Top Moment #8: Phillies Clinch NL East
Celebration never gets old (Photo by M. Kennedy)
Continued Success! With a 9-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies clinched the National League East for the fifth year in a row.
Raul Ibanez smacked a grand slam and Roy Oswalt pitched a masterpiece to help the Phillies get to the champagne-popping moment.
Unlike recent years, the Phillies clinched the NL East early. There was a different feeling than years prior: no ninth-inning jitters on the last day of the season, nor a fear of a collapse. Every Phillies fan knew the Phillies were going to clinch; the only question was “when?”.
In the Phillies Nation postgame threads, there were several interesting reactions from different commenters that accurately reflect the feelings of Phillies fans across America:
“It is amazing to think that winning a division title would be something that merely makes me happy but not satisfied. Our Phillies have truly grown. Congrats to our awesome team and to the great fans who cheered them all the way.” — Mazinman
“can you believe it!? five years in a row. I still can’t believe it. I still think about the dreck of the late 90?s and thought that would be my fate forever. to root for a team that played in a dump of a ballpark with nobody in the stands. we used to get free tickets with a package of phillies franks hot dogs. now we have the best team in baseball. we’re the yankees of the NL and the ballpark is beautiful and sold out every night. i will never get sick of this or ever take it for granted.” — Ryan H
Any time the Phillies move on to the postseason is an exciting moment. Hopefully the sixth consecutive NL East crown is on tap for 2012.
