Twitter

Friday, October 31, 2008

What this championship means to me.....

What is it about baseball that turns grown men into sappy, overly sentimental fools when the hometown team they rooted for as kids win it all (especially after a long drought)?

There were so many thoughts going through my head as the anticipation was building.

I was born at the right time to grow up a baseball fan. Philadelphia natives who are my age or a few years older started following baseball during the golden age of Phillies baseball. We grew up spoiled. From 1976-1983, the team made the playoffs 6 times in 8 years, making the WS twice and winning it once. Really from about 1974-1983, it was the golden era for all 4 pro sports teams. During that time the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers would combine to make it to the championship round in their sport 10 times in 10 years, winning 4 of them. We were Title Town there for a few years, peaking in 1980 when all 4 teams played for the championship that year, and in true Philadelphia fashion went 1 for 4.

I obviously remember the pain of the 1993 World Series ending and I barely remember 1983 at all. But I vividly remember the 1980 World Series, even though I was a mere 7 years old at the time. The games used to start and end earlier back then, but even at 7 years old, I stayed up for the end of the night games.

I still remember lying on the couch watching the end of the 1980 World Series. It probably ended around 11pm or so. I remember the Boone drop/Rose rebound catch when it happened. I also remember not being nervous when Tug McGraw got into and out of two bases loaded 1-out jams in the 8th and 9th inning of that final game, only allowing 1 run total in a 4-1 Phillies win. I remember Tug walking off the mound after the top of the 8th after he got the last out to end the inning, patting his heart with his left hand and breathing a sigh of relief. I'm sure now I'd be pacing and wouldn't be able to watch. Back then I just assumed they were going to win. I didn’t know any better. Philadelphia sports teams won back then. Period.

I also remember something missing about 1980: my dad wasn't there. My dad was present during just about every significant baseball game memory I have from when I was a kid, except the final few innings of the clinching game in the 1980 World Series. He was working third shift in those days, so he left for work probably around the 6th or 7th inning on that Tuesday night, feeling pretty confident that they would win, with a 4-0 lead and Lefty dealing as usual. But the fact that he lived his entire life and never saw his beloved Phillies ever get to raise their arms above their heads after the final out in a championship clinching game, always makes me appreciate moments like this more. Sure, he got to listen to it on the radio and see highlights the next day, but it’s not the same. But I do remember my brothers celebrating and then my mom finally making me go to bed, but yet I still was awake listening to all the revelers outside for hours longer.

In some ways, I just wish my daughter was a little older to appreciate this more. Because it may be another 30 years before she sees it again. She's gotten into it a little through her school activities, but she really doesn't understand what is going on yet. So I've got to experience this feeling as a naïve, wide-eyed child and now as a cynical adult. It's a shame that so many people were in their mid 30's like I am now when they experienced the 1980 championship, thinking more would follow, and they never lived long enough to experience that feeling again. I hope I am more fortunate. Not to mention the first 97 years of Phillies baseball from 1883 to 1980 that was title-less. And when the A's were here, they last won a title in 1930, so from 1930 to 1980, there were only a few years where the teams even contended for the playoffs, let alone championships. The A's were terrible for most of their time here from the mid 1930's until they left for Kansas City in 1955. There were never any near-misses in there like the Red Sox had over the years.

This is all I can ask for. It'd be nice to not have such long gaps in between experiencing this, but I can’t really complain again for at least another 5 years now. If I can experience this same feeling in football in the next 10 years or so, there's not much more I can ask for in sports. See, I don't need a dynasty. I just need to experience this feeling once or twice over the course of my lifetime...or once every decade or two would be nice. Once every 10-12 years in each sport is fine. There’s just enough time to suffer a little and then appreciate it.

Oh and here's a cosmic coincidence – the calendar days fall on the same weekdays in 2008 as they did in 1980 (i.e., October 29th was on a Wednesday in 1980, just as in 2008). Also, "80" and "08" is perfect symmetry. And for now, the Phillies own the date of October 29th. This was the only time in the history of baseball that a game was ever played on this date. That will probably change starting next year, as the postseason extends even further with Game 7 of the World Series scheduled to be played on November 5th. But the Phillies will at least always have the history of being the first team to win a game played on October 29th. And other numerology - the #29, October 29th - 4 teams + 25 years = 29. Cole Hamels was MVP. He is #35. 3+5=8…..”08.

And next week we will likely have a Presidential election that also results in a similar but opposite political realignment as the one in 1980.

From “no hope” to Know Hope.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Phillies win the 2008 World Series!

Here are some pictures of the fans on Broad St, taken with my crappy 4-yeaar old camera phone.


Hard to see....fans climbing up on street lamp poles.




Fans dancing on top of a parked Septa bus.




Almost as many as people with Obama gear on as Phillies gear. Here's a woman holding an Obama/Biden sign sitting on someone's shoulders, a few feet away from my friend Brian (in the red jacket and cap and gray shirt).




The guy in the black hat looked like Cole Hamels' stunt double. You can't really see very well in the picture though. Also people in the background climbing up on stuff.











And finally just 4 general shots of fans gathering and celebrating above.

Bud Selig



Would you let this [bleeping] guy manage one of your bowel movements?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Oh well

have to go get 'em tomorrow. Hopefully Blanton will be bringing more to the table than Moyer.

home plate umps

These home plate umps are calling strikes on check swings way too freely. How about appealing?

Matt Cassel....

STINKS!

There's a reason this guy didn't start in college.

Cheerleader

In the SD-NE, they keep showing the blonde cheerleader with the fake tits popping out of her top. I feel like I'm at Risque.

Flat?

I know they are up 2-0 in this series, but the Phils have been playing this game with the same intensity of a laugher in May. A little urgency would be nice. Get some baserunners, work some counts, etc. Make the Dodgers use a few key short men in the bullpen at least....could help you tomorrow.

Gates TD

I have a good shot to win my IFL game!

Joe Buck and Al Michaels

They have to be my 2 least favorite national announcers and I have both of them on now. Ugh.

DeWitt

BTW, in re of Joyce DeWitt's 3-run triple, I predicted he'd kill the Phillies at some point the other night.

Celebrities

Wow...the Fonz, Jon Lovitz...big BIG celebs there tonight. Maybe Larry Dallas from Three's Company is in attendance.

Cavemen

Are their 15 minutes up on Geico yet?

Ruh-Roh, Raggy!

Russell Martin just got dusted. So you know the Phillies are gonna get brushbacked, warnings will be issued, maybe a bench clearing brawl. Stay tuned.....

And speaking of ads....

PA viewers are getting carpet-bombed with Obama and McCain ads during sporting events the last few weeks.

I was expecting to see one of them come on at the end of the ad with the Poltergeist girl and say, "I'm John McCain/Barack Obama....and I approved this message."

"They're Here!"

I was saying this last week....how about the parents of the dead girl from Poltergeist still pimping out her images in commercials. That seems a little over the line to me.

Decision time

Phils have to decide if this is a laugher or not....you don't want to wear out your bullpen tonight in a lost cause anyway. You have to try to make Moyer give you 3 or 4 innings tonight. But it looks like they are yanking him for Clay Condrey.

Powder blues

And I know I say this every time the Chargers wear them, but why aren't they wearing one of the best unis in pro sports full time?

10-0 SD

Nice to see the Bolts exacting some revenge for the last 3 Patriot defeats.

Feliz Navidad!

5-1....if Chico Ruiz can pop one out, we're back in business.

Howard

Also...Howard with a leadoff double. He's been horrible hitting with nobody on base this year. Surprising.

Burrell

Burrell warning track fly ball....that's out in CBP. Manny caught in right in front of the 360 mark in left-center. What's CBP there like 340?

Well, since the Phils game is looking like a cure for insomnia....

How about them Eagles! Their season was on the line today and they rallied. And then Dallas and Washington lose to boot. A 2-4 start with another loss in the conference would have been a death knell. Still an uphill climb, but hey...they are only a game back of 2nd place now.

Moyer....yeahahshaha!

Yeah, I think we know if there is a Game 7, Moyer won't be starting it.

It'll be either Hamels on short rest or Blanton.

Moyer is battling

If he can out of this only down 2-0, that'll be a moral victory.

Same old Nomar....

That's the guy I remember from the 2003 ALCS.

Russell Martin...HBP

We're a couple of more runs away from me putting on NE-SD.

3 pitches

3 singles.....Get Happ up, Chollie!

And that is 2nd or 3rd time Burrell came home with a throw in the playoffs when he should have hit the cut off man. His assists have gone to his head.

Great....

2 on, no outs for Manny already. Old Man River in another 1st inning jam.

Mary Hart?

Who the fuck is Mary Hart? And why do I hate her so much already in the minute that I've seen her?

Utley steal

Bang bang play....I thought it was a tie....looked like his foot got in there just as Furcal tug him on the waist.

How much is a manager worth in the post-season?

I was debating this point recently.....Sparky Anderson said a great manager might be worth 7 to 10 more wins to a team during the regular season. So that's 10 wins over 162.....or 1 every 16 games. In the post season you only 19 games maximum. So I think that may be why you see guys like Manuel and Francona do so well (and Torre too....don't forget he was thought of as a bad manager before he took the Yankees job in 1996) while guys like Leyland, Pinella, and Cox have done so poorly overall in the postseason (in spite of each them winning 1 title....they've lost more series than they've won). But their teams always seemed better for the every day grind of the regular season rather than the post season.

Hello - long time, no post

I was reserving this page for mostly music stuff, but since I haven't seen a show since July and have nothing to post, I figured I'd try live blogging Game 3 of the NLCS.