Results tagged “Phillies,” from Robert Littal Presents The Infamous BlackSportsOnline

Now that we've said goodbye to the end of an era of mediocrity known as the Bush era and ushered in the new, you can't help but look back at the some of the greatest sports moments of 2008. Here's some that made you laugh, cry or just stare dumbfounded in disbelief. Yea Litall touched on this but as usual, but after much debating, here are MY top picks for best sports stories. Let the arguments begin............

TOP 8 SPORTS MOMENTS OF 2008

8.) Nadal Ends Federer's Reign At Wimbledon

Ok so I'll bite. Now that I've seen video clips, I've decided to kick off my second annual Top Sports Moments list with the history in the making match up between men's tennis
greats Rafeal Nadal and Roger Federer. The grueling five match showdown complete with rain delays was a testament to Nadal's toughness and tenacity and marked the end of Federer's five year reign, as Nadal was crowned Wimbledon champion.

7.)Rays Almost Sting Phillies In World Series

To the victor goes the spoils they say and while the Phillies have been named as the 2008 World Series Champions, the Rays fairytale journey into the World Series contention should definitely NOT go without notice. Just thinking about a team with a 200-1 shot at appearing in the World Series go from worst to first, beating out heavyweights New York and Boston is enough to place this moment in the Top 8 Sports Moments of 2008.

6.) Old Time Rivalry Renewed:Celtics vs Lakers

There's something about reliving the glory days when the NBA Finals was a clash of the Titans between two juggernauts, one from the East and one from the West. Ask anyone about the Celtics vs Lakers rivalry and the names Magic vs Bird, Russell vs come to mind. During the 2008 Finals, David Stern, the media and old school fans got their wish as Kobe led Lakers faced off against the Big 3 of the Celtics composed of K.G., Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Despite the victory being favored to go to the Lakers, the defensive prowess of the Celtics proved to be too much for the Lakers and the Celtics went on to win the series in 6 games.

Ryan Howard is from Saint Louis, so I have had the opportunity to meet him several times. I once asked him how was playing in Philly and his reply:

"It can be tough, but they are passionate and they just want a winner"

They have a winner now as the Philadelphia Phillies are your 2008 World Series Champions. Congratulations go out to them because they absolutely deserved it.

The thing I will remember most about the Phillies is Brad Lidge. Up to this point most people remember Lidge as the reliever who gave up that Monster Home Run in the in the NLCS a few years back to Albert Pulous and looked like he would never recover.

He struggled in Houston, but once he got to Philly he was lights out. He did not blow a save opportunity all year and the look on his face as he got the last out of the series was priceless.

Since 1993 for most of the newest generation of Philly fans the thought of the Phils in the postseason reminded you of one thing. Joe Carter. Carter was the villian that crushed the entire city's hopes in '93 for a World Series title since 1980 team. Some of us are still waiting for that Joe Carters homerun to hit the ground. That's why making the playoffs last year felt like winning the championship almost. It really did, just for a young minute.

We'll that sigh of relief you hear is the entire Philadelphia, South Jersey and Delaware Valley. The Phillies put the Dodgers out of their misery last night and are on the way to the World Series. It was obvious if you remotely followed either team that the Phillies were the better team no matter how much the media wanted and tried desperately to convince you otherwise. Of course they wanted the Manny vs. Bosox circus. Which would have definitely been the G.O.A.T. circus. However good Manny is, and he was video game-like. There was no way he was going to beat Howard, Rollins, Utley, Burrell, Victorino, Hamels and Lidge by himself. It was basically Manny vs. Many.

Something is going on in the air in Philly right now. Somewhere in between all the laughs at work, a McCain supporter telling me he's now voting for O'Bama this morning or the old white lady sitting in her car and actually didn't lock her door as I walked past her car... there's definitely a better vibe. That being said you can also feel a ire of disbelief because in Philly you always get the carpet pulled from under you at the last minute. Rhonde Barber is still running down the sideline as we speak.

The Phillies first baseman is making a serious late push for NL MVP. The boy is hitting the cover off the ball in the month of September when his team needs it most. The man leads major league baseball in homers with 45, Adam Dunn a distant 2nd with 37 long balls. He also leads the majors in RBI's with 137 and remember he had a slow start. The next best NL run producer is David Wright with only 114 RBI's. He's simply the games best power hitter and has been since his rookie year.

You'll hear haters chirping that he strikeouts too much and his batting average is low. Yes he does, but the problem with that arguement is the fact that he hits in the four hole and his sole objective is to produce runs and he does that better than anybody in the game. Maybe it's good that he does strikeout some because if he cut down on them and made more contact, he'd probably hit a consistent 60 homeruns and drive in 170 runs per year. Imagine that? He still wouldn't get any props because they'd say he's definitely on 'roids.

No signs of steriods with this man, he's just country-boy strong and he's actually has brothers that are bigger than he is. He has put the Phillies on his back and got them back into first place in the NL East. No one is more clutch them him in the month of September since he came up to the bigs and to think the Phillies we're trying to crying about paying the man more than 7 million dollars. Phils management should consider the 10Mil they pay him a year a bargain. I understand that he's not in the top 10 in slugging % and his on base % could be better but if Philly wins the division again you just have to give him a serious look.

Will the real contenders please stand-up? It was only a matter of time before the Fish from Florida gracefully bowed out of the National League East Division contention. Finally the baseball god's came to their senses and realized you can't win in baseball with the Marlins brutal team ERA and a error filled defense.

To no one's surprise the Phillies and the Mets are neck and neck for the division crown. Last year the Amazin's pulled off an amazing choke job to help the Phillies win the division. As we're now approaching September, it's time for one of these teams to sieze the division. Lets look at who has the edge at the end. For Mets and Phillies fans alike here's a couple of things to hang your hat on.

Why the Phillies will win:
The Phillies have the better bullpen and the better team when you size up the roster from top to bottom. Brad Lidge hasn't blown a save all season, and J.C. Romero is as nasty as it gets for left-handed specialist. J-Roll is starting to hit again, he's the engine that starts the car and if he gets hot he can carry the squad. The one-two punch the Phils in Hamels and Myers envisioned that would have enabled them to run away with this division to begin with, is starting to come together like Voltron. Even with the offense struggling, the team can ride on the back of the Hamels-Myers machine because right now, their as good as it gets. This along with the 3-headed monster Utley, Howard and Rollins hitting and there would be nothing the Mets could do but accept the silver medal.