Broad Street Billy: 'Would I love a rematch,' one diehard says

STANDING WITH the Phillies fans at 30th Street Station yesterday, waiting to greet the Fightin's returning home from New York, Broad Street Billy loved Judy Maira of Bella Vista's mockery of Yankee slugger Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez's death stare.

Maira, a diehard since moving here in 1996, said, "I hate when A-Rod strikes out and stares at his bat like he's saying, 'All right, who did something to this bat? I know that wasn't me striking out. That was the bat. So who messed with it? When I find out, man, somebody's in big trouble!' "

SHANE TOO SHORT?: Then, B-Street Billy overheard Kris Gregory, 38, of Horsham, talking on the cell phone to her kid brother Matt, 26, who was teasing her about her crush on Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino.

"I like Shane," Gregory admitted. "But he's too short. I'm 5'9. He's 5'8.

"He's probably taller in his cleats," Broad Street Billy suggested helpfully.

"Hmmm," said Gregory, brightening. "You got a point there."

When Billy returned to the Daily News, his mailbox was filled with morning-after messages:

STINKIN' YANKEES: Mike Weick, of Holland, Bucks County, was crushed when the Phillies failed to get revenge on "the Stinkin' Yankees" for beating the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" in front of his heartbroken father, grandfather and Aunt Jean. "I only wish Ryan Howard had shaved his beard," Weick wrote. "What was he thinking anyway? After Game 1, that beard sapped his strength."

'MAN CAVE' MOJO: Kevin Sica of Quakertown, whose "man cave" den is a red-and-white vision of Phillies phanaticism, wrote, "Since I have been to spring training the past two years and the Phillies ended up in the World Series both times, I need to keep that string going.

"Soon, it will be time to book another trip with the kids to Clearwater. Pitchers and catchers report in only 100 days! And oooh, would I love a rematch!"

LIDGE IS A HEALER: Patrick Wood, who spent years wearing a wolf mask and howling for ex-Phils pitcher Randy Wolf, wrote: "It took me 10 years to get over losing the 1993 World Series. But this time, all I have to do is think about seeing Brad Lidge fall to his knees last year, and the pain lessens immediately. I yelled a lot during this last game, but unlike '93, which had me staring at the wall for a week, I just turned off the TV and, as I went to bed, I thought about that last pitch of 2008 and had sweet dreams."

BILLY THANKS YOU! Thanks for sharing your Phillies stories and photos! Let's march together down Broad Street next year!