Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Sept 30, 2007 20:31:50 GMT -5
By Jan Hefler and Michael Vitez
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
Thousands of exuberant Phillies fans in championship-starved Philadelphia went wild with joy this afternoon as the team clinched the division championship.
The last game of the regular season ended 6-1, sending the Phillies into the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The sound of thousands of fans filled standing room-only Citizens Bank Park as the game ended and quickly spread across the region.
Under a brilliant fall sky, a sea of fans, most wearing red Phillies jerseys, roared as the team took an early lead over the Washington Nationals and increased it through the game. Meanwhile, the New York Mets, who were locked in a tie with the Phils for the division championship, lost badly, their season over in disgrace.
Phil Kellenbenz, 54, from Oxford Circle, who rode the Broad Street subway to the ballpark in his maroon, 32-year-old Greg Luzinski jersey, had high hopes.
Kellenbenz, who watched the Phils lose their last playoff game in 1993 and win their last World Series in 1980, said, "It's been the last century since we got in the playoffs. So today, our 21st Century memories begin."
This time, he said, he's more hopeful than ever.
"If they win, I'll go stone nuts," he said.
And if they lose, he said, he'll get ready for tonight's Eagles game.
Amanda Rave, 25, Bryn Mawr, was wearing an Utley jersey, red hoop earrings, red toenails. She and her boyfriend, John Grispon, 25, of Royersford, said they had iced four bottles of champagne back home for the victory party.
"They're definately going to win," said Rave.
"Even if they don't win," added Grispon, "we're going to drink it anyway" and watch the Eagles.
Amid the expectant joy was the bitter taste of historic disappointments.
The fidelity to the Philadelpha Phillies by fans is constant, but the mood of the ballpark is the opposite, changing with each new day, new game. Fans came to today's finale – with the whole season riding on the outcome – filled with hope, and optimism.
Before the game began, they were as sunny as the September sky.
A day earlier, Saturday's ballpark could have been renamed the Anxiety Bowl. Today's started out as the Hopeful Bowl, or Festive Bowl.
The feeling only grew as the game got underway.
Zach Marple, 19, and his friend Anthony Landolfo, 20, drove up from Somers Point arriving at 1:30 a.m. They spent the night in line, got their standing room only tickets at 9 a.m., had their faces painted and hair dyed red by 10, and were in the stadium by 11, watching batting practice.
"I can guarantee a victory," said Marple.
"I think it's been a great season and its only right for us to end on a great note and head to the playoffs," said Landolfo.
Elizabeth Kantruss, 84, of Stratford, N.J., came with two daughters and a granddaughter yesterday.
"I'm scared to death," she said before game time. "I've been through this too many times. But I'm happy and I'm hopeful today. There's something in the air today. I can sense it. Elation.
"I really think we're going to do it," she added. "But I'm scared."
Her daughter, Margie Gross, 55, of Wenonah, N.J., bought a box of tissues.
"Either way we're going to need them," she said.
"I love this team," added her mother, who watches every game. "I love Jimmy Rollins."
Asked to describe this season's ups and downs, she replied: "It's like life. It's exactly like your life goes. Today is like waiting for somebody to come out of an operation. Either they live or they die."
Today is fan appreciation day at the ballpark. Twenty minutes before the first pitch, Susan Solomon of Northeast Philadelphia, a fan, won $10,000. All she had to do was hit the ball out of the park.
The Phillie Phanatic moved the home plate from the outfield all the way to the warning track – all she had to do was hit the ball. She did on the third and last pitch.
"My heart is telling me they're going to win," said Harry Kaplan, 85, a season-ticket holder. He said the season so far, with all it's ups and downs, "has kept me in aspirins."
Deborah McCormick, of Barrington, N.J., wearing her 1980 Mike Schmidt jersey, "You got to be Tug McGraw today.
"You got to believe."
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
Thousands of exuberant Phillies fans in championship-starved Philadelphia went wild with joy this afternoon as the team clinched the division championship.
The last game of the regular season ended 6-1, sending the Phillies into the playoffs for the first time since 1993. The sound of thousands of fans filled standing room-only Citizens Bank Park as the game ended and quickly spread across the region.
Under a brilliant fall sky, a sea of fans, most wearing red Phillies jerseys, roared as the team took an early lead over the Washington Nationals and increased it through the game. Meanwhile, the New York Mets, who were locked in a tie with the Phils for the division championship, lost badly, their season over in disgrace.
Phil Kellenbenz, 54, from Oxford Circle, who rode the Broad Street subway to the ballpark in his maroon, 32-year-old Greg Luzinski jersey, had high hopes.
Kellenbenz, who watched the Phils lose their last playoff game in 1993 and win their last World Series in 1980, said, "It's been the last century since we got in the playoffs. So today, our 21st Century memories begin."
This time, he said, he's more hopeful than ever.
"If they win, I'll go stone nuts," he said.
And if they lose, he said, he'll get ready for tonight's Eagles game.
Amanda Rave, 25, Bryn Mawr, was wearing an Utley jersey, red hoop earrings, red toenails. She and her boyfriend, John Grispon, 25, of Royersford, said they had iced four bottles of champagne back home for the victory party.
"They're definately going to win," said Rave.
"Even if they don't win," added Grispon, "we're going to drink it anyway" and watch the Eagles.
Amid the expectant joy was the bitter taste of historic disappointments.
The fidelity to the Philadelpha Phillies by fans is constant, but the mood of the ballpark is the opposite, changing with each new day, new game. Fans came to today's finale – with the whole season riding on the outcome – filled with hope, and optimism.
Before the game began, they were as sunny as the September sky.
A day earlier, Saturday's ballpark could have been renamed the Anxiety Bowl. Today's started out as the Hopeful Bowl, or Festive Bowl.
The feeling only grew as the game got underway.
Zach Marple, 19, and his friend Anthony Landolfo, 20, drove up from Somers Point arriving at 1:30 a.m. They spent the night in line, got their standing room only tickets at 9 a.m., had their faces painted and hair dyed red by 10, and were in the stadium by 11, watching batting practice.
"I can guarantee a victory," said Marple.
"I think it's been a great season and its only right for us to end on a great note and head to the playoffs," said Landolfo.
Elizabeth Kantruss, 84, of Stratford, N.J., came with two daughters and a granddaughter yesterday.
"I'm scared to death," she said before game time. "I've been through this too many times. But I'm happy and I'm hopeful today. There's something in the air today. I can sense it. Elation.
"I really think we're going to do it," she added. "But I'm scared."
Her daughter, Margie Gross, 55, of Wenonah, N.J., bought a box of tissues.
"Either way we're going to need them," she said.
"I love this team," added her mother, who watches every game. "I love Jimmy Rollins."
Asked to describe this season's ups and downs, she replied: "It's like life. It's exactly like your life goes. Today is like waiting for somebody to come out of an operation. Either they live or they die."
Today is fan appreciation day at the ballpark. Twenty minutes before the first pitch, Susan Solomon of Northeast Philadelphia, a fan, won $10,000. All she had to do was hit the ball out of the park.
The Phillie Phanatic moved the home plate from the outfield all the way to the warning track – all she had to do was hit the ball. She did on the third and last pitch.
"My heart is telling me they're going to win," said Harry Kaplan, 85, a season-ticket holder. He said the season so far, with all it's ups and downs, "has kept me in aspirins."
Deborah McCormick, of Barrington, N.J., wearing her 1980 Mike Schmidt jersey, "You got to be Tug McGraw today.
"You got to believe."
