Why This One is Special

I've been a baseball fan since 1962 and during that time have had the good fortune to attend 8 World Series in 3 different cities and 5 different ball parks. In 6 of those Series, I saw the final game. Mets win in 1969, Yankees win in 1977 and 1996, Orioles lose in 1979, and Yankees lose in 2003. I also saw one Yankees-Mets game in 2000 and all the home playoff and Series games for the Phillies in 1993.

So where does this one fit in? I was certainly more excited in 1969 and 1977, but I was a lot more excitable way back then. But this year it just made me really happy. I've been watching this group of players develop for a long time and all this year I've been totally impressed by their focus and resilience and their absolute refusal to get down on themselves or give up. This was the first Series I've seen where one team won primarily because they were stronger mentally. The Phillies overcame every setback and got hot when they needed to be (24-6 in their last 30 games!). And they play really good baseball, fun baseball to watch. It's been a very easy team to root for. So as much as I'm happy as a fan and happy for the city, I'm especially happy for the players.

Which players? Let's see...

I've got no problem with Cole Hamels winning MVP. In many ways, the Series revolved around him and he did everything that was asked of him.

Jimmy Rollins had an inconsistent offensive year, but his spirit set the team's upward trajectory into motion and there's nobody I'd rather have a ground ball hit to with the game on the line.

Pedro Feliz can now say he drove in the winning run in the World Series. Didn't have a job on January 30.

Chase Utley plays the game the way man was intended to. Ryan Howard is a absolutely brutal fielder but an absolutely brilliant power hitter, unlike any I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch of them.

Pat Burrell was never as great as hoped, but he's been a consistent positive presence in the middle of the lineup.

Brett Myers is the ultimate head case, had the most amazing at bat of the postseason, and pitched way better in the Series than the box score shows.

Brad Lidge, so totally maligned for a couple of high profile failures, had as good a season and postseason as any reliever ever. Read the interview where he talked about how he felt before that last pitch and then marvel at how that state of being led to his throwing as perfect a pitch as you'll ever see. And Ryan Madson suddenly went from pretty good to amazing at exactly the right time.

Carlos Ruiz, who was a net negative offensively all season long, really raised his game when it counted.

Geoff Jenkins, a non-entity all year, especially in the clutch, had a career defining moment.

And then there's the scrap heap, most of whom we owe Pat Gillick thanks for. J.C. Romero (released last year- 2 Series wins this year!), Jayson Werth (the best offensive player in the Series), Shane Victorino, Scott Eyre, Chad Durbin (not so great of late, but a huge contributor in the first half when they were scuffling), Greg Dobbs, and last, but certainly not least, Jamie Moyer, who looked finished both before the Phils got him and again at the end of last year (and several times before that).

As an aside, I really liked the way Fox showed each individual player reacted to the final strike.

So now we're left with that game they play once a week. Just think how differently football would be played if they had to play 6 games a week for 162 games. It would look almost nothing like what we see now. And once that's over a couple months of guys rushing back and forth between nets and then in mid February we start all over again. I can't wait.