Phillies-Rays: Phinally, Phillies Give Fans Serious Reason To Celebrate

The wait is over!

When Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge struck out Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske just before 10 PM, pandemonium struck the championship-starved city, as the Phillies captured a 4-3 win to capture the 2008 World Series Championship.

This was no ordinary win, historic for one reason. The game Wednesday night started at 8:37 PM in the bottom of the sixth inning. The "split" Game Five, as it may be, started Monday night in an increasingly heavy downpour, which halted the game going in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, deemed the stoppage, saying that the game would continue in the bottom of the sixth when the weather would allow such play.

Phllies fans, to say the least, were incensed. The Phillies took a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning on Monday and conditions were getting no better. After the Rays tied the game 2-2 in the top of the sixth, the Phillies ground crew covered the field. About an hour later, the game was postponed.

Me? I was at a local bar with one of my best friends, a converted Phillies fan. We watched as one woman announced the news as she was on her cell phone. My buddy texted our other buddy about the postponement and he concurred. Shortly thereafter, the news came on the television. We shook our head, played two games of pool, then went home.

On Tuesday, many Phillies fans were outraged that the game was played at all or not stopped in the fifth inning, when the Phils had a 2-1 lead. I was sure that the momentum had switched to the Rays and the Series would go seven. A Philadelphia sports writer mused that this could be the Phillies' "Bartman" of Chicago Cubs lore.

As I listened to the radio in my car, I started to settle down. The Phils were still tied 2-2 and four at-bats to the Rays's three.

I went to the store, bought dinner, ate it with my wife and daughter around 6 PM, then went to church choir practice. At least it was a divergence. I left choir early, so as to not miss the first pitch.

My daughter was home at 8:30 PM and my wife was getting ready for bed. My daughter was becoming a fan before my eyes. Yes, I have taken her to a Phillies game two years ago and another, but she was starting now to understand balls and strikes.

It was a tense "sprint" to the finish. Pinch hitter Geoff Jenkins started the bottom of the sixth with a double. Jimmy Rollins bunted Jenkins to third, and Jason Werth's bloop single gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead. My daughter Julie and I cheered, and then my cell phone emitted the all-too-familiar two-week trendy sound: "Beep, beep, beep."

Rocco Baldelli hit a solo home run to tie the game. No beeps. My pals usually only beep when the Phils do something good. Except Game Five of the NLCS vs. the Dodgers. That probably was the Phils' best game of the playoffs, punctuated by Matt Stairs' long home run.

The Phils went ahead on a Pat Burrell double, ground out, and hit by Pedro Felix in the bottom of the seventh.

J.C. Romero pitched part of the seventh and eighth, and Brad Lidge took over the ninth.

Money. This guy had not blown a save all season or postseason. After one out and a Rays hit, Lidge delivered with the Hinske strike out.

Game. Set. Pandemonium. My daughter saw a 50-year-old man scream, jump up and down three times, and open the back slide to give out a hearty "Whooo." The man had not seen a Phils's championship since 1980. I know him all too well.

The Phillies victory parade is Friday. I could go. I went to the parade in 1980. But my 12-year-old daughter wants to celebrate Halloween. The victory event at Citizens' Bank Park will be at 3 PM, and there's no way I'd be back in time.

I think I'll just buy a championship shirt. 'Cause for one night, one 50-year-old guy, his daughter, and the Greater Delaware Valley welcomed the championship back. It has been all too long.

And despite the event and "split" game, the victory erases pain and brings only joy.