A new shirt touts Phils' win - and Lee

Still basking in the glow of a second consecutive National League championship, a horde of Phillies fans crowded inside a Modell's in Center City last night for a glimpse of the man who will likely start the first game of the 2009 World Series: Cliff Lee.

Lee was at the store at 1528 Chestnut St. to unveil a new T-shirt that the sports-store chain felt best sums up the Phillies' run to the World Series: "Unbeleevable!"

"It's an honor to have your name on a T-shirt like this," Lee said as he slipped on one of the $19.99 shirts in front of fans and reporters.

From each shirt sold, $1.50 will go toward research to fight leukemia, a disease that Lee's 8-year-old son overcame after being diagnosed as a baby.

Wendella P. Fox, 58, of East Falls, said the shirt expressed exactly what was on her mind after the Phillies recorded the final out against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of Wednesday night's game.

"The first word that came to my mind was unbelievable," said Fox, a former chair of the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Kim Heckrote, 42, of Blackwood, said Lee, who was acquired days before the July 31 trading deadline, might have been a spark for the rest of the staff. "It can probably do a lot to help the other pitchers' morale to see a guy come in like that," she said.

"I think that last year you kind of felt like something was going to go wrong," said Arun Singh, a third-year medical student at Thomas Jefferson University. "It feels like Philly's a winner now."

Lee said he was a "little tired" from the festivities that followed Wednesday's win.

"It was a long night but a lot of fun," he said.

Singh said he celebrated with friends at a bar, but with caution. "We didn't want to go crazy until they repeat," Singh said.

Lee concurred.

"You got to enjoy each step, but we've got one more to take," he said. "The next celebration's going to be the best one of all."