The "Phighting Philadelphia Phils" Story

It was an ordinary day. We had just returned from our annual trip with Jerry and Just Sue. Went to Barbados this year and had just the best time ever. Great place to visit and the people are all so friendly. Only thing that went wrong was I couldn't watch my Phillies play in the the World Series. I have followed the Phils since I was a kid. I did go through a period when I cheered for the Giants, but that was because they had my all-time favorite player, Willie Mays, on the team. Phils are so close to us and the local press follows them that they are a natural to follow. Went to games by train when they played in Connie Mack Stadium and then went to watch games at the synthetic turf field at Veteran's Stadium. Have really enjoyed their move to Citizens Bank Park a few years ago and have followed most of their current players through the farm system. Well, this year they won the Eastern Division title for the second straight year. They beat the Brewers in the Division Series, 3 games to 1 and played the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Ended up beating them 4 games to 1 and made it to the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. On October 15th they beat the Dodgers 5-1 to win the right to play in the World Series. On October 16th we left for Barbados. I had been waiting since 1980 to watch the Phils play in the World Series again, and now I'm going to miss most of it. May get to watch the final game or two if the Series goes the whole way to the 7th game. Series started on Oct. 22nd in Florida and the Phillies won the game 3-2. I did not own a laptop at the time and couldn't watch it on the computer and being that Barbados is English and loves futbol and cricket, I had no chance to watch it on TV down there. Read about it the next day in the Miami Herald. On that day the Phils lost game number 2 by a score of 4-2. Game 3 was played on Saturday, Oct. 25 in Philadelphia and the home team won, 5-4. Before the game, country singer Tim McGraw spread his dad's ashes on the mound at the ballpark. It was in 1980 that his dad, Tug, recorded the final out when the Phils won the 1980 World Series. If only I could have seen him put the ashes on the mound! I had to read about it the following day!! On Sunday the Phillies beat the Rays 10-2 to take a commanding lead in the Series. That set the stage for game 5. Could the Phils win their second World Series title? The game was the final one that would be played in Philadelphia during the series. The game started and the Phils took a quick 2 run lead in the 1st when the Flyin' Hawaiian, Shane Victorino, drove in Werth and Utley. The Rays tied it with runs in the 4th and 6th and then the rains started to flood the field. The game was suspended after the Rays batted in the 6th with the score tied 2-2. It was the only game ever to be suspended in World Series history. It continued to rain the next day, Tuesday, and the completion of the game was pushed back until Wednesday. After finding out about that I had some hope that I may get to see some of the World Series. We left Barbados mid-afternoon on Wednesday, October 29. Game was to be completed that evening. Got into Miami as the game was about to resume in Phila. Boy did I hustle through Customs and Immigration to get to a TV set in the airport. We had more than an hour layover before our connecting flight to Phila. I found a few Phillies fans gathered around a TV in a bar at the airport and we watched the game together. The Phils went ahead in the bottom of the 6th when Werth drove in Jenkins who had doubled, but the Rays scored in the top of the 7th to tie the game again. And then ...... my wife came hunting for me. The plane was about to load. NO!! "We can take a later flight," I said to her. She looked at me like I was nuts. I got the hint and said bye to my new found friends watching the TV. Well, the Captain on the plane was a Phillies fan also and as soon as we boarded, he began a play by play of the rest of the game over the loud speaker for all the passengers. Really a neat experience. Almost like being there. The Phils scored in the 7th when Felix drove in Bruntlett who was running for Burrell who had doubled to lead off the inning. The game ended 5-4, Phils, with a huge cheer on the plane. Remember, we were headed to Philadelphia with a whole plane of passengers who were Phillies fans. We didn't get back to Phila. and to our car until after mid-night, but the fans were still celebrating in Phila. On our drive back to Lancaster on Route 1, we had to stop for a traffic light. Carol grabbed my Phillies hat off my head and put down her window and waved it in the air. Wow! Everyone starting blowing their horns. Another really neat experience! I may have missed most of the games in the 1980 World Series, but I still had enough of an experience to write a story for you to read. And, the trip to Barbados was FANTASTIC. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the top are Ryan Howard homering in game 4 of the World Series, Cole Hamels who was the MVP of the World Series, and LDub, with a smile on his face,in the Philadelphia Airport on his way to find his car.