Ok, where to start? Well, I’d be slightly hypocritical were I to say “I told you so!” I’d also be lying if I told you that I thought this could happen to this team in this season. However as I reflect back on this final weekend of the baseball season, I realize that the events of this weekend have already created endearing memories for millions of Philadelphia sports fans. And before I begin, let me just say that the Phillies – these 2007 Phillies are now officially playing with “house money.” Regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen over the next 4 1/2 weeks of the baseball post season, this Phillies team will go down in history owning a very special part of the heart and soul of the average Philadelphia sports fan. Yes there have been others (the 1980 Eagles, the 1993 Phillies, the 2001 76ers, the 2004 Eagles) who have achieved long-lasting city-wide affection without the benefit of a championship, but this team’s ascent to the emotional mountain top seems about as unlikely as any other team in recent memory. No doubt the New York Mets helped things out a little bit, but it was this Phillies team that was able to ignore and overcome all the criticism, pessimism and fatalistic negativity that Philadelphia fans have learned to conjure and vent over the last 24 non-championship years. So as this weekend began and ended, here are some of my personal thoughts and experiences that will stay with me forever:
First 145 Games:
- Could anyone (without the aid of ESPN) really name all 28 pitchers who picthed for the Phillies this year? [Joe Bisenius, Anderson Garcia, J.A. Happ? Who are these guys?]
- Had anyone ever heard of Kyle Kendrick, Mike Zagurski before this season started?
- How many of you cringed when you saw Jimmy Rollins’ quotes on January 23rd about the Phillies being the team to beat in the NL East?
- How many of us just resigned ourselves to the fact that the Phillies were going to have yet another crappy month of April?
- How man of us laughed at Charlie Manuel after the now famous “I’ve been all growed up” spat with Howard Eskin back on April 17th?
- As Ryan Howard struggled to find his bat and then his health, how many of us thought that it would be Pat Burrel who would suddenly begin to provide some stability to the middle of the Phillies lineup?
- How many people drove off the road when it was announced that Chase Utley would miss at least 4 weeks with a broken bone in his hand after a BP special on July 25th?
- How many of us moaned when the Phillies brought back Jose Mesa to lend support to an already sagging bullpen?
- Has there ever been a bigger bust than Freddy Garcia? Oh, I’m sorry; we did endure the experiments that were Joe Cowley & Floyd Youmans!
- How many of you thought that putting Brett Myers into the bullpen represented the most despearte act of a clearly overmatched and lame-duck manager?
Games 146-159:
These were just a few of my random thoughts as we progressed through the first 145 games of the regular season. However, something AMAZING happened in the final three weeks. The METS folded their tents and went into a tailspin! When the Phillies finished off a sweep of the Mets on September 16th to draw within 4, I was happy but realized that the chances of the Phillies making up 4 more games on the Mets before the end of the regular season was about as likely as well …. Charlie Manuel winning Manager of the Year! I was critical of the “no-doubt end of season tease”, pessimistic that the Phillies front office would use a late season surge as a justification to bring back the manager and fatalistically negative that the Mets & Billy Wagner would lose just enough games to bring us all to the emotional cliff, only before ripping the rug out from under our feet.
But then somthing crazy happened ……
Game 160:
Tell me if I’m insane (and no disrespect intended), but did anyone else see the second incarnation of Steve Carlton out on the mound on Friday night? All season (and even beginning last year), Cole Hamels has slowly pitched himself towards being worthy of the label, “best Phillies left-hander since Steve Carlton.” The 23 year-old has great stuff and definitely has the physical presence of Carlton out on the mound. His performance on Friday night against the Washington Nationals was definitely “Carlton-esque”. Granted, my memories of #32 are somwhat limited, but the repeated swinging and missing by opposing batters at sliders in the dirt definitely echoes in my mind when I watch Hamels throw that FILTHY change-up.
When the dust settled, Cole had 13 Ks, the Mets had fallen weakly to the Marlins and opening day started Brett Myers was triumphantly celebrating the Phillies 88th win of the season and their first 1-game division lead all season. What happend NEXT? Well that was fodder for the Philadelphia Sports Fan’s soul ….
Game 161:
The Mets grab a quick lead on the Marlins, John Maine takes a no-hitter into the 8th inning and the Phillies come up with a completely lackluster (a.k.a. “Eaton-ish”) , error-filled performance on a nationally televised game! OMG, was all of this a TEASE afterall? After both games were over and the one game lead had evaporated – I was mad, dissapointed and exhausted. As I went to bed that night, I realized – that if anything was going to really change, that if I wanted to feel differently – I was going to have to be more positive on Sunday. Easier said than done ….
Game 162:
As I began making my way through my Sunday morning, any negative thoughts had barely had a chance to take hold themselves before I saw that the Marlins had posted a 7 spot on Tom Glavine (even before the Phillies had taken the field). What transpired @ CBP over the next 2 hours and 55 minutes really ended up being a mere formality.
- Jimmy Rollins leadoff single, steal of 2nd & 3rd, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Chase Utley
- Ryan Howard defying the 2 “outfielders” in left field with a big 2 run, bases-loaded single
- 44 year-old Jamie Moyer coming back to help his home-town team with 5 and 1/3 gutsy and mistake free innings
- Jimmy Rollins notching his 20th triple and 94th RBI of the season in the 6th inning
- Ryan Howard’s emphatic, upper-deck exclamation point (47th homer of the season) in the 7th inning
The Moments We All Remember:
For better or worse, we can all remember where we were when historic moments (mostly bad) in Philadelphia Sports have taken place. They represent our greatest thrills and our biggest dissapointments; they become conversation pieces; they define, nurture and justify the passion, criticism, pessimism and fatalisitc negativity that all of us have perfected over the years. Maybe some day I’ll post my list here. But today I know that I have inducted a new moment into my heart:
- Brett Myer’s filthy, called third strike curveball against Willy Mo Pena;
With one out in the 9th inning, my son who had demonstrated some mild interest in the first 8 innings of the game did something striking. Sensing the nervousness and tension on his father’s face, he came over and sat on my lap. Where was I when the Philles completed the biggest divisional comeback in baseball history? Holding my son tight in my arms …
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