Bill Conlin: Thanks to Rollins and Ruiz, Phillies in decent shape at All-Star break

EIGHTY-SEVEN GAMES into the 1993 season, Jim Fregosi's loose-as-ashes Phillies had it on cruise control. They had been in first place all but 1 day in early April and had turned the National League East into a rout.

They were 56-31 with a five-game lead that had been whittled down from 11 1/2 on June 14, when their epic, franchise-best start had exploded to 45-17. One year earlier, the Phillies were dead last after 87 games, 12 games back with a dismal 36-51 record.

When they clinched the division in Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, the lead was still six games. Those unruly Phils never played a series after the third week in April where their lead was at stake.

So here we are with the All-Star break bisecting Games 87 and 88 after a surreal four-game sweep of the Central-leading Reds that was part miracle and part World Cup football. Friday night featured one of the great ninth-inning rallies in franchise history and a 10th-inning walkoff win that followed the exquisite tension Thursday night that ended with a walkoff homer by Brian Schneider in the 12th. On Saturday, when Germany defeated Uruguay, 3-2, in the 82d minute for third place in the Copa Mundial, the Phillies defeated the Reds, 1-nil, in double extra time.

There was nothing unusual about the game other than rookie lefthander Travis Wood taking a perfect game into the ninth. It was broken up by Chooch Ruiz' leadoff double; he doubled again in the 11th and scored the golden run on a single by Jimmy Rollins.

And while Spain and Holland were nil-nilling into extra time Sunday afternoon, Cole Hamels was replicating Roy Halladay's magnificent no-decision Saturday. An encore of the Ruiz-Rollins Show produced the third-inning run that held up for six excruciating innings and a 1-nil win. The 84th consecutive sellout quietly pushed attendance closer to 2 million. Brad Lidge tightroped to the save.

All that neat stuff said, the Phillies will come back from the much-needed R & R looking at a bigger challenge than any of the club's six pennant winners faced after 87 games.

Thanks to the Mets' victory over the Braves Sunday, the Phils are just 4 1/2 games behind Bobby Cox's well-rounded final edition. In 1950, the Whiz Kids never trailed the Dodgers by more than four games and enjoyed a 7 1/2-game lead on Sept. 20. But a staggering 4-9 finish left them needing a final-game victory in Ebbets Field to avert a playoff. Robin Roberts delivered the pennant - carrying it lefthanded.

The storm-tossed 1980 Phils were the same 47-40 as this injury-challenged ballclub. They were in third place, two games behind. It would get worse. After a doubleheader loss in Pittsburgh on Aug. 10 that featured a volcanic eruption by Dallas Green between games, the Phils trailed by six. They were 69-60 on Labor Day, tied for first, and clinched the division in Montreal in the 161st game of the season.

When general manager Paul Owens replaced Pat Corrales as manager, the Phils were tied for first place - with a 43-42 record. Two games later, they were 43-43 after 87. (They had played a suspended tie with the Expos.) But the Wheeze Kids had an impressive last gasp in them. Joe Morgan and Gary Matthews led the Phils to an 18-5 finish and a six-game title, their easiest until 1993's runaway.

The World Series champions of 2008 came to the 87-game milepost with a 3 1/2-game lead and a 48-39 record. But the second half of that season was a walk through a minefield. On Sept. 10, the Phils trailed the Mets by 3 1/2. But a 13-3 run down the stretch that included a road sweep of the Braves and a series win in Miami eased the pressure while the Mets were gagging. The Phils won the East by three games, but the final standings didn't reflect how hard it was. A lot of character was built that September.

Last season's twopeat was a relative milk run, despite a ragged start where they were 5 1/2 games back on April 19. But they came to Mile 87 at 49-38 and a five-game lead in a race that by Sept. 3 had been stretched to 8 1/2 games.

My finger has been ready to pull the write-off trigger more than once during the first half's helter of injuries and skelter of poor play that reached epidemic proportions during an 8-17 swoon that threatened to make them a .500 team.

But just when you thought you were getting out . . .

They reeled you back in again with crazy bursts of desperation baseball, which is the most exciting kind because it's when players like Wilson Valdez and Dane Sardinha seem to shed the skin of mediocrity and assume an aura that contradicts their career numbers.

The biggest development during the Reds series was the Phillies seem to have their mojo back. There can be little doubt that the Keeper of the Mojo is the shortstop. And the Sorcerer's Apprentice is nicknamed Chooch.

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