The Overwhelming Stink of Familiarity
The Phillies, once again, toyed with the emotions of both the diehards and recent pile-ons during last night’s loss to the Atlanta Braves. It was supposed to be an easy task, facing nothing-to-cower-over pitcher Chuck James to kick off the series. The Phils were down early, came back, took the lead, then relinquished it once Geoff Geary took over for the struggling Jaimie Moyer.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Last night’s sellout crowd, equipped with the requisite playoff-race, stadium-provided rally towels, were amped for the Phils to skip to the next level. All is not lost, obviously, as the Phillies are still just two behind the Mets and one behind the Padres for the wildcard, but last night’s loss was a sobering reminder that there are still some games left to play before the city can officially begin fantasizing about October baseball.
To quote the mighty Beerleaguer: “For the Phillies, who’re operating on borrowed time as some have already resolved, their version of October started yesterday, and they’re down 0-1 in the best of six.”
Tonight it gets harder, as the Braves trot out the tricky Tim Hudson to play the role of dream assassin against the soft-tossing Kyle Lohse.
Hopefully, thousands of pounds of terry cloth will not have sacrificed their lives in vain.
Phils Can’t Gain on Mets [Philly.com]
Will the club bounce back this time? [Inquirer]
The Off Days are Better [Beerleaguer]
Photo: Philly.com
September 26th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I went and bought the MLB package with about 65 games left so I could watch them down the stretch. I’m beginning to regret that decision; last night nearly killed me.
They’ve had an amazing season, they truly have. But it’s taking a toll on my pysche. I literally woke up screaming last night after having a nightmare about Charlie bringing Mesa out of the pen.
Tonight, I’m sleeping next to a bottle of Tyenol PM and a fifth of whiskey. Five games to go.