Left fielder Pat Burrell
didn't quite guarantee he'd hit a home run Sunday
and never pointed his bat toward the outfield
fence, but generations from now, who knows how
Philadelphia Phillies fans might choose to
remember?
Burrell, who told teammate Jimmy Rollins before the
game that he was going to do something special, hit two
home runs and launched the Phillies into the National
League Championship Series with a 6-2 victory against
the Milwaukee Brewers.
"It took a while to get here," said Burrell, who has
spent his entire 10-year career in the Phillies
organization. "That just makes it all the sweeter now
that you're here."
Burrell, whose bat disappeared the last two months of
the season — hitting .215 after the All-Star
break — was also missing in the first three games
of the playoffs. He had yet to produce a hit and was
teased by Rollins about his lack of production.
"He gave me some lip," Burrell said, laughing. "I told
him, 'Why don't you do something?' "
Burrell, who has been bothered by a bad back, then
dropped by Rollins locker Sunday and told him he was
feeling good and the slump was going to end.
"Pat said, 'I'm going to get them today,' " Rollins
said. "He said, 'I feel good. My back's all right. I
worked some things out in the cage. It's going to be on
me.'
"He said it. I was paying attention."
Rollins set the tone by hitting a leadoff homer in the
first, and the score remained 1-0 in the third inning
when Howard stepped to the plate with Shane Victorino
on second base. Brewers manager Dale Sveum didn't
hesitate. He ordered Howard to be intentionally walked.
"It's not that difficult of a decision," Sveum says.
"Burrell came into the series hitting .170 off righties
the last 30 days. … Unfortunately, it didn't
work out."
Burrell slammed a 2-2 fastball into the left-field
seats. He lowered his head. Started running toward
first. And all he heard was the sound of silence from
the crowd of 43,934 at Miller Park.
"There's nothing like silence on the road," Rollins
said.
The Phillies had a 4-0 lead, and Burrell dashed any
notions of a late Brewers comeback with another home
run in the eighth. He joined Lenny Dykstra as the only
players in team history to hit two homers in a
postseason game.
"When you get into a situation like this, where the
emotions are there, all the excitement and not to be a
factor and not help your team win," Burrell said, "it
gets old. It can really affect you. So I was just happy
to be a factor and contribute."
Burrell wasn't even sure he was going to be in the
starting lineup until batting practice. He saw his name
was in the second group and figured Phillies manager
Charlie Manuel was going to stick with him at least one
more time. Manuel said he considered dropping Burrell
in the lineup but not bench him.
"This is a time of year where you've got to go with
who's hot, and I understand that," Burrell said. "The
bottom line is you've got to find a way to win. I
understand that. I don't know that anybody takes it
harder when we don't come through than (Rollins) and
I."
Now the two longtime friends who met when they were
high school players in Southern California have helped
bring the Phillies to the brink of the World Series.
This could be their final month together. Burrell is a
free agent at the season's conclusion and expects to be
heavily courted by the San Francisco Giants.
(usatoday.com)