What else can I say? The Phillies had a Rocktober of their own and went 24-6 when it counted most to claim their first title since 1980, and the city's first since 1983. I didn't know any people from Philadelphia before I went to Penn State, and now that I've met tons of them, I count a couple Philadelphians among my closest friends.
That's what this series was really about. Sure, a few players deleted the words "postseason shrinkage" from their resumes (Ryan Howard and Bradford C. Lidge, I'm talking to you). But it was more about the fans of Philadelphia. Yes, they swear like Ari Gold on tourette's. Yes, they guzzle beer like John Daly at happy hour. Yes, they booed Santa and threw batteries at the Cardinals. Take them away from sports, however, and they're as chill as the rest of us.
That made it even easier to congratulate them after beating the Rays in Game 5's dismembered limb. I normally pull for my friends' teams when mine are out, and offer congrats if one of them goes all the way. Heck, I even gave FLS hate-free props when the Steelers won the Super Bowl a couple years ago. In any case, Philadelphia fans have finally gotten that silverback ape off their back. Now they can excitedly recall the last time one of their teams won a championship. They can proudly say, along with everyone else, "Now I can die in peace."
And if they're dead, then I'm the last guy alive.
Sports fans could debate the guidelines for futility until they're blue in the face. My city has more teams! I like one of my teams more than the others! You just choke, we never make it! We've had it way worse than you!
Pushing aside all the arguments, here's one true, undeniable fact: Outside of Cleveland, I don't know a single person who's never seen one of their teams win a championship.
I have plenty of friends who pine for the Cubs, but they never forget about Michael Jordan's unparalleled time in Chicago. Same goes for my Dad's side of the family, who cheered on the Bills through four straight Super Bowl losses, but still watched them win AFL titles in 1964 and 1965.
It's different for me. I know the catalogue by heart. Art Modell snatched the Browns and won a Super Bowl elsewhere four years later. Our last coach before the theft has won three Super Bowls since. The Cavs hit the Jordan wall five times from 1987-1994, and missed the 2005 playoffs despite having the conference's second-best record at the All-Star break. The Tribe was two outs away from winning the World Series, only to watch a fifth-year team rally to beat us. We were up 3-1 in the ALCS and had our ace going at home in Game 5, but it still wasn't cushion enough. That's just the stuff I've experienced personally.
Oh, and we couldn't win the 1995 World Series with one of the best offenses in baseball history, keyed by one of the guys who knocked us out of the 2007 postseason, and put together by the guy who just managed the Phils to a title. Charlie Manuel had a nice little message after the victory:
"Tell them in Cleveland...we just won a World Series!"
We saw, Chuck. Congratulations.
If that's not enough, there's always someone who tries to downplay our losing, tries to deny us the only "title" we can really claim. Philly native and ESPN writer Jayson Stark wrote a big piece about the relief this championship brings to the city, and one of his statistics is that Philadelphia's teams had gone a combined 9,029 games since their last title. Well, Cleveland's gone 1,854 games longer. Without a fourth team. And without the Cavs for five of those years.
But that's just sour grapes. Is all this really that important? I'd take the well-being of my family and friends a million times over before I'd take a Browns, Cavs or Indians championship. It's just that I spend so much time on these teams. They're one of my favorite leisure activities. Because I invest myself in them, it gets harder and harder to watch others celebrate, no matter how much I like them.
Maybe those celebrations keep me going. Or it could be the fact that there are millions who share my dream. I may be the last man on Earth, but I can't forget:
1 comment:
Mets. Jets. Knicks. Islanders.
Sure I was born in 1985, one year before the Mets won it in 86 but I didn't see it.
Good post and good luck to Cleveland. Hope things are going well in LA.
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