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PHINALLY-Phils are the 2008 World Series Champions!

Thrilla in Phila: Game 5 unforgettable
Fans from Philly to Tampa Bay will always savor 104th Classic

By Mark Newman / MLB.com
PHILADELPHIA -- We will never forget the 104th World Series.

It was so loud, from the cowbells to the thunderous roar of towel-waving fans.

It was so dramatic, with two of the five games decided in the ninth inning.

It was "We Are the Champions" sung together by a chorus of thousands.

It was Brad Lidge dropping to his knees and bending over backwards -- perfection.

It was everyone on their feet from the first pitch by Rays reliever Grant Balfour in the bottom of the sixth through the fireworks and celebration scene.

It was Pat Burrell delivering that big hit, setting up the winning run.

It was the fans under 30 who never knew what it was like to experience a major sports championship in the City of Brotherly Love -- until now.

It was Cole Hamels, World Series MVP, happier about any no-decision in his career.

It was the Weekend of Love once the series headed north. People will remember when the Flyers, Penn State and the Phillies all won on Saturday. They will remember when the Eagles won on Sunday, followed by a Phillies victory and The Who in concert.

It was the many fans who came to Citizens Bank Park with their children and grandchildren, because they wanted them to remember it the way they remembered being there as children and grandchildren in 1980.

It was Ryan Howard turning into Ryan Howard just when he was needed most, finishing with three long balls, including the key pair in Game 4.

It was the jam-packed concourses and club-level passages that were filled with confused fans as the rain poured on Monday night, then learning that they would come back with the same ticket stubs whenever Mother Nature finally allowed.

It was the empty concourses and concessions and restrooms during three innings of Wednesday night, as every person on the premises got into every pitch and every situation with rapt attention and bated breath.

It was the anticipation, that interminable wait for 46 hours. It was worth it after waiting 28 years since Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson. It was sleepless nights, upset stomachs, constant checking of the weather, coming back to the ballpark.

It was manager Charlie Manuel keeping the Phillies mentally prepared, always as if it was just another day in May or August. It was their skipper telling the lingering fans long after the final out: "Who's the world champions?" It was seemingly each of those fans pointing at themselves, and their chests bursting with pride.

It was the Phillies winning one for the memory of Manuel's mother.

It was Harry Kalas on the radio, calling his first World Series championship for his devout listeners who could not be there or who were there and listened anyway. He wasn't able to call the one in 1980. This was the missing broadcast.

It was a world of attention, with many fans following the game live over their computers abroad through the MLB.TV International subscription. It was so different than 1980 in that way, with no boundaries for a Phightin' Phillies Phollower.

It was a Rays team that wrote its own Disney script, following a dismal decade with a storybook season that went from worst to World Series. They were a worthy opponent, losing by a single run in three of the Phillies' victories.

It was those chants of "Eva! Eva!" It's not something Evan Longoria will love to remember, but he will always remember that he had their attention. It is the story of a memorable rookie season, and it is another part of the Phillies fan legend.

It was fans high-fiving other Phillies fans everywhere around Citizens Bank Park when it was all over, like brothers and sisters.

It was B.J. Upton and the Tampa Bay wheels, a basestealing machine. And it was Jayson Werth contributing three steals of his own, with his spikes headed for the Hall of Fame along with Upton's.

It was the dogpile on the pitcher's mound, that amazing scene that will play over and over in the minds of Phillies fans forever. "I never felt better to be hit by a big guy like that in my life," Lidge said after being mauled by Howard in the dogpile.

It was 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, finally. His first postseason, his first World Series title. "This is a dream come true," he said. "Being at the parade in '80, and now we're going to be in a parade sometime later this week. It's all been worth it."

It was Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announcing that there will be a parade downtown starting at noon ET on Friday. "To our consummate Philadelphia fans, we're so proud that we are the Philadelphia Phillies, and our first name is Philadelphia. We represent our city."

It was the 104th installment of the greatest sporting event in the world, and it was one that never will be forgotten. It ended in Philadelphia, and it ended with the stuff of dreams for Phillies fans who have waited a long, long time.

Parishioner Bill O'Donnell
on the Courier Post frontpage
October 22, 2008!


Tonight, Bill O'Donnell of Cherry Hill will don the same Phillies cap he wore during the team's World Series appearances in 1980, 1983 and 1993.

Wishful fans take traditions seriously

By KEVIN CALLAHAN - Courier-Post Staff

Bill O'Donnell doesn't wear his loyalty and love of the Phillies on his sleeve.

He wears it on his head.

The Cherry Hill man bought a Phillies cap in 1980 when he attended a World Series game with his high school friend Michael Delaney.

The 54-year-old wears the same tattered, red cap only during the Phillies' postseason games. He has a newer one for regular season games.

"It is falling apart and it is disgusting," O'Donnell said about his beloved lid. "I only wear it when the Phillies make the World Series."

He wore it during the World Series losses in 1983 and in 1993 to the Orioles and Blue Jays, respectively. He will wear the hat again tonight when he watches the Phils face the Rays in the first game of the World Series in Tampa Bay.

No doubt superstitious fans everywhere will be wearing their lucky jerseys and lucky hats, kissing their lucky baseball cards and rubbing their lucky bobblehead dolls, trying to send their team all the positive mojo they can muster.

"When your team is in the World Series, now is not the time to become a skeptic," said Daniel Wann, a psychology professor at Murray State University in Murray, Ky., who has studied sports fans' superstitions for the past decade.

Superstitions give fans a feeling of control over a game that is out of their hands, Wann said.

"That's their opportunity to impact the outcome, and they really think it does," he said. "They say they do it because it's their duty, their responsibility, and they don't want to be blamed for a loss."

"I pretend I'm the umpire," said Rob Krause about his game-time routine when the Phillies are in the field.

Krause, 24, stands up in his Maple Shade home and calls the balls and strikes for the Phillies' pitchers. He calls them early in front of his TV to help the umpire.

"If it is a good pitch, I will go, "haaaah,' " Krause said while making a fist and pumping it into the air, mimicking what some animated umpires do when calling a strike.

The original routine by Krause sure sounds good, but does it work?

"If I call it out right away, I feel the umpire should be right there with me," he said, laughing.

Many athletes are superstitious, too.

Shane Victorino showers 20 minutes before each game as a part of his pregame ritual.

Brett Myers goes to the bullpen early on the days he pitches to watch other starters through their off-day routines.

Chase Utley used the same bat for batting practice for two years until it broke this past May.

Many starting pitchers, including Cole Hamels, don't answer questions on their day to start.

Some players refuse to shave during a playoff or championship series.

Most superstitions arise spontaneously when a fan or player wears something or does something that's followed by a score, an error, a double play or whatever.

"In your mind, you link up those two things, and you say, "Hmm, I don't know, but maybe there's something to this,' " Wann said.

As far as sports superstitions are concerned, Dave McLaughlin has practically done it all.

"If the Eagles were losing, I used to put the jersey inside-out, I used to turn the Phillies hat inside-out" said the 29-year-old Merchantville man.

There are no hats or jerseys involved in Colin Whipkey's ritual -- just his chair. The 53-year-old says he sits in the same chair and refuses to finish anywhere else.

"I don't care how long I have to sit in my chair, I won't go upstairs," Whipkey said.

A close cousin of the superstition is the curse, and the sports world is full of them.

Perhaps the most famous Philadelphia sports curse is known as the Curse of Billy Penn.

From the early 1800s until 1987, no building in Philadelphia rose higher than the statue of city founder William Penn that stands atop City Hall. When One Liberty Place broke that barrier in 1987, the story goes, a curse was placed on the city's big professional sports teams. The last team to win a national championship was the 76ers in 1983.

"It was like dissing William Penn," said Jeff Rudski, a psychology professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.

"We want to understand cause-and-effect relationships, and if there's nothing obvious, we start looking for reasons," Rudski said.

In an attempt to assuage Penn's spirit and break the curse, construction workers on June 17, 2007, affixed a statue of Penn to the last, highest steel beam in the city's tallest building, the Comcast Center.

Mike Chalmers of The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal contributed to this report. Reach Kevin Callahan at (856) 317-7821 or kcallahan@courierpostonline.com



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