Spring Break
Phillies bring championship back to Philly
Brett Fischer & Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 10/31/08 Section: News
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The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in Game 5 Oct. 29, to win the World Series four games to one.
Third baseman Pedro Feliz drove in the game-winning run with a one-out RBI single to center in the seventh inning that plated pinch runner Eric Bruntlett.
Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske on three pitches and dropped down on his knees in jubilation as Carlos Ruiz threw off his mask and mugged him at the mound to start the dogpile.
After Game 5 was suspended due to severe weather conditions and nearly a 50-hour rain delay, the final three innings of the game, which began Oct. 27, were completed.
Cole Hamels was named the World Series MVP as he was 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two World Series starts. Perhaps even more impressive was that he finished the postseason 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA.
Fans Celebrate
Junior Corey Smith never saw Brad Lidge hug Carlos Ruiz after he struck out Eric Hinske.
He was too busy celebrating the Phillies first World Series title since 1980 in his seat in section 143 at Citizens Bank Park.
"I didn't even know how [the team] reacted on the field," Smith said. "I actually saw it 20 minutes later on Fan-O-Vision."
Junior Lonnie Snyder said he will never forget this moment for the rest of his life.
"I was jumping into my friends' arms and high-fiving random guys I never met," Snyder said. "We were all one family. It was the most memorable and scintillating moment of my life. Being a Phillies fan when they were the worst team in 1996 made in even more fulfilling."
After he left the ballpark, Smith and his father walked 3.6 miles on Broad St. to City Hall, a journey that he said took approximately two hours.
"There were some parts of Broad St. that were pretty calm," he said. "But other parts were insane."
"Terrible," Smith responded when asked about the conditions. "It was the worst sports weather experience of my life."
Smith, who was in Disneyland the last time the Phils appeared in the World Series back in 1993, believed the conditions were way worse than the blizzard-like conditions he endured during the Eagles-Seahawks Monday Night Football game Dec. 5, 2005.
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