More Phillies Stuff

It'll still be a few more days before I have the desire to blog about anything other than the Phillies -- when your favorite team gets to the World Series for the first time since 1993, it tends to consume a lot of your thoughts -- and as I glanced over the last few posts on this blog, I noticed something: I neglected to say anything about game 1.

I think my thought process was something along the lines of not wanting to write too much about it for fear that it would jinx them down the line.

Still might.

That is also the explanation for the short posts after the game 2 and 3 posts.

But, at the very least, I wanted to at least mention how excruciating it is as a baseball fan watching your favorite team try to hang on to a one-run lead for an extended length of time.

Actually, the Phils had a 3-0 lead briefly, before Tampa Bay scored one run in the 4th, and one more in the 5th.

So, from the 5th through the 9th -- an agonizing five innings, when nails disappear and heart rates soar -- I, along with every other Phillies fan, held our breath and exhaled with every single pitch, until Brad Lidge finally put an end to the game.

It didn't help matters that Philly was in the early stages of a 3 1/2 game long offensive funk, failing time after time to bring home runners in scoring position.

The game reminded me of game four of the 1993 NLCS when the Phils took a 2-1 lead in the 4th inning in Atlanta, and proceded to retire the Braves for six straight innings without allowing a run.

Exhilarating, exhausting, and not for the faint of heart. Even more so back then, with Mitch Williams as the closer (who would blow a 3-0 lead in the 9th inning of game 5, only to have the Phils bail him out with a 4-3 win in 10 innings).

So, watching game 1 of this year's World Series probably took a few weeks off my life, but since they won, it was worth it.

As heart-pumping as that win was, however, I would much prefer a blowout of such magnitude that even Mitch Williams could hang onto the lead.

Is there such a (wild) thing?