As if you didn’t know: The Phillies won a tense game 5, forcing a game 6 tomorrow night in New York wherein Pedro Martinez will get a second chance to end the “who’s your daddy?” chants once and for all.

Also, SEPTA called an audible, announcing a 3 a.m. strike shutting down all city subway, bus and trolley service, essentially holding true to the letter of their word to not striking during the World Series home games. Yes, yes, we support the union’s right to strike, but tell it to the people waiting at bus stops at 5:30 this morning.

So we’ll take this opportunity to share a word with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia who suggest you “Bike the Strike”:

PHILADELPHIA - November 3, 2009 - The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia urges SEPTA travelers to bike instead of driving. Commuters who bike will win out over those stuck in traffic jams of epic proportions.”Avoid the crush and bike the strike,” says Alex Doty, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. “Bike the Strike to save time, money and help shrink your waistline.  Plus, I guarantee you will have more fun than anyone trying to drive during the strike.”

In cooperation with Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation and Utilities, the Bicycle Coalition has established a Bike the Strike station at City Hall (Dillworth Plaza). The station has bike parking corrals, free coffee, bike maps and Bicycle Ambassadors on hand to give tips on bike commuting and personalized route planning.

Keeping safe while bicycling is critical.  “Bicycles are considered vehicles, so we also urge all bicyclists to obey the rules of the road,” said Education Director Breen Goodwin.  “It’s important for all bicyclists to be civil, courteous and comply with traffic laws, such as walking their bikes on sidewalks and stopping at all signals, to ensure the everyone’s safety.”

More biking tips after the jump: (more…)

Jim Horwat

Click image to see full print.

Jim Horwat, our favorite Phillies-loving, smile-crazy illustrator — the man behind last year’s championship-celebrating tribute/collage — is back with a 2009 print featuring all the stars of this year’s run and Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett. Oh, and it’s also got HK and the Phanatic done up like some kind of Mayan priest.

This year’s print is full color and available in a signed and numbered first edition on Horwat’s web site. Do some early x-mas shopping and maybe buy the Phils a little karma tonight.

Dunno if it was the shaky first inning by Joe Blanton, the continued struggles of Ryan Howard vs. lefties, the reliance on the solo home run, the uncanny ability to convert a 2-on-nobody-out opportunity into a goose egg, or the almost comically preordained bullpen collapse that was most emblematic of the Phils season.

Last night’s World Series game 4 had a little bit of everything for your local neighborhood Phils cynic. Let’s not forget that while the Phillies are indeed a very formidable team, they’ve got their weaknesses — and almost all of them were exposed against the best power pitching and power hitting money can buy.

• CC Sabathia — his inability to do anything with Chase Utley notwithstanding — continued to make Phils lefties Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez look look like Rico Brogna and Travis Lee.
• Joe Blanton, a yeoman 4th starter, despite a sick run from the second inning into the fifth where he painted the corners deftly, was undone in a fifth inning where nobody hit the ball all that hard, but, given Blanton’s lack of an out pitch, was unable to drop the hammer and end an ill timed two-run rally.
• Charlie Manuel, despite finding himself in a situation — tied at 4 in the ninth after an improbable Pedro Feliz tying shot — where he might be facing extra innings, decided to not try to get another inning out of his best/most durable reliever, Ryan Madson, and went to Brad Lidge in a situation that called for perfection.
• In a bit of irony too rich for words, when the Phils employed a severe defensive shift against Mark Teixeira — the same one used so often against their own Ryan Howard — they got burned on a steal of second wherein Johnny Damon kept running right on down to an uncovered third base.
• Of course, then there’s the mystery of why Brad Lidge stopped throwing his slider — his best pitch and possibly the best pitch on the entire staff — while facing Johnny Damon in the first place, but Brad Lidge mysteries could fill a book at this point.

Did I miss anything?

Photo | Lucinda Lunacy

Frank and Charlie and CP

Received a flurry of texts/tweets/fb messages last night informing me that our dear newspaper had a cameo in last night’s episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I get all my Sunny on Hulu these days, so I’ve got a seven-day wait for the full episode featuring Carolyn Huckabay’s May 28 cover on the lovely and talented T. Desiree Hines. Molly Eichel has the deets over on Critical Mass.

Photo | Ray Skwire

Today’s Star of the Photostream comes from friend of the Clog Ray Skwire, whose Flickr photo stream and blogs Philly Bits and Scene in Philly you should check now and often.

Submit your Philly photo to City Paper’s photostream here.

CP founder/Loose Canon columnist Bruce Schimmel will take part in a panel discussion being thrown by Young Involved Philadelphia and Technically Philly with the goal of gleaning The Future of News Media in Philadelphia.

Schimmel’s panel mates will be:

• Matt Golas, Managing Editor, PlanPhilly
• Joey Sweeney, Editor & Founder, Philebrity.com and
• Sandra Shea, Editorial Page Editor, Daily News

The discussion will be moderated by WHYY’s Executive Director of News and Civic Dialogue Chris Satullo.

The discussion, scheduled or 6-7:30 p.m. at the WHYY Civic Space at 6th and Arch, will attempt to answer such questions as:

- What is the state of the current crisis in Philadelphia’s news industry?

- Where would you get your local news if the Inquirer and the Daily News ceased to exist?

- How has social media already begun to change the way we receive our “news�?

Fittingly, you can RSVP for the event on Facebook.

Hoodie | Birdland/The Fightins

Beat NY: What they can’t buy, we’re gonna take

Running a little behind on this, but tell us who’s gonna win the World Series and how:

Yesterday our own contributing sports editor  E. James Beale sat down with Daily News sports editor Josh Barnett on Marty Moss-Coane’s Radio Times to talk about the World Series. Listen below.

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I enjoyed this ad by the League of Young Voters Education Fund because windmills are scary, what with their tallness, their sharp points and their robot looks.

Photo | Anyablove

We wholeheartedly endorse any zeitgeist-riding/meme-fucking that involves turning Kurt Vile’s “Freak Train” into a paean to Carlos Ruiz. Extra credit for the Matador/Black Taco logo mashup.

(h/t Jon Solomon)

CP contributor Andrew Thompson was featured in a WHYY piece by health and science reporter Kerry Grens about the travails of the uninsured.

Grens: Up to what limit are you willing to pay for insurance?

Thompson: I would say that $150 is the maximum I would pay.

That’s $150 a month. Few, if any, plans available to individuals are that cheap — especially for someone with pre-existing conditions.

Listen to Grens’ report.

Photo | AWD44

Road to Another Championship

As of last week, Photostream will no longer appear as a regular print feature in City Paper. Stars of the Photostream, however, will become a regular feature on The Clog. To submit your city photo, visit citypaper.net/photostream.

Today’s photo comes from AWD44.

Last night’s game 5 between the Angels and the Yankees was a thriller, a back-and-forth affair reminiscent of game 4 of the NLDS between Philadelphia and Colorado.

It also popped a big ugly hole in the mystique that the American League teams are somehow inherently better than their National League counterparts. This was a game riddled with sloppy play, bizarre managerial decisions and bullpens as shaky and flaky as, well, as the Phils’ was most of the year.

How afraid are you of a manager who’ll pull his ace starter in the 7th to let Darren F. Oliver (Darren Oliver!) face Mark Teixeira?

How afraid are you of a manager who’ll pull his most dangerous hitter — and one who’s actually pretty fast — for a pinch runner in the top of the ninth while trailing by a run and when his run would only tie the game?

How afraid are you of Brian Fuentes? Of Phil Hughes? Of C.C. Sabathia for that matter?