GaryMrMets
05-29-2004, 07:56 PM
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sports/s052904c.htm
Look at this: Phillies are a hit
Saturday, May 29, 2004
PHILADELPHIA
About a thousand times over the last few years Phillies manager Larry Bowa has tried to impress upon people just how good this thing can be - great crowds, electricity, winning baseball.
It was hard to believe him, sometimes, on those nights when Veterans Stadium looked like a ghost town and with teams that seemed to find ways to come up just short.
And then you see a night like Friday, in front of a standing-room-only crowd against the Braves - only the team that has won this division something like a hundred years in a row. Tomas Perez won it with a home run in the 10th inning, the place was rocking, and it felt like an announcement that this year might finally be different.
"You're starting to see it," Bowa said.
"It's a little different flavor," said Doug Glanville, who played in the empty Vet in the late '90s and was on deck when Friday's game ended. "The electricity has been there all season. You're really getting a sense of what this can be.
"It's going to be sheer pandemonium if we win something."
Well, that will still take some doing. Widely picked to win the division in a walk, the Phillies are today a game behind the Marlins in the NL East.
Because they are the Phillies, they will likely make it harder than it should be. They stumbled out of the gate. They've squabbled in the clubhouse. They've kept up with the local tradition of a horde of injuries - which really is getting weird, if you think about it.
The Eagles were beset by injuries, especially on defense. The Sixers sometimes took the floor with eight healthy players. The Flyers were losing a defensemen a day by the end.
And Friday the Phillies took the field with more than $20 million sitting on the sidelines, due to injuries to Jim Thome, Wagner and Placido Polanco. Perez was starting in Thome's place. And he tied the game in the eighth with a double, and won it in the 10th to send a big crowd home deliriously happy.
Under normal circumstances, this is about the time people discover the Phillies. The Flyers are done, the Eagles have exhausted much of the debate about their number one draft pick and the Sixers season is, mercifully, a distant memory.
Except that this year the Phillies have been on people's minds, it seems, all along. The average attendance has been more than 39,000 (second-best in the National League) - a number that's a lot about the new ballpark.
But it's a little about the team. After watching the Eagles and Flyers come up short, and the Sixers disintegrate, sports fans now turn their lonely eyes to the Phillies.
"People are hoping we get to the finish line," Phillies GM Ed Wade said. "Nobody wants to get there more than we do. It's our job to manage the expectations. Because we know there are no sure bets."
Long-suffering Phillies fans just want a chance.
Travis Morgan is a 13-year-old first baseman for the South Jersey Rage, a youth team that plays out of Gloucester City. He loves baseball and gets excited about the Phillies.
The reason Morgan's story caught Pat Burrell's eye, however, has nothing to do with baseball. It has to do with the way Morgan is trying to play the game with one arm.
Morgan lost his right arm in a car accident a year ago Friday. Burrell occasionally brings kids to Phillies games as his guest, and when Morgan's story came to him Burrell invited the family down, sat them in his private box and brought Morgan to the field to meet some of the players.
Morgan was a right-handed pitcher, and is now trying to learn to pitch left-handed. So Burrell brought over Billy Wagner, who after breaking his right arm learned to pitch lefty and went on to become . . . well, Billy Wagner. Burrell encouraged Morgan to keep practicing.
Bowa walked over to say hello, and when Bowa asked Morgan if he could do anything to make the day more special, Morgan had a request. He asked that Bowa get into an on-field argument with the umpire. Bowa laughed and said he'd do what he could.
By the time Morgan and his family walked away, they were chattering excitedly about what a great day this was, what a great trip to the ballpark.
The Phillies would like that to be a common experience this summer.
Look at this: Phillies are a hit
Saturday, May 29, 2004
PHILADELPHIA
About a thousand times over the last few years Phillies manager Larry Bowa has tried to impress upon people just how good this thing can be - great crowds, electricity, winning baseball.
It was hard to believe him, sometimes, on those nights when Veterans Stadium looked like a ghost town and with teams that seemed to find ways to come up just short.
And then you see a night like Friday, in front of a standing-room-only crowd against the Braves - only the team that has won this division something like a hundred years in a row. Tomas Perez won it with a home run in the 10th inning, the place was rocking, and it felt like an announcement that this year might finally be different.
"You're starting to see it," Bowa said.
"It's a little different flavor," said Doug Glanville, who played in the empty Vet in the late '90s and was on deck when Friday's game ended. "The electricity has been there all season. You're really getting a sense of what this can be.
"It's going to be sheer pandemonium if we win something."
Well, that will still take some doing. Widely picked to win the division in a walk, the Phillies are today a game behind the Marlins in the NL East.
Because they are the Phillies, they will likely make it harder than it should be. They stumbled out of the gate. They've squabbled in the clubhouse. They've kept up with the local tradition of a horde of injuries - which really is getting weird, if you think about it.
The Eagles were beset by injuries, especially on defense. The Sixers sometimes took the floor with eight healthy players. The Flyers were losing a defensemen a day by the end.
And Friday the Phillies took the field with more than $20 million sitting on the sidelines, due to injuries to Jim Thome, Wagner and Placido Polanco. Perez was starting in Thome's place. And he tied the game in the eighth with a double, and won it in the 10th to send a big crowd home deliriously happy.
Under normal circumstances, this is about the time people discover the Phillies. The Flyers are done, the Eagles have exhausted much of the debate about their number one draft pick and the Sixers season is, mercifully, a distant memory.
Except that this year the Phillies have been on people's minds, it seems, all along. The average attendance has been more than 39,000 (second-best in the National League) - a number that's a lot about the new ballpark.
But it's a little about the team. After watching the Eagles and Flyers come up short, and the Sixers disintegrate, sports fans now turn their lonely eyes to the Phillies.
"People are hoping we get to the finish line," Phillies GM Ed Wade said. "Nobody wants to get there more than we do. It's our job to manage the expectations. Because we know there are no sure bets."
Long-suffering Phillies fans just want a chance.
Travis Morgan is a 13-year-old first baseman for the South Jersey Rage, a youth team that plays out of Gloucester City. He loves baseball and gets excited about the Phillies.
The reason Morgan's story caught Pat Burrell's eye, however, has nothing to do with baseball. It has to do with the way Morgan is trying to play the game with one arm.
Morgan lost his right arm in a car accident a year ago Friday. Burrell occasionally brings kids to Phillies games as his guest, and when Morgan's story came to him Burrell invited the family down, sat them in his private box and brought Morgan to the field to meet some of the players.
Morgan was a right-handed pitcher, and is now trying to learn to pitch left-handed. So Burrell brought over Billy Wagner, who after breaking his right arm learned to pitch lefty and went on to become . . . well, Billy Wagner. Burrell encouraged Morgan to keep practicing.
Bowa walked over to say hello, and when Bowa asked Morgan if he could do anything to make the day more special, Morgan had a request. He asked that Bowa get into an on-field argument with the umpire. Bowa laughed and said he'd do what he could.
By the time Morgan and his family walked away, they were chattering excitedly about what a great day this was, what a great trip to the ballpark.
The Phillies would like that to be a common experience this summer.