THE CHEESE WHIZARD

Philadelphia will get you. Just when you’re not looking, out of nowhere, like it’s very own Rocky Balboa, it’ll hit you with a jab, and you’ll be wounded.

The only nuisance for the Phillies in their otherwise trouble-free run to perfection and a world title was a man, in Manny Ramirez, amongst boys. He was brilliant.

So how would Philadelphia retaliate? Oh, you thought winning the big one was the end of this battle? Think again.

Just about 67 miles northwest of Broad and Pattison (address of the world champions) is a town called Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading is the home of the Reading Phillies, the AA affiliate of the big-league squad. Reading also just happens to be the hometown of Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting pitcher Chad Billingsley.

Billingsley is a 24 year-old ace-in-the-making. As the number-two starter on their staff, he had a 3.14 ERA this year, and although he folded in the National League Championship Series, his 16 wins will need to anchor this pitching staff (having recently lost Derek Lowe) again in 2009. Or, will it?

On Thursday, parts of Pennsylvania got a wintery mix of snow and freezing rain, all too familiar to residents of that area. Vanessa Ciccarella from Upper Dublin said, “Yeeaa it wuz comin down real hard, and hittin’ the roof and stuff, but like it wasn’t wutter, it was like frowzen.”

The next morning, Chad Billingsley, while home in Reading during his winter hiatus, lost his footing while walking on his frozen driveway, and suffered a spiral fracture of the fibula in his left leg. Oops.

Gotcha…just when you weren’t looking.

Doctors put a plate in Billingsley’s leg and said he should be, “…able to throw by spring training.” Able to throw? If I’m Joe Torre, and I’ve been through the pitching nightmares that he went through in New York, I’m not buying it. I’m not confident with a recovering Billingsley, a Hiroki Kuroda who went 9-10, and a decent pick-up.

I’m buying something big.

C.C. Sabathia is big. He is far and away the best pitcher in this year's free agent class.

I know Sabathia will probably go to New York. I know the Yankees just offered him enough money to make Henry Paulson blink. I know Sabathia is ready to win, and the Yankees win (or, they would, and they did when they had good pitching). I know Hal Steinbrenner (the owner of the Yankees) wants to make his mark on this new team, in this new ballpark. I know a rounder man of Sabathia’s size and stature looks much better in vertical patterns, and thus, is well suited for the Yankee pinstripes.

But, the Dodgers have money to spend.

The Dodgers are sick of Scott Boras. They’ve taken their money off the table with Manny, and their number-two pitcher just broke his leg.

They might not be able to match the Yankees $137 million, but they have a core of young, talented players, who just got a whole lot of playoff experience. They could make a few moves, make an offer, and let Sabathia’s desire to return to his native sunny California (after what must have been a miserably cold stretch in Cleveland and Milwaukee) do the rest.

In that case, Manny’s out.

And just when Manny wasn’t looking, Philadelphia’s icy mix took out the Dodger’s number-two pitcher. And that might make Manny a certain number-two priority to finding a new ace.

Hey, Manny, see you in Anaheim.