What It Means To Be A Champion

I’m beside myself. The Phillies are the Baseball Champions of the World! After 25 years, it’s the Phightin Phillies who end the city of brotherly love’s title drought. It’s only the 2nd World Series that the Phillies have ever won, but this one is the most memorable, at least to me. And that’s really all that matters since it’s my blog. This is more than a Championship. This is a total mindset change.

I used to wear the losing mantra as a badge of honor. We’re losers and that’s the way it is, or that’s the way it was. It was accepted, ingrained in my psyche and a part of who I was. I expected my teams to lose. Something would always happen that would crush my dreams. When they lost, I felt like a loser. That’s an awful way to go through life and most certainly is unhealthy for countless reasons. Now that The Phillies are finally winners, I don’t know what to do with myself.

One thing’s for sure, no longer will I wear my tortured Philly Fan T-shirt (No Cup, No Trophy, No Title, No Ring since 1983). My brother Scott wants to burn the shirt, but I can’t do that. That shirt represents a lifetime of heartache and despair. History cannot be forgotten. I have to remember the pain and suffering to fully appreciate the joy and elation.

Now I can compare that shirt to my all new apparel. I went to Modell’s this morning and waited in line for a few hours to buy a new shirt, the authentic 2008 World Series Champions T-Shirt. Of course, that’s not all I bought. I will be a merchandise hound for everything related to this victory. Anything that says Phillies and World Series Champions, I’m buying. The World Series pennant, fitted New Era cap, beer stein, baby bibb, team bobble heads, little bear with the World Series hoodie.

You name it, I’m getting it, within reason. I’m not shelling out $250 for the official jacket like the one manager Charlie Manuel wore. Suffice to say, my basement and closet may look like it’s officially licensed by 2008 World Series Champions Philadelphia Phillies. Hey, you never know when this may happen again. This is Philly after all.

Since this moment must be etched in my memory for any future failures, here I will be detailing exactly what this means. I understand that I make sports way too important in my life. Sports are supposed to be entertainment, a means of forgetting about the doldrums of work life, an outlet of sorts. For me, it’s just the opposite. I try to go to work to forget about what happened in the most recent game. Yet, I’m glued to the sports page on Philly.com all day. I DVR the games so I can relive the agony over and over again. This time, when I replay the DVR, or when I pop in the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies DVD coming to your local retailer not fast enough, I’ll get to relive the glory and remind myself what this means to me.

Given that Kate and I are expecting our first child in March, Chase Luther Wilson, this title will means so much more to me. I will look to this team to aid in teaching my son life lessons in how to be a champion.

It begins with the Phillie bearing my future child’s name, Chase Utley. Simply put, he plays the game the right way. I know that this cliché gets thrown around a lot, but it really carries weight when it comes to #26. He’s a hard nose ballplayer that hustles, doesn’t complain, sticks up for his teammates and has an extremely high baseball IQ. Knowing what to do in any situation is so crucial considering that split second decisions can decide the outcome of any game. The 7th inning of Game 5 of the Series is a perfect example of Utley’s mental acumen. The score was tied up at 3-3 there were 2 outs and a Jason Bartlett was at 2nd base. The batter, Akinora Iwamura, hit a seeing eye single up the middle. Chase went hard to his right and gloved the ball. Knowing he didn’t have time to turn and fire to 1st base to catch the speedy Iwamura, Chase faked the throw to first and went home instead to go after Bartlett who was running on contact from 2nd base. Ruiz applied a great tag and the threat was over. By the way, if this had been Derek Jeter, this would go down as the second greatest defensive play in postseason history, right next to Jeter’s flip play against the Oakland A’s in 2001.

The point is that no matter what the situation may be, before the pitch every player needs to know what the situation is – how many runners are on base, what the number of outs is, what’s the count, etc. – and what to do when the ball is hit to you. Chase is a gifted player, but he also is an extremely smart player. To get to that level not only do you need tremendous god given ability, but you have to work hard and be willing to learn.

Lesson to Chase: Play the game the right way, respect it, and you could be a champion.

Speaking of being coachable, let’s turn to the much maligned Charlie Manuel. Pop Pop has had his share of criticism mostly due to the fact that he gets nervous speaking in front of a microphone, but that should not detract at all from his ability to teach. Players listen to Charlie and respect what he has to say. Andy Reid talks a lot about “putting guys in position to make plays.” At any post game press conference the Eagles coach spews that crap ad nauseam. Charlie, on the other hand, actually does this. He knows exactly what his players can and can’t do.

I’ll use game 5 again as an example. After the 46 hour rain delay, Charlie decided to use Geoff Jenkins in the bottom of the 6th to pinch hit for Cole Hamels. Jenkins struggled for most of the year and was largely considered a disappointment. After spending 10 very productive years with the Brew crew in Milwaukee, he came to Philly and hit only .246 with 9 lonely homers and 29 RBI’s. Charlie stayed with him though and Geoff came through with a scorching lead off double. Easily the biggest knock of his career. Manuel knew that the seasoned veteran was due for a big hit and he delivered. Jenkins accepted his diminished role and waited patiently for his chance. Given that chance, he came up big. It’s a great team dynamic of mutual reverence and trust between coaches and players. GM Pat Gillick and Charlie need to be commended for putting together this team of character guys focused on one team goal.

Lesson to Chase: Listen to your coaches. Even if you sit on the bench, you never know when your number will be called. Be prepared for that moment. Be an awesome teammate.

Another difference between Charlie and Andy, you can tell Charlie cares. He was genuinely happy for the fans and proud that he helped to deliver the city a champion. It’s well known that Pop Pop lost his biggest advocate in his mother and surely was difficult for him. Deep down I’m sure he’s hurting and this title is bittersweet since she wasn’t on Earth to celebrate with him.

Lesson to Chase: Love and respect your mother, no one cares about you more than her. Have faith that through the hard times you can overcome any obstacle.

Age can be conquered too. Ask Jamie Moyer. The 45 year old hometown kid came up big in Game 3 of the World Series. See my earlier post (Phils Win the Pennant…) for my spot on prognostication into Jamie’s performance. He truly did pitch the game of his life. In his post game interview he said it was easily the best moment of his lengthy career. For a guy from Sellersville, had his number 10 retired at St. Joseph’s (the Hawk will never die) and is finishing up his career with the team he loved as a kid this has to be a dream come true. He skipped school to see Phillies 1980 parade and he pitched the biggest game of his life for his favorite childhood team and will be a part of the 2008 parade.

A lot can be said about how he’s recreated himself to be an effective pitcher without great stuff. Even more should be said about all the charitable work he and his wife do in Seattle. Jamie and Karen (the daughter of Digger Phelps) founded the Moyer Foundation to help children in severe distress – such as life threatening illnesses or physical limitations, coping with the loss of a loved one, or are victims of abuse or neglect. The Moyer’s are a bona fide down to earth family with a great value system. You have to feel good about a guy like him having success at the highest level.

Lesson to Chase: Root for the home team. If you don’t, Dad will disown you. Dream about playing in the big game for your favorite team. Never let anyone tell you you’re not good enough. Be generous.

I just realized that the tone of this post is similar to the Michael Keaton movie, My Life and the book I just read The Last Lecture, only I’m not terminally ill. I didn’t mean to get all Niagara Falls on you, but this is an emotional moment. There will be plenty more to come on this topic, lessons may or not be included. I just wanted to get some initial thoughts down. We’re going to the parade tomorrow, so I’m sure that there’s going to be tons to write about.

The Philadelphia Phillies are the 2008 World Series Champions! Holla!