per-hour fastball up in the zone. The TBS announcers calling the game, ex-New York Met Ron Darling and ex-New York Yankee David Wells, noticed his skittishness immediately, saying, in some variation, that he had a rough outing ahead of him.

Wells, who played with the Yankees during their dynastic years of the late 1990s, said Philadelphia reminded him of those championship teams. I am inclined to agree. The Yankees of old were all experienced, knew their role, and each an excellent hitter. They were patient at the plate, which took a quick toll on the opposing pitcher, were smart on the basepaths, and slick in the field. The Phillies, the defending World Series Champions are no different.

Jimmy Rollins, who tagged a fastball right in the heart of the plate for a two-run home-run off Wellemeyer in the sixth inning, is the perfect leadoff hitter: he has the right combination of power (he hit 30 home-runs during 2007, a year in which he garnered the National League’s Most Valuable Player award) and speed (he has four seasons of forty stolen bases in his career). Shane Victorino, the “Flyin’ Hawaiian,” who compiled two singles on a high fastball and lazy, fluttering curveball, and scored twice against Wellemeyer, is the ideal second-place hitter, possessing speed and the ability to hit for a high average.

The 3-4-5 hitters in the Phillies lineup make their lineup arguably the most dangerous in the major leagues. Hitting third there is Chase Utley, part of the new-breed of second baseman sweeping the major leagues. Similar to Texas’ Ian Kinsler and unlike second baseman of the past, he has 30-plus home-run power to all fields, and though he doesn’t run as well as Kinsler, he’s intelligent on the basepaths nonetheless. He had three hits—including a two-run home-run in the third–on a high, straight fastball that wasn’t high enough, a sinker that didn’t sink, and a hanging changeup, all from the arm of Wellemeyer.

Ryan Howard was Wellemeyer’s next task, and a tough one at that. Howard, the biggest of boppers in their lineup, cranked a no-doubter to deep–and I mean deep–center-field off Wellemeyer in the fifth frame. It cleared the fence that read the measurement “401 ft.” with ease, rising high above, ricocheting off the “batter’s eye,”—a brown, 30-40 foot high wall–to land onto the field, just behind center-fielder Rick Ankiel, who couldn’t help but admire the moonshot.

Chip Karay, who completed the trio in the TBS telecast booth, wondered how far Howard’s blast had traveled. He guessed around 450 feet, while my father and I guessed around 480 feet. Innings later, we were informed his home-run went an underwhelming 433 feet. I think it would have carried near my father and I’s approximations, considering the ball was still rising once it hit the batter’s eye.

Only a really poor pitch could be punished so far. That’s what Wellemeyer was serving up. It was tee-ball practice for the Phillies and a nightmare for the only consistently disappointing pitcher in the Cardinals rotation.

He issued a walk to Victorino after gift-wrapping Rollins’ blast, then, before he could throw a pitch to Utley, his leg siezed up. The Cardinals’ trainer came for a visit, as did manager Tony LaRussa. They were concerned, but I am sure Wellemeyer was relieved. His outing was over and the Phillies were in his past. He can now focus on his next start, that is if there is a next start.