THEY DID IT

Hi. My name's Jeremy. I run a blog called "Jeremy's Phillies Diary" which is about my favorite baseball team, the Phillies. Earlier today the Phillies clinched the National League East Division title and their first spot in the major league baseball postseason since I was in my senior year of high school and In Utero was brand new.

If you're reading this, life is good and I love you.

Okay you rag tag bunch of misfits, you hate me and I hate you even more. But without my beloved ringers you're all I got. So I want you to remember something inspiring someone might have told you over the course of your lives and go out there and WIN!!!
-C. Montgomery Burns

Too nervous to sleep. Woke up early and just started eating bowl after bowl of cereal. Now I'm here. I'm out of things to say other than the thing I've been saying all week: They're gonna do it! I wouldn't have kept saying it if I didn't believe it. Even though "gonna" isn't a word. I should have come up with something more grammatically correct, but it's never easy, is it?

These guys, these crazy kids, these Phillies, they've battled hard all year and they always seem to bounce back from stupid losses. Next year, they should work on just not having the stupid losses in the first place, but one thing at a time.

Hooray for Jamie Moyer, hooray for Dontrelle Willis! In my less nervous moments, I can concede that this is actually kind of sort of fun. It is. I wouldn't trade my team for any other.

Viewing party at my place!

Go Phils! Go Fish!

They're going to do it.

I've made it this far. What kind of fan would I be if I gave up on them now?

A pretty suckass fan, that's what.

They're gonna do it.

SOLE POSSESSION!

I had a great night. How was yours?

Really amazing things happening in this city right now. This weekend's games are sold out, Phillies hats and shirts are everywhere, and well-wishes are pouring into this blog from all over. Let me say a few words about the fountain in Love Park. (I wish I had a picture of it, but I'm lazy and don't feel like looking for one.) It's dyed red for our Phillies. It looks like a gigantic fountain of fruit punch. I mean, literally: it looks incredibly delicious. I wish there really was a giant fountain of fruit punch, that would be so great. Then this city would be just about perfect, I think.

Magic number: two. Two more Phils wins, or two more Mets losses, or one of each, and there you go, we can go party like it's 1993. (I do that all the time anyway.)

I've been skeptical all week about the Mets' ability to keep losing all the time. I keep expecting them to just get angry and crush somebody 15-0 some night. I've never taken them lightly, even when we were beating them all month, because they're really good. But then, maybe they're not all that good? Their bullpen appears to be shot, they're making stupid mistakes, and I don't care what kind of posturing David Wright is doing these days, they look like they expect to lose. Jose "Excitement" Reyes has been terrible and that guy Billy Wagner has been worse. I think they have at least one more loss in them, don't you?

I feel kind of bad for the Brewers. They led all season and then collapsed and now they're eliminated and the Cubs clinched the division and I am no fan of the Cubs. But on the other hand, did I mention that the Phillies are in sole possession of first place? I've got my own backlog of suffering to deal with, Brewers fans are pretty much on their own.

Liberty Two is lit up red, white, and blue. The Phils could do this Saturday or Sunday - either way, I hope that, wherever you are, you'll take a moment this weekend to root root root for the home team.

They're gonna do it!

The Phils are tied for first place on September 27.

If this doesn't set your heart aflutter - maybe even bring a tear to your eye - then you and I are extremely different people.

Meanwhile, we could really use some help from the Brewers and Dodgers, but they're both losing as I write this. So screw them and their losing loserness.

So let's turn our attention to this weekend. The Phils need to beat the Nats. The Marlins need to beat the Mets. And that's what needs to happen. Should such things occur, the Phils are your division winners. Listen to the words, taste them on your tongue: the division winners.

So go Phils, go Fish.

They're gonna do it.

GB: 1

Phils won. I was THERE, man. Mets lost, too. Fun game in South Philly, my future home, tonight. During the 7th inning, the Nats took the lead over the Mets and the crowd went CRAZY. We were watching the scoreboard all night. That was cool. We're all in this together.

Giants & Dodgers playing right now and we need them both to win. Let's go, my West Coast brothers!

I've got some work to do, good night...

The Phils lost tonight, 10-6.

So let's say that the Giants, who as of this writing (11:40 pm) are winning, hold on to beat the Padres, and the Rockies (currently winning) hold on to win. So the Phils, Padres, and Rockies would all be tied for the wild card. All the Phils have to do over the last five games is win more than the Padres and Rockies.

Sounds so simple, doesn't it?

Get on that, Phillies.

They're gonna do it.

It's time to ask yourself WHAT YOU BELIEVE.

They're gonna do it.

Trust me.

RIP RFK

Today, Andrew and I drove down to DC, got lost looking for RFK, watched the Phils lose, got lost driving home, sat in hours of traffic, and that's what I did today. The Phils made some curious decisions in this game and never played terribly well, but it's hard to be mad at them after an 8-2 roadtip and thanks to the Rockies they're still alive for the wildcard. Meanwhile, it was the final game at RFK Stadium. It's tough to get nostalgic about an ugly, decaying stadium with too many seats that's only had a team for three years after having no team for over 30 years, but it does hold a place in Phillies history, in its odd way.

The weirdest thing was when Andrew and I were walking around the concourse at one point and this guy in a Dawkins jersey walks by and tells us that the Eagles were losing 20-3. Maybe ten minutes later Daniel calls us and tells us they're winning 21-7. As the day wore on we heard they were scoring more and more touchdowns, touchdown after wonderful blue and yellow touchdown. Nice stuff, Birds. But what was that guy's deal? Who told him that? What happened after he heard he was wrong? What was that all about?

Tomorrow, you will root for the Nats and Giants. The Phils get their final day off, much deserved, before the final six games. This is it, people, battle stations!

Third post of the night

Breaking news: the Mets lost. 1.5 games back.

I ain't heard no fat lady!

Almost forgot!

One more thing! Big news! The Phils will have an alternate third jersey next season.

I'm a bit mixed about this. One thing I've always been proud of is that, say what you will about the Phils, we've always had classy uniforms. White at home, gray on the road, like it should be. And sleeves. None of this sleeveless junk. No black jerseys, no black trim, no alternate caps, no alternate home Sunday thing or whatever. I mean, look at the crap worn by the Mets (stupid-ass black jerseys like idiots), Rockies (what was that thing they were wearing in Philly last week?), Braves (saw them wearing a terrible red thing this year), Pirates (same red thing), I could go on and on. I LOVE the Phils' road uniform, always have. Gray and white and red. Nice stuff. Keepin' it simple.

But, I have to admit, this isn't totally terrible. The blue/red cap, I could get used to that.

Still in it...

...but they need help. A lot of help. More help than they're realistically likely to get. But like all Philadelphians, I look forward to the next nine games with my trademark eternal optimism and sunny disposition.

But you know who's dead to me? The Pittsburgh Pirates. They lost four in a row to the Padres. Four! You couldn't win one of those for us? Just one? Come on, it's the Mets' job to lose four in a row to one team, not yours. Sheesh, summon your pride and win a damn game. Eat me, Pirates. (Guess I should have celebrated Talk Like A Pirate Day after all.)

This weekend: Phils, Fish, Rockies. Root hard, root early, root often. Good luck to all.

The other way round, for a change

All season long the pitching's been letting down the hitting, but tonight they decided to go the other way. You can't leave that many guys on base, guys, not in a playoff race.

I've accomplished pretty much nothing tonight... just one of those lazy nights... I guess the Phils and I are synced up or something. Yes, babbling.

Phillies after dark (it gets a little blue!)

Hey dudes. Spent the evening watching The Office with Matt & Shep, but stayed up this late to watch the Phils win in 14 innings. It's a school night so I need to go to bed but allow me to say this. The Phils of old would have lost on Monday night and I think the Phils of old would have lost tonight. But the current Phils, the Phils of new, the lean mean confident fun-loving Phils are 1.5 behind the NYM and everything's coming up Philly. Who else but Rod Barajas would get the game winning RBI? At this point in the season, I have no least-favorite Phil - I love 'em all. Give me your Barajases, your Condreys, your Mesas and Robersons and Durbins, and hell, I'm in in a giving mood and I'll take your Adam Eatons too. It's been a good week, and those are my boys. I got their back, like Schrute macing Roy to save Halpert.

Eleven games to go.

I have to keep reminding myself that last night's game was a win. (The Phillies, not the Eagles. The Eagles are a subject for another time.) There's no way to quantify this, it being a completely made-up thing, but I think it was probably the worst win in Phillies history. By that I mean the Phils had an 11-0 lead, then hung on to win 13-11. Listen to what I'm saying: they were up 11-0, then got outscored 11-2. I feel like they played a doubleheader, and the second game really sucked. It underscores how epically, historically bad the bullpen is. I mean, that's a bad bullpen, people. We're trying to make the Major League Baseball Playoffs with a Triple A bullpen. It's kind of a disaster and it frightens me. Ah well, it was a win, and they start fresh tonight with Hollywood Hamels on the mound. Hey, I love that guy! Go get 'em, Cole.

DOBBS

Andrew predicted the sweep on Thursday, so a shout out to him. Told you it would be a rollercoaster.

Things are pretty exciting for me right now.

Tomorrow, we root for: the Phils, the Nats, the Pirates, and the Eagles. Best of luck to all.

It's been a very, very good day.

ALL CLUTCH UP IN HERE!

Well, the Phillies rollercoaster (of love) continues its ridiculous ride. Where will it end? They sweep the Mets, then play like jackasses in Florida and Atlanta, then (sort of) get it together against Florida, then split an annoying series against Colorado (this year's official Pain In My Ass Team), then wake up against the Mets last night. They looked really sharp and I was extremely pleased. On Wednesday night, the Phils rang in the New Year by losing 12-0 and putting on the worst display of bullpen ineptitude of all time... so, of course, the bullpen was great the last two nights. This team, moreso now than ever, makes absolutely no sense. They might score 25 runs today, or give up 25, or lose 18-17, or win 1-0, or hit into two triple plays, or hit two grand slams in an inning, or use 12 pitchers, or throw a no-hitter, or blow a 10-0 lead, or win in the 17th inning. Nothing surprises me anymore. All I know is, we're 1.5 out of the wildcard with two weeks to go. Buckle up, this one's going to the wire.

Misty water-colored memories

The following easily-recognizable, non-threatening iconography should give a good idea of what we did in California:

Or go ask Matt, we did basically the same stuff.

#1 MUST HAVE

When Wendy opened the car door, she noticed first not the noise – an impromptu mashup caused by hip hop being blasted incredibly loudly on one side of the house and some kind of slightly outdated guitar rock being blasted incredibly loudly on the other side, mixed with general conversation, laughing, context-free shrieks, clinking bottles, and a kick drum being soundchecked in the backyard – but a kind of energy, something beyond noise, surrounding her and the car. She felt it on the dry lawn as she climbed out, on the cracked sidewalk, on the faces of the others as they climbed out of the car, as if they sensed it too but had long before committed themselves to not mentioning it.
Wendy did not know either of them very well, but had been in classes with Sandra, the driver, for so long, since their childhoods, that each of them accepted the other’s existence as an immutable truth, not worth debating or thinking about very much. Like a guy who goes in the same corner store for 20 years and is always waited on by the same employee, but they never bother to learn the other’s name. The invitation of a ride from Sandra was a surprise, but a welcome one – she had dreaded driving over here with Brian and was relieved to discover that he didn’t even want to go. She was more conscious than ever of the mixtape he had made for her, crammed worthlessly into her jeans pocket. Why didn’t she pull it out and leave it in the car? What good would it do her inside?
She would later remember some things about the party better and more clearly than that strange feeling of energy. The Sealants’ squall of feedback. The guy who threw himself into the pool fully clothed. The eerily silent girl, clutching a notebook, staring at her from across the kitchen. Brian’s mixtape pressing against her leg as she made out with some drunk Brownie. Mostly she would remember how disappointingly generic it all seemed, the predictable way everything went, at least until the very end. The way everyone acted: teenagers acting like teenagers, like it was a brand, or a contractual obligation. There was no mystery in it anymore. She wanted them all to invent something new – they had this perfect opportunity to do so – but it never occurred to them. They all could have walked backwards, drank milk instead of beer, started spontaneously talking in Dutch. But there was just beer, just rock music, just fumbling in corners, just retching in bushes. What a waste.
But once in a while, for years afterward, she would remember that energy, swirling around her, as she looked over at Duncan, the other guy in the car. His relationship to Sandra was unclear – Wendy hadn’t seen them do anything vaguely coupleish yet, but their demeanor was one of finality and acceptance, as if they had each grown to need the other one there simply on principle.
Duncan did not seem like the type to use local slang or make wisecracks – he wasn’t particularly nice, and didn’t seem like the type to do much of anything – so he surprised Wendy utterly with his next comment.
“I can’t believe we’re at a Brownie party,” he said.

9/6/07

So, I haven't really posted any updates at all, and as for photos, that was obviously a ridiculous promise to make. We've been so busy running/driving around, eating, swimming with fish, etc. I suppose if you're good I'll post a whole detailed description when I get home, which will be a little less than 24 hours from now.

The past week, even for a distant observer like me, has illustrated exactly what's so irritating about the Phils: right after sweeping the Mets in four, which in most circumstances would obviously be the greatest thing ever, they've gone 2-3 while the Mets have gone 5-0. They never, ever have any sense of momentum. Or maybe the Marlins are just in our heads and know how to beat us exactly when we shouldn't be losing. Or maybe the Mets are really just better. Or maybe we should be playing better in April so we don't need to win every single game in August and September just to stay barely alive. I blame Wes Helms.

This is the first post ever written on an Apple computer. I think it's an Apple IIe. I honestly don't know. I don't like the sound the keyboard makes.

It's 10 am here in LA, 1 pm back at home in the real world. Having a great time, very tired though because I haven't had a decent night's sleep in what feels like weeks. I'm sleeping on Jon's couch and we're staying up until the real world equivalent of like 7 am so I get cranky and hate-filled at the drop of a hat. It's all part of the rich tapestry of my damaged psyche. But we've had lots of burgers, went to Amoeba, saw the Getty Villa, have been driving these ludicrous streets a lot, and in a few hours we're going hiking up a mountain. So everything's okay. Due to the lack of a card slot in this iMac or Texas Instruments thing or whatever it's supposed to be, I can't upload any pictures yet, or possibly at all. We'll see.

The Phils have chosen the week I'm away to play their best ball of the year and I'm okay with that. Root hard for the Phils and Braves this weekend, wherever you might be, I know I am.