After many losing seasons, two unsuccessful trips to the World Series, and a first round exit from the playoffs last year, the Phillies returned to the playoffs this year.  The Phils had a fantastic finish to the regular season, overtaking the New York Mets and clinching the division title on the second-to-last day of the regular season.

I was fortunate enough to get 3 tickets to the first game of the first round of the Division Series, against the Milwaukee Brewers.  My dad, brother and I drove down, and in a light drizzle, watched the Phils beat the Brewers.

From that point on, Elizabeth and I watched every game and every stressful pitch together.  The Phillies went on to take the best of 5 series, 3 games to 1.  They then proceeded to take 4 out of 5 games from the Los Angeles Dodgers, and advance to the World Series.

Thanks to Vanessa, we got 2 tickets to Game 4 of the World Series.  I’ve uploaded photos from the game, including a photo with our good friend Bob, who was also at the game.  The Phillies won 10-2, putting themselves one win away from their first title in 28 years and with their ace on the mound for the next game.  Elizabeth also went on a Phillies shopping spree, buying all sorts of attire.

A rabid city would have to wait, as Game 5 was suspended by rain after 5 1/2 innings.  The game was controversial, as the Phillies had to pitch and play defense in the top of the 6th, with a slick ball, a driving rain, and pools of water all over the field.  Many players on both teams called it the worst conditions they had every played in.  The Rays tied it, getting a run on two plays that the Phillies might have made in normal weather.  After the Rays tied it, the game was suspended before the Rays had to pitch and field in similar conditions in the bottom half of the inning.  But this was Philly, where nothing comes easy.

Ultimately, due to weather, the game did not resume for two more nights.  The game resumed on Wednesday the 29th.  The 3 1/2 innings to be played would be a mad sprint to the finish.  The Phillies got one run in the 6th to take the lead, only to have the Rays tie it again the next inning.  The Rays almost took the lead, but Phils’ second basemen Chase Utley gunned down the go-ahead run at the plate.  In the 7th, the Phillies took the lead for good, thanks in large part to a double off the wall by Pat Burrell, the longest-tenured Phillie in what might have been his last at-bat ever with the team.  The game ultimately ended with Brad Lidge on the mound, striking out Eric Hinske to send the crowd and the city into a state of euphoria.

On Friday, October 31st, the city of Philadelphia had a massive parade unlike anything I’ve ever seen.  Early estimates are 2 million people on the parade route, although I’m not sure how anyone could ever get an accurate count.  Here are some photos from Philly.com:

I grew up in the Phillies’ golden era, when they were consistent winners, with many playoff appearances, so many of the losses don’t mean anything to me. However, ESPN.com recently took a look at the top 10 most painful moments in Philadelphia sports history. I was a young kid in attendance for number 7 on the list – what is now known in Philadelphia lore as "Black Friday," Game 3 of the 1977 National League Championship Series. Parts of that game are indelibly etched on my brain. That game started so promising. I remember as a 9-year-old kid being shell-shocked by the increasingly deafening noise as the Dodgers’ Burt Hooten threw ball after ball, and walked batter after batter, until he literally got yelled/booed off the mound by the crowd in the second inning. I think he walked 4 straight, and the Vet just got louder and louder with each pitch. It was like a feeding frenzy, with the crowd sensing his unraveling. I can still picture it and hear it in my head, 30 years later. I’ve since found some quotes by Burt Hooten. "A few fans started yelling, then more picked it up and it just started to go around. It got noisier than those jets at Shea Stadium except it went on and on with every pitch. I lost my cool." He also said "I lost my composure and never got it back. The noise from those fans was unbelievable." (From Nash & Zullo’s Baseball Edition Believe It or Else). Back then, playoff series were best out of five, and the Phillies went into the ninth inning of that game poised to go up 2 games to 1, leading the game 5-3 with 2 outs and no runners on base. Steve Carlton, a Hall of Famer, was set to pitch the next game if I remember correctly, so all the Phillies needed was one more out, and it looked like a good chance they’d make it to the World Series. But then all hell broke loose. A Dodger reached base, and then Greg Luzinski misplayed a fly ball in deep left field. Luzinski is normally replaced in late innings for defensive purposes, but for some reason Danny Ozark, Phillies’ manager, left him in the game. From my seat in the upper deck in left field, I actually couldn’t see the play against the wall directly below me, but the crowd reaction said everything.The next batter, Davey Lopes (now a Phillies’ coach, ironically) hit a ground ball to Mike Schmidt at third. The ball took a bad hop on the turf, and careened off of Schmidt. Shortstop Larry Bowa made a miraculous play, barehanding the errant ball in midair and throwing in time to beat Lopes at first – except the umpire called the runner safe. Even from the upper deck in left field I could tell that the call was wrong, and replays (played again and again over the years) confirmed it. The booing at the Vet was deafening, and to this day, that blown call is legend in Philadelphia. The Phillies ended up losing that game, 6-5, and then a lifeless team lost a rainy Game 4. Sure, it would have been nice to win that game. But if the Phillies had won, and not won a World Series title that year, would I still remember the game? I attended playoff games in 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1993, and World Series games in 1980 and 1993, and the three games I remember most are the Black Friday game, games 1 and 6 of the NLCS, and game 1 of the 1980 World Series. Aside from the Black Friday game, the most memorable games were Phillies’ wins. So, the game caused heartache, but also made some memories.