My Long Overdue Post on the Phillies

Let's be real here for a second. I do not have access to players or coaches for interviews. I was not in Philadelphia to see Game 7, or any game for that matter. There is nothing I can tell you specifically about the game that ESPN has not already, or that you probably did not notice for yourself. So, because of that, here are my quick-hit thoughts on the series itself, how it was covered, and the reaction. 

1. The city of Philadelphia does not read this blog. That was a joke. But seriously. In case you missed it, earlier in the week, I posted about how Philadelphia's first championship since the 76ers in 1983 was diminished.  Philly didn't care, and why would they? No matter how it went down, the fact will remain the same: The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series, and they celebrated it like none other. The entire city was out in the streets many hours past the end of the game. They celebrated like they had every right to. But, speaking of Philadelphia ...

2. Philadelphia fans really are that obnoxious. If you watched the post-game coverage, you know exactly what I'm talking about. They booed - about three different times - the man who was presenting them with the World Series trophy. Look, Bud Selig leaves a lot to be desired, but you just won the World Series. Can't you be happy? For once? 

3. According to ESPN, the Rays lost the World Series. My roommate had to point this out to me about 19 times before I finally started believing: ESPN has more than just a Red Sox-Yankees-Cowboys-Sidney Crosby-Duke basketball-USC football bias. It extended to the Rays. Or maybe it was just a bias against the Phillies. Who knows? But I digress.

The fact remains the same that the story ESPN was pushing before, during, and after the series was not a championship for Philadelphia, but a loss for the Rays. 

Before the World Series, you could have watched Baseball Tonight for a good 15 minutes and not realized that the Phillies were even playing in it. It was the Rays' Cinderella season, the Rays' never-give-up attitude, the Rays' triumph over Boston. All the Phillies had done was cruise through a terrible National League.

During the World Series, even when Philly went up 1-0, then 2-1, then 3-1, it was never "The Phillies are getting closer to history." It was always "What do the Rays have to do to get their bats going again?" Forget how good the Phillies pitching was. The worst was leading up to Game 5b. What we were supposed to watch for was not whether Philadelphia would celebrate their first championship in 25 years; no, the most important thing was to watch young phenom David Price work his magic. 

Then, after the game, there was far too little "These Phillies really were terrific" and far too much "The Rays had a great season." That stuff should be saved for a few days. Let Philadelphia soak it all in. 

4. Pitching and defense really does win you championships. Case in point. It was just that nobody thought Philadelphia would have more of both. The key plays: Iwamura mishandles a bloop fly ball that knocks in a Phillies run. Chase Utley is alert in the field and goes home with a ball that saves a run. Feliz hits a ground ball that would normally be an out, but because the Rays were playing in, squirts up the middle to knock in another run. It wasn't shown in the highlight video, but in the 8th, with a man on, Utley and Rollins put together a perfectly executed double play to get the impossibly fast B.J. Upton out. Then, in the 9th, it was Brad Lidge's destructive slider.

Congratulations to the Phillies. Tampa, you will be around a long time. Right now, though, it's all about Philadelphia. 

(Photo Credits: AP)