Just...WOW!

I didn't know how I was going to react when they finally won. After all, it had been 15 years since the Phillies were IN the World Series and 28 years since they won it. So much has changed in my life since then, and this time I didn't have children to tend to or worry about, so I found myself very, very deeply infected with Phillies fever. Since about the beginning of September, I was gauging my mood (for the most part) on the results of the previous night's game. Wins made me euphoric; losses put me in a funk for hours. I know it probably isn't the healthiest way to live, but for me, this year, baseball kept me from spending all my energy on my job.

I don't know why I did this, but I started clipping the news articles at the beginning of the NLCS and put them on the wall outside my classroom door. As a result, my workplace looks like a teen-aged boy's bedroom. It's corny, but I have taken a huge amount of pleasure from doing this. I watched some games with my kids, some with my kids' friends, some alone, and for resumption of the last game last night I went to a neighborhood bar/restaurant to watch with a friend. It was amazing - a key pinch hit, a HUGE double play, an incredible deke and throwout at home, what might very well have been the last hit for Pat Burrell as a Phillie, and, finally, the stupendous bullpen, anchored by Brad Lidge. It was surreal - and the satisfaction I felt was unexpectedly calm. I was WAY more fired up when they won the National League. But I think the pleasure I feel will last for a while - at least a couple of days.

I like the way this makes the city - the extended metropolitan area - feel. Sure, there were some knuckleheads doing stupid things, but, in general, people enjoyed themselves thoroughly and joyfully. Maybe it would be fun to win year after year, but would it be so wonderful if it became commonplace?

Now, if I can just feel this good next Wednesday morning....

The calm before the storm

My team is going to the World Series. I have a few days to catch up on my sleep before Wednesday, when I know I will feel that racing heart rate.

I bought a couple of shirts - a Burrell one for myself and a Victorino one for my partner in crime at my job. I am trying to figure out where to watch the games Wednesday and Thursday - a Meetup group is getting together in two different places for the two away games - I think maybe my first born will join me to watch Saturday's game.

I know, it's just baseball. A lot people I am friends with don't understand my passion for it. But it has been a part of me for over half my life, and it's something I share with my kids and others in my family. I also know it isn't pure, but somehow it seems like a throwback to a kinder, simpler time. I keep thinking about the late, great George Carlin who compared baseball to football, saying that baseball is played in a "park" and includes "sacrifices."

I'm watching the ALCS and wondering which team I want to win, but it really doesn't matter. My team is going to the World Series and I'm just going to enjoy it.

You gotta love the old fat guy!

Matt Stairs comes up, dare I say it?, big.

And Shane Victorino for NLCS MVP!

I'm exhausted.

An almost perfect day!

I say "almost," not because there was anything inherently bad about it, just that I want to leave some room for an "absolutely" perfect day.

My son and I got to share probably my best live sporting event ever. I went to a playoff game in the 70s, but they lost. So this is, for now, the top of the mountain.

I know I probably got better views of things at home Thursday night, but I was screaming all by myself. Being in the stadium with 45,000 other fans is a completely different experience. I have never been around such sound - it actually made me feel like my heart was obeying the rhythm of the crowd's chant of "Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!" As my son says with much more detail and eloquence in his blog, it sounded like a jet engine about three miles south at PHL. And, after Lidge got Nomar to swing and miss, I felt the anxiety drain out of me and I was left with a feeling of exhaustion and well-being.

Saturday I cut out every single photo and article and headline concerning the first two games and today I went into school and constructed my shrine to the Fightin's outside my classroom door. I know I have a lot of kids who are fans, so I'm hoping it will keep up the momentum.

Part of me says, cautiously, "They've already done so much more than last year, so this is gravy." But the greater part is saying, "No, this is not enough!"

By this time next month, both league champions and the World Series champs will be decided, as will a slightly more important competition. I would truly love a parade down Broad Street; I won't lie. When the Phillies won it all in 1980, I was preoccupied with an almost-one-year-old (the aforementioned son), and, while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I was probably not as stoked about it then as I am now. I loved Schmidt, Bowa, Boone, and Luzinksi, and, especially, Garry Maddox. They were all older than I was and kind of heroes. Now I love Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, and even the seemingly unencumbered-by-the-thought-process Brett Myers, but they are the age of my kids and I revel in their accomplishments as would a proud parent.

Whatever happens, it will all be decided by Mischief Night at the latest. Less than a week later, we elect a new President. It's no secret which candidate I support - I respect John McCain's service to the country, but we need a completely clean slate. Things are pretty bleak right now, and it will take the effort of every citizen and leader to help undo the mess that was created by people of both parties, but mostly out of greed. For the first time in my life, I'll be voting for a candidate younger than myself. That's an interesting milestone - makes me feel a little old, but I trust this man to find the smartest people in America to help him lead us.

My next grandchild is due on Inauguration Day - January 20, 2009. I fervently pray that he or she comes into this world healthy, above all, but beyond that, into a world of optimism, where we can dare to hope for the best.

Including a World Series championship in Philadelphia.

Moving on...

...to the NLCS.

What a pleasure to see the Phils move on, thanks to my personal favorite, Pat Burrell.

I know that he probably won't be back next year, and I probably can't argue with the logic, but I'm hoping he continues to have a good post-season.

And how about that Joe Blanton? Nice to see your number 4 pitcher looking so good.

Kind of takes the sting out of the Eagles' lame effort today.

GO PHILLIES!!!!