Phillies had a great season!

It is  now the end of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies, who  made a valiant effort to become the National League champs for the third straight year. It was a great year, so this is a chance for me to capture my memories and pictures of a summer and early fall filled with contentment,excitement, thrill, satisfaction, many exhilarating wins, poignant disappointments,  and some excruciatingly difficult  losses,  These posts will be about my many experiences seeing the Phillies, live, live, live. (oh, and one Yankees game, too), and other sports that come my way . You might even read more about hockey, figure skating, basketball, football and curling -and one of my favorite 'sports' -DANCE.    Ya never know!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Take me out to the ballgame. 7 regular games ,playoff  game 1. Pennant games  2 & 6

Take me out with the crowd. With 46,000 people in Citizens Bank Park Philadelphia

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks. sickeningly sweet  

I don't care if I never get back. After a win, everyone lingers in the glow. High Hopes, we've got High Hopes...

It's root, root, root for the home team. Hear us screaming, yelling, cheering, singing, clapping, dancing, getting in on the inane 'bongocam'and  'smilecam'

If they don't win it's a shame. Phillies had the best record  for the regular season 97 wins

It's 1-2-3 strikes you're out WOW! Roy Halladay's perfect game and no hitter in one season

Congrats to the San Francisco Giants National League Champs

The Giants head for the World Series hoping to win for the first time

Citizens' Bank Park Pics

Let the home runs ring

The excitement builds for the NLCS

"Chooch" Carlos Ruiz warming up

record crowds 46,000 fans

Waiting for the Star Spangled Banner

Getting to the Games

Gayle is Ready for Game 2

The fans fill up the subway

Gayle and Ed

NLCS Game 6 hightlights and pictures

Its a party

I always check out who my gang is for the game. Oy, 4 Giants fans sitting in front of us.They wore fake beards, a recognition of the ongoing feud  between the teams. It turned out that the Giants fans were the good sports throughout the game, taking verbal abuse throughout. (as well as some peanuts thrown by fans behind us).

The onslaught of comments and insults only got more obnoxious as the Phillies fans got more drunk. Phillies fan start to use language that is more an more offensive. I don't realize until later games that I could call the attendant to have this guy thrown out of the stands. Instead, we tried our best to avoid him, even when he jumped down next to me and tried to steady himself on my shoulder.

Sanchez relieved from pitching

The Phillies surged ahead in the first two innings with 2 solid runs, but the Giants quickly caught up so that for most of the game, the scorewas tied. The Giants hit a home run-the last run to be scored.

Claire and Tobie enjoy the game together

I treated my niece to the 6th game, so she could become a Phillies fan for the night

The party's over. It's time to call it a night.

End of the Road for 2010 Phillies champions part 1

If  you paid any attention to the National Leagues Championship series, you would know that coming back home for Game 6 was a do or die game for the Phillies, who were down 3-2 games to the San Fran Giants. Winning this one on Saturday night Oct 23 would force a 7th game. Losing meant the end of the series, sending the Giants to the World Series against the Texas Rangers who beat (whipped) the NY Yankees in game 6 of the American League Series.
That provided the backdrop for an exciting, if ultimately disappointing, game 6 that I treated myself and my niece to.

I always check out who my gang is for the game. Oy, 4 Giants fans sitting in front of us.

They wore fake beards,  a recognition of the ongoing feud  between the teams. It turned out that the Giants fans were the good sports throughout the game, taking verbal abuse throughout. (as well as some peanuts thrown by fans behind us).

The onslaught of comments and insults only got more obnoxious as the Phillies fans got more drunk. 

 

Some Highlights

The Giants starting pitcher is relieved after hitting the batter, which started some kind of  onfield brawl.

The Phillies surged ahead in the first two innings with 2 solid runs, but the Giants quickly caught up so that for most of the game, the score was tied. The Giants hit a home run-the last run to be scored.

Looking back

I not only went to the Opening game, but I made it to the last home game of the season, hoping that it would be the game when we would clinch the Division title (that happened in DC the next night).  We were feted with music and Phillie Phanatic antics, fireworks and giveaways. Every inning, prizes would be announced. The best prizes seemed to go to 100 level seats, Diamond Club seats while nothing made it to the hoi poloi.

NLCS Game 2 OCT 17, 2010

Galye, Ed and I ride to the Olney subway station for the express   train to Phillies land-I thought that the energy for the playoff games was electric. This is absolutely carnivalesque. Outside the ballpark are thousands of people milling about in front of a bandstand, games, party tents, Phillies gear tents, and who knows what else because we couldn't even get through the crowd. Above are banners announcing 'Postseason" and high above is the DirectTV blimp. Everyone is snapping pictures, including moi, though the lights are distorting the images.
The game starts at 8:00, and it is only 7:20, so there is time to walk around the whole park. The smells morph from french fries to some kind of crab spice, from beer to ice cream to hot dogs. The only thing missing is a Ferris Wheel, or bumper cars. Lines form for every variation of food. We are more interested in the Phillies Wall of Fame. Eventually, we part, Gayle and Ed going to their seats in the out field, me to section 428 on the third base line.

My friends for the evening: a mother and 12 year old daughter to my right, 4 young college women to my left, a group of guys in front, and behind a group of men in their 50s. The atmosphere tonight in the second game of the Championship is different than the first night of the playoffs. The Phillies lost the first game, as they watched one player hit two home runs. So there is more of a worried expentency.

Oswalt is pitching erratically at first, but settles down. Ah, good , the Phillies are up.The Giants pitcher, Sanchez, is not in control, and this brings some hope and excitement back to the crowd. The song "tonight's gonna be a good, good night" starts playing.

NLCS Game 2 part 2

The women next to me have brought some colorful signs. One of them painted with the words "thirsty for a world series" another shows a pic of Jason Werth that says, "our beard is better than your beard". Throughout the games, cameras spot fans with signs, so the women, flash them on a regular basis.

Oswalt has settled into a strike groove that thrills the stadium with each pitch. Then comes Cody Ross, the Giants player who hit TWO home runs the night before. The fans boo him each time he steps up to the plate. And then it happens again. Another home run to left field that stills the crowd into an unusual stunned silence. The mood changes so abruptly, something I have not felt before. I've experienced painful anxiety, but not this aura of despair.

Then comes the blooper of the evening that lifts us up for the rest of the evening. The ball is hit to the infield, and 3 Giants players run to catch it, but the ball lands plot down in the middle for a base hit. The crowd goes wild and I say over and over "I can't believe that just happened".

Two men on for the Phillies. The pitcher intentionally walks a player, loading the bases. I've seen this before in the Yankees game, when the next Yankee player hit a grand slam, so I know it can backfire. Sure enought, the next batter gets a base hit, and the momentum builds until the score is 6-1.

I may have the order wrong here, but at some point, Roy Halladay hits a solid fly ball to left field for a very satisfying single. The next batter advances him -then he does something risky. His coach has signaled for him to stop at third but he continues to  head home.  Apparently, the Giants player has seen the coaches signal, so waits just a beat too long to throw it to home. Halladay slides in, a heartbeat ahead of the ball.

The last inning is pitched by the closer, who can't seem to close it!  We are all on the edge of our seats, holding our breaths even. Someone in the stands asks us why we are so worried since the Phillies are ahead 6-1. I remind him of the game when the Phillies came back from an 8 run deficit, so we take nothing for granted.

Finally the last out and we take a breath again. This was a good good night~

The historic Division playoff game-Oct 6, 2010 part 1

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Philadelphia	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	5	0

Just one more game, I told myself. I want to go to just one more game.
After the last home game on Sept 26, a disappointing loss, I  started scheming about getting to the game in DC with the Nationals, where it was inevitable that the Phillies would win the Eastern division title. That was just too much to plan and arrange in one day around my work schedule. I couldn't see going to a Phillies game in Washington as a good enough excuse to leave work early in a busy week. (I could see it being a good excuse, but didn't think my boss would!)
Instead, Monday night, as soon as they won the the title, I jumped onto StubHub to see how much playoff tickets cost. Seats were not yet that expensive for October 6 in the 416 level above the first base line, the section where I had found a home watching games over the past few months.

No hesitation. BUY.

Wednesday morning. Oct 6. I was going to the playoffs! Excited, giddy, I packed my bag with an overwhelming sense of glee. Stuffed inside my pink Olympics pack went a Phillies shirt, red hat, pants, some food,. At work, I waited impatiently for 4:00 to start my trip for the 5:00 game. My usual subway route on the subway, as expected, was filled with other fans of all ages.wearing many types of shirts, jackets, hats, and gear in reds, pinks, black and gray.
I have made it a ritual to talk with someone on the train, and that day I hit the jackpot. Next to me was a man who is part of the Philadelphia Boys and Men's Choir (http://www.phillyboyschoir.org/),  and has performed  for the opening day games and the World Series for 20 years. As we exited the subway he told me that he was off to sit in a box seat. I did my best to get invited there, but got distracted by a great brass band playing on the sidewalk. 
 There is nothing like entering a ball park, hearing the announcements of the teams, the cheers. the buzz. For a regular game, this is exhilarating enough. For the playoff game, the crowd was ELECTRIFIED. You could feel the energy elevated a hundred fold just walking around. Once settled into my 11th row seat, I smiled. Behind me was a group of college age guys. To my right was a nice couple, to my left another young man. Just in front of me, a whole family with a 2 year old in a new Phillies cap. Beside them was a man who, like me, came alone, and engaged everyone around him during the game. This was my gang for the evening.

Historic no hitter game Oct 6 part 2

The first pitch by Roy Halladay-a strike. Everyone leans forward, waiting anxiously.

Behind me, one of the guys says, "Is he nervous? I am!"  I think he was speaking for 46,000 people.
(His friend replied, "He's a professional.")

These guys were terrific, loud, boisterous. Sometimes when they were cheering, I looked back at them having the time of their lives, and I was enjoying their enthusiasm.
I engaged the couple next to me a few times. "Do you know anything about the Reds?" "What just happened?"
Other than that, I was glued to the field, hollering when there was a hit, groaning at the strike outs.

There is a song that is sung in my synagogue on Shabbat-The words 'Teach us to treasure each day' can be poignant and inspirational.
Here at the game,  I noticed the ups and downs, the high pitched arc of the 'whoas' when the ball was hit to the outfield, the  sinking 'oos', when it was caught. What came to mind was "teach us to treasure each moment', Every pitch became a momentous drama. The 3/2 counts with 2 outs. Such expectation, sometimes dashed, sometimes rewarded. Every strike out, a notch on the board for history. Every leap to catch the ball a save for the pitcher.

Roy Halladay walks one. There goes the perfect game, someone says.

Top of the 8th Inning. No one in the crowd is sitting down anymore, The rally towels are a flutter after every pitch. Phillies are up, and the Reds have not had one man hit to get on base

Top of the 9th inning. 

"Probably the toughest test for a Phillies defender came with two outs in the ninth, when Phillips hit a swinging bunt and the 10-foot roller hit the bat that Phillips had dropped onto the wet grass near the first-base line.
Ruiz, angling away from the bat, grabbed the ball and, as he went sliding forward onto his knees, threw out Phillips by more than a stride".

Ryan Howard catches the ball at first base.
Fireworks, a crowd ecstatic.

I take a peek to the guys in back, One of them with a ferocious smile purrs, " I'm so happy." The guy to my left, "This is awesome."

To me, that was a perfect game

Getting to a Yankees game Part 1

So, why you may ask did I, a Phillies fan, decide to go to a  Yankees game? I guess I don't know enough about baseball history or player salaries to be skeptical or even scornful about how it is that they win so much. All I know is that when I saw them beat the Phillies in the 2009 World Series, it seemed like they would be a fun team to see sometime. (And or course, it's always good to see the competition up close.)
When I suggested to my  friend, the wildly avid Yankees Fan From Birth (ffb), that we see a game together, the timing was perfect to see the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners (notice I didn't have to say the NEW YORK Yankees. Everyone knows where the Yankees are from).
We met in New York on a rainy Sunday, wondering if the game would be played, and how we were going to prevent ourselves from getting wet in the stadium.Walking towards 5th Ave, we noticed a long line of people huddled on the sidewalk with suitcases and other belongings. Curious as always, we decided to see what the hubbub was all about. It became apparent that these were parents and their college age children checking into a dormitory with bundles of belongings. What caught our attention was that they were all wearing the same type of plastic ponchos, probably provided by the college. In jest I must have said under my breath, "We could pretend to be parents and get ponchos for the game." Wouldn't you know it- a  cheery young woman comes up to us and says, "Would you like a poncho?" We took two and THEN she said, "Would you like one for your daughter, too?"

Having thus scored THREE ponchos and an instant child, we scurried off across the street, hoping that no one would notice that there was no daughter in tow.

Now that we were the proud parents of a young woman going to Stern College, we could more confidently be on our way to do some site seeing, then onto the subway to Yankee Stadium