Do Or Die

The famous words of Hugh Douglas "It's do or die baby, it's do or die," will certainly ring true this Friday night as the Phillies return home for a decisive game 5 vs the Cardinals.  Over a month of spring training, a 162 game regular season, and it all comes down to one game.

Doc Halladay will be on the mound for the Phils and he will have to come up huge.  He is the ace, he is the stopper, and it will be his time to shine.  There is no room to give up a solo shot here or a couple runs there.  Doc will have to display the same dominance that he showed in Game 1.  Mow em down, and don't let the Cardinals batters get comfortable.  Get ahead in the count, pound the strike zone, and ultimately frustrate them to no end.

At the plate, Ryan Howard has to put the team on his back.  He has to return to his 2008 playoff form in which he had the mentality of "just get me up there and I will take care of it."  In addition other guys have to stop making excuses and start excuting.  Utley, Victorino, and everyone really just has to play with a sense of urgency.

I hate to say this but I don't really sense that this team wants it that badly.  There are a lot of veterans like Lee and Halladay who are desperate for a ring, but there are some guys who seem too relaxed and need to wake up on Friday.

As soon as the Phillies signed Cliff Lee it truly was World Series or bust.  When they traded for Pence it was "we go this."  But now the Phillies are on the ropes and everything that they have played all year for comes down to one game.  The Bank will certainly be electric come Friday night, and I know that the Phillies can and will get the job done.

In Roy we trust, lets do this thing.