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BY ANDREW QUINTON

In print | October 4, 2007

“We’ve been waiting 14 years for this” read one sign at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, withholding the ending punctuation until the end of the game. A win would bring a huge exhale and a “!” while a loss would have prompted a giant “?” of frustration.

Of course, they won, nosing out the New York Mets for first place in the National League East. Everything that will be said about the season’s final weeks is justified — it was as exciting a pennant race as any in my lifetime. Plenty of attention is rightfully going towards superstar infielders Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Let’s take a moment, though, to recognize some other people and events that contributed to the division championship.

April 18 (3-10, 6 GB): With staff ace Brett Myers struggling and the team floundering, manager Charlie Manual sends Myers to the bullpen to set up Flash Gordon. It’s common knowledge that a good starting pitcher is more valuable than even a dominant setup man, so this is blasted as a “panic move” by a manager who needs to be shown the door. Whatever its motivations, the move turned out just fine. Myers was ready to take over the closer role when Flash went on the DL on May 4, and the Phils get decent pitching first from Jon Lieber, and then from immortals JD Durbin and Kyle Lohse, in his vacated rotation slot.

May 24 (23-24, 6.5 GB): New closer Myers goes on the DL. He is replaced by Antonio “El Pulpo” Alfonseca, who has had one effective season since 2001. Somehow Alfonseca puts up a solid 3.66 ERA for the next two months until Myers returns, converting 8 of 11 save opportunities.

June 13 (35-31, 2 GB): Kyle Kendrick goes six solid innings in his first major league start; the Phillies go on to win. Who? Kendrick is a desperation call-up from AA, where he was pitching fairly well, but was unlikely to see the majors until at least 2009.

That changes when Freddy Garcia - another highly-paid member of the supposedly well-stocked starting staff - goes out for the year with an injured shoulder. Kendrick doesn’t miss many bats in the majors, getting rocked for 16 home runs while striking out just 49 batters in 120 innings, but somehow pulls together a 10-4 record and 3.87 ERA. After staff ace Cole Hamels goes on the DL in mid-August, Kendrick becomes the team’s stopper, winning three straight starts.

June 22 (35-33, 2 GB) Left-handed reliever J.C. Romero is signed after being released outright by Boston. Romero, who had pitched poorly in Boston after a disastrous 2006, posts a 1.24 ERA in Philadelphia and appears in approximately 87,000 games during September.

July 15 (46-45, 5 GB): The Phillies lose the 10,000th game in franchise history. This would be funny if the team was playing well, but it isn’t.

July 26 (52-49, 5 GB): Chase Utley breaks his hand. “Utley is huge,” says Manuel. Things look bad.

July 27 (53-49, 4 GB): Tadahito Iguchi is brought in from the White Sox to fill the hole at second base. He’s hitting just .251/.340/.382.

August 7 (59-53, 4 GB ): Wikipedia: “Tadahito Iguchi was welcomed into the hearts of Phillies fans with his own fan group ’Tadahito’s Burritos.’” Incredibly, Iguchi hits .388 in his first 12 games with his new team. Overall, he puts up a .304/.362/.442 line with the Phils.

September: The Washington Nationals go 5-1 vs. New York and 2-5 vs. Philadelphia. Manuel puts Washington manager Manny Acta on his Christmas card list for life.

September 13 (77-69, 7 GB): After winning three in a row, the Phillies drop two straight to the Rockies by a combined margin of 20-2 and look to be dead in the water.

September 18 (82-69, 1.5 GB): One day after nearly blowing an 11-0 lead by giving up 8 runs in three innings, the Phillies bullpen allows just 1 run in 10 innings of work in a 7-4, 14-inning win in St. Louis.

September 22 (85-70, 1.5 GB): Romero (9), Gordon (8) and Myers (8) have combined for a 0.78 ERA over 25 (!!) appearances in the team’s last 10 games (9 wins). All three pitch in five consecutive games from Sept. 18 to Sept. 22. I can’t remember the last time any pitcher threw in five straight games, let alone three from the same team. Unbelievable.

It’s been great, Fighting Phils. Thanks for everything.

Andrew is a senior. You can reach him at aquinto1@swarthmore.edu.

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