This Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant

They have blown it in the past, but this year losing the pennant is extremely painful…here’s why

2023 Phightin’ Phils Lost the Pheeling: Bryce Harper, Alex Bohn, Brendon Marsh, Karl Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto

Like the rest of Phillie-dom, I was depressed at the loss of the 7^th game of the division series to Arizona, which would have put them in the World Series. I have been a life-long Phillies fan as was my father who died in 1980, before the Phillies won their first World Series, never having seen them win one. Tragic as far as I’m concerned.

I was inspired by the Phillies of my youth, a pathetic bunch of losers who were perennial cellar dwellers to write a play called “The Year the Phillies Blew the Pennant,” which they have done several times.

But the big one was 1964 when, being in first place in the National League since opening day, suffered an unthinkable collapse during the final two weeks of the season.

The "Phold of '64", as it became known, is one of the most infamous collapses in baseball history.  Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game that year and they were ahead in their division by 5 ½  games, only to crash and burn and be beaten out by the St. Louis Cardinals.

1964 World Series Tickets Never Got Used

It was a good play and it was stage in Bridgeton with mostly amateur actors, but still came out well. It dealt with some great themes, racism, sexism, war, greed, friendship.

The Eagle Theater in Hammonton, a terrific little Equity Theater in Hammonton had a reading of it, then scheduled a full production of it in the Spring of 2020, which was canceled at the last minute because of Covid. Heart breaking!

I changed the name of the play to “Back to the Warning Track,” afterwards, because it gave the wrong impression that the play was actually about the Phillies when it was actually a metaphor for the main character of the play. 

A man who was always a loser and suddenly comes into a streak of good luck just as the Phillies ascend to the championship, only to see everything in his life collapse at the same time as his team fell from grace.

But I digress.

I was raised on the 50’s Phillies, Richie Ashburn, Stan Lopata, Granny Hamner, Ed Boucher, Robin Roberts, et. al.  Never a winning season—ever! Being associated with a losing team long-term can leave you with a generally pessimistic attitude about life, a malaise of the soul, if you will.

The Phillies of My Youth Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn

So now I get to the point. This attitude is ingrained in Philadelphia sports fans psyche. A psychic wound that has lasted a generation, maybe more, which is why, when the rare time Philadelphia team becomes a winner, the City and Philly area including South Jersey fans go bonkers. Pent-up generational frustration gets released.

I myself, am a fan, but if the Phillies put a losing team on the field, I lose interest. Some would call me a fair weather fan, but the way I see it, is you don’t put in the effort you don’t get the reward of my attention.

On the other hand, there are the fanatics. Crazy die-hards who spend their time and fortunes clinging to the Phillies every win or lost, which defines their identity. It’s only fitting that the mascot is called the Fanatic. (The best one in sports, I might add.)

And here I need to add a twist. I have shifted my beliefs from my traditional religious roots to believe in the Taoist concept of the universe. I mentioned this in my previous post, “End of the Line.” I am certain of nothing, but their concept is the closest thing to what I feel could be the truth. That is to say, the universe is conscious.

Unlike Christianity, Judaism, Islam, the universe doesn’t judge. It just is, and we are the universe, two eyes peeking out accumulating experiences and information for its consciousness. We are not out of the universe, we are the universe, just as we are everything else--the sky, the sea, the planets, the stars, the galaxies ergo, “We are the Phillies.

That is why when the team loses we lose personally. We feel it in the gut. When the team wins we win personally. It gives our ego an amazing boost. (Which, again, according to the Taoists, is just as illusion that you have to discard)

Luckily, for me, I see professional sports as entertainment. I don’t bet, so if they win, I gain nothing. If they lose, I lose nothing except a few hours in front of the TV getting some enjoyment from the game.

I felt really bad when I saw the Phillies bats go silent, and the Phillies lose their chance at being in the World Series this year, but that was yesterday, and like the song says, “yesterday is gone.” (If you’re a Taoist, yesterday never existed, but that’s a whole different subject.)

So…Fly Eagles Fly!

NOTE: The National League pennant winner of a given Major League Baseball season is the team that wins the championship—the pennant—of MLB's National League (NL). This team receives the Warren C. Giles Trophy and the right to play in the World Series against the champion of the American League (AL).

-from Wikipedia