QOTE

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1. Unstable Isotope says:

   October 27, 2008 at 7:42 pm

   They last won in 1983? If so, I was 12.

2. Dana says:

   October 27, 2008 at 7:47 pm

   They won their last — and thus far only — World Series in 1980, not 1983. I was 27, and then, as now, a fan of the Big Red Machine.

   (1983 was the year that the 76ers won.)

3. Bill Dunn says:

   October 27, 2008 at 7:53 pm

   I was 21 and was sitting in the left field 700 level at the Vet for the second game of the series. There is nothing like it. The stadium was absolutely electric!!
   I will never forget it.

4. Unstable Isotope says:

   October 27, 2008 at 8:20 pm

   I’m not a native of the area, obviously. I was born and raised in Kentucky so I remember U.K. basketball. I remember when Kentucky won the 1978 NCAA championships when I was young, although I was 7 at the time. I just remember how happy everyone was. By the time Kentucky won again (in 1996 and 1998) I didn’t live in the state anymore, although it was still exciting! UK basketball was the closest we got to professional sports where I grew up!

5. meatball says:

   October 27, 2008 at 8:47 pm

   I was 10. The Tugger was awesome. Steve Carlton, Pete Rose, Mike Scmidt, Bowa, Boone, Luzinski, Maddox, McBride and Trillo. What an awesome team and the last I can remember all the players from.

   Two years later Larry Bowa was the special guest at our Little League banquet. I won an autographed ball. I still have it somewhere around here. It could be like, you know, worth a lot of money (to some loser).

6. edisonkitty says:

   October 27, 2008 at 10:31 pm

   1980 was my first year in college and I have two fun memories of that series. The first was Columbus Day night, the night the Phils beat the Astros to go on to the series. We were driving all around trying to find more beer, and listening to the game on the lousy AM car radio. Of course no one figured out it was Columbus Day and all the stores had closed. Duh! But the excitement made the whole thing worthwile.

   The second memory: The day after the Phils won the Series, I bagged my classes and drove up to the Vet. I bought a copy of the Daily News from a vending machine in front of the stadium. It is still neatly preserved in my drawer.

7. Truth Teller says:

   October 27, 2008 at 10:46 pm

   I refuse to answer

8. JohnnyX says:

   October 27, 2008 at 11:34 pm

   Let’s see…I was…in my third trimester – within my mother’s womb (born in Jan ’81). So I obviously have no memory of it. And since I was only 2 at the time – I also have no memory (thankfully) of the ’83 World Series where they got spanked by the Orioles.

   Sadly I do have a nice vivid memory of Mitch Williams / Joe Carter in 1993 when I was 12. What a heartbreaking night that was.

   And man I am hoping that my memory from 2008 when I’m 27 ends up being the rain-suspended game that they come back to finish and win a day (or two?) later. I dare not even mention any other possibilities for fear that I will jinx the team and they will come to fruition (such is the life of a Philadelphia sports fan…).

9. R Smitty says:

   October 28, 2008 at 12:43 am

   I was 11. I was immensely passionate about baseball then (always a Phils fan, tho), so I remember quite a lot about the Phils from about 1977 through tonight. While the ’80 series still sticks out quite well, my favorite memories all fall on Tug McGraw. The dude was simply the spark plug. He certainly was not the greatest reliever, outside that still-bizarre-to-witness knuckle-curve, but he had that thing about his presence that made him good.

   Patting his heart and then thumping his right leg with his glove, coming off of the mound. Such a cool dude to this 11-year-old, then the way he handled himself, post-playing days. Such a cool dude to this adult. Not to mention that he volunteered himself off of the World Series (or entire playoff) roster in 1983. He acknowledged his stuff was all but gone and didn’t want to be a detriment to the team. That’s a rare thing anymore.

   My second biggest moment of the 1980 series was that final strike out, game over. My biggest moment was my mom telling me I was cutting school to go to the parade. I brought my cheap camera with those horrible plastic, square flash cubes mounted on the top. I took picture after picture, most of office schlups walking with whatever was driving down the route. Hey, I was only 11. Then the players came by. All waving, looking at the masses, but probably not noticing one face from the next. Then I noticed Tug was the closest player to where I was standing, so I snapped away, fleeting smell of burning plastic shooting past my nose. I remember insisting to my mother that he looked at me and smiled for my picture. Being her youngest, she induldged me, but I already knew that game. So I smiled, hugged her, and basically indulged her back.

   The pictures came back about a week later. I went right to the one with Tug and there it was. A sort-of shouting smile, as if he was saying, “Hey! How you doing?” There was also the point; in that perceived greeting, his index finger was pointing square to my camera. Yeah, this 11-year-old totally thought that the Tugger singled me out and told me that they won it for me. It’s my memory, damn it. The dude virtually high-fived me. Do I really think he saw my particular 11-year-old face, mesmorized by the party? Who the hell really knows? Like I said, though, I was that 11-year-old who took that picture. In my mind, the guy thanked me for being his number one fan. Impressions really are influential.

   Oh, the Boone-muff-to-Rose catch will always stick out, too.

10. MJ says:

    October 28, 2008 at 6:53 am

    The Phillies won a World Series?

11. Dorian Gray says:

    October 28, 2008 at 10:06 am

    I had just turned 6 and was 1 month into 1st grade. I have only a few scant memories of it but the one that sticks in my mind is the Dickie Noles brushback of George Brett. I was on the front page of the Daily News to following day.

12. RSmitty says:

    October 28, 2008 at 10:15 am

    Dickie Noles…poster child of a promising career being stopped cold and early by drug abuse. At least he accepts that image as he is one of the most effective counselors in the game. Lonnie Smith was another one who drugged out his potential, although he got through a few more years than Noles.

13. Dorian Gray says:

    October 28, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Skates… ha! Lonnie Smith. And to think we just thought he had poor balance…

    ‘It’s about use, not abuse.’ I always thought that was a much better slogan than ‘Just Say No’.

14. Von Cracker says:

    October 28, 2008 at 11:12 am

    Barely nine at the time, have I remembered quite a bit about the 1980 playoffs. What stood out to me more than anything else was the insane Divisional Series against Houston.

    Winning Game 5 against Nolan Ryan, Maddox and Trillo going off, and the incredible comebacks in a 5 game series are what stick out….

    The World Series, on the other hand, to me, was a done deal. I just knew it. Maybe that was due to the divisional losses to the Dodgers and Reds, from ’77 to ’79, and the Phils finally got there.

15. Andy says:

    October 28, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    17

16. Joanne Christian says:

    October 28, 2008 at 3:24 pm

    DG–Those bumper stickers were a misprint..should have been “Just Say No More”

17. Truth Teller says:

    October 28, 2008 at 6:23 pm

    the real question is where were you when the Phils played in the Baker Bowl and does anyone know it’s exact location????Hmm

18. Truth Teller says:

    October 28, 2008 at 6:31 pm

    If anyone said 15th & Huntington ave you win