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Mostly because I am one of the most blindly superstitious people I know, I did not write about the Phillies throughout the 2008 playoff run. Once the World Series was over and my most beloved Phils had won, I still wasn’t sure how to put into words that they had won, how they had won and what it felt like now that they had won. I think, almost two weeks later, I’ve got it figured out and it has phinally sunk in.

The fact that the Phillies (the same Phillies that had won exactly one World Series ever and ONE postseason series in my lifetime) have won the World Series is almost mind numbing. It is a simply phantastic pheeling. (And yes I’m using the “ph” for some of the words in this post, get over it.) I had grown up in a world in which the teams that I loved the most came close, but couldn’t win it all (or in the case of the Phillies, rarely even came close). In addition to the Phillies, the Eagles have been (except for the Rick Kotite years; don’t get me started) a postseason mainstay with no Super Bowl, the Flyers are usually (at least) a competent playoff team and even the Sixers had a handful of playoff runs (one all the way to the Finals. Even my adopted second love, the Georgetown Hoyas, couldn’t get past Florida in the Sweet Sixteen, Ohio State in the Final Four the next year or suprising Davidson in the second round the year after. It was always going to be exciting and most of the time competitive, but in the end none of them quite had what it takes to win the big one. Until this year. The Phillies were going to destroy all of the negativity and get over the hump. They were up 3-1 in the World Series. This was our time.

Then Game Phive happened. The first part of the game started as raucous as it could have with Victorino (who is now without a doubt my favorite Phillie) driving in two HUGE first inning runs. Now it was really happening. (I was there by the way, making things even more incredible.) Then came the weather. Cole gave up a flukey run to cut the lead in half and the Phils were struggling with men in scoring position AGAIN. By the top of the 6th, it was an absolute monsoon. The field was a glorified swamp and there were only about 5,000 Phans left in their seats (I was one of them; hung in there until the suspension of the game). Of course, all of this led to Cole giving up another, even more flukey run and the Rays tying the game. This was, obviously, when everyone came to their senses and the rain became too much (as if the conditions were really all that different a half inning before; trust me they weren’t) and the game was suspended.

Now, this was when I decided to get out of the rain and took refuge in the bathroom with 200 of my closest friends. Everyone was livid that the Rays were able to tie the game in a monsoon, especially because BJ Upton (the new Barry Bonds to Philadelphians) got on base on a play that J-Roll makes 99 times out of 100 and the one time was in the middle of a Nor’easter. Everyone was livid that they were spending a significant portion of their night, a night when they were supposed to be celebrating, in a men’s room with other pissed off people. And, everyone was now exceedingly nervous about the next couple of days.

This was Philadelphia sports we were talking about and now the Phillies weren’t just playing the Rays, they were playing against Mother Nature and it seemed the Baseball Gods as well. The whole next day the players stewed and the fans lamented (again, trust me, I was listening to people gripe all day on 610 WIP) and the city just got more depressing, which was compounded by the fact that it was still pouring rain all day. There seemed to be this overarching assumption that the Phils were going to lose the end of that suspended game on Tuesday night. Cole was finished for the game (and perhaps the series), the Rays had some momentum especially with Longoria and Pena learning how to hit again and the Phillies were inevitably going to be playing tighter because of the stage and the circumstances. In no way did they want to go back to Florida. If they lost game 5, they’d have to go back there without their best pitcher (most likely) and with the Rays having all of the momentum in the series.

But, old Bud didn’t seem to want to screw the Phillies completely and the rain never let up on Tuesday to the point where Bud felt safe in continuing the game so he pushed it back to Wednesday night. This was the best thing that could have happened for the Phillies. They got the anger out of their system and got in the mindset that they had a fabulous bullpen (these guys made everything easier for the Phillies all year), they had 4 at bats to the Rays’ 3, they still had a 3-1 lead in the series and they were at home in front of the hungriest Phans in the Majors. And the Phans got in the mindset that, “Hey, we can still win the WORLD SERIES tonight and it’s only three and a half innings and it won’t be raining. I’m going to scream my head off and wave my towel for the whole time, because this is the season right here.” Boy, did the Phans ever come through. Not one person in my section sat down for the entire three innings (that half was unnecessary when Mr. Lidge came on) and most waved their rally towels the whole time. This was exactly the atmosphere the Phillies could have hoped for.

And really, they did just about everything right. Geoff Jenkins had that MONSTER hit to lead off and the Phils did just enough to get him in. Madson gave up the homer, but it really wasn’t a bad pitch and the defense came through for him to hold the Rays to just one run. (Quick side note: if anyone had doubts that Chase Utley is constantly the Phillies MVP, that play to deke to first and then throw Bartlett out at home cemented it. The guy is as indespensible as they come.) Pat the Bat came through with his only hit of the Series (and if it was his last at bat as a Phillie, boy did he make the most of it), and Pedro Feliz (one of the more underrated compnents to this team) came through with the go-ahead hit. Romero was lights out and Brad Lidge did what he does. He let a guy reach, but he struck out the last batter on a dirty slider in the dirt. Carlos picked it and I have never in my life seen any venue explode like Citizen’s Bank Park did at that moment. The next hour or two is a complete blur of hugging and high-fiving complete strangers (but best friends nonetheless) and watching the Phils parade around the field and in the locker room. I jumped up and down for a solid 30 minutes and probably cried a little. They had done it, the Phillies had phinally won the big one for Philadelphia. What a team, what a moment, what a season. Just awesome.

Two weeks later, the feeling of optimism hasn’t subsided. Really, I feel like anything is possible and everything will work out. I know the Phillies winning the World Series pales in comparison, but when, less than a week later Barack Obama was elected President it only served to cement the idea of optimism, hope and change. Regardless of your political leanings Tuesday, November 4th was a monumental day in American history and if you couldn’t at the very least be buoyed by Obama’s speech that night (which is one of the best speeches I’ve ever seen or heard and I’m a huge skeptic and cynic), then you need your pulse checked.

My point is, that the pheeling of hope and change and optimism that the country phelt on November 5th is how people in Philadelphia phelt on October 3oth and the events of election day only served to cement that pheeling and strengthen it across the city. Anything really is possible if you believe in it and keep the phaith.

2008 World Champions.

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