Hamels owns October
Phillies’ World Series MVP finished 4-0 during postseason
PHILADELPHIA – Cole Hamels won a World Series Most Valuable Player award Wednesday night without throwing a pitch.
Only fitting, because he owned October all the way.
Hamels made five postseason starts for the Philadelphia Phillies and went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA, a dazzling display of pressure pitching that earned him two treasured trophies.
Already the MVP of the National League Championship Series, the lanky lefty duplicated that feat with two terrific starts against Tampa Bay and joined Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt (1980) as the only World Series MVPs in Philadelphia history.
“I feel like a winner now,” Hamels said after the Phillies wrapped up the Series with a 4-3 victory in Game 5.
Hamels outpitched Scott Kazmir for a 3-2 win in the opener, then tossed six effective innings Monday night before Game 5 was suspended by rain in the middle of the sixth with the score tied 2-all.
“That was the worst weather I’ve pitched in in my entire life,” Hamels said. “I feel like I succeeded even with all the hard conditions that were thrown my way.”
The storm ended Hamels’ outing after 75 pitches, but he nearly wound up with a win anyway. When the game resumed Wednesday night, Philadelphia went ahead in the bottom of the sixth on Jayson Werth’s bloop single.
That put Hamels in position for a record-breaking victory – on a night when he never took the mound. But the Rays tied it at 3 in the seventh against Philadelphia’s bullpen, leaving the 24-year-old with a no-decision.
No matter. The Phillies pulled it out and Hamels was selected MVP, just as he was in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“This is something that you have to live for,” Hamels said. “Going out there, I knew I had a job to do. I had the support of these fans, I had my teammates behind me and all I had to really do was just go throw a baseball as well I knew how.”