On Saturday, the Phillies entered the day 2 games up on the Mets with 2 to play. The Mets (with Johan on the hill) had a date with the Marlins at 1:10, and the Phils were scheduled to play the Nats at 3:55. My parents and I decided that morning that if the Mets were in a position to win the game, we would go see the Phils because they could clinch their second consecutive NL East crown. Last year, I watched it on a 3 inch box on my computer, so I wanted to see this one in person. I also had tickets to Sunday's game, so I was going to see them clinch, one way or another. With the Mets up 2-0 in the 8th inning and Johan in complete control of the fish, we took the short trip over the bridge to Citizens Bank Park. We got to the park around 4, so I figured I would get a decent deal on scalped tickets (the game was very sold out.)
Apparently, lots of people had the same idea that we did, because a half inning into the game, tons of people were still scalping tickets and arriving to the ballpark. I talked to about 10 scalpers while my parents were parking the car, all of whom were looking for $75/tickets (get the fuck out of here) and I was not paying it, especially 2 days before a Jewish holiday. So I met this one "charming" gentleman, who was also asking for $225 for 3 tickets. I told him I only had $130 (a complete lie) and he walked away. I also mentioned that I didn't need 3 seats together and he started to perk up. He asked me for $150 for 3 and I told him again I only had $130. After a few more minutes of haggling, the price remained where I said, $130. I went to pay him and realized I only had twenties. So I gave him 7 and asked for change, to which he of course tried to jack the price up to $140. "Come on man, gimme the tip. It's only $10. You know you should. Come on!" I told him "No" about 10 times and told him I needed the $10 to buy a beer. That seemed to ring a chord with him and shut him up. $130 for 3 lower level tickets to the possible clinching game of the season. $111 face value. I love scalping. Especially when the scalpers tell me "This dude likes boys." But that's another story for another time.
We file in to the game mid way through the second inning. I send my parents down to the seats, and I decide I'm going to watch from the concourse. The view is certainly good enough. Not necessary this day though. The 4 seats behind my parents were not taken. I went down after the second inning, and was sitting in the 13th row down the left field line. This day is going perfectly, we have to clinch today.
I won't bore you with the details of most of the rest of the game. Jamie Moyer, old enough to be most of our fathers, pitched brilliantly, giving up 1 run that shouldn't have really happened. The place was electric the entire game, and the energy in the ballpark was absolutely amazing. I'm not gifted enough to be able to describe to you the feeling you get when 45,000 people are standing together, cheering for a common purpose, and willing their team toward victory. It's one of the best experiences you can have. However, the offense just could never put the game out of reach, and the Nats wound up "hanging around" as Teddy KGB likes to say. Going into the 9th inning, the Phils had a 4-2 lead, thanks to an insurance run added on in the 8th inning. So with 3 outs remaining, we gave the ball to our closer, Brad Lidge, who had saved only 40 of his 40 opportunities during the first 160 games of the 2008 regular season.
This 9th inning was not meant to be an easy one, as a quick strikeout preceded a single, walk, and another single to drive in a run. With the top of the order coming up and Lidge clinging to a one run lead, my heart began churning. I guess I would describe it by saying that if someone could put your chest in a vice and slowly turn it tighter, that was what I was experiencing during this 9th inning. After another single loaded the bases, I was really starting to sweat. Could Lidge really blow his first save during the most important win of the season? With Ryan Zimmerman at the plate, anything was possible. After a few pitches, Zimmerman stroked a solid ground ball up the middle. Jimmy Rollins, our gold glove shortstop, dove to his left to stop the ball in the hole. He tossed from his knees over to Utley standing at 2nd, who fired a strike over to 1st to turn a fantastic double play. Just like that, heartburn over, game over, Phils are division champs! I jumped around like a raving lunatic for a few minutes, hugged everyone in sight, and pretty much made a fool out of myself (I really wish this was on YouTube). Then, I shared a victory beer with Ron, yes folks you saw that correctly, my father actually drank a beer. Actually, he spilled half of it on my mom which was pretty damn hysterical, then he drank the beer.
For my $130 investment, I was sticking around to see the celebrations. The celebration was pretty wild, but definitely more subdued from the previous year. You could see that this was only the first step toward this team's goal of winning the World Series, a good sign that we wouldn't be looking at a 3 game sweep again in the first round. They did the typical champagne and beer shaking and shooting all over the place, and this all confirmed that Brett Myers is a complete lush. After a while, all the players came out on the field to celebrate with the fans. I got to shake hands with Pat Burrell and Greg Golson (Phils rookie, future base stealer extraordinaire) which was a pretty cool experience. I then leaned over onto the field and stole some dirt. I'm not sure exactly what I plan on using it for or doing with it, but it seemed like something I needed to do at the time. It must have been a pretty good idea also because I saw like 10 people in my section do the same thing right after I did it. I know, always a trendsetter.
For all you Pittsburgh fans, I truly hope you get to experience this one day. It's a great feeling, and you guys deserve it for all the shit you put up with year in and year out. I'm still looking forward to the Keystone Series for the NL Pennant. But that's like 20-30 years down the road, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Go Phils, make your city proud and go far in the playoffs. I'll see you on Wednesday at Game 1.
- Kaps
Song of the Day: Notorious B.I.G. featuring Bone Thugz - Notorious Thugz
1 comment:
jealousy isn't strong enough of a word. damn med school.
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