Best Western

5-1 California Trip Vaults Phils to Within a Half-Game of the Wild Card

THE TRADING DEADLINE came and went without any action by the Phillies. Ed Wade, presumably, is going to be around for a while. Despite an aging roster with a plethora of holes, the front office is not going to call in the wrecking ball and try to rebuild the damn thing. The burden of long-term contracts is going to keep next year's Phils looking an awful lot like this year's.

And yesterday afternoon in San Diego, they hammered the Padres to complete a three-game sweep and a 5-1 West Coast road trip. The Astros lost today, leaving the Phillies a mere half-game behind in the wild-card race.

You know what this means? It's time to go all in. Take that big stacks of chips, friend, and slide it to the center of the table. There's no point in holding back now. I'll admit that for a while there, part of me hoped things would get so bad that even the usually oblivious Wade and his Mr. Magoo counterpart, David Montgomery, would have no choice but to acknowledge the need for wholesale changes. They held onto their cards, though, and now the Phillies have scratched their way back into legitimate contention. Even if they bellyflop, as is their custom, it won't result in any kind of substantive recalibration of franchise direction. Instead we'll get more measured talk about playing up to potential. Why not just give in, then, and allow myself to long achingly for the sweet nectar that is playoff baseball?

So here's my heart, Citizens Bank Park, yours for the breaking. Never mind my earlier reservations -- I'm completely committed to this thing. "Wild-card fever" may not have the cachet of "pennant fever," but it beats the hell out of golf in October, right?

Comments

[Bill]

I don't understand why people don't give themselves whole hog to sports teams...why bother following sports if you're not going to go whole hog. The whole reason to watch sports is to be consumed by the diversion...even though the Phillies have broken many a heart over the years.

What's that I smell...I think it might be the playoffs, though it's not a familiar one!

[gr]

bill/tom, its just not that easy anymore. its the same principle as that girl you think you love who kind of treats you ok but needlessly steps on you with her apathy sometimes and embarresses you in public other times. god love, she may mean well, but you're never sure she's really someone who can make you happy -- truly happy, now, be honest -- in the long run. you can root for someone, but you can't force real love.

i kind of smell the playoffs maybe, but i'd kind of like to be swept off my feet for a change. y'know, like in 93 (those big luggs!)? i mean, is that so goddamn much to ask?

[Bill]

What a great analogy G...but this team is doing a lot better job courting me than past Phillies squads. Maybe it's the youthful enthusiasm of Utley and Howard, I don't know, but I feel like they care a little more than they used to.