A City Asks: How Will The Phils Blow It This Time?

Ahh, yes, here we are, the final week of the baseball season. The Phillies have played 156 games this year, winning 85 of ‘em so far. And that 85-71 record has them right in the playoff hunt at the end of the season, something Phillies fans have actually been accustomed to the past few seasons.

Of course, Phils fans have also been accustomed to blowing it in the final week of the season as well. Last year, the Phillies dropped games to the Washington Nationals after entering the final week of the season in position to win the Wild Card. The Phils held Wild Card late leads in 2005 and 2003, too. And, with the Padres spiraling out of control and losing their fourth straight last night, the Phillies are tied for the WC lead in the final week of the season.

Perhaps this is the year the Phillies will shake off the recent ghosts of Craig Biggio and whoever was on Washington last year. (Teddy Roosevelt?) Or perhaps the Phils will finish a game out, and the game where they blew an 8-2 lead against the Braves will come back to haunt them. The 2007 Phillies are frustrating, sure, but they’re also a fun team to watch, and no matter what happens during the final week of the season it’s been a hell of an exciting year.

Oh, and Chris Coste sniffs his bats. Wait, what?

“But there was one time when I first got into pro ball - I don’t know if I was catching or hitting - but either myself or the batter barely nicked the ball on an unfinished bat. And you can smell it, without even putting your nose up to the bat. You could smell that same smell. So the next time I was hitting, I fouled off the ball and I smelled my bat.

“I don’t know if it’s the wood or the leather of the ball. Maybe it’s the combination of both. But I think when I first did it, I might have hit a home run in that at-bat. So it’s maybe 50 percent superstition, 50 percent because I just like the smell.”

Whoo! That’s the kind of attitude that can lead a team into the playoffs.

Fit to be tied [The Zo Zone]
Gordon relishes playoff chase [Inquirer]