Jim Salisbury | Phils taste sweet victory

For the last 14 years, starting with Joe Carter's crushing home run in the 1993 World Series, the baseball environment in Philadelphia has been dominated by disappointment, frustration and even anger.

Sure, there were times when the sun peeked briefly through the gray clouds. Jim Thome's signing in 2002, the opening of Citizens Bank Park in 2004, and Ryan Howard's MVP season of 2006 all come to mind.

Ultimately, though, the disappointment and frustration continued as the Phillies time and time again retreated behind the dark clouds and failed to make the playoffs. Maybe that's why this all tastes so sweet.

The fog has lifted. The sun is out. The Phillies are champions of the National League East.

Go ahead, roll that around your palate and savor the flavor a little. You deserve it. It's been a long time between drinks of champagne.

The Phillies are champions of the National League East.

Shout it from rooftops and paint it on fences. For the first time since 1993, the baseball season will continue beyond the final day of the regular season in Philadelphia. The Phillies are going to the postseason. They are one of eight teams who will have a chance of winning the World Series.

"We're in!" an ecstatic Chase Utley shouted between swigs of champagne after yesterday's emotional, division-clinching, 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

"And once you're in, anything can happen."

They're in.

In some ways it seems mind-boggling to even say that. This team, after all, started the season 4-11. Injuries ravaged the roster. Inconsistency and ineffectiveness plagued the pitching staff.

But through it all, the Phils did what they do best: They scrapped. They battled. They got up every time someone knocked them down. If there was ever a season in which they earned their moniker, Fightin' Phils, it was this one.

"I've never been around a team that likes to play the game more and has better chemistry than these guys," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Tough. Resilient. Courageous. These Phillies are also opportunistic.

They finished the regular season with 13 wins in their final 17 games to overtake the New York Mets, who (poor things) suffered through a historic disintegration, just as the Phils did in 1964. The Mets led the Phillies by seven games with 17 to play. They lost 12 of those games, including yesterday's finale, 8-1, to the Florida Marlins.

Had the Mets won yesterday, they would have squared off in a one-game playoff with the Phillies. Had both teams lost yesterday, there also would have been a playoff.

But there was no way the Phillies were losing yesterday, not after the Mets were trailing, 7-0, before the Phillies' game had even begun, not with the 24th sellout crowd of the season whooping it up, turning the stands into a delirious block party.

There was no way the Phillies were losing with Jimmy Rollins driving in a run with his 20th triple, Howard hitting his 47th home run, and Jamie Moyer pitching the way he did.

How 'bout that Rollins guy? Before the season, he said the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East. The little guy was right - and he's honest. After the win, he admitted the comment was a burden, but not enough of a burden to prevent him from putting up an MVP-worthy season.

And how 'bout that Moyer guy? At age 44, in the biggest game of his life, with the season on the line, he delivered 51/3 gutsy innings and did not allow an earned run. The Old Man and the Season reeled in the Phillies biggest win in 14 years.

"This is what you lay in bed dreaming about as a kid," Moyer said in the din of the Phillies' postgame clubhouse party.

Much has happened since the Phillies last popped champagne corks, and most of it wasn't good.

They had the worst record in the NL a few times, played in front of ghost-town-sized crowds at Veterans Stadium, and were snubbed by a draft pick named J.D. Drew. Ownership was criticized for being cheap and not committed to winning, and there were times when the shoe did fit. Two big stars, Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen, ripped management and got themselves traded. The Phils were eliminated from playoff contention on the final weekend of the last two seasons. The franchise suffered its 10,000th defeat, the most in pro sports, this year.

There were losses off the field, too. Richie Ashburn, Paul Owens and Tug McGraw all passed away. In March, another great and beloved Phillie, John Vukovich, left us. Throughout this late-season surge, you couldn't help but get the feeling Vuke was up there, waving his right arm, sending the Phillies home.

"Vuke would have loved this team's heart," Rollins said.

One scrappy team. One electrifying season. One division championship. Suddenly, the sun is out over Philadelphia baseball.

"A lot of big disappointments have been washed away today," said team chairman Bill Giles, who has lived through the last 14 years. "There was no reason to believe we'd win the division 20 days ago. But the character, heart and optimism this team showed is unbelievable."