October 05, 2007
Talk of Miracles
Mike Littwin reports on a lack of cuss words:
The following account, I swear, is true. Two nuns -- wearing Phillies' jerseys over their regulation gear -- were stalking out of Citizens Bank Park as the eighth inning ended Thursday.
"Can you believe this?" one of them said.
And what's strange about this scene -- given the unhappy state of Phillie fandom, given the unhappy state of the Phillies themselves, given the, uh, unmistakably, unhappily odd decisions of the Phillies manager -- was that the nuns may have been the only people here who weren't saying as they walked out, "Can you bleepin' believe this?"
Which brings us, rather circuitously, to Todd Helton, who was standing in the Rockies' clubhouse after Game 2 and being asked to explain how the Rockies could win 16 times in 17 absurdly pressured games.
In other words, he was being asked to do what religions do -- explain the inexplicable.
"I wouldn't say it's a miracle or anything," Helton decided, "but it's pretty dadgum close."
And the strange thing is that he really did say "dadgum."
He also reports on an indecisive Phillies crowd:
A veteran Phillies observer told me to watch the fans for a clue. If they're booing at the end, he said, it means they have hope. If they clap politely, it means they don't.
They didn't do either. Those still at the park mostly stood there stunned.
Which is the reasonable reaction to what the Rockin' Rockies are doing.
You don't see stunned silence at the end of a game too often. The first time I noticed it was after the Yankees came back to defeat the Royals in 1977. Freddy Patek, the hero of the series, grounded into a double play to send the Yankees to face the Dodgers. As the Yankees celebrated, the Royals fans just stood there, not clapping, not booing, just not believing it was over. That's where the Phillies fans stand right now.
Decent folks do not befoul a sandwich of any sort with cheese whiz. Rocky Mountain High, baby!
I was at Games 1 and 2. My takeaway following the beat down in Game 2 is that no one knew how to react. We just got beat badly. There's still a glimmer of hope, but most feel that yesterday was the last home game of the season. No one wants to give up, but no one can see a major redirection in the series.
The only fun we had yesterday was trying to (playfully) pressure people from NOT buying Coors Light in our section. That beer stands for all that is evil in Colorado and the Rockies.
We we're a successful in those efforts and the Phillies were on the field.
As much as the Phillies are exciting, it's great to see the Rockies "come out of nowhere" and make a run for it. I think of the Cardinals last year - not quite the best team until the last part of the season.
That's kind of how Mets fans felt, so, you know. Deal with it, Phillies fans.
I was at the Michigan-Appalachian State Game last month. When Michigan's field goal attempt was blocked as the clock ran out, no one moved or spoke for at least five minutes. The crowd was beyond shocked. It's the strangest crowd experience I've had.