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Eastern Pa. Year in Sports: Philly’s dought ended in 2008
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Article RatingPHILADELPHIA — The city of losers is no more.
The Phillies gave the long-suffering sports fans in Philadelphia reason to celebrate in 2008 by winning the World Series and finally ending the city’s 25-year championship drought.
And boy, did the fans ever celebrate.
An estimated 2 million people decked out in red packed downtown sidewalks to witness the Phillies’ victory parade on Halloween. Delirious fans climbed trees, dangled out of windows and stood on rooftops, anything to get a better view as the players, coaches, front-office staff and their families rode in floats down the city’s most iconic street.
“That was definitely an emotional day we all had,” All-Star second baseman Chase Utley said two months later. “That drive down Broad Street to the park was one of the best days of my life. And I imagine for a lot of Phillies fans, it was the same.”
These passionate fans waited a generation to see one of their teams win it all. They endured plenty of disappointments over the last quarter century. There were many gut-wrenching defeats and frustrating seasons in each sport since the 76ers captured the NBA title in 1983.
Sensing the Phillies were on the verge of accomplishing something special, fans flocked to Citizens Bank Park, waved rally towels and truly gave their team home-field advantage. The players on the field did the rest.
Led by one of the most ridiculed sports figures in the city’s history — manager Charlie Manuel — the losingest team in professional sports dominated major league baseball the final two months. For the second straight year, the Phillies overtook the New York Mets in late September to win the NL East title. They breezed through the postseason, going 11-3 (7-0 at home) against the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays.
Closer Brad Lidge capped a perfect season — he was 48-for-48 in save chances — by striking out Tampa’s Eric Hinske for the final out of the World Series, finishing off a wacky Game 5 that started two days earlier and was delayed 46 hours by rain.
The Phillies got contributions from nearly everyone on the roster on their way to the second championship in the franchise’s 126-year history — the other came in 1980. Utley, Lidge, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, 46-year-old Jamie Moyer and World Series and NLCS MVP Cole Hamels played major roles all year.
Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Brett Myers, Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz came through often throughout the season. All of them will be linked together in history. They never forget their heroes in Philly, perhaps because they don’t win too often around here.
“We’re winners. Nobody can take that away from the city of Philadelphia, and nobody can take that away from us,” Howard said.
Manuel, the jolly skipper with the funny accent and lovable personality, turned into a folk hero. Those boos he used to hear became chants of “Charlie! Charlie!”
“I always thought we’d win the World Series. I knew we could beat anyone in the league,” Manuel said.
Sadly, Manuel’s mother died during the league championship series against the Dodgers and couldn’t share the celebration with her oldest son.
Soon after the partying stopped, the organization started preparing to defend its championship. Only the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays have won consecutive World Series titles in the last 30 years, but the Phillies are positioned to make another run.
General manager Pat Gillick retired after three seasons with the team and moved into an advisory role. He was replaced by longtime assistant Ruben Amaro Jr. He signed Moyer to a two-year contract and gave free-agent Raul Ibanez a huge contract to replace Burrell in left field.
“One thing I can’t wait to do is go down Broad Street for that parade again and again and again,” Hamels said.
With they’re nucleus returning, the Phillies have a chance to win it all again. Nobody dares doubt them anymore.
A sport-by-sport look at 2008 in eastern Pennsylvania:
FOOTBALL: An up-and-down season for the Eagles seemed headed toward another disappointing finish with one game remaining in the regular season.
Written off following a tie against lowly Cincinnati and a lopsided loss at Baltimore that saw franchise quarterback Donovan McNabb get benched for the first time in his career, the Eagles rallied with three straight wins to get back in the NFC’s playoff picture.
By the time they took the field for the next-to-last game at Washington, the Eagles controlled their playoff hopes. All they needed was to beat the Redskins and win the final game against Dallas to earn an NFC wild-card berth.
But the offense failed miserably in a 10-3 loss, coming up 1 yard short as time ran out. That put the Eagles’ playoff chances on life support. To avoid missing the playoffs for the third time in four years since losing the Super Bowl, the Eagles had to beat the Cowboys and get a lot of help from other teams.
No matter how they end up, this season was filled with highs and lows. McNabb’s tenure in Philadelphia appeared close to being over after he got benched and the team was in disarray. But McNabb got another chance to keep his starting job and looked like his old self during a three-game winning streak.
His future remains uncertain. If the Eagles think Kevin Kolb is ready to supplant McNabb, they might try to trade the five-time Pro Bowl QB in the offseason.
Coach Andy Reid’s job probably is secure, but many fans would rather see him go. Reid was severely criticized throughout the season for personnel decisions and playcalling.
BASKETBALL: The 76ers overcame a terrible start and returned to the playoffs in ‘08, stretching the Detroit Pistons to six games in the first round of an Eastern Conference series.
GM Ed Stefanski then made a splash in the summer, signing power forward Elton Brand to a mega-deal and giving Andre Iguodala big bucks to stay in Philly. Those moves were supposed to make the Sixers a contender for a conference championship. Instead, they underachieved early and it cost coach Maurice Cheeks his job.
Cheeks, a fan favorite who starred on the ‘83 title team, was fired after a 9-14 start. He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant GM Tony DiLeo. The new coach’s job got tougher when Brand injured his shoulder a couple days later and was supposed to miss at least a month.
HOCKEY: The Flyers went from being the worst team in the NHL to playing in the Eastern Conference finals. They carried the momentum of last’s spring playoff run into this season.
After a slow start, the Flyers are one of the best teams in the league and strong contenders for the Stanley Cup. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and Simon Gagne lead a talented group that hopes to bring a hockey championship to Philadelphia for the first time since 1975.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Three Philly schools reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999, and Villanova made it all the way to the Sweet 16.
Temple snapped a seven-year drought, earning an automatic berth as the Atlantic 10 tournament champion. Saint Joseph’s joined Villanova as an at-large bid.
The Wildcats began this season in the Top 25 and moved up in the rankings by winning 10 of their first 11 games.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: So much for Joe Paterno possibly coaching his last season at Penn State.
The Hall of Fame coach led the Nittany Lions to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Rose Bowl against USC on New Year’s Day. Paterno was rewarded with a three-year contract extension just a few days shy of his 82nd birthday.
Meanwhile, Temple continued its losing ways. The Owls made slight improvement, going 5-7. Two of those losses were in overtime. Perhaps even Temple can find a way to play in one of those Bowl games next year.
