The playoffs are all about momentum. Last night the Phillies started game three of the NLCS with a 2 games to none lead over the Dodgers. Before Jamie Moyer could get out of the first inning the Dodgers had a 5-0 lead and all the momentum. The game was basically over, yet both teams had to play out the last 8 innings. Typically, a game like this would be a huge boost to the Dodgers while deflating the high flying Phils. However, Kuroda (the Dodgers starting pitcher) decided to buzz the tower of the 'Flyin' Hawaiian' Shane Victorino. It was not totally uncalled for: Russell Martin had already been drilled that night and Manny had his tower buzzed the game before. Even Victorino knew it was coming - complaining that the Dodgers throw at his body, not his head. These things are part of baseball. However in the case of last night, I think it was the worst thing the Dodgers could have done. Now all anyone is talking about is the incident. The Phillies are fired up. They were dead in the water about to face Derek Lowe in game 4 - it looked like a perfect scenario for the Dodgers to tie the series. Now who knows.
Aside - also when the benches cleared last night it was Manny who was front and center in the altercation. If he had thrown a punch or shoved someone - he may have been suspended. We would have had a similar situation to when Amare Staudameire and Boris Diaw were suspended for coming to the support of Steven Nash, who had just been cross checked into the scorers table by Robert Horry.
Bottom line - what may have been a bad win for the Dodgers is great for the fans.
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