Return to Red October, Part 2
Return to Red October, Part 2
The bat spike game.
We looked at the start of the Phillies’ 2022 playoff run here, as they mounted an improbable 9th-inning comeback against the Cardinals in St. Louis. Now we check in on NLDS Game Three.
Friday, October 14, 2022.
3:16 p.m.
For 4,025 consecutive days, the Phillies did not play a postseason game in Philadelphia. For 4,025 consecutive days, fans were left to stew over a devastating 1-0 loss to the Cardinals in Game Five of the 2011 NLDS. For 4,025 consecutive days, our last collective memory of Red October was Ryan Howard tearing his Achilles tendon. The dramatic, nightmarish end to a five-year golden era of Phillies baseball.
But today, the Phils were back.
3:51 p.m.
After exorcising their Cardinals demons with two victories in St. Louis, the Fightins had advanced to an NLDS against a 101-win Braves squad. The teams split the first two games in Atlanta.
The winner of Game Three, today in Philly, would be heavily favored to win the series.
Six-year-old Maggie Foley, who didn’t even exist in 2011, makes her way toward the ballpark. She is blissfully unaware of the suffering that Phillies fans experienced for the last decade. And she has no doubt that her team is going to win today.
Her father, scarred from a lifetime of Phillies disappointment, isn’t so sure. But he is determined to enjoy the moment. The Phils are back in the playoffs and they have even won a series. Anything more would just be gravy, he tries to convince himself.
He hangs back a bit to snap some photos of the confident little girl with her foam finger pointing skyward. It is already a great day.
Maggie and her dad grab hot dogs, settle into seats under the scoreboard, and twirl their new rally towels.
The treasured fabrics handed out at Citizens Bank Park, white in the ballpark’s glory years, are red in 2022. Some sort of MLB rule change that few Phillies fans had noticed because… well, why would they. Nobody makes rally towels for regular season games.
But now, 45,000+ red towels swirl madly in the stands. A perfect backdrop for the return of Red October.
4:37 p.m.
Aaron Nola has the ball to start the game.
The Phillies were up and down throughout the 2022 regular season, and right through the end of September it was unclear whether they would make the playoffs. But it always felt like Nola and Zack Wheeler at the top of the rotation could make the Phillies a dangerous postseason team. And that’s exactly how things played out in the Phils’ wild card series against the Cards, as the two pitchers combined to throw 13 scoreless innings.
Wheeler also pitched well in NLDS Game Two. He held the Braves scoreless until a two-out defensive miscue in the sixth inning by Rhys Hoskins led to three runs. Two more runs than the Braves needed, it turned out, as the Phillies lost 3-0.
While the shutout loss wasn’t Wheeler’s fault, it was still a loss. And the Phils would really be in trouble if Atlanta beat Wheeler and Nola back-to-back.
Nola throws his first pitch and Ronald Acuna, Jr. laces a single to left field.
5:27 p.m.
No score yet in the bottom of the third inning.
Atlanta left two runners stranded in the first, then didn’t do much in the second or the top of the third. The Phillies, meanwhile, were without a baserunner through the first couple innings. Young Braves phenom Spencer Strider had struck out three of the first six batters he faced.
Here though, Brandon Marsh works a leadoff walk.
Strider strikes out the next batter, Jean Segura. But with Bryson Stott at bat, an errant pickoff throw allows Marsh to scramble all the way to third base. In a game that looks to be a pitchers’ duel, it feels critical to get Marsh home.
Stott rises to the challenge, ripping a double to right field to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. The crowd absolutely loses their minds.
Surrounded by towering adults, looking up from her seat, all Maggie can see are the red rally towels waving. It’s like the canopy of a rain forest. Her dad is screaming like a crazy person, but he looks happy.
Maggie screams and swirls her own towel.
It’s the first postseason run the Phillies scored at home since a Hunter Pence single plated Jimmy Rollins on October 2, 2011.
5:39 p.m.
Still the bottom of the third. Rhys Hoskins is at bat.
After the Stott double, the Braves intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber to get to the struggling Hoskins. Thus far in his postseason career, the big first baseman has one hit and no walks in 19 plate appearances.
The offensive slump alone would be enough to catch some heat from Phillies fans. But Hoskins is also struggling defensively, even when graded on a slugger’s curve. For the team to do much more in the playoffs, they’d need Hoskins—more than anyone—to turn things around.
And, well… speaking of turning things around.
Strider’s first pitch is a 93 mph fastball. Hoskins turns it around at 107 mph to deep left field. A cheer rises, not in the familiar manner of a crowd tracking a potential home run, but instead with the instant electricity of a no-doubter.
Hoskins spikes his bat, triumphant.
The Citizens Bank Park bell sways and tolls. Barely anyone can hear it.
Maggie screams as loud as she can and waves her towel. Her dad is hugging strangers. Everywhere she looks, fans are throwing wild, violent, haymaker high-fives.
Suddenly, for both Hoskins and the Phillies, everything is different.
JT Realmuto follows up Hoskins’ home run with a single and, after a pitching change, Bryce Harper hits the Phillies’ second home run of the inning. 6-0, good guys.
The Phillies are no longer a scrappy underdog looking for some luck. They’re the team in control of this series, and they’re getting closer to an NLCS berth. After this inning, the team wins over even its most pessimistic supporters.
7:58 p.m.
The game was probably over after the bat spike, but the rules say you have to get 27 outs. In the end, the Phillies scored nine runs and the Braves scored one. Connor Brogdon pitched a clean ninth inning to end it.
A sold-out ballpark serenades Hoskins and his teammates with Dancin’ on My Own as they leave the field. Nobody wants to go home. Fans waited 4,025 days for this moment, and they were going to savor it.
Maggie is still singing as she makes her way outside, holding her dad’s hand. “I told you they would win, daddy.” (She did.)
“I knew they would too,” replies Dad. (He absolutely didn’t.)
Dad will probably never get over 2011. That pain just doesn’t go away. But after today, there were some new Citizens Bank Park postseason memories, and the old wounds wouldn’t hurt quite as bad.
Tweets of the week.
Real-time reactions to this game from October 2022:
I still don’t fully understand how Jean Segura did this:
https://x.com/TimKellySports/status/1581047783481434113?s=20
Love this description. Hoskins was taking out his personal frustrations, but it was cathartic for all of us:
https://x.com/MentionPod/status/1581052271252471808?s=20
We’ll get to Bryce Harper next time. But it’s worth noting that he was already on fire in the NLDS:
https://x.com/CSeidmanNBCS/status/1581038721905803264?s=20
I mean. How beautiful is this? Can’t wait to do it again.
https://x.com/philliessports_/status/1581024086943498240?s=20
Aaron Nola’s tenure in Philly has been complicated. But when he is on, it’s a beautiful thing. From the wildcard-clinching win in Houston into the playoffs, he was on.
https://x.com/byalexcoffey/status/1581057610727706624?s=20
Exclusive new artwork from Dan Pasternack.
Here’s what it would look like if you re-branded the Phillies entirely around Garrett Stubbs’ “Nobody is more beaned up than the Phillies, we drink so much coffee bro” quote. Personally, I like the version in the throwback colors:
This week in 2008.
The 2008 Phils ended their regular season on September 28 with a 92-70 record.
On September 20 they beat the Marlins on the road, 3-2. Joe Blanton struck out nine over five innings. Chad Durbin, JC Romero, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge provided scoreless relief. It’s hard to overstate how vital the bullpen was to this team’s success.
Coupled with a Mets loss, the win put the Phillies in first place in the NL East to stay. (The Mets still led the Brewers by 2.5 games for a wild card spot on this date. They’d blow that, too.)
Jamie Moyer led the Phils to another win over the Marlins on September 21, 5-2. The next night, the Fightins returned to Philadelphia and beat the Braves for their tenth win in eleven games. When the day ended, they had a 2.5 game lead over the Mets with five games to play.
The Phils dropped the next two games of their series with Atlanta: a 3-2 loss behind Cole Hamels on September 23, followed by a 10-4 rout on the 24th. But here’s the big news from September 24:
After an off day on the 25th, the Phillies began a season-ending series with the Nationals on September 26. Ryan Howard hit his 48th home run of the season in an 8-4 win. The Mets lost that day, and the Phillies’ magic number was down to one.
On September 27, the Phillies took a 4-2 lead into the ninth. Lidge was 40/40 in save opportunities at this point, but he found himself in some trouble: after three hits and a walk, the Nats whittled the lead to 4-3. They had the bases loaded with one out. And Ryan Zimmerman was at the plate.
Carlos Ruiz blocked a ball in the dirt for ball one. Zimmerman fouled a ball off for a strike.
Then, suddenly, it was over. Lidge induced a ground ball double play. You couldn’t script a more fitting end, as the ball went from Rollins to Utley to Howard. The Big Piece raised his arms in victory as he caught the ball for the final out.
For the second consecutive season, the Phillies were in the postseason. But unlike the previous year, they were about to make some noise.
Sidenote: The Phils won the season finale the next day with this hangover lineup:
S. Taguchi LF
E. Bruntlett SS
T. Iguchi 2B
G. Jenkins RF
C. Coste 1B
M. Cervenak 3B
G. Golson CF
L. Marson C
K. Kendrick P
Phillie you forgot about.
Lou Marson played exactly one game for the 2008 Phillies, on the last day of the regular season. The 22 year old made the most of his opportunity, going 2 for 4 with a home run.
Marson would also make a handful of appearances for the Phils the next season. But fans probably remember him most fondly for being part of a trade for Cliff Lee on July 29, 2009.
This is the section of the newsletter where I make you look at dogs.
As always, thank you for reading and GO PHILS! Time to make some new postseason highlights.