myerstownherald.com

By ERIC FISHER
This World Series thing is becoming addictive. And it’s a habit we’d prefer not to kick.
After going 125 years with just one World Series championship, the Phillies are in position to capture their second straight World Series title.
Remember, this is a team that had only been to five World Series before last season. The franchise hadn’t even won a playoff game for 15 years. But last year changed all that.
The Phillies are no longer the losingest team in professional sports. Well, technically, they still have the most losses of any pro sports franchise in North American history. But the 10,000-plus losses no longer define the Phillies.
Now, the Phillies are winners. They know it. Their fans know it. The opposition knows it. Everybody knows it.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the ninth inning of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series with a 4-3 lead and flamethrower Jonathan Broxton on the mound, the Phillies knew they had a chance. They took advantage of their opportunity with Jimmy Rollins’ clutch two-run, walk-off double, lifting the Phillies to a 5-4 triumph and changing the complexion of the series.
When the Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody in the eighth inning of Game 5, it was the Dodgers’ opportunity to alter the series. Disaster was looming. But Ryan Madson calmly retired the next three batters, just as everyone seemingly knew he would.
It’s cool to see the Phillies play with so much confidence. It’s even cooler to see a fan base genetically ingrained with cynicism and a perennial sense of impending doom transformed into a fountain of positivity.
No longer do Phillies fans expect to lose. They expect to win. At times, they almost seem to will their team to victory.
The Phillies, of course, aren’t lacking in the will-to-win department. Nor are they lacking in ways to win.
These Phillies have numerous paths to victory. They can outslug you. They can outpitch you. They can beat you with their speed. They can beat you with their defense.
The Dodgers and Colorado Rockies can attest to the Phillies’ versatility. Both teams were shut down by ace left-hander Cliff Lee. Both teams, especially the Dodgers, were beaten by the Phillies’ bats.
If they aren’t scoring many runs, the Phillies aren’t done. Their pitching can keep them in the game.
If their starting pitcher struggles, the Phillies aren’t done, either. This team is never out of the game. If the bullpen can prevent further damage, there will be plenty of time for the Phillies’ offense to get cranked up and get them back in the ballgame.
The Phillies have Ryan Howard, who drove in a run in each of the Phillies’ first eight playoff games this year. Howard is a star. His power is scary.
The Phillies have Chase Utley, who has reached base safely in a remarkable 25 straight games. Utley shook off two errors earlier in the Dodgers series, refusing to allow those mistakes to affect him at the plate.
The Phillies have Rollins, who shook off a mediocre series at the plate with the series-changing double in Game 4.
The Phillies have Jayson Werth, whose five playoff home runs will make teams think twice about pitching around Howard.
Let’s not forget Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez, Pedro Feliz and the overlooked Carlos Ruiz, all of whom contribute at the plate and in the field.
The offensive outbursts, however, came against average pitching. The Phillies didn’t put big offensive numbers against Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, or Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. As I wrote before the NLCS, the Dodgers’ starting rotation doesn’t scare anyone.
The Phillies will be facing a tougher task in the World Series. At press time, the Phils’ World Series opponent hadn’t been decided, although the Yankees could have wrapped up the ALCS by the time you read this column.
The Yankees’ rotation would include C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. That’s not exactly Clayton Kershaw, Vicente Padilla, Hiroki Kuroda and Randy Wolf.
On the other hand, the AL representative would be facing Lee, Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez and either J.A. Happ or Joe Blanton. A rotation featuring two Cy Young Award winners and a World Series MVP isn’t exactly chopped liver.
The Phillies are the first team to reach the World Series in consecutive years since the Yankees ended a three-year championship run in 2000.
They are the first NL team to reach the World Series in consecutive seasons since Atlanta in 1995-96.
Their crowning achievement would be to repeat as World Series champions, which hasn’t been done by an NL team since Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine turned the trick in 1975-76.
As we wait for the World Series to begin on Wednesday, let’s remember last year’s World Series celebration, at which Hamels said, “One thing that I can not wait to do is go down that Broad Street parade again … and again … and again!”
For a fan base that suffered for so many years, it’s amazing to realize that Hamels’ words may come true.