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Phillies Complete Remarkable Comeback, Capture Division With Win Over Nats
TUG WAS right: You do gotta believe.
I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about the last three weeks. What the Phillies have accomplished is absolutely stunning, a jaw-dropping sprint to the division championship that few of us, myself included, foresaw a mere three weeks ago.
Believe it, Phillies City-State: We're going to the playoffs!
YES!
Fans Aren't the Only Ones Who Realize It Hasn't Been Easy
From coverage of yesterday's loss to the Nats:
"We've been eliminated a couple of times on the last day," shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. "Why not break through on that last day? . . . Nothing has been easy all year long, so we shouldn't expect it to be easy at the end."
As disappointing as the defeat was, I think this group of players will enter today with the right attitude. Let's hope that Rollins's easygoing dismissal of Saturday's missed opportunity reflects confidence and swagger, not nervousness and a refusal to accept reality.
A Flat Performance Leaves the Phillies With No Margin for Error Today
THE PHILLIES lost their offense and the Mets found their fight yesterday, and the teams wake up today in a dead heat in the division, and, along with Colorado, a game behind San Diego in the wild-card race. And so here we are, not even 5:45 on Sunday morning, and I've got butterflies in my stomach already. A win yesterday would have been huge, widening the Phils' margin for error, but they couldn't solve the immortal Matt Chico, and Ryan Howard's muff of a grounder in the seventh permitted the Nationals to tack on what would become very important, unearned, insurance runs.
And so they're going to have to do it the hard way, desperately needing a win against Washington and hoping the Marlins can rediscover their pride at Shea. Jamie Moyer goes today, and you have to ask, which Jamie? The crafty junkballer with the uncanny ability to keep hitters off-balance? Or the tired veteran whose low-80s fastball can result in batting practice?
Damn butterflies.
The Phillies Are on the Verge of Burying the Ghosts of 1964
ALONE IN first. Say those words. Let them sink in.
While the Mets continue to have difficulty getting air down through their constricted throats, the Phillies roll along, taking care of business, playing the game with joy and verve, and preparing to wipe out the demons of 43 years ago. Last night's victory over Washington, helped along by a simply masterful performance by Cole Hamels, a big hit from Jimmy Rollins, a tater from Ryan Howard, and a gem of a play in, yes, shallow center by Aaron Rowand, continued the Phils' wildly improbably September. And then Florida played spoiler up the New Jersey Turnpike, and Phillies City-State woke up today the delirious fans of a team sitting by itself in first place.
A team with a magic number of 2.
A team that deserves the national attention a post-season berth would bring.
A team that I'm proud to root for.
For while the national storyline is focused on New York's string of ineptitude, an equally important and necessary component of what's happening is the Phils' stirring play over the second half of the month. As Jayson Stark put it in a must-read piece from last night:
Yeah, the Mets have lost 11 of 15. But the Phillies had to win 12 of 15 to make that matter.
Yeah, the Mets' pitching, defense and psyches have self-destructed. But the bigger story may be the way the Phillies' pieces have somehow magically morphed together -- even pieces that never seemed to fit all year. ...
[T]here's something about this group that doesn't feel like all those other Phillies teams, that doesn't play like all those other Phillies teams. And maybe that's why this Phillies season might not end like all those other Phillies seasons.
Thrilling Night at Citizens Bank Park Draws Phils Into First-Place Tie
THE ELECTRICITY last night was almost palpable. Not since Game 4 of the 1993 World Series had I attended a baseball game in Philadelphia of such intensity. The crowd was into -- and I mean into -- every pitch, and when the Phillies ambushed John Smoltz for four first-inning runs, it touched off an explosion of screaming and towel-waving that lasted all game long. Dingers by Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell only added to the frenzied mania. Of course, we all kept one eye on our game and the other on the scoreboard, and with each inning that the Cardinals extended their shutout over the Mets, we got progressively more excited. As Brett Myers warmed up before the top of the ninth, the big-screen TV above left field showed a St. Louis outfielder catching the final out at Shea, and the realization of what was about to happen had 40,000 fans in South Philadelphia screaming.
In less than three weeks, the Phillies have wiped out a seven-game deficit, which is surely their most impressive accomplishment since winning the '93 pennant. A weekend of games, which may or may decide the playoff picture, awaits. Are we having fun yet?
The Phils' Late-Season Playoff Charge: It Was the Best of Timing, It Was the Worst of Timing
Good timing: A month or so ago, I convinced my brother and brother-in-law that one final outing to the ballpark during the season's last week would be a fun thing. One last chance to wander the concourse, soak up the atmosphere, drink overpriced beer, eat overpriced food, and imprint the memories of live baseball onto our minds before the long winter. Little did we realize that the game to which we bought tickets -- Phillies versus Braves, September 27 -- would have Major Implications. We'll be there tonight, still wandering the concourse, soaking up the atmosphere, drinking overpriced beer, eating overpriced food, and imprinting the memories of live baseball onto our minds, but we'll also be cheering like mad for the Phils and checking the out-of-town scoreboard often in hopes of catching yet another New York meltdown.
Phils Capitalize on Kohse's Wonderful Start, Braves' Mistakes; Draw Within One of Mets
HOW REFRESHING to watch the Phillies win an important game in a completely conventional matter: Get a terrific outing from your starter, in this case Kyle Lohse; take an early lead, forcing the opponent to play catch-up; add on an insurance run late; and let your bullpen handle things over the last two innings. Perhaps more significantly, the baseball gods sprinkled a pinch of luck over Citizens Bank Park, with Chipper Jones compounding his mental error in not tagging out a baserunner right in front of him by throwing the ball nowhere close to his first baseman, and with Greg Dobbs's soft grounder somehow threading its way through the infield to plate two. Phillies 5, Braves 2, and with the gasping Mets falling again last night, suddenly Philadelphia is a mere single game back. The Padres seem to have gained back some equilibrium; they pounded the Giants on the Coast, maintaining a one-game wild-card lead over the Phils and tightening the N.L. West race. Keep those rally towels waving, Phillies City State.
The Weekly Wednesday Walk Through Wikipedia
We fall today into the entry on Phyllomedua tarsius, the Rana Lemur, a South American frog species threatened by habitat loss. But, geez, aren't they all? I mean, you can't shoot a blow dart in the Amazon without sticking some poor endangered amphibian, for crying out loud. Maybe if they spent more time getting the hell out of harm's way instead of bellyaching about their dwindling numbers, they'd hang around a little longer. Ingrates.
Crowd's Energy Wasted in Phils' Damaging Loss to Atlanta
Four taters and six runs in front of a manic home crowd should be enough to win, but the Phillies' season long nemeses, mediocre starting followed by lackluster relief, combined to give the gutty Braves the win last night. San Diego won out West, lessening the Phils' already thin margin for error even more, and while the Mets lost, the Phillies gained no ground and wasted a precious day in the process. Jamie Moyer allowed Atlanta to jump out to an early lead, then squandered Philadelphia's comeback by failing to make it out of the sixth. Geoff Geary and Tom Gordon later proceeded to pour gasoline on the fire.
They're cliched by this point, but the rally towels that swirled throughout the ballpark whenever the Phillies scored or notched a key out were ample evidence of the fans' readiness for this final homestand. We know what's at stake, and we'll be out in droves, attempting to will the Fightin's to a playoff spot. Would that that were enough.
Hoped-For Losses Allow the Phillies to Draw Closer on an Off-Day
What a sweet sight to wake up to:
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 Okay, then. The wild-card race is tied. The Mets' lead in the East is down to two games. Six games remain. This is why they play, and, as I said the other day, this is why we root. Maybe Aaron Rowand was right. Maybe, after decades of self-loathing and self-defeating behavior, it's time for us to realize that, finally, the glass really is half-full. |
