Philadelphia Phillies 2008 NL Champions

An Outsider's Appreciation

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies on advancing to the World Series. Everyone focuses on the Chicago Cubs' futility in winning a championship - having now made it more than 100 years since their last one - but what gets missed is the Phillies' historic futility and what advancing means to the fans and the city.

The Phils' are one of the ancient teams of baseball - entering the National League in 1883 to replace the team that played not far from where I currently make my home, the Worcester Worcesters - struggling in absolute world championship futility until the evening of October 21, 1980 when Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to clinch the teams first, and currently only, World Series title.

125 Years. 1 Championship.

Before the 1980 World Series, the Phillies had only been to the World Series two other times - 1915 and 1950. They lost those to series' to teams that currently make up the American League East - my beloved Red Sox in 1915, the Yankees in 1950. In fact, 1980 was the only time they didn't play in a world series against a team currently in the American League east, and the only time they won. This year, they will match up with either another ancient team - the Red Sox, and one of their few World Series opponents - or another expansion team, both from the AL East.

The 1993 World Series was one of the two ever decided by a walk off homer. I'm sure my friends in Philadelphia would love to forget Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams' pitch to Joe Carter - Williams was never really the same after that. How could he have been? This is the last memory of the Phillies in the World Series the city has. 2008 will write a new chapter.

This is an opportunity at redemption, much as 2004 was for the Red Sox. We concentrate so much on the "What have you done for me lately?" that we forget that while the Cubbies haven't won in 100 years, they've won three times. The Red Sox had won 5 times before 2004, but that had been an 86-year gap between them. The Indians haven't won since 1948, but they've won 2-world Championships. The Phillies haven't won in a while, but they've won only once. And it took them some 95-years to get that one championship.