Last night The Phillies didn’t just reverse the frustrating if statistically inconsequential losing streak they’d finally snapped the night before. They won their 101st game of the season, tying a franchise record. And in doing so they handed Charlie Manuel his 645th win as Phillies manager, tying the mark of Gene Mauch. Both records can be broken tonight during the final game of the regular season as the Phillies look to sweep the Atlanta Braves, up their MLB-leading win percentage of .627 a skitch, and play a potentially deciding role in whether the Braves themselves make the National League playoffs. The Phillies begin their postseason battles on Saturday, Oct. 1st, either way.
Related: Play Right • Ball Night Long • Short Fall
Man, last night was a great night of baseball (unless you're a Braves or Red Sox fan), aside from, of course, the Twins actually winning and failing to lose 100 games, thus failing to maximize their shame (and the organization should feel the maximum amount of shame at this point). I even won my second straight fantasy baseball championship!
ReplyDeleteAs a devout Boston hater and a lover of schadenfreude (it's all Minnesota sports fans have left these days...), I enjoyed watching both Atlanta and Boston complete their epic September collapses, but also took genuine joy in watching the plucky Rays (a team I like without having any personal connection to them) come back from seven down to beat the Yankees.
Longoria's game winning, Wild-card clinching homer came just moments after Papelbon blew the save, setting the stage for the event, was the kind of baseball kismet you wouldn't believe if you saw it in a movie.
Best of luck to your Phils this October. Personally, I'm just rooting for some more good baseball.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry about your Twins. And I really appreciate the congratulations on my Phillies — especially since I wouldn't be too surprised if you'd also been enjoying their post-clinch losing streak; I know you see them as a bit of a "best team money can buy" Goliath akin to the Yankees and, more recently, the Red Sox. Me, I can't deny that both funding and good fortune brought us a set of players that along with a new ballpark translated into the kind of revenue and winning streaks that both help perpetuate same, but since the Phils are my team thick or thin I'm obviously happy to have an extended period of thick. 8^)
cont'd
ReplyDeleteLast night was indeed a great night of baseball set up like a really strange game of dominoes. I don't have much investment in the AL, but I like the idea of a potential World Series match-up between Philly and Detroit.
The Phillies' extra-inning #102 was obviously the icing on the cake around here. Charlie Manuel would've become the winningest Phils manager sooner rather than later, so the all-time best season stat was really the one to root for — even if we might've preferred losing to the Braves for what it would mean going down the road, since I know some folks concerned about the Cardinals' 6-3 regular-season record against the Phils. I got the feeling that the club really wanted to notch both the 102nd win for the season and the 646th win in Manuel's career last night for Charlie, though; he's a decent fella and his players are honestly a pretty swell bunch of guys. Philadelphia isn't the kind of place that has much love for sports figures who are aloof and overpaid (well, let's face it: they're all overpaid); it's a town that likes to win but appreciates heart even more than trophies, the kind of place that Cliff Lee chooses over New York for just that reason.
PS: Congrats on your fantasy championship! Did you have any Phillies on the roster?
I know you see them as a bit of a "best team money can buy" Goliath akin to the Yankees and, more recently, the Red Sox.
ReplyDeleteYeah, part of me sees them as the NL's "Evil Empire", but at the same time, they do seem like a "better" organization than either the Yankees or Red Sox, or, at the very least, seem less mercenary about how they spend their money, which prevents them from drawing my ire in the same way the two AL East juggernauts do.
And heck, I can't begrudge them turning new ballpark revenue into a higher payroll; that's what the Twins did the last two years, with our highest payroll (100 mil.+) ever this season. We just managed to do bupkis with it, due to a combination of poor upper management and terrible, terrible luck.
Did you have any Phillies on the roster?
Not initially (my drafting strategy took the big three pitchers off the table before I was ready to draft a starter, and I could have taken Utley later in the draft but was avoiding him like the plague after having him on my team the previous season in a disappointing, injury-laden turn, and I thought he wouldn't bounce back well from the injury this season), but I did end up with one after Hunter Pence got traded, and I was pleased to see him thrive in Philly. I've had him on my team a few seasons now, and he's a dependable if not showy producer, but the move out of Houston and onto a real team definitely gave him a nice boost for the second half of the season.
Red Sox Rule!
ReplyDelete*throws half eaten sandwich at you and runs*
But, honestly, the Fillies?
Oh, Wednesday night gave me whiplash. I came home from services and just gorged on last-day-of-regular-season baseball.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that gumption and good sportsmanship go a long way in Philville. Charlie Manuel often talks about how his guys "play the game the right way" — which is really what I want to see as a fan and I think makes the victories all the sweeter. Hunter Pence was the perfect addition to the team at the plate but also in the clubhouse.
How much fun is tonight's game, Blam? L'Shana Tova!
The main reason why I'm glad we're facing the Cardinals is that I want to beat them more than I want to beat any other given team. I find Tony LaRussa an insufferable ass, so pissing him off by whupping his team is extra fun.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side, I do feel bad for Terry Francona having to end his career this way, so I'm not totally a vindictive bastard.