Phillies fans hung in until the last out

Dylan Keenan's gesture in the fifth inning of last night's World Series game said it all. Up to then, the 31-year-old die-hard Phillies fan had been enjoying watching Game 6 at Kildare's, a Manayunk spot. After Hideki Matsui knocked in his sixth run of the game, giving the Yankees a 7-1 lead, he put down his beer, got up from the bar, and walked outside.

He needed air. He needed an escape.

But there was no escape.

Keenan, decked out in his Phillies hat and sweatshirt, went back inside to catch the ending. But many of the other faithful at Kildare's weren't so faithful. By 10, they were already leaving.

When the Phillies were only down 4-1, in the fourth, he wasn't quite so upset. In fact, the Manayunk resident was even philosophical.

"I'm hoping for a comeback," he said. "If not - it's been a great ride. And, thanks for last year."

Like so many fans in the bar, he was frustrated that these powerhouse Phillies were not their powerhouse selves.

"They're not playing like they should be playing," he said, "like they played all year."

But no sooner did the bar begin to feel desperate, then Ryan Howard, finally, awoke and hit an opposite-field home run. Kildare's erupted in cheers, and for a moment there was life inside the bar. A score of 7-3 was a lot easier to accept than 7-1.

St. Joseph's roommates Alexarae Wojnar, Danielle DeBernardo, and Jenna Martino, all 21, began high-fiving and cheering along with the rest of the bar.

"We believe," Wojnar said, "that's be-LEE-ieve."

"We're a comeback team," DeBernardo said.

"See, here we come," Martino said.

"I'm from New York. I'm a Yankee fan," said Kaitlin LaBarbera, a fourth roommate.

They like her enough to have brought her along, anyway.

Fans in the bar were looking for any reason to cheer, and boo. When it appeared a fan in left field interfered with an attempt by Phillies leftfielder Ben Francisco to reach over the fence and catch a foul ball, the bar erupted in boos.

As the Phillies' chances began slipping away with each passing inning, the bar patrons increasingly became more glum. But this crowd was also young, and when you're in your early 20s, life can only get so morose.

Most of these fans would have no problem waking up tomorrow and continuing on with their lives. And the good news: less than five months until opening day!

When Chase Utley was called out on a check-swing third strike to end the top of the seventh, a collective groan rolled through the bar, followed by anger at the New York-loving umpire.

"That's bull," said Keenan, an electrician who is currently out of work. "We get no respect."

As the commercials came on the television screens all through the bar, the patrons formed their own parade - mostly out the door.

This annoyed Keenan almost as much as the score.

"If you're from Philly, you don't [expletive] leave!" he said. "You stay to the last out."

The girls from St. Joe's weren't leaving, and they weren't alone.

"We still be-LEE-ieve," Wojnar repeated.

When Howard went down on three strikes on three pitches in the top of the eighth, it seemed the Phillies fans spirits went down as well. Five outs to go. Looking awful grim. But then Raul Ibanez hit a two-out double in the eighth, and hopes flickered still.

When Carlos Ruiz came up to bat in the ninth, with one out, someone chanted, "I love you, Chooch."

Keenan echoed the sentiment: "Come on, brother, you got this."

Ruiz walked.

But Rollins flied out. Two outs.

Shane Victorino was down to his last strike, and a chant, a song, came out from somewhere in the bar: "It's not over! It's not over."

But then it was.

The Yankees were World Series champions.

Keenan took the swizzle stick out of his mouth, threw it down on the bar, and headed out into the night.

The students from St. Joe's were a few steps behind him.

They had hung in there until all hope was gone.