Twenty five years ago today, the Philadelphia Phillies became the world champions of baseball. For anyone who lives in this area, or lived here at that time, it was a moment of sheer and utter joy in the world of sports that, as far as I'm concerned, has never been equaled.
There have been other sports championships in this area, and they were all terrific in their way - the two Stanley Cups the Flyers won in the mid 70s were deliriously happy moments - but the win by the Phillies was special, partly because it had been so tantalizingly close for so long, and also because the Phillies fielded so many bad baseball teams for so many years that a championship from the franchise seemed like a totally unattainable proposition.
But as I rode the Market-Frankford elevated train (commonly referred to as "The El") from my non-paying internship at a Center City Philadelphia high school every day during the summer of 1980 and read about the exploits of our baseball team each day in The Daily News (a good paper then as now), I honestly had a feeling this year would be different. It seemed like every day, manager Dallas Green, shortstop and future manager Larry Bowa, all-star third baseman Mike Schmidt and left fielder Greg Luzinski and others would be feuding. In a sense, it was like the Medicis had been turned into a baseball team wearing white and red pinstripes. I took that to mean that they finally cared so much about winning that they were willing to fight for it.
As great as the World Series win was, though, the victory over the Houston Astros in the National League Championship series was unbelievable also in its way, including coming back from a four-run deficit against Nolan Ryan in the deciding game. There were so many unbelievable moments...Del Unser's pinch hitting, Manny Trillo's laser-like relay throw from second base to nail Terry Puhl as he tried to score from first on a double, and of course, the final out by centerfielder Garry Maddox to seal the deal.
The Kansas City Royals, the team the Phillies faced in the world series, were unbelievable as well. Their pitching, led by ace Dennis Leonard and reliever Mark Quisenberry, was probably the best staff they've ever had. George Brett, of course, played third base, every bit of a parallel to Schmidt in many ways. Willie Wilson, their centerfielder, was a truly gifted athlete who was outstanding in every phase of the game. And their first baseman, Willie Aikens, hit some of the most monstrous home runs that series that I'd ever seen (standing to watch all of them for a second or two at home plate before he started to trot them out, which the Phillies remembered and would use to get back at the Royals later).
The series went back and forth for the first four games (by the way, in this link, I think they kind of mixed Games 4 and 5 together somewhat), but in the fifth game, Kansas City took the lead in their ballpark, and then Dickie Noles of the Phillies threw the knockdown pitch to Brett after one of Aikens' home runs, causing a big argument between Pete Rose (who I will always have a soft spot for, by the way; hands down, he should be in the Hall of Fame for his contributions as a player) and Kansas City manager Jim Frey. And I don't care what anyone says; as great as the Royals were, they were never the same after that happened.
In the final inning of the final game of the series at Veterans Stadium, I remember that Tug McGraw walked the bases loaded - again - with the Phillies nursing a slim lead, and Jose Cardenal, who had played for the Phillies, came to bat. McGraw had held him in check the whole series, and I thought this would be the payback moment to force Game 7, but then he hit the foul popup that Bob Boone caught and then dropped, but Rose caught it in mid air. When that miraculous play happened, somehow I knew the Phillies would pull it off. Soon after that, McGraw struck out Willie Wilson (the reaction shot is shown above) and the Phillies were champions.
It was rumored later that several Kansas City players, including Wilson, were using drugs during the series, which is a shame if true. It didn't appear that way based on how they were playing, though. Also, I'm glad that Kansas City won their own World Series championship in 1985. They were a great team for a few years, and they deserved it.
As for this year's series, I'd like to see the Chicago White Sox pull it off. I give Houston credit also for getting there for the first time, but I don't want to see a team from Texas win a championship in any sport.
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