This is not a revenge situation

The Phillies look to defend their first World Series crown in almost three decades and to do so they will first need to exhume one last ghost. After erasing the sting of the collapse of 1964 by twice coming back on the New York Mets, and then by capturing the first championship in the city of brotherly love in a quarter century, the Phillies now must dispatch of the team that thwarted them at the beginning of this string of playoff appearances.

Yes, these are different teams compared to the two that paired up two Octobers ago. The Phillies and Rockies both have new players but many of the names are still familiar. But it would be ridiculous to compare the 2007 teams and the 2009 teams. Both are so different now it is not fair to think back to the 2007 post season and say this is a revenge situation.

The revenge situation ended when the Phillies won the World Series last October.

Gone are the names like Pat Burrell, Kyle Lohse, and Jose Mesa (who was unceremoniously booed off the field at Citizens Bank Park in game two of the 2007 NLDS). Gone is Rockies MVP candidate Matt Holliday (some guy named Jimmy Rollins took that honor that season).

Forget what happened two years ago because it means nothing this time around. The Phillies are a much improved team from 2007. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels are your starters in the first two games. In 2007 Kyle Kendrick was the game two starter, behind Hamels. Jamie Moyer was the game three starter that year. This time around it looks to be Pedro Martinez.

The lineup is better too. Shane Victorino has improved and Jayson Werth has taken a stride forward. Ryan Howard is still Ryan Howard and Chase Utley is still Chase Utley. Raul Ibanez may be better than Pat Burrell. Jimmy Rollins may not be what the 2007 Rollins was, but he is still no slouch.

This Phillies team is better than that Phillies team. And these Rockies, although entering on a bit of an upswing, do not have the same magic that Rockies team did.

But we will wait to see what each team has to offer tomorrow.

First pitch, 2:37pm.