Word: postseason
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...gotten him in trouble. Last season, he fought his catcher in the dugout during a game. Though old habits emerged during his last two regular-season starts, which were awful, for the most part he's learned to reserve his fire for opposing hitters. "When you get into the postseason, there's a passion, an intensity, an emotion that's necessary, and he has all those ingredients," says Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren. "He's matured and learned to channel it in the right direction. It makes him very imposing out there...
...That's a lethal combination," explains Wren. "Teams that are on base a lot, they wear down starting pitching and get you to that second-tier pitching faster. We've all seen in the postseason how that's very tough on you. There aren't a lot of clubs that have the depth to handle that, night in and night out, especially with the intensity of the postseason...
Zambrano offers another surprising postseason weapon: he's perhaps the best-hitting pitcher in the game. This season, he hit .337 with 4 home runs, and in all, he has smacked 16 home runs over an 8-year career. "It's nice to have that type of bat," notes Towers. "I don't say that loosely. If you have that type of bat, you don't have to double switch in a close game, because this guy can do as much damage as anyone coming off your bench. It allows him to stay deep into games and give your bullpen...
...Cashing in on Moneyball The Red Sox, with their two world titles in four years, have set the postseason model. A team that is patient and hits for power - the Moneyball way originally preached by Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and perfected by the Sox - prevails. These Cubbies fit that mold. Chicago led the National League in both walks and that sacrosanct benchmark for the stat heads, on-base percentage plus slugging...
...were like boxing's white hope of a decade ago, Gerry Cooney: slow, muscle-bound, awed, overwhelmed. But the Phillies were Rocky. After vaulting from last place to first in their division in one year, and after being gassed by the Braves in two of the first three postseason games, the Phils got mad and even. They would not be cheesesteak cream puffs; they would be winners. The town's legendarily cranky fans answered the ''tomahawk chop'' of Atlanta admirers with the sign TOMAHAWK SCHMOMAHAWK, while the Phils summoned a very '90s street attitude. ''Beat this,'' they told the Braves...