One of the rights of passage of die hard baseball fans is the offseason “hot stove league” as it is referred to. A time when hope springs eternal for most teams as they have the ability to start making moves to improve their teams as they look ahead to next season.

 This period of time starts in November, as free agency kicks in, and typically runs for several months. But a lot of moves in the past have been made in the period between mid-November and mid-December.

This year, however, you wouldn’t even know such a period exists.

I remember several years ago sitting in my truck at a stoplight and ESPN reported on the radio that the Red Sox had just come to terms with Curt Schilling.  This occurred days after Red Sox GM Theo Epstein decided to personally visit the pitcher at his home in Arizona on Thanksgiving Day to talk about coming to the Sox.

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Swagger…something that teams have that know they are good. It is a presence they exude, an attitude that they can handle whatever comes there way. You can watch a team take batting practice or shag some balls and it is evident. Watch their star players do an interview and it becomes obvious.

Well, it is clear that the Philadelphia Phillies have this swagger. Game 1 of the 2009 World Series was testimony to that fact. It is year one of the coliseum otherwise known as Yankee Stadium. All the stars are aligned for the Yanks to reclaim their rightful place as baseball’s top team. They have cruised through the playoffs to date and have their high-priced pitching rotation in perfect order. Bright lights, hostile crowd.

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