by Tom KrasovicFiled under: Giants, Phillies, MLB Playoffs, National League Championship Series
SAN FRANCISCO -- Football players will chuckle when they hear the latest big baseball story. This one is about how gimpy pitcher Roy Halladay gutted through a groin strain Thursday night to keep the Phillies alive in the National League Championship Series .The media loves these kind of purple-hued stories, and here at West Coast Bias, I'm guilty of writing some of them too.
Watching him slog through a rainy night without his good fastball, I likened the Colorado-bred Halladay to an ailing cowboy who stoically led his charges to greener pastures -- namely, a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants that sent the series to Philadelphia for Game 6 Saturday.
Pretty corny, huh? And football players who slam heads every Sunday will ask, all this fuss over a little groin strain?
Heck, Halladay was still able to run full speed, like when he covered first base. He didn't have any broken bones. Nor torn muscles.
But for a pitcher, little things can mean a lot. One of the better ones, Dizzy Dean, was never the same after hurting a toe. Pitchers need each link in the kinetic chain to hold up. If one sprocket springs, the whole machinery can go kaput.
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Halladay, though, kept it together, and the Phillies did too, so now San Francisco's lead in the best-of-seven match is three games to two.
"It's satisfying," Halladay said. "You don't always overcome those things, but it's a good feeling when you do."
The Phillies trailed 1-0 when Halladay, throwing a pitch in the second inning, suffered the injury. They led 3-2 when he handed the ball to an inspired bullpen for the seventh.
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