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The Phillies Are Champions Of Baseball

Let’s go back and look at the most exciting 3.5 innings of our lives:

First off, Chase Utley made one of — if not, the best baseball plays I’ve ever seen. His clutch and throw home to throw out Jason Bartlett was unbelievable. That’s intelligent baseball right there. And that saved a potential go-ahead run.

Ryan Madson gave up the home run to Rocco Baldelli, but you cannot stress enough how large he pitched down the stretch. While most of us fawn over Utley and Howard and crew, Madson rose to the level of his homegrown peers with his postseason performance.

How about JC Romero? Clutch, clutch, clutch pitching in the seventh and eighth innings. And BJ Upton proves once again his inexperience with the biggest double play in Phillies history. Upton will be great, but last night he was a goat.

Geoff Jenkins and Pat Burrell reeled off the biggest hits of their lives to get runs going. The former made up for a season to forget with a huge double to right-center; the latter secured his place as a franchise legend with his double to left-center. When the Phils add Burrell to the Wall of Fame 10 years from now, that play will get the biggest cheer.

Pedro Feliz. Wow. What a gigantic hit. Right up the gut. I thought the Utley play changed the game around; this hit secured it. He may have gotten under our skin at times this season, but Feliz really redeemed himself there.

And then the ninth. Brad Lidge was calm as ever, got the job done, sent the city into euphoria.

Unreal. This all seems so weird, so dream-like. Drink it in, everyone. Just drink it in.

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Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.

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