Neil Devlin, The Post’s mop- topped preps sports editor, grew up near Philly. He’s the kind of passionate East Coast baseball fan who wears his heart on his sleeve, and on his head. I have rarely seen Devlin without his red Phillies cap.
This morning, Devlin is no doubt on edge, wondering how his beloved Phillies can possibly take two games in the Bronx and win the World Series after being down 3-1.
Well, Mr. Devlin, I dug hard for you — scrambling, lying to myself a little, crossing my fingers and throwing common sense to the wind — to come up with 10 reasons why your Phillies can pull it off:
1. Five teams have come back from a 3-1 hole in a seven-game series: 1985 Royals, 1979 Pirates, 1968 Tigers, 1958 Yankees and 1925 Pirates. Of course, the Yankees have never squandered a 3-1 Series lead, but that’s just nit-picking.
2. Chase Utley. He has already hit five homers, three off of Yankees ace CC Sabathia. Fans sitting in the right-field seats at Yankee Stadium better take cover.
3. The Phillies are road warriors. They were 48-33 on the road during the regular season, the best mark in the majors.
4. The Phillies embody the Rocky Balboa mentality. You can knock them down, but they’ll get up off the mat and throw a knockout punch. Just ask the Rockies and closer Huston Street.
5. The Yankees’ Andy Pettitte, at age 37, is pitching on short rest for the first time since 2006. Pet- titte has more postseason wins (16) than any pitcher in history, but something tells me the Phillies will batter him tonight.
6. Here’s another nugget about Yankees skipper Joe Girardi’s decision to throw his pitchers on short rest. According to a graphic flashed on Fox TV during Game 5, since 1999, when one pitcher starts a playoff game on three days’ rest against a starter on full rest, the short-resters are 12-36.
7. Mark Teixeira will continue slumping (2-for-19 in the Series), making the Yankees’ fearsome offense less daunting.
8. Ryan Howard is bound to bust out. So far, the Phillies’ gregarious first baseman is 3-for-19 with one RBI and a record-tying 12 strikeouts. He’s too good to stay this bad.
9. Phillies starter Pedro Martinez will be the Yankees’ daddy tonight. Martinez, once a powerhouse pitcher and now a craftsman, has one more great game in him.
10. Fox TV ratings are way up — and the network would love a Game 7. And as we all know, what TV wants, TV gets. Why else would the Series still be going on in November?
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1428 or psaunders@
