PHILADELPHIA — For three innings, he was Cole Hamels, dazzling the New York Yankees like it was 2008 again.

And then he was Cole Hamlet, lost in his own head again. The transition happened right before the eyes of 46,000 fans in Citizens Bank Park and a national TV audience of millions. Most important, it happened in front of his teammates and his manager, who had good reasons to doubt their erstwhile ace long before Game 3 started.
Because of that, and because of the position he put his team in, Hamels has to be finished in this World Series. The Phillies trail the Yankees two games to one. But even if this thing goes seven games, the MVP of the 2008 World Series can’t be counted upon to make another appearance.
Imagine that.
The game started with so much promise, too. Hamels took the mound looking unshaven and unshakeable. He had a different sort of look in his eye and, taking a page from teammate Cliff Lee’s book, he seemed to be working faster than usual.
And so he burned through the Yankees’ lineup once with an economical 29 pitches. The only batter to reach base was Alex Rodriguez, who took a first-pitch fastball off his left biceps. When Hamels retired Johnny Damon to lead off the fourth, he had not allowed a hit.
Cole Hamels threw a 3-2 fastball down and in to Mark Teixeira and that was that. He was Cole Hamlet from that moment on.
“It was a strike,” Hamels said. “That’s the story of my season so far.”
Take the strike-zone graphic on your TV screen for what it’s worth, but it seemed to show the ball catching the inside corner. Hamels turned away from plate umpire Brian Gorman (the same ump who missed two calls at first base in Game 2) and mouthed the single word, “Wow.”
Hamels has a long and self-acknowledged problem with controlling his emotions when something goes wrong. It got to him in Los Angeles during the National League Championship Series, when he threw up his arms in disgust after second baseman Chase Utley’s throwing error on a potential double-play ball allowed a run to score.
That night, Hamels gave up a home run to Manny Ramirez, the very next batter. It was the only real damage done by Ramirez in the entire series.
Two pitches after “Wow” Hamels grooved a pitch to hitless-for-the-Series Rodriguez, then turned to watch a towering fly ball ride the slipstream toward right field. The ball caromed at an odd angle and Rodriguez made it to second base. From there, he immediately began twirling his finger — the signal for a home run.
Replays showed the ball struck the front of the Fox camera, which protruded over the rightfield fence just above the 330 sign. The umpires reviewed the play on a monitor and ruled it a two-run home run.
“It’s one of the specific ground rules,” crew chief Gerry Davis said. “If a ball hits one of the cameras: home run.”
It was a Citizens Bank Park special, with an assist from the camera. Either way, it was the final blow to Hamels’ crumbling psyche.
“In this postseason, I haven’t been trying to get as mad,” Hamels said. “I can’t help where every pitch was. You don’t want to drag yourself down.”
He got out of the fourth without further damage, but gave up a leadoff double in the fifth to Nick Swisher. Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte stroked an RBI single into center field. Derek Jeter singled, bringing up lefthanded-hitting Johnny Damon. Hamels threw a fastball for strike one, then surrendered a two-run double to right-center.
Hamels had gone from ace to anti-ace, from inspiring confidence in his own team to firing up the opponent. You could see the Yankees find their swagger, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 5-3 lead in the span of eight batters.
“That’s the story of my season,” Hamels said. “I can cruise through hitters and boom! I don’t hit a small speed bump. I hit a big one.”
Contrast Cole Hamlet with Pettitte. The veteran lefty worked out of trouble in the first inning and then gave up three runs in the second. After that, Pettitte got control of himself as well as the Phillies.
“He was a bulldog for us tonight,” Swisher said.
Hamels was not. Those first three innings proved that Hamels still has the ability to dominate a great lineup the way he did last October. His last two proved that his inability to dominate his emotions are the fatal flaw in Prince Hamlet’s makeup.
“He showed you for three innings that he can pitch,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “I look at that. If he can do it for three innings, why can’t he keep it going?”
It is the question that defines Hamels right now. And that’s why those last two innings must be his last of 2009.