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October 2, 2008

On the Beat

Game One Report, Brewers versus Phillies

by John Perrotto

PHILADELPHIA—It is hard to imagine Cole Hamels being anything but cool. The Phillies left-hander with blond streaks in his black hair grew up in Rancho Bernardo, California, a suburb of San Diego, and his perfect day when he was single was to sleep until noon, go to Del Mar Beach, play volleyball, surf on a body board, and cook out. Now that's cool.

In 2004, when Hamels was playing in High-A for Clearwater in Florida, former Survivor star and Playboy cover girl Heidi Strobel was making a promotional appearance at the ballpark. Hamels asked her out, she agreed, and two years later they were married. That, too, is cool.

In spring training, Hamels said his goal for this season was winning the National League Cy Young and his career goal was to wind up in the Hall of Fame. It takes a certain amount of coolness to openly talk about being inducted in Cooperstown when you are just 24 years old.

Yet Hamels was anything but cool when he made the first post-season start of his career last year, as the Phillies were swept by the Rockies in the National League Division Series. He felt out of sync throughout a 6 2/3-inning stint, and took the loss as he allowed three runs and three hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. "I learned a lot from that start and having that experience was invaluable," Hamels said. "I told myself the next time I was in that position that I would have a much different approach, and I wouldn't make the same mistakes twice."

Hamels only had to wait a year to get that second chance, and he made the most of it yesterday afternoon as he pitched eight shutout innings to lead the Phillies to a 3-1 win over the Brewers in Game One of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed two hits—singles by Corey Hart in the fifth inning and Craig Counsell in the sixth—never let a runner get past second base, walked only one, and struck out nine, all against a Brewers lineup that hit lefties at a .269/.348/.458 clip in the regular season. "We didn't even hit any balls hard off of him," Brewers interim manager Dale Sveum said, the admiration nearly dripping from his voice.