Magical season comes to Rockie end
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by Bberg11
From my blog, The Lazy Athlete
They say that all good things must come to an end. Phillies' fans found out over the past week that that is all too true; unless of course your a Colorado Rockies' fan. Late Saturday night, the Rockies finished off their sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, bringing the Phils' season to a screeching halt. One week ago, we were all celebrating the first division championship, and playoff appearance, in 14 years. Now, we're wondering what, if anything, the Phillies will do to improve this offseason. But, despite the complete 180 in the past week, the Phillies, and their fans, should really be proud of the season they had.
First off, it is quite clear now, that the Phillies simply ran into a buzzsaw, in the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies finished the regular season, and tie breaker game, winning 14 of their last 15 games. They have now won 17 of their last 18, and storm into Arizona, playing perhaps the best baseball in the Majors right now. The Phils finished their regular season on fire, but they ran into the one team that was playing better. The Rockies were simply not going to be stopped, and they deserve all the credit in the world.
No matter how you view the playoff series against Colorado, the Phillies had a historic season. Coming back from 7 games behind the Mets with 17 to go will go down as one of, if not the biggest, comebacks/collapses in baseball history. But it was how they did it, more than what they did.
The Phillies overcame poor pitching and injuries, in addition to the large deficits, all season. With a team ERA over five, and an explosive offensive, the Phillies came from behind to win 48 times this season. That means that in more than half of their wins, they were trailing and one, or more, points. You never wanted to turn off a Phillies game this season; no matter what the score was. That alone is enough to make this season one of the most memorable in the history of this team.
The city of Philadelphia hadn't experienced October baseball in 14 years, and this year was just the second time in 24 years that the Phillies were in the postseason. So it's natural to want to the team to go far, and to get there fast, because in this city, you never know when you will get there again. But the core of this team is young and talented, so there is no reason to expect that this team won't be in the running for more division titles in the years to come. So, I can honestly say that I am not that upset at the quick exit of my team from October. In my opinion, we got beat by the best, and perhaps more importantly, there is plenty of hope for the future.
