While I cannot claim to have been a die-hard Phillies fan when they won their second World Series in 2008, I was only three years old. However, it was the beginning of my love for this team.

On June 3rd 2022, The Philadelphia Phillies were 22-29 under manager Joe Girardi and fans had seen enough. After Sunday’s game Girardi was fired and the fans were happy but the media didn’t think it would help the team win.

Interim manage and longtime Yankees bench coach Rob Thomson would take over the team. He proceeded to win 14 of his first 16 games and push the Phillies to a winning record at 36-31. After his first month with the team the Phillies were 55-47, Good but not good enough the media said, They were doing better than they expected but they weren’t going to make it anywhere, they were currently 6th in the playoffs, the last seed and only up a half a game. The Phillies ended the year with an overall record of 87-75 to barely sneak into the last wild card spot, clinching with only 2 games remaining.

On October 7th, The Phillies were facing the 3rd seed St. Louis Cardinals who were big favorites. In Game one, the Phillies were losing 2-0 entering the 9th with 2 outs remaining and made an improbable 6 run 9th inning comeback. Aaron Nola took the mound in Game two, and pitched his heart out going 6 and ⅔ innings and 4 hits. The offense was carried by a huge home run by Bryce Harper in the second inning.

They faced the reigning champion Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. The Phillies dominated the Braves in Game one but lost Game two. They returned home to a crowd that hadn’t seen a home playoff game in over a decade. They cruised past the Braves in both Game three and four to take the series 3-1.

The Phillies faced off against the San Diego Padres who also had improbable series wins against the World Series favorites, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. After splitting the first 2 games in San Diego, both teams make the 5 and a half hour flight back to Philadelphia for the next 3 games. The Phillies would take game 3 led by Ranger Suarez who went 5 innings allowing just 2 hits and one run. Game 4 was a high score affair but the Phillies would come out on top with a final score of 10-6 Phillies. Game 5, One win away from the World Series for the first time in over a decade and the Padres were up 3-2 in the 8th. But Bryce Harper hit an opposite field 2-run home run to give the Phillies the lead. They would advance to the World Series for the first time in 13 years.

The first game of the World Series was a great game as the Astros took a 5-0 lead in the 5th and the Phillies started a comeback, 3 runs in the 5th and 2 in the 6th, And there would not be another run scored until extra innings. In the top of the 10th JT Realmuto hit a solo home run to give the Phillies a 6-5 lead and they would hold on to win game one. Game 2 was a different story as the Astros dominated and would win 5-2 and would tie the series 1-1 as it headed back to Philadelphia.

The first home World Series game in 13 years was a great game for the Phillies as they would win 7-0, hitting 5 home runs and would take a 2-1 lead. Games 3 and 4 were dominated by the Astros, they no hit the Phillies in game 4 and they pulled off a close win in game 5. Houston led 3-2 going back to Houston. Game six, an elimination game for the Phillies, it was scoreless until the Phillies scored 1 run in the 6th inning but the Astros would strike back with a 4 run 6th inning. It was too big of a lead for the Phillies to come back and they would lose with a final score of 4-1.

All in all it was a great season for the Phillies that didn’t have that big of expectations after their 22-29 start and firing their manager. But they pushed through and ended up having a great season and just fell short. We are all looking forward to next season to see if they can finish the job next year.