Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CITY ON THE EVE OF FOREVER: One title is nice; two titles makes a team immortal.

As I suggested last year, there was something weird and a little unsatisfying about the Phillies road to the title -- Milwaukee, Los Angeles ... Tampa Bay?

162 + 4 + 5 games later, here we are, and we've got what we wanted. Thhhhuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh Yankees. Twenty-six titles, at least three first ballot Hall-of-Famers, but I don't think anyone in this town is scared. It's not like the Sixers entering the 2001 Finals against the Lakers and just knowing it was a matter of time before we were overwhelmed by superior talent. This Phillies team has proven too much over the past three years, scored so many runs, and done it with joy. It has been a hell of a ride. As one reader of The700Level.com put it, "You follow sports hoping that one day you'll be rewarded and get to root for a team like these Phillies."

I have long resisted efforts to assign character too much weight in evaluating sports teams, because it really is about talent v. talent, not narrative v. narrative, and deserve's got nothing to do with it. So let's leave issues of payroll, Mystique and Aura to the side. I believe our offense can score runs against anyone. I believe in Charlie Manuel and his authentic prairie gibberism. And I believe in Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, who has a visit scheduled with Daddy on Thursday. The rest is detail.

I love this team, and I am hopeful for and confident about the games to come. I am left with three words which guided us last year, and which give us hope anew: why can't us? Indeed, why can't us again? Phillies in 5.

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