Some context

In my last post I told you to remember the fact that Lynn and I were both Phillies fans, because it would be important later. Well, in order to put this part of the story in proper context, I have to give provide a mini-history of the Phillies themselves. It's something else to be writing this out only hours before the Phillies open up the World Series against the Yankees, seeking to win their second straight championship.

The Philadelphia Phillies baseball team is one of the oldest professional sports teams in the US, with a history that goes back well over 100 years. They've been around for a long time, and for most of that history, they've been, well, pretty bad. Earlier that summer, the Phillies had suffered their 10,000th loss as a franchise. Actually, I missed being at that game by one night because they won when I was there. When the Pittsburgh Pirates finished off their 17th consecutive losing season in 2009, they set a major league record, wiping the Phillies record of 16 from the books. People make a big deal these days about how the Cubs have gone 101 years without winning a World Series, they made a big deal about how the Red Sox went 86 years in between championships. The Phillies had a similar run at the beginning of their history, going 77 years before winning their first, and as of the summer of 2007, their only, championship.

That happened in 1980, when I was about 6 months old. They made it back to the World Series in 1983 before losing to the Orioles, but by the time I was old enough to start being a fan, they were pretty much back into their historic pattern of ugliness. In fact, from the time I can remember following them through 2000, every season, with one notable exception, ended with more Phillies losses than wins. The exception, 1993, was glorious, right up until the point when it ended in the World Series, with Joe Carter's series ending home run off of Mitch Williams in Game 6.

In 2001, there was a shift. The Phillies went from being terrible every year, to being good, but not quite good enough, year in, and year out. Every year between 2001 and 2006 (with the exception of 2002, when they only won 80), the team won at least 85 games, and in most of those years they finished agonizingly close to a playoff spot, just missing out in the final days of the season. I'm honestly not sure what was harder on me as a fan - when they were just terrible, or when they were always getting my hopes up only to dash them.

2007 was shaping up to be another one of those "good, but not good enough" years, and early September had been particularly frustrating. The team had won 4 straight from the archrival Mets at the end of August to close within a very manageable 2 games behind in the division. However, by September 10th, the day of our meeting, they had managed to give all 4 of the games that they had picked up back with a rough stretch of play that had corresponded with a Mets hot streak. They were only a couple games back in the wild card, but I just wasn't very impressed in general, and while I refused to give up completely, I was resigning myself to yet another season that would end in a frustrating near-miss, with no postseason for the 14th straight year.

So, anyhow, that's what was going on with the Phillies as our meeting broke up that night and I said my goodbyes. As I was about to walk out to my car, Lynn suggested I could go in the house and see if that night's game was on TV. I declined, as I needed to get started on the hour drive home, and I could listen to the game on the radio in the car. As I declined, I threw out an offhand comment, paralleling our Phillies to the word of the evening: "Yeah, speaking of not losing hope..." Lynn and I both chuckled about it knowingly, and I headed out to my car.