I was lounging around the pool of a hotel at a seaside resort on the Mediterranean coast of Spain on Sept. 11 when an English fellow told me that terrorists had crashed two planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. I didn't believe him.
"It's on the television in the hotel bar," he insisted. "Go have a look."
Once I satisfied my curiosity, I was overwhelmed by the tremendous devastation and the loss of so many lives. Word spread through the hotel that I was an American, and the outpouring of condolences expressed to me by other guests was surprising. Despite political differences and geographical boundaries, people care about people. Baseball seemed so insignificant at the time.
But life goes on, and the pennant races had resumed by the time I returned to Philadelphia. The euphoria of taking three out of four games from the Atlanta Braves and then two of three from the Florida Marlins was replaced by the disappointment of seeing the Phillies lose their next two series.
Some things don't change. It's typical of what manager Larry Bowa describes as the team's "roller-coaster" season.
Needless to say, the season will hinge on the current series with the Braves. The Phils need at least two wins just to stay alive and a sweep of all three games to have a good shot at the Eastern Division.
Even then, it's anybody's guess as to how the chips will fall. Philadelphia (Cincinnati Reds) and Atlanta (Marlins) will finish the regular season with weekend series against teams that are out of contention. Those teams have nothing to lose and will do everything possible to play spoiler.
I've always hated to make projections, but I still think this team can do it. The Phillies could win the division, but the bullpen and the bench are shortcomings that will prevent them from advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs.
All season, everyone lamented the lack of fan support for a team that wrapped up its home season while still fighting for a title. The final attendance figures, however, show slight increases.
The total of 1,782,054 was a jump of 244,374 over last season, and the average for 78 home dates was 22,847, compared to last year's average of 20,160. To put things into better perspective, though, the Phillies drew more than 3 million fans and averaged nearly 40,000 per game in 1993.
Philadelphia began the week with 82 wins, which guarantees a winning record for the first time since the 1993 World Series squad. That tidbit didn't go unnoticed when the Phils notched No. 81 last Wednesday.
"One thing that we can erase is seven straight losing seasons," said Bowa. "I haven't been here for all of those years, but I think the players are tired of hearing about it."
So are the fans.
Given the chance to play "what if," how many victories would the club have if Mike Lieberthal hadn't been injured? The catcher has a .272 batting mark with an average of 18 home runs and 72 runs batted in during his first four years as the everyday backstop. Those numbers have to be worth a few extra wins.
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