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=We've Been Waiting 25 Years for This!= The Phillies Win the World Series October 29, 2008

In a city of a million great stories from this night, this is mine. It all began on Monday, October 27, 2008. Or did it begin in October, 1993? Maybe October, 1980? You know, since I was only 5 years old when the Sixers won our city's last championship in 1983, let's just say it began at birth for me -- I have never experienced a world championship. But on Monday, I knew it was time... and I knew where I had to be.

It couldn't have been more perfect. Hamels on the mound. Phils up 3 games to 1. Tonight was the night we end 100 seasons of championship drought in Philly.

My friend and I made last minute plans to take a train downtown, find a bar to watch the game, and be there for the party on the streets when the Phillies won. What we didn't count on was that everyone else had the same plan. We ended up waiting in line for three innings in the rain just to get in. We stood elbow to elbow and fought for position just to be able to tilt back a glass ... when we could even //get// a pitcher, that is. It wasn't ideal, but we didn't care. Being just a few blocks from City Hall, we were going to be at the epicenter of the party when it all went down.

In a cruel twist of fate that could only happen in Philly, it didn't go down that night. About three innings later, the game was called. Here's a video that sums it up pretty well:

media type="youtube" key="UkNf3Kq2ZDc" height="344" width="425"

The train ride home was about as miserable as it gets, but we decided then and there that we were coming back no matter what it took. The next day at work was strange, like the feeling you get having dinner with the family when you and your brother have a video game on pause or were playing basketball in the driveway with a tie game when Mom called you in. Everything was on pause. To make matters worse, the game didn't even get played the next day, Tuesday.

Instead, it snowed.

Some have said hell would freeze over before Philadelphia would win a championship. Maybe they were right.

When I woke up on Wednesday, I had a smile on my face. This time, the sky was clear as the sun rose and it felt like the dawn of a new era -- one in which Philadelphia fans aren't perpetual losers. I had a little more excitement this morning, though, because last night an idea had struck me. My cousin's husband had gone to game five on a bus with the Orioles organization. He's not from Philly, doesn't really didn't have a connection to the Phillies, and I figured he wouldn't want to come all the way back from Lancaster, PA, for the end of the game after the late night I'm sure he had on Monday. I was right.

He said I could have the ticket stub as long as I promised to give it back after the game. I was going to SEE history happen! All I had to do was rearaange the work schedule, drive 2 hours west to get the ticket, and drive back in time to make it down to the game before all the traffic.

With the celebration that I knew would be happening, I wasn't putting my car anywhere near the stadium, nor Center City where who knows what might happen to it in the ensuing celebration. I found a nice parking spot out of the way on 11th and Washington, took the subway down to Broad and Pattison, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I'd made it. At this point I was so exhausted from the day's journey to get the ticket (and from satying up all night on Tuesday rearranging my work schedule and getting my work done) that I opted for coffee instead of beer.

I couldn't believe I'd made it this far and now was feeling so tired going in. //Wake up, man! This is it!//

But looking up at this sight as I walked it, all my energy and excitement came back: "Next year's always the year in Philly." I was humming the lyrics to a song I'd written years ago and sometimes performed with [|BeatnikBrown]. Going in, I thought I'd never be able to sing that song again once we win. And that was going to be fine with me.

Walking around the stadium before the first pitch, I saw Mitch Williams. I'm sure I don't need to explain the significance of this to anyone. :) You could feel it in the air -- this was the night. Can you feel it from the pictures?







Next came the (re-)introduction of the starting lineup as play resumed two days later in the bottom of the sixth inning.

"Number six, first baseman... (//M.V.P.!!! M.V.P.!!!//) Ryan Howard... (//M.V.P.!!! M.V.P.!!!//)"

media type="youtube" key="STUkCzE0f8Y" width="425" height="350" 7th Inning Stretch //Root, Root, Root for the Phillies...// media type="youtube" key="JZ_U16vNkyA" width="425" height="350"

LIGHTS OUT

Then it was time. Finally. The moment we've been waiting 25 years to experience... media type="youtube" key="5woKP8L-1H8" width="425" height="350"

The stadium was increible, but I didn't need to see Bud Selig and the trophy ceremony. I needed to beat the crowd out of the stadium, take the subway up to City Hall, and get myself out on Broad Street. The crowd came to the stadium. Ducking beer bottles and fireworks that went askew, high-fiving and hugging my way through the crowd, I made it to Broad and Pattison and got on one of the first subways going north packed with Phils fans. I can only imagine what the rest of the subway trains were like as the majority of the crowd spilled out, but I made it on pretty quicky and was on Broad Street in no time.



I saw dozens of friends out there on the street. It wasn't all LOVE. There was some embarassing behavior. (Just type "Phillies World Series riots" into YouTube to see what I mean). But for the most part, it wasn't that bad. People were mostly just excited, shocked, and in a euphoric state of disbeleief as it slowly sunk in thoughout the night. //The Phillies are World %#&!ing Champions!//

Getting away from the craziness after a few hours, I found out the party wasn't limited to Broad Street. A few blocks away, on 18th and Chestnut, I loved watching this car stop and block all lanes of traffic for a few minutes just dancing in the streets. People were stuck in traffic on both sides, but no one seemed to care. media type="youtube" key="2EE1sjgtsT8" width="425" height="350" As you can see at the end of the video, even the driver of the firetruck got in on the act, inviting everyone to climb up on the truck and celebrate. I found out later that he (the driver) wasn't on duty or anything. He'd just taken the firetruck out for a joyride. Check out that [|story]! Man, only in Philly.

We walked around for hours just taking it all in, and ended the night with cheesesteaks, of course. :)

I felt great. I still feel great. We all do. Now we won't need to be so negative about sports in Philly anymore. This championship should last us a few years now, right? Definitely.

Or at least until Sunday's birds' game. Let's go EAGLES.