Big Hits

SAN FRANCISCO - The hard decision really wasn't that hard for Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. Despite days of public coyness, he appears to have made it a while ago and correctly has not wavered. Starting Joe Blanton in Game 4 of this teetering National League Championship Series makes sense. Throwing your entire starting staff out of whack in order to get Roy Halladay on the field tonight on 3 days' rest does not make sense. That really was the easy one, though. Knowing Manuel, the question of his starting lineup is likely to be the one that kept him awake last night.

SAN FRANCISCO - As soon as Raul Ibanez stripped off his uniform following the Phillies' Game 3 loss Tuesday afternoon, he moved through the horde of reporters who lingered awkwardly in the visitors' clubhouse waiting for a willing interviewee, any willing interviewee. Ibanez stopped at a laptop computer and sat down next to Chase Utley, who was doing the same. The leftfielder apparently was queuing up video of previous at-bats in search of a solution to his ongoing postseason hitting troubles.

Part of the draw, no doubt, is the team itself. These Phillies are a bunch of really nice, good-looking guys of all stripes who come from behind, pitch perfect games, talk about things like courage and friendship, run through coaches' stop signs, and seem to genuinely like one another. "They seem so sincere," said Joan Malseed, 54, of Fishtown. "They're not hotshots. I think that is why we're all drawn to them. There's no scandals. " Whether handed down in close-quarter rowhouses in sports-drenched city neighborhoods, embraced as a regular college ritual, or gravitated to with age, Phillies officials and ballpark regulars can attest: the serious female baseball fan has entered the mainstream in this town.

THE WIRES BUZZED with the news that Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, would make a "major announcement" in a speech at George Washington University. I was one of eight columnists scheduled to talk with him an hour after that speech Wednesday. So I scanned the Internet for the text of his bombshell. There it was on the DNC website. It wasn't just on the website - it was the website. "We have a new look and new tools in our Web presence," Kaine told me when I asked about his major announcement.

He may be small at 5-foot-9, 200 pounds, but middle linebacker Brucelee Sterile throws big hits. The Lincoln University junior, known to fans as the "Mighty Miniature One," routinely overpowers linemen 100 pounds heavier and is called "the pulse of our team" by his coach. "Since he's been here, he's probably been one of the most intense student-athletes I've ever been around, from class work to on the field," Lions coach O.J. Abanishe said. "What I mean by intense is, whenever he is doing something, it's 100 percent.

1. QB Kevin Kolb: He had interception problems through one stretch of camp. How does he fare against another defense? 2. The offensive line: The group looked bad in pass protection early in camp, dragging down the entire offense, although it seems to have leveled off recently. 3. New and improved faces on defense: Ernie Sims has looked like a killer through camp, flying to the ball and making big hits whenever he can get them. Can he make a similar impact in a game?

WEST LAWN, Pa. - Cody Brown is the only pitcher for the Brooklawn Senior American Legion team who regularly takes his hacks at the plate. Brown showed why after powering Brooklawn with his bat and arm to Thursday's opening 9-3 win over Pennsylvania state champion Spring City in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals at Ted Palka Park's Owls Field. Brooklawn (38-7-1) will play the winner of Thursday's late game between host West Lawn and Virginia in Friday's final, scheduled to begin around 7:30 p.m. Spring City (36-8)

WEST LAWN, Pa. - Cody Brown is the only pitcher for the Brooklawn Senior American Legion team that regularly takes his hacks at the plate. Brown showed why after powering Brooklawn with his bat and arm to Thursday's opening 9-3 win over Pennsylvania state champion Spring City in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals at Ted Palka Park's Owls Field. Brooklawn (38-7-1) will play the winner of Thursday's late game between host West Lawn and Virginia in Friday's final game, scheduled to begin around 7:30 p.m. Spring City (36-7)

ST. LOUIS - Rightfielder Jayson Werth has been the subject of intense trade rumors. He drove in an insurance run in the top of the 11th yesterday, and said afterward he's starting to feel more comfortable at the plate. It was his first hit with a runner in scoring position since June 24, breaking an 0-for-18 skid. "I've felt better up there the last few days and, hopefully, I'll get going and help turn this thing around," he said. And, yes, he expects to stay. "I do," he said.