FOR HARRY: We have believed, before, in a place called hope (and amended for 2008); a belief that there are better days ahead. We have discussed the promise of the Phillies -- "the idea that we are responsible for our behavior when they lose, but that we also rise or fall as one city." We joined together for the pennant victory and then, finally, champions. W.F.C.
[Thank you, Will Leitch, for recognizing that "Philadelphia fans don't receive nearly enough credit for avoiding the Boston plague, immediately turning into our-shit-don't-stink self-important spoiled brats after winning a long-awaited title. They're pretty much the same miserable fucks they've always been, and you have to salute them for that."]
We have been to the mountaintop, and we know what it takes to get there. It is humbling, and I don't think any Phillies fans believes we have quite enough. Yes, the starting pitching is better on paper, but Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels have not been pitching at peak level for some time, J.A. Happ hasn't been there, and Pedro, dear Pedro, I hope we know how to use you.
Raul is better than Burrell, CHUTLEY!! is CHUTLEY!! ... but ultimately, inevitably, the conversation must turn to the bullpen, where the gap between what we have and what we had so unimaginably wide. I do not know what happened to Brad Lidge between then and now, whether the karmic price for 2008 was his abominable 2009, but between the present Lidge and the absent Park and Romero, there does not exist a Phillies fan who has confidence that a lead established in innings 1-6 can be preserved by this pen for the remainder. And overlaid atop all this is the dread of facing again a Colorado Rockies team which eliminated us so easily two years ago.
These are not the times for florid prose. We know what real victory looks like, and what it takes to get there. It's not about "character" or "destiny" -- it's about having your talented baseball players play better baseball than the other team. Maybe we can. Maybe. But until beaten, we remain W.F.C. For now. Your playoff predictions and hopes are welcome.
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