First off, gotta give credit where credit is due: I regularly check in on Metsblog to see what the hairy necks are up to, and I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed with what this Metsblog writer had to say. Apparently Mets fans are all jumping off the bandwagon, calling talk radio and going ballistic, leaving 3 run games in the 6th inning, etc. In other words, acting ways that the national media says that only Philly fans act. But man, the only thing as fun as coming from 7 games back is coming from 7 games back against the Mets. So now, a conundrum: I kind of want the Mets to make the playoffs, albeit as a wild card. I think a Mets-Phils NLCS would be off the freaking Richter.
Then again, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. The Phils still have to cool off a red hot Nationals team, the same team that kicked us out of the playoff race two years ago. But something feels different about this Phils team, and I’m sensing something I didn’t sense a couple of years ago: confidence. Phillie players (and fans) fully expect to win the damn thing. This particular team has captured this city’s hearts like no team in the city since I moved here 6 years ago, and I even count the Eagles team that went to the Super Bowl, because nobody enjoyed that team b/c they were expected to make it to the Super Bowl (or at least the NFC championship game).
We have a goofy manager that the fans still have a love/hate relationship with (and leaning a little heavier on the hate), a roster that has been ravaged by injuries, a shortstop who said they were the team to beat in March and then backed it up 159 freaking times in a row, a catcher who played in the minors for 14 years, a LF whose career was considered to be over until he suddenly surged back and rescued the team when their star 2B went out, a fun loving Hawaiian, Mitch Williams joining the post game show, etc., etc., etc. Oh, and don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Harry has slipped into his playoff voice these past few nights, and it is spine tingling. I have been a sports fan for over 25 years, and I have to say that this has been the most fun ride I’ve ever been on. I really hope it continues past this weekend.