In the spirit of the holiday, here's my 2008 Phillies Thanksgiving list of things I'm thankful for:

10.  Pat Burrell's April and Ryan Howard's September

9.  Jamie Moyer having discovered what Ponce de Leon never did, the Fountain of Youth.

8.  Incredible up-the-middle defense from Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Shane Victorino.

7.  Brad Lidge's perfect season.

6.  Charlie Manuel's ability to manage people.

5.  The Mets' September baseball skills.

4.  Cole Hamels' left arm.

3.  103 wins.

2.  The parade down Broad Street on that beautiful last day of October.

1.  That unbelievable confluence of events that put the Phillies in Philadelphia for Game 5 and me in the CBP seats watching every pitch as the team took its second world championship ever.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

There's a group of fans and writers in Philadelphia who are pretty upset that Ryan Howard didn't win the MVP and Albert Pujols did.  The argument is simple:  Ryan Howard's monster counting numbers led his team to a first place finish and the playoffs; Albert Pujols' better overall season led his team to nothing.  Howard's performance was thus more valuable.

Here's the rub for Phillies fans.  If you subscribe to the argument that Albert Pujols should not have won the MVP award because his team didn't reach the playoffs, you should also be willing to give up Mike Schmidt's 1986 MVP award as well as Ryan Howard's 2006 MVP award.

In 1986, Mike Schmidt led the NL in OPS with .937.  He led the league in slugging and was tied for third in OBP.  He took the MVP over Glenn Davis, the Astros' first baseman, by 56 points.  Davis clearly had an inferior year.  His OPS was .837, exactly 100 points lower than Schmidt's.  But, Davis' team won the NL West by 10 games over the Reds with a .597 winning percentage.  Schmidt's team finished in second place behind the Mets . . . 21.5 games out of first place.

Likewise, in 2006, Ryan Howard won the MVP thanks to his 1.084 OPS, 58 HR, and 149 RBI.  He won by 41 points over Albert Pujols, who had an excellent season with a better OPS than Howard but worse counting numbers - 1.102 OPS, 49 HR, and 137 RBI.  But, again, Pujols' team finished in first place (and ultimately won the World Series), 1.5 games ahead of the Astros.  Howard's team finished in second place, 12 games behind the Mets.

Anyone arguing that Howard deserves the MVP this year because his team finished first and made the playoffs has to accept that Schmidt and Howard, playing for second place teams without a shot at first, did not deserve their MVP awards in 1986 and 2006.  Their teams finished far from first place, whereas the MVP runner-up in both years, both of whom had very good to excellent seasons, were on first-place teams.

Making the round this week are rumors that the Phillies will listen to trade offers involving Jimmy Rollins.

I have absolutely no inside information, but I have to believe this is just completely false.  I cannot imagine a scenario in which the Phillies would realistically think of trading Jimmy Rollins.  (OK, maybe that's a stretch - a trade of Rollins for David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana with the Mets eating the salary difference is one I'd consider.)  There are countless reasons why:

• He's a fan favorite.
• He's a Gold Glove shortstop that is a key part of the Phillies' excellent up-the-middle defense.
• At $7.5M per year for 2009 and 2010 with an $8.5M club option for 2011, Rollins is an MLB bargain.
• He's a recent MVP and three-time All-Star who is entering only his age 30 season.
• His OBP is getting better as he gets older (.334 in 2006, .344 in 2007, .349 in 2008).
• His SLG had been improving as well (.431 in 2005, .478 in 2006, .531 in 2007), but this year it was down significantly (.437).  Many (including myself) speculated that his power struggles this year were due to lingering effects of his early injury.
• He's durable, with only one stint on the DL in his career.
• He's a great baserunner (47 for 50 this year), contributing to the Phillies' historically great efficiency on the basepaths.
• The Phillies have no one near his caliber ready to replace him as their every-day shortstop.

Jimmy Rollins is too valuable a property for the Phillies to consider trading.  Don't believe any of the rumors to the contrary that are circulating.

Who are 12 people who've never been in my kitchen?  Yes but not quite what I'm getting at.  Rather, a strange confluence of events has brought the list of characters in the title all rushing into my head.  You see, in my day job, I teach constitutional law to aspiring law students.  And yesterday the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could affect all of the media outlets that broadcast Chase Utley's proclamation last Friday that the Phillies were "World Fucking Champions."

The case, FCC v. Fox Television Stations, arose when Bono appeared at the 2003 Golden Globe awards.  NBC broadcast the awards live and failed to hit the "bleep" button when Bono accepted his award and exclaimed "this is really, really, fucking brilliant. Really, really, great."  The Federal Communications Commission, the agency that regulates television and radio broadcasts, responded by finding that any use of the word "fuck" has an inherently sexual connotation and that it is "one of the most vulgar, graphic, and explicit descriptions of sexual activity in the English language."

Previously, thanks to George Carlin and the 1977 case of FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, the case about Carlin's famous "seven dirty words" routine, the FCC had issued guidelines explaining what is and is not indecent on a broadcast.  Carlin's routine (which was broadcast on the radio at 2 in the afternoon) was considered indecent (and the Supreme Court upheld the FCC's power to make that determination, First Amendment notwithstanding), but the FCC developed an exception for "fleeting expletives."  That exception allowed broadcasters to air uses of expletives, including "fuck," that are not sustained or repeated.

Under that regime, what Chase Utley did last Friday would not raise any issues with the FCC as it was a one-time-only use of the word "fucking."  The many stations, both television and radio, that broadcast his statement live would be absolved of any guilt.

However, after Bono's utterance during the Golden Globes, the FCC changed its policy.  No longer are fleeting expletives exempt from the FCC's prohibition of indecency.  And the FCC has been active in censoring such expletives.  Here, from the appellate decision in the case, is a list of four incidents the FCC has found indecent under this new rule:

• 2002 Billboard Music Awards: In her acceptance speech, Cher stated: “People have been telling me I’m on the way out every year, right? So fuck ‘em."
• 2003 Billboard Music Awards: Nicole Richie, a presenter on the show, stated: “Have you ever tried to get cow shit out of a Prada purse? It’s not so fucking simple."
• NYPD Blue: In various episodes, Detective Andy Sipowitz and other characters used certain expletives including “bullshit,” “dick,” and “dickhead.”
•  The Early Show: During a live interview of a contestant on CBS’s reality show Survivor: Vanuatu, the interviewee referred to a fellow contestant as a “bullshitter.”

In those cases, the FCC reaffirmed its policy that any use of the word "fuck" is presumptively indecent and profane and expanded the policy to the word "shit" as well.  Under this new policy, Chase Utley's utterance, even though fleeting and not repeated or sustained, would be considered indecent and profane, and the stations that broadcast it would be subject to penalty by the FCC.

However, yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case that challenges the FCC's new policy.  Early indications are that the Justices were mixed about how they received the new policy, and the case involves more the nuances of administrative law than big issues of First Amendment speech regulation.  So predicting how the Court will rule (which it will do by the end of June at the latest) is difficult at this point.

But I have no doubt of one thing:  all the Philadelphia channels that broadcast last Friday's ceremonies are closely watching the outcome of this case.  Chase Utley's utterance could become very costly to them.

The march of time is unstoppable.  Less than three days after the unbelievable parade crowning the Phillies as the 2008 World Series Champions, the team starts its focus on 2009.  And, it does so without much surprise.

We all knew this was Pat Gillick's last year at the healm.  And, we all had a hunch that 2009 would be Ruben Amaro Jr.'s first year leading that team.  Our hunches were correct: the Phillies are announcing his new position at a 10am press conference this morning.

There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about Amaro's ascension.  He learned the trade from Ed Wade.  His statements to the press often show a lack of understanding of modern baseball analysis.  He's more connected to the Phillies establishment that had such a long history of mediocrity than to the Pat Gillick reign.

But, still riding high from last week, I'm in a forgiving mood for now and will wait to fully disect this later in the off-season.  For now, let's be content that Amaro inherits a championship team.  How bad can he mess things up?

[Update: We have a winner - char6587.  Second place goes to eddieot.  Details at the end of the comments.  Congratulations!]

The excitement is bubbling around these parts.  And everyone's got an opinion about how the series is going to turn out.  Here's your chance to turn your opinion into Phillies merchandise:  The Good Phight World Series Prediction Contest.

Each of the items below is worth 1 point, except for the ultimate series prediction which is worth 3 points.  The winner is the entrant who gets the most points (ties are decided by random drawing).  The winner will receive one Phillies knit hat and one Phillies 2008 t-shirt (either NL champs or World Series champs).

Late addition second prize!!  Our second place predictor will receive a FREE pair of Phillies cufflinks, courtesy of Cufflinks.com!!

All items are for the World Series only.

1. Cole Hamels' wins:
2. Ryan Howard home runs:
3. Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins stolen bases (combined total):
4. Chris Coste plate appearances:
5. Matt Stairs pinch hit appearances:
6. JA Happ innings pitched:
7. Innings in the field played by Pat Burrell following the seventh inning:
8. Brad Lidge saves:
9. So Taguchi hits:
10. JC Romero walks (to opposing batters):
11. World Series outcome (victor and # of games):

Good luck!!

[Limit one entry per screen name.  I'll take the latest entry if you enter multiple times.  Entries close at first pitch.]

For all those watching Fox or who were at the game, the one downside was not getting to hear Harry Kalas call the game.  Well now you can.  Listen to Harry call the last three outs here.  Enjoy the fun again with our very own Hall of Fame announcer!

Per Todd Zolecki in this morning's Inquirer, there will be no travel day if the Series goes to Games 6.  Presuming Game 5A happens tonight, Game 6 will be played Thursday night, and Game 7 will be played Friday night (both if necessary).

There are no plans for an off-day for travel after Game 5. If Game 5 is played tonight and the Rays win, Game 6 would be played tomorrow night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Game 7, if necessary, would be played Friday in St. Petersburg.

When play resumes tonight in World Series Game 5A, we all know that the Phillies will have one clear advantage in the tie ballgame: they get 12 outs, whereas the Rays only get 9.

But there's another advantage for the Phillies that I haven't seen discussed: where the lineups left off.

For the Rays, they will bat 6-7-8-9-1-2-3-4-5 (and so on if they get any runners on base).  Thus, they will start the seventh with the bottom half of their lineup and only get into the heart of their lineup after going through 5 or 6 other batters.  Worst comes to worst for the Rays, the heart of their lineup, including basepath terror BJ Upton who is batting third in this game, won't bat until the top of the ninth.  If the Rays do get any runners on base, the bottom of their lineup will bat twice in this game.

For the Phillies, they're in much better shape.  They will bat, at a minimum, 9-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-1-2 (and so on if they get any runners on base).  Thus, they will start the game (the bottom of the sixth) with a pinch hitter chosen particularly for the matchup and then will go into the top of their order.  They will immediately have their best hitters at the plate to get the shortened game started right.  Even if no one gets on base in the sixth, the heart of the Phillies' order will hit in the bottom of the seventh.  If anyone gets on base over the course of the Phillies' 12 outs, they will have the heart of their order come up to bat twice.  Compare that to the Rays, who will have the heart of their order up once and will only get to it a second time if the game goes a few extra innings or they are really hitting.

The only downside for the Phillies is that the player who is least likely to bat twice for them is the player who has been the hottest so far in the World Series -- 8-hole hitter Carlos Ruiz.  But, I doubt many Phillies fans would rather see him batting twice over Rollins, Werth, Utley, Howard, Burrell, and Victorino.

In a shortened game, this advantage is just another reason the Phillies are in a great position to win tonight.

Howard Eskin is reporting that at 2pm the Commissioner's office is going to cancel the game tonight.  The weather doesn't look great for tomorrow, so who knows when this game is going to be played?