euphoria, remember this: Your baseball heroes lost 73 games this season.
They won 89 games, too, but that isn't the point. Great baseball teams lose games, plenty of them. That might be hard to
believe around here, but it's true; it's been in all the papers.
It's the nature and the rhythm of baseball. It's a long season and stuff happens. Bullpens get sloppy and teams lose games they shouldn't. When it happens to the Phillies, it's painful and there is communal rage and nearly everybody is a bum.
Then, 21 hours later, it's another game and your team is out there trying to balance
ledgers.
Now, the Phillies are down to three losses, not 73 losses. If they drop three games against the Rockies, their remarkable season will end. If they win this series, and keep winning, everybody will be a hero. Maybe even Adam Eaton, this year's designated whipping boy, firmly in place to keep Philadelphians
happy and on edge, all at the same time.
I sat in Fenway Park in July, watching the Red Sox and
mesmerized by their fans. No matter what a Boston player did, there was no dissent, no booing. The Sox lost that night, blowing an early lead to Toronto. The bullpen gave away the game, and the Sox couldn't buy a hit with a runner in scoring position.
From the stands, all you heard and felt was love.
I was stunned. Where was the venom? The Sox lost, after all.
It was all so enlightening, watching fans unconditionally adore their team. It took a night in Boston for me to realize
what we had right here in
cold-hearted Philly.
We have the Phillies, with star players and hard-working players, being mostly worshiped by a fan base not
accustomed to giving
it up so easily.
There is a great story that perfectly defines the illogical nature of baseball and Philly, too.
Mike Schmidt struck out four times against the Montreal Expos in a 1983 game at Veterans Stadium. He did so in 12 pitches, the most efficient way possible.
On the 13th pitch, in the ninth inning, Schmidt hit the winning home run. Bum to hero, jeers
to cheers, with one swing of the bat. As you live and die with each pitch this series, remember that's how baseball works.
Adam Eaton, banished from the playoff roster for the Rockies series, should know that Mike Schmidt once lived in the same doghouse. Mike Schmidt, the greatest third baseman in
baseball history, an unhappy
tenant, waiting for tomorrow. *
- Chuck Bausman
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highandinside@phillynews.com.
