With Rollins in charge, failure wasn't an option

The Phillies and their star SS walk the walk.

By MARC TOPKIN
Published October 3, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Jimmy Rollins helped the Phillies make good on his promise with an MVP-caliber season.

PHILADELPHIA - The Phillies had to win the National League East. Had to overcome a 4-11 start, a team-record 20 disabling injuries, a sub-.500 record in late July, a seven-game deficit with 17 to play.

They had to do it because shortstop and spark plug Jimmy Rollins said they would.

And Rollins had to make sure they did it.

His mother wouldn't have it any other way.

Gigi raised Jimmy to understand "if you're going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. If you say you're going to do something, you deliver. And if you don't, be prepared to get crushed. ...

"I kind of grew up with that mentality. I don't talk trash, but if I feel a certain way I'm going to say it. And I expect to go out there and do it."

The Phillies did it all right, capping a frenzied season with a fantastic finish, winning the division title on Sunday's final day and earning a seemingly even first-round playoff matchup against the equally amazing Rockies, who merely won 14 of their last 15, including Monday's 13-inning tiebreaking thriller over San Diego.

And the Phillies couldn't have done it without Rollins, as much for his MVP-caliber season on the field - becoming the first major-leaguer in history to combine 30 doubles, 30 homers, 30 steals and 20 triples while playing all 162 games - as for what he did on a cold, windy January day.

Rollins, 28, said he hadn't planned to make a statement, much less put a target on his, and their, backs, when he showed up at a Phillies media event, pronouncing they were now "the team to beat" in the division. But he admitted it wasn't without a purpose.

"My objective was to get this team to believe that we were good enough," Rollins said Tuesday. "We had the talent, we had the team chemistry, but we needed that swagger to go out there and believe. Sometimes you have to put a target on your back to make yourself play. It's too easy to play under the shade and underachieve just enough to be close every year. And going home the beginning of October just wasn't fun."

The Phillies had made it to the final week of the previous two seasons before being eliminated, but the plans for success they made before leaving Clearwater this spring changed quickly due to a seemingly relentless string of injuries.

But besides a powerful offense (stacked with Ryan Howard, Rollins, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand) and a pitching staff led by ace Cole Hamels and patched together with minor-leaguers (Kyle Kendrick) and castoffs (J.C. Romero, J.D. Durbin), these relatively young Phillies had something else, something that developed as the improbable season went on, resulting in their first playoff appearance since 1983.

"As we continued to win and made plays and got key hits, you start looking around and you're going, 'Wow, we can do this,'" veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer said. "And that's where believing comes in."

As surprising as it seems - especially for Mets fans - the Phillies now feel strongly they deserve to be here. So do the Rockies, who looked every bit like the .500 team they were when the Rays visited Denver in June.

"The thing we have held onto since Day 1 is the belief we had in ourselves," manager Clint Hurdle said Tuesday, after an 8:30 a.m. arrival from Denver.

"Don't get me wrong, we knew it was a reach. But we thought we were capable of it. We weren't here to two-putt. We were not here to get it close. We were here to nail it, and we nailed it."

As did the Phillies.

"How did we pull it off?" Rollins said. "We hit, we ran, we scored, we won, we won and we won. And then we had the other team losing, so that also helped."

In other words, they were the team to beat.

MLB playoffs

AL Division Series

Angels vs. Red SoxGame 1: at Boston,6:30 p.m. today.

Yankees vs. IndiansGame 1: at Cleveland,6:30 p.m. Thursday.

NL Division Series

Cubs vs. DiamondbacksGame 1: at Arizona,10 p.m. today.

Rockies vs. PhilliesGame 1: at Philadelphia,3 p.m. today.

(All games on TBS)

Inside: Times staff writer Marc Topkin previews the three division series that begin today.

Playoff previews, 4C

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 00:30:52]