October 23, 2008

SAME AS IT EVER WAS

It seems that playoff baseball really isn’t that much different from regular season baseball after all. If you’re a fan of the Phillies, like yours truly, you’ve spent a lot of time watching a team win ugly, so why should the World Series be any surprise. In the last 8 seasons, the Fightin’s have won 80 or more games every year, 7 times having a winning record, but this is only their 2nd playoff experience during that time. Last year’s 3 and out was over so quickly it was like a swift kick in the gut (sound familiar my Cubbie brethren?) but coming off the stunning division win over the hated Mets, who could complain? (I know I did, but that’s not the point!) The point is that it took this team 7 years to get there. Doing the math, that means that this team has inflicted some serious pain on those who follow them, being almost good enough to get the job done. The thing they have been the best at in this time is leaving men on base, they’ve made it an art-form. My favorite was a game in Houston a couple of years ago in which, they scored 11 runs, but left 10 men on and hit into 7 double plays! Every pitcher seems to have their “A” game when they see a Philly in the batter’s box.

So, the fact that they set a record in Game 1 by going 0-13 with runners in scoring position didn’t come as a surprise, the fact they won the game did.(Thank you Cole Hamels!) Game 2 didn’t get any better with a 1-15 effort, but the result, a 4-2 loss was what you would expect.

If you’re sensing that the “Big Fella” is a little frustrated, you’re right on. The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind, Cubs, Sox, Phillies, Eagles vs. Bears. There has been no shortage of things for me to root for. But, the fact is, it would be nice, if one of the teams that I’ve rooted for since birth, could finish.

Being behind the bar has been great. So many people have come in, just to give their well-wishes, or to root with me during the games. (You don’t think they came in to see me suffer do you?) The Phillies, unexpectedly, to me anyway, have kept winning. The fact is, though, I haven’t been able to fully enjoy this whole experience.

My response to everyone when they ask how I’m “enjoying this” is with an analogy:

I’m at the top of a hill, driving down it, in icy conditions, in my new Maserati (writers embellishment/Gordon Gekko reference) when I realize that I can’t control the car. This gives me an incredible adrenaline rush, combined with an impending sense of doom. My hair’s on fire and there are only 2 outcomes: I come to rest at the bottom of the hill, unscathed and euphoric, or I end up wrapped around a tree. Either way it’s a ride I won’t soon forget.

This is why it’s kind of hard to even enjoy the games. I’m expecting the worst, and if it doesn’t happen, I’m sure it will in the next inning. I’m not trying to be negative. I’ve just seen this over and over. (Philly fans are like Pavlov’s dogs: Turn on a BIG game, with one of our teams in it and we’re sure they’ll lose, every time. Now that’s a conditioned response.) Like any other emotional investment, you have to commit (Right Denis?) but, like any fan knows, this is where the pain comes from. Philly fandom is not for the faint of heart. So, I also tell everyone, that I’ll “enjoy” the games, in every bit of their entirety, if I’m lucky enough for them to come out in a box-set DVD.

Until then, I’ll ride the emotional roller-coaster, entertain those watching me at the bar, and wonder if I’ll ever grow up.

When’s Game 3?