Major League Baseball

Phillies could be fixture in Fall Classic

Published Nov. 5, 2009 9:50 a.m. ET

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In 2008, Brad Lidge threw the final pitch of the season.


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On Wednesday night, he merely witnessed it.

Lidge was watching from the visiting bullpen at Yankee Stadium when the Phillies' one-year championship reign came to a close. He saw his team's last stand: a 10-pitch encounter between Shane Victorino and Mariano Rivera, culminating in a routine ground ball to second base.

Victorino's at-bat was skillful and steadfast. It was an admirable effort. Ultimately, it wasn't good enough.

Kind of sums up these Phillies, doesn't it?

The last time we witnessed the end of a World Series, Lidge was dropping to his knees at the nape of the mound at a raucous Citizens Bank Park. This year, he made the slow walk to the dugout as a mob of Yankees celebrated their 7-3, title-clinching victory in Game 6.

"I definitely stood out there for a sec and took it in," Lidge said afterward. "You always want to be the team that's doing that. But we got ours last year. We want to get another one.

"It's a successful season, no question, but obviously the goal is to win. Because we won the whole thing last year, it seems like this is not quite where we want to be. We're hungry to get that trophy back."

Hunger was never an issue with this team. And even though the Phillies weren't quite as talented as their World Series foe, they could have repeated as champions if they had been flawless (or something close to it) against New York.

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