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Blanton Making Most Of Chance

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By JENNA MARINA

Tribune correspondent

Published: October 26, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Joe Blanton hasn't been here before, and he almost never was.

If not for a summer trade, the Phillies' starting pitcher for Game 4 could have been 3,000 miles away, stuck 241/2 games out of first place, watching the World Series from his living room along with the rest of the Oakland Athletics.

Fortunately for Blanton, he was traded to Philadelphia on July 17. Phillies fans may have been scratching their heads muttering "Joe Who?" at the time, but perhaps that was a good thing.

Blanton said he felt like he couldn't catch a break for the first half of the season in Oakland. He was 5-12 in 20 starts with a 4.96 ERA.

"I kind of let myself get in a rut ... and then the trade happens, it almost is like a new breath," he said Saturday. "So it almost made me think, all right, I can start over here - a team competing for the playoffs - and try to put some good starts together and help out any way I can to hopefully get to the playoffs."

Help them he has. Blanton was 4-0 in 13 starts during the regular season with a 4.20 ERA, and he put together two solid outings in the playoffs against Milwaukee and Los Angeles. If Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was somewhat unsure of Blanton's proficiency earlier this season, the pitcher's playoff appearances have put those worries to rest.

Manuel pointed out that Blanton was especially impressive vs. Milwaukee in the NLDS when he struck out seven in six innings.

"I felt like that was his best game that I've seen him pitch, and he was very aggressive and he was in the strike zone with all his pitches," Manuel said. "He had a command that day ... and I liked everything he did that day. He pitched a heck of a game for us."

Blanton narrowed his biggest career games to two: a 2006 ALCS playoff game against Detroit where he came in as a reliever, and his start on Opening Day in Japan with the A's this year.

"I was the first one going out, so I was throwing the first pitch of the entire season. For me that was kind of a big deal," he said. "It was a big experience."

Now, with two playoff starts to his name, his confidence is steady and he is hoping to draw upon those outings to prepare himself for tonight.

Blanton might even try to channel some of those feelings he had in July because, just like the trade, the playoffs have him re-energized.

"It brings a new intensity. Baseball can be a long season with 162 games, but once you get here, it's like those 162 don't matter anymore; everybody starts over," he said. And it's definitely a fight to the last pitch every game."

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