After a 161 games, and 1 double play for the ages, the Phils are once again beasts of the East. The fact that they clinched last night should help them immeasurably in the playoffs. Cole Hamels, their ace, now gets the day off today, and will make the game 1 start on extra rest (considering he's the anti-Sabathia, this is a very good thing).
If there was a more exciting way to end it, I certainly can't think of one. Brad Lidge, he of the 43 consecutive saves (now 44) dating back to last year, was less than sharp. He allowed a run, and the bases were loaded with only one out last night. I know what you were thinking at that time (Great, he picks now for the first blown save of the year?), because I was thinking the same thing. But a ground ball up the middle was fielded brilliantly by a diving Jimmy Rollins, flipped to Chase Utley, and fired like a laser over to Ryan Howard for the pennant-clinching double play. And the rest, as they say, is champagne-soaked history.
So as we turn our thoughts to possible matchups (and we definitely want the Brewers rather that the well-rested Dodgers), I can't help but thinking that the Phillies are so much more prepared for this moment than they were last year. Last year, just winning the division was our whole goal. It took so much effort to complete the historic comback against the Mets, we simply didn't have anything left for the Rockies. Last year was unquestionably a succesful one, even so. Getting swept out of the first round simply won't do this year, however. As I watched the Fightin Phils celebrating, I couldn't shake the thought that they knew quite well that what they truly wanted still lay ahead of them. That winning the division was nice, but they hadn't truly accomplished anything all that special yet. That's exactly what I was hoping for, because that's a team who isn't happy to simply just be in the playoffs, that's a team who wants to win. And I'll drink to that.
- Murdock
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