PHILADELPHIA — There probably weren't many things that Cole Hamels(notes) could have said on Saturday night to reverse his crumbling reputation among Phillies fans. 

But there definitely were a few that could help speed that destruction up and one of them managed to pass Hamels' lips in the emotional moments following a momentum-changing  8-5 loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series.

"I can't wait for it to end," Hamels said, referring to his wildly inconsistent 2009 season. "It's been mentally draining ... It's one of those things, a year in, you just can't wait for a fresh start."

The "fresh start" Hamels is presumably referring to would be an offseason free of the celebrity appearances and endorsements that booked his days after winning the 2008 World Series MVP. The lefty pitcher showed up to spring training in less-than-choice shape and then said in April that his offseason was holding the Phillies back. One year after being unhittable in the '08 postseason, Hamels is now 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA in three '09 postseason starts and his "Hollywood" nickname now seems like more of a jeer or slam.

You can kind of see where Hamels is coming from. After a night in which the Yankees jumped on him after he stupidly delivered a curveball to slugger Andy Pettitte, he probably just wanted to slink away. (Or, given his proclivity for doing commercials, maybe go immediately film a 'Wanna Get Away?' ad for Southwest.)       

But the problem is that he just lost Game 3, the Phillies are still only one game behind in the series and Hamels would be in line to start a decisive Game 7 in Yankee Stadium. There's no way Phillies fans can look at Hamels' pallid appearance and attitude in the clip above and feel any confidence in his start should the series go that far. 

A big BLS head nod to The 700 Level for the redirect. 

Related: Cole Hamels, 2009 postseason on the Stew, 2009 World Series on the Stew