My friends, the worm has turned.
This is the second time this decade that I am grappling with the weird transition as one of ballclubs goes from decades as a hapless also-ran and suddenly becomes “just another team.”
The Red Sox did it from 2004-2007. Now, instead of being the romantic Red Sox opera circa 1918-2003, they’re almost elevated to levels of scorn typically reserved for the Yankees. They spend too much. They’re overextended. Their stars are indulgent bums.
In 2007, as the Sox were cemented as a perennial contender, the Phillies jumped on the contending bandwagon and are in the process of turning themselves into a powerhouse. Suddenly, as a fan, you don’t sweat it when they get hot early in the year while anticipating the inevitable collapse. You relax, breathe deep and understand that they’ve got it under control and won’t collapse like 1964. When the manager swaps out eleventy hundred and fifty-two pitchers in 2/3ds of an inning you relax and think, “In Cholly we trust.” When the 7-8-9 batters are up in the bottom of the ninth and we’re losing by two runs you think, “We’ve got a legitimate chance to win this game.” When our terrifying closer takes the mound in the 9th you cheer him on, rather than booing him in your heart.
We pick ’em up when they’re down. We reward effort – even if unsuccessful. We stand by our men.
What a weird time to be a Phillies fan.