Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. The Phils have not yet clinched the NL East, but with their win last night over the Astros and the Braves' loss to the Marlins, the team are one good outcome away from winning their third straight NL East title. (Don't know the odds precisely, but assuming that the Phils have a 1/2 chance to win every game and the Braves a 1/2 chance to lose, I think they'd have a 1/2048 chance of blowing it at this point--seriously). Pretty remarkable stuff, considering the Phillies haven't won three in a row since the late 70s, and considering that just four years ago, it looked like no one but the Braves was ever going to win the division again. And it all started on September 30th, 2007.
The Phils finished the job as they so often have these last few years, against the Washington Nationals. 2006 mid-season acquisition Jamie Moyer took the hill and pitched brilliantly, striking out six and giving up just one run in 5 1/3 innings. Ryan Howard was the hero at the plate, going three for four and driving in three, and Brett Myers, who had thrown out the first pitch of the season as the opening day starter, also got to throw out its last as its closer, striking out Willy Mo Pena for the final out of the game. Phillies 6, Nationals 1. (Of course, living in New York, my more vivid memory of that day was watching Tom Glavine on local TV giving up seven runs in just the first inning to the Marlins, cementing one of the great collapses in baseball history).
Since 2007, some of our main guys have departed (Burrell, Rowand, Iguchi, Lohse) and others have arrived in their stead (Ibanez, Feliz, Lee, sometimes-Lidge), but our feelings about the core remain the same. Will tonight be the night that we cement the threepeat? Only time will tell, but if and when it happens, we can only imagine it'll feel just as sweet as it did to wach the guys mobbing Brett on the mound two years ago today.
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/09/to...
