A great night of baseball

Of all the nights to have a great game, a great winning game, tonight is the night, the second of the series against the first place Washington Nationals.

The Taney Dragons, that illustrious Little league team that has won our hearts, is on this last leg of being feted. After appearing in New York on two morning shows, and riding down Broad Street for a city parade,  we wait for them to enter the ball park to walk down the red carpet. Greeted by family, friends and the whole Phillies team, this is why I decided to come two nights in a row to see baseball.

The night is beautiful and clear, our seats-wow- in the 320 section row 4, a perfect spot to view the city, the pitcher, the batter and the whole field. Janet is a veteran who usually writes on the scorecard. Nancy is a childhood Mets fan who has not been to a game for many years. I'm the one who has some knowledge, an unusual and fun role to play. The pre game entertainment opens with about 7 groups of young Irish dancers. The game is then postponed for the 30 minutes that the Taney Dragons are honored, ending with the traditional champion's run around the field and then each player throwing out a 'first pitch' to a Phillies player.

There is a bit of anxiety knowing that Kendrick is pitching. He performs in his usual style for the 1st inning, allowing (only) 2 runs. But the Phillies answer back right away. Jimmy Rollins, Dominic Brown, Grady Sizemore, Marlin Byrd. It proves to to be a good night of baseball after all, as the Phillies storm ahead to win the game 8-4 against the still first place Nationals.

[spoiler alert-the Phillies sweep the Nationals, winning all three games]

So many games, so little time

I'm now on a roll of Phillies games that I never anticipated I would be enjoying back in June or July when we never knew which team to expect at the plate. We called them the schizophrenic Phillies, one day hitting, the other day nothing, downright embarrassing. We have several fun outings, long outings  (see August 6), and then comes----- 

The Taney Dragons

The Taney Dragons?  Yes, the Philly Little League team with an ace pitcher contending for the title at the Little League World Series that caught the attention of the region, the nation and the world. The games thrill us just for the fact of watching Mo'ne Davis the young 13 year old girl pitch like a pro and nail biting final innings. At 70 miles an hour, she shows strength, poise, and a savvy calm that keeps Philly and the world on the edge of our seats for the week that they play.
Ultimately they lose in the semi finals against the tremendous Chicago team, but the city is still in love with these young athletes, rallying around them as hometown heroes

I attend one of the Dragon watch events at City Hall with about 200 people, when the Phanatic arrives with several ballgirls, stacks of free tickets in hand. While in the middle of his customary antics, the ball girls give out the free coupons for tickets. Each coupon is worth 2 tickets and I grab 4 of them. After some posts on Facebook and a few emails enough people want to attend the Tuesday night game against the Washington Nationals, a team that is currently hot and in first place in their division.
Then I hear that the Taney Dragon parade and pre game ceremony will be on Wednesday night. With some  trips to the box office to do the exchanges, I get tickets to both games.

For the first, I  am joined by Mike and Joe along with Rachel, Mike's daughter and her children Mia, Daniel visiting from Denmark for a wedding. While Daniel, who has played softball explains the basics to Mia a first timer, We (meaning me and Joe) are excited that Cole Hamels is pitching and are not disappointed for the first 6 innings when he pitches brilliantly supported by a single homer and an RBI home run. He is able to keep the Nats at bay until the 7th inning, when his change up pitch does not go over the plate. With the bases loaded, the Nats eventually score 2 runs for a 3-2 game. Even I know that another pitcher is needed to come into the game, but no one is warming up in the bullpen. So, in the next inning another run evens up the score.

It was only until the bottom of the 8th that  a runner who reaches first on a reviewed play, is driven in by a long sacrifice play by Chooch to keep the Phillies ahead again. Giles pitches well in relief and so does Papelbon (last night he almost blew the save). Maybe Papelbon should be called the relief pitcher, for the relief we feel when he makes it through the inning unscathed.

Another win for the Phils and the 2nd against the Nats in this homestand.

But it doesn't end there. Tomorrow is Taney day, another game, and next week the Yankees, then Sept 9 the last game with Peter. Wonder when the last home game is scheduled? Time to scour StubHub for one last game to close out the season.

Phantastically Phrustrating Phun game with Phriends

Tonight, or rather last night, or rather this morning's game was the third time I've gotten to stand up for a 14th inning stretch! And each time we won, so the several thousand of us diehard fans who stayed sang  the traditional "He's got High Hopes" as more of a scream than a song.

The game ended at 12:15 am with a win for the Phillies in the bottom of the 15th inning, but not before Peter, Joe, Marc and I had moved down to the 300 section with some other wonderful rowdy folks who cheered and jeered and screamed and sang "Take me out to the ballgame" for the second time.