A Real Head-Scratcher

I remember back in spring training, sitting in the seats at the Phillies park in Clearwater and my buddy said to me, "I bet Carlos Ruiz hits .300 this year."  Naturally, I thought the cheap beer or the priceless sunshine had gotten to his head and sure enough, Ruiz fell way short.  As a matter of fact, he did well to hit .255 for the year, raising his average 36 points...

Chan Ho Park, sidelined in mid-September with a strained right hamstring, just bumped Brett Myers off the Phillies' NLCS roster: Chan Ho Park will take [Myers'] place, a team source said. Park has not pitched since Sept. 16 because of a strained right hamstring, but Park said he feels healthy. Myers said he had a feeling he would not be on the NLCS roster once the Phillies...

Brad Lidge said that Chan Ho Park looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball out of the pen last night. "Maybe he took some good Korean ancient herb or something," Lidge said. Pause. "Hopefully that didn't come out too bad." Park certainly looked tremendous out of the pen last night and is an extremely welcomed addition to the Phillies late...

Just a few headlines to get your day started. Everywhere we turn, the media and fan blogging communities have another angle on the Phillies-Dodgers NLCS. 8:07 simply can't get here soon enough.  Brett Myers didn't make the NLCS roster. Kind of a shocker, no? J. Weitzel of Beerleaguer reminds us that Antonio Bastardo DID make it, and that Brett won NLCS game 2 over...

The Phillies have added Chan Ho Park and Eric Bruntlett to the NLCS roster at the expense of Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Park’s return is a great sign. He was the Phils’ most reliable reliever for much of the season, posting a 2.52 ERA in 50 innings out of the pen. [...]

Chan Ho Park comes on to pitch the eighth for the Phillies. He’s working in the park where he’s had a great deal of success. Update: Blake singles leading off the eighth. Juan Pierre comes in as a pinch runner. Update: Belliard bunts past Park, and it goes for an infield single, putting [...]

West Coast Chopper According to our pal Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com, Chan Ho Park will be aboard the Phillies flight to Los Angeles which is scheduled to leave tonight around 7 p.m. local time. Park has been laid up with a hamstring injury since September 16 and would add another important component to a brittle bullpen. [...]

Sporting News staff reports The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the Phillies will start righthander Pedro Martinez in Game 2 of the NLCS. In addition, righthander Brett Myers has been left off the Phillies' NLCS roster. Martinez was scheduled to pitch Game 3 of the NLDS before cold weather postponed the game. When the game was made up the following day, rookie...

Public TransportationLA - If you stand outside of a Home Depot long enough somebody in a pickup truck will come and take you somewhere. You may have to do some manuel labor, though.Philly - SEPTA.Advantage - Philly. Barely.He Plays For Us NowLA - Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla, Jim ThomePhilly - Jayson Werth, Pedro Martinez, Chan Ho Park, Shane VictorinoAdvantage - Push. I would have...

Carlos Ruiz's three-run home run sparked a big fifth inning. (AP Photo)Carlos Ruiz and Raul Ibanez homers lead the wayThe Phillies offense exploded in the fifth inning with five runs and the bullpen was able to hang on to the lead late in the game and the Phillies won game one of the NLCS against the home town Dodgers. The 8-6 victory gives the defending World Series champions...

Last night, the road-ready Phillies toppled the Dodgers 8-6 in NLCS Game One, grabbing home-field advantage as the Phils pitchers stranded a bunch of Dodgers runners. Heck, even Brad Lidge did some stranding and came away with a save. Here are the three most important folks from the game last night, as decided by a panel of seventeen judges from all walks of life: Chan Ho Park...

It wasn’t completely vintage Pedro Martinez from 1999, but it wasn’t far off as he racked up 7 shutout innings last night. If Pedro were a decade younger we might never have seen Chan Ho Park in the eighth inning. What a shame the Phillies bullpen, predictably, ruined a night that would have put them [...]

Brad Lidge's resurgence is a big boost for Philadelphia. It gets another lift when one-time Dodgers phenom Chan Ho Park, almost forgotten after straining his hamstring last month, stops a Dodgers rally in the seventh inning of Game 1, Scott Miller says.

Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your baseball day. It welcomes your email submissions and tips here or via Twitter.  1. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, team CEO Jamie, have separated. LA Times2. The sides have reportedly "lawyered up," which could impact the Dodgers' future. FoxSports3. Joe Torre says that managing...

DODGERS 2, PHILLIES 1 You know why this post-game thread is so late? Because it was INCREDIBLY FRICKIN' HOT out there at the Stadium today. Unbelievably hot. And since a phalanx of Sons (Alex Cora, Delino DeShields, Orel, and Steve Sax) all humped it out there to support the Dodgers (and only Delino made it out of the parking lot morass with reasonable speed), we're a...