Return to Red October, Part 1
Return to Red October, Part 1
Is it too soon to get nostalgic over 2022? Let's find out.
Friday, October 7, 2022.
8:42 a.m.
“Good morning Phillies fans let’s get hyped” tweets one handsome Phillies enthusiast to start the day. The post is accompanied by an old viral clip of a toddler named Will leading cheers at Philadelphia’s 2008 championship parade.
Later in the month, local news would check in on Will. Fans would learn that the little boy from the parade is now a grown-ass man. The Phillies parade clip is 14 years old, and the team hasn’t played a postseason game since 2011.
But on this day, after many years in the desert, the Phils are back.
2:07 p.m.
Cardinals starting pitcher Jose Quintana throws a called strike to Kyle Schwarber, and the game is underway.
Most baseball fans greeted the Phils’ October return with a yawn. Yes, they made it to a Wild Card series. But they didn’t exactly roar their way into the playoffs. They went 7-13 in their final 20 games, finished with 87 wins, and barely beat out a mediocre Brewers team for the sixth seed in the National League.
Their reward for a lackluster September was a best-of-three series in St. Louis, kicking off in the middle of a weekday afternoon. Phillies fans are tuned in, taking sick days or “working from home.” But the game doesn’t get much hype nationally. Whatever attention it does receive focuses mainly on St. Louis and their retiring legends, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.
Pujols and Molina were young men in their primes when the Cardinals beat the Phillies in the 2011 National League Division Series.
4:22 p.m.
Pitching dominates most of the day. Quintana holds the Phillies scoreless through 5.1 innings, allowing two hits and one walk. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler throws six shutout innings and induces a fly ball out to start the seventh.
With Wheeler at 96 pitches and a couple lefthanded bats due up for St. Louis, manager Rob Thomson turns the ball over to lefty flamethrower Jose Alvarado. Alvarado had been lights-out down the stretch, allowing just one run in 22 appearances dating back to August 3.
Alvarado gets Brendan Donovan to ground out, then walks Dylan Carlson.
Cardinals rookie Juan Yepez steps to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Yepez swings at the first pitch he sees.
363 feet later, the ball lands just inside the left field foul pole for a two-run home run. Cardinals fans explode in celebration.
5:02 p.m.
The situation is grim for the Fightin Phils. It’s the top of the ninth inning, and St. Louis still leads 2-0. Rhys Hoskins works a full count but strikes out swinging. One down.
Broadcasters rattle off statistics that prove the Phillies are doomed: St. Louis hasn’t blown a two-run lead in the ninth inning in 93 postseason games; the Cardinals’ win probability is 97%, according to the folks who calculate such things; Cards’ closer Ryan Helsley posted a 1.25 ERA in the regular season.
J.T. Realmuto is up next for the Phillies. He’s played the second-most regular season games among all active MLB players without a postseason appearance. It doesn’t look like he will get to appear much more in 2022.
But Realmuto singles to left.
Helsley has trouble finding the plate after that. He walks Bryce Harper. He walks Nick Castellanos to load the bases. Finally, he hits Alec Bohm with a 101 mph fastball to make it a 2-1 ballgame. Bohm hops up from the ground clapping. The St. Louis crowd quiets, feeling the momentum shift.
The next batter is Jean Segura, the only player in the league who waited longer than Realmuto for a postseason appearance. The Cardinals bring in ground ball specialist Andre Pallante, hoping for a double play to end the game.
Segura slaps a 2-2 pitch to right field, leaping his way down the first base line. Harper and Castellanos score to give the Phillies a lead.
Things escalate quickly after that. Edmundo Sosa, pinch-running for Bohm, scores on a fielder’s choice after Bryson Stott puts the ball in play. Segura scores on a single by Brandon Marsh (aided by a questionable defensive play, but scored a hit). Stott scores on a Kyle Schwarber sacrifice fly.
The Phillies lead, 6-2.
5:34 p.m.
The Cardinals score a run in the bottom of the inning. But Zach Eflin strikes out Molina to end the game.
Stott gleefully pours water on Segura during Jean’s post-game interview.
Dancin’ On My Own blares from the Phillies clubhouse.
The postseason run is on.
Read part 2 here.
Tweets of the week.
A twist this week: “Tweets of the Wild Card series week in 2022.” Some of these real-time reactions are too good not to share:
The Yepez home run had BSP_Sully cursing out Budweiser.
AH Pod clipped video of the Cardinals’ “best fans in baseball” hitting the exits early in a playoff game.
Phillies Muse clipped Jean Segura’s little Mario “wa-hoo” leap.
I don’t usually link to myself here, but I’m very proud of this work.
We dragged the SAID guy out of retirement and he was fucking everywhere lol.
This sentiment is pretty much universal in the real-time tweets.
Here’s video of the Stott sneak attack on Segura.
Exclusive new artwork from… oh no, not again.
AI prompt: Alec Bohm gets hit with a 101 mph fastball but he is happy.
If you have Phillies artwork to share, please reach out to me on twitter or email me at: foley.john@gmail.com. Am begging you.
This week (and last week) in 2008.
The 2008 Phils were 86-68 at the end of September 19, one half game behind the Mets in the NL East.
The Phillies split a doubleheader against the Mets on September 7, ending the day where they began: two games behind New York. Ryan Howard hit his 40th home run though, making him the first player in franchise history to hit 40 home runs in three consecutive seasons.
On September 8, the Phillies beat the Marlins, 8-6. Jimmy Rollins stole three bases in three attempts, giving him 41 SB in 43 attempts for the season. But the Phils dropped the next two games to the Fish, and found themselves 3.5 GB the Mets for the division and 4 GB the Brewers for a wild card spot.
This is where things get good.
On September 11, the Phils won the first of four games at home against the Brewers. Howard hit his 43rd HR, Ruiz had 2 RBI, Jamie Moyer pitched well, and Brad Lidge closed it out the 6-3 W.
The Phillies then won the second game of the series, 7-3 behind Cole Hamels. Rollins went 3/5 with a home run, 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.
Then, on September 14, the Phils swept Milwaukee in a huge doubleheader. In game one, Howard’s 44th HR erased an early deficit, and an 8th-inning HR by Shane Victorino broke the game open. In game two, Brett Myers pitched a complete game, allowing just two hits and one walk. The four-game sweep was complete, and the Fightins were right back in the wild card race.
But they had also gained ground on the Mets, and had their eyes set on a division title. On September 16, they picked up their fifth straight win, 8-7 over the Braves. Home runs from Jayson Werth (23), Carlos Ruiz (4), and Ryan Howard (45) powered the victory. The Phils leapfrogged the Mets for first place in the NL East.
The Phils picked up another win on September 17, aided by a Matt Stairs home run. And they won again the next night, giving them a sweep of the Braves and their seventh straight W.
The winning streak ended the next night with a 14-8 loss to the Marlins, and the Phils fell briefly out of first place.
HOWEVER: September 19 would be the last day they spent behind the Mets in 2008.
Shameless plug.
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Phillie you forgot about.
Mike Maddux. Four-time Cy Young winner, eight-time All-Star, four-time ERA title holder, 18-time Gold Glove winner.
Oops, that’s Greg Maddux.
Mike Maddux. Zero-time Cy Young winner, zero-time All-Star, zero-time ERA title holder, zero-time Gold Glove winner.
Mike played four seasons for the Phillies, 1986 through 1989. He went 10-13 in those years with a 4.51 ERA in 64 games (33 starts). On April 29, 1989, our favorite Maddux threw the only complete game shutout of his 15-year career… in a game that ended after five innings.
Mike completed his shutout with just 62 pitches. Pretty sure his little brother Greg never beat that!
This is the section of the newsletter where I make you look at dogs.
Thank you for reading and GO PHILS!
- John