Remember when September baseball was a blood-smattered murder scene, often for years and years in a row? Early playoff eliminations, brutal pitching, and a cavernous, multipurpose concrete stadium with empty upper decks made for some bleak (yet otherwise gorgeous) fall nights. It's not so long ago, but if you've been to Citizens Bank Park after the weather turns in recent seasons, those bleak days are just a memory to help remind us how good we have it right now.
For the past several years, September baseball has had a whole different connotation in Philadelphia. Particularly in 2007 and 2008, it was about the pennant chase, a tight race against division rivals with hopes of the playoff promised land. It's well covered territory that the fans have been doing their part, with the Phillies' home attendance numbers consistently among the highest in the league. In 2009, the scenario is a little different, with a World Series title on the mantle and a decent, somewhat cozy lead in the NL East. But one thing that has stayed the same is the fan presence. Last night was an outstanding example of that.
One of the best moments of the night came when, with the Phils up one run in the bottom of the sixth, bases loaded, Chooch Ruiz at the plate, nearly the whole place (at 103.6% capacity) was on its feet. Bear in mind, this is a game against the worst team in the division by a long shot. When front offices around the league see the Nationals on the schedule, they're not exactly thinking about where to buy a vacation home. But last night, CBP just erupted at that moment, and again several others. The result, as we've seen in key moments before, was that the visiting pitcher came completely unhinged.
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Chooch "worked" a full count, and against a backdrop of swirling white towels, Tyler Clippard threw the ball away like a rattled high school pitcher (who, incidentally, idolized Chris Sabo). With the place absolutely electric, the Nats went to their bullpen, perhaps to calm things down, perhaps for a better lefty matchup—to face Cole Hamels. Hmmyeah, that didn't work either. Cole smacked a single, scoring Jayson Werth. And a playoff-like atmosphere continued in a game between two teams that now have 35.5 games separating them in the standings.
It was a really fun homestand, with just one loss in seven divisional games. Sure, the games were against teams that have no shot at making the playoffs, but the Phillies have been criticized, perhaps unfairly, for playing down to their opponents before, even by their own manager. Not this time.