Posted by John McHale
Phillies vs.. Dodgers for the National League pennant may not be as mythic as Red Sox vs. Yankees, or even Phillies vs. Mets, but it brings back a lot of memories for any baseball fan that grew up near Philadelphia in the 1970s -- when the Dodgers regularly kicked our buts in the playoffs.
So please allow me to prematurely gloat. It would be our fist pennant since the early 1990s when Joe Carter and the Blue Jays robbed John Kruk and company of a World Series title.
That was a tough loss, with Mr. Carter hitting a Series-winning homer off of Mitch Williams.
While this year's team is not as entertaining as those guys, it has tons of talent and reminds me of the World Series champs from 1980s, led by Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.
Ryan Howard has Schmidt-like power and the starting pitching is tough.
Some of my friends probably wonder where my enthusiasm is coming from, since the last Phillies game I went to was in Veterans Stadium and I've been quite obviously assimilated into Red Sox nation after living in New England the last 15 years.
Yet, hearing long-time Phillies announcer Harry Kalas do the intro on Fox for Game 1, and seeing highlights of Tug McGraw jumping off the mound in 1980 reminded me of where my roots lie.
I was in sixth grade back then -- horrible at baseball -- but totally caught up in Phillies hysteria.
Twenty-eight years later I am again.
Go Phillies!
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