Taylor Buchholz gets to enjoy home for the next few days. The Colorado Rockies reliever, via Springfield (Delco) High School, gets to sleep in his own bed, in his own room. He gets to see his parents, Fred and Lynn, and gets to pet his own cat, Sam.
Other than that, these next 2 days will be surreal for Buchholz. He grew up a Phillies fan, was drafted by the Phillies in the sixth round out of Springfield in 2000. He played with a number of the players who will be in the Phillies' dugout this afternoon for the opening of the National League Division Series. There is a framed picture on top of a bookcase in which his parents proudly display Taylor in a Phillies uniform after being drafted.
"This is a strange situation, because I am a Phillie fan and I played with a lot of those guys over there," said Buchholz, who is 6-5, with 4.23 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings. "I mean, Carlos Ruiz was my first catcher in professional baseball, and I was drafted and came in the same year as Chase Utley. I'm friends with a lot of those guys.
"You're playing against the team you grew up cheering for, against the team that originally drafted you, I guess you can say it's unique, different, odd. Certainly all of the above. No one really expected both of us to be here."
But Buchholz and his teammates arrived in Philadelphia at around 8 Tuesday morning, after their dramatic, come-from-behind, 9-8 victory in 13 innings over San Diego in a one-game playoff Monday night. He checked in briefly with his parents, and quickly got some much-needed rest.
It has been a strange and momentous trip for Colorado to even arrive at this point. The Rockies have won 14 of their last 15. They even own a 4-3 regular-season edge over the Phillies - Buchholz is 0-1 against the Phils this season with an 11.57 ERA, surrendering three runs in 2 1/3 innings.
"You throw that out now, this is the playoffs," Buchholz said. "This is the first time around for me playing at this high a level, like it will be for both teams. But there is a chemistry about this team that never quits. I know the people in Philly wanted San Diego, but they got us instead. We're a hot team that's playing with a lot of confidence right now."
Buchholz never left the field Monday night, after throwing 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief against the Padres, remaining there to watch Matt Holliday score from third with the winning run.
"I was nervous the whole game, nervous while I was pitching, nervous watching the game, it was crazy," Buchholz said. "But when Matt came in and scored the winning run, it was incredible. It was the greatest moment of my life, because you don't think it could happen. You're down two runs, Trevor Hoffman was on the mound. We just kept believing."
Fred and Lynn Buchholz will be in the stands today and tomorrow. If Taylor is called in from the bullpen, they'll live with each pitch.
"It's great fun watching one of my kids achieve something, but it is nerve-racking," said Fred, who is semiretired from the real estate business. "I drink very little, except when Taylor is pitching. Then I drink a lot. A friend of mine e-mailed about what's been going on, the Rockies' success, and how Taylor is doing. He asked me how I cope with it. I told him with a bottle of V.O. next to me."
Lynn laughs, but she too admits there is a pressure as a parent, watching your son perform. It could be tenfold today.
"It's brutal, it's exciting, you really do live with what Taylor does," Lynn said. "I think we feel it more than he does, because he has to concentrate on the game. Taylor is living the dream every little kid who picks up a baseball dreams of, and that's making it to the majors. My only wish was that he was a position player."
So to pass the time, Taylor laments over the sorry state of his beloved Eagles. He thinks back to the 1993 World Series game he attended at Veterans Stadium, and how dreary he felt when they lost. After the season, he'll return home to Springfield and sleep in his own bed, in his own room and . . .
"I'll watch the Eagles every week, but I suppose now I'm the enemy," Taylor said, laughing. "It is kind of strange. You live your whole life rooting for a team and now I'm pitching against my hometown team. It just goes to show you never know what can happen. But I'm a Colorado Rockie now, it's the uniform I wear and I'm going out to win." *
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