Today the 2012 Major League Baseball postseason will officially begin and for the first time since 2006 it will not involve the Phillies. Each of the past five seasons the Phillies have opened up their playoff schedule at home in Citizens Bank Park. There will be no white rally towels waving in the stands and no dancing by the Phillie Phanatic this October, but some fans may be keeping an eye on the postseason anyway. We certainly will be watching here, and keeping some tabs on former Phillies in the postseason.

Today the first-ever one-game Wild Card games will be played to determine which teams will advance to the Division Series in each league. First up is the National League, where the Atlanta Braves will get a chance to dethrone the reigning World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86 ERA) vs. Kris Medlen (10-1, 1.57 ERA)
First pitch: 5:07 p.m., TBS

When I think of Kyle Lohse I think of one thing: Kaz Matsui grand slam. Lohse gets slammed for tossing up a grand slam in game two of the 2007 NLDS but blame has to be rightfully be placed on Kyle Kendrick for loading the bases with a 3-2 lead. But that is ancient history at this stage.

The ghosts of Lohse's playoff past will have to be silenced if the defending World Series champions want to live to see another day this October. The Braves counter with Kris Medlen, and the Braves have not lost a game he has started in two years. Those trends tell you to go with Atlanta in this game. I know I will be pulling for the Braves because I am not ready to see the Chipper Jones farewell tour come to a stop just yet. I also respect how Atlanta put last year's downfall behind them the way they did and feel they are entering the postseason on a positive note, and playing at home for one game is huge.

I think Atlanta advances to host the Washington Nationals, and that could give Atlanta the upper hand in that NLDS match-up.

For more coverage on the Braves and Cardinals, check out Chop-N-Change and Cards Diaspora.

The 2012 season may be over for the Philadelphia Phillies but a number of former Phils will continue to play baseball this October in both leagues. If you are the type of Phillies fan who will pick up a rooting interest in a team based on a former Phillie being on the roster, you certainly have some options this fall.

Atlanta Braves, NL Wild Card

Michael Bourne, Chad Durbin

Centerfielder Michael Bourne struggled down the stretch of the regular season but he still managed to be a key player for Atlanta this season with career highs for home runs (9), RBIs (57) and walks (70). The free-agent to be has been discussed by some as a potential target of the Phillies, who drafted him and brought him up through their farm system. Bourne played his first two years in the majors with Philadelphia in 2006 and 2007. Of course, he was part of the package deal orchestrated mainly by assistant general manager (at the time) Ruben Amaro to bring Brad Lidge to the team in time for the 2008 season. That move worked out pretty well for the Phillies, although Bourne developed in to a multi-Gold Glove outfielder and has made two All Star appearances since leaving town.

Speaking of which, one of the more dependable relievers from that 2008 bullpen staff also happens to be one of the trusty relievers for Atlanta. Chad Durbin has put together a 4-1 record with a 3.10 ERA, his best average since his first season in Philadelphia (2.87 ERA in 2008). Durbin has finished 19 games for the Braves this season and carried a 1.311 WHIP in 76 games, matching his WHIP from 2010 season in Philadelphia for his best since 2007. The Braves took a little bit of a chance on Durbin after having a 5.53 ERA in Cleveland last season, but he has certainly paid off for them this season.

The Phillies will not bring back bench coach Pete Mackanin or hitting coach Greg Gross for the 2013 coaching staff, reports Todd Zolecki, via Twitter.

Bench coach Pete Mackanin and hitting coach Greg Gross also will not be back next season.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) October 3, 2012

With the earlier news of Sam Perlozzo not coming back, the Phillies have already cut ties with three members of the coaching staff. there is now more than enogh room on the staff for Ryne Sandberg. Maybe Mickey Morandini gets his name added to the mix as well?

Hype this up on BallHyped.

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It did not take long to make the first off-season change for the Phillies. According to multiple reports from the Phillies beat, first base coach Sam Perlozzo will not return for the 2013 season in Philadelphia.

RT @highcheese: Sam Perlozzo will not be back per Phillies

— Macho Row (@Macho_Row) October 3, 2012

On the post game show on ComcastSportsnet analyst Ricky Botallico suggested there were three guys who might not return to the coaching staff next season, ruling out Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee. Botallico went so far as to mention bench coach Pete Mackanin as a questionable name to return. One guy I would keep an eye on is hitting coach Greg Gross. It seems whenever a team struggles offensively the first move is to kick the hitting coach out. We'll see what Manuel and Ruben Amaro have in mind, but Bottalico also brought up another interesting point with staff changes.

They don't make bats the way they used to. They don't make the baseballs the way they used to. They don't play the game the way they used to. And they don't sign autographs the way they used to.

Wait, what?

Philadelphia Phillies legend Mike Schmidt seems disappointed about the way today's players take time to sign autographs, writing in a column for the Associated Press that today's autographs are nearly impossible to identify if not for the addition of a uniform number or something truly identifiable in the signature of a player.

Schmidt has requested for a few autographs from current Phillies players back in spring training for some future charity projects and struggled to identify a few of the autographed items. Schmidt is not upset because players appear to be lazy with their signatures, though. Instead it seems as though Schmidt is more concerned about potential scams and devious attempts to profit on merchandise that can easily be forged.

"The point is this generation and its athletes have allowed the autograph phenomenon to assimilate into a game, of sorts," Schmidt writes. "Who will be where and when, and what scam do seekers need to run to take advantage of the moment? It's a game the fans and players play every day. Collectors using small children and pretty girlfriends to get sellable merchandise, hiding out at various locations with briefcases, planning their attack just to get a scribble.

Maybe he has a point. For example, how many of the following autographs can you identify?

The Phillies did their part in attempting to create some chaos at the end of the regular season, but with the Atlanta Braves falling in Pittsburgh Monday night the Washington Nationals clinched the 2012 NL East crown. The Phillies may have won Monday night's series opener in Washington, but the celebration in the Washington dugout started in the middle of the ninth inning once word was received the Braves had lost, making for an interesting scene in the bottom of the ninth inning in D.C.

Congratulations to the Washington Nationals. Many in Philadelphia scoffed at the notion your team could be considered a real threat to the Phillies but that clearly was proven to be a truth this season with your gritty play, young and rising stars and solid free agent signings over the last couple of years. This franchise has done everything seemingly the right way by taking advantage of high draft pick selections and bringing in key free agents to provide veteran guidance and they have done a number of things to attempt to energize the fan base, with various levels of success.

I surely cannot speak for an entire Phillies fan base, but Macho Row will wish you the best of luck in the postseason in the quest for Washington D.C.'s first World Series championship since 1924.

Hey, it's been a while. Enjoy the run, howevere long it may go.

As the calendar has flipped form September to October the Phillies find themselves in a situation most are not used to right now. Sitting on the outside of postseason play for the first time since 2006, the Phillies now are fighting just to finish the season ith a winning record, needing two out fo three games to guarantee a season above the .500 mark. Despite how this season has turned out for the Phillies, the team still plays a significant role in how the National League playoffs will be set-up.

It all begins with the Phillies' final three-game series in Washington, against the Nationals, starting Monday night. The Nationals enter the final regular season series with a three-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the NL East crown, making the magic number to clinch just one. For the Nationals to clinch the division at home by beating the Phillies, given all of the story-lines over the past couple of years with Jayson Werth and Take Back The Park and more, this would seem to add a few ingredients to the symbolism of clinching the division in front of the team that has won it the past five years. The odds are pretty good that the Nationals will indeed clinch the division against the Phillies, but we also saw last season that the Phillies have the ability to spoil the party plans on the road in the final games of the season.

The greatest third baseman in baseball history, Mike Schmidt, was born on this day in 1949. He also is the greatest player in franchise history.

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Remember a few years ago when the Philadelphia Phillies were being accused of stealing signs? You remember bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer using binoculars and being accused of using them to steal signs against their opponents. Well, if you dig through the history of the franchise you will know that being accused of stealing signs is certainly nothing new for the Phillies, who were accused of this violation of the baseball code by the Cincinnati Reds on this date in 1900.

Go ahead and start your road trip planning now. The Phillies have joined the rest of Major League Baseball in unveiling their 2013 schedule, which will commence in Atlanta on April 1, 2013. As previsouly reported, the Phillies will open their home schedule at Citizens Bank Park against the Kansas City Royals on April 5. This year's schedule will feature one inter-league series being played every day of the season thanks to MLB's brilliant idea to create leagues with an odd-number of teams.

April is loaded with NL East games against Atlanta (3), the Mets (6) and Marlins (3) and will end with another inter-league match-up on the road at Cleveland.

In May the Phillies make their first west coast road trip with three games in San Francisco (chilly) and Arizona before returning home for two more games against the Indians. The end of May will be highlighted by a split four game series with the Boston Red Sox, with two games in Boston followed by two games in Philadelphia. This schedule is just a joke and we haven't even hit June.

The Phillies will have a ten game road trip in June, starting in Milwaukee and moving to Minnesota and Colorado. Later in the month the Phillies return to the west coast with three games in San Diego and four more in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. The road trip wraps up with three games in Pittsburgh after a day off in July. The Phillies end the first half of the season with a ten-game home stand against Atlanta, Washington and the Chicago... White Sox. That's right, the Phillies will play four inter-league series before playing the Chicago Cubs. This is what inter-league has done to baseball people.

After the All-Star Game (hosted by the Mets), the Phillies hit the road for ten games (again) with games at the Mets, St. Louis and the Detroit Tigers. The month of August features 16 home games against San Francisco, Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, the Dodgers, Colorado and Arizona. Road games will also be played in Washington, Atlanta, the Mets and the Cubs.

Then we get to September, which appears to be very favorable to the Phillies. Between September 2 and September 22 the Phillies will play 15 home games against the Nationals, Braves, Padres and Marlins. The Phillies end the season with road games at Miami and Atlanta but that September schedule looks to play in favor of the Phillies during what could be a postseason push.

You can check out the full 2013 schedule here.

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