Baseball Just Won't Be The Same...

It's been covered in great detail and length by both the Philly media , Philly sports blogs , and the national media (ESPN had it as their lead story for the better part of 24 hours, and Jayson Stark gave the nation a glimpse into what Harry meant to us). And if this doesn't give you goosebumps, then you just don't bleed the right color red: http://www.the700level.com/2009/04/the-final-outta-here.html

Like Richie Ashburn and Gene Hart, Harry was an extended part of my life, of every Phillies fan's family. It really wasn't baseball season without hearing his soothing voice calling the games on Philly 57 or over 1210 AM. Heck, Opre and I even paid extra this year just so we could get all the Phillies broadcasters via the mlb.tv package. Yesterday felt like I lost that great uncle that was always in your life (Uncle Mattie comes to mind, except a lot more smiles from Harry). One of the most comforting things since yesterday was reading how much more talented writers than I have been able to verbalize what an entire generation - make that a few generations - of Phillies fans felt about Harry.

The Phillies may not have been very successful for much of my adult life (reality is, they've been more bad then good, or even average, since 1985), but baseball is always baseball, your team will always win its share of games, and each little victory gives a small reason to smile and cheer. If football season is 3 hours of gladiatorial combat preceded by six days of preparation, planning, and hype, baseball is the polar opposite: spanning three celestial seasons from pitchers and catchers to the final "struck 'im ooouuuuut!" in late October, it is the sporting personification of a lazy summer evening on the back deck with a cool drink, shooting the breeze. Harry's reoccurring part as narrator of that annual rite of summer put us fans in the perfect position to appreciate the subtle beauties of the game. Even the silence between pitches - filled only with the sounds of the ballpark, stretches most announcers and/or stadium organists don't give the fans a chance to appreciate - was peaceful, knowing on the other side of that momentary pause, there would be Harry the K, picking up the action at just the right time, with just the right sense of anticipation for the next pitch.

Harry, you'll be missed by every phan who ever tuned into a Phillies game. As many have said, you were the Phillies to millions of Delaware Valley residents, and as one of the many, I'll miss hearing you call every Phils moment, both high and low. My phone ringer, for a very long time, (sorry Jen) will continue to be "The 0-2 pitch... swing and a miss, STRUCK HIM OUT!! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of Baseball!!" And I hope I continue to get the same chills that I did just now, listening to that wonderful moment just one more time...

Phinally Champs!

I'm sure the three people who read this are tired of hearing me go on and 0n about the World Series. There's not much I can add to the extended coverage (ok, "extended" being last week on philly.com and some SportsCenter spots) although I am pissed that ESPN2 didn't get the parade on like they did for the Sawx in 2004. Then again, they might have had advance warning on Utley's sweet speech - tell 'em Chase! A few things before we hit the showers this morning:

• Haven't seen many teams play that cohesively in recent memory. Yea, they collectively stunk with runners in scoring position, and it's not like any particular Phillie picked up the team and put them on his back. The little guys did a little bit of everything to win the game, and that's what separates the champs from the good teams. Philly sports have for the most part been good teams in the last 25 years, but almost to a fault, they didn't have that contribution from the non-headliners when it mattered most.
  
• Cole Hamels might not be the most overpowering guy on a big league mound, but there's very few other guys I'd want out there when it mattered. And the kid is 24. It seems like he's been in the bigs for quite awhile, but this was only his third season.
• I've got too much Phillies stuff to upload, so just go over to the700level.com for pretty much everything I'd want to link to. Take a look at Harry the K...with accompanying video for sure, it's 12 minutes of what baseball should sound like.
  
• I missed the biggest party in Philly in God knows how many years, and yes, I was jealous. Work sucked that Friday... I should have been here instead.
• Work also sucked on Thursday because the Parrot became a zoo scene on Wednesday night. There were bottles of champagne being sprayed everywhere, the place was LOUD for the entire 9th inning, and shots were lined up everywhere. Guys (and gals) were going nuts, and the normal Parrot crew - John, Pat, John, Josh and Erin, a bunch of guys whose names I always forget, even Opre - went nuts together. Of course, I made it an interesting night by forgetting to sign off my tab, taking a cab halfway home then hopping out, and somehow ending up by Beach Place where an EMS guy gave me the once-over when he found me stumbling around in the grass. Whoops. Luckily Opre happened to pass by and was able to convince these guys he could give me a lift home. Probably celebrated a little too much, but hey, it was 25 years, whaddya expect? And I temp. lost my phone too - luckily some dude found it and got it back to me, although the screen is busted and the memory chip doesn't seem to have any of the pictures and videos I got.
• Finally, there's a great post somewhere on the700level.com that talks about who this championship was for. All those fans who have suffered as adults, the guys my age who were in 2nd grade when Tommy Gee skipped class to go to the parade and I mistakenly figured I'd have my chance to go soon, for my cousins who are in high school and at GMU and Temple who have only known sports frustration.... it's for everyone, and unless you have lived through it with the dedication and heartbreak similar to Philly sports fans, you won't understand. I hope someday soon my buddies from Cleveland get their day, 'cause it's a chill-inducing feeling that brings a goofy smile to my face every time I think about it. So for Dad and Jay, for my cousins and uncles and Johnny Santarpio, for the Eustace fellas, and Caniz and Freed and Lehman and Jeff, for the Parrot crew, and the many, many people (most of whom I know only by face or first name) that I've shared the ups and downs of Philly sports with (and yes, that includes Jen)... this one's for you. Enjoy it. We've earned it. And thank you to those 25 guys and Uncle Cholly for reaching the summit. You've earned a place in our sporting hearts forever.
  

Time to get to work. I'm sure I'll have my first political post tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, it's been all of 7 days and the World Champs - excuse me Chase, that's World Phucking Champions - are still making me smile.

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel (sort of)

After a full day and change of anxiety, nerves, Selig-directed anger, and emotional blood-letting, it's on. I'm nowhere near the fever pitch of Monday night, but that'll change in the next hour. The thing that worries me the most - this is a sprint. The team that scores first in all likelyhood is going to win; since the Phils have an extra AB, they certainly have the edge there, but anything can happen in the cold at the Bank. If they start out slow - and these Phils can certainly start slowly before all those late-inning heroics - they don't have the time to make up runs over 9 innings tonight.

Soooo.... Same shorts and shirts from Monday night, same hat, sandels, and yes, even boxers. It's been 25 years... taking NO CHANCES here. The wife needs to get her butt home soon, so we can get there. And DAMN YOU BARACK OBAMA for pushing this back even further. Philly can't take this. My liver can't take this. *I* can't take this. Go Phils.

Why, God, Why?

If this doesn't cause you to at least pause and question the Almighty's apparent disdain for the sports fans of Philadelphia, then you have much stronger faith than I do. 10 outs away with a 1 run lead and Hamels cruising, and the Big Man decides to ratchet up the miserable weather. He even opened the door for Satan's Lapdog (aka Bud Selig) to decide to wildly interpret the set of rules governing baseball, and not call the game. Yes, winning the World Series like that would have been anticlimatic... still, I don't quite believe things have turned out like they did. This is agonizing. C'mon, God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, throw us a bone here. 25 years is long enough...

(P.S. While you're at it God, do something vile to that a-hole who stole the Sirius radio out of my Jeep last night.)

The Final Hour

I have a $100 ticket to Game 6 sitting in Tampa with my brother in law Matt that I hope I never see (the ticket, not Matt). I had a ridiculously difficult time concentrating today at work, the day dragged on forever. I just spent 20 minutes trying to pick out what to wear to a bar on a Monday night (dark camo shorts, Howard jersey over "Man or Machine" shirt of Krukker, blue Phils hat, and my Croc flip flops). I've got "The Rocky Story" blaring, and I've been randomly shouting at the TV every time they show something about the World Series. Every time I think about how tonight might go - check that, SHOULD go - I get chills. To all the Philly/Jersey guys, I wish I was there with you to enjoy this, but I'll do my best to bring a little bit of Broad St. to A1A. Come on guys - 27 more outs until you carve out your place in the annals of Philadelphia and the hearts of every sports fan from the Delaware Valley. Like Fred Shero said, "Win today, and we'll walk together forever".

LET'S GO PHILS!!!!
(photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/pompomflipflop/)

The Day is Upon Us

First pitch to J-Roll in 2 hours. I’m beyond amped for this game; it’s like pre-game at Gesling Stadium, only on a scale about 1,000,000 times more magnified (actually, a million might not be enough). Departing for the Parrot in 35 min; unfortunately my $100 tickets to the game fell through, although Barnebie’s cousin tried his best to hook me up. According to two different people at the Trop, tickets are going for face value or below. Ridiculous for Game 1, Tampa doesn’t deserve this. Still trying to decide if i can get out of work in time tomorrow to get there for game 2. Got my NLCS shirts courtesy of Dad and Jay ready to go, even sporting powder blue boxers to channel my inner Bob Walk. This is it…

LET'S GO PHILLIES!!!!

P.S. Joe Buck is a complete jerkoff - I hope he gets hit by a bus... no, this bus...

P.P.S. 1-0 good guys

And We're In!!!!!

Phillies 5. Dodgers 1. 2008 National League Champions.

Another dominant performance by their 24 year old stud ace. Another game where they won as a team. Another great defensive performance (Chase and Shane especially). No idea how I'm expected to go to bed tonight (unlike my wife, who slept through the *ENTIRE* game). You would have thought there was something else on TV tonight that was more important than Game 5.

Screw the Dodgers and their sushi-eating fans. Tickets were selling in the lower level at their stadium were on stubhub for less than face value today. Losers. Go kill yourselves with $18 Red Bull Martinis in your smoggy atmosphere. And while we're venting, I'm already sick of seeing the goddamn Joe Carter home run, so enough already Fox and ESPN. Seriously.

The next two weeks are going to be fun. If you can't get on board with a team like this, then you don't appreciate what team sports is all about. (or you're a New York fan) This can only get better if Tampa closes it out and I'm a drive (a long drive, but a drive) away from 4 games. I sense a mid-week flu coming on. The biggest thing I noticed - the on-field celebration was not too crazy. These guys mean business. They want more. Four more.

And we want it too. See you next week in St. Pete.

1601 Construction Updates (Go Phils)

Between travelling for work and recent social trips, it’s been a tiring month of September so far – and October isn’t going to offer many reprieves, with visitors the next two weekends and my work trip to Vegas. Doing home improvements has taken a back seat for most of the month to the daily grind, so with a full weekend off of any real obligations, it was time to get to work. Of course, we started it out at Dolphins Stadium, watching the Phils lose, but both Friday and Saturday nights ended up being (relatively) tame nights. Early Saturday morning, I was digging up a couple of irrigation lines so that a new driveway could be poured; I was glad I got up early enough since 7 guys in several trucks rolled through Shady Banks around 7:30am and began digging up the yard next to the existing driveway as soon as they got there. 3 hours later, it was expanded 10 feet to the right and completely asphalted over, and we had ourselves a new driveway.
While the driveway was getting knocked out, Richie and a couple of guys from his Lukes’ Landscaping crew came over and knocked out a new fence. The old lousy chain link one and all it’s accompanying vegetation got ripped out; in its place (and where no fence was on the south side) is a nice wood 6 footer with gates in the middle. The north side is now ready for Mike to do some AutoCAD planning to see how we can make this place look a bit like the tropical paradise Jen and I pictured when we took the plunge.
To add to the fun, Schaen’s been over, doing mud work to the ceiling of the Florida room and the 2nd bathroom. By the end of the month, both of those rooms should be sanded, painted, and redecorated, and pretty much ready to go (Jen wants new tile in the Florida room, but the stuff we have in there now is serviceable, if not beautiful, so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon). And we’re adding two new exterior doors, in the FL room and office, to go with the impact windows we should be getting in early October. The only other thing to get done then will be a slider door where the windows are in the Florida room, but that might be pushed out to sometime in 2009 for fiscal reasons.

BIG W today for the 2008 NL East Champs Phillies. They're set to take the Brewers down, one game already done, two to go, and we can only hope the Dodgers and Cubbies push each other to the brink. I know, I know... a Philly fan can never get ahead of himself. Still, things are aligning much better this year then they did last year (although the lack of offense is still concerning). This afternoon, though, Cole Hamels threw an utter gem, no runs and only two singles over 8 innings, with 9 K's. Lidge gave a little life to Milwaukee before (finally) slamming the door. It's hard to believe, but Hamels is only 24 and is the youngest player on their roster. This is going to be a fun October.

The Phitans

MLB All Star game week has come and gone, thankfully. Chase Utley’s performance wasn’t exactly stellar in Yankee Stadium but at least America got to hear how every Philly fan feels about the bottom-feeders that are New York sports fans. Whatever, he didn’t know his mic was on for introductions, and I’d bet plenty of Red Sox fans feel the same way after Papelbon got booed as well. My enemy’s enemy is my friend, or something like that (even if RSN is becoming the sports version of that friend of a friend that no one really likes). Besides, they might be shipping us their malcontent LF, which would be an interesting mix, to say the least. (I know, I spend way too much time on the700level.com)

At least those neanderthals cheered for John Hamilton and his comeback storybook season. And *had* Utley played the entire game, maybe he could have avoided the disaster of a night that Dan Uggla had – 3 E4’s, 3 K’s, and a GIDP after replacing the 2008 MVP. Me and my “Hit It To Uggla” sign were at Dolphins Stadium on the following Friday night. And finally, a big Chase Utley F You to Billy Wagner, the turncoat Mets reliever who shouldn’t have even been AT the game, much less IN the damn thing, for blowing the lead and costing the Phils home field advantage in the Series this year. Since the AL team will have Games 6 and 7 (again) this year, I’m now a big Tampa Rays fan. Now, if we could only get Selig to schedule a 162 game season against the Braves and their batting practice pitchers.