The Side Line

Congrats, Phillies. Ugh. That was tough to write.

The “City of Brotherly Love” finally has a champion, after 25 grueling years and several close calls. From the original gangster Philllies of ’93, who I was just old enough to remember beating the Braves in the NLCS to the recent Eagles’ Super Bowl loss, Philly has dealt with their share of playoff frustration. Now, in the same way that Red Sox fans breathed a sigh of relief in ’04, Phillies fans are able to now.

As a Braves fan, I can identify with them, if not rejoice with them. When Atlanta finally took the title in ’95, I remember how crazy the city went, and with good reason. The Braves were regarded as one of the best, if not the best team in baseball for most of the early 90s, but couldn’t close the deal.

Now in the 2000s, the Phillies have become a perennial force in the NL East but just couldn’t get over the playoff hump. They tried and tried, made trades and drafted top talent, but just haven’t been in the right place at the right time until now. And referring to an earlier column I wrote, that’s really all the playoffs are; who is playing their best ball in those few games.

But let’s not forget the team they beat 4-1 in the series. The Tampa Bay Rays could be argued for as the greatest worst-to-first story in baseball history. This franchise, formed in 1998, has been bad, awful at times, since its inception. Until this season, when they showed from opening day that they weren’t the lame-duck cellar dwellers that the league was used to beating up on a few times a year.

You can include me in the group of people who jumped on the bandwagon, cheering for them to challenge the mighty Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East. And they did. And they didn’t stop, as most expected they would. Coming down the stretch, they were winning head-to-head matchups with the Sox to close the division race and cap one of the most improbable seasons ever.

The only thing the Rays didn’t do right this season was close it out when the pressure was highest, in the World Series. They seemed to forget how they played in an epic seven-game ALCS with those same Red Sox they battled all season for the division. Bottom line: the Rays folded, the Phillies didn’t.

Maybe the Rays just had nothing left in the tank after that war with the Sox, maybe they listened to the experts and took the Phillies lightly. But I think the Phillies just had the right ingredients for a world title this season. With dominating pitching from Cole Hamels, solid setup men and a lights-out closer in Brad Lidge, they made it tough for the Rays just to get runners on, much less drive them in.

They also did just enough on offense, playing National League-style small ball and hitting a few key home runs that kept Citizens Bank Park rocking with that crazed Philly fan emotion. And once the Rays got down, they just couldn’t recover. This Series was over when Philly took the third game 5-4 after a few crazy plays that left the Rays scratching their heads and wondering what they had to do to win four games. Once they had that mentality, the Phillies could almost cruise to the title.
So enjoy it, Philly fans. And may it be another 25 years before you win another one.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 31 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry